Page 14 of Lies That Bleed
He frowned, eyeing the chunk on the ground with its mystical orange and yellow glow, black charred marks at the edges almost like coal coming out of a hot fire.
“We keep moving,” I announced. “There will be plenty of time to grab some ember before we leave,” I assured them.
A twig snapped beside me and I flung out with my sword, stopping only when I recognized the person. The tip of my blade rested at Kohen’s throat.
His eyes were stormy as they stared into mine. “Well, it’s good to know I left them in capable hands.”
I pulled the blade back, exhaling. “What the hell are you doing sneaking up on us like that?”
He held out a small, gray cloth zipper case and peered over at Anika. “These somehow got in my pack.” There was worry in his gaze, and I looked over at Anika to see fear flash in her eyes.
She snatched it from him and stuffed it in her bag. “Thanks,” she muttered.
“Good luck, everyone,” Kohen told them, and then disappeared into the woods.
“What’s in that?” I asked her as we started to walk again, Tetra and Meera in the middle like we’d discussed.
“None of your business,” she snapped.
I rolled my eyes but kept walking, scanning the trees for threats. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to bring drugs into The Wilds. The last thing you wanted was to be inebriated during an attack. Maybe they were tampons or something embarrassing.
A hair-raising scream echoed throughout The Wilds and we all froze for a second.
“Nothing we can do. Move on. Worry about your own teammates,” I coached. It felt heartless, but running through the forest in the direction of that yell might get us killed.
After an hour of walking, the sound of trickling water pulled my attention up ahead and I immediately began to push our group north and to the left. Nothing good lived in that water, just creatures of untold power that would take you out as you attempted to wash your face.
“Anyone dying to be posted at Thunder Cliff?” I asked. Bonding with a water creature was generally frowned upon as it really restricted your movements.
“Nope,” was the resounding answer.
The sounds of The Wilds seemed to only get louder the farther we walked. Growls, chitters, caws, slithers.It had my heart fluttering in my chest and all of my senses on heightened alert.
Something skittered across the leaves up ahead and I held up my fist. Our group stopped walking. I could hear another team talking farther in the woods, but about ten feet to our right, behind a thick fern, was the purple glow of a creature. They could choose when they wanted to turn that off, so the fact that the animal was currently showing its power meant it was preparing to attack or it wanted to be seen. I put two fingers to my eyes and then pointed to the fern. Our group all snapped their heads in that direction and the creature stepped out from behind the bush.
It was a beautiful white-tailed fox, not powerful enough for me, it was quite small and submissive by the looks of it. I could tell by how it had quickly dropped my gaze. I kept my voice low. “I know this feels quick, and we probably didn’t expect this so soon, but this is a perfect creature for Meera or Tetra,” I said.
“I agree.” Anika flicked her gaze to Meera.
The small girl took a deep shaky breath but seemed ready to fight. I peered at Tetra and my stomach sank when I saw the raw fear coating her. She’d never fought anything. Asking her to do this would take time.
“Meera, it’s all yours if you feel ready,” I told her.
We’d been here barely an hour, so to have our first creature bonding fight already about togo down almost felt like bad luck. But Meera might not get a better chance. The next creature of mid power could be a bunny rabbit. A fox was reputable, and would land her a nice job in the Imperial Fleet. Anything lower was laughable and anything higher would kill her.
She took rapid breaths, before gripping her dagger in her right hand.
I was scared and excited all at once. Scared that Meera would die fighting this thing after I’d promised Kohen I’d keep her safe, and excited that I was about to witness a bonding firsthand.
“Give her room.” I took four large steps backward and the group did the same, leaving only Meera, all five-foot one inch of her, to stand before the fox.
Anika rocked on her heels and I reached out and grasped her shoulder to steady her.
“You can’t help her once first blood is drawn. You’ll kill them both,” I said.
“I know that,” she snapped.
Once the bonding had started, if anyone intervened, it caused a magical rip in both the souls of the creature and human. Instant death.
