Page 13 of Marked By the Dark Lord
The bull-headed human thing snorted. “That’s what they all say. You’re not going to die. Though once the Court decides your fate, you might wish you had.”
All three of the things chuckled nastily, sending a fresh burst of terror down my spine. It was a miracle I hadn’t pissed myself. There was still time, though.
“Hand it over,” one of the other Gray Knights growled, extending a hand.
I didn’t move.
“The book!” it barked as we walked back down the tracks and into the ATV park, away from the oncoming train. “Now!”
I tried to extend it to him. Maybe I could just give him the book, and it would all be okay. That was what Ricky said they were after, didn’t he? But my arms refused to obey. They clutched the spine so tight my knuckles turned white.
“Drop it!” my original captor ordered, shoving me forward, ripping the shoulder of my shirt as it caught on his hand, nearly leaving me shirtless.
In my desperate attempt to maintain my modesty, I dropped the book. It hit the ground, the clasp popping open as it landed on a particular page. I stared as it glowed red again. Words came to me from the symbols on the page, just as all three of the Gray Knights charged.
I shouted the final word, and with wetthwumps,the three beings were suddenly gone. The red glow faded, and I was left alone with half a shirt and no idea what was going on. Without thinking, I grabbed the book and ran toward the embankment down to the Niagara River. Ihadto get rid of that thing. It was evil. It had to be.
More of those things—or maybe the same ones?— charged out of the ATV park and toward me, ordering me to stop. I didn’t, of course. That would be silly. Instead, I hopped over the guardrail, lost my footing, and started tumbling down the embankment, curling my body around the book to protect it.
Why I did that when I was going to get rid of it, I didn’t know. I just did it. I hit a tree halfway down and saw stars as the air was driven from my lungs. I gasped helplessly, trying to suck down air that refused to come. Dimly, I was aware that the bull-man things were coming after me.
Get up. You have to get up. You can’t stay here. If you do, you’re dead.
They’d said they wouldn’t kill me, but that was before the book had opened and I’d attacked three of them. I had no idea what would happen next, and I didn’t want to find out. Get rid of the book, then run away. Make them choose which to go after. It was a shit plan, but it was all I could come up with.
Trying to push aside the agony in my body and the terror of not being able to breathe, I got to my feet and continued down the slope. My lungs slowly recovered, allowing precious oxygen to flood my brain, giving me a slight endorphin rush of relief.
“Halt!”
I looked back, the nearest Gray Knight far closer than I’d hoped as it charged down the slope with a surefootedness that was infuriating. With its size and the rain, it should have been unwieldy as all hell. Not so, apparently.
I kept going, the trees stopping me from picking up too much speed as I slammed into them. I would be covered in bruises, but those would fade quickly. They always did. Ever since I was a child, I’d healed from beatings with uncharacteristic swiftness.
It should have been a blessing. Unfortunately, it just meant I got beaten twice as often. Ah, the irony.
Clearing the last of the trees, the raging waters of the Niagara River greeted me. Though they were normally much calmer and more tepid that far from the Falls, the rain was giving them extra energy.
My plan suddenly changed. I could lose the Knightsinthe river. Then I wouldn’t have to give up the book. Maybe I could learn what it was and what it could do. How to use its powers to do some good. Maybe.
All I had to do was survive the rapids-like conditions of the water. At least it was the middle of summer, and despite the cool rains, the water wouldn’t be instantly deadly.
Probably.
I started toward the edge of the water, a new plan formed and set in my mind. But halfway there, I stumbled to a halt as soft purple light shone in front of me in an oval shape. Gray Knightsemerged from within, fanning out to either side of me as more emerged from the slope behind me.
I was trapped.
“What the fuck is going on?” I all but whined, frustration and fear swirling around inside me, vying for dominance.
“Mila Florence.”
I stiffened at the new voice. It came from the throat of a human. A regular human with a normal head and an average-sized body. None of the ridiculous super-inflated muscles of the Gray Knights. He strode toward me, carrying a staff and dressed all in loose gray clothing.
“It’s just Mila,” I said through clenched teeth, trying to keep them from chattering in fear. How the hell did they know my name?
“Very well,Mila,” the man said as he approached.
Somewhere between an old thirty and a young fifty, he sported a bald head and no facial hair. Yellow-tinged eyes stared back at me, unafraid of my gaze. Why should he be afraid anyway, given all the hired help he’d sent after me?
