Split Blood: The Ancient Codex - Part One (Book #1 ) - COMPLETE

CHAPTER FOUR - THE SACRIFICE (Part 6)

CHAPTER FOUR – THE SACRIFICE

(Part 6)

The next few days were filled with menial tasks, mainly to avoid thinking about Asabi’s vision. We took care of Idony, who had not spoken for a few days, and helped build her new hut.

Rohan kept testing his depleting strength when Mulogo gave him extra tasks. He was intrigued to know how much longer he had before becoming fully human. Mulogo threw a log at him and unfortunately he didn’t move fast enough; it clipped his shoulder.

After Asabi helped to heal the wound, she whispered to Mulogo, who confirmed. ‘You are now fully human…’

A distressed Rohan begged, ‘Don’t tell Faith yet – please!’ The two reluctantly agreed but told him that he needed to tell me soon.

Needing to settle the increasingly restless baby, I accepted a hot bath which one of the followers had kindly run for me in a copper tub. ‘I’ve put some herbs in it to help relax you,’ he said as I went over and slipped into the steaming purple water. Situated behind a tree in a far-flung corner of the camp, it was privatised by a tightly woven white sheet, hanging down from the tree.

As I lay back and sunk further into the bath, I could hear rustling in the distance, coming from the other side of the large wooden camp wall.

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The rustling got steadily closer and closer, until I could hear scraping at the wall. ‘It must be a hungry animal smelling for food,’ I thought to myself as I tried to ignore it and concentrate on settling the baby, whom, when I looked down at my stomach, I saw moving around gently, enjoying its warm, watery cocoon.

My joints eased in pain too, and my thoughts returned to the happier times of my relationship with Rohan. His ears must have been burning. ‘Room for one more?’ he asked as he peeked round from behind the sheet.

I laughed as he got undressed and joined me in the tub. He positioned himself behind me, spilling some of the water onto the ground, and wrapped his legs around my body.

Rubbing my stomach and massaging my shoulders, his confident demeanour hid a troubled mind. ‘Can you hear that noise?’ I asked as the rustling began again.

Rohan listened intently. ‘What is it?’ he asked as the noise increased in volume once more, ‘I don’t know, but it’s getting more determined to get in…’ I replied as I decided to enact a protection spell on the walls of the camp, just in case it was more than a hungry animal. After saying a few words, and directing my attention to the spot where the noise was at its loudest, a bolt of green light shot into the air and created a translucent dome over the camp, before dissolving into thin air after a few minutes.

The noise stopped, and what sounded like a wounded creature fleeing was the last noise we heard. Asabi came running over and completely dismissed the privacy sheet. ‘What happened there?’ she asked running to the side of the tub, ignoring our naked bodies.