The Last Apprentice: Slither by Joseph Delaney

Author:Joseph Delaney [Delaney, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, General, Horror & Ghost Stories, Fantasy & Magic, Paranormal
ISBN: 9780062192349
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-01-22T05:00:00+00:00

USING A WHETSTONE, I systematically began to sharpen the blades I planned to use in the arena. I selected two daggers – along with Old Rowler’s sabre, which had quickly become my favourite weapon.

As I worked, Nessa watched me intently. I was considering her surprise proposal. She was, without doubt, brave – far braver than any other purra I had encountered, but there was a terrible risk in letting her stand in the arena unbound. If she fled, I would forfeit my life. I sensed that she was about to say something important to her, and was soon proved correct.

‘I would like to ask you a favour,’ she said at last.

‘Speak and I will listen,’ I replied, concentrating most of my attention on the task at hand but prepared to give her a hearing.

‘Could my sisters be bound to their posts without being awoken?’ she asked. ‘I would like to spare them the terror of the arena.’

‘That is impossible, little Nessa. It would not be allowed – it would deprive those who witness the trial of the pleasure of hearing them scream. And it is more enjoyable to watch someone who is conscious bleed and die. Asleep, they would provide no entertainment at all.’

As a youngster, I had once visited a trial. It had been over very quickly, but despite that I had enjoyed the manner in which the Haggenbrood despatched its victims, and the way the blood splattered, making delightful patterns against the white of the arena floor. But on my rare visits to Valkarky since taking up my vocation, I had never even considered attending another.

Now I was comfortable alone, working my haizda, and preferred to be far from the clamour of such events. I no longer found it comfortable to be close to so many of my people in one place.

‘Entertainment?! How can you use such a word when my sisters’ young lives might be lost? What kind of creatures are you?’

‘It is just the way things are, little Nessa. We are very different to humans. It is the way of my people, and I am bound by Kobalos customs and conventions. So I can do nothing to spare you and your delicious sisters the inevitable fear and pain that awaits you.’

It never ceased to amaze me that Nessa was prepared to sacrifice herself to help her sisters. Of course, for her to stand and face even one of the Haggenbrood’s selves in such a way, even with a knife in her puny hand, could have only one result. She would be dead before she realized what had happened. But I thought such bravery deserved a reward.

What would she most wish for now? I wondered. In a second I had the answer. Briefly I would suspend the solitary confinement of the three purrai.

‘Would you like me to wake your sisters now so that you can have a little time alone? It might be your last chance to talk together?’ I offered – very generously, I thought.

‘Yes, please, I would like that,’ Nessa said solemnly.

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