The Queen's Red Lake

XXVIII

We trek for miles—the sky is covered in black smoke, bodies scattered across the lands, and large creatures hovering above us. My vision is still blurry and I trip over a hidden branch and grunt in pain when I hit the ground. The creature above us shrieks loudly and all the free prisoners fall to the ground. The man drags my body behind a tree and whispers, "You must be quiet—" He orders. "—or we will all die."

I snatch away from him and peak above the thick branches and plants that were shielding us. The creature hovers in laps before finally moving on. We continue silently and finally, we are upon a dark tunnel that is tucked away from the smoke and creatures. I collapse into the nearby chair, exhausted, and desperately trying to stay awake.

"Where is the healer?" I snarl.

The man orders the woman to find the healer—she moves quickly and when she returns, she doesn't return with a healer but a drunk who is swaying while holding a bottle in their hand and a hood covering their features. I can smell the scent of cheap alcohol from where I am sitting and when the healer comes closer—I almost puke.

However, the healer takes another swig and slams their hand on top of my wound that was caused by the chopping knife. I cry out in pain and then sensation as the wound begins to heal. Soon, I'm thrown on my back and the healer is eyeing the stitches from the arrow—that Sakiya caused.

"I can't heal this wound—" The healer voices out loud. She's female and her voice sounds familiar. She throws the hood off her head, revealing her face. "It's dark witchery—Hal?"

"Sasha?" I ask because I'm not quite sure. My vision is blurred and this person doesn't look like Sasha at all. This person reeks of alcohol, hair is longer and not shaved on the sides, and this person looks to be older. "No." I shake my head clearing my vision. She has a long scar that starts from her left eyebrow and loops around her cheek meeting her chin.

"Where have you been?" This imposter hisses. "I've been searching for you for years?"

"—years? What?"

Sasha scowls and the way her eyes twitch, annoyed, confirm this is definitely Sasha. "No one told you to blindly jump into the portal—" She snarls. "—both you and Sakiya went in but only Sakiya came out. Then, everything went into chaos. That happened twenty years ago—"

I begin to hyperventilate.

Sasha runs her hand through her curls and it's odd seeing her hair down, falling to her shoulders in messy, thick curls rather than being pulled up, sides shaved. Sasha turns her head when she hears people approaching, "Play dead—"

"—what?"

"Play dead." Sasha snarls. "Before I knock you out."

I immediately shut my eyes when the man from earlier approaches us, I cannot see but I can hear everything. "She's gonna die." Sasha explains.

"Impossible." The man replies. "I heard the doctor from earlier. She's a demonic."

"Well, the man who enjoys eating human brains was wrong—not that I'm surprised. He was insane." Sasha pauses and I can imagine her bored expression. "—thanks for wasting my time."

"No." The man shoves Sasha aside. "I saw it for myself—I saw her eyes." There is an intense pause. "The Crowned will deliver us food if we trade. We won't have to see women, children, and men starving."

"—you want to make a deal with the devil?" Sasha pushes.

"No." He answers. "I want to hand over the devil."

Sasha shakes her head, "You're making a mistake. You're going to give her—the most powerful being in the world up for food." Sasha pauses. "That's even if they deliver. Once they find out where we are she will take Hal and burn all of us alive."