Scroll Of Wrath [BETA] COMPLETE

|Chapter 9|

The walk back from the beach was much quieter than the journey to it. The group was soaking wet; Drucilla carried her pieces of armour in her hands, walking barefoot up to the palace on top of the city. Hadassah's hair stuck to her, her body shivering with every breeze that passed by. Drucilla and Cyrus parted ways with the group. "We'll see you back at the life tree tomorrow," Drucilla said, waving as she and Cyrus headed in a different direction. They were staying at the medicine hall at the centre of the city rather than the life tree.

Zarek, carrying Rahn, who was out cold from all the excitement, walked beside Hadassah. The two were silent; since Hadassah had sobered up, she did not have anything to say to him, and she assumed he had nothing to say to her.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Insist we go swimming. We should have just gone back."

"Oh." She did not want to fight about it.

He glanced at her after hearing her uninterested response, his lips turned downward in displeasure. "You need to be more careful. If you expose yourself, don't you think the Great Kesmes will get into trouble?" He thought she was reckless. Who would go gallivanting around with such dangerous people? If they suspected her race, would she still be alive right now? "You should know better. For a human, you're really—"

"I'm really what!?" She snapped. She had had enough. Human this, human that. Anytime he had a bone to pick with her, it ultimately boiled down to her being human. If he hated her this much, why not just kill her and end her misery? "You know, you could try keeping your complaints to yourself for once," she said, her voice sharp.

Zarek shot her a glare. "Maybe if you weren't so irresponsible, I wouldn't have anything to complain about. I don't know how you manage to get into so much trouble. It's like you're a magnet for disaster."

Hadassah's patience was wearing thin. "You act like everything that goes wrong is my fault. I get that you hate humans, but why is that my problem? What did I ever do to you?" She understood he was right; they did not have to take her in, but if the Great Kesmes decided to protect her, what was the point of bitching to her all the time?

Zarek's expression darkened. "You don't get it, do you? Typical. Humans are selfish creatures who take and take and still ask for more without once thinking about others. You're a leech. What don't you understand? Why are you sticking around the Great Kesmes? Because he is kind-hearted?" He scoffed. "You should have stayed away from the Black Rabbit Tribe, yet you selfishly came to us, and selfishly did not leave, and you expect me to accept it?"

Hadassah felt a lump forming in her throat. She refused to cry in front of him. She hated him. Was it wrong for her to survive?

Maybe it was wrong. Maybe she should have just accepted her fate and died at the hands of the bloodhounds, or died after falling off the cliff, or died when she was found again. Maybe she should have died during the fight with Drucilla, but why did she have to accept that sort of shitty fate?

"I'm trying to live, Zarek." Her voice cracked despite her efforts to keep it steady. "I refuse to apologise to you, or anyone for existing." So what if her existence was a grave inconvenience? Too bad! They had to deal with it! As long as she was alive, she would try her best to survive, if she had not died yet she was unwilling to die now.

Zarek's face softened slightly, but he quickly masked it with a scowl. "Surviving is one thing. Bringing chaos wherever you go is another."

Her eyes stung but her voice was cold. "You're just projecting all your hatred and fears onto me because it's convenient. Who you hate is not me, it's not even humans." She did not know why he felt so strongly, but it wasn't her job to take his shit sitting down.