Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FRID
Ihad no idea how much time I spent hitting my forehead against the wall.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I kept hearing the growls and scraping of nails on the wooden surface on the other side of the room.
The child. The child was left inside and barricaded.
His parents could not kill it, and they could not leave him either.
Instead they remained in the apartment nearby, slowly dying from hunger until that day when they decided to end it once and for all.
I kept asking myself just one question, not finding an answer. My thoughts crashed into one another and only one word remained.
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why was this happening? How could anyone deserve this? Why did we keep fighting? Could it be true that the gods were purposefully extinguishing every one of us?
I wrapped my fingers around the handle of my sword, pressing all those feelings deep down. Forcing myself not to feel anything. My eyes landed on the polished surface of the painted wood. No one deserved to be tortured after death.
They couldn’t kill it, but I could.
With that, I plunged the sword into the opening with one precise motion. A chilling, thick silence hung in the hall. The remains of the crawler’s body hit the floor with an explosion of sound, and then everything fell quiet again.
I entered the room, avoiding looking at the body. There was a small bed, a side table, two wooden chairs, drawings of dragons and knights on the walls, and toys scattered everywhere.
I clenched my teeth.
Did they know that just one building down stood the temple with sacred water that could heal the boy? I was sure that if I looked out the window I could see the outlines of its facade.
I dragged the sleeve of my flying suit across my face, holding back a dark storm of emotions.
After searching more rooms on a couple more floors, I decided to return to the attic.
Victor was right, people or dragonborns cleared this place many years ago.
There was nothing here we could use and time was not on our side.
Every hour I spent on some activity that did not produce any food or water wasted my energy.
I had to be more strategic about my actions or we both could be in serious trouble.
I walked up the stairs, listening for any sounds in the building.
Victor was probably still sleeping, he needed more rest after all the damage his body experienced.
How fast could he get back on his feet? Maybe I should carry him to the temple for a second time to speed up his recovery?
I looked through the room and then moved toward the closet. To my surprise, the door was open but Victor was not there. I swore under my breath looking around, and despite the heat, my blood turned ice cold.
Did the crawlers find him here and he had to get out? But where could he go if he could barely stay on his feet.
“Victor!” I called.
“I wouldn’t be so loud if I were you. The lower floors are packed with crawlers. Find anything?” The unexpected sound of his voice came from the other side of the room.
Only then I saw Victor slumped against the banister on the balcony, looking out.
His hair had grown a little longer, nearly touching his eyebrows.
In the bright sunshine, it looked almost platinum colored.
He stood wrapped in a piece of fabric that covered his left shoulder and left his right arm bare.
I could clearly see the marks of his wounds. He was not completely healed yet.
“You scared me.”
I exhaled, sheathing my sword, then shut the door behind me. Carefully, I secured the only entrance to the attic by dragging the table and several chairs in front of the door.
“I was wondering . . .” Victor started.
“Yeah?” I pulled out a chair and dropped in it.
“Did you kidnap me?”
“What?” I wrinkled my forehead.
“How the fuck did Ty let you do this?”
"He was seriously injured." I looked up at him, hoping he could read the annoyance on my face.
"He was fine the last time I saw him!"
"Yeah, well . . . while we were dragging your unconscious body back to the castle, Tynan was out there fighting Rutherford. Took a real beating."
“What about Sol?”
“Sorry, I’m not following you. Are you . . .? Are you complaining that I saved you?” I straightened up in the chair.
Never before had the idea of throwing him off the balcony seemed so satisfying as at that very moment.
“Yes, I’m complaining. You brought me here without asking what I want, without any food or water. Maybe you thought that dying in a comfortable bed was too merciful? Do you think that slowly starving, and then being eaten alive by the crawlers was a much better idea?”
At first I was too shocked to respond. Did I really expect that he would show any gratitude for everything I went through? He has always been extremely selfish and difficult. He could never respect my decisions. Maybe, deep down, he was still upset about me becoming a part of his circle of friends.
“If I could’ve asked you, I would’ve. But, you were already half eaten by infection. Preparing to pay a visit to our dragon ancestors. What choice did I have?” I snapped at him.
“You should’ve let me rot, then!” He raised his voice.
“You know what? Next time that’s exactly what I’ll do. I’ll sit around and just watch. Maybe I’ll borrow one of Ty’s stupid books, or . . .” I gave him one of my smiles. “Maybe Alina will teach me how to crochet napkins and I can make a whole damn set while you bleed out.”
