22. Chapter Twenty-Two #2
The fanged cat hadn’t seemed interested in Nikan and attempted to pursue the larger prey of the horse, but once Nikan was between them, it switched its focus.
My horse halted as we approached, and I jumped off, pulling out my daggers as I landed.
My horse trotted away, but surprisingly didn’t go far.
At the sound of my steps toward Nikan, the cat whipped around and turned sideways, allowing it to look at the both of us as I came up on Nikan’s side, caging it in with the cliff at its back.
The cat crouched down and curled its lips back, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth. My mind flashed back to the Trial.
Just another fucking beast waiting to devour me.
Nikan stomped the ground to raise a large boulder in front of him before he thrust out his free hand in a fist. The boulder flew through the air toward the cat but it jumped, avoiding the rock and latching onto the trunk of a tree, then pushing off down on us.
Nikan and I lurched in opposite directions, rolling to a stop as the cat landed right where we were standing. I leapt to my feet and realized that I hadn’t rolled far, while I could feel that Nikan had stumbled over the cliff’s edge and into the lake below.
The cat was stalking toward me. Its body came up to my chest. I pulled my arm back to throw my dagger but before I could release it, Odarum appeared in front of me. Wings splayed out, Odarum looked colossal and far more intimidating than myself.
Of course it took a life-threatening situation for him to return. He was my guardian and vowed to protect me.
The cat growled and lunged for Odarum, but he didn’t move.
Not a single muscle twitched. My heart stopped and my breath caught.
Before I could even blink, roots from the surrounding trees burst from the soil and wrapped around the cat, catching it in mid-air and suspending it above the ground in front of Odarum.
“Gods…” I breathed. My eyes bulged at the powerful magic displayed. It had to be one of Odarum’s abilities. I had never seen anything like it before.
The cat yowled and thrashed against the roots, but was unable to free itself as they tightened around it. Odarum lowered his wings, the threat neutralized. He turned around to face me.
“You have not been harmed?” Odarum asked.
I shook my head, still marveling and unable to speak. I felt Nikan manipulating back up the cliff to get back to me.
“Are you going to kill it, or should I?” I asked.
“This being has done nothing to deserve death. You will not kill it,” Odarum ordered.
“If you let it go, it’ll just come after us again.”
“It will continue to be restrained until you have safely left the forest,” Odarum said.
“Thanks,” I replied.
“I cannot stay. But I will return.”
Seriously?
I sighed and nodded once. “Fine.”
He stomped his hoof once and just stood there. After several moments, our horses came back, seemingly unbothered by the suspended predator who was still clawing and biting at the roots. Once the horses approached, Odarum vanished without another word.
“Good to know he’ll show up when needed,” I grumbled to myself and mounted my horse. I grabbed the reins of the other horse and led them toward Nikan.
“What happened?” he asked, looking around for the cat.
“Odarum showed up and took care of it. Trapped, not dead.” I handed over the reins before he mounted his horse. “Let’s get out of here before he releases it.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He kicked his horse and we galloped off through the trees.
It took nearly the entire day to pass through the Nahale Forest and cross into the great plains of Torx.
We rested that night in the grass. Nikan erected a triangular stone shelter, and we hung the cloth to act as a door.
We decided against building a fire for fear of the dry grass catching fire and spreading.
We ate from the rations of dried meats and berries that we had brought in our packs, and had water from the canteens that were beginning to run low.
It would last us until we could resupply in Narh, before we tracked down the seller of the ancient book.
I told Nikan more about the Trial, and I opened up about Njall and what the Sage said about me being in danger from the other Worthy—something I neglected to mention to the Scholars. I told him everything that I didn’t tell them. Except for the dream of the winged Lord with silver eyes.
And why should I have mentioned it? Yet, dream or no, it still bothered me and I had thought of it often over the past few days as we rode. I felt as if I knew who it was. And those eyes. The silver eyes that saw right into me.
No. It didn’t need to be mentioned until I knew what it meant.
We eventually retreated to our shelter for the night. I lay there and tried to clear my mind, but failed. The Trial. Kleio. The Glaev. Njall. Seeking the truth. My magic. Odarum. A dagger through my hand. Silver eyes. Rolim the Scholar. The soothing swirls inside of me.
I stood up and left the tent, needing the fresh air and not wanting Nikan to realize what was going on.
Once I was far enough away, I fell hard to my knees, squeezing my eyes shut as I hung my head, shaking it from side to side.
Pleading and desperate to stop the maddening thoughts that continued to invade my mind, I took a deep, shuddering breath, clenching my hands into the soft grass.
I forced my focus to feel the thin blades of vegetation and the moisture clinging to each strand, pressing deeper until my nails dug into the rich soil underneath.
A soft sob escaped from between my trembling lips.
The pressure in my mind was too great to suppress and, as the tightness in my chest grew, so did the wetness behind my eyes until a tear emerged, rolling down my cheek and falling to the dew-soaked dirt .
Beneath my fingertips I felt a thump in the distance with my terbis. It felt large and heavy, but didn’t move. It was far enough away that I wasn’t able to tell what it was exactly but it was undeniably there. I stood and faced that direction. I couldn’t see anything.
Even in the dark, I could see well. But it seemed darker in the distance, obscuring my view. I stepped forward, the grass lightly tickling my bare feet. A chill ran down my spine when all of a sudden, whatever it was simply vanished.