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Ash Eater

Page 12

by Emerson, Joanna


  Ilsa flies up to eye level with me and plants a kiss on my cheek. “I’m sorry, Miya, I can’t abide snakes.” Then she flies north. Away from me. I don’t blame her, but I feel the void. And I can’t stop the thought that it’s probably because she knows all about me by now.

  Selah, Kitta and I continue south with hardly a word passing between us.

  By the time night falls, I’m dragging my body forward, step by painful step. Is it the sulfuric air here causing this pain? Or the way I’m always shaking? I feel like my muscles want to slump out of my skin onto this barren ground.

  Would the same things still happen to me if I was different? Or did what Ryan did to me make me the person I am? I hate it all. Why didn’t I stand up for myself more? Why didn’t I fight harder to keep my purity?

  I can’t stand all these ‘what if’ thoughts. They’re so stupid.

  The moon rises slowly over the jagged hills in the east. Waning—that’s what they call it, right? I’m waning too. Whatever courage I had in the Forest of Deception diminishes every time another creature slithers in and out of the shadows.

  Finally, a whole hour passes with no snakes.

  Selah stops in a hollow surrounded by a ring of stones.

  Not where I would have chosen, but I’m too tired to argue.

  After a light meal of raisins and dried apricots, I curl into a ball. The shaking overwhelms me. Selah’s talking to me, but I can’t hear her.

  Around midnight, a faerie’s scream yanks me awake. Kitta.

  Nearby, a giant snake squeezes one of the rats. Another springs up and squeezes Kitta, its mouth hovering over her, ready to strike. I pull out my sword and scramble over loose stones. With a single strike, I slash the creature through the middle. It drops Kitta, but rears its head up before writhing on the ground.

  The other snake drops its prey and slithers toward me. I slice this one through as well. It lets forth a sickly hiss as it hits the ground.

  I scream and jump back, shaking harder.

  Selah picks up Kitta and turns toward me. “You saved her life.”

  I raise my sword to put my sword back in its sheath.

  “Don’t do that! Clean it first, Miya.”

  I glance at the gruesome blade. “How?”

  “In that spring. It isn’t safe to drink, but it will clean.”

  “You two should probably go back to the cottage.” I don’t want to be alone, but I can’t bear the thought of Selah or Kitta being eaten. “I’ve got to get out of this place.”

  “I’m too weak to go on,” Kitta confesses.

  There’s a rumbling and rustling toward the south.

  “I can’t leave Miya here by herself,” Selah tells Kitta.

  “Maybe I can fly to the eagles in the south,” Kitta says. “They might be able to help.”

  The rumbling and rustling continue.

  I shiver, gripping my sword. “What was that?”

  “I hope it’s not the dragon.” She flies up to Kitta. “Do you know what direction you need to fly?”

  “I think so. They’re just beyond the ridge and in the desert canyons, right?”

  I’m hyperventilating over Selah’s offhanded statement about a dragon. “You hope it’s not the what?”

  “Farewell, my faerie sister,” Selah says to Kitta. “I hope we see you on the far side of this pit.”

  I bid farewell to Kitta, who looks relieved to be leaving this awful place. Then I turn toward Selah, who’s remarkably calm. “Is there really a dragon?”

  “Maybe if we’re quiet we can sneak past it, but that means we can’t kill anymore snakes.”

  “If a snake attacks us, I’m going to take care of it. Even if it makes me cry again. I can’t let it kill you.”

  “Come along. We should stay quiet so we don’t wake him.”

  Just beyond the ring of stones skulks this fully awake dragon.

  He prowls, huge, serpentine, teeth bared. The moon gleams off his mud colored hide. He’s as big as a house!

  “I’m going to have to fight him, aren’t I?” I whisper to Selah.

  “Follow me, but keep your eye on him.”

  My breath is shallow and rapid. “How can I not?”

  I hurry after Selah past boulders that might hide me. I hope they hide me.

  The dragon lifts its head toward the sky and lets forth a fiery blast.

  There’s no way I can fight that thing. I’ll be cooked before I can even get in range.

