Page 2 of A Broken Promise

She whimpered as a big, curved, animal-like claw appeared through the silver robe. The Kahor slowly slid it down her delicate throat, hard enough to draw blood. Large, crimson drops pooled on their nail. I watched in horror as they slowly brought it to their demon-like mouth and licked it off.

The lipless mouth stretched in a cruel smile. “This,”they hissed. The sound, high in frequency, though low in pitch, gave me an immediate pounding headache. The guards quickly unshackled the young girl from the long chain and tightened a rope around her wrists and neck.

I flinched at the sound of her quiet begging to the guards, to the slaves around her.

My heart ached as the tears slid down her cheek and despair filled the air.

But begging never worked.

I bit down on my cheek hard enough to stop tears from my own watery eyes as I watched the guards pull her away from us. I didn’t know her name; didn’t talk to her once, but my soul filled with sorrow for her.

There was only one reason a Kahor—a creature of darkness and abyss—would be delighted like that.

They tasted magic in her veins.

It also meant that she was now sentenced to death.

Unknown death.

Sacrificed by Royals?

Or tortured and killed for sport by Destroyers?

Or sent off to the Queen Insanaria, known as the Mad Queen, for her to split your soul from your body and rip it into a million pieces to exist in torment forever?

At least in the Rock Quarries, if you were a good slave, never causing trouble, never making eye contact and working hard, you could look forward to one day just not waking up from your sleep. A peaceful end for the exhausted soul and body. And if Fate was on our side, Viyak and I would die together, cuddled in each other’s arms just like we went to sleep each night.

A sense of doom ran through my mind as they moved slowly to another boy from the line, also just as striking as the girl. Even now, his underfed body was muscular and strong. His light brown hair was down to his chest. His eyes and nose razor sharp.

Another drop of blood, another hiss making my ears bleed. He tried to flee as they unshackled him. The boy punched the guards and wasabout to hit a Kahor, but their long, deep claws grabbed his throat in a tight grip, pooling blood at his neck. He went completely limp as the creature sunk their long canines into his blood-covered flesh.

I knew I shouldn’t look, but I glared at them, letting a glimpse of anger flicker while they licked off the last droplets of the precious blood and wiped their bloodied-up chin and hands with a swift motion.

I couldn’t see their eyes but, at that moment, I knew.

Iknewthey stared back. I could feel their dark being slithering. Instant regret flooded me down to my core. Not because I put myself on the line, but because I endangered Viyak. He was always so prudent about keeping our eyes on the ground, always being meek and obedient.

I turned my eyes straight to the dusty ground. Too late. The creature slowly floated towards me. My heart thudded in my chest, my fists clenching tight, but I willed the rising panic to calm.

I wasn’t a Magic Wielder. Though, there were plenty of times in my twenty-two years of life when I wished I was one. Through bits and pieces of secret tales, I’d heard of the great Creators, Seers, and Healers. Of them who walked the continent helping people thrive before the Great Betrayal. Long before they were exterminated by the Destroyers.

Mages were everything I aspired to be at one point. Hopeful, selfless, inspiring, loving, kind.

But I wasn’t a Magic Wielder.

Neither had I lived up to any of my childhood aspirations.

The Kahor floated above the ground just a few inches away from my face.

I stopped mid-breath. Their smell overwhelmed me to the point of my eyes darkening.

Something deep inside me stirred in wrath and boldness against their presence. But I didn’t dare move. Viyak was just as rigid as me, looking down as a cloaked hand rose close to my neck and a large claw appeared. I winced from the sting as they sliced through the tender anterior of my neck.

Though my face was tranquil, I hoped the creature would choke on my blood.

Notes of panic ripped my well-built walls of calm to shreds, as minutes passed and the Kahor stood stagnant in front of me.

There is no magic in my blood. I chanted to myself to chill my heating blood. The creature dipped their nail one more time into the tiny pool of blood between my neck and collar bone.

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