Page 114 of The Puppeteer and the Poisoned Pawn

He grunts. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

Yes, actually, there is. Dessin put his friend through hell to ensure his bizarre plan worked. He expected Warrose to give his dead body that spring water, pray that mythical element brought him back from death’s grip, and if that wasn’t hard enough, he had to watch Skylenna spiral and wasn’t able to tell her it was all a ploy.

Warrose didn’t tell us the plan either. Instead, he was deathly quiet. Stuck in his own mind. Which was unusual, considering he found it especially entertaining to argue with me. It wasn’t until Skylenna told us her theory about Dessin’s possible resurrection that I finally understood what was eating at Warrose the entirety of this journey.

“You’re mad at him,” I say quietly.

“He’s easy to be mad at.”

I scowl.

“Talking things out really isn’t Dessin’s style. I just have to get over it and move on.”

“You could hug it out like Skylenna and me.”

It doesn’t earn me a smile, but it comes pretty close. “I’ll get right on that.”

We remain quiet for a long time. The crickets sing, the wind tickles the leaves, and I wonder if he’s fallen back asleep.

“For what it’s worth, it takes a strong man to carry the burden he gave you. I can’t imagine a better best friend than you, Warrose.”

He doesn’t respond, but through a swift hovering of a firefly, I see that I’ve earned that smile.

The sun has barely risen. A small orange glow, like the heat from a piece of charcoal, peeks over the tree line.

It’s a biological jolt to my internal clock. Every morning since Skylenna left us, since she said those words to me, I’ve risen with the sun to make my body stronger.

Quickly and quietly, I tie my boots, twist my hair into a thick braid, and sneak away from the group. The only pair of eyes that open are DaiSzek’s. He rises at the sight of me, tilting his head curiously. I can almost hear the question in his mind,Where are you going this early?

I wave him off, trying to coax him back to sleep, but he steps over Niles’s face with ease and follows me into the trees. I assume it’s an instinct of his to make sure any member of his pack is safe when they are on their own. Or maybe it was just a convenient time for him to do his rounds.

I start off with a slow jog, letting my legs wake up and giving my blood time to pump through the rest of my body. The kiss of the cool fall air brushes the heaviness from my eyes, and I smile at the way my lungs expand, my fingers tingle, and my muscles loosen as they flood with heat.

As I pick up my pace, I remind myself of why I do this every morning. To be useful. To be strong for my family. I won’t sit idly by while the men fight for us. And now, Skylenna.

Leaves slap across my face, sprinkling morning dew over me, and the greenery becomes a pleasant blur as I pump my legs harder to reach a new speed.

Faster.

Sweat drips down my back. My chest burns for more air.

Keep going.

I take a quick leap through the air to avoid an overgrown root, and my boot lands on something thick and twined together, like wool. The sound of a whip cracking across a tree shoots through the air, and I’m airborne, being swept up in a net of rope. I yelp as I’m yanked upward, thrown into the air as the net tightens around my flailing body.

I grip the webbed rope in my trembling hands, gawking down at the ground ten feet below me. It’s a trap. Could it be the Vexamen Breed? My stomach twists around in a tight knot. Before I can devise a plan, hushed voices surround me. Men by the dozens in black attire that look similar to the scales on a snake.

“Demiè do meriòp. Douqe nefas rè mechtzez.”

I perk up, and my blood ices over. They’re speaking old Alkadonian.

Inject her quietly. We don’t want the others waking up.

My father studies languages of the world. It isn’t allowed, but his father started the collection, and it became a family fascination. I was taught to speak old Alkadonian at the age of three but was never allowed to speak it in public.

Wait, they’re going to inject me? I watch as two men struggle to untie the long rope that’s holding my net in the air. I have to make a run for it as soon as I’m lowered to the ground. But dread sinks to the bottom of my gut as I watch more of the Breed enter the area. They’ve come prepared, and this time, even if my friends wake up and come looking for me… we don’t have the numbers to fight them off.

They’re going to take me just like they abducted DaiSzek. And that’s what led to all of this suffering. Skylenna’s grief. Dessin’s death. Niles’s burns.

---