Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)

Chapter 78 - Branka - Solus Umbra (Alone Shadow)

"Death and pain. Suffering and agony. That is-"

"That is your God and this is my fate, blah, blah, blah. I got it!" I scream at Hiss. "Now tell me what it is you and your clan want. How did you become this?"

"Death and pain."

"Argh!"

"Suffering and agony. That is our God. This is your fate."

"For Saint's sake. You're lucky I can't get past the fire or else you'd be crying like a lost child begging for his mother."

"Death and pain-"

"Gods kill me now!" I storm out of the cave and into the sunlight, slamming my hands to my ears to get rid of his voice and those words he's been repeating nonstop with every question I've asked. I suppose he was right about the whole suffering and agony part. And the pain.

Gods and their Saints I've been in pain for the past...fuck I don't even know what day I'm on now. But the wounds from the other night have been plaguing me ever since. I can feel the color leeching from my face with the rising cold. The scars on my shoulder have reopened thanks to infection, and the ones on my side are scabs that pull and tear with every sharp movement. Bruises mare a good portion of the rest of my body, mainly on my back from the abusive amount of times it rammed into solid objects.

My neck is sore as well, most likely bruised too. My voice has been scratchy and throat sore, and don't even get me started on my fingernails which only barely exist. Pain is a pain in my ass, which also somehow hurts, but I've become so accustomed to it that I won't notice one of the scars opening back up until blood or puss is pooling out of it and soaking my shirt. This shirt was once a pretty cream color, now...now I'll just have to burn it to cleanse it.

I walk to the ledge I nearly died trying to scale and sit at its edge with my feet dangling down. I can still hear Hiss's voice, but the wind up here carries it away from me, thank the Saints. I haven't left the cliffside and its cave, as my body likely wouldn't be able to handle the climb back up with having to carry my body weight and whatever food and water I can scavenge along with it. At least there's a view. I can see the entire expanse of the forest. It's so big that I can't even see where the sea could possibly be. Just a sea of leaves and more leaves and more leaves. This cliffside, however, is connected to a larger one that flows into a mountain range that runs east to west for a good few miles before it turns north. The river is kept full from a few smaller waterfalls and flows into the forest where I can only guess as to where it goes and bends.

It's a beautiful place, but it's fruitless and hopeless.

It's about one bell on whatever day it is Blight time. The sun is out, though the wind carries a sharp chill that makes me crave the sunrays more and more. Up here the wind runs faster, blowing along with it any scent of The Fiend or someone else nearby. Not that there's been any sign of any of them so far. Their wails will ring in the distance every now and then, which then makes Hiss think that it's okay to try and scream back to call for help. I may not be able to get past the fire, but my power can still make a sword fly for his chest and twist until he shuts the hell up. It's more effective than a gag tied around his mouth. He takes that as his queue to just be extra annoying. It's like his sole purpose in life. To annoy the living shit out of me. To make me beg for death and its swift mercy. That, and constantly reminding me that my blood smells like gold and rick lemon verbena and the salt of the sea. I think it's odd that I smell like sea salt, considering that it's been days since I've been there and decades before that.

I miss the sea, oddly enough. I'd much rather be there than here, as there's at least better company aboard a ship than there is here in the neverending forest. Kairos hasn't reappeared, but I can still feel Sir Solus Umbra watching nearby. Sometimes I'll catch a glimpse of a shadow that skitters here and there, too large to be an animal but not so large to where it is an ungodly creature. Not to mention it moves all too smartly to be anything but another ghost character.