On Death's Honor

Chapter 32: Chros' Promise

At first, all I could hear was Refyra's laughter. Such a twisted, wicked sound, and I was already regretting listening to her.

I was flown back by a force I couldn't see. Not that I could see much of anything, but it certainly felt solid. I don't know what I hit that broke my fall; just that somehow, I was still awake and alive even with the impact.

I turned to shield my eyes from the powerful wind, feeling things tug at my hair. Suddenly, there was a loud, sickening crush of bones, followed by a bloodcurdling scream - neither of which belonged to me. Was Mutnya still alive?

No, that's a deep scream.

Another explosion, this time of dull, red light. It was brief, and I barely saw it through the thick swarm of shadows. I only knew it happened because afterwards, I was slapped by something wet and sticky. When a weird piece of something smacked my lips and face, I moved to curl into a ball, pressing my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around my head.

Ages seemed to pass by the time my heart became manageable to work with. I opened my eyes and froze - there was a glowing blue orb hanging from my neck.

Shaking, I lifted a hand to grab it, my breath caught in my throat. Upon contact, I realized that it was the charm Refyra had given me. The eyes - which had appeared closed the first time I saw it - were now wide open. What did that mean?

What . . . the hell.

It was still almost completely dark, but it was a different sort of darkness - empty, void. Like what one would expect in an abandoned room. No more wind. No more whatever the hell it was that had ripped itself free from the water.

Oh fuck. What did I release?

Coughing, I pressed a hand to my side. It was warm and wet with blood, but I frowned when I found it didn't hurt to add pressure to it. Considering that I could sit upright and move my legs just fine, I wasn't paralyzed. So ehy wasn't my body complaining about the hole Mutnya had ripped into it?

Concerned, I lifted my shirt, bending over to cast some light from my necklace over the bloodied skin. My stomach swam at the sight of so much blood that had come out of me, but I wasn't seeing anymore flow coming out of an expected wound. Hmm.

It was the same thing with my leg and ankle. The swelling was reduced to faint red lines, an ugly, thin scar trailing its way up my calf. There were no signs an otherworldly infection was trying to take over my body.

"Well I'd be damned," I muttered softly. The necklace actually worked. I was still sore and achy in all places, and my ribs - much to my disappointment - were still bruised from when I'd hit Bogdan with my sword. Little angry puncture wounds also covered my skin from where the vines had tightened around me.

I wonder why.

I needed to find some light. The necklace was good for seeing things up close, but it barely casted much more than that. Was this always going to glow? Was there a way to stop it? Groaning, I rose to my feet, wincing when I managed to put full weight on both my legs. The calf was a bit sore, but upon flexing my foot, I was grateful to know that I hadn't lost any mobility.

"What the hell did you have me do," I said aloud, still cautious of keeping my voice low. Every part of me wanted to get out of here, but I needed to find my sword, at the very least. And since I wasn't able to find something I could use as a source of light, this meant carefully combing through the cavern, picking up bits of clothing as I went that weren't snagged on crumbled pieces of furniture.

My sword, on the other hand, was buried beneath a pile of rubble. All too aware of the sort of bugs that could now be roaming the area, I carefully shoved pieces of debris aside, brushing dust from its well-worn hilt. I was not looking forward to cleaning and sharpening that blade.