He said nothing, looking at the street.
“What are you doing?” I asked at last.
“There’s a well on the corner. I wonder if the water’s clean. I’m not in the mood for crawler juice.”
“Fine. I’ll go check it out.” I got to my feet.
“There are tons of crawlers out there.” Victor walked to the closet and picked up his flying suit.
“What are you doing?” I watched him drop the fabric on the floor.
“What do you think? Going with you.”
“No. That’s out of the question,” I said.
“What are the chances that, if you die, or get infected, I could make it there and carry you to the temple?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“That’s why I’m going,” Victor added.
“You’re too weak.”
“Let me be the judge.”
"Why are you so damn difficult?" I hissed.
"You're the one who dragged me here," he shot back. "Should’ve left me alone."
“Well . . . that’s settled then. I’m not helping you ever again . . .never . . . ever.”
I watched him pull on his suit as every tender feeling toward him evaporated into thin air.
Why did I carry this ungrateful male for days, in a storm, risking my own life; just to be continuously nagged?
He was absolutely insufferable. There was no way we could ever be together.
We would simply kill each other. We could not agree on anything.
Even though I found him physically attractive, he drove me absolutely insane.
Annoying and infuriating, he truly made me the worst version of myself.
“Like what you see?” he suddenly asked and I realized that I openly stared at him while he was adjusting himself in his pants.
“Screw you.” I got to my feet.
“I just thought you didn’t get enough when you were undressing me, and you needed a little extra.”
“If by ‘little extra’ you mean throw you off this building, I’m all in.” I walked to the balcony.
“Alright. Where is it?” he asked.
“Where’s what?” I turned. We stood face to face now. His light eyes bore into mine.
“Where’s my weapon?” He extended his hand palm up.
“I don’t have it.”
“What?” His jaw tightened.
“Sorry! I didn’t have enough strength to carry you, our supplies and both our weapons.”
“Are you saying that I’m in the wastelands and I have nothing to defend myself with?” His eyebrows lowered.
He was really good looking, but at that very moment, his face was begging to be slapped several times.
“You’ll figure it out.”
Victor muttered something under his breath.
I rolled my eyes, looking at the open area in front of the building.
I landed softly on the roof of one of the smaller buildings, surveying the street below.
The merciless sun was beating on the hot shingles and it felt like the polished bricks were melting in the heat.
This place was devoid of any resources that could sustain life.
Staying close to the temples was not the best idea.
But, despite Victor being so critical about everything I did, I still did not see a better option.
“It's right by the end of the street to you right. Your other right,” Victor spoke directly to my mind.
I shifted my gaze, noticing the carefully crafted platform.
Usually big settlements were built closer to a water source and finding a hidden well somewhere behind the buildings was not uncommon.
The question was, had years of possible contamination affected the water?
We were told that the disease spread only through a crawler’s bite, but I would never trust the council about anything.
Victor landed beside me, his body slammed against the roof without even a hint of his usual stealth.
He did not look well. His dragon form highlighted his exhaustion.
There were so many signs, the way he held his head and his half closed eyes.
He was not strong enough to fight or make the flight back to Darragh.
Another day or two without food or water, and he would not be able to take off, and I was not far behind.
“I’m going to check it out.” I stepped to the edge.
“Frid, be careful,” Victor said.
“Always.” I dropped into the air, spreading my wings.
My muscles were trembling and a dull nagging pain had settled at the back of my head. I was sure that it was a sign of dehydration, flying in this heat depleted even more of my energy and all I could hope for was that my exertion would be finally rewarded.
When I landed on the dusty pavement, there were no crawlers in close proximity and I swiftly shifted taking out my blade. I rushed toward the well, avoiding the debris from the buildings, the remains of bodies and dry branches.
“Behind you!” Victor’s voice sounded from above.
I turned just in time to swing at a half decomposed woman with just one eye and a torn shirt hanging off her torso, barely concealing her muddy colored, sagging chest. Her head was still rolling on the ground when I was almost to the well.
Victor landed on the ground behind me. With effort, I released the bucket and with a loud clank, the rope unraveled all the way and I could have sworn I heard water on the other end.
“Frid?” Victor’s voice sounded strangely muffled.
“Almost there,” I muttered.
“Frid!”
“Just a second.”
“Frid!” Victor shouted.
I turned and my breath caught. Despite the heat, the air froze in my lungs. On the pavement all around us were people with spears in their hands.