Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“They have been. The poppies only grew back stronger.”
We passed a set of human remains and entered the thick of the field. “Stop,” Jasher commanded.
Boom! A new explosion detonated behind us. The ground shook Jasher to his knees. Since I refused to let him go, I went down with him. Both girls toppled, but we all remained frozen where we landed, too afraid to move. We waited as dark smoke billowed and thinned, unveiling the flowers surrounding us. Their sweet scent proved detectable despite the lingering fumes. Small, sharp pebbles littered the grass—no, not pebbles. I scanned the bits of white and gagged. They were bone shards.
“The smoke is laced with a sedative that only affects the poppies,” Jasher grated, careful to speak for our ears only. “They are currently asleep.”
Did the soldiers know? How much time did we have before the sedative stopped working?
I jerked my attention to the armed combatants, spying them through an overabundance of stems and blooms. Both had stopped just shy of the flowers. One paced before the dividing line, while the other hung back a few feet away. No longer did they flash in and out of view.
“You won’t get far, enforcer. Not with the poppies feeding on you, your wounds bleeding nonstop, and the arrowheads leaking poison into your veins,” the pacer called, his satisfaction redoubled. “Give us the girl, and I’ll give her serpens-rosa, saving her from the poppies. If you beg enough, I might let you and the others crawl away.”
I perked up. They had the all-curing medicine. Hopefully enough to heal Jasher and my father.
“You’ll have to wade through the poppies to get her, Osvaldo.” Pain coated Jasher’s slurred voice. He dropped his backpack and stretched out on the ground, being careful not to jostle the protrusions. “If you use your few remaining arrows on me, you’ll have none for the rabdog when he comes for you. And he will come for you. I hear him stalking through the trees even now. Do you?”
As if to prove his words, screams spilled from the forest, accompanied by frenzied growls. Nugget was ending any survivors, no doubt about it.
Leona whimpered and curled into herself. “I can’t die here,” she whispered. Fat tears streaked down her cheeks. “My sister needs me. If Drogan is right, she’s alive. Sold at a governor’s auction three months ago. ”
“Sorry, but your sis is probably dead. What?” Patch snapped when Moriah glared at her. “Three months is like three years in substitute time. And she didn’t end up with West, the most merciful of the bunch.”
“She’s alive,” Leona hissed softly. “No one in their right mind would kill her.”
The redhead spread her arms, as if the other woman had just made her point for her.
“Quiet,” I demanded as the second soldier notched his bow and scanned the forest. Six other missiles waited in his quiver. I couldn’t, wouldn’t let him use them to harm my fur-baby. Which meant I must take them—or him—out. First, I needed to stabilize Jasher.
“I’m not surprised you know my name,” Osvaldo called. “My reputation precedes me. I’ve rid the world of dozens of your kind.”
What a horrible person. “Do either of you have medical training?” I asked Leona and Patch.
Leona shrank back, shaking her head.
“Not me,” Patch said.
“I won’t allow a royal guard to win the Guardian’s prize,” Osvaldo announced. “Do you hear me? If I must die to prevent you from escaping with her, I’ll do so.”
Jasher’s brow wrinkled with bewilderment, but he said nothing. So. My tinman hadn’t known of the prize as Iris inferred.
“What’s the prize?” Patch called. I snapped my teeth at her, and the redhead spread her arms again. “Truth is power.”
“Something you won’t need if you’re already dead,” Osvaldo responded. “A lifetime without fear of being killed as a sacrifice.”
Both Patch and Leona gasped, but Jasher didn’t seem to hear. I skimmed my gaze over him. His usually dusky skin was ashen. Glazed irises told a story of inner agony. I couldn’t leave him in this condition, medical training or not.
“The Guardian overrules the governors. He can save my sister with nothing but words,” Leona whispered, and it was clear her mind had already cobbled together a plan. Turn me in for a different reward.
“You can’t trade me for your sis if we fail to defeat these rebels, so, help me, please. Distract the men. Don’t let them shoot at Nugget.”
She chewed on her bottom lip and nodded. “I’ll do it, and you’ll let me turn you in.”
“Same.” Patch popped to her knees and tossed a handful of bone shards. They clinked, drawing Osvaldo’s attention. She repeated the act again and again, in different directions, keeping him busy.
I dug through Jasher’s pack for anything useable. Clothes, no. Weapons, not yet. Strange things I couldn’t identify, no. Toiletries—yes! A first aid kit. Hakeldama version of one, anyway. Inside I discovered clean bandages, a needle and thread, two pieces of a metal ring, salves, and vials of liquid, some fuller than others.