The Edge of Nothing_The Lex Chronicles_Book 1

by Crystal Crawford

  The village’s dusty streets were in chaos. Sheep scurried between the buildings, people skirting around them as they rushed down the pathways, many carrying large bundles in their arms. Half of the families seemed to be rushing from building to building, and the other half were dashing out into the farmland. A man darted past, carrying a baby in one arm and a chicken in the other. A woman ran behind him, gripping a bundle against her chest. She seemed to be struggling under its weight, shifting it against her as she ran. The family cut between two buildings, startling a stray bunch of chickens. The birds exploded into a flurry of flapping and clucking. The couple kept running, trampling rows of seedling crops as they fled into the nearest field.

  Lex glanced around, but the men who held him captive were nowhere in sight. He stepped outward to get a better look. The shed was on the edge of the assortment of buildings, with nothing but farmland behind it. The crops were still young and wouldn’t provide much cover; if he tried to escape across the field, he would be exposed. But no one was paying much attention to him at the moment – they were too busy with their own chaos.

  Lex made a run for it.

  He was a few rows into the field – and feeling a bit guilty, even in his flight, for trampling the village’s crops – when he saw a flash of movement to his left. He glanced over. A teenage girl fled parallel to him, no more than ten feet away. They were both moving too quickly for him to see details, and the girl didn’t seem to notice him. But she was definitely close enough to raise the alarm if she recognized him as the escaped captive. He veered away from her, but before he had put much distance between them, a scream sliced the air. He turned his head back, then stumbled to a stop.

  A large, winged creature thumped to the ground before the girl, arching toward her. It was dull grey, as large as a horse but with a narrow-muscled, lizardlike body with four long, claw-fingered limbs. It held its veined, bat-like wings outspread as it stood upright on its hind legs, casting a shadow over the girl in the sunlit field.

  The girl scrambled backward, tripped and fell onto her bottom, then scurried crablike on her hands and feet, trying to escape. The creature stepped forward, shifting its shadow over the girl once more. It almost seemed to bring the darkness with it, as though the shadow were emanating from within rather than simply being cast by it. Lex felt a chill creep down his spine as the creature leaned over the girl, opening its gaping jaws to reveal sharp, yellowed fangs.

  Lex felt himself reaching for a weapon at his side, though there was nothing there. Did he usually carry a weapon? He couldn’t remember.

  Angry shouts burst out from the village and Lex turned, tearing his eyes from the girl. The farmers were rushing in his direction – at him or at the creature, he couldn’t be certain. He tensed, torn between fleeing and helping the girl. The farmers could be coming to the girl’s rescue, or they could be coming for him. But they would certainly help the girl, once they saw she was in danger, and Lex couldn’t risk being re-captured. He spun toward the rise of trees; with the men still a way off, he would have a good head start. Even if they had recognized him, once he hit the woods he might be able to escape.

  The girl screamed again. Lex turned back. The creature had her pinned to the ground, its clawed forelegs on her chest as it hovered over her. But the men were approaching. If he helped the girl, he would put himself directly in their path; he would be caught for sure. He considered leaving the girl – surely the farmers would help her – but the creature leaned close to her face, so close that the girl squeezed her eyes shut and cried out in terror. It would have her gutted before the farmers could even reach her.

  Wishing again that he had a weapon – any weapon – Lex rushed forward, hurling himself at the creature. He had only an instant to catch the surprise in the creature’s eyes before he slammed into it. Lex knocked the creature off balance, its sinewy muscles and scaled flesh writhing against him as they both tumbled to the ground.

  They rolled to a stop a few feet from the girl. Lex had landed on his back, and as he braced himself for the creature’s backlash, he felt something cold and hard on the ground beside him. He grasped it – a farming spade – and scrambled to his feet. As the creature leapt for him, Lex thrust the spade upward with all his strength, driving its bladed end into the creature’s belly. The creature let out an ear-splitting screech, then stumbled backward on its hind legs and collapsed to the ground, twitching.

