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Chapter. 54

The first morning light begins to creep over the horizon. My body is exhausted. I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t.

Sunlight dots the green vegetation at the base of the tree. There is no sign of anything nefarious lurking below. Since the wind died down, I haven’t heard noises bar the occasional buzzing bug. I suppose that whatever I thought was chasing me last night is gone. Though I’m not setting foot on the ground until the sun is shining bright.

Gingerly, my arms unfurl from the trunk, and I move my body to a more comfortable spot between two branches. Small bits of bark fall out the creases in my leather sleeves.

Pressing my fingers along my palm, I inspect the thin coat of crusted blood. There’s no pain or visible injury. It must’ve come from my face.

My fingers trail over my cheek. The soreness is concentrated at the bridge of my nose, but there aren’t any cuts. I wipe some of the dried blood off my upper lip. It’s tempting to use the waterskin to wash my face, but I can’t waste water when I don’t know where I am.

It appears that the only injury I sustained last night was nothing more than a superficial nosebleed, though I can’t say the same for the arm lacerations from when Rahlan took me over the human city’s wall.

I pull up my sleeve and run my finger along the tightly wrapped bandage. Rahlan used to replace it every morning in the castle.

I reach into the backpack and pull out the white linen shirt. Replicating Rahlan’s tight wrappings with just one hand seems impossible, and that’s not even including his special potion mix for soaking the bandage.

My arm doesn’t hurt, and there’s no blood, but the bandage has picked up some mud from one of my falls last night. I just took Rahlan’s medical care for granted at the time, and now I wish I’d paid more attention. If I take this bandage off and fail to put on the new one correctly, I could end up aggravating that wound, which is not something I can afford in the middle of the forest. I’ll have to figure out how to deal with it later. The old bandage will have to do for an extra day.

I take the sextant out of the bag. Remembering what Rahlan taught me weeks ago, I take the opportunity to measure my latitude before the stars are hidden behind the blue sky. While this doesn’t help me figure out where I am, it will allow me to track my progress every day.

I take a sip from the waterskin and pack everything away, positioning Keld’s sword in the bag such that I can easily reach over my head and grab it in case of an emergency.

My stomach yearns for food. There was nothing in the kitchen when I left, and Rahlan’s night guard made stocking up in the village impossible.

With the sun higher in the sky, the green forest floor doesn’t look nearly as terrifying. If I want to remain free, I have to get moving. My scheme to hide my tracks fell apart when I started panicking last night, but now that I can see, I can pace myself and be careful not to disturb the plants around me.

Satisfied that there’s nothing hiding in the underbrush, I swing Rahlan’s bag on my back and climb down the tree. The thick leaves that felt like they were suffocating me last night now glow green in the sunlight. They provide a canopy over my head, like a natural cave made of plants.

I touch a leaf – wet with dew – what I mistook for a tongue last night.

The thought of something licking my skin sends a shiver through my bones. To put my mind at ease, I reach back and make sure that I can grab the sword’s hilt.

Using the sun as my guide, I step out the leaf canopy and head south. My eyes search the branches over my head for fruit and the bushes for berries. I’m bound to come across something.

I alternate between long and short steps, varying both the span of my stride and the width between each foot. Large rocks and fallen trees provide the perfect opportunity to vary my direction without leaving a mark. From watching Rahlan track Colin, I know it wasn’t easy. Even if Rahlan manages to reach the tree that I spent the night on, following me any further would be impossible.

I wish I could see his face when he discovers that my sharp footprints over the hills disappeared at the edge of the forest. He’d refuse to admit that using socks was a brilliant idea, even if it had thwarted him.


I trudge through the forest the entire day. The underbrush has thinned out, allowing me to move much quicker. Traveling in silence feels isolating, and I find myself having imaginary conversations in my head. I play out reuniting with Ivan – telling him about how I’ve spent the last few weeks living under a vampire. I also catch myself talking to Rahlan, explaining myself, explaining why he left me no choice but to leave. Which is silly. I don’t owe him anything.

It’s almost dusk, and despite the distance I’ve covered, I’ve yet to come across fruit, berries or any source of food.

The forest is littered with tack tack flowers. I pick a pink one and spin it in my fingers. Did Rahlan remembered to take them off his cape? A smile crosses my face at the thought of him charging after me with a flowery cape while his soldiers have to hold themselves back from laughing.

I glance up at the sun through the forest canopy. It’ll be dark soon, and I’ll have eaten nothing the whole day. How did Rahlan always manage to find food so easily?

A distant rumbling grows louder as I walk. I’m drawn towards the sound, hoping for a change of scenery and maybe some food.

The rumble changes tune as I approach. It’s the sound of water. A river. I step through a thick layer of vegetation, and a beautiful waterfall awaits me. Giant boulders sprinkle the river, breaking up its flow and fanning the water out like a fountain.

I move to where the falling water hits the river. The spray forms a rainbow as it mixes with the sunset.

There’s a small cavity in the rock, curtained by the waterfall. I step inside the opening, entering a surreal world. The curtain of water morphs the land to a mixture of green and orange, and the once loud splashing is now a low rumble.

I open my palms and touch the stream, cleaning my hands and then my face. It feels good to be rid of the crusty blood and dirt from my panicked run last night.

I dump the remaining water out of the waterskin and fill it in the falling veil. It’s much slower than simply shoving it in the river, but I don’t mind spending a few extra minutes here.

A woman’s laugh shatters the peaceful atmosphere. I jump back from the water curtain and press my body against the stone in a bid to hide.

The black scars that stained Jaclyn’s skin pop to the front of my mind, the mark of the lethal venom often delivered by a vampire woman’s bite.

Whoever’s out there may want my blood or even my life. I feel sick.

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