Page 47 of The Arcane God

“Good,” Kaya said, seeming satisfied. “I’ve brought you some more blood, if you’re interested?”

“Yes,” Ena said, trying not to seem too eager.

She took the jug that Kaya handed to her and brought it to her lips immediately, letting the taste of the fresh blood wash through her mouth. She drank so quickly she almost didn’t realize it was gone until the flow of it stopped, and the sudden cessation of blood made her irrationally angry.

She lowered the jug from her lips and looked around for more. Was that all Kaya had brought?

“Do you feel more satisfied after the blood?” Kaya asked, seeming to notice Ena’s agitation.

Did she feel satisfied? If she were being honest, she did not. Drinking the blood—both times—seemed to only increase her desire for blood, not soothe it.

“Not really,” she answered truthfully, not having the energy to hide it.

“That’s strange,” Kaya said, her brow furrowing as if she were considering something.

“Maybe I need to drink more,” Ena said, hoping that might make her feel better. More sounded good.

“I don’t think you should have any more, Ena,” Turner said, looking at her cautiously.

He didn’t think she should have any more? She looked over at her friend, and the thought came unbidden to her mind: if he tried to stop her from having more, then she’d have to stop him first. Maybe she would use her visanis to stop him from moving, take her knife and plunge it into his neck so more blood would spill from—

Ena shut her eyes tight.

No. No. No. No.

Why was she thinking like that? Imagining those things? She couldn’t do that to Turner.

“M-maybe you’re right,” Ena admitted, reaching for her water jug instead and standing up. “I should go outside, get some fresh air.”

“That’s a good idea. Maybe I could show you around a bit, and we could talk?” Kaya offered. “Most of the stryx won’t wake up until the late afternoon—they’re a fairly nocturnal bunch—so we have some time to ourselves until then.”

“Sure,” Ena said, trying to shove the cravings from her mind. “That’d be nice.”

Kaya stepped out while Turner and Ena readied themselves—changing their clothes and freshening up as best they could—before emerging from the tent to join her.

Kaya showed them around the small stryx camp, though Ena quickly found there wasn’t much more to it. It consisted of about a dozen or so snow-packed shelters like the one they’d been staying in, mixed in with some open-air gathering areas with firepits, and subterranean food and blood storage caches—all easy to construct, and easy to abandon.

Once they’d finished that, they took a walk through the surrounding woods. It was cold still, with no sign of the coming spring, and as beautiful as it was, Ena found herself missing home—again.

“I never asked, but how did you find the journey here?” Kaya asked kindly, perhaps sensing Ena’s melancholy.

“Harsh,” Turner answered. “We were delayed several times due to the worst snowstorms we’ve ever experienced. Is that normal for this side of the mountains?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Kaya answered. “Like Max told you last night, there’s been increasingly bad storms over the last several decades. And not only that, but strange behavior from animals too. There have been aggressive attacks from creatures who are usually docile, nocturnal animals seen during the day, and some species who’ve had difficulty breeding or birthing their young. It’s part of why the stryx…well, they’ve struggled, and they’ve been looking to go elsewhere for a long time.”

“Strange behavior from animals?” Ena asked. “Maybe that explains the bear that attacked us.”

“You mentioned that last night,” Kaya mused. “Were any of you hurt?”

“We were mostly unharmed—well, except for Ty, but it was relatively minor for him,” Ena answered, then she paused, swallowing. The subject of Ty was tough for all of them, and an awkward silence fell over the group.

“What was he like? My son,” Kaya asked, her voice tight with sadness.

Ena sighed. How could she even begin to describe the man who had changed her life forever? The person who was imprinted so deep onto her very being that she didn’t know how she was surviving without him? She couldn’t—it was impossible to describe him fully. But…she looked over at Kaya’s face and saw her own sadness reflected there, and realized how tragic it was that she had never gotten to know Ty. So she thought maybe she should try, for Kaya’s sake.

“He was…reckless,” Ena said, a small smile coming to her face. “Brave, and selfless too,” she added.

“A true fighter,” Turner chimed in. “And a loyal friend.”