Chapter 4

Panting, Sam stopped running at the top edge of a dried-up stream, deep in the forest floor. Her breath came out in gasps as she gripped the small dagger. It was thin and pointed, not much more than half the size of a regular knife. She had pulled it from where it had caught in her tunic. She felt it graze her when Akira used it. Sharp waves of pain radiated out from it. Sam shoved her hand against the wound to stop the bleeding.

Why did Akira have to do that? I wasn’t going to kill him. If Mel hadn’t sent that spell. I’m stronger than them. Her mind was racing. She stared at the dagger and saw a sheen of poison shining through her blood. Surprised, she dropped it.

“I’m not sure if the gods gave me this strength,” Sam gasped, “but I don’t think I have poison resistance. Damn that man!” Sam’s fingers dug into her palms. She wanted to hit something, anything to let out this anger. She couldn’t get rid of the touch of Akira on her skin. The lies he told about how they were childhood friends. The love they shared. It was all fake. He only wanted to use her. She shook with rage. Wrapping her arms around herself to control it, she could feel the anger breaking free. Sam let out a long scream, raising her head to the sky, releasing all her frustration and loss into the black trees above her. When she finished, she lowered her shoulders, spent.

She had no idea what to do next. Ayasse had shown her some of his poisons a while ago. He explained most of them caused paralysis and sleep. Some were worse. He said he never wanted to kill anybody if he could help it. Maybe she’d be lucky and it would be the sleeping one. “I’m probably just going to have to wait for it to leave my body,” she mumbled.

She jumped over the edge of the stream bank. “What was that noise?” Was somebody following her? Ayasse was still unconscious and Akira had a broken leg, and maybe a jaw. Mel was scary if she was full of mana. Useless in a chase, she couldn’t run if her life depended on it. The only one who could follow her was Rock. He was a coward, though and wouldn’t be a problem. Sam stuck her head up over the embankment. She’d run here blindly after the attack, trying for where they left the horses. “Where are they?” she muttered. “I wish I was better at tracking.”

Looking out through the forest in the direction she came, she could see traces of her flight; broken branches oozing a green substance, turned earth, and black leaves littering the path she’d come. The noise was probably something falling. The sun was settling for the night and the first moon was starting to rise. She needed to find someplace to wait out the night. How long had she been running?

Sliding down the slope, Sam saw a cave off the stream that she hoped would let her hide a fire. She’d have to keep it small so nobody would see her. That should keep her safe from her team, at least until she recovered. She couldn’t go to the human army, from the kingdom of Relancia. They were only a few days’ march from here, but they would believe Akira's version over hers, especially with a broken sword. They were waiting to invade when they had news of the Demon King’s death. Sam chuckled. Won’t they be disappointed?

Her glee quickly soured. She pushed her promise to the Demon King out of her mind. “I’ll deal with that later.”

Gathering some dried branches, she made a small pit, near the back of the cave. Taking a fire stick from the pouch at her waist, she struck a fire and fed it a few twigs to drive away the darkness.

Her chest was sending up sharp pains every time she moved. She opened the reinforced tunic and inspected the side. The dagger was small enough that it hadn’t gone in too far, but had left a long gash in the side of her breast. The bleeding had stopped. Sam cleaned it with some medicine from her waist pouch and wrapped the wound. She could still feel the poison working its way through her body. What did Ayasse have on that dirk?

After the battle with Kale, she’d taken a minor potion from Rock to recover from some of the injuries before the Demon King had confiscated them. This feeling was different. She grabbed her head and felt everything become blurry. Ayasse was good with poisons and it would be just her luck that this one would be deadly. He usually carried some antidotes with him. Is it too late to go back and ask? Maybe? Can I trust him?

True night had fallen. Outside the small fire, the darkness covered everything, making the black leaves an even deeper shade of midnight. How long had she been sitting here? An hour, maybe? When she left them behind, there were still several hours before the sun would set. She needed Ayasse, but there was no way she could track him down in the night. Every time Rock had tried to show her what to look for, she brushed him off. Things never improved from their first meeting. She never liked him, but she used him just as Akira used her. Dammit!

“Why didn’t I learn how to track? I didn’t need it back home in London. It would have been useful here.” Placing a hand on the wound didn’t change anything, except make her feel better.

Grabbing a stick, she stirred the fire with her other hand. Sam had lost most of her memories when she arrived here. She knew now that someone had blocked them. Who, was still a mystery? This place had always felt strange, out of place. Now she realized why. The castles and knights reminded her of medieval times from the books Nadia’s mother used to read to them. Tales of chivalry and romance, beautiful kings and trapped princesses. Sam hated those stories. She just couldn’t understand why the princess didn’t pick up a sword and attack the dragons. Princesses were as strong as any knight. It didn’t matter if girls shouldn’t do that. It made sense.

Sam blinked to clear the images, feeding a few more twigs to the fire. She could have sworn that the storybook princess was there, in front of her.

