Chapter 31 #4
“Your sister,” he mocked, “is not here. We’re close to finishing our mission. She had to leave for another. To prepare. But she’ll return when it’s done. When it’s ready, then I shall present it to her.”
“The green shard,” I said, before I could stop myself.
He cocked his head to the side. “Of course, you figured it out.”
“I know it’s in these caves—buried beneath them.”
Rhyan nodded. “We’ve been digging for weeks. Nearly a month. But I can sense it. My shard. Any day now, it will be free.”
My eyes flicked to the bed—to the red shard. He could sense the green—but could he sense the red? Did he know what that was? Had he taken it because he knew, because he remembered—or was it just something shiny, something that caught his eye?
I narrowed my eyes. “And what about Aemon?” I asked. “Ma-Maraak Moriel?”
“He’s with Morgana,” he said. “Tracking down the next shard.”
I blinked, taking that in. So neither of them were in Korteria. “Are any Lumerians here?” I asked. Rhyan shook his head. My stomach dropped. “Who’s in charge?”
Rhyan laughed again. “Me.”
“Just you?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“Are you still afraid?” he asked.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“I can smell it, just as I can smell your arousal. Both are sweet. Both are—” His eyes glowed and he growled with a sudden violence I hadn’t seen yet. He exposed his fangs and suddenly he lifted me up into his arms, and dropped me back on the bed.
The air left my lungs as I hit the blankets, and a shiver ran down my spine. Growls filled the alcove. Not just Rhyan’s.
More akadim. And from the sound of it, they were all trying to push their way toward Rhyan. Toward me.
I eyed the red sword, and quickly tried to shift my body closer. If I could just rub the ropes against it, I could free my arms, I could fight.
But suddenly, someone was on top of me, and I felt fangs on my neck.
I screamed and kicked, feeling the red shard shift and fall from the bed—out of reach. Shit! Shit!
Rhyan hauled the demon off me, and threw him into the wall. There was a horrible crunching sound and a thud as he collapsed.
Two more burst through the alcove’s entrance and I yelled out as two more akadim rushed for me.
But Rhyan got there first, cutting them off. He grabbed them, launching them forward. Their heads smashed into the stone walls, making a cracking sound before they fell.
Three unconscious akadim lay at his feet.
“We want her,” said one, hovering in the entrance.
Unlike Rhyan, he was nearly naked with short black hair.
The ones on the floor were also without clothing.
Almost none that I could see had any—only the collars.
I wondered if that was on purpose—if they didn’t care for clothing and Rhyan did—or if he just dressed up because of his title, because he was Arkturion.
Rhyan leaned forward, hissing and snarling at the akadim, his arms outstretched, claws taut.
“Give her to us,” shouted the black haired one.
“This one is mine! NO ONE TOUCHES HER!” Rhyan roared.
“Why? We can smell her,” said a blond akadim. He bounced from foot to foot, and gnashed his teeth, before sticking his tongue out. It was grotesquely long, hanging down past his chin.
“I don’t give a fuck what you cretins smell! Because that smell is for me! She belongs to me! No one touches her. No one so much as looks at her. Or I will tear your heads from your necks. Now get back to work! That’s an order—from your Arkturion.”
A third akadim stepped forward. This one, alarmingly, was missing all of his teeth—yet his mouth still seemed sharp and deadly. His eyes were bigger than the others and had zeroed in on me. “We can’t work now. We’re hungry, starved. We need to fuck as much as you do.” By the Gods. No. No.
“Why do you get one and not us?” asked the third. “We can share. We can take turns. I’ll even leave her arms on.”
“NO,” Rhyan said. “You know the rules.”
The third grinned. “Maraaka said no. She forbids it.” He touched his collar. “But, she’s not here.”
“You forget that I am! I enforce her orders!” Rhyan said with an icy violence. “There is no rape.”
I blinked. No rape. Morgana had forbidden rape. Did that mean—Gods—did that mean Rhyan hadn’t? Wouldn’t? And the others?
I wanted to believe it. But I wasn’t so sure—at least not since she’d been gone.
Because it was all over their faces. I could feel their lust and violence eking off them.
Maybe my earlier theory about them was right—that they’d been trapped inside here, starving, in every way. Forced to work, not eat, not rape, not kill. Not draw any attention to anyone that they were here. They had one job: dig.
They might have been controllable while alone in these caves. Away from temptation. But now I was here. Tied up. The easiest target in the world. Ripe for the taking.
