Page 30 of The Ember and the Emerald

Orders given, I walked away, gait slow and steady. I’d promised not to run. But I hadn’t said I wouldn’t leave. Had mentioned nothing about not escaping. Just promised not to run. The wording mattered. Here, now, I could leave Gerald, exactly as hoped, as long as I maintained my leisurely pace.

As I neared a side door, an exit, chaos erupted behind me. Archers unleashed their arrows as Jasher flew into the stands. I watched over my shoulder. He ducked and dodged, avoiding injury. Screams of panic and pain ebbed and flowed with heavy thuds. Not the sounds of the easy snatch and grab I’d envisioned.

I winced. Jasher cut through the masses, no one safe from his wrath. He slashed through whoever got in his way, disarmed anyone who struck at him in the most brutal ways possible, and beheaded Gerald to pluck the vial from his neck.

I cringed inside and out, wishing I could change my command. I should’ve been more specific. No unnecessary deaths. But the compulsion didn’t care what I’d meant, only what I’d said.

Sniffling, I made my exit and continued strolling along the path, returning the way I’d come. People raced past, too afraid of being hunted by Jasher to mess with me. There. The hut. With Cluck Cluck still tethered across from it, forced to endure the cold without shelter.

Any survivors were gonna dine on monstra. They didn’t need my chicken, too.

I anchored her to my side and freed her from the tether. She didn’t attempt to escape as I entered Gerald’s shelter—and drew up short.

The blood-splattered Jasher stood near the fire pit, the necklace dangling in one hand, the pack hanging from the other, the axes strapped to his back.

“Your wish, my command.” He grated the words, his voice like smoke, and dropped the pack before tossing the vial my way. “Isn’t that right, princess?”

Guilt, shame, and questions grappled with my resolution. What if, what if, what if… “You may never forgive me, and that’s okay. I understand.” I would hate it, but I’d take my punishment like a big girl. “I was desperate and could think of no other way.”

He flicked his tongue over a too-sharp incisor. “You can’t understand,” he said softly. Soft, yes, yet still a scream. “No one has ever compelled you to murder a loved one.”

The denunciation lashed harder than a whip, and I ducked my head. “You’re right. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re not sorry. You would do it again.”

Yes. “Was he…was the monstra Anders or Reese?” I asked softly. No, wait. The timeline. They were still young, like Jasher himself.

This Jasher merely hissed at me.

“I did what I thought was necessary to save you.” Anything to save him.

“You wanted the monstra dead. That’s why you’re here, yes?”

I couldn’t deny it. I anchored the serpens-rosa around my neck and draped the pack over my shoulder, careful not to bang my cargo.

Noises broke out beyond the tent. Footsteps, mutterings.

“We should go,” he grated.

Clench. “This is Cluck Cluck, and she’s coming with us. She isn’t to be harmed. We’ll exit the camp and take our chances in the forest.” The pitcher of water remained on the ground, exactly where I’d left it, drawing my gaze like a magnet. Only a little liquid remained, and yet, still it called to me.

“Too late, princess,” Jasher snapped.

Furious trappers flooded into the tent, weapons drawn. Okay, so, no forest.

Driven by an instinct I didn’t understand, I darted over, grabbing Jasher’s hand along the way. I kicked over the pitcher.

The men advanced on us, all rage and hunger.

“Follow me,” I whispered to my Tinman. Then I stepped into the water…

I awoke with a start, the perfect whiff of damp dirt and blooming jasmine lingering in my nostrils. Heart drumming, I scanned my new surroundings. Wisps of fog danced over a pond, swirling with tiny orbs of light that quickly dissolved.

Confusion set in. I was half in, half out of the water. Before me, soft morning light bathed towering trees with ageless trunks wrapped in violet moss. Twisted roots wove through the earth, veins pulsing with life. Nearby, a scraggly chicken pecked at the ground.

A continuous slash of water accompanied the call of birds.

Why—memory returned in a rush. My return to Hakeldama. The trappers. Cluck Cluck. Betrayal. Jasher. Battle. Water.