  The dragon heaves its body into the air and swoops low, spitting flame all around Selah and me. Trembling, I hold my sword up toward it. Yeah, a lot of good this little dagger is going to do against a fire-breathing monster of that size. My bowels turn to water. Any moment now I’ll be its BBQ dinner. Selah may lose her wings just from the heat.

  The dragon lands ahead of us and runs toward me. I hold the sword up like a shield and scream.

  “And well you should scream!” he bellows at me. His voice is deep and scratchy like he’s spitting daggers at me. “My pets were only doing what they do for food. You should be ashamed for stepping foot in my realm and behaving however you’d like.”

  Do not let … the depths swallow me up

  or the pit close its mouth over me.

  ~ Psalm 69:15

  Chapter 21

  Deep in the Pit

  “He was trying to eat my friend!” My voice shrieks. My sword shakes in my hands.

  “And you dare to shriek in my presence? I should eat you up right now and put you out of your misery.”

  “But you hesitate for some reason.” Oh, Miya! Don’t provoke him!

  “That I do, yes, that I do. Most who enter my realm are young men trying to prove themselves, but you—” he steps closer until his head is above mine, “—you are a lovely young lady. What could you possibly have to prove in the presence of me, the king of this land?”

  “Just that I—we want to get to the other side in peace. Can we do that? Can we walk to the other side of your realm without being eaten?”

  “Why would you make that request?” He puts his horrible snout right up to my face. “Are you particularly tasty? I’ve heard that young girls are the best morsel a dragon could hope for.”

  “I’m not so young.” I edge out of the way of those jagged, crocodilian teeth. “I just have a baby face, that’s all.”

  “Either you’re a terrible liar or a fool.” He angles his great eye to stare into mine.

  I stare back, mesmerized. What a pit of darkness in that eye! Greed and lust and thirst for power tug at me as if to consume me before he swallows me whole.

  “Maybe my pets will take care of your friend first.” His grin is ghastly. “Why else would you have brought her in than to use her as a living shield?”

  “That’s not true!”

  “That’s the sort of friend you are. So willing to dispose of whoever doesn’t help you.”

  “No! I don’t do that.”

  “Then I suppose you just expose all their worst secrets to the world. Especially when you know it’s all your fault.”

  I’m trembling so hard that I nearly drop the sword. “If this is about me, then leave her out of it!”

  “You involved her when you brought her in here. Anything that happens to her is your fault.”

  “Selah, go back, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  She flies up and around the far side of the dragon.

  He watches her with his great eye, never moving his head. Once she’s on the north side of him, he turns quickly, snapping at her.

  Desperate to protect her, I swing the sword toward his tail. Between the force of his turn and the force of my swing I lop his tail clean off. He screams, an appalling sound, and spouts fire into the air.

  I can’t tell whether my efforts save Selah or not, but the dragon undergoes a sudden and radical change. He’s no longer the size of a house, and he’s no longer so serpentine. In fact, he looks quite human.

  I keep the sword pointed toward his
chest.

  “Is that necessary after how you’ve humiliated me?” His teeth gleam in the moonlight as he grimaces at me. “What do you expect me to do now?”

  “Let me cross these lands to the other side.” I’m still shaking, maybe worse than before.

  “You damage me, then you try to abandon me?” The look in his eyes is all accusation.

  I’d do the same again to protect Selah, right? Did it work to protect her? I want to curl into a ball and cry.

  But he’s a man now, and a pathetic one at that. I’m still scared, but not as much as I was.

  Returning my sword to its sheath, I step away from him and search for Selah, hoping I see some shred of evidence that she’s alive.

  The man’s hand closes around my wrist and wrenches until I cry out in pain.

  “Do you really expect to find her after what you did?” His scolding tone makes me feel small.

  “Let go of me.” I start to shake.

  “If you come with me, it won’t hurt so much.”

  Trembling wracks my body. “Please, please just stop.” My body falls to the ground, moving in ways I can’t control. My heart might burst from my ribcage. My worst seizure yet. Darkness swallows me.

