32. Chapter Thirty-Two
Lazzus leaps on two people, and it takes me several seconds too long to realize we’re out of his story. That leaves enough time for someone to slam me to the ground and get their hands on my throat. The person has black eyes, and they’re gnashing their teeth.
“Get Zyon! Now!” Lazzus shouts to someone, but I can’t move to see who.
I wiggle my dagger free and stab it into the temple of my attacker. They keep lowering their mouths like they want to rip out a chunk of my flesh. I yank out the knife and stab again and again, twisting each time. It’s in this moment I’m grateful Zyon has kept up my training all these months.
When the insane zombie goes still, I throw him off me, only to be knocked down by three more.
The snow is biting into my back where my coat has ridden up, and it’s enough to shock my senses awake.
The stench from the mad is like rotted meat left in the sun, and it’s so powerful it seems a strategic move all on its own.
I pull out another dagger and jab it into the stomach of one while throwing my head back into another. The void-eyed woman tumbles back, and two of her teeth fall to the ground. I kick her down, stomp on her head, and spin to catch the second in the gut again, slicing into his groin.
I dodge the woman lunging for me and jump up to slit her throat.
Blood spews from her jugular at the same time the man wraps his arms around me.
Stomping on his foot does no good, and he has my arms locked too tightly for me to move.
I fling myself forward, and it loosens him enough for me to throw him off.
Lazzus is fighting at least five that I can see, but before I can assist, three jump on me.
Pain fires all over my body as they chomp on my arms and legs.
I stab and roll back and forth, hitting blows where I can, but the teeth in my flesh are becoming too frequent.
Then they all stop moving right before they turn to dust. I blink through the blood dripping from my forehead and have to squint to be sure I’m seeing what I am.
Zyon touches each attacker, and their flesh becomes dust, leaving only bones behind.
The king moves with unnatural speed and takes care of any left before shoving Lazzus. “Why would you not take her back into the wall?”
“I didn’t see any threats, and I’m capable of protecting her.”
“Clearly you created more threats than you froze!”
“I must have traveled to more towns than I thought.”
“Get the hell out of here before I figure out how to end a wraith.” He raises his hand when Lazzus goes to speak again. “We’ll talk about this all later. I forbid you to stay here for now!”
At Zyon's words, Lazzus disappears.
He scans the horizon as he attempts to catch his breath. Just as he starts toward me, several more of the madness infested round the side of the castle. I scream, and he turns around. They leap on him so quickly, and fear overrides any pain.
Zyon is dropping them with touch alone, but there are too many of them. He tosses me his sword. “Get to the gate, Neera! Now!”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“Then you’re going to die and fail everyone you love! Don’t be a fool.”
“No!” I charge the mob and slice into one after the other.
“Woman! You better stay back because I swear if I touch you by mistake…”
“You’ll what? Resurrect me into a bone person or a cat, so you can lecture me!” I knock through heads almost as fast as he is creating the dust that is mixing with the blowing snow, lowering visibility.
No matter how many we kill, more and more appear. Zyon leaps for me, throws me over his shoulder, and runs.
I lift my head and gape at the massive horde heading our way. They move too fast for having backward, creaking joints. They look like odd, four-legged spiders, scurrying toward their favorite meal.
I grip Zyon’s sword to ready it for use. “There are so many of them!”
“That’s not helpful!” He picks up his speed.
Guards shoot past us, and the two sides slam into each other. Zyon throws me, and I land inside a small gate that he commands closed.
I jump to my feet to run after him. “No!”
Guards hold me back at his orders until I’m locked away from the king.
“Zyon! Zyon! No!” I punch the guard holding my elbow. “Let me out!”
After much too long of me punching guards, screaming, and trying to find a way beyond the wall, the gate finally opens.
Zyon stumbles inside, and I launch at him, catching him as he falls forward.
Blood covering me is the moment I realize there’s a massive hole in his gut.
He’s trying to hold his entrails in, and the realization causes me to heave, which is the least helpful response my body could give.
"Why didn't you run through the gate with me?" I pull my sweater from my bag to hold him together.
"They were climbing the wall with a ladder. I had to destroy it before they climbed over and got to you." His eyes clench so tightly as his words bring me immense guilt.
