《Law of Shadows 》Chapter 20: ~Raid~
Advertisement
“A savage world for savages.”
- A memory of the Old Ones.
***Norway***
***Cecilia***
I shake in silent horror and try to eat the food. Gavin hasn't touched his plate. Instead he is pacing through the room like a wild animal. It's too easy to imagine his quarters as a cage and him as a monster. I wonder what I did this time to warrant his anger? Or why I have to be in here with him while he is in such a state?
Chewing, I clench the fork in my hand while bitter tears escape my eyes. I got potatoes and meat while he has fish. He eats a lot of fish. Hopefully he has some deficiencies because of it. I eye the meat which is already cut to tiny pieces. It’s always like that. Gavin is smart enough not to trust me with a knife. Even if he has sealed my magic.
“They are all incompetent!” He takes one of the Chinese vases and smashes it on the ground.
I wince. That piece was from the fourteenth century and in pristine condition. Just what happened that made him so angry?
“And you-” He is about to turn his rage at me when something in his jacket beeps. Cursing, he pulls out a strange artefact and starts talking. “I told you that I am not to be disturbed when I eat with my wife! What are you talking about? What attack?” He perks up, listening. After a few moments he hisses, and whispers. “How did they get into the inner compound so fast!?”
I also listen very carefully, shaking. But not in fear and hopelessness. Now I shake in anticipation. Someone is raiding the Hammons. There might be an end to this endless nightmare. I search the room with my eyes. A weapon. Any weapon. Something better than a fork.
Gavin steps outside, in front of the dining room. “Listen, you will order everyone to fight and then you give out commands only for our loyalists. They have to use the escape tunnels and meet at the safe house. We'll have to cut our losses and relocate. This place lost its value the moment the two bitches escaped.”
Advertisement
I reach out to Gavin's side of the table and grab the fish knife. He likes eating fish and the cook probably thought that a knife without a sharp edge is no different from a spoon. It is indeed a poor improvement over the fork, but at least it looks sturdy enough to be used as a stabbing weapon. I don't trust the filigree fork they gave me. Probably, it would just bend instead of piercing skin.
Gavin returns to the room and heads directly for me. I lower my hand and hide the knife under my seat. If I do something to delay him, then I have to do it now. I've no other memories than of being inside this room. My eyes wander to the door through which we always leave. Who knows what will happen once I am through that door? It could knock me out as soon as I leave this place.
He grabs my arm and pulls me up. “Come, we've to go.”
“But the food?” I whine, allowing him to pull me towards the door.
When he turns towards the door to pull me with him, I strike. My knife is aimed directly at his spinal cord, which is my only hope. Since my magic is sealed, I can't best him in any way. But if I am just a little lucky and incapacitate him, I might gain enough time to run. Or to kill him. It would feel so good to kill him.
The blade sinks into his flesh and he howls. I know that I failed. I felt the metal scraping off the bone. It was a fleeting hope to hit the soft tissue between his spine's bones. It was asking too much. Howling myself, I twist the blade sideways. If nothing else, at least it causes him pain and buys a little more time!
My show of defiance meets its anticipated end when Gavin uses his magic to tighten his grip on my upper arm. I scream when he crushes my flesh and the bone as if I am a bug.
Advertisement
He turns around to face me and pulls the knife from his back. “And I already thought that you were becoming the perfect wife. You didn’t try anything in over a hundred years, but just a little leaked information makes you defiant. Just like our useless daughters. I think I've had enough of your kin. I'd let this little intermezzo slide, but you can't even control your own children. I should have had two little bargaining chips. Instead I have nothing. So even if you are a fertile bitch, what good are you if your offspring can't be used?”
Shoving me, he forces me back to the dining table until I hit the edge with my butt. I try to use my free hand to scrape out his eyes. It's of course just a minor inconvenience for him to subdue me. A brutal backhanded strike, and all the fight I had inside of me is gone. I can even see tiny dots in my vision as he forces me flat with my back onto the table and himself between my legs.
“Haah, do you know that your dear sister is most likely the spearhead of this attack? She truly started raising hell when someone blew the whistle that you are alive and in my custody. So taking you with me only means that she will follow like a bloodhound. What do you think will she do when she comes through that door? And you are sprawled like a whore on this table, dead.” He thrusts his hips at me and I am so glad that the fabric is in the way.
“It's a shame that there isn't enough time to make the scene perfect. I'll just have to savour my memories. After all, I already had you in every possible way.” Then he hammers the fish knife down at my throat, nailing me to the table.
Strangely enough all the pain is suddenly gone when he succeeds in what I failed to do. Bone shatters and then I feel nothing below my neck. There is just a dull ache, but that’s okay. I blink, stunned, and he grins.
He leaves the knife where it is and I suddenly realize that there is no need to cut off my head.
