Page 70 of Of Night and Blood: Special Edition

I woke up with a jolt, eyes flying around the area for potential threats, but there were none. Only Lian sitting nearby, watching me. There was a furrow to her brows that told me I must have been a sight to see, asleep in the grass.

She stood, walking my way and plopping down on the grass beside me. I sat up, my body still shaking so violently that I could do nothing but hold my legs to my chest and breathe.

“I went back and retrieved this for you after Bellamy portaled you guys out of the forest,” she said.

In her hand she held out the dagger she had given me, which was now clean, the blood washed away as if it had never been.

My hand shook as I gripped it, but I fought to bring the weapon to my chest. A single tear fell from my eye, hitting the demon sigil on the hilt. Nodding a thanks at Lian, I stood, making my way back to camp on silent feet.

“Perhaps I was wrong before,” she whispered. I froze, the words she spoke next nearly breaking me. “Fear is not always healthy. For what it is worth, I am no longer afraid of you, Asher. I trust you.”

Without a word or a backwards glance, I made my way to my tent.

I did not sleep again for three days.

I knew what awaited me when my eyes closed.

IV

Act IV

~ Depression ~

Chapter Thirty-Nine

With the Forest of Tragedies at our backs, we were able to travel during the day.

Exhaustion weighed on me as we rode, Frost remaining steady below as if she could sense that my fatigue would throw me off her back if she so much as breathed too heavily. Henry, who I found out on our first day of travel after the afriktor attack was Bellamy’s highest ranking captain—second only to the lieutenant general—trained me after dinner, not caring that I was exhausted.

We worked to keep a healthy balance of using my power to fight while also learning to survive without it. Lian offered to help, and together they had me past basics and onto more intermediate combinations after the second day. On the third, I was asked to wield my dagger.

The runes on it still gave me chills, still called to me as if they wanted me to know their meaning. I ignored them, but argued against using it.

My protests of fear that I would hurt them were met with laughs. Henry offered a snide remark, of course.

“As if you could hurt us when you tried, let alone by accident. Please, Ash, do be realistic.”

Ash.

Noe and Henry both seemed to feel they were entitled to call me that. A nickname that was reserved for friends. For family. At first it upset me, the memory of those who had called me that before leaving behind an ache I could not free myself from.

But as the days went by, I found myself considering them friends too. Especially Noe, who had accepted my friendship and cared for me every day since.

When twilight came and went, the others slept. I offered to take watch the first evening when we once again made camp. I had not woken another to take over, opting to stay awake and practice most of the night away.

The second and third nights were far less convenient. Bellamy and Ranbir had timed our travel rather perfectly, landing us in small villages with even smaller inns just as darkness fell. It was then that I learned Eoforhild was home to more than mere demons.

On the eve we arrived at the first inn, we were greeted by the owner. She was a blue skinned female with five small, cream horns sticking out of her black hair. They looked almost crown-like, as if she were born to be a monarch. She was beautiful in only the way a faerie could be. Yet, the fae had been under the belief that faeries were completely extinct, wiped out by the demons in the Great War.

Bellamy used my curiosity as an opportunity, eagerly answering any questions I had, so long as he could ask his own. It turned out, many creatures had fled to Eoforhild during the Great War. He told me of the days when creatures were not separated by seas, but were mingled on land. I gasped at the idea of fae and demons and mortals all living together, as if they were not so incredibly different after all. Apparently, that did not turn out well though, seeing as there was a war.

I did not sleep at the inns. At first I blamed it on the curiosity of the newness. After that wore off, I realized I was simply afraid of what resting would bring.

Instead, I wandered, rejoicing in the freedom and running from the monsters that loomed in my mind. As far as I was aware, Lian had not told Bellamy about my nightmares in the grass, but her discretion did not come without a price. She was never out of sight, always keeping an eye on me, even if from a distance.

Out of everyone, Ranbir’s company was the most soothing. He was an early riser, hunting each area to find plants and berries and anything he could use for natural healing. I had never seen a Healer take so much interest in non-power methods, so I could not help but tag along those first three mornings.

He was not one for small talk, but he could not resist the opportunity to discuss his work. I learned about aloe, lavender, hyssop, tulsi, goji berries, and walnuts. So many natural ingredients that supported the body during recovery, even sped it up.

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