Thuds hit the gate, so many of them, and the wood cracks, like the zombies possess extreme strength and the door will buckle.
Several guards press against it while a few come over to check on the king.
Zyon stumbles around before falling on his back.
I curse myself for leaving in such a panic that I left the healing water that could save him back in my room.
“No! Get the healers! Get them now!” I press my sweater against his wound. “If you die, I will hate you forever! Forever! Do you hear me?”
“You are very loud. I need to die just to escape your shouting.”
“Ass! You better not die, you idiot!”
“I’ve missed your foul tongue.” He smiles through a grimace and wipes away my tears.
“I hate you!”
“I’m not the happiest with you at the moment either.”
“Don’t turn this on me! This is all your fault.”
“Not a nice... thing to... hear as I die.” He closes his eyes and goes still.
“No! Zyon! Come on! Stay with me. Please! Zyon! No! Somebody help!”
Healers rush over and start working on him.
He pushes them away. “Tend to her first.”
“Don’t you dare tell them that! I will walk all the way home.”
Maximo stands over Zyon, inspecting his wound. “There are enough healers to tend to you both. No reason for either of you to play sacrifice.”
“Once they work on her, I will allow care.” Zyon tries to push the healers away again.
“Your insides are spilling on the ground, and I only have cuts and bruises! If you die, I will curse your dead body!”
“That has to be better than dealing with your obstinance.”
Only when two more healers appear do Zyon and I quit arguing and let them tend to us.
My wounds are mostly minor, and some Elven salve seals the deeper ones well enough.
The king’s abdominal injury is much more dire, and it takes four of them working on him to make it so they can move him.
They give him something to sleep off the worst of his pain, and a few of his men carry him back to his bed.
“He will most likely sleep for a few days, miss,” one of the healers informs me. “We will care for him well if you would like to get some rest yourself.”
I almost turn her down until I remember I’m a terrible person for abandoning my best friend who’d just become a cat.
The shock and anger are no excuse for leaving her in such a state.
“Get me if anything changes with him,” I tell the healer and resist kicking his bed for turning my best friend into a cat.
While I’m still furious with him over it, by my earlier reaction, I clearly don’t want bad things to happen to him.
That, and I still feel extremely guilty about the ladder.
It’s a confusing set of emotions I will have to sort out later.
My room is dark, and I turn on the chandelier as I lift pillows and blankets.
“Ivelle! Ivelle. I’m so sorry I left you to deal with all the terrible things that have happened to you.
Ivelle! Where have you gone?” I look under my bed and inside the closet.
“Ivelle!” I sink into a chair after tearing my entire room apart.
My lip quivers, and I bite it to calm my rising panic.
Ivelle jumps onto my lap and nudges my hand with her head. “Neera.”
I hug her to my chest. “Ivelle! I’m so sorry. So sorry this happened to you, that all of it happened to you! I’m such an awful friend to leave you in the middle of this crisis. I was trying to figure out a way to end it, so maybe you could be put back.”
“Don’t be sorry, Neera. It’s too late for me. My body is long gone. Being a cat is a dream come true, and King Zyon asked my permission before he did it.”
“He asked for your permission?”
“Yes, I was floating around confused and couldn’t leave the village. It took me a really long time to realize I was dead. Maybe because there was nothing left of my body. I’m not sure, but everyone was frozen. I think time works differently when you’re dead.”
“No, it’s frozen. It’s a long story.”
“That must be quite the story.” She stretches her front legs so her rear end sticks up before settling back on my lap. “But the king came, and he could see my soul. He explained he could help me become a cat or help me move on to the afterlife.”
“You chose to be a cat?”
“Yes, I thought it would be an enjoyable experience, and if I hated it, cats don’t live too long.” She nudges my hand again. “Don’t cry, Neera, I’m okay with that.”
“I’ve missed you. We didn’t get enough time.” I hug her to me and try not to wet her fur with my tears.
“We’ll have a little more now.”
“What do you need? I can get you anything," I say.
“No, need. Zyon gave me a room with anything a cat could dream of, but I haven’t figured out how to open doors. That would be one thing you could do for me.”
I take Ivelle to her room and get a shower to clean myself up. The healers told me to come see them for bandage changes, but it’s something I can do well enough on my own.