Page 61 of The Last One
The first sunabi writhes on the floor after hitting that invisible wall and thrashes its wounded body into the cupboard, bringing down with it the remaining unbroken plates and cups. It lies there then, motionless among broken shards of glass and clay.
Jadon jabs hard at the third sunabi, but the blade bounces off the creature’s skin. Annoyed, the sunabi springs at Jadon.
I scream,“No,”again, drop my sword, and throw out both hands.
The sunabi flies backward and smashes into Olivia’s spinning wheel. Like the first creature, it lies there, unmoving.
My hands glow even brighter. My amulet radiates like the daystar, its glow so bright that Jadon hides his face in his shoulder. I tiptoe closer to the last surviving sunabi, collapsed near the rocking chair. Its breathing sounds ragged and wet. My amulet’s glow softens as I control my panting breath. I tiptoe closer to the sunabi.
Jadon also inches closer until he’s standing over it.
The sunabi’s face glows green, and its skin crinkles around the edges of its mouth. Air pushes between the creature’s razor-sharp teeth as green blood pools beneath its body.
“Who sent you?” Jadon demands, crouching now. “Was it Elyn?”
“Danar… Ruh-ruh…” The sunabi coughs up green blood.
“Who?”I murmur, moving closer to the creature.
The sunabi whispers, and the sound bristles against my ear.
Jadon stands, then steps back, his gaze lingering on the creature.
“What?” I ask it, tears burning my throat. I can’t understand what the sunabi is saying nor can I understand why I recognize the language of this creature.
“De-vour,” the beast rasps, its words almost liquid. “Here…now.”
“What’shere now?” I’m almost kneeling beside the fallen beast. I want to touch it, heal it, pull it away from its doom. Talk to it now that I can understand.
“Be…” the sunabi rasps.
“Be…what?” I ask.
“Be…ware.” The sunabi shivers, and its breath rattles until…
No no no.
Dead. But…
Beware?
Ofwhat?
16
Once again, I stand over destruction.
Broken furniture, broken sword, discarded sword, and three dead sunabi.
She is a danger to you.
Elyn said that, and she’s right. Maford, and now Jadon and Olivia’s cottage.
My breath hitches in my chest as those words swell larger, larger, until they are the only words I hear. Elyn claimed that I turned on her, turned on my family. The sunabi said, “Devour.” If I’m from that region and my people live in one of those villages around the sea, just as Jadon suggested, what happens if I go there? What will happen? Will I receive the same greeting that Elyn would have given me?
Jadon and Olivia are standing near the front door, silent. She’s gaping at the dead sunabi.“Is this for real? Am I looking at sunabi? Who is she?”He’s staring at me.“This didn’t happen, this couldn’t have happened.”
In the congealing pool of sunabi blood, six shrinking ivory horns the length of a child’s hand shimmer against the green-stained floor.
