Death's Daughter and the Ebony Blade: Volume 5 [Parts 1 to 10] by Maito Ayamine

Author:Maito Ayamine
Language: eng
Format: epub

The sun had almost reached its zenith. Stacia and Ashton stood at a fork in the path that stretched away left and right. The trees grew in a tangled thicket on both sides, their trunks surrounded by dense undergrowth. Whichever way they chose, it didn’t seem as though there would be much difference.

“Which do you think is closer to the road?”

Ashton considered. “The left, I think. But that’s only a hunch.”

“Okay. We’ll take the right, then,” Stacia said automatically. Ashton felt uneasy about this, but he followed her quietly. After they had walked a little while in silence, he heard the sound of thunder in the distance. He looked up and realized that at some point the whole sky had closed over with black clouds.

“Looks like we’re in for rain,” he said. Stacia didn’t reply. “Stacia? Did you hear me?”

“Yeah...” she croaked, her eyes fixed ahead. “I hear you.” She swiftly nocked an arrow to her bow. Ashton, not wanting to believe it, looked forward as well. Dimly, he made out a reddish black shadow. That was all he needed to see.

“You were right, it didn’t give up.” There was no convenient river for them this time, but Stacia sounded unexpectedly calm. Ashton was too preoccupied to deliberate on whether this was because she thought they could get away, or if she had given up. What was clear was that he was staring certain death in the face.

Norfesses are intelligent. There’s no way we’ll catch it with the same attack again.

While Stacia prepared to leap valiantly into battle, Ashton’s eyes raced over their surroundings. There, he saw it—a narrow path leading away into the trees.

“We can run that way!” he cried, gesturing for her to go first. Just as he bounded after her, the Norfess let out an earth-rattling roar. He didn’t look back, just ran straight on. Here and there, he felt sharp pain as another branch clawed at his face, but he couldn’t afford to pay that any mind. He nearly stumbled on the uneven ground over and over again, the sound of his heart roaring in his ears as though it were about to burst. Finally, just as the forest opened up, Ashton stopped running. More accurately, he had no choice but to skid to a halt. Stacia, who had drawn up short beside him, broke into a wheezing laugh.

“Looks like this is it then,” she said. Before them, the ground dropped away in a cliff. The sight of it was like a blow to the face. Ashton, despairing at the cruel irony, peered over the edge of the cliff, only to be greeted by jagged rocks.

Fall down there and this time it really will mean certain death. Still, if only it would rain, there might still be some hope...

Stacia, her face now set, nocked another arrow and drew her bow to face behind them. Ashton’s ears picked up the cry he had heard back when he was attacked the first time.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I might as well have led us into this.

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