  Lex watched only long enough to be sure it wasn’t getting back up before spinning to the girl. “Are you alright?” he asked. A leaden chill settled over him as he realized he had just thrown himself at a horse-sized, freakish lizard-bat.

  The girl staggered to her feet, then doubled over with one hand pressed to her chest. She was dressed more like a farmer than a lady, in trousers and boots now muddy from her struggle with the creature. The creature's claws had shredded the front of her dark tunic, revealing a simple white shirt beneath, but she seemed to be unharmed. Her slim body trembled as she took ragged breaths, and her hazelnut hair tumbled down around her face, concealing it.

  Lex pulled back, knowing she must be terrified, and gave her a moment to gain her bearings.

  The stampede of footsteps and angry yells grew closer, shocking Lex back into focus. He turned to flee, hoping the girl would be alright, but as he spun her hand grabbed his arm. Her touch was like a shock against his skin. She turned her face up to him. She was startlingly beautiful, with large, ice-blue eyes rimmed with dark lashes.

  The world tilted. Lex was standing in a field, ice-blue eyes staring down at him from the horizon. The girl’s lips parted as though to speak–

  Lex shook his head, the world righting itself as the vision vanished. He was still there, in the middle of the rows of barely-grown, now-trampled crops. The girl stared at him wordlessly, breathing heavily and trembling. A look of concern entered her eyes as she noticed his distress. Lex gaped at her, his pulse racing for more than one reason. He struggled to fit the pieces together. Was that a memory? Do I know this girl?

  The angry shouts and footsteps suddenly seemed much closer. The farmers. They were almost upon him, close enough to see him clearly.

  “You!” one of them shouted. “Stop!”

  Lex had wasted too much time, any hope of a head start now gone. His mind raced through his options. Be caught and beg for mercy? Stay and hope they were grateful he helped the girl? Try to run? The men were strong, but Lex might be faster. The last option won. Lex's boots dug into the dirt as he turned toward the distant trees. As he moved, his eyes caught on the body of the creature – it was gone. In its place was a man, blood blossoming across the front of his stark-white tunic. A shock of neatly-combed black hair topped his ashen face.

  Lex’s throat went dry. He spun, pulling his arm from the girl’s grasp.

  “Wait!” the girl called out behind him.

  Lex focused on the line of trees and ran.

  CHAPTER 2

  Lex woke the next day, aching and shivering, and groaned as he peeled his body from the cold ground. He shoved aside the branches that concealed him and crawled out from his hiding place. He was kneeling in a small clearing. Skinny-limbed trees towered above him, and dappled sunlight filtered down through a criss-cross of spindly branches. Lex took a few breaths and rolled his neck, awareness seeping in as he fully wakened. The farmers. He jumped to his feet, ignoring his body’s protests. Lex’s nerves were so strained it took him a few seconds to realize he was no longer in immediate danger. Everything was quiet. Lex finally relaxed as the events of the night clicked back into place.

  He had made it to the edge of the trees and darted into the dense forest with the farmers close behind. He didn’t have time to make any sort of plan; he simply threw an arm up to protect his face from slapping branches and tore through the forest. Lex had been correct that he was faster than the men, but they were still only a few steps behind him – until his brain finally kicked in. Running panicked was leaving the men a
clear, noisy path of broken branches to follow. His only advantages were his speed and his lean frame, but his speed was leaving too obvious a trail. It was dark in the forest. If he slowed down and moved quietly, he might have a chance at melting into the shadows. Lex forced himself to stop moving forward, and slipped sideways into the darkness between the trees. He crept farther into the forest, keeping as much distance as possible from the men without drawing attention to himself. The men were determined, but as they moved deeper into the shadows, their unease grew and they began to argue over which way he had gone. Lex tuned them out, focusing instead on becoming one of the forest’s many shadows. After what seemed like hours of Lex slipping between the trees just out of the farmers' sight, they gave up. Their voices faded into the distance as they backtracked toward the valley. In the wake of their parting, bone-deep exhaustion claimed Lex and he crawled into the nearest cluster of overgrowth, concealing himself beneath the branches of some short, shrubby plants. He was asleep within moments.

