Page 9 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

The question was screamed at me as a hand grabbed the back of my dress, pulling me out of the water. The sound of it tearing faintly registered in my mind.

“What…” My words came out in breathy stutters. “What were those things?”

He glanced back at the water. “The fish?”

“Those are not just fish.”

He shrugged. “Look like most fish I’ve seen.”

I blinked up at him, trying to figure out if he was lying or playing some prank on me. We must have been looking at two completely different creatures if he thought those were normal.

“Care to explain why you were trying to drown yourself?” he asked before I could argue further.

“Care to explain what you’re doing out here?” I shot back, my cheeks burning as it hit me that I was sitting here, arguing with a child.

“What?” He glanced down at himself, confusion pulling his boyish features tight. “Shit,” he cursed before dropping his bag, then kicked off his shoes. “Turn around,” he barked at me.

I quickly listened, turning back to face the creature infested water.

My legs tucked underneath me to avoid even the risk of them touching the water.

I winced as he let out a pain-laced grunt and several curses.

There were several pops and what sounded like bones crunching before a sudden silence stretched between us.

His feet shuffled along the rocks before he spoke up.

“You can look now. Try to avoid yellin’. Don’t want them comin’ back.” His voice was much deeper than it had been moments ago. It was thick with an accent I’d never heard before.

I rolled my eyes, shakily getting to my feet so I could turn and look at him. My eyes widened as I quickly slapped my hand across my mouth, the sting faintly registering as I caught my scream.

The little boy was gone. In his place stood a monstrous creature. I took several steps back without much thought, the cold water lapped against the back of my heels.

Long, pointed ears stuck out from the side of his head, their tips drooped back toward the ground, creating an unnatural L shape.

A long beard draped down from his dark green chin.

There were leave and buttons were woven through his mud brown hair.

Beads were woven through braids that started at the top of his head and ended around his elbows.

Three long claws sat where his fingers had been moments ago.

The backs of his hands were covered with small spikes that traveled along his arms and over his shoulders.

The spikes dropped down across his forehead, creating an arrow that pointed at his crooked nose.

His eyes were the same muddy green they had been while he was a child.

“What are you?” I mumbled around my hands. My eyes stung as I kept staring at him. An irrational fear filled me that blinking would either make him disappear or give him the power to move closer.

He huffed, crossing his arms over his round stomach. There wasn’t much of a height difference between the two versions of him. If anything, he seemed to be shorter in this form, causing him to have to look up to glare at me before turning away.

“If you’re coming with me, we need to leave. Now,” he continued.

I sucked in a deep breath. My knees shook before locking together, threatening to collapse under my weight.

I threw my arms out as I started losing my balance.

He was the only one I could trust right now.

Shapeshifting aside, he hadn’t tried to kill me yet.

I certainly wasn’t going to let him leave me with creatures that had already tried.

He jerked forward, grabbed my elbows to keep me upright as I wobbled.

I grabbed onto his shoulders, avoiding the spikes, a grateful smile spread as the shaking slowed.

I was able to move, but every muscle felt sore.

The leaves around us shook as a breeze started.

My dress puffed up as the wind blew through the holes.

My face burned for a new reason as I looked down.

It shouldn’t have been a priority after almost dying, but my dress was completely ruined.

One half was completely shredded with only a few ribbons keeping it tied together.

The bottom was stained brown from the mud.

Tears were scattered throughout the rest of it.

The sleeve, on the shoulder I had been scratched on, had been ripped off.

I sucked in a sharp breath as I saw the claw marks, a trembling finger traced over them.

They were already healed in pink, raised scars.

None of this made sense. It looked like someone put black dye into my veins.

A new wave of nausea churned through me as I traced along the dark marks.

I wasn’t sure which part freaked me out more—the markings on me or the fact that something that happened a few hours ago was now fully healed.

“Don’t move,” he muttered, pulling me from my thoughts.

I lowered my hand as he pulled a small knife out of his belt, cutting away at the bottom of my dress. The weight of the soaked fabric falling away had my shoulders sinking in relief.

He gave me an approving smile before walking off into the river. I just stood there for a moment, watching him wade through the water. Bright colored fish fled from him. It wasn’t until he looked back at me that I realized he wanted me to follow.

My eyes widened as I looked between him and the water. He wasn’t slowing, though. I had a choice. Follow and hope for the best, or die out here. They both seemed like horrible choices. My hands clenched and unclenched before I walked into the cold water.

The slow currents were enough to cause my steps to wobble again.

Each time I raised one leg, the other threatened to get swept out from underneath me.

The only thing keeping my breathing even was the fact that the water was shallow.

It was only deep enough to brush against the bottom of my dress.

Still, I didn’t want to end up face to face with the fish swimming away from us.

My bare feet sliding along the rocks wasn’t helping me, either.

“Why aren’t we going through the forest?” I yelled as I slipped, barely catching myself in time.

A chill settled deep within me as the breeze picked up. My teeth clattered together between words as I trembled. My hands rubbed along my arms as I tried to keep some warmth.

“Are you an idiot?” He laughed, glancing back at me as I narrowed my eyes. “Or do you just have a death wish?”

I didn’t bother answering him. What kind of question was that? The choice seemed to be between freezing in a river or running through a forest with someone who seemed to know a lot more about it than I did.

