My face went pale…
Rufian turned toward me. “What’s the matter, Syodas?”
“Ugh… I’m getting a buff in the south.”
Rufian laughed. “Well, our race is real big on expanding our lineage.”
“And this plum doesn’t discriminate…”
“You won’t hear any fae women complaining,” he boasted and then took a bite of his shimmering plum.
Except for him, nothing much changed but minor facial features that’d save him from a public beheading.
“The fae look suits you just fine, hero,” he complimented me.
I snorted. “First an orc, now a fae. I guess dragon is next.”
“Or a nasty pint-sized goblin,” he snickered.
“Hey, thanks for not turning me into some rat and leaving me for the birds.”
“What are allies for?”
“And for giving me the shield back,” I added, reaching my hand over to him.
He chuckled almost nervously. “Why, of course! Here you go. Back to its rightful owner.”
When he gave it to me I immediately stored it back into my secret box. I’d given it to Rufian, and he got his first point on my trust board. Even so, there was still one question bugging me. “Rufian, the shard, how the hell did you know how to activate it?”
“It’s as simple as linking your life force with hers, and knowing your limits.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like something you learn in kindergarten.”
“What’s kindergarten?”
I shook my head. “Never mind. I guess I should feel fortunate that you know how to work Alzera-Kar.”
“No, not entirely, but she is energy, and the most skilful mages know how to manipulate energy.”
“Let me guess, another tip from the book of all books?”
“You’re getting too clever for your own good, Syodas!” He chuckled. “Now that we are fed, we can head to our second destination.”
“Which is where exactly?”
“Ether-Serin, where we must retrieve the first ingredient of the codex locator spell—the feather of a white Bodoorie bird.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jezz
Run, wolf, run! I’d escaped the king’s palace, and I didn’t dare look back at the sabatozzi behind me! Dragon guards rushed to the conclave meeting hall while the palace fell apart, the ceilings crumbling like soft oven baked cookies. Chaos created the perfect distraction. In the mess of containing a local threat, I rushed down the halls, dodging shards of fallen crystal chandeliers, broken chunks of jade statues, and the noteworthy handful of elite soldiers. The estate guardsmen were on my tail, and I couldn’t shake them off no matter how hard I tried, but when the ceiling from the foyer fell down, fate had finally thrown me a bone.
Once outside, I darted between shadows of the night. If I wanted to make it out of this fiasco alive, I needed to play my cards right. Which meant that I had to find cover first. A dense forest or a creepy cave would do just fine—just as long as I covered my muddy tracks.
Distance was key. If I gave myself enough of a running start, I should be fine. The dragons were still back there for the most part, trying to control the calamity. I bet that little trick by Tog’s tribe took them by surprise, because no one was expecting goblins to hold that much power in their hands as bait. It felt like my breath was still trying to catch up to my heart as I barreled across the flat field and into the scarce woods, the little trees leaving me with minimal cover. The chains clanking along my wrists and ankles made it hard for me to charge faster for refuge, branches whipping along my face and chest as I pushed through. But honestly I had no choice. The black magic those goblins shackled me with was nothing an arcane wolf could break on her own. And since I was so god damn weak, I couldn’t transform into a beast either.
Who knew goblins had gotten so annoyingly clever?
Being unconscious made it easy for them to capture me. I’d been physically and mentally gone, like I was being pulled by the fingers of time and space. The last thing I remembered was holding onto Silas as a raging wormhole sought to eat me alive. By a miracle, the darn thing spat me up like rancid meat in the heart of an overpopulated goblin village. When I’d woken up for the first time, it felt like years had gone by. I was wet, I was cold, and I was flippin’ hungry! Luckily they didn’t starve me to death, but they had me bound by the time I came to. I overheard their plans to use me in their plot to overturn the dragon oppression, but I was still out of it, catching only bits and pieces as I chowed down on moldy bread.
Little did I know I was fading in and out because of the nasty bread…
They’d poisoned me, enough to keep me drowsy but not enough to kill me. After all, they needed me as a token of trust in their plan. With little hope of breaking out of the enchanted chains, I gave my capturers no grief. I made a plan of my own, hoping I’d live long enough to make an escape. Though this wasn’t how I expected everything would pan out. Running for my life in the land of the vicious dragons.
Oh, how cruel fate was.
Cursed as a dog, bumped in a wormhole, and now this!
My body was begging me to stop running for a second, but I couldn’t. As I ran, I thought about Silas, hoping that he was having better luck than me right now. I wish I could tell him that his killer did a 360 with me! The look on my startled face when Gerald crouched over and used his body to protect me, those serial killer eyes locked on me with sympathy.
I was at a loss for words, but I didn’t let that chance slip by, not one bit!
Even so, I didn’t give that titan a pass. He hurt my Silas, and when the time came, I was going to turn him into red fucking mist!
“Aghhh!” I gasped, tripping over a stupid rock along my path. I thought I’d jump it but the gap between the chains around my feet was too damn short. With my arm pinned back I couldn’t save my face from kissing the dirt, shafts of grass lodging into my mouth. My body ached for a second before I summoned the strength to get up, especially after hearing footsteps not too far away.
Crap, I grunted in my head. Someone was on my trail.
