Inked by Eric Smith

Author:Eric Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2014-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The Road Never Traveled

“Something may awaken,” my grandmother said, her body crushed under an endless pile of rubble. Her arms and legs were bent in impossible directions, her neck twisted, but she still spoke. I bent down to grab a rock, barely the size of my fist, and watched in horror as it slipped from my grasp and transformed into a boulder. I pushed and heaved, rolling it aside, only to see it replaced by another one. Each rock I bent to pick up became enormous, expanding in size, permanently blocking the way.

“I can’t . . . I can’t . . . ,” I said, heaving rock after rock, my body drenched in sweat. “I’m sorry . . .”

“The pepper thistle . . . always right in front of you,” she said, as more rocks and rubble fell from the sky. I gazed up as the sky burned, the clouds turned to fire, the stones hurtling toward the earth like meteors. The rocks continued to pile up, but despite how high the mountain of stones grew, my grandmother’s voice remained clear, trapped beneath the growing heap. “Pepper thistle,” she said. “Something may awaken.”

The rocks stopped flying from the sky, and suddenly, all was silent. I called for her, I screamed at the top of my lungs into the mound of rocks and broke into thick sobs as an ominous pool of dark blood oozed from beneath them.

“Pepper thistle!” I heard in a loud whisper one last time that echoed through my mind.

“Caenum!” I heard Dreya’s voice, calling for me, somewhere out there in the darkness that swirled like Ink.

I fluttered my eyes open and looked up into a brilliant blue sky. I gasped, the winter air crisp and frigid.

It had been a dream.

I exhaled, relieved. I moved to sit up, and discovered that I couldn’t. I swayed back and forth, my hands tied tightly around my back, my feet bound. We were moving. I craned my neck to the side and caught a glimpse of the thick wooden beams beneath me, held together with brass bars. Bits of stray light came through them, revealing a dirt road underneath. I turned my head and spotted Dreya, peering at me with her bright amber eyes, sitting up and leaning against the edge of the wagon.

“What happened?” I asked. Dreya winced and looked around, motioning for me to be quiet. She nodded her head toward the front, where I could make out several horses, and spotted the outline of a large man seated at the head of the wagon, cloaked in burgundy and gold. The colors sent my heart racing.

Beyond Dreya, toward the back of the wagon, Kenzi sat slumped against the edge, asleep, his face lightly bandaged. And further off, I could see a handful of men following us on horses.

“What happened?” I repeated softly.

Dreya frowned. “Caenum, it’s the Citadel Guard,” her eyes started to glisten, “they showed up a few hours after Vikash knocked you out,” she stammered. “They wouldn’t listen to me.

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