“Kabora poison,” he said as he pointed to the black marks along my shoulder, “has a distinct smell to it, and you reek. You step foot out of this water, and they’ll find you.”

I paled as my heart sank. That settled it, then. Freezing in a river.

“You could’ve just said that,” I muttered, staring at where I was stepping, trying to make sure I stayed as dry as possible. “What’s your name?” I asked, looking up at him as I tried to find something normal to focus on.

“Klyn,” he offered, glancing over at me, his gaze snagging on something behind me.

I followed his stare, my heart rocketing as I searched the tree line.

Was there another monster he saw chasing us?

The forest behind the trees was dark, but there was nothing there.

At least, nothing that I could see. When I looked back, he was smiling, his gaze focused on me again.

The way he kept glancing away did nothing to ease my worries.

Every instinct screamed that something was wrong. That I needed to run. I tried to shake off the feeling. He had done nothing for me to be afraid of him. Yet. Klyn was my best shot. He knew the creatures here, and hopefully had a destination in mind.

I cursed as I was ripped from my thoughts. My foot slipped again, sending me crashing into the water. I huffed out a deep breath as I stood. My dress now clung to every inch of me. The thin nightgown wasn’t built for warmth and now it felt like ice as the wind chilled it.

Klyn slowed until he was walking next to me.

He used one hand on my elbow to steady me as we moved through the water.

He kept glancing around us, muttering something low enough that I couldn’t make out.

The words sounded like he was looking for a lass.

It must have been a sister or friend. My shoulders relaxed some at the thought.

If he wasn’t worried, then I didn’t need to be terrified.

His looking for a friend would be much better than a monster that might snatch us out of the water.

I still glanced through the forest, half expecting more eyeless monsters to appear, the unease settled in the pit of my stomach. The urge to run increased with each step we took until my knees ached with the urgency of it.

“Thanks.” I tried to break the silence between us. “For saving me, that is.”

The silence continued. Water splashed as we slowly waded through it. Animal calls came from somewhere deep within the trees. Their high-pitched cries made my skin crawl.

“I’m Cece,” I offered.

His eyes widened slightly before turning to glare at me. At least he finally looked away from the trees. Beads of sweat gleamed along his forehead as he dropped my arm., wringing his hands together. My brows furrowed at his reaction. I glanced back at the trees, but nothing had changed.

“Sorry, miss, but I’m not one for chatter.” That’s how he finally answered.

My fists balled up at my sides as I felt the anger simmering deep in my chest. One hand reached up to rub the scar on my chest. My cold hand helped ease the heat I felt building.

When I stopped trying with Klyn, and ignored the dangers I knew lived here, the forest wasn’t much different than what I had seen back home.

There were the same leafy trees that changed colors with the seasons.

Right now, they were a vibrant orange and red.

If I could take a moment to stop freaking out, it was beautiful.

Bright, purple flowers followed along the riverbank.

Bands of light broke through the canopies.

Small creatures scurried around the ground, darting between the trees.

A hand covered my mouth as I was dragged out of the water. The sweaty palm muffled my startled yelp. My nose wrinkled at the salty taste that invaded my mouth.

Klyn easily pulled me out of the river, walking us onto a stone path.

My hands started shaking as I glanced around us.

The urge to bite down on his hand so he’d let me go struck me.

He was lucky the thought made me cringe.

His hand smelt like something rotten mixed with mint.

A nauseating combination. Thankfully, it didn’t come to that as he pulled his hand away before speaking.

“We need to cover what you’re wearing.”

I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth, trying to get rid of the smell that burned my nose. I couldn’t argue with him. Every time I thought about my dress, my face burned at the fact that he’d been looking at me like this.

Klyn pulled off a leather bag that was slung over his shoulder, setting it on the ground.

He glanced over at me before placing himself between me and the bag.

Glass tinged together as he rifled through the contents.

Papers ruffled together, and something metal rang as it was hit against something else.

How much did he shove in that bag? I went on my tiptoes, trying to peer around him, but a piece of cloth was shoved into my face before I could look.

“Put this on,” he demanded.

I unfolded the black cloak, putting it on. Relief flooded me as it fully covered my dress. The inside was covered in dark, soft fur that quickly chased away the cold. I tied the strings around my neck, pulling it tight around me.

“Now you don’t stink.” He smirked, seeming proud.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the cloak had the same rotten mint smell he did.

If anything, I had to smell way worse now than a few minutes ago.

I couldn’t remember how the Kabora smelled, but it certainly wasn’t worse than this.

Instead, I just waved off his comment as he moved onto the path we had been standing next to.

Everything was quiet as we walked down the path. The only noises were the crunching of our steps and chirping of birds. I kept my gaze trained to the ground, trying to avoid the sharp rocks that kept cutting into me.

The silence didn’t last long. We had only been walking for a few moments when voices could be heard.

They were mainly just broken yells too far to be able to make out any words.

It sounded like hundreds of excited people trying to yell over each other, creating a giant mass of noise.

I pulled the cloak tighter around me as Klyn picked up his speed, a grin taking over his face.

His grin got wider as we broke through the edge of trees, standing at the top of a hill as we looked down at the town below us.