AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The men turned and ran. For a minute I was tempted to let the Ridden chase them and kill them, but no doubt that would only lead to more Ridden taking their bodies, and then we would have four of the bastards running around. So, as the snarling thing looked between the retreating men and me, I moved towards it.
“Come on then,” I challenged it. “Come get me!”
“What are you doing?” The girl screamed behind me. “It’ll just kill youandme!”
I laughed at the idea thatoneof them could kill me. “Watch and learn, kid. It’ll be fun.”
Moving a little away from her, the Ridden hissed at me, then fearlessly raced at me. I ducked at the last possible second, then kicked it in the back of the knees, sending it to the ground. Before it could react, I pulled my sword off my back and sliced its head clean off of its body, then watched as its head rolled across the ground.
The girl stared in shock. “You shouldn’t be strong enough to… you shouldn’t be fast enough to…”
I smiled. “It’s okay. You’re fine now.”
There was no way I was about to explain to her that being a descendant of the Stormdust clan had given me incredible abilities because all that would lead to was more questions. Questions I got sick of answering. Instead, I cleaned off my blade on the body of the Ridden, then re-sheathed it. Going to its head, I picked it up by the hair and set it on top of the body.
Then I looked at the girl. “Come on, grab the legs.”
“Grab the legs?” She asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Yes. Now.” I tried hard not to snap, but burying this body was going to delay me even further.
“Why?” She asked.
I sighed. “Because everyone deserves a peaceful resting place. This Ridden was a man once. How would you want to be treated if you were him?”
She still looked uncertain as she grabbed his legs, and I grabbed his arms, but she helped me get him off the road. Then we did our best to bury him with some dignity. When we were done, we were both filthy, but she had dirt smeared on her faceandher nice dress.
Nice dress? I hadn’t taken a good look at her before. But, sure enough, under her dark cloak was a nice blue dress made with a fabric that shone like silk. A dress that didnotbelong to a farmer’s daughter.
Damn it.
“You have a little something,” I said, pointing to her face.
She rubbed at it, letting the hood of her cloak fall back as she did so, revealing a green-colored gem on her forehead, which meant she was from a Representative’s family. A child of the wealthy and privileged.
Which made this little playdate even more complicated.
We got back on the road, but she hesitated, looking behind her and ahead of her. It couldn’t have been any clearer to me that I had a runaway on my hands. One without enough common sense to keep herself alive for even a day on the Outside. Anyone born and raised in any major city rarely came outside of the walls, because it was so much more dangerous here. Having this girl come out here alone without any protection was suicide.
Given where we were, she was probably on summer break in Palamin, the nearest major city. I could bet she and her family traveled here from the Capitol for a nice holiday, and then she’d decided to make a stupid decision to leave the city walls alone. What for? I had no idea.
She should know better.
“What’s your name?” I asked, feeling more and more frustrated by the moment.
She looked at the onyx gem on my forehead and her nose wrinkled. Yes, yes, I was beneath her, but she needed to get over it. “Brienee.”
“Brienee, let’s just lay this out here. You’re from the Capitol, right? On vacation in Palamin?”
She paled, then snapped up her hood and pulled it back over her forehead.
I rolled my eyes. “The gem wasn’t the giveaway here. It’s the fact that if I wasn’t around, you’d be dead. Do you even have a weapon?”
Her face paled. “I have money. I thought… I thought that might help.”
I stared and stared, then realized she was serious. “Most of the things out here that will kill you, don’t care the least bit about money.”
“Like the Ridden,” she said, whispering the last word.
