Chapter 52 #2
Maybe this was a mistake. I hadn’t even left yet, and I’d already been caught. But then again, if I didn’t go—didn't try—I didn’t think I’d be able to live with myself.
Pia stuck true to her word, returning within her self-given time frame. “Let’s do this,” she chimed in a much more cheerful tone than she had used with me before.
“Are you sure you want to come?” I asked, or more like, suggested.
“Well, I'm not letting you go alone. And if I told anyone else what you were doing, they just wouldn't let you go, so.” She shrugged, tossing her rucksack on the back of the mare's saddle before climbing aboard. “Can you tell me your exact plan, though? I just want to be on the same page.”
The tip of my boot stuck into the stirrup, and I grabbed the edge of the saddle to pull myself onto Honey.
I collected the reins in my hands, and gave her a gentle neck rub before giving her the heel to start moving.
“I’m riding as long as and as far as I possibly can without stopping.
I'm hoping to make it at least a day without sleep, maybe more.”
She cut me off. “This already sounds like so much fun. What a great idea for a girls’ trip,” she mocked.
“You chose to come,” I reminded. “I’m hoping to make it to Draemor in two and a half days, then when we get there, I’ll compel one of the towns folk to help me track down Beaumont.”
Our horses stepped out of the barn and into the prequel of daybreak, the brisk breeze nipping at my skin as I kicked the mare to pick up a trot.
“And how do you plan to kill him?”
We took a sharp right, starting on the dirt path that led into the forest, past the lake I never ended up visiting with Delani.
“Ideally, I’ll sneak up on him and stab him in the carotid with my dagger.
” I patted the sheath on my thigh. I had packed a small vial of toxin to pour into the hollow blade, and if everything went to plan, it would kill the bastard on demand.
“That way, it leaves less of a trail. If I have to, I’ll use my sword.
And as a last resort, I’ll burn the fucker with starlight.
That plan however, is not my first choice.
The second someone finds a pile of sparkling ash, they’ll be on to me. ”
“Not many know that your power goes to that extent though,” Pia pointed out. “Most still believe you only have the gift of mind compulsion.”
Honey snorted as I leaned forward, my knees digging into her flesh to increase our speed. “Who knows how many of his people he told? I’d rather not take an unnecessary risk.”
“Oh, well in that case, we should be turning around,” Pia drawled, sarcasm clipping her words short.
“This is a necessary risk.”
“No. Not really.”
“It is,” I grumbled.
“Sebastian would disagree. So would Sawyer. Speaking of Sawyer—”
“Oh gods. No. Can we not do this?” I pleaded, pulling my reins to direct my mare through another turn.
“We are so doing this. It's dead silent out here. What's a better time to gossip?”
“Should we really be gossiping about someone who just cheated death?”
“Why not?”
“Ugh,” I breathed in annoyance. “What about Sawyer?”
“How was it in Mealioria with him?”
“Eh.” I shrugged, the motion falsely leading Honey, though I redirected her swiftly. “It was fine.”
Pia picked up the pace to ride by my side. “You got to give me more than that, especially after his whole I told Maeve I love her blowout. I know there's some shit I’m missing.”
“You really are turning this into a girls’ trip,” I said flatly, giving her a raised brow. “I dunno. He hooked up with Stella while we were there, and then we had a heart to heart about the future like, twelve hours later. It was fine. Just typical Sawyer.”
Pia’s face turned sour, and flat out shock poured from her words. “He hooked up with Stella? Are you serious?”
“Yeah? What's the problem?”
“Uh, what's the problem?” she mocked. “He literally just confessed his love for you.”
“He said it himself, he isn't going to pine after me forever. He said we could go back to the way things were, and if anything, him hooking up with Stella proves that.”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Forget it,” Pia snapped, not elaborating any further and instead changing the subject. “How are things with you and Seb?”
“We're good. Really good. In all honesty, I’m still kicking myself for how I reacted when he told me about the journal and his mother.” I brushed my hair out of my eyes, regretting how short I had cut it—not being able to twist it into a braid was already annoying.
“Since we've met, we've spent more time apart than we have together, and I just made things worse in that aspect by being so pissed. And then the stuff with Sawyer…” I trailed off, all the memories of the past few months flooding back in and threatening to knock me off my horse. “Anyways, I feel like we're finally in a good spot. I’m happy with him. Truly, truly happy. Granted, all that might go to shit when he realizes what we are doing, but I’m hopeful he will understand.”
Pia huffed a laugh. “He will absolutely not understand why you decided to go on a death march, but he loves you, so he’ll get over it.”
I really, really hoped so.
“How long until you think they realize we're gone?” I asked, subconsciously directing Honey to the left.
Pia’s face turned towards the sky, evaluating the moonlight. “It’s probably six in the morning now. Kohen usually wakes up by eight, and he’ll be stunned to see me out of bed so early, which will raise some red flags.”
I laughed. Pia loved her sleep just as much as I did. “So probably by eight o’ two?”
