The Winter Sun

Chapter 31

Amaya's mind was a white canvas, deprived of its colors. Her body was a status like those in her garden. The screams coming from the other side of the river were a blurred line in the buzzing of her ears.

A dense fog flared from the animal- the beast's nose. His heat enveloped Amaya's body and fear. It studied her with the glow of his red orbs, and water gathered at the rim of her eyes.

Was it the end?

At that moment, she thought of her mother, the beauty of her soul that once was like the sun pouring joy over the kingdom, and her father before the grief, the blood, and the vengeance weighting on his features, twisting them to anger, to war and then to agony and regrets. Then she saw the boy, his face blurred, but the memories still buzzing in her heart like a bee on a flower. Then she saw him. Older, broader, taller. His face was as clear as a river in spring, and the nobles and purity of his heart bled through every of his actions.

He smiled, and a drop traveled down her cheek.

"Amaya!" Lach screamed, and as he was about to jump back in the stony path, a hand grabbed him so forcefully he stumbled backward, almost tripping. He threw a glare. "Let go of me."

Bett held his gaze as tightly as his forearm. "Don't." Their eyes flung to the beast. "If you do anything, it will attack her. The only way she can survive is if she stays still."

Lach jerked his head away from their nonsense, chest clutching as if a giant hand contracting it. The beast's shadow slowly hovered over Amaya, his mouth salivating and wide open. Lach held his breath. She wasn't moving, and still, he was approaching. "It will attack her if we don't do anything." He snatched his arm away.

"Any sudden movement could threaten her life." The words were loud but hit the wall of Lach's urgency. He clutched the hilt of his sword as he went down to the river path. Bett followed him like his shadow. "Those things were the ones lurking over you that night. They didn't attack you because you were both tightened up." Lach's feet stopped at the edge of the frozen river. "You go there, and you condemn her and Ornuv." Lach's grip on his sword clenched. "Let's wait." Bett's eyes narrowed. "If it doesn't feel threatened, then it will go away." Lach kept his hand on his sword but grounded his feet, swallowing back his fear. Still, it stuck in his throat.

He just hoped that Bett wasn't playing another trick.

The animal stomped his foot like a wild, impatient and starved horse, but Amaya stayed still. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Only tears flowed down her cheeks. The beast grounded her clawed paws, and his ruby eyes swallowed her whole before he spurred a guttural growl so loud it tremored the ground and shook the world under Amaya. Her knees and hands scraped the wet stones with a moan.

The river hissed, its cold shield cracking.

The colorless lips stretched, and Amaya almost believed it smiled. It scooted closer, its big paws barely covering the rocks so much that its claws sank into the cracked river.

Amaya's chest heaved, and a thundering under her skin drove her back on her feet. She jumped to the following stones.

He wouldn't get her. She wouldn't let him get her, too.

The world pounded and trembled as a large paw engulfed another rock. The water panicked and hissed its dissatisfaction to be woken up after such a long slumber. Amaya's feet landed on another rock, but its icy cover was thicker and trickier. She slipped down the river, her feet breaking the ice before the sensation of millions needles pierced her skin. She hissed painfully before she crawled back to the top of the rock.

The world tremored again, and she glanced over her shoulder.

The beast was a stone away, but its mouth hovered over her, saliva drops falling like melted sticky honey. The drum of heart was wild gallop. She needed to reach the other rock, but as she moved her drenched foot, thunder hit. She let out a painful moan. She could barely move, and jumping was out of the question.