Page 30 of The Shadow of Polaris

“You did this,” the voice, now licking the back of my neck, whispered. I jerked my head around and stared at the lips that had produced those words.

All the air was sucked out of the darkness. My chest burned until I thought my sternum might collapse in on itself. I shook my head and stifled the desperate breaths now escaping my lips. The geometric features and pale complexion of my sister glared back at me.

Gaping black voids remained where her ice-blue eyes once were. Her complexion, once white and pure as snowfall, was a leathery, rotten grey.

“Look at all the innocence lost, Elpis. Look at them all. Look at what you’ve taken from them,” she said, pointing her long, perfectly shaped fingernail at the bodies of our people.

“Look at what you’ve done to me,” she hissed through a putrid breath.

This wasn’t real. She couldn’t be here. I couldn’t have killed these people. I pressed against a broken skull to support myself from the shock. The hands beneath me were not my own. Instead of the usual short nails, claws protruded from my fingertips.

“You did this,” she hissed again, rage seething through her clenched, rotten teeth.

My heart flamed against the inside of my chest. Clutching for it, I fell across the pile of bodies, my face squelching against the innards of an eviscerated city guard. The scream of horror building pressure at the top of my throat finally unleashed and echoed through the chamber.

“Look at them. Look at me. Look at what you did. What you took.” Adria’s voice grew into screams until it overpowered the chamber, echoing against every corner and curve of the walls. Repeating those words over and over again, she reached for a mangled body and threw it on top of me. Then another, and another, and another until I was buried beneath the still warm carcasses. I clawed and pounded at the body. My cries, muffled through dead flesh, became nothing but a murmur. Everything faded into red as the pile of innocent, slaughtered lives devoured me.

Chapter 18

Iawoke with a terror unlike any I’d ever felt. Arcturas, seemingly just as shaken by something as I was, scratched at the door and whined. Pacing the bedchamber until the first trace of dawn touched the sky, we waited to head downstairs to meet our fate. I pulled Vikar’s key from its hiding place beneath a loose floorboard and looped it through a silver chain I’d borrowed from Frya, securing it in place beneath my tunic.

Finally, after dressing in an olive green tunic and thick leather trousers, I slipped on the new pair of fur-lined boots and crept down the stairs. Leaving before the barkeep awoke would be easiest. I wasn’t sure I could look her in the eyes and walk away. Rune sat at the bar, a thermos of coffee in one hand, a slice of toast in the other- smothered in plum jam. Pots clanked from the kitchen, illuminated only by candlelight.

“I guess she’s awake then,” I sighed. We’d have to do this the hard way.

Rune shrugged and took a long sip of his coffee. His hair was ragged, as if he hadn’t bathed since the night before. Somehow, the shaggy mess above his brow curled and twisted in all the right directions. He really was effortlessly handsome.

I crumpled the note I had written Frya last night and shoved it into the pocket of my trousers as she appeared from the kitchen carrying plates of sausage and potatoes in both hands.

“Figured you best have a hot breakfast before heading out. It’ll be a long day of traveling. You’ll need something to keep your strength up.” She set the steaming food in front of us.

The smell, any other morning I’d find delightful, only nauseated me as I thought of those torn up bodies from my dream. Rune dove right in, taking sausage links and scoops of eggs, until the plate was nearly empty.

Reaching for his next serving, Frya smacked his hand away. “Boy. Save some for Lady Elpis.”

Her nostrils flared as he gulped down the bite of potato and folded his hands in his lap.

“I haven’t eaten since last night. I’m sorry, My Lady. The rest is all yours.” He smiled, pushing the plates toward me. My stomach knotted, and I swallowed back the bile now rising in up to my throat.

“I don’t think I’m up for eating yet. But we can take it for the road.”

“I packed you a bag with some loaves, cheese, and the dried meats from our stores. But I’ll wrap this for you. Maybe once you get going, you’ll feel better.” Frya took the plates back into the kitchen and wrapped the leftover breakfast.

“It’ll be okay. I promise.” Rune glanced nervously at me as he took my hand.

Faking a smile, I let him think his reassurance gave me the comfort I needed. Nothing could distract me from the smell of that blood, or the feel of dead flesh pressing against my chest. Arcturas pawed at my ankle, pulling me back from the brink of spiraling again, and sniffed towards the window. The sky was a light periwinkle, marking the day’s arrival.

“You best be going now. Take to the eastern wall; the roads are better protected from the creatures of the North. Stay in the shadows, and if anyone recognizes you…” Frya trailed off, placing a black leather sheath into my hands. The hilt of her silver dagger protruding from the leather was cold against my palms. I nodded, strapping the sheath around my thigh.

“Keep this with you always,” she said, her voice quivering.

“Thank you.” I choked back my tears and reached for the barkeep’s hand. She took it, lacing her fingers through mine. Looking at me fiercely, with damp cheeks, she smiled and pulled my forehead to her lips.

“Be safe. I hope we meet again.” Dabbing her eyes with the kitchen rag tucked in her apron, she motioned for the door.

“You have shown me such kindness I don’t deserve. I’m endlessly in your debt, Frya. Truly.” I squeezed her hand one last time and stepped into the faint morning light.

The empty streets were silent as we snuck through the shadows to the eastern wall. Neither of us spoke as Arcturas led the way, always keeping a few yards ahead.

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