Page 153 of Artemysia
“We’re okay. He charged at me, wild as a beast, but at the last minute, he snatched my dagger and stabbed himself in the leg. Told me to run.” The younger man eyes Eira with suspicion, recognizing her as Syf.
“We ran and hid in the fields. He took off that way.” A woman with a baby in her arms tips her head south, down the road.
There’s a trail of Riev’s blood that guides us. I’m gutted that he’s injured and bleeding.
We pass a half-eaten sheep. Other rabid Syf never attacked livestock.
I choke back the bile surging up my throat. I tell myself it’s not him, and force myself to maintain a sliver of hope. He hasn’t killed Syf or humans. Yet.
But I know in my gut that this day will not end well.
The Syf horses pound over the dirt road that eventually leads to Limingfrost, but there’s no word that Riev has made it that far, thankfully.
Ivy and I are the fastest riders, perhaps out of desperation, but also—horses don’t seem to be as fast as elk. She and I must be driving them harder to reach the galloping pace we are used to. Either way, we lead Eira, Throg, and a handful of Artemysian soldiers who trail behind us. We crouch low to balance, but lift our weight off the horses’ backs to encourage speed.
We pass a farmer clutching his arm in pain, a fresh bite mark visible on his skin. He insists he will be okay but gestures to the far end of his field, toward a pond and long wild grass.
“There!” I shout. “Riev.” I charge at full speed to reach him first.
A bloodied Riev wrestles a mangled leg of the sheep he must have carried with him. He tears flesh, chewing. When he spots me, he rips off a bone and flings it at me. His hair is a tangled mess, and his clothes are torn to shreds. He’s unrecognizable. Filthy. Wild.
The sight of him bleeds my heart dry. He would hate himself for existing in this state.
I signal with an upheld fist to the others to stay back as I approach.
My hand trembles as I draw my sword. I’ve never been unsteady when wielding a blade. The feel of my palm around steel usually calmsme, but right now, I’m shaking uncontrollably. I don’t want to have to use it.
“Riev. It’s me.”
He drops the carcass, spits out what he’s chewing, and charges at me. I swing off my borrowed horse.
“Stop! It’s Delphine. I’m here to help you.”
He doesn’t stop. He’s faster than ever, and he pushes off his last step and hurtles himself at me. I leap in the air toward him, hoping to catch him off-guard and strike him first. He won’t expect me to attack. My palm presses against the flat of my sword to smack him on the side of his head. He’s knocked aside, but he seizes my arms as he goes down and we roll into the long grass alongside the path.
His claws dig into my shoulders, slashing at my throat.
His fangs, like wolf’s teeth, snap the air as I kick out my feet to hold him back. I’m forced to use both hands to clutch his throat to keep him from biting me.
“Riev, please. It’s me, I won’t hurt you,” I beg.
His leg bleeds where he stabbed it to stop himself from attacking the travelers.
For a brief moment, the ferocity in his features eases. I know he fights himself to come back to me.
“Delphine…” he grinds out in a voice I barely recognize, “kill me. Please. Before the sick, mindless killer takes over. I’m going to murder you. I’ll slaughter everyone, I swear to you. I can’t hold back any longer.”
“No. Riev. You’re the only rabid Syf who has been able to control himself to some extent. Stay with me. I’m not killing you.”
“Look at all this blood. Human, Syf. I can’t live like this. I don’t deserve to live. All I hunger for is blood, and I won’t stop. You have to do it. Only by your hand. Please.”
“Listen to me. You’re fighting it—you didn’t kill anyone, Syf or human. You bit some people and ate a sheep. But you stabbed yourself. That’s where all the blood is from. Come back to Artemysia with us.”
“I don’t want to be like this. This wicked thing. Please, Elphie. There’s no time. This is the last time I can come back—I can feel it. After this, I can’t stop myselfanymore.”
“No. You deserve to live.”
“You’re Delphine Julian. You always do the right thing. You don’t put your own needs first. You can do this. Don’t let me hurt any more. Remember me for who I was in the cave pools. You’re my first and last and only. I love you.”