I panic. The wound can't close with the knife lodged in my neck and I can't pull it out because my spinal cord is severed. As long as the knife is inside, I can't heal. And my body can’t push it out because he hammered it into the table! All he has to do, is to wait and watch. I'll bleed out! How long can I survive without blood?
Didn't grandma Felicia bleed out when the house collapsed and crushed her? They dug her out and revived her, but she never was the same. Just a drooling idiot. She had to relearn everything. But maybe a complete restart wouldn't be so bad in my case?
I panic even more at the thought, but all I can do is move my mouth. Like a fish. I want to chuckle, but not even that works, having only my mouth.
Gavin just watches me, waiting, making sure that I am a goner before he leaves. I stop moving my mouth and focus my diminishing vision on the ceiling. Maybe he abstains from further measures if he thinks that I am dead. The sad part is that I don't have to play it. I am really fading away, my vision is blurry. That's when I hear a door being kicked in. Have the attackers reached his quarters?
“Shit!” Gavin turns and vanishes from my vision.
My eyes flutter closed. So tired.
Then the knife is yanked from my throat and I feel hands, trying to stop the blood. Someone is screaming. They are too loud. Can’t sleep.
Advertisement
Rebuild World
Akira, was born in the slum and wishes to get out but the only way he could was to risk his life in these ruin as a hunter. These ruins, known as the Old World, were danger zone where beast roam; buildings crumble, and other humans hunt their own… Though Akira had expected to face death countless times there, he had never expected to meet a naked woman there. Standing exposed with her curvaceous curves and bosom out for all to admire, Alpha, the breathtaking beauty stood there, looking back at him. This mysterious enchantress walked towards Akira and…
8 233Aura of Magic
Disclaimer: Keep in mind this is a first draft! Developmental editing for the book will be underway at the end of this month. Aurora Nightshade spent her whole life living as a countryside bumpkin, living just to get by. Despite the hardships brought onto her by the Song clan, the tyrannical people that levy insufferable taxes onto her and the villagers, she was content enough with life. This all changed one day, when an amulet fell from the sky like a meteor, a werewolf became her companion and the world of magic opened up to her. The world of spirits and gods revealed to her that fateful night. If you are into Wuxia and Cultivation themes, then don't miss this novel. It touches on some interesting mythology as well, and a lot of magic based on Epic Fantasy. A book that any WMW fan should read! Preorder Aura of Magic on Amazon: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B095Z1VX9B Chapters daily (Advance chapters on Patreon) !!! Extra chapter for every 100 followers we reach! ________________________________________________________________ Creator of the Mage of Shadows series. Link to amazon below. https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B089DJS52J Currently making a discord where you readers can send me messages and chat to me! Discord Link: https://discord.gg/sWcBsxWGSc Instagram: @mageofshadows Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge
8 270The One Amongst Them All
Children like to dream about their future. To do things they can’t do. Unable to notice the cruelty of life, they wish to grow up and foolishly hold it while it chews upon them, devoting their souls only to leave a shell of a human. Henry had a dream at one point in his life just like any other child. ‘To be the strongest’ he said. But unlike other children, he wasn’t allowed to dream. Life is unforgiving, brutal, and challenging to any who dares to partake in it. After receiving the news of his older brother's accidental death in the North, Henry at the age of 16, is now forced to become the Baron of a small plot of land. Having never planned on receiving this title and devastated at the news of his older brother, he shells in his Castle, never stepping out and leaving the management of the Barony to his servants. However, Fate seems to have a different plan for him as he is soon forced to come out of his shell and face the world head-on.
8 163Tales of the Willful Autonomous Nanobot Generator
Due to over-engineering and poor parenting; a nanobot generator is sent into the wider universe, ready to solve any and all problems...though probably not the way that was intended, or even hoped for. This story is a first time attempt to use a literary device I came up with, where I use 4 randomly selected songs to write short stories. As such there really won't be any cohesive story thread between chapters. If this gets traction, the likelihood for reader polls to influence the next story are high.
8 134Invasion, Part One, Chapter One
This book follows directly on from "Return." We are now at the palace of the Dark Lord and he is beginning the process of asserting his rule of the empire. The Palace staff have all been summoned and many are in turmoil. They are not the only ones, insurrection is in the air.
8 201The Aspect of Fire
Wilhelm woke up and was immediately confused, even before he opened his eyes. Through some twist of fate the data-entering grunt was pulled into another world, one containing terrifying people wielding magic powers beyond what he thought possible, and - somehow comparatively less horrifying - actual monsters. The only saving grace is that through his transference, he has become one of those terrifying people, and he's not sure how he feels about it yet. Oh, and he landed on a boat. Branded a Sylum for the way others unlucky enough to be pulled across the fabric of space tended to go insane after arrival, he will need to navigate a land unlike his own in seemingly every way except for the flaws, all while attempting to maintain his morality, and more importantly, his sanity. With his crew at his side and disconcertingly dangerous magic proportionate to his physical ability, it will not be easy.
8 138