Chapter 10 Run
Dellilian is gone.
I’m not sure if the interaction with DaiSzek scared her, or if she’s abandoned us for good. But she’s left us alone in the woods, searching for a way to return home on our own.
Niklaus glares back at me as we continue to trudge with sore, aching legs and feet through the pine needles, wild vines, and damp soil from an early morning rain.
“What?” I snap.
His piercing avalanche of a stare returns to the forest ahead. “How’d you know that was going to work?”
I blink at the back of his head incredulously, watching his almost-shoulder-length hair get tousled in the cool breeze.
Does he think I’m going to explain that to him?
Does he think I’m going to reminisce over memories of DaiSzek?
Of the stories my mom has told me about him?
About how my blood is her blood and DaiSzek is smarter than he is, clearly, and would be able to recognize the scent alone?
“You’re welcome,” I say.
“Not an answer.”
“Not going to give one.”
Why does he care? He’s never liked DaiSzek.
And I’ve never for the life of me understood that.
When we were children, Niklaus was kidnapped for four days while he was supposed to be on a hunting trip in the woods with his neighbor and their parents.
A few Demechnef extremists killed the family and took Niklaus to a hideout deep in the Emerald Lake woods, and as far as we know… they tried to brainwash him.
On the fourth day, he was supposed to return from the hunting trip with his neighbors, but the sun began to set and there was no sign of him.
Before anyone had a chance to even begin to panic, Uncle Warrose took off to the woods to find him.
He didn’t waste a moment of speculation to wait around to see if they showed up.
My mom told Krimson and me that Uncle Warrose knows the forests better than anyone, knows how to track better than the rest of our family. Well, with the exception of one.
DaiSzek beat him to the woods where Niklaus was supposed to be. DaiSzek had already begun the hunt for who took him. He clearly understood when Aunt Marilynn and Uncle Niles were expecting their son to return, and his instincts told him to act immediately.
When Uncle Warrose made it to the woods to search, DaiSzek growled and barked to get his attention, urging him to follow.
It was midnight when Uncle Warrose and DaiSzek raided a condemned cottage to free Niklaus from his captors.
And I didn’t realize it then as a child, but my uncle and DaiSzek never brought back anyone living to punish.
They clearly took care of the problem themselves.
Niklaus returned completely silent. He wouldn’t speak for several days. Uncle Niles didn’t make any jokes or laugh for what felt like years. My mom blamed herself for not seeing it sooner, for not figuring it out through the void.
He never spoke about what happened. Never told anyone what was said to him.
Never spoke about the murder of that family who was killed on the hunting trip.
And I used to feel bad for him—and even made him a card and sock puppet to make him feel better.
He threw both away in front of the other kids, glaring at me like I couldn’t have been more pathetic for taking the time to make both.
The point is, even after DaiSzek saved him, he still was cold toward my gentle giant. Hardly ever acknowledged him. Not really noticing his presence in a room. And how the hell can that be? I’d forever be grateful to him for saving my life.
“You still scared of DaiSzek?” I break the silence.
I can hear Niklaus roll his eyes from the back of his head.
“I have never been scared of him.”
“Liar.”
“I just don’t like him,” he says.
“Everyone likes DaiSzek.” They are in awe of him. Speechless. Tempted to caress his fur and gaze into his russet eyes. Niklaus is the only one who avoids him even though DaiSzek has never been a threat or shown him harm.
“I am not a fan of animals,” he explains in that dark, baritone voice of light agitation.
“Then you are a sociopath. No other explanation.”
He continues walking without acknowledging that dig.
After a few minutes of complete silence, I let out an exhausted sigh and call out for Dellilian again. Is it possible she’s been taken? Hurt? Scared? Wandered off like a small child?
“Dellilian! We’re safe! Big bad DaiSzek is gone now!” I holler again, sending echoes of my voice to nearby caves.
Niklaus’s upper stiffens and his steps slow down. Here we go again, another outburst of annoyance.
“Dellilian!” I shout again, louder this time to piss him off a step further.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” Niklaus hisses over his shoulder.