“Yeah. If not sooner,” she giggled.
“We better get a move on, then.”
Pia followed my lead as I increased our pace to a canter.
We hit the day one mark, and exhausted didn't even come close to describing the fatigue that cursed my body. We hadn’t slept at all yet despite Pia’s nearly constant nagging to stop for a few hours.
The adrenaline was the only thing keeping us going, but the soon to come crash was inevitable.
“Maeve, can we please stop? Just for an hour or two?” Pia begged once more through a yawn. I had never seen her look so exhausted.
“No,” I said simply. “Sebastian and at least Kohen are unquestionably on our tails. They're used to not sleeping, and I have no doubt in my mind that they are closer than we think.”
“An hour isn't going to make or break—”
“Pia, if you want to turn around and go back, then go,” I snapped, yanking on Honey’s reins and pulling her to a stop. The lack of sleep was getting to me, too, but I needed to trudge on. “And while you're at it, if you see the guys, steer them in the wrong direction.”
Her dark, heavy eyes raked over me, her eyelids fighting to stay wide. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Well I’m not stopping.” I estimated that Sebastian and whoever else were probably about three or four hours behind us. The calculation was by no means real math, but based on their experience riding, I knew they were at least that close to us.
“I hate you,” she grumbled, the dirtiest scowl I’d ever seen on her pointed right at me.
“No, you don't. If you hated me, you wouldn't be here.”
“Whatever.”
“I should have compelled you to stay back and keep quiet,” I countered.
“Would’ve, could've, should've."
“Okay, I’m done with this convo—”
Honey’s ears perked up, her head drifting to the side. Pia’s horse did the same, and my eyes followed their drifting attention. Pulling back on the reins, we stopped and I held a silencing finger to my mouth.
Branches cracked around us, the sound much too loud to be a squirrel. A low growl flowed into my ears, not close, but not exactly far away, either.
My eyes flowed over to Pia. “Hykah,” I breathed, and she nodded in dreaded confirmation.
“Do we stay and fight it?” she asked, her voice barely able to be made out.
I contemplated. We could take our chances and try to surpass it, but on the other hand, if we left it alive, Sebastian and the others would likely run into it.
I dropped my reins, and dismounted Honey.
“What are you doing?” Pia whispered, another moan from the Hykah shortening her words.
“Stay here.” I didn’t give her a chance to respond before taking off in the direction of the sound, pulling my sword off my back as I picked up a jog.
Rocks crunched under my boots as I ran, my footsteps as silent as possible for my speed. The Hykah’s grunts overflowed my ears, the horrifying sound increasing in volume with each step I took. Then, I saw it.
The Hykah’s decaying, marred body stood hunched over what looked like the corpse of a bear, though the animal was too bloody and torn to diagnose a definite species. Bones crunched as the creature shoved fresh meat into its collapsing jaw, and for a moment, I just stood there watching it.
That thing used to be a mortal. That creature that Beaumont had built by dark magic used to be someone just like me. They may have had a spouse, or children. That was once someone's son or daughter. Someone's friend. A sibling.
The thought stirred something up inside of me, and though I knew I needed to kill it, I couldn't help but wonder if there was another option.
On my tiptoes, I prowled forward, taking tiny step after step until I was close enough. And though there was no time to waste, this wouldn't take long. I just wanted to try.
My palm extended in front of my chest. I composed my mind, shutting out anything that wasn't in the inner peace category.
I sucked in a long, heavy breath, and on the release said, “Don’t hurt me.”
When the beast didn’t flinch, I took another step forward.
I had the cosmos swirling in my veins, ready to use, my sword drawn as back up.
The Hykah was too immersed in its meal to notice me, and in fear of getting much closer before knowing if my command worked, I picked up a rock and chucked it at the things back.
Its disfigured neck shot over its shoulder, its soulless eyes matching my glare. The Hykah screeched, and much to my dismay, charged at me.
“It was a nice thought,” I muttered, angling my sword upwards. I should have known that something without a soul couldn't be controlled.
I charged back, the tip of my sword aimed at the Hykah’s throat. When my proximity was close enough, I slashed through flesh and the monster jolted back, drool pouring from its jaw with its bellow.
I jumped back to recenter myself and dumped the sword, aiming with my hand instead. I marked my target by aligning my eye and forefinger, then blasted it with the godly power within me.
“I’m getting pretty good at that,” I expressed when I returned to Pia, who still sat on her horse with a blank stare on her face.
“And that’s a good thing?” she queried.
“Better than dying.” I brushed Honey’s neck with my palm before returning to my saddle.
“Maeve,” Pia huffed out my name. “I need to stop. I'm serious. I feel like I’m going to pass out.”
Her hair was coated with sweat, sticking to the paled skin of her forehead. Her under eyes were dark and I could see her fingers shaking from here. She didn't just look tired. She looked sick.
I dropped Honey’s reins back. “Okay. Rest for an hour. I’ll take watch. You sleep.”