Page 12 of Kissed By the Gods
CHAPTER FIVE
Ryot is setting a brutal pace,and I’m struggling to keep up now that the adrenaline has faded. I flutter my eyes rapidly, trying to adjust to the darkness, though Ryot doesn’t seem to have an issue seeing where he’s going.
Me, not so much. We turn a corner, and a branch slaps me in the face.
“Ouch! Slow down!”
“Bossy little thing,” he mutters under his breath, but he stops and glances back at me.
“Could you at least set my arm? I’d probably move faster.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Are you going to attack me if I set your shoulder?”
Maybe. “Of course not.”
He kind of chortles, then turns around to keep walking through the forest. “You really do need training. Here’s a lesson: stop exuding your emotions.”
I narrow my eyebrows in confusion, thinking about the way I can taste others’ feelings. “That’s an ability Altor have? Sensing emotions?”
He grunts, which I interpret as an affirmation.
“What is it used for?”
He casts a sideways glance at me, eyes narrowed like he’s trying to decide if telling me is compromising some important secret.
“It’s how we communicate with our beasts,” he answers finally. “At first, we don’t have conversations like you and I do. It’s more of a …” He waves his hand around in front of him like he can pull the word he’s looking for out of the air. “It’s more subtle than a conversation. Man and beast can sense each other’s emotions, sometimes even intentions, though that is much more difficult and takes many years.”
“Beasts?” I question.
“Mmm. All Altor have a beast—their faravar.” Oh. The winged horses.
My eyes widen, and I cast my eyes as if there could be a winged horse lurking behind a tree. “Where is your faravar?”
No answer. Alright.
“Why can’t I tell what you’re feeling?” I ask him.
“I’m blocking.”
“Blocking?”
“I create a shield around my mind. It keeps everyone but my beast out of my head.” He shoots me another sideways glance. “It is one of the many things you need to learn how to do.”
“What else do I need to learn?” The last six years have been a terror of unknowns. To have answers is almost worth being captured. Almost.
But he ignores me. Asshole.
“So we’re going to walk all the way into Faraengard?” I say it with a forced bite, to try to cover how much I really am dragging. My head throbs where I slammed into the tree; my stomach aches from hunger. Each step sends a wave of jarring pain down my arm, and whatever energy the adrenaline provided is long-since gone. The idea of walking from here to Faraengard is unfathomable. “Don’t you at least have a horse?” I try again.
But he seems disinclined to answer me, his pace less brutal but still a struggle for me to maintain. I hate him. He grunts in answer, like he heard me. I guess, in a way, he did.
My brain fogs over, and my senses go dull. My legs are spent, and I begin stumbling over each little stone and stick in my path. The heightened awareness of all that’s around me fades, until I’m left with nothing but a vague imperative to continue putting one foot in front of the other.
After what could honestly be minutes or hours, we come to a sudden stop. I raise my gaze from where it was locked on my feet and realize we’ve left the forest behind. We’re standing in a small clearing. Ryot releases his grip on my arm and continues forward. As much as I resented his hold on me just a few seconds ago, apparently it was all that was keeping me upright. I immediately crash to my knees before falling over with my cheek pressed into the downed leaves.
Finally. I’m closing my eyes, eager for the relief of complete darkness, when he comes back.
