Citrine's Monsters by Angela J. Ford

Author:Angela J. Ford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

5

White Beings

“We should use her,” a whispered voice, soft as velvet woke me.

I squinted in the dark, lifting my head from the crook of my arm. Earlier that evening I’d dragged my weary feet to a halt and crawled into a mossy, hollow log to hide. My restless wandering through the woods was not helping, and I needed to think. Now, lifting my heart-shaped face I peered out, hoping to glimpse the voices, yet they remained hidden.

“She has suffered but is she sorry, will it be enough?” a second voice asked out loud, not bothering to whisper like the first.

“Aye, if we send her to him, he will help shape her future,” the whispered voice continued in a sing-song manner, as if words of poetry were not far behind those words.

“Careful,” a third voice, thick and scratchy, added. “We decided not to meddle in the four worlds long ago. The mortals never listen to us.”

“This is not meddling,” the loud voice reassured the scratchy voice. “There is an imbalance between good and evil, her actions will help keep the balance.”

“What about him?” the scratchy voice sounded agitated. “His purpose is to keep the balance.”

“Aye,” the sing-song voice danced across the night air like a dream. “What if he diverts from the plan? All beings have free will. Nay, we will use her to keep him in check, lest the four worlds fall into folly again.”

“We are not usually in disagreement,” the loud voice seemed to frown. “I think we should set a test and leave it to the mortals.”

Holding my breath, I crawled forward, straining my neck to see who was speaking. They continued to speak, weighing their thoughts as if consulting a great scale for what choice they should make.

My right eye could see outside, a mere blur of darkness. I could faintly make out a grove of weeping willow trees in the distance, and a wave of hunger and thirst passed over me. From the blending of shadows, I assumed it was the midnight hour.

A white tentacle caught my eye. My hand flew to my mouth before I gasped aloud, afraid the movement would scare the creatures away. Three white beings, unlike any mortal, stood a few paces from the log where I slept. It seemed as if white light clothed them while the beings stood with their backs to me. Their height was impossible to tell, for they floated in the air, and I saw nothing more than their long hair which looked like the bodies of snakes, waving in an invisible breeze. So, there were monsters in the wood.

“Quiet!” the scratchy voice ordered. A white hand went up and slowly the faces turned.

A numb horror sat on my chest, making it difficult to draw breath. I ducked down, burying my head in my arms as fear made its way through every fiber of my being. My fingers locked around the handle of the knife I’d stolen, and I squeezed, as if it would protect me. A pause followed, so long and deep I wondered if the beings had gone.

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