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“Is she dead?” I ask, stroking my hand down Luri’s furry neck. Her slanted pupils don’t waver from me as her eyes close, exaggerating a blink. My throat dries up as my vision blurs. Still, I don’t let a single tear escape, wanting to drown out the grief with any other emotion. Wanting to return to the numb feeling that consumed me moments ago.
The funny thing about heartbreak is it’s the most obscene thing one can endure. It starts as pins speared through every piece of your being, leaving you numb. Then, as you remove the needles, you realize just how deep they went. The wounds make your organs seize and your appetite for anything–even existing–wane. You forget to breathe, a motion that comes as second nature at every other time in your life, and it never gets easier. You just learn to live with it, to forget for a moment until something drags you back into grief’s pitiful abyss.
I’ve felt it before, when my mother died, but it doesn’t even begin to touch on the way this has twisted every ounce of resolve I have.
“Someone get me a witch she can bond with. I need to know what happened,” I command, as the royal guard scatters to fulfill my request. Looking up, I find the crowd gawking… silent. “Don’t just fucking stand there. Go find someone to tend to the beast’s wounds. Now!”
The crowd disperses, shuffling about and leaving me alone with the hellcat. A tear streaks down my cheek, dripping down to paint the stone ground a darker shade. I lose track of how long I stare at Luri, smoothing her fur in the same spot. The world seems to disappear around me, the sounds dissipating until only my heartbeat remains–the only sign that it’s still alive, even if it’s empty.
“My prince…” I don’t acknowledge the guard at my back until his words are repeated.
“What?” My voice is hardly a whisper.
“Your witch,” he says, and I can’t help the way my heart leaps in my chest. Spinning around, it deflates… Not my witch.Awitch. The witch I requested, so I might speak to Luri.
“Thank you,” I say, dropping my eyes and quickly wiping at the wet sheen on my cheek. “Have you bonded with her already?”
“No, sir. I need to touch her first…” The woman with jet-black hair steps closer, her dark green eyes locking with mine as she crouches next to me. “After that, I’ll be honored to translate.” Her hand skims Luri’s face, and something eases as the beast relaxes beneath my palm. “I’m taking away her pain. The best I can at least. I’m not a healer.”
I nod once, urging her on. “I’d like to know what happened to Alice. Every detail.”
“Very well, she’s accepted me…” she trails off, staring at the ground. A look I know well. I’ve seen Alice make the same face as she’s listened to Luri in the past. What I wouldn’t give to see her do it again. Just one more time. “She says your betrothed–”
“Alice,” I correct.
“Yes, my prince. She fell ill, requiring the beast to carry her. They were walking along the river when trolls spotted them. Luri escaped, but soon felt their bond break, and she realized that Alice had let go. She circled around, retracing her steps, and found blood at the bottom of a ravine. Too much for her to have survived and the severing of the bond confirmed that she had, in fact, died. The trolls had likely taken her body, but Luri continued to search, hoping she could at least return her home. Only the beast was attacked by the group of trolls again and suffered the wounds you see. She barely got away.”
I can’t move… It takes everything I have to nod. Sniffling, I spot movement out of the corner of my eye. A healer, here to tend to the gash in Luri’s side, made by something sharp. He opens a leather bag, pulls out supplies, and gets to work, but I still can’t bring myself to speak.
“That is all, sir.” The witch pushes up to her feet. “Luri has severed the connection.”
***
Alice
Opening my eyes, I squint to ward off the light filtering in through the cave opening. Or what I’m assuming is a cave. Everything is unfamiliar, but I can hear the sound of the water from the river trickling down stones. Unable to see above the recessed edge of the pit I’m in, I’m not sure exactly how far away it is, but if I can hear it clear as day, it must be close.
The edge of the pit moves and my heart sinks within my chest, afraid to move… tobreathe.As the light filters through and my eyes adjust, I make out the texture of scales along the rounded edge… It’s not stone or dirt, it’s alive, and this is but a mere cave. It’s a nest. I try to push up from where I lay on the ground, but my muscles don’t obey. It takes a moment for them to respond as if I’m a newborn just learning to use them for the first time.
Biting my lower lip to stifle a groan, I get to the sitting position, taking in the two-foot-thick snake like body of something, and it begins to move and shift, swirling around me but not constricting. The blue hue of the creature’s scales becomes visible, metallic almost, making the light scatter across the cave’s ceiling. Suddenly, the top row of its slithering body lifts and a head swims toward me, flickering a forked tongue as it hovers in the air in front of my face.
“How lovely. You’re awake,” it says, and my breaths come in short bursts, my eyes locked on its spade like head, fearing if I look away for even a second it might swallow me whole. “You have no need to fear me, Miss Whittaker.”
Spoken like a true killer. It’s usually the ones you need to fear who wish to console your worries. I won’t be a fool, nor a victim. I’ve almost died once since I’ve entered this realm. I prefer to keep it that way.
“Who are you?” My voice cracks as I speak, and I swallow, desperate to wet the sandpaper texture of my throat. I draw magic to me, packing power behind my command.
“Your theatrics won’t be necessary. I am an oracle. The last within this forgotten realm, and your friend left you in my charge. He even paid me to give you a reading.” It arches backward, standing taller than before.
“My friend…” I mumble, digging through my memory until I find the one I’m looking for. Asmo pulled me from the bottom of the ravine. He carried me off and apparently brought me here. I finally tear my gaze off the serpent, roving it around the cave.
“He’s not here, I’m afraid. The moment he saw you breathing, he left.”
“And how long ago was that?” I try to drag my hand through my hair, feeling the sticky texture of dried blood tangling the strands together.
“Hours.” Slowly, the coils of the oracle’s body unravel and I dust the dried blood off my hands and onto my pants.
“Well, I appreciate the place to rest, but I must go. I’m on a bit of a deadline and need to find my cat.”
