Page 33 of The Scattered Bones

I say his name as my fingers lose their grip, my thigh gaping open. I say it again as I lay back, unable to sit up. I say it a third time as my pooling blood spreads below me.

My vision goes black, but I see him above me. My eyes can’t distinguish his features, though. All I see is a shadow, but I know he’s welcoming me to death. I shall finally join him in the nothingness. I wish Death hadn’t been banished. At least then I could find him in the afterlife, but Hreinasta stole everything from me. My childhood, my faith, my husband, my eternity.

With weak fingers, I reach up and touch his shadow, the skin surprisingly warm for a ghost. I say his name again, but even my dying ears hear how garbled my words have become. Perhaps this fate is best. I don’t know how much longer I can survive without him. I’ve already forgotten the sound of his voice. I only remember that it was deep as thunder and thick as smoke. How long before I forget his face? His scar? His friendship?

“Sellah!” the shadow yells as darkness claims me. My, how my memory distorted his voice, for as he speaks, nothing about the tone sounds familiar. I hate that I’ll die knowing I forgot pieces of him.

The shadow shifts closer. Death closes in faster.

“My ch—”

* * *

I’m vaguelyaware of movement, of a solid warmth against my chest. I can barely open my eyes, but the world comes to me in flashes. A black cloak draped over whatever is warm and moving before me. Clouds, endless clouds. Something grey and razor sharp. A familiar voice, a presence I think I recognize. And pain. Unending pain.

Pain and warmth and endless sky.

Then the darkness comes again.

* * *

Intense pain lances my leg,and I jerk awake, sitting up violently fast. A broad palm gently catches my chest, stopping my momentum from propelling me into the dark figure crouching before me. I stare wildly at the featureless face, a groan slipping from my lips as I attempt to gain my bearings.

“There you are, my child,” the figure says, and at the term, I know whose hand presses against my clavicle.

“Stranger,” I croak, my vision finally clearing enough to make out his features. I’ve not seen him since Death’s ruined temple in the jungle, and I forgot how alarming his white eyes are, how dark his aura is.

“I worried I lost you,” he says, and I realize the pain in my right thigh is coming from his other hand. I glance to where his fingers rest against what I thought was a gaping wound but is instead a series of neat stitches.

“What…?” I start as he pulls his palm from my chest and returns to bandaging my leg.

“It’s not infected, which brings me relief,” he says. “For many days, I worried the fever might take you.”

“Days?” I rasp, my throat as dry as The Sivatag, and The Stranger hands me a water skin.

“You’ve been lost to me for almost a week,” he answers, binding my wound, and I seize the opportunity to scan our surroundings. We’re on a massive plateau, the flat rock extending as far as the eye can see, which isn’t far since the clouds swallow us whole. We must be higher on the Verdens Kant, and my lethargic brain cannot reconcile this waking reality with my last memories.

“I didn’t die?” I ask. “Where are we, and why are you helping me? I thought you couldn’t help?”

The Stranger chuckles at my spewed questions. “You did not die, but you came very close. And we’re at the top.”

“Top? The top of the Verdens Kant? How?”

“Drink your water, my child,” he scolds. “I strapped you to my back and climbed the edge of the world. I believe this is the pinnacle, but the clouds never clear, so perhaps I’m mistaken.”

“You helped? Why? You told me you couldn’t?”

“I helped because if I had not, you would’ve died.” A change comes over The Stranger. His cloak grows darker, his voice deepens, and the air surrounding him oozes black. “I cannot let you die, my child. You are my only hope, my only way, and I do not suffer what is mine.”

I recoil as he calls me his. It’s not how Kaid used to utter the word, with reverence and adoration. The Stranger claims me as if I’m his possession, his property, and fear pricks my skin. In truth, I know very little about the man who insists he can return Kaid to me if I find his scattered bones. In my sorrow, I believed his promise, but I don’t truly understand the darkness I’ve allowed to latch onto my spirit. I don’t even know this dark man’s name.

The Stranger looks at my pale face, his white eyes seeing into my soul. I can’t breathe at the intensity in his gaze, and then as suddenly as he darkened, the blackness slips away, returning him to his usual self.

“Do not fear, my child. You must do this alone and have faith in my promise, but there are always loopholes.” He brushes my hair behind my ears. “How can you have faith if you are dead? I am not aiding you in your quest. I am only aiding your life. It is why I could not intervene until death threatened you. I cannot deliver you to his bones, but I cannot stomach the thought of leaving your corpse on these rocks.”

I nod, realizing for the first time that a small fire burns beside us. I don’t know where he found wood to burn in a land of stone, but I don’t question him. I’m simply thankful to still be alive.

“I may have little power in this world.” He grips my chin gently. “I cannot save you from everything, but I can stitch your leg and carry you to safety. I have grown fond of you, and your death would put an end to our plans.”

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