She started to shake. It was getting colder and she only had a thin tunic to keep her warm. It was reinforced, so the dirk hadn’t done as much damage as it could have, but it wasn’t going to save her here. She could hear the breeze blowing through the trees, and the night shadows swallowing the light from the day. The cave held in some of the heat from the fire, but without a blanket, she’d freeze to death. The fire wasn’t big enough to last the night. Sam hugged her knees against her chest to hold in as much heat as possible.

“What are you doing out here?” A woman’s voice pierced the darkness, startling Sam from her thoughts. “You were never good at camping. Get inside now, you big gorilla.” It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place where she knew it from.

“Who said that? Mel, is that you? How did you find me?” Sam jumped up, scattering some dirt over the fire. Yelping, she dropped back down to her knees and added more twigs to it. It was too dark and cold to be without a fire.

“It’s me, silly.” Nadia sat down by the fire. Shocked into silence, Sam stared at the slim, beautiful woman. She had purple eyes and long blue-black hair that flowed across her back. She had to wash it almost every day to keep its shine, and she did. Sam remembered how in the winter; it took hours to dry. Nadia never stopped and did a hundred brush strokes every night before bed. Sam remembered throwing a pillow at her to turn off the lamp, but never really minded watching her. Electricity made it easier for her to brush, and watching her do it was soothing.

Sam was so different from her. With short, blond, straw hair and an oversized body, Sam grew up envious. When she moved in with Nadia’s family after her parents died, she couldn’t help comparing her bloody knees to Nadia’s proper dresses. Nadia, however, made it easy to forget their differences.

“What are you doing here?” Sam asked, desperately reaching her hand out to her sister. “Were you summoned too? How did you get here?” Nadia didn’t take it. Instead, she brought her eyebrows together, twisted her head to the right side and kept her hands on her knees. Her deep purple eyes turned a dark violet and she stared directly into Sam. They always changed colour depending on her mood. Ashamed, Sam pulled her hand back.

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“What do you mean summoned? I’m here because Father requested you come back home,” Nadia chided. “He’s sick of your rebellion and that it’s high time that you got married. Senator Rathor is a good choice, and based on your personality, you won’t land a better one. At nineteen, you are already getting too old to lie around the house. Soon it will be too late for you.”

Sam was confused. Married? What’s going on? “What do you mean? Rathor? That pretentious prick. I refused to even consider marrying that jackass. He’s got to be over forty by now, and he’s already had two wives.” She remembered this conversation, but it had been different.

For one, Nadia agreed with her. Lord Robert wanted to build a new factory to manufacture some of the new exoskeletons that were becoming popular in the army. They were supposed to triple a person’s strength. The senator had the perfect piece of land and was willing to sell it to Robert, for a young bride. However, when they met, all he did was speak at her. She introduced herself, tried to make some small talk, offered him a drink, and played the dutiful host. His conversation never went beyond how powerful he was and how she would like his house. Sam swore he just stared at her chest and drooled. She called him a perverted swine, poured her drink over his head and stormed out. Lord Robert was furious and their fight lasted three hours. Sam ran to the forest in protest. She camped there for two days until Nadia persuaded him to call it off. Lord Robert never forgave her and Rathor awarded the contract to another firm.

There was nothing Lord Robert wouldn’t do for his daughter. After his wife, Cecilla had died, he shut himself off from everyone. Nadia was the only one who could change his mind. Her beauty matched her mother’s so closely, that it was like talking to a ghost.

Nadia accepted everything as it was, and tugged ever so gently to get what she wanted. Sam tried to control everything with a shove. Both often refused to follow what Lord Robert wanted, only Nadia could get away with it, within reason.

Now she was here, talking about a marriage that had been rejected. Why?

“You have to marry Senator Rathor, Sam. He’s the only man who would ever care for you.” Nadia gave a gentle smile. “I mean, look at you. You have a gigantic body, a wide ass, gorilla arms. You’re young now, but when you get older, everything will sag and droop down to your knees. Who would want you then? Have you ever run a brush through your hair? God, the things I have to go through just so you don’t embarrass me.”

“How could you say that?” Sam asked, holding back tears. The small fire enhanced Nadia’s features, making them sharper, and more feral. “You’re like my sister.”

“Humph! Like I had a choice in that. We’re only cousins. After your parents killed themselves to get away from you, a carriage accident, please,” Nadia snorted, “I felt sorry for you. Like finding a kitten on the side of the road, I had to take it in.” Nadia polished her nails on her dress and looked back at Sam, still smiling.

Sam shook her head and hugged her knees closer to her body. “No! No! No! No! This can’t be real. The real Nadia would never say that. She’s always been there for me. She loves me!” The fire started dying. Sam added a few more twigs to the flame.

“There are only so many times I can apologize to people you’ve offended before it gets exasperating. Face it. You have to grow up,” Nadia admonished, shaking her finger at Sam.

Sam closed her eyes. This couldn’t be real. Nadia would never say those things. Sure, she may have thought of them. Who wouldn’t, with a gorilla as a house guest? I’ve thought about them. This woman, though? This couldn’t be Nadia. How would she find her in this forest?

