Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
This was our moment to convince them to flee and fight, to lure them with the promise of freedom and a better life. I worried they might not believe us. These people had every reason to be mistrustful. They’d been captured by demons, put to work in this dark, gloomy place of perpetual misery.
Suddenly, I was struck with a sense of déjà vu. I’d experienced this exact moment before. In Sarasin’s vision.
And just like in the vision, hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at me in expectation, yellow, red, purple, and pink. I didn’t imagine I’d ever get used to such unusual eyes. The people of Oreylia were striking in a way that didn’t exist in my realm. I gazed down at them, at their soot stained clothes and faces, and hoped with everything I was made of that this worked.
“What’s going on?” someone shouted.
“Where are all the demons?” Another asked.
“The demons are gone, but not for long,” Vas replied, his voice echoing about the mine. “I’ve created a distraction. We’re here to help you escape. The same is happening at all the other mines. Thousands of us are going to march on the Opal Palace. We’re going to kill the Dicteps and bring a new order to the city. You’ll no longer be second class citizens.”
Confused murmurings ensued. Vas glanced at Sven. I saw a glimmer of his vulnerability then and something cracked inside me. I realised in that moment that the feelings he had for me weren’t one-sided. Despite my best efforts to resist, I was falling for him, too.
I moved in front of him, gripping him by the shoulders. “You need to be more forceful. Be confident. They won’t believe you otherwise.”
Vas nodded, his confidence flooding back as he turned to the crowd and roared, “You all know who I am. I’ve broken out of here twice, and now I’ve returned to help the rest of you get out, too. If you don’t wish to march to the palace and fight you don’t have to. You can choose freedom. There’s a place, another dimension, where all halflings can live freely and no demons can control us. A portal is going to open in the northern reaches of the city and you’ll all be able to pass through it. Or you can remain and fight. The choice is yours.” He paused, glancing at me again. I sent him a look of encouragement and he turned back to the crowd. “If you want to be free, come with us now!”
A short, disbelieving silence followed, then a red-eyed man with light hair and dappled horns shouted, “How do we know this isn’t a trap?”
“You know me, Tomin. I toiled here with you for decades. There is no trap,” Vas replied.
“He could be working on behalf of the demon overlords. Red Armand might’ve put him up to this so that he can accuse us of betrayal and demand even more free labour,” another man said.
On instinct, I found myself stepping forward. “Vas would never work on behalf of Red Armand,” I said, a quaver in my voice. I did my best to steady it before I continued, “The man indentured him for a century. But if you won’t believe him, then please believe me. I come from a world where all of you can be free. Look at me.” At this I removed my coat, jumper and undershirt until I stood there in only my bra.
Vas moved to cover me. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
I didn’t reply, instead moving by him and continuing to address the crowd. “Look at my skin. I’m half human, half vampire, and yet, I have no scars. If I were from Oreylia, I’d have scars and welts just as you do from labouring in this mine. The accelerated healing that my vampire heritage provides would be no defence against the repeated exposure to the heat and burning endured when mining reylite. That’s why you should believe us when we tell you there’s another world, a world I come from, where you can all be free.”
I turned around, allowing them to look at my unblemished skin. I glanced at Vasilios and found him looking, too, though, unlike the miners who stared at my skin in stunned amazement, his eyes held a mixture of frustration and heat. A shiver trickled over me.
When they were done looking their fill, I put my clothes back on, much to Vas’ relief. He didn’t approve of me stripping but it was the only way to convince them. The four of us waited while the miners began murmuring amongst themselves. Their voices were too low to hear, but it appeared they were holding some kind of vote. A few minutes later, the man named Tomin stepped forward. He seemed to have been nominated as their spokesperson.