The De'Nauguath Chronicles - Book 1: The Summoner's Daughter

Chapter 6: Defer

I thought I kept seeing her face on the streets that night.

Maybe she really was spying on me, or maybe the drink was making me see things a bit. I circled around the city past shops I knew and a few alleys I didn't. Drink always gave me a swagger that somehow kept troublemakers away. Maybe it made my face grimmer than usual.

I didn't go back to the house. The girl had rustled something out of place. I felt like starting a fight, but no easy chances for one came my way. Some folk even had a glimmer of pity as I passed them. Brashness turned to embarrassment when I couldn't find a real enemy. On the one night that something was bubbling up inside me and I was fit for a proper scuffle, everyone else was peaceful.

I reached the edge of the city and stood without a thought in my head. I listened to the river's rumbling. Its pulse calmed my own. Eventually, I wandered out to the waters. The river went no higher than my knees in this section, but the current was strong. I stood on the rocks for a long time.

The water was cooler by this time of night – almost freezing. The constant flow quieted my skin. I kicked away some stones to make a flat place to sit. I half-crumpled down into the water, my feet planted on some stones to fight the current from behind.

It might've been an hour or it might've been three. I heeled another few rocks out of the way so I could lean back. I shivered as I sank down deeper into the water. Numbness wasn't unpleasant when the other choice was a furious rash.

Despite the icy flow all around me, I was drowsy. Arguments always drained my energy. This girl couldn't have been more than half my age, but she acted worn. Her tongue was sharp, but all told, she'd been sparse with it. Her wit matched mine. The talk cycled around and around in my head as the night took me a little more. I thought of retorts and muttered some aloud to no one and nothing.

* * *

There was a long, lulling moment. I floated, but I was just another thing in the water. The current pulled hard at me, and I didn't care. I was neither warm nor cold. My mind seemed to hover just outside my skin. The quiet gurgling was as good a hiding place as any. My arms were heavy. I let the force of the stream do what it would with my limbs.

But her eyes slashed through the black veil.

I jerked from head to foot. The surprise should've woken me, but it didn't. I tried to will my eyelids to move, but they didn't. But I wasn't oblivious anymore either. I choked. All I could see were her eyes. I heard a voice from the far end of a long tunnel. I strained my ears. It was like a chant. I reached a hand out, but there wasn't anything there. "What are you?"

"A crow always circles around a martyr." Her voice smiled. Her eyes widened more with each word. She gazed skyward.

My head wouldn't move, but I inched my eyes up. I saw a pair of crow talons fall fast at my face. I tried to shield my head, but my arms wouldn't move. Just when I should've felt the claws, a strip of fire singed the bird to ash. I flinched away, but the ashes didn't fall.

"The Protectors only come when their time is called."

It was over.

I woke.

The tiny girl yanked me out of the river like she was picking up a pebble.

I sputtered. Water shot out, but it was more like icicle stubs.

The girl didn't move. She only watched.

I coughed hard as I rolled onto my stomach and tried to sit up. A ghost of a more serene smile crossed her face as I stood.

I wanted to smack her. "I didn't need any help."

"And yet you were unconscious."

I looked at her again.