  *

  When I wake, my underarms ache. It’s dark. I’m tied up standing propped up against a pole. Ropes entwine my chest. Ropes burn my underarms. I can hardly breathe. Something’s squeezing my ankles. More rope? But it cinches tighter, slithering up my legs. Fear chokes me. My hands are bound. My clothing is different. I’m wearing a strange black dress like someone would wear to a renaissance fair. Or a gothic wedding.

  “I need her so I can regain my dragon form.” It’s the dragon turned man. I know that horrible voice all too well. “She’s washed up. Used. But she’ll have to do.” His deep, scratchy voice grates my soul. I want to scream to drown it out but I can’t breathe enough to cry out.

  “I can’t make the marriage permanent unlesssss the words of agreement come from her lipsssss.” This hiss stabs my ears.

  “Leave that to the other snakes. They’ll squeeze it out of her.”

  I’ll never agree. There’s no way. I struggle and pull at my bindings. The snakes curl tighter than ever around my ankles.

  “Ah, she’s awake,” the dragon-turned-man remarks.

  A spark flashes to the left and right of me. Red flames dance on bonfires several feet away.

  “Stop! What are you doing?” I cry out.

  The dragon-man leans toward me and laughs. “Oh, don’t fear the flames, my darling. They’re the lights for the ceremony.”

  The flames illuminate the pit. It’s filled with snakes. I’m knee deep in snakes. It’s a smaller, deeper pit than the wide basin I’d been trying to cross. This pit’s walls are steep and tall. The night sky is blacker than I’ve ever seen. The walls glow red.

  “Go on. Tell her the proper words, priest.” The dragon-man speaks to a serpent that rises above my head.

  Spikes frame this serpent’s head and its mouth boasts sharp fangs. “You will agree to marry Porter,” he declares rather than requests.

  I stomp at the snakes at my feet. “Get them off me!”

  “They will leave as soon as you say yes, my dear.” Porter’s face is right in front of mine. His features are good looking, but his breath reeks of death.

  “I will never say yes to you.”

  “Oh, foolish girl, you already have. Every time you’ve walked the path toward shame, you’ve said yes to me.”

  I wrestle, stomp, yell, tugging against the snakes and the rope as hard as I can. “I’ve never said yes to you and I never will.” I spit in his face.

  The snake-priest thing lashes its tail at my cheek. “You dare spit on the king? You worthless girl! We know what you’ve done—we know every shameful thing—and still he will have you! Show some gratitude!”

  Gathering my wits after that sting, I stare at Porter. “And what will you get out of this?”

  “A beautiful bride.” The corner of his lip curls and he laughs. “As dirty and used as you are, how could you dare hope for someone as good as me?”

  I prop my body up on my tiptoes to avoid the cinch of the ropes. I can breathe. I can think. I am as dirty and used as they say, and I bet they don’t even know the half of it. But there’s one thing that remains, one sliver of purity. “I’ve seen the lamb,” I manage to choke out.

  “You saw him die, you mean. Even if he was alive, do you think he’d want the company of someone as dirty as you? I’m at least magnanimous enough to welcome you into my kingdom. And I’m someone with strength, not some weak, insipid creature.”

  I push his words out of my mind. Leellah and Kitta saw the lamb. He’s alive. “The lamb’s not dead, he’s alive.”

  Porter laughs again, but there’s nervousness at the edge of that laughter. “And how do you know that?”

  “Because someone told me.” I grit my teeth and set my face against his.

  “Someone who wanted to delude you, I’m sure.” His laugh has more confidence this time.

  “No, she’s not like that.”

  “And how do you know? You never trust anyone, isn’t that right, Miya? How come you suddenly trust her, whoever she is?”

  “Because…” But all my words abandon me.

  “Like I said, even if that lamb was alive, he’d never keep company with someone as shameful as you. Why not take my offer, Miya?”

  I hate the sound of my name from his lips, but I have nothing to refute his claim. Nothing but the dimmest memory of a vision: the lamb glowing bright, telling me he’d never leave me.

