West of the Moon by A.E. Becker

Author:A.E. Becker [Becker, A.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Valemon Creative
Published: 2023-08-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-two

A Monster

Saedis slept a muddled sort of restless sleep, with the sense that dreams were trying to get to her. A face moved behind a veil. It shouted for her attention, but could not get through. She turned from it, and wandered away, and woke up still feeling tired.

Today, the thought popped into her head, I go back.

That woke her up for well and good. Saedis picked at her breakfast, even though there was bacon. Maybe he’ll put it off. He didn’t ask how I’m feeling. Maybe he’s changed his mind. Maybe I’ll have an extra day without having to—

“I think,” said the dragon, “that you are ready now.”

Her stomach plummeted. The lamp was still on the table, next to her, and he touched it and breathed a word. Light flashed into her eyes. She squinted against it. “Are you sure? I—”

“Yes.” He held out his hand. She hesitated, but took it, still blinking against the brightness of the lamp-light. His skin felt dry and pebbled despite the soft humanity of its appearance. He looks human, but he’s not, she thought. It’s like holding up a painted screen in front of what he really is. When you touch it, you can tell it’s not real.

Would I have been able to tell, though, before…everything? Like feeling his presence…would someone else feel what I do? She wasn’t sure.

Vor reached down with his other hand and adjusted her legs until her calves hung off the edge of the bed. “Hey,” she said. “What—”

With a sudden move, he pulled her to her feet.

There was no warning, no explanation, no preparation. He simply did it.

The blanket slid from her. Her head spun from sudden dizziness and she staggered, then caught herself. Don’t fall don’t fall don’t—

Fall—? Saedis’s eyes widened. She looked down.

Her gown fell all the way to her feet. The bandages around her toes peeked out from under the hem.

I’m standing! I can stand…then she wobbled. Caught herself again. Still. I didn’t fall.

Vor bent down. Behind the table, where she hadn’t noticed them before, sat a pan of water, a clean cloth, and a small, sharp knife. He began to gently wet the bandages and to cut them away from her skin, bit by bit.

A sickening feeling of dread made her fix her eyes on the far wall. The stave still leaned against the wall next to the bed. Saedis grabbed it, and put her weight on it as he indicated she should lift her foot. She felt his slow progress in detail. The freed skin prickled and tingled. The blood throbbed in her hands where they clamped around the wood, drumming in time with a growing ache in her head and a horrible cold feeling in her stomach. I don’t want to see. I don’t want to know…

“You have a very strong spirit,” Vor said. “There was something in your blood that refused to allow the troll blood to take purchase. The war between your essence and Svarjer's was slowly destroying you. My breath burned the troll from you.

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