On Death's Honor

Chapter 7: Bogdan's Fury

People up north called the brown powder ruwelt, a mix between crushed rock found in the caverns beneath Lake Shor and a root that took about fifteen years to mature properly before it could reach its max potency - bad for spirits, neutral to everyone else. If I were to stick it in my mouth, it'd be like shoving a handful of salt on my tongue. Unpleasant, but otherwise harmless if it's only done once.

For Bogdan, however? Just the slightest contact on his being burned with the same intensity as flesh on molten iron.

This way, I only felt a slight stinging on my face, while Bogdan roared an unnatural, hair-splitting sound that had my own heart stopping in my throat.

It was his own damn fault for not leaving me alone.

He covered his face, stumbling back-

He was gone. One moment he was there . . . And then he wasn't.

Probably going to cry to the Circle. I blew out a puff of air. I doubted he was going to register me to use the wayfolds while he was there.

Great.

My body felt like I'd let the grayvers use it as a chew toy, and I desperately wanted to take a moment to clear my mind, but I had work to do. I wasn't ready for sleep to claim me, and I knew that if I stood or sat still long enough, I would certainly drift off into unconsciousness.

Being awake was better than being asleep. I can fight the monsters when I'm up.

Legs shaking slightly with each step, I bounded over to where a mat of furs acted as a makeshift bed. A small purple pouch was tucked away beneath them, and I pulled this out. Not pausing to examine its contents, I walked back over to the pool of water.

Sighing, I undid the clip from my cloak, gently setting it aside. Then I went to work on loosening the ties down the front of my vest, careful not to let it drop since I still had one of my blades attached to its side.

I still have to find my sword, too, before I leave.

Bogdan often caused more trouble in my life than not.

I tugged my tunic up and over my head. It was already ruined from having cut a strip of it off, so I used a knife to cut it in half and wrapped it around my injured arm, just above the elbow. Fuck, I'm so light-headed-

"Snap out of it," I scolded myself. Still, I struggled to control my breathing. The cold air kissed at my bare, pale skin, sending shivers down my spine and nipping at my breasts like a swarm of angry bees. I tried to avoid looking down as much as possible, not wanting to see the bruising over my ribs from when I'd hit Bogdan.

"Let's just get this over with," I said to myself, getting down on me knees in front of the pool. I tried to avoid looking directly at my reflection; I didn't need to see the pale, sickly face with dark bags beneath her eyes, her blond hair just as knotted and wild as the girl I stabbed in the back just hours ago.

"I'm going to kill you," I whispered. To whom or what, I wasn't sure.

The sudden drop in air temperature was all the warning I had when something struck me squarely in the back, knocking me forward. An instinctive yell escaped my lips, but it didn't get very far. My attacker had a fistful of my hair wrapped around their hand in moments, sending my head underwater before I could so much as brace myself.

Bogdan! I manage to think, the cold, icy water slapping me awake. His otherworldly fingers gripped around my hair, holding my head securely beneath the water. A weird, uncomfortable weight settled against my upperback - not quite solid, but enough to crush bones if it got any heavier.

I'd accidentally inhaled a mouthful of water, and my nose burned from the discharge as I gasped and coughed -

Out of all the things that could have killed me over the years, I was going to die by drowning.

What a night.

Bogdan's fingers tightened around my hair, yanking my head up. I tried to take in a breath of air, but my body was still wracked with sputtering coughs.

"Bogdan-" I gasped. He cut me off by forcing my head back under.

He was feeling this. He had to be feeling this. There were only so many things we could pull on one another without having an acute awareness of what the other felt. Bogdan didn't depend on air the same way I did, but his spirit still knew what it felt to have your lungs on fire, to feel your body thrashing and heaving from suffocation.

This was why most tried to avoid pissing wayguards off. They just did not care once a certain line was crossed.

Panic flared against the lack of air in my chest, wild and instinctive. I did not spend twenty years fighting everything under the sun just to die by a wayguard who's feelings gotten hurt. My wayguard, no less. There weren't many cases of people getting killed by the spirits that were bonded to them.

Finally, the weight shifted. Bogdan released my hair, still sitting on my back. I braced my hands against the pool's edges.

"Bogdan, what the hell-" I wheezed. The weight shifted once more. Something slammed against my head. Judging by how I felt a pair of hands grab at my injured arm, Bogdan either had help or he was holding my head down with his legs.

No, no, no. Don't do it, don't do it, don't-

He twisted my arm back. I screamed into the water before his hands closed around the wound, my body already tensing. I couldn't breathe - holy hell, I couldn't breathe-

The sickening sound of raw flesh being pressed against itself hit my ears even through the water. I felt Bogdan's fingers slip through my skin, a razor-hot pain slicing through muscle, tendon, and veins. It had my pulse roaring in my ears, had my heart thrumming nonstop - and being held underwater did not help matters at all.

There was a split second where I felt nothing at all. Bogdan lifted his legs enough for me to raise my head.

"Bogdan, please-"

He let out an animal-like hiss, a reminder that as much as Bogdan can sometimes act like it, he certainly wasn't human.

I couldn't tell if Bogdan wanted to kill me or simply torture me. Maybe he wasn't all that sure, either, because he let me gather one last breath before submerging me back in the water, tightening his grip on my agonized arm.

The breath I tried to save escaped me in a strangled, choking scream. Above me, Bogdan roared out a yell that was a mixture between pain and anger. Yet he wouldn't let go.

I had already been on the brink of exhaustion before Bogdan's ambush. Combined with the current abuse of half-drowning and having a spirit force my body to rapidly work on my arm, I knew I was spent long before my movements began to slow. There was no staying alert after this.

I was going to pass out soon. If Bogdan failed to recognize that I was about to drown, too, then I wouldn't be waking up. Not even the hot, black blisters forming along my arm were enough to keep my mind awake.

Warily, I stared down the black waters, absently studying the worn, smooth stone. I could have sworn I spotted a pair of glowing red ones peering back up at me from way below.

Then nothing.

~ 1300 Words ~