Page 18 of A Baron of Bonds
Parvus rose and scratched at the door while Rauca nuzzled the side of my dress.
“You were hardly a sprout in your mother’s womb when I found you there. Your spirit called to mine and instead of letting your mother perish as easily as all who try to steal my power, I fed you pieces of me instead. You reminded me of something I had lost long ago, and I wanted you to live for reasons you refuse to hear.”
She moved toward me, the strings of her magic dangling from her fingers. She whispered in my ear, “You are ever much a part of me as you are to the woman who bore you or the woman who raised you, Karus, and one day, you will be ready to truly listen.”
I pushed on my magic, willing it to untangle me from her inky mist. I was still weak, the fight something I struggled to find.
A black portal opened up in the doorway and I almost collapsed in fear of what was next.
“Do not fret, child, I will fulfill my end of the bargain. I have hurt none and will return you of your own free will.”
Her black magic unfurled from my arms and mouth, and I almost fell in the freedom of it. Panting, I glared at her with unmistakable loathing.
“I hate you,” I spat. “I never want to see you or this wretched place again. Do not call to me, do not find me.”
“Oh,Little Sprout, I won’t. You’ll do that yourself.”
I turned from her, fuming, and began my step into the portal, hoping with all I could muster that it would not trap me for weeks.
“And, Karus,” she lilted as I pushed inside, “Next time, be more specific onwhereI should return you.”
Darkness encased me, and I fell to my knees on soft ground. I heard Parvus and Rauca bound out of the portal behind me as it closed in a suckingslurp.
I took a moment to breathe, a small cry escaping my lips.
Please, please, please, please.
I needed to look up and see Felgren. I needed to look up and see Rev, angry as he might be.
I did not.
Before me was an endless horizon of grassland. The Attatok Mountains breathed to my right, looming with snowcapped peaks that winked at me in the distance.
I slammed my fists into the ground and screamed, the very earth below me rumbling in response as I closed my eyes and fell into oblivion.
Chapter 16
Karus
“Ash!”
A distant yell rattled me from the dark sleep I had slipped into.
It had been two weeks since I had left with the lumens in that forsaken hole in the place I loved. Two weeks since I had made the choice to delve into a sickening semblance of all the Blightress was and had been for hundreds of years.
I loathed her.
I wanted to rip that crimson grin from her face and force her to see how much Revich loved me. I would find a way to someday return to her and show her that I was worth what I said I was worth. I was no sprout. I was afuckingtree of life just in my midst of blooming again after the winter, and I would find my way back to my love where I would never leave his side again.
“Ashton!”
The call flew across the tall grasses that swayed like waves in the fierce wind. A storm rumbled from the sky above me, and I opened my eyes to see the face of a child staring back at me.
“What are you doing down there?” he asked, tilting his head. His ginger curls bounced with the movement and I grinned.
Half a moment later, Parvus’s face stared down at me too, another of his high whines piercing the air. He stuffed his snout under my back, nudging me to rise.
The little boy laughed in the pure delight that children do, and Parvus gave him a lick. I groaned and sat up, seeing that the child must be no more than four or five years old.
