"That is yours."
She waits. “It will help.”
“Mine, too," Wren says quickly, also handing her stone.
His throat bobs, letting a few tears run down his cheeks.
“Gracias,”?2he says quietly.
Then he kisses.
“Goodbye,” I choke.
For now,he promises.
Dawn is coming. Fighting is coming. Blood, carnage, and death.
“Strength, friend,” the one called Nicolás calls to my mate.
Then Ra’Sa walks away, carrying half my heart with him.
Chapter 39
RA’SA
My soul feels more cracked than whole.
So many... so many gone forever.
Today, as I walk away from my family and into the fight, I am flanked by an army of the fallen. I will wage a rebellion bloody enough to yank the gaze of the gods from their cosmic toils and focus on our wretched souls. They will watch today, and with luck, some will heed our plight. The stones of fate may sing again, a song of triumph. Those who rise from the ashes will walk into the light as free men and women.
My face turns to the sky, where a thick pillar of smoke billows.
A bitter taste coats my tongue, and my palms grow clammy.
The rebellion has begun.
I take a deep breath, taking the chill deep into my lungs.
Our entrance to Zlosa was accompanied by smoke and the burning of the slave pens. The same sign will mark our departure.
The high of killing, the anticipation and worry of what is to come is something that is nearly too much for me.
Instinct takes me to the dead giants scattered throughout the forest.
When I arrive, I halt.
This is a wasteland.
I had watched it happen,made it happen,but walking through it felt like being thrust into ice water. It looks like some great drake had ravaged the land.
The crushed bodies of giants are grotesque. Limbs twist at odd angles, and entrails scattered across the snow. Some must've died instantly from the blast, with one of the boulders crushing skull and face at once, while others suffered under the weight of the rock.
The sun paints them all a gruesome picture, but something stirs—something small and distinctly non-giant. It calls to me from the other end of the clearing, and I follow, stepping lightly over the carnage.
Half a dozen paces take me to the middle of the area, and I look to find one of the trees and a small human leg sticking out.
I freeze, knowing instantly whom that leg belongs to.