Page 15 of Lies That Bleed
Meera stared the fox down, beginning to walk a slow circle around it, and I was pleased to see that she had some training.
“Watch her. Learn,” I coached Tetra. “The creature cannot tolerate a weak bond or it will cost them their life outside.”
A bond too weak meant the creature wouldn’t be able to breathe when they stepped outside. It had to be a strong connection.
My best friend was breathing rapidly, no doubt fending off a panic attack. I wished I could save her from this, sneak her out somehow, but her name had been pulled in the Lottery and her fate sealed. If you deserted, you went to the mines. Or worse: they just hanged you in the square. These lottery spots were opportunities others would kill for. So we didn’t allow people to throw them away. Once the three days were over, they would send scouts for our bodies.
Just as Meera was about to lunge for the fox, it leapt into the air and went right for her throat.
“Meera!” Anika screamed, rushing forward. I reached out and yanked her back by the armpit.
The fox took a chunk of flesh from Meera’s throat and I winced. A killing blow? I wondered, and then thought better as the tiny girl went absolutely feral. She slashed at the fox, one, two, three times, each blow drawing the mysterious blue blood that all creatures had. The fox then nipped her wrist, but she grabbed it by the back of its neck skin and yanked it up into the air.
Then it happened. The moment that I’d only read about and had never had the pleasure of witnessing.
A kaleidoscope of colorful arcs of magic flew from the fox’s body. The bands wrapped around Meera, enveloping her as she held the foxfirmly in her grip, never taking her eyes off of it. It was submitting to her. Bonding with her.
“Thank the stars,” Anika breathed, shrugging out of my grasp.
We all released the breath we’d been holding, watching in awe as the colors wrapped around them both, blue, green, purple, pink. Now we couldn’t tell where the fox began and Meera ended. It was like looking at an exploding star.
“It’s beautiful,” Tetra said, and I smiled.
It was.
After a moment, the colors died down and then Meera fell to her knees, dropping the fox as it curled up to her, snuggling on her lap, licking the wound on her wrist and throat.
“Meera? You okay?” As Anika moved towards her friend, a yellow snake shot from the ground and headed right for her arm.
I moved without thinking, a blur of motion. My sword cut the snake in half before I could even catalogue the threat.
Anika froze, staring down at the dead twitching creature and then up at me.
“Thanks,” she managed with a shocked expression.
I nodded, eyeing the woods. “That bonding will bring more creatures. We need to move.”
Bondings set off some kind of signal to others. Meera was safe now. She had her creature to protecther, and once you were bonded, the other creatures accepted you as one of their own. Meera could now come and go in The Wilds freely without fear of attack.
Meera looked up at us and I noticed the wound on her neck was superficial; the fox hadn’t hit an artery. It was just a few layers of skin missing like you would get when you scraped a knee.
“I’m fine. Go!” Meera urged, stroking her fingers through the fox’s fur. This was a special time when she and her creature would cement their bond.
Anika seemed as if she didn’t like the idea of leaving her friend.
“She’s more powerful than you now,” I told the Imbrian. “Let’s go.”
It was true. Now that she was bonded, she had whatever power the fox had imbued her with, plus the fox’s power.
“I’ll see you on the outside!” Anika called after her as we ran to get away from where they’d bonded.
Tetra hobbled beside me, trying to break into a run but failing with her cane. We settled for a brisk walk with her wincing every ten steps. When I finally felt we were out of harm’s way, we slowed.
“That was… violent,” Tetra said, panting and rolling out her shoulder. I knew it caused her pain in her arm to walk on her cane for too long.
I glanced over at my bestie. “It will be. And you need to be ready. No flinching. Nohesitating. You straight-up try to murder whatever creature you choose.”
She frowned. “If I want to bond with it, why would I murder it?”
