Soul of the Crow: An Epic Dark Fantasy (Reapers of Veltuur Book 1), стр. 22
I shove the wooden door up, and it crashes backward to the forest floor. Crow glides out first, and by the time I finally climb my way out of the underground chamber, it’s already perched atop a rock grooming through its feathers like it’s been waiting for me for hours. There’s an annoying glint in its eyes.
“Which way did they go?” I ask no one, finding the forest empty.
Caw.
“You’re useless! You know that?”
I search the ground for any signs of the prince and his sister, and I find exactly what I need. One trail, heading west.
My lungs and limbs are relieved for the open air, and I make quick use of both of them as I jog along the palace’s walls. The soul is so close now, I can feel it, a tingling sensation that ripples throughout my entire body. I’m so thoroughly distracted by it, that it takes me longer than it should to realize how odd it is that the prince’s path is following the sides of the palace, instead of bolting into the woods.
“Why would I need that?” I hear the prince say, and I assume to his sister.
They’re just around the corner. A few more strides and I’ll have her. Just one more death, that’s all I need, and then it’s bye-bye to this Reaper business, and hello to a life with a little more freedom. No more daily quotas. No more living in the Veltuur forest, sleeping on the floor with the fog and crow excrement. I’ll be a Shade, respected and feared.
“I don’t know. I just thought—”
The earthy scent of hay and manure cause me to sneeze, interrupting the young woman who sounds far too old to be the prince’s little sister, and inadvertently announcing my arrival just as I’m rounding the corner.
I see the princess first, sitting atop a horse and hugging its neck fiercely. There’s another woman steadying her, someone I don’t recognize. She’s clearly not a guard, nor a noblewoman, judging from the scrap of fabric tied in her hair and the apron around her waist. I notice the prince last, blinking at me in horror.
But I don’t stare too long. Neither him, nor the other woman, matter. My mark is the princess, and she is now in my line of sight.
Arm outstretched, I charge for her.
I’m clueless to the shovel in the prince’s hands until it whacks me in the back of the head. Everything flashes white as the object collides with my skull. Everything fades black when my face crashes into the dirt.
Farewell
Acari
“I told you it might come in handy,” Hayliel says with a guilty smile.
I rub my forehead. “Flightless birds. What am I supposed to do with her now?”
Using my toe, I tap the Reaper in the ribs to see if she’s actually unconscious. She doesn’t stir, and I am still in shock that hitting her in the head worked. I didn’t know Reapers could be rendered unconscious. I guess I always just thought they were invulnerable to everything.
“You don’t do anything,” Hayliel says, pulling me away from the Reaper. “You get on your horse and you ride hard. You go to every city, town, and village; you talk to every living person if you must. You do whatever you have to do to find the Guardians, and you, Acari Halaud, will save your sister.”
I meet her gaze, note the sad smile on her lips, and nod. If she believes I can do it, then maybe there’s a small chance we’re both right.
As Hayliel hands me the bag of supplies she’s procured, Gem begins to wail.
“Not want leave.” Gem wiggles in the saddle, trying to jump off.
I jog to the horse and steady her, climbing up behind her. “We have to, Gem. It’s the only way to…” My words trail and I swallow hard, pretending she doesn’t notice. I don’t know how much she’s pieced together yet or how much Gem really knows about Reapers. I guess she did have the history books in her tower, so maybe she knows more than me. But I’m not convinced she understands just how close to death she came today, and I don’t want to be the one who has to explain that to a toddler. “Think of it as an adventure. You’ve never been to any of the other towns. There’s a whole world out there waiting to meet you.”
That seems to put a smile on her face.
While Gem shifts back into the saddle, turning her back into my chest, I give one final look at Hayliel. With the sun shining through the trees of Owlena Forest around us, its rays bathe her in a glow that makes her beauty shine, and I struggle even more to leave. I don’t want to leave my home, my friends, everything I’ve ever known.
But black smoke billows around the Reaper, and before I can see what happens next, before I risk her awakening and laying a single finger on Gem, I snap the horse’s reins and we are galloping through the forest.
Judgment Passes
Sinisa
By the time I blink my eyes open, I am no longer in the realm of the living. I can tell as much by the damp scent of the air, by the way its coolness fills my lungs like a mountain stream, and by the rise and fall of the ground that has always made me wonder if Veltuur is alive.
Crow’s head twitches left and then right, its beak tapping my nose with each angle. I am weary, and my head throbs worse than anything I’ve ever felt before, but I force myself up.
Caw, Crow cries at my sudden movement and flies somewhere away, but not too far because I can hear the ruffling of its feathers as it settles.
From hands and knees, I can