Page 105 of A Broken Promise

My heart winced as I broke the glass arrow, until just a little piece of it was buried inside of his wound, even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to get that shard of glass out of him without help.

I made a deal with a monster, and I would honor it.

His life for his knowledge.

I shot another arrow at him, this time at his other shoulder, disabling his other arm.

But life can be very very painful sometimes.

I patted down his muscled body, taking away every single piece of weaponry he had. Resting against my small bedroll, I waited for my enemy to wake up.

52

Iwoke up to the voice rumbling near me in anger.

“You shot me again?” he frustratingly growled. “What happened to letting Fate decide?” he asked, slowly sitting up, wincing as he tried to move his arms. I quickly got up to my feet. He was awake and alert.

Alive, godsdamnit.Alive.

My face filled with annoyance and disappointment as he stood up. A tiny hope that he would indeed die through the night vanished at last.

“No harm was part of your deal, Destroyer. Mine was to allow you to live.” I glared at him, sizing his rising body. After a while, I bandaged his wounds to stop the bleeding last night. A pathetic move I now regretted, as he cautiously eyed the bandages. He moved his hand and I flinched at that gesture. A fire summoning gesture I recognized. And to my ease and satisfaction, nothing happened, not even a single spark.

“You’ve wasted enough of my time. Now take me to the Rebels before I disagree with Fate's decision,” I commanded.

He took another look at me, at Heart Piercer now visibly strapped on my thigh. Our eyes locked, and I growled. “Move it.”

Though annoyance was rising with each of his breaths, a part of mecalmed at the knowledge that now I had not one but two bargaining chips.

The Destroyer General with the intel to sell, and Kaius’s papers; all of which I could trade for freeing Viyak.

“You are the one who shot me in both of my legs. How quickly do you think I’ll walk?” he said, tugging on his roped hands, though he started walking. “Did you wield my swords?” he asked intrigued, glancing at the swords wrapped in my blanket. I didn’t reply, but the corner of his mouth rose. “How did it feel?” he asked, now smirking wide.

“It felt like you have a tiny dick and are overcompensating with two swords for it. Now move or I’ll chop it even shorter.”

He smiled wickedly and I debated ending the bargain right there, but he moved, taking a limping step ahead. I followed him close behind. My crossbow, ready to fire at any moment, aimed at his heart. He paused only after a few steps, turning to take another look at me from head to toe, considering; something primal in him shifted as if he sized me up like a predator sizing their prey before an attack.

No, not anymore.

“I missed the first time, but I won’t miss the second,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Or should I demonstrate that I am a better shot now?” I lowered my crossbow until it pointed straight at his manhood. He raised his brow as if daring me to do it. I almost pulled the trigger just to wipe off the roguish smirk of his face, but I paused, realizing I would have to bandage himthereand I would rather let him bleed out and die. “Move.” I glared at him and gestured with my eyes to the distance.

“As you wish.” He sarcastically bowed. We started walking towards the unknown horizon.

“How do you know where the forest is?” I finally asked after following his steps in the deep snow for hours, lost amidst the fog.

“I sense it. Don’t you?” He kept walking but I could sense smugness in his tone as my silence confirmed that I didn’t. “Ah, so that’s why you didn’t kill me,” he said out loud, snickering. “And here I thought it was your honor.”

This was a mistake. I knew it. But Viyak’s starved figure crossed my mind. For him I would do this. But after?

No, after this, no more promises. No bargains. Never again.

I wasn’t sure if I could even keep this one. Luckily for me, the General stayed silent most of the way. We didn’t stop all day, though I could see his limp getting heavier by the hour, his pace slowing down to an unbearably sluggish crawl.

I felt it then. The little tug of damp air laced with just a bit of something I couldn’t wrap my mind around. It dawned on me then…. Magic. Cursed magic, I realized as we stepped onto the threshold of the forest.

“Welcome to the Cursed Forest,” he said, carefully crossing the definitive line between the deep snow and thick yellow leaves rotting on the ground. I followed him hesitantly. Glancing back only once to the valley still covered in a thick fog. The forest wasn’t foggy, and it was also surprisingly dry, I realized. Looking around, only thick trees and shrubbery were spotted around us as we stepped through it all. The trees were large, their roots twisted and wide, but it was the heights of those trees that left me breathless. They were the largest trees I’d ever seen. Their highest tops reached so high, they seemed to touch the sun itself.

I looked up just enough to see that almost no sky was visible through those large, heavily intertwined branches, as if they all were connected with one another. Though it was dry, the air was cold; so cold that even as we walked, I couldn’t stop shivering. Ice was filling my lungs, quickly sucking the life out of me.

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