Page 9

I fumble backwards, shoving my boots on without tying the laces and throwing her bag over my shoulder. My own satchel sits on the ground near the bed, the flap open, and the stone missing. Panicked, I scan the room, searching as flames creep closer. From the corner of my eye, an orange light reflects off a dark, shiny surface peeking from beneath the edge of my bed. I reach for the stone, but the surface singes my fingertips. Crying out, I jerk my hand back.

The stone, I realize, is no longer whole but fragmented into pieces. As though it’s been broken open like a chicken egg.

I drop to my knees and squint through darkness and smoke for a better look. A pair of reflective orbs shine back at me in the light of the dancing flames. Before I can register what’s before me, the orbs blink and race toward me. A small dark creature scampers up my arm and onto my back as I writhe. Every doubt it was a “riverstone” is wiped away.

Before I can remove the creature from my back, another loud shriek rips my attention to the ceiling. Above me, the woodenbeams scream as flames engulf it. One buckles under the attack, swinging down and rocketing into the side of the wall near the window, shattering the pane.

The window.

I dive through its gaping mouth and land on my face. The creature on my back jumps off and disappears into the shadows of the night. I push back onto my feet, struggling to stay upright as another cough chokes my breath. I circle to the front of the house and my skin crawls at the raging inferno decimating our small home. The only home I’ve ever known. Walls slump inwards, parts of the roof cave in, and a near-blinding flare pulses in the night. I race for the front door and find it stuck.

“Mother!” I punch the wood, desperate for it to open. Pledging everything I am to get to her. I have to get her.

I have to save her.

Balancing on one leg, I rear back and drive my heel into the door.

Once.

Twice.

Panic sinks me, like a heavy rock in the pit of my stomach—this isn’t working.

I dash to the window leading to her room, but the walls groan, and the glass explodes. Embers spout from the fire, whipping across my face. I duck my head into the crook of my arm as an earth-shattering tremor reverberates over the ground. Before I can react, the walls of our home ripple like liquid and collapse.

A tidal wave of smoke races toward me. With no further hope of saving my mother or our home, I finally turn and run for the forest. The wind rips past me, chilling my sweat-coated skin and breaking it out into goosebumps.

I don’t slow until I’ve reached the forest.

My chest heaves and breath sputters. I fold to my knees and release a ragged cough. I don’t stop until I’m choking. My heartpounds, and my body trembles with each labored breath I suck into my lungs.

I dare a glance back toward the cottage, mentally begging my mother’s silhouette to walk out the front door and escape the flames stretching into the night sky.

A loud crack splits the night and sparks burst into the air. The last of my hope dies in my chest as what’s left of our home caves in.

A quiet numbness washes over me, broken only by the echo of my mother’s voice in my head. I crack. And sob.

My chest is heavy and empty all at once. A raw pain, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, tears through every inch of my soul.

The world spins around me before I fall to the forest floor. A distant pain roars in my skull as I connect with the ground. Stars twinkle in my vision before they turn black, and my mother’s voice echoes inside my head.

Trust no one.

five

DAEJA

An aching pain pulses in my skull, and my lungs strain with each rasping inhale. A rattling cough holds my breath hostage, and my eyes fly open as I suck in air. The rest of my senses spring to life one by one. Smoke taints my nostrils. My hand rests in front of me, blades of grass tickling my palm. I test my fingers by curling them inward, digging them into the cold hard earth. I’m laying stomach down on the ground, the dark silhouettes of trees stretching up into the night sky. An obscure hum rumbles far off in the distance.

The shadows shift, and small shadowed limbs and claws emerge from the black. I scramble to my feet. A black lizard-like creature stares at me with wide, white eyes. Unblinking. Unmoving. The animal chirps at me…chirps?

I fumble for something nearby and find an embarrassingly small stick, pointing it at the creature. “Get back!” I hiss.

The creature blinks, taking another step forward as I wave the stick wildly. Its gaze locks onto the wood in my hands. As I swingthe stick, part of it splits from the main branch and flies off a few yards away. The creature darts after it, trotting back toward me with the stick in its mouth.

The moonlight highlights the animal’s small, daggered teeth clenched around the stick. I freeze as the creature drops the stick at my feet and backs up a few paces. When we sit in silence for a few moments, I test it. I wave the stick again, and the creature watches my every move. Chucking the stick as far as I can, I bolt in the opposite direction toward the river.

The trees and river flash by me, and I finally slow as I approach my father’s and brother’s crosses. Surely, I would have lost the creature by now. I drop to sit by a tree, trying to even my breathing through hacking coughs.