Page 62 of Crownless King

“Good,” the person said. “Keep quiet.”

The voice sounded so dry and cracking, it was impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

“Did she jump?” a guard on the bridge above us asked.

“Looks like it,” the leader of the High Lord’s people replied.

“Looks like it?”the royal guard mocked. “Did you or did you not see her jump?”

“Yes. I did,” the other man snarled. “She’s gone, alright? It’s not like she could fly away.”

“I guess.”

Their voices sounded a little closer, like both men were leaning over the railing, searching through the clouds for me.

“I’ll take my men. We’ll check, just to make sure,” one of them finally said.

“Just stay away from the pink stuff. You don’t want to be sucked into that. The human world is a nasty place, I’ve heard.”

The person holding me hissed into my ear, “We need to get out of here. Keep quiet.”

We flew under the bridge, away from the guards. And when we reached the riverbank, I realized it was the opposite side of the Cloud River, the one I hadn’t been on before. The forest appeared thicker and darker here. The road was overgrown with weeds, less traveled.

“Run.” My rescuer tugged me by my arm, urging me to move.

The person was small for a sky fae. The hand that gripped mine was thin with long, bony fingers and a mesh of see-through lines—the sign of aging in sky fae. It must be a woman. An old one. Hunching over made her look even shorter.

She ran fast, however. I could barely keep up as she ducked under the tree branches and weaved through the underbrush.

“Who are you?” I panted, rapidly running out of breath at the pace she’d set. But I had to know where she was taking me. What fate was I running to now?

“I’m Sova,” she said, not slowing down. “My wagon is just down this path, behind the purple pine tree. We’ll be safe th—”

She jerked suddenly. Letting go of my arm, she rotated on her heel. Her back came into view, with a long arrow sticking out of it. The end of the arrow was still trembling from the impact of the shot.

“Got one!” a male voice announced triumphantly from the forest on the side of the path.

Shocked to the core, I didn’t even think about jumping behind the nearest tree trunk to hide.

Another arrow sang through the air. It hit Sova in the chest this time. Then a man trudged out from behind the trees—anarien, judging by his curved horns. He tossed a confused glance at me. Belatedly, I stepped behind a tree, but his attention was now fully focused on Sova.

“What the…” The man appeared terrified. “Fuck…”

Blue sparks ran up both arrows, merging into a bright ball of light above the woman’s head.

“No!” Thearienpivoted on his hooves as the ball surged his way.

The blow of light hit the man in the back. A clear wound opened, perfectly round like a porthole on a ship. Transparent lines spread like sun rays from around the wound. With a silent explosion, the man was torn apart into pieces. They shimmered like fireworks before dissipating into the air.

Nothing was left of the man but his clothes by the time Sova’s body even hit the ground.

A crushing sound of more hooves running this way sent me into a mad dash in the opposite direction.

“What did you get?” a curious voice came from the distance.

Then another one yelled with alarm, “Oh, by all the gods of Nerifir! The poor bugger killed a hag.”

“It must be a mistake. He couldn’t be that stupid…”

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