Page 43 of Fateless

I felt a touch on my shoulder and instinctively flinched away.

“It’s all right.” Raithe’s voice, low and breathless, nearly made me sob with relief. “It’s safe, Sparrow. It’s dead. You killed it.”

Cautiously, I opened my eyes. My dagger, sunk to the hilt in the monster’s head, was smeared with black, as were my hands.

Raithe knelt beside me on the dead abomination, looking haggard and spent himself. But his pale blue eyes, fixed on my face, were shadowed with concern, relief, and... something I couldn’t put my finger on. Awe? No, that was silly; nothing aboutme was awe-inspiring. Most likely, it was surprise that I was still here. That I hadn’t gotten myself eaten by a giant spider abomination. Truthfully, I was shocked myself.

“Are you hurt?”

I shook my head, not trusting my voice just yet. Raithe held out a hand, and I unclenched my fingers from their death grip on the dagger. I reached for the offered hand but then hesitated, seeing the filth that stained my skin, not wanting to get it all over the iylvahn.

Raithe reached out and curled his long fingers over mine. The contact sent a shiver all the way from my spine to the bottom of my toes. His grip was steady as he helped me off the dead abomination, holding me up as my legs shook on the wobbly network of rope and canvas. The monster hung lifelessly in the web, legs dangling through the gaps. Its terrible serrated jaws were open in one last, silent scream.

I dropped to the deck and nearly fell, my legs threatening to give out, but Halek was already there, arms around me, pulling me close. I felt the roar of his heartbeat through his shirt, felt him shaking against me, and let myself relax. Halek and Raithe, at least, were safe. And the monster was dead.

“Goddess, you scared me,” he whispered as we pulled back. “I thought you had lost your mind for a second. And when you fell, I thought it was over.” He paused, and that faint, familiar grin crept across his face once more. “That was recklessly, stupidly heroic, and that’s coming fromme. Are you sure you’re not a Fatechaser?”

“Positive,” I choked out, and managed a weak, shaky smile.“I’m not heroic,” I told him, as Raithe and the insect rider stepped forward to join us. “I was terrified the whole time.”

“We all were.” Kysa had stripped off her helmet again and was regarding me with dark, appraising eyes. “Bravery isn’t having no fear,” she said, as Rhyne huffed and shoved his massive, blocky head against her side. “It is being afraid and doing something regardless.” She nodded at me solemnly. “Today, you’ve earned this warrior’s respect.”

I dropped my gaze, unable to meet her eyes. “What was that thing, anyway?” I asked no one in particular. Glancing at the dead abomination, hanging lifelessly amid the rope and canvas, I shuddered. In death, it looked no smaller or less horrifying than it had in life. “There’s always been tales of monsters on the Dust Sea,” I went on, “giant serpents and sand sharks, but everyone knows they’re just sailor stories. Raithe, you said this thing was extinct.”

“It should be,” the iylvahn replied grimly. “Its kind haven’t been seen since the age of the Deathless Kings.”

Halek drew in a sharp breath. “You don’t think... ,” he began, and stopped. We all looked at him curiously, and he grimaced. “You don’t think... it wassent, for us?”

Raithe and I stiffened. The insect rider frowned. “Why would something like this be sent after you?” she wondered aloud. “And who could harness such an abomination?”

“The Deathless King,” I whispered.

A piercing scream interrupted anything the others were going to say. The door to the lower decks had opened, and a small group of people stood staring up at the dead monster in horror.One woman, her face ashen and her eyes huge, opened her mouth and screamed again, before they all turned and fled back down the stairwell.

Everyone, including me, winced at nearly the same time. “Weaver’s mercy,” the insect rider sighed, and shoved the helmet over her face again. “Things are about to get chaotic. We need to find Captain Gahmil’s second-in-command and explain what has happened before this turns into a full-blown panic.”

I cringed inside. Talking to figures of authority, particularly when they had the power to detain me or toss me in a cell, was something I tried to avoid at all costs. “You won’t need me for that,” I said, intending to slip down to the lower decks and lose myself in the crowds and shadows.

Unfortunately, both Halek and Raithe moved up on either side, stopping me from fleeing. “Oh no,” Halek said, putting a hand against my back. “You can’t run away now, Sparrow. You’re the hero of this story, after all.”

“I’m not,” I protested. “The three of you were fighting it, not me. My plan was to sneak up and stab it in the back while it was distracted.”

“You saved my life,” Raithe said, very softly. Heart pounding, I glanced up at the iylvahn, who regarded me with an unreadable look on his face. “I didn’t think I would survive that encounter,” he said. “If you hadn’t killed it when you did, I wouldn’t be here.”

That ended the argument, though I still wasn’t keen to talk to the second-in-command about it. In my experience, even if we weren’t somehow blamed for the attack and the death of the captain, it was still attention on me—attention that I didn’t want.I was a thief. It was very hard to be a thief and do thief-y things when everyone recognized you.

“I know the second-in-command,” Kysa said as we all started back toward the door. I could still hear screams and shouting somewhere below us, and my stomach turned. “He’s a reasonable d’wevryn. With any luck, we can have this whole thing sorted and be on our way back to the city of Damassi before nightfall.”

One last time, I glanced back at the body tangled in the ropes, and felt a fresh prickle of fear as Halek’s words echoed in my mind.It was sent, for us.The abomination was dead, but if the Deathless King had sent it for us—for me—what else might still be coming?

Sixteen

I sat on a cot in a tiny room, knees drawn to my chest and the lights off, listening to footsteps scurrying and pounding outside my door.

Arham, Captain Gahmil’s second-in-command, hadn’t been pleased. When he first saw the dead abomination and the captain’s severed arm, still lying in a congealing pool of blood, his face had gone white, and he’d had to stagger away to collect himself. When he returned, he had a lot of questions for all of us, demanding to know where we came from, why we had fled Kovass, and how Captain Gahmil had died. It was clear that he wanted someone to blame for the debacle, but after a long interrogation in his—or, rather, Captain Gahmil’s former office, he reluctantly let us go, with the assurance that the strider would be turning around and heading back to Damassi straightaway.

When we emerged from the office, we found a crowd had gathered outside, all shouting and talking at once. Word of the abomination and the captain’s death had spread like wildfire through the strider, and passengers were demanding to know what was going on. We left Arham with the unenviable task of explaining the situation and retreated to our quarters to hide from the ensuing rage and panic. At least, that had beenmyintention.

A tap came at the door, rousing me from my thoughts. The door was locked, of course, bolted from the inside. I hesitated, listening for what would come next. I didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, especially a stranger. I’d had my fill of talking and explaining for the day. If I didn’t answer, anyone who wasn’t Halek or Raithe would assume I was asleep or not available and leave. If it was Halek, he would certainly let me know it was him. Raithe... I wasn’t sure.

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