Page 7 of Shadow Kissed

I’ve been attempting to free my binds for the last thirty minutes, to no avail. Darkness is coming, creeping in along the edges of the forest. Menacing and silent, it crawls closer to me, until it’s too late. I jump in fright when I hear a distant howl. Is that a mutt?

I’d heard stories growing up of people who became stranded beyond the protection of the town walls when night falls. Those stories never ended well. There was only one outcome—death. I hear another howl, only this time it seems closer. I’m running out of time. My eyes strain to see in the darkness. Every branch and tree trunk looks like it could be something sinister. I’m allowing my mind to run away from me.

I take a steadying breath to slow down my heart rate, knowing that the sound of my thundering heart is enough to attract every mutt in these woods. I continue to fight against my binds, eventually loosening the ties enough that I can get a thumb free. One thing about having a boy as a best friend, who always wanted to join the army, is we’d have competitions andbind each other and time who could get free the fastest. Now I am getting somewhere. After what feels like another thirty minutes, I finally free myself and, bending down, I untie the rope holding my ankles against the tree trunk. It is pitch black now. I can barely see in front of me.

Another Howl. Followed by several responding howls.

Night mutts hunt in packs.

I look around, unsure which direction to go in. I have no clue of my whereabouts or the direction of home. I’m terrified. Every noise has me jumping in fright.

I am alone in the forest with no way of getting home.

I thank Mother Crystal in my head when I remember I have the dagger that Arkynn got me still in my boot. I reach down and pull it out, holding it out in front of me. I doubt one dagger will save me tonight, buts it’s all I have to work with.

Ishould’ve paid closer attention in school when we learned about the night mutts. How high can they climb? Is my best bet to climb the highest tree and wait it out until dawn arrives and the mutts leave? All I know is I’m a sitting duck if I stay here. I either need to get up high or try to find civilization and run as fast as my legs will carry me. An icy shiver runs down my spine when I hear another series of howls. They are getting closer. My eyes search the dark forest, and I go with my instincts and head in what I can only hope is the way home, to Terleigh. I don’t look behind me, I just run. A better option than waiting for them to find me and devour my soul. I’ve seen a body after mutts have killed it and it’s not a pretty sight. The body looks like a dried-up mummy. Their cheeks sucked in, and an expression of horror frozen on their face as the mutts show them their greatest fears and feed on them until they become nothing but husks of dried bone and sinew.

Another howl. This one sounds way too close for comfort. I chance a look over my shoulder and swear I can see a shadow of something moving through the path between the trees. Maybe this is a better way to go than at the mercy of the Shadow Borne?

A noise behind me has me stopping dead in my tracks. With a sense of dread, I risk another look behind me, and my blood runs cold when I see the glowing purple eyes of not one but three mutts chasing after me. This isn’t good. I can’t outrun them, so I grab a branch of the nearest tree and scale the branches like my backside is on fire. I used to spend hours climbing trees in the orchards near our village, so I’m able to move confidently and swiftly until I reach about two-thirds of its total height.

I press my body into the tree trunk, hoping they won’t see me and will run past; but even I know it’s the smell of a person’s fear they hunt by, not by sight. My heart stutters in my chest when they appear through the trees. They all come to a stop, sniffing the air and make grunting noises to each other like they’re communicating. I close my eyes and will my heart rate to steady as I try to think of things that bring me peace. I open an eye and see the largest one move closer to the base of tree I’m hiding in; its purple eyes scouring up the trunk until landing on me. The mutt tips its head back, and it howls loudly into the night. Seconds later, a series of haunting, responding howls come from every direction. I am a goner. I am going to die tonight, and when they take my withered dead body back to Terleigh, Mayla will gloat over it and derive great pleasure from seeing my grotesque corpse. The three mutts gather at the base of the tree. They watch me and prowl in circles, whimpering and growling. Their dinner is so near, but just out of reach.

To worsen matters, four more mutts appear and join the others beneath the tree. They’re being optimistic if they think my fears will feed all of them. None of the beasts attempt to scale the tree, so if I can just stay awake and high in the tree, maybe I canmake it to dawn. This is going to be the longest night of my life—if I survive it.

4

RAEGAL

We have been travelling for four days from the far western village of Fordwic. Our next destination is a place called Terleigh, where we will collect the next batch of Asen soldiers who will pledge their allegiance and fight for our cause. I hate this god forsaken realm. The Asen’s are odd folk who are devoid of a shadow of their own and they hold no magic. The realm’s abundance of crystals is its only redeeming quality. Onyx, found in abundance at Shadow Valley, replenishes our shadows and gives us strength.

My parents are pushing me to take a wife this year, but my life is here with my men, in the thick of the action. My father decided I needed to spend more time on Asen, outside of Shadow Valley that is, and that I stick around to experience a reaping ceremony for myself. We have three more towns to visit here in the west district to collect more recruits and then we travel to Shadow Valley where they undergo six months of intensive training under my command. The one positive about being a Shadow Borne on Asen is that we can travel at night.The night mutts have no hunger for our shadow souls. In fact, the shadow dust from our realm burns their flesh. It doesn’t kill them, but it can leave them badly injured and in a world of pain until they heal. Night mutts are hard to kill. They are creatures that came from the Night Realm and they’re immortal beings.

“I’m ready for a warm bed and a warm body to feed my needs,” Jasiel says, his voice cutting through the silence of the night.

“Just don’t bed any that are wed, my dear friend. I don’t want to save you from the wrath of another angry husband,” I advise him. Jasiel likes his dalliances with the Asen women and wed or not he doesn’t care.

Jasiel laughs, his eyes dancing with mischief. “I can’t help it if I can satisfy an Asen woman better than their own men can.” He smirks with an easy confidence. Shadow men are popular amongst the Asen women. They enjoyed the danger and intrigue of bedding a male of magic from another realm. There are also no dangers of breeding with them, as we can only breed with a female once mated. “I might surprise you yet and take myself one at the reaping this year.”

I arch a brow at my dear friend as he rides beside me. “A wife, you?” I chuckle. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Jasiel grins, looking out in front of us at the dark night. “Stranger things have happened.”

I grimace. “I’m not sure I could ever take one as my mate. They are a strange breed.”

Jasiel nods his head in agreement. “They are, but aren’t all females?” Jasiel’s face turns serious. “Strange or not, they may be the only hope of our realm surviving.”

Jasiel is right. The number of newborns in our realm has been dwindling for the last hundred and fifty years. Less and less Shadow Borne males and females can breed. Our seers and healers are unable to find the cause of the fertility problems. Weare a dying race, and the king has made it clear that if breeding with other realms is needed then we must all do our duty. Even our own king took himself an Asen wife fifty years ago. His Asen wife sits to the left of him on his throne and his Shadow Borne wife to his right. At one time, it had been unheard of for a man to have more than one wife, but now, duty demands it if it means we can procreate and secure future generations.

“Are the reports true? Will there be more Shadow Kissed females at this reaping than before?”

I nod my head. “It’s true. An additional fifteen shadow kissed were born in the last cycle. The court seer says it is nature’s way of responding to the infertility in our own women. They suspect in this next cycle that there may be fifty additional Asen females.”

Jasiel whistles, cocking an eyebrow. “Looks like we’ll all be taking Asen mates in the future, then.”

I frown, the idea leaving me cold. “Let us pray to Arawn to find a cure before that fate befalls us all.”

Jasiel laughs, shaking his head at me. “I don’t know what it is you have against them. They certainly have the stamina to satiate our needs.”