“Ohhh,” I say incredulously. “When I figure out how to travel back home, I’m leaving your ass behind!”
What part of his stupid little brain is telling him that it’s a good idea to bite the hand that feeds him? I’m our only way home!
Niklaus spins on his heels to get in my face, scowling down at me with an alarmed expression. He presses one finger to his lips, drawing my attention to the stubble growing on his face, the faint trace of five o’clock shadow.
The idiot is shushing me now. He’s shushing me.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise at the loud silence, then a shuffling sound slicing through it like a scalpel, dissecting the stillness of the forest.
It’s not the shuffling of an animal. It’s the movement of boots.
My eyes widen, and as I lock eyes with Niklaus, we seem to share a thought, silently communicating our exhaustion and confusion as to why this is happening to us.
Even through time, why can’t we seem to escape being followed?
How could this even be a factor we’re worrying about? We don’t even technically exist here…
The trees creak in the strengthening wind, carrying the heavy, humid scent of an upcoming storm. In the corner of my vision, a tall figure shifts behind a distant tree.
I sigh.
“What’ll it be, gentlemen? You’ve already lost the element of surprise.” Niklaus raises his voice, scanning the trees.
It’s as if he’s talking to himself, yet we can practically hear their shallow breaths wisping through the falling leaves and spindly twigs.
Niklaus looks into the distance with narrowing eyes, tugging his black eyebrows together as he concentrates.
“What is it?” I whisper.
His arm snaps upward, wrist locking into place against a small gust of wind that whooshes past my cheek.
The blade of a small throwing knife slices into his palm.
A throwing knife he intercepts before it lodges in his shoulder.
Gritting his teeth, he throws it back in the same direction it came, hitting something that groans and falls to the ground.
The men dart from their hiding places all at once, kicking up dirt as they charge us from every angle. The attack this time is different than the last two. I thought there were only a couple of assailants hiding among us. But there are a little over a dozen this time.
“Oh my god,” I mutter.
Niklaus and I release our weapons even though we both can feel it. The only reason I wasn’t overpowered and killed last time was because Uncle Niles threw himself in the line of fire—using his hands to block the strikes of a blade.
A heavy blanket of doom drapes over my entire body as the fighting begins. Nerves prickle over the lining of my stomach. A near-painful chill burrows under my skin.
There are too many.
We’ve been trained. But we aren’t anywhere close to the legend of my father. It was said he could handle this many assailants. More, in fact. And in this moment, watching a storm of armed men rush us all at once, I wish my father was here now.
A throwing knife snags the side of my hip as I fight off two grown men, whacking their swords from opposite directions. I scream as a small chunk of flesh and blood is ripped from my upper thigh.
“Sapphire?!” Niklaus shouts over the chaotic noise of clanking metal.
“I’m okay!” Fuck no, I’m not. But the adrenaline powers through me, numbing my entire quad.
Niklaus grunts and falls to his knees as he’s kicked in the lower back. I make the mistake of looking back to check on him, and the hard knuckles of an assailant to my left cracks into my cheekbone. My vision blurs, and I blink furiously to relieve myself of watery eyes.
That’s when I see it. A man standing off in the foggy distance, watching the carnage from an elevated hill in the forest.
There’s something about him. It sets a sensation deep in my bones, bred of umbra, oppression, and death infused together. From just a glimpse amid the chaos, I see he’s about my height with a black pinstripe three-piece suit and a bowler hat.
His black stare spears through the shadows and mist. And it’s that look alone that doesn’t feel right.
I rip my gaze away from him to block another blow to my face—but it’s too late.
The stormy night edges creep into my sight, sucking my soul into that timeless pit.
A vicious force of nausea burns through my gut, spiraling up my esophagus.
It’s where I feel Dellilian’s comforting presence.
The hooks of time sink deep into my chest, drawing the breath from my lungs.
It’s then I see DaiSzek leap through the air, jaws unhinged, eerily quiet as he obliterates the men attacking us.
My heart completely stops.
DaiSzek came back for me. The way he’s done for my mother.
But the cosmic pit of stars and darkness swallows me whole, and we travel again.