The Azimar Archives Book One- The Book of Death

Ajax

Animals were already sniffing at him. Ajax could feel a wet, slimy nose burrowing into the palm of his good hand, while a fuzzy faced creature nuzzled at his neck. He pushed them both away, muttering. "Go away, I'm not dead yet."

Or was he?

He remembered the fight with Ferrand in broken pieces. Ferrand killing the Knight. Ferrand cutting his leg, then slicing his stomach open. Ferrand's head on fire.

Ajax groaned, trying to lift himself from the ground, but he didn't seem to have the strength.

At least his body didn't hurt. His burned hand didn't hurt. His knee didn't hurt.

His stomach, though...

Ajax groaned again, trying to lift an arm to feel the damage once more. It ached, a terrible, deep pinching and burning sensation. But it was better than the intense pain it had been before.

"That's no way to talk to someone trying to help you," a hard female voice said.

Ajax opened his eyes, catching sight of a round faced woman with long brown hair peering down at him.

"Am I dead?" he groaned.

The woman gave him a crooked smile. "Do you feel dead?"

Ajax groaned again, then answered, "No, not really."

The woman's face disappeared from his line of sight, but her voice was still nearby. "Then, I think you can probably say that you're not dead."

Ajax tried to turn his head to follow the sound of her voice, but a large pink blob blocked his view. Ajax grunted, trying and failing to shove the thing out of the way. It squeaked, but didn't move. "Where's Ferrand?"

"That hot-headed guy you were fighting?" She snorted at her words, an unladylike sound if Ajax had ever heard one. The woman's voice had moved, but Ajax couldn't quite place it. "He put his head out, then got onto one of the horses and fled for the castle. I would assume he thinks you're dead." She paused, then continued. "You certainly looked dead. Reminded me a bit of that time my uncle Roland got into a fight with a bear. That bear cut him clean open. Except Uncle Roland died. Piggy, move."

"What?" Ajax muttered, but the squeaking pink thing moved at her command, and as Ajax peered at it, he realized it was a fat little pig. "How am I not dead?" Ajax's mind was still unfocused, his limbs still numb. "I should have died."

"I agree." The woman's face was peering over him again. "But then I saw the wounds on your body healing, so I came closