The Blood of Outcasts (The Bane Sword Saga Book 1) by D. A. Smith

Author:D. A. Smith [Smith, D. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: D. S. Publishing
Published: 2021-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

TWENTY

BEFORE MY FALL: ACT 4

They came for us. I couldn’t stop it, didn’t want to. I thought I could ride it, harness it, but it burnt me up.

I searched for Zaki in the hours following his dismissal. Looking in his quarters, everything was untouched, his bed still rolled and tucked away. A lake chrysanthemum drooped on his desk, the petals slowly dripping from its head, the soft watery aroma dissipated. I sighed. It was never good to watch decay happen in the room you slept. A promise of sleepless nights and a clouded mind awaited those who did. As my eyes glanced over the room, one thing startled me; his twin blades were gone. A warrior left only with their blades for battle or for travel. Panic fell on me like a shroud, clutched at my shoulders and chest. I searched, then, for his robes. Gone. And as I faced the entranceway, tucked into one of the wooden beams, a piece of parchment fluttered in the draught. Cool air snaked through it; a chill raked down my spine. On the note, a single High Bashoan symbol etched atop the Murakami’s owl. Not theirs of PATIENCE, replacing it was CONSEQUENCE.

The wind caught my step as I barrelled into the stables, the stableman looked up just in time to see the anger boil towards him. Grabbing him by the collar I pushed him into the wall. “You let him go?!”

“Milady, I-I…It’s above me to.”

I dropped the boy, who slumped to the floor in a shriek. Lonestep whinnied as I passed her stall, bothered briefly by my presence before worrying her straw bedding once more. All horses accounted for, except for the middle stall. The one that I saved for last, hoping it wouldn’t be so. My eyes fell on the empty stable; a void where my anxieties laid, punctuated with a sharp loneliness. He was gone.

Consequence. I mulled the symbol around, swilled it but I didn’t quite get the taste. Was that the consequence, Zaki? That you went and stole everything I truly loved in the world with you, because you couldn’t stand up to the godlord? Or because you daren’t. Well, you will never know that I drew the courage to take on this land from you. My twin sword. There’s something blunt about his leaving that never sharpened again. Zaki wouldn’t return, I felt that.

My lips curled, my face scrunched, and I stifled a scream. What came out was a growl. I turned on the stableman who let it happen. An elk caught in the field tiger’s gaze. I must have looked the picture of one.

I pounced.

He shielded his face, I hammered down his frail guard with a couple of wild punches, he was not built to take it. My next punches beat him to the ground, and I couldn’t contain myself until my knuckles were raw, and his face pulped.

I heard only my breaths. I felt a hunger, but then I couldn’t place it.

Innocent blood pooled around me, overwhelmed my senses.

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