When she opened them again, she was alone again by the fire. Nadia, or whoever it was, was gone. “It must have been one of Kale’s minions,” she muttered. “No, probably my lack of sleep. I know she’d never say those things to me. Nadia loves me and I love her.” Sam couldn’t get the harsh words out of her mind. If she was honest with herself, she had always thought the same things deep down. She started to bite her finger.

Sam shivered and fed a few more sticks to the fire. It was dying down, and she was running out of fuel. She was so tired. Maybe just a quick nap. The fire should stay for a bit and give her some warmth.

“Sleeping again? Wake up! You’re a useless waste of air.” A booming man’s voice filled her ears.

“What? Who is that? Nadia, where did you go?” Sam shot her head up again and looked around. Despite the nasty things she had said, Sam half hoped her sister was still there.

“Nadia? Why would my beautiful flower be out here? Have you been poisoning her with your ways of thinking again?” Sam watched as a familiar man in a dark blue, pressed suit walked into the light of the fire and glared down at her. He stood ramrod straight, his suit pressed with clear lines. Even his black shoes were spotless. How could he always be perfect? Standing there with his arms crossed, his black eyes pierced her and pushed her down, like always.

“Lord Robert? What are you doing here?” Sam, shocked, stared at the tall, muscular, handsome man and clenched her fist. Her guardian and uncle. Every suit he wore made his body a thing of envy. She always admired his full head of black hair, his chiselled face and, most of all, his square jaw. It would make a perfect target for her fist. That jaw was always set against her and everything she wanted to do. Study abroad? Shot down. Live on her own? Forbidden. Begin her own business? That one he’d laughed at. According to him, women needed to be seen, not heard. Nothing she could ever do would be good enough for the man. If he didn’t plan it, or decide it, there was no way she could do it.

“I’m trying to find a useless piece of flotsam who decided they could go off on their own. I’ve told you; you can’t just do things without asking me.”

Sam shot to her feet, knocking her head on the rook of the cave and stared at the man. She hated him, but after a year here, he no longer had the right or the power to tell her what to do. “What makes you think I even need your permission? I’ve done perfectly well on my own.”

“Humph! Tell yourself that. Covered in cuts, half-naked, lost in the forest. You’re doing bloody well for yourself. Next, you’ll tell me you were selling your body for food.”

Sam felt her face turn a beat red. He always knew what buttons to push.

“You did, didn’t you? Why am I not surprised?” He threw his hands in the air. “I told your father you would amount to nothing. Why did he have to dump you on me?” Lord Robert waved his hand in front of his nose as if to dismiss a bad smell.

“Why are you here?” Sam shouted as she turned around. She wanted to rip his head off, and with her strength, she could. Why don’t I? The thought ran through her head. “This isn’t home, and there’s no way anybody would ever know if I killed you.” She shot him a venomous look.

She was in the Deadland forest and the trees were still black. Glancing outside the cave, she saw the sky was dark, but the second moon was coming up. Earth only had one moon, and it was bigger. She wasn’t dreaming, yet Lord Robert was here and he was as abrasive as ever. Nadia wasn’t the same, though. What was happening here?

Her head shot up. “That dirk was poisoned, wasn’t it? Is that it?” She fell back to the ground as she realized her situation and covered her head with her hands. “Is that bastard Akira going to beat me? If I don’t bring him to justice, who will?” She started laughing.

“Are you still going on about him? Every day the same useless things. Why you didn't just die with your parents, I’ll never get over it.” Sam ignored the image of Lord Robert tapping his foot and standing in front of the fire. There was no way he was here, and there was no way she was going to get out of this.

“Is this the end?” Sam held her head with her hands and rocked back and forth. She had tried so hard to control everything. Forcing the fight to end, even though she probably could have won. Stopping herself from punching Akira, when she could break his neck with one twist. She didn’t want to kill anybody, not anymore.

“Sam!”

Sam covered her ears. She didn’t want to listen to Lord Robert and there was no way he could help her. This was her fault. Always taking charge and barrelling ahead. Making decisions for the group that weren’t always popular. Burning bridges. It had been a good idea at the time, but now she wasn’t sure.

“Sam!”

“Shut up!” She yelled at the smug man looking down on her, veins bulging from her neck. If she had one more chance, she’d punch Lord Robert in the nose and force him to acknowledge her.

Lord Robert stood there shaking his head and frowning.

“Samantha, thank the gods I found you! If you hadn’t shouted out, I wouldn’t have seen your fire,” Ayasse exclaimed, as he stepped into the fading light, through the image of Lord Robert.

“You?” Sam lowered her hands and leaned back. “I was expecting my parents to come next and tell me what a disappointment I was. I guess this is fitting. You were the only one in that group I didn’t hate.” She smiled at the man. At least now maybe she wasn’t alone.

“So, are you real? What do you have to tell me? How much you despised my face.” She smiled warmly at the wiry thief. It was nice to see him even if he was a hallucination. She laughed at the face he made behind his mask and then collapsed onto the floor of the cave.

“Dammit! I’m too late,” Ayasse groaned. “The poison has already entered her mind. Please, let this work.” Sam could see him bend over the fire and pull a small cloth bag out of his clothes as she closed her eyes. He was going to have to hurry if he wanted to tell her how ugly she was.