AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Severs had watched me before, their presence curious but ominous. I’d seen them between the trees—tall, dark, hulking shadows with their wingless bodies and bright, consuming eyes. Every single time stabbed a shard of ice deep in my belly, but I knew the barrier spell around my property would be enough to keep them away—or so the Allavari witch assured me every moon cycle when I paid her hefty price to keep it fresh and charged.
There was a Sever out in the woods right then. Watching me. I could feel it, like the touch of death trailing along my flesh. I’d never seen one up close, only in illustrations and drawings, likely meant to scare village children. But truthfully, they scared me too. They scared many.
“Peek?” I called out, my voice wavering uncertainly. “Peek, where are you?”
A dark flash appeared in the corner of my eye, and I crouched down, keeping my gaze on the forest’s edge, drawing the protection barrier’s path in my mind’s eye in reassurance.
Peek’s slinking walk was agitated, his back slightly arched, black-and-indigo fur standing on end.
“I know,” I said quietly, running my hand over his small furry head. He nuzzled into my hand even though his slitted eyes were fastened beyond the trees. He could see the Sever—I was certain of it. “Let’s go inside for the night, all right? I don’t want you out here.”
I picked him up, his warm, small body a comfort against me, despite the stiffness of his limbs. Cradling the basket of fire cups, I turned my back on the forest, keeping my walk measured, and disappeared into my cottage, shutting the door with a heavy thud and sliding the bolt into place.
I closed the shutters on the windows, sealing us inside the brightly lit space. Then I waited with bated breath…
And I only let out a sigh of relief when I heard my glowflies begin to hum again.
“He’s gone,” I said, keeping my tone bright. “Are you hungry?”
Peek let out a warbling mew.
I smiled, though I was still a little shaken. “Midnight snack it is.”
The bellow woke me.
So loud and startling that it felt like it’d been yelled directly into my ear.
My eyes flew open, and I flung back the heavy quilt, my heart racing, my mouth bone dry. After I scrambled to stand from mybed, I stood stock still, listening. I held my breath. I couldn’t hear my glowflies in the back garden, but I could hear my cauldron bubbling in a light simmer, the fragrance of the spicy fire cups permeating my small cottage, stinging my nostrils.
When I crept out to the front room, I saw Peek, fur ruffled, staring directly at the closed door.
Another bellow came, freezing the breath in my lungs. It sounded far off, echoing through the trees—certainly not as close as I thought it’d been.
“Peek, stay here,” I murmured, grabbing the shawl draped across the seat of my cauldron’s stool and wrapping it around my shoulders. My green nightdress swayed against my ankles as I shoved my feet into my worn leather boots.
The moon was full tonight, casting the forest in silver, so I didn’t take my Halo orb to light my path. I did, however, grab my dagger and a pouch of finely ground fire-cup powder.
No one knew where the entrance to the Below was after all…or what happened to you once the Severs took you there. Just that you were never seen again.
Stepping out of my cottage, I took in a deep breath and exhaled, the crisp air fogging in front of me.
The bellow came again. Male. In pain.
Hurt,I thought, biting my lip.
By what?I wondered next.
I took to the path. It was difficult to track sound in the density of the forest, but I was fairly certain he was close.
My footsteps crunched over half-frozen fallen leaves, and twigs entwined in my hair from low branches, as if warning me to stay back. I cursed myself—fool, fool, fool,I thought—even as my legs propelled me forward, deeper and deeper into the forest.
But as a healer on Allavar, though I was human, I was honor bound to help those who needed it. Bound in blood and magic. Even strangers in the Black Veil on a moonlit night. It was inthe oath I’d taken, the task granted to me when I’d passed my studies all those years ago.
His agonized moans and heavy breathing led me straight to him, farther north than I’d imagined but not so far from my cottage.
Peering through the trees, I finally spied him through the foliage and brush.
A Kylorr male,I realized, my heartbeat ticking up. One I recognized. From the village on market days.Him.