  Now that he was awake and finally had time to think, images flooded in at him – the creature, pinning the girl to the ground. Its horrid shriek as he stabbed it. The girl’s slim body quivering in shock, her blue eyes wide with fear. The jolt of terror as he turned back to see the creature had transformed into the man from the shed. Did I kill a person? The thought sickened Lex, but at remembering the girl's terror he wondered if maybe it was worth it, even if he did. Whatever that thing was, it had been trying to kill her. He had saved her life. But what was it, why did the body look human, who were those farmers, and why were they after him? Why had they tied him up in the shed? What in the world was going on? And then a lingering thought he couldn’t quite shake: Why can’t I remember anything?

  Lex stood still and concentrated on taking deep, slow breaths, then rotated to take in his surroundings. Now that it was daytime and he wasn’t being chased, the woods seemed peaceful. The ground was a mix of grass and light brown dirt, and there were small clusters of shrubs and other plants growing around the bases of the trees. There was sunlight above the clearing, but dew still rested on the leaves of the plants so it couldn’t be too far into the day. In the distance he could hear the chatter of various birds, and a slight breeze ruffled the trees above him. All in all, it was a pleasant place to be, except he still had no clue where he was. He swallowed down a lump pushing its way up his throat. “We’ll figure this out,” he said aloud, feeling better talking as though he wasn’t quite so alone.

  He considered finding his way out of the woods to ask for help, but since he was a hunted man – for whatever he did at first and now, perhaps, for murder – there was no way he could go back to the village below. He doubted they would give him a chance to explain himself. But maybe there was another village nearby, one where the people might be willing to listen and help.

  There was a rustle in the trees and Lex tensed, turning to face the sound. It was too subtle a noise to be the whole group of farmers returning, but it might be one of them coming alone to finish the hunt. Lex couldn’t see very far beyond the clearing. The trees were so dense that everything beyond the open space was bathed in shadow, even in the daytime. He lowered himself into a crouch, ready to run or to defend himself.

  Another rustle came from the branches behind him. Lex spun around. Whatever it was, it was moving, slinking almost soundlessly through the trees. The rustle grew closer. Lex again ached for a weapon but readied himself to jump at the man anyway; he was tired of running. His calves tensed in anticipation and he narrowed his eyes, trying to see into the trees. A large shadow shifted among them, a dark mass moving toward him. He remembered how the creature from earlier seemed to bring shadow with it, and his pulse quickened. Was it another creature, come to seek revenge for the one Lex killed? Lex abandoned his plan to fight and took a step back, eyes sweeping the clearing for the best direction to run.

  The shadow emerged, stepping out into the light. Lex froze. It wasn’t one of those creatures; it was a large, black panther. Its yellow eyes fixed on him with a predatory gleam.

  Panic flooded Lex’s veins. The creature was lithe, muscled, built for the chase. There was no way he could outrun it. It took one silent step toward him and Lex’s pulse hammered, his mind racing with options but landing on nothing helpful.

  Another noise came from behind him, this one clumsy, more of a crash than a rustle. Something was plowing toward him through the trees. Lex flicked his eyes back to the panther; it had crept another step forward while he was distracted. Lex stepped backward, hearing whatever was behind him continue its rush forward as the panther eased toward him yet another step. He was closed in. Lex gritted his teeth, knowing whatever was behind him was almost there, but unwilling to take his eyes off the panther.

  The thing slammed into him from behind, and Lex tumbled face-first into the dirt. Whatever had hit him stumbled and fell as well, landing behind him. Lex curled his knees into his chest, bracing himself for the panther’s leap, but to his shock the panther backed up, turned, and darted back into the shadows. Lex knew what this meant – the thing behind him must have been frightening enough to scare even the panther away. He swallowed hard, then pushed up onto his knees and turned to face the monster.