And however much these akadim were evolved, able to walk in the day, able to think and use logic—however much control Morgana had, that didn’t mean their baser instincts were gone. They were just lying in wait.
How far did the influence of those collars carry? I thought before that they were like a kashonim—binding them to her and Aemon. But were they acting more like a blood contract? How far away was she?
“The work is almost done,” snarled an akadim—this one was beyond the alcove—and I couldn’t see a face. “We deserve a reward! You know we do. Maraaka Ereshya doesn’t have to know.”
“She will know,” Rhyan shouted. “You know the consequences of disobeying her. Of disobeying me! Now get out. You have work to finish if you want to even think about eating.”
“We haven’t eaten in days,” came a shout.
“Tonight, you’ll be fed. And that’s only if no one comes near her again.”
“Maraaka said no,” said a new akadim. He had scraggly yellow hair that fell to his shoulders—but none on the crown of his head.
He was still in the alcove, but towering above the others in front of him.
“I can smell her cunt from here, and she wants it.” Suddenly, his claws were out and he slashed the arms of the akadim in front of him.
He tore into our alcove, his red eyes fixed on me, while others began to pour in, invading the space.
Rhyan leapt like an animal, tackling the balding akadim to the ground.
“Get back,” he said, one hand around the akadim’s throat, the other held up to the others. “Do you need a fucking reminder? What happens when you disobey?”
“No!” cried the akadim. “Arkturion. I’m sorry!”
But he pleaded in vain. A second later, Rhyan ripped his head off, and chucked it at full force into the gathered akadim. Slowly he stood, and walked to the other three who still lay unconscious, and ripped off head after head.
Bile rose in my throat, as I heard the sound again and again. Like the crunching of bones, and tearing into meat. I had to look away before I was sick.
“You want food?” Rhyan asked, throwing the heads at the demon. He wiped his hands together. Then he kicked the remains of the dead at the others. The bodies flew, grotesque and headless. “Feast! Then back to work! GO!”
Most scrambled away, hissing and growling beneath their breath.
But there were three who stayed behind. They picked up the remains of the dead beasts, hunger in their eyes.
They lowered their heads to Rhyan in a show of respect, and then they rushed off, their claws digging into their dead companions’ flesh.
Alone again. Rhyan turned to me. He shook his head. “I need to get down there. We have a schedule to keep.”
I nodded, too stunned to respond after what I’d just seen.
But then his words settled in my mind. If he had to get back to work—did that mean he’d leave me here? Alone? If he did, I could cut my ropes. I could find a way to escape before he returned.
He walked slowly toward the bed and picked up the red shard. “I like this one. I’m going to keep it.”
My heart sank as he strapped it to his back. But if he at least left the others—
“You can’t be here alone,” he said. “I can control them. You saw. But they’re beasts at the end of the day. So you’re coming with me. It’s the only way I can keep you safe.”
“Where?” I asked.
“To the mines.” He hauled me up to my feet, and dragged me against him.
“Can you untie me?” I asked. “Please.”
“No.”
“I won’t … I won’t run away from you. You protected me. Like always. I want to be with you, Rhyan.” A tear fell. “You know that. That’s why I came to you. To find you. But the others—you saw what they were like. You have to untie me, just so I can defend myself.” His eyebrows lifted.
“Against the others,” I said. “Because I’m yours. I won’t let them touch me.”
“They won’t touch you. Because I won’t let them,” he said and reached below the bed. There was another piece of rope. He looped it around the one already around my arms, and then took the opposite end in his hand.
A leash. He’d made me a Godsdamned leash.
“And I’m not stupid enough to fall for that, Lyr. You’ll stay by my side until the work is done. And then, I’m going to make you one of us.”
“Rhyan!”
He tugged on the rope. “Come on, partner,” he said, his voice cold and cruel.
Then he walked out of the alcove, pulling on my leash until I was forced to walk forward, lest I be dragged. Because this Rhyan wasn’t going to stop if I fell.
A heavy rock lay outside the opening of our alcove. He pushed it between the walls, effectively turning it into a door, cutting me off from the room and all of my things. My swords, my stave, my armor. All of my weapons.
The cavernous walls loomed over me, and I could hear grunts in the distance. Rhyan moved forward, the red shard on his back glowing a faint red, before it blacked out leaving me in darkness with no choice but to follow him.