  But he did. He’s dead and here I am alone

  “And how do you know there ever was a lamb?” Porter asks. “I bet you couldn’t prove it to me.”

  I reach out with my last thread of hope. “And if I did?”

  He rolls his eyes. “If you did, if you were ever able to, I’d let you out of this pit.”

  “Without marrying you,” I demand.

  “Try your best.” His mocking laugh makes my belly tremble.

  I squeeze my eyes and my fists, fighting the pain of the tightening snakes. Their hiss is deafening; it rattles my jaw. I could swear they speak.

  “Just give in. Just give in.”

  I clench my jaw and cry out with all my heart, without a sound, for the lamb. If you’re alive, if you’re real, if you’re able to help me, please help me! Please!

  Porter laughs again. “You don’t even have the guts to ask out loud, do you? I knew you didn’t believe in—”

  “Help me! Wherever you are, please help me!”

  All I can hear is the crackling of the fire and the hiss of the snakes. Smoke stings my nostrils.

  “I’ve even had a cake made for us,” Porter says. “A cake of ashes for my little Ash Eater.” His face is so close that his lips almost brush my cheek.

  I fight against my bonds. Sweat pours off me.

  “How long shall we give her, priest?” Porter asks.

  “I sssssay we’ve given her long enough.” His hiss shoots out like spikes against my ears.

  “Begin the ceremony. I’m ready to be a dragon again.”

  I look up to the sky. Dawn has brightened the clouds overhead.

  “Whatever is spoken here is bound by law,” the snake-priest thing says. His spiked frill stands higher around his face. “You will take Porter to be—”

  “The proper question is will you!” I shout, straining harder than ever against the ropes. The rope around my wrist burns my skin, but it starts to give way. “And my answer is no! My answer will always be no!”

  The priest’s tail lashes my other cheek.

  Filled with fury, I scream, pulling again at the rope around my wrists. It snaps and slithers to the ground.

  The priest rears its head as if it’s about to lunge at me.

  I unsheathe my sword and slash the priest-snake through the middle.

  Porter jumps back from me, cursing and yelling all manners o
f obscenities as the priest writhes in its death throes. Blood splatters. I turn my head and spit to keep it from getting into my mouth.

  I slash at the snakes wrapped around my ankles.

  Giant winged creatures arrive, blocking out the dawn sky. The eagle-looking birds dive toward the snakes and carry several away at a time in their beaks and talons.

  Porter grabs flaming logs from the bonfires and hurls them at the birds. One of the birds is hit in the chest and its feathers burst into flames. It plummets to the stony ground of the pit. The snakes flee from the fire and the birds.

  Angling my sword carefully, I try to slice through the rope around my chest. I choke on smoke, hack, gag.

  Porter grabs the sword from my hand and angles it high as if he’ll plunge it through my heart.

  My knees buckle. I hang on the rope from under my arms. I can’t breathe. I squeeze my eyes shut.

  A bird screeches right over my head. Porter screams. I open my eyes to see the bird’s talons grip around Porter’s arm. It’s dragging him upward, waggling him like a ragdoll. My sword clanks against the stony ground that had been covered with snakes only a few moments before.

  I tug at the ropes, trying to free myself before the smoke fills my lungs. I hear another screech. The rope pulls tighter then releases, falling with a thud on the fire at my feet.

  I stagger forward and grab my sword. Gasping for breath, I kneel on the ground, coughing.

  “Come,” says a sweet and friendly voice.

  I look up to see Kitta hovering in front of me.

  “Elos has offered to fly you out of here,” she says.

  “Who’s Elos?” Then I look up as the largest eagle I’ve ever seen alights beside me. Its feathers are robin’s egg blue and it has a bright white beak. I scream and scramble away.

  “It’s okay,” Kitta assures me. “He’s a friend. Climb on his back and he’ll carry you out of the Pit of Shame.”

  I sheathe my sword and climb on Elos’s back.

  “Grip tight!” Kitta calls out. Then she screams.

  A snake springs up from the ground and swallows her whole.

 

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