Page 6 of The Scattered Bones

“What’s it like? Living trapped behind these walls, never touching anyone?”

“It’s an honor.” I shrugged, but he glared at me as if he saw through my answer. Until that day, my belief never wavered, and I swallowed uncomfortably. I was holy and pure, selected by the primordial being herself. This honor was only gifted to the worthy, and she’d found me perfect. I devoted every waking moment to Hreinasta’s service, as I had since my birth, and I believed with my entire spirit in the divinity of my path. But now? Standing in front of this enticing man who appeared a few cycles older than me, it suddenly sounded like a hollow lie. The world was at his fingertips. Every pleasure was available to him, and by this time next cycle, I would cease to exist for decades until Hreinasta abandoned my body.

“It’s lonely sometimes,” I added, and he nodded as if he recognized the truth. “But to serve the Pure One is a privilege.” I couldn’t abandon my faith completely, not even for a face more handsome than the wed gods. “One I accept gladly.”

“I’m glad you’re happy in your service, even if you’re lonely.” His words were genuine, but sadness bled through them. “Tell me your name.” He demanded, and then his features pinched as if his outburst surprised him. “I’m Kaid.”

“Kaid.” I tasted his name, and it was more delicious than the ripest fruit on a summer’s day. “Will you promise me something, Kaid?”

“Anything you want.” His eyes spoke the truth. He meant every word.

“Tell no one you saw me. Tell no one I gave you my name.”

“Then you’ll tell me?”

“You must promise.”

“I swear on Varas’ altar.” He knelt before me, and a thrill ran up my spine. “I won’t tell a soul of this. Meeting you… I shall treasure it for myself.”

“Sellah.” I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my lips, and he looked stunned for a moment as he stared at my mouth.

“Well, Sellah.” He shook his head, recovering from whatever trance had possessed him. “Now that we’re acquainted and no longer strangers, you don’t have to be lonely.”

I desperately wanted him to be right.

“I should go.” His expression sharply contradicted his words. “I can’t get caught with you.”

I nodded in agreement. Being caught in the temple was a punishable offense.

“Thank you, Sellah.” He gestured to the dress before throwing open the window. A blast of frigid air assaulted my face, and I drew my robe tighter around my chest. Kaid seemed wholly unaffected by the icy wind, and he smiled that grin I was already addicted to.

“Who knows?” He climbed out into the snowy night, his gaze meeting mine one last time. My breath left my lungs, and he inhaled as if to capture the same air that had occupied my body. “Perhaps I’ll see you again… so you don’t have to be lonely.” He shrugged mischievously. “I’m very good at getting into places I shouldn’t.”

And then he was gone, the open window the only proof he’d ever been there.

Three

Ihaven’t seen The Stranger since the jungle, so when the pull drags me north to a small hunting village, I find the presence of others unsettling. I haven’t heard my own voice in weeks, not felt the vibrations of my vocal cords in so long that I worry they might tear if I speak above a whisper. I have not seen a human face in days save my own reflection in the streams that I refilled my water skins with. The only breathing creature I’ve had contact with is my horse, but he doesn’t need my words, only my care. I enjoy his company, though. I wasn’t raised around animals, and seeing him for the first time was like lightning to my chest. I was both in awe of his speed and terrified of his power, but now I prefer him to humans. He cares little about broken vows or mortal sins. His daily concerns are simply for the meals he’ll consume, the water I’ll lead him to, and my scratches behind his ears. He’s all I have besides The Stranger… and the severed body in the trunk. But I never open that locked box unless it’s to add another bone. I don’t acknowledge it, either. It’s like knives to the gut knowing that what lies inside cannot speak to me, so I don’t talk to it. The memory of his voice faded despite my attempts to keep it with me, and I hate offering him mine if I cannot hear his. I miss the lightning that cracked over my skin at the sound. I miss everything about him.

After I found his hands in Death’s abandoned temple, I woke the next morning to find The Stranger long gone. I never know what part of the realm to search for him. His executioners didn’t provide me with a map, but The Stranger’s promise stirred something in my soul. I walk without plans. I simply begin, and when I end, his scattered bones are waiting for me. So, with his hands locked away with his torso and leg, I strapped the cart to my horse and left the jungle. I didn’t know where my wanderings would lead, but I’m both surprised and unnerved by the destination. This village at the base of snow consumed mountains is nothing more than a hunters’ gathering. The air is all ice and sharpness, razor winds and painful breaths. It’s a miserable stretch of earth, but its horrors come from the climate. No black magic hovers here, only nature.

I hate revealing myself to others, and without the thick oppression of evil that normally surrounds his preserved flesh, I’m confused about why the pull led me here. This far north, I doubt anyone will recognize me. I’m no longer the girl the gods declared an outcast and a heretic. She was soft and smooth, her hair long, her health vibrant. This Sellah is all muscle and bone, scars and ragged hair. I look nothing like the woman I used to be. She died the day he died. Sellah ceased to exist the moment his heart stopped beating, and now I simply endure. A wanderer. A godless traveler on the path of vengeance.

Still, I’m afraid of others. I witnessed firsthand how cruel mankind can be to their own, and I’ve chosen to spend many nights hungry rather than interact with my kind. I’m scared that outsiders will see past my dirt-caked skin to the girl who fled the gods’ wrath. I worry they’ll drag me before her altar and burn me alive for my betrayal, and if I die, then he’s truly gone. So, I avoid civilization. I steal and hide and fight, and each time I take something that doesn’t belong to me, I thank him for teaching me his knowledge and skills. My thief trained me in his god’s ways; he tutored me on the darkest of nights to be like him, and it’s because of his god that I’m still alive. Perhaps not all the gods have abandoned me. Maybe somewhere deep down, Varas smiles every time I play the thief, every time I honor his fallen acolyte.

But I have no choice now. His pull tugged me into the lands of eternal ice, and I cannot hover on the outskirts of the village. The cold will steal my breath in the night. The frost will plunder my animal companion for its hunger, and the unseen thread that stitched my soul to his has stilled. Its tug no longer guides my heart, but without the evil polluting the air, I don’t know where to search. All I know is that as I approach, the hunters stare at me with unwelcoming glares. The North is a land reserved for those who live and die here. Outsiders aren’t welcome, and only those born in the snow are given respect.

As I cross the village’s threshold, a bloody altar crafted of bones and fur captures my attention. For a split second, I’m back inside Hreinasta’s inner sanctum, his blood pooling on the temple floor, and I clench my eyes shut until I see swirling colors behind my lids.

“Please, no,” I whisper, my voice hoarse and cracked.

“The Hunter demands blood,” The Stranger’s unnerving melody seeps through my brain, and though he tells me what I dread hearing, I’m relieved he hasn’t abandoned me. “It is his way. It is theirs.”

“But it’s not mine.”

“Open your eyes, child.”

I obey, gagging at the sight of the crimson snow. Lovec, God of the Hunt. It’s his altar that graces the village’s entrance.

---