  The girl’s large, blue eyes stared back at him. Dirt smeared one side of her face as she crouched inches from him, still wearing the torn clothes from the day before, her brown hair darkened with a layer of dust. “Was that a panther? I’ve never seen one of those here before,” she said. She stood, reaching a hand down toward Lex. Black dirt caked her fingernails.

  After a moment, Lex extended his arm, unsure whether she wanted to shake his hand or help him up. Lex startled at how warm her hand was as it grasped his; there was a strange undercurrent to it, like an electric hum. He started to pull back, but she tightened her grip and threw her weight back against his, pulling him to his feet.

  She dropped her hand once he was standing, and looked up at him. She was several inches shorter than Lex, and the dappled sunlight speckled her face as it tipped upward. She raised a dirty hand, shading her eyes, and smiled. “I’m Amelia,” she said, extending the hand not over her eyes.

  Lex was so focused on her eyes it took him a few moments to realize that this time she was trying to shake his hand. “Lex,” he said after a few awkward beats, and reached out to clasp her hand. At the touch of her, a jolt sizzled up his arm. He dropped her hand and stepped back, his heart racing.

  Amelia’s eyebrows narrowed for a moment but then she shrugged, the expression slipping away. “So,” she said, drawing the word out. “A panther. That was… interesting?” She ended the statement like a question.

  There were so many things Lex wanted to ask that he didn’t know where to start. He settled on, “Where are we?”

  Amelia tilted her head. “Somewhere in Haven’s Edge, I think. I mean, I’ve never been this far in before, but I’m pretty sure this is still part of the same forest. You were kind of hard to find, actually.” Her lips quirked up into a half-smile. “I didn’t know there were panthers out here, though. That’s… new.” She glanced around as though expecting the panther to reappear at any moment, and for all Lex knew, it might.

  “Are there not many panthers around here?” Lex asked, his own eyes also scanning the trees.

  Amelia placed her hands on her hips, turning to glance at the trees behind them. “None, that I’ve seen. I’m not sure where that one came from.”

  Lex wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad news. At least the woods weren’t crawling with panthers, but what if the panther was there for him? He knew he was being paranoid, but then again, everyone else seemed to be after him so maybe it wasn’t that crazy.

  Amelia noticed his discomfort, and filled the emptiness with a gentle laugh. “Anyway,” she said, “we survived. So that’s a win, right?” She gave Lex a smile that made his heart skip a little. “And by the way, thank you.” She tucked a piece of dusty hair behind her ear. “For earlier.
You saved my life.”

  The hair escaped and swung down in front of her face again, and Lex itched to reach out and tuck it back behind her ear. He shoved his hands in his pockets instead, thinking of the sizzle he felt the first time he touched her. He tore his eyes from Amelia’s, turned his gaze down and shifted his feet in the dirt. “Of course,” he said, “I couldn’t not help.”

  There was a flash of something deep in his mind, a voice rising. I couldn’t not help, it pleaded. He had heard that phrase before… or maybe he was the one who had said it. He froze, trying to focus, but the memory slipped away.

  “Are you alright?” Amelia asked, her brows drawn together in worry.

  Lex shook his head. “Yeah,” he said. He hated not even knowing his own past. He felt confused, weak, vulnerable. The anxiety of it still simmered inside him, but when he forced himself to meet Amelia’s eyes, her look of concern loosened the knot in his chest a bit. “Really, I’m okay.” For now. But for how long? Until he figured out what was happening, who he even was, how could he really know whether he was safe or okay?

  Amelia smiled at him again, and he returned it with a smile that was only partly forced. There was something about Amelia that felt familiar, comforting. Aside from that, she also seemed remarkably calm, given what she had been through in the past twenty-four hours, at least the parts Lex had witnessed. Who knew what else she might have been through. Was she so calm because stuff like this happened to her all the time? Could she know something that might help any of the past day make even a little bit of sense? Lex’s curiosity stirred.