Page 19 of Where the Shadows Land (Garden of Hope #1)

Astoria didn’t hesitate and bolted toward the northwest, deep into the thick of the forest. Rain came down in thick sheets, soaking her fur and the ground.

Following her instincts, she ran through the brush and bramble.

Each step away from the boundary set by the blood oath pulled against her skin and rattled her teeth.

Still, she pushed deeper into the forest. Even as the storm rumbled overhead and the temperature in the forest dropped, Astoria never stopped.

The wound in her chest bled a different type of pain.

No matter how she tried to push the feelings away, Astoria was drawn to Mairuk and running from them ached, too.

She couldn’t be near them. They drew her in with the promise of hope and the glimmers of light their touch offered her.

If she accepted their gifts, she’d spread her thighs for them without question.

She couldn’t resist them. Not for long. Even if the Goddess truly abandoned her, Astoria loved Damien enough to not dishonor him.

The death that awaited her was everything she deserved.

It would be bloody, it would hurt. Mairuk would tear her limb from limb, drink her blood, and leave her corpse to rot.

It was no less than what her actions earned her, and she’d accept it.

Fighting Mairuk’s rage wasn’t an option.

Not even if she knew how to wield her magic well enough to fight.

Astoria ran with Bastian until sunset painted the sky.

They came across a fresh stream and the twin foxes stopped to drink.

Mairuk hadn’t given a time limit to her expiration if she broke their oath.

Astoria was never taught magic because of the Orsea .

She didn’t know when the magic of the blood oath would take her, but she doubted it was long.

She imagined it’d be at least a few days.

If she found her way into human lands by then, Mairuk wouldn’t chase her past the border.

A soldier would kill them before they got too far.

Though that would free Astoria from the blood oath, the thought of Mairuk dying was a mule kick to the chest. They didn’t deserve to die because of her broken soul.

She wasn’t worth it. She would never be worth that.

Abandoned by her gods, without her husband, her village, and the best parts of her soul taken in the frozen hands of her dead infant, the only thing Astoria had left was the young fox beside her. Her only remaining friend in all that death. Her only remaining light. “I’m sorry, Bastian.”

He stopped drinking and tilted his head.

Astoria nuzzled into his fur. “You deserve so much more than what I have given you. You are the only reason it’s taken me so long to get to this point. I would have died much sooner without you. I’m sorry that I can’t fight anymore.”

“You are the companion I chose, Astoria of Leilan. You are my gift to guide. To whatever end.”

Astoria’s form dropped in a glow of green light.

Fresh tears stained her cheeks and she scooped Bastian up into her arms, uncaring of how wet he was.

She kissed his fuzzy little head, then cried into his flame-colored fur.

“I don’t deserve you. I’ve never deserved you, but gods, I am so grateful to have you with me. ”

Though Astoria could no longer understand Bastian’s response as words, she didn’t need to.

He snuggled into her hold and licked her face.

Affection and faith flooded the bond from him.

This precious little creature who she didn’t deserve offered her peace and comfort she was unworthy of.

He offered it to her even when this hurt him, too.

Astoria noticed Bastian still a moment too late. The ear-splitting screech of a harpy screamed above, followed by a great rush of wind that took her damp hair up into a storm. Drawn to regret, shame, and magic, six harpies circled above.

If Mairuk wouldn’t consume her, the blood oath found something far worse to punish her. These creatures were the consequence of her shattered oath. She knew that with the same certainty the sun would rise again. A fact. A knowing so true it couldn’t be denied by even the most disillusioned minds.

“Run, Bastian. This is my Fate, not yours.” Astoria dropped Bastian and patted his hip hard enough to get him to run on instinct alone. If nothing else, it gave the harpies enough time to kill her before Bastian tried to do something stupid like growl at them.

This was Astoria’s death, her consequence.

The result of every shameful and sinful act she’d ever done.

This was what she deserved, what she earned.

All of her instincts screamed at her to run, to fight, to do something , but she ignored the pull.

Astoria remained still as the swirling harpies came ever closer with the speeding wind.

Leaf litter twirled around her and tangled in her hair.

Fear crept up her spine and froze her in place.

The icy tendrils of terror wrapped around her ribs, her arms, her neck, and down her legs.

She couldn’t run now, not even if she wanted to.

Astoria didn’t bother to scream or cry. Her terror was silent as she forced herself to accept what she had done to herself.

There was no way out of this. She earned this punishment.

The first swipe of harpy claws against her shoulders jolted her frozen body with sharp pain.

A mouth bit her shoulder and Astoria couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Wings as tall as Astoria spread out on either side of the harpy.

Naturally white, the stained red and brown feathers carried the blood of all the harpy’s kills.

The talons on the harpy’s feet were longer than Astoria’s palms and solid black.

Each one of the four talons gleamed with unnatural light.

The harpy’s torso was bare to the world, her skin sunken in around her sharp bones.

Her emaciated form was taller than even Mairuk, with the neck taking the majority of her height.

A plume of white feathers danced up the neck and to the top of the head, where they gave way to a face so beautiful it felt like staring directly into the sun.

Angelic blue eyes, high cheekbones, blush lips and no nose made up the features of her perfectly rounded face .

It was fitting harpies would be the ones to send her into the abyss.

Harpies were the worst of the forest dwellers.

Legend said they were once women who possessed the Orsea and used it to drain others of their magic.

Their sins damned them to forever stalk the forest with their sisters, immortal and starving.

Forever suffering. Astoria closed her eyes as the creature tore her skin and muscle from her bone with her sharp teeth.

She bit her lip to stifle the scream building in her throat.

A snarl, deep and thunderous, shook the ground beneath her feet.

The harpies paused their ripping of her flesh, then screeched at whatever approached.

If it was something terrifying enough to scare the harpies, Astoria was better off with her eyes closed.

She refused to look at what would surely bring her death blow.

“ ASTORIA! ” Mairuk’s voice — actual voice somewhat masculine but not quite — rang through the forest with such intensity goosebumps rose on her skin.

Death came to consume her whole.