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year 46 of the curse
The first creature lunged, the frayed cloth around his face exposing his jagged rows of teeth.
I dove to the left, eliciting a snarl from the beast, the noise feral. He leaped for me again, and when he was close enough, I leaned back and shoved out my leg, sending him tumbling to the dirt with a hiss.
There wasn’t time to focus on him, not when another one of the bastards came at me from the right, a serrated blade in hand. He swiped at my neck and face, missing my cheek by a mere inch. Another swing and miss, and I used the opening to thrust my shoulder into his chest, aiming to knock him off-balance. Unfortunately, my size was not enough to take the behemoth down.
I reared back as his blade swooshed by my left eye this time, his aim improving. For a bloodthirsty creature who might or might not be dead, he moved with vexing ease. Cursing, I dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. I was on my feet and twisting to strike when a searing twinge shot across my arm. He’d nicked me.
Without looking, I knew the wound wasn’t too deep, but it still hurt like a bitch.
He might have gotten in a good blow, but now he had well and truly pissed me off. Feigning left, I turned at the last second and swung, wedging my dagger through his bulky coat and puncturing his ribs. A howl escaped his mouth as he fell.
I’d just yanked my blade free as another attack came at me from behind.
I felt the pain before I even saw him take a step, the white-hot stinging stealing my breath as a blade lodged in the muscle of my shoulder. I screamed as I jerked it free, blood drenching my black tunic. I’d never been stabbed before, and I could now officially say I wasn’t keen on reliving the experience.
Something foreign began to wake, something I’d long ago buried on the outskirts of the Pastoria Forest. My chest tingled as I charged the nimble beast, my limbs coursing with icy adrenaline.
Leaping into the air, my dagger positioned above my head, I brought down the blade with a growl, piercing the creature’s skull. My skin crawled and prickled, the air in my lungs charged with that familiar spark, and a coldness crept down my body, sentient wisps of black dancing at my feet for the second time in my life.
The first time happened mere days ago when I’d been cornered and on the cusp of having my throat sliced clean open. The darkness that had always thrived inside of me had rushed to the surface and reacted. The shadows had saved my life.
Then, I’d lied to Jude, too afraid of exposing the truth.
I knew exactly what had happened when the masked creatures burst into ash.
Ihad happened.
…
Arms of midnight, reaching for me, holding me down to feast. Jagged teeth attached to a face devoid of eyes, only black pits in their place. And then it—the creature that had attacked me—clawed at my tiny hands, which were covering my face and throat protectively.
I’ll never forget the pain. How the shadow beast had dug its talons into my skin. While I’d been a child, weak and hardly able to defend myself, I managed to fight, to hold on and withstand the shrieking monster’s blows.
That’s when the light had come.
Gold had radiated from my chest, shooting out like a flare, causing the creature to shrink away in alarm and scurry into the trees with a hiss. The light had dimmed when footsteps approached, my father having heard my screams from the village. He’d taken one look at me and slunk back, his mouth agape, fear creasing his brow.
The damage had already been done, my hands torn and shredded. The marks of the shadow beast forever on my skin.
Ten years, and I’d never forget Father’s face.
…
I jolted back to the present when the next beast attacked, my limbs acting of their own accord, driven by some foreign instinct. I whirled around, my red hair whipping in the breeze as I sliced open the creature’s throat. Its blood spilled before I had the chance to exhale.
Onyx clouds encircled me as I moved, the darkness spilling free.
As much as I despised what I’d become,whoI was, the shadows I’d suppressed would be my salvation, and I tore off my gloves with a fierce growl.
Only monsters could defeat monsters.
I shook out my arm, readying for the next foe. The tingling sensations sliding up my arms and around my torso didn’t dissipate, and the shadows at my feet never wavered. A sigh shuddered through me, relief loosening my muscles.
While he’d seen my scars and hadn’t run, for Jude to know thatIhad controlled the shadows that had turned our enemies to dust was too much. It would be the final barrier crashing down, and if he didn’t like what he saw, if he didn’t likeme, then I wasn’t sure my heart could take it.
Now, as my unholy power slithered and writhed within me, I didn’t have Jude or the others to hold me back. They wouldn’t bear witness to the evil that I was.
