Page 108 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
For a handful of heartbeats, we stare at each other.
The truth is, I pity her.
We’re both weak. We’re both small. We’ll both die here in this forbidden forest where only the strongest survive.
I draw a line on the forest floor with my stick. “This is my side and that one is yours. Don’t you dare come here.”
Day3 in Astefar
My body is feverish and I can’t sleep from the chills and rigors shaking through my body. I place my knuckles between my teeth to keep them from chattering. If I don’t it might attract the attention of the prowlers of the night.
An eerie screech resounds from the bushes behind me, followed by the sound of someone gasping for breath. I peer over the dead tree trunk and see movements in the dark. Fear peaks sharply in my heart, but I creep closer.
The Night Rats are swarming over Salty Spider, dragging her into the deeper parts of the woods towards their nest. I clasp my hands to my mouth, careful not to make a sound. If I stay quiet, no harm would befall me.
This is how you survive in Astefar. This is how you survive anywhere.
In the faerie books I read, the Night Rats’ queen is a vengeful creature. If I invoke her wrath, we will be enemies forever. I have no reason to endanger myself in the dead of night to help a stranger.
Yet there is something inexplicably sad about watching Salty Spider being pulled away to be shredded to pieces.
I leap from my hiding spot, swinging my spear madly. “Go away!”
My skill is poor and I can’t hit a single rat, but the creatures of night cower at the sight of the helm over my head.
“Be gone! Be gone!” I scream so loud my throat hurts.
The rats scuttle back into the shadows where they came from. I turn to the spider as she tries to stand with her spindly legs.
“Are you all right, Salty Spider?” I ask her.
She limps slowly and climbs towards her dark burrow on the tree trunk.
“Did they hurt you?” I try again.
No answer. Nothing but writhing and whimpers of pain.
I stand on the tip of my toes to look into the hole. But it’s too dark and my feet are hurting again.
“The night is half gone. It’ll be morning again soon,” I say to comfort her.
I return to my side of the forest floor and close my eyes. The fever wrecks through my body with the force of a cyclone. Something is nibbling on my feet. But I’m too tired to care. Perhaps the Rat Queen is here to take her revenge.
The world grows dark behind my eyes. Maybe this is it. Maybe this time I’ll die.
Day4 in Astefar
For the first time, I wake up without the constant throbbing ache in my feet. It is replaced by a cool, numbing sensation. The pain and glass pieces have been purged…
…and I have shoes now?
They’re made of spider silk. I glance to the tree to look at Salty Spider.
“It’s for saving me last night. Don’t get any wrong ideas,” she says, averting her gaze with pride.
“Thank you,” I say to her. I’m so grateful I can cry. Tears crowd my eyes, and before I know it, they stream down my cheeks. I know mother said it’s a sign of weakness. But I can’t stop them from flowing. “Thank you.”
“Sure—sure. Don’t mention it.” The spider blushes and backs away into her burrow.
