Curse Breaker (2)

16

The ground jostles and jolts beneath me. Darkness surrounds me as my senses tune in--the unsteady, jostling of the earth, the thumping of hooves against the ground, the steely scent of blood.

Something digs into the centre of my back, stabbing with each jostled movement. I groan, but no sound comes out as I try to shift my body.

My memories return before my vision. The shifter invasion in Veymaw, the guards, Cadence, the gunshot--the gunshot. The thought wills my eyes open.

A wooden roof peers down at me from merely a few feet away; the ripples on the smooth surface curve in a way that looks like eyes. The jostled movement, low roof, horses hooves--I'm in a carriage.

I shift, trying to sit up. A soft sniffling sound wafts into the air. Turning my head sideways, my eyes take in the rest of the cabin, including the tangled mess of golden hair splayed on the carriage floor.

My heart sinks to my stomach. She shouldn't be here. She should be back in Veymaw.

At least she isn't dead, a voice in my head says.

"Cadence?" I whisper. My voice scratches in my throat.

She sits with her knees pulled to her chest, face in her legs, sideways on the ground, her body quivering. I manage to regain control of my limbs and shift into a sitting position, sliding down from the uncomfortable seat across from Cadence. My head pounds at the movement. I squeeze my eyes shut till the pain somewhat subsides.

"Cadence, are you okay?"

She doesn't move, as if she hasn't even heard me. My anxiety spikes. There'd been two gunshots, or had it been three? The jumbled memories slot together as I try to recollect whether or not Cadence was harmed. I reach out a quivering hand and place it on the side of her arm, squeezing slightly.

At my touch, she lets out a cry, shuffling backwards along the floor so quickly that she bangs her head on the wooden ledge jutting out from the seat.

"Stop! Please!" she cries.

"Cadence!" I grab her shoulders forcefully so she can't move. "Cadence, it's me. It's me. Look at me."

Her eyes frantically dart around the cabin as she resists my hold, cheeks stained with blood and crusted with dried tears. When our eyes meet, her entire body freezes. She blinks at me, her mouth opening and closing.

"Y-you're a-a-alive."

I nod, pulling her closer. "Are you hurt?" She just stares at me. "Cadence."

She shakes her head, eyes searching around my face. The relief that floods my body is so overwhelming it adds weight to my shoulders. I want to pull her closer, wrap my arms around her and wipe the blood from her golden hair. Seeing Cadence this way, frazzled, not put together, afraid, it makes something burn inside of me. But there's something in her gaze that makes me pause. She's never looked at me like this before.

"We're going to get out of here," I tell her. "Don't worry. Casimir will come. We're not going back to Ereon. I won't let them hurt you, okay?"

She doesn't say anything in response, just stares. I release her shoulders, glancing around the cabin. I have no way of knowing how many of the guards are outside, but I know my escape won't be as simple as the somewhat unsuccessful attempt from Killian's carriage. There were only three of them. There were at least 10 guards I saw in Veymaw.

The sheet covering the doorway flaps gently in the wind, letting in a slither of golden light. The actual wooden door has been left open, I assume latched to the side of the carriage. It's either sunrise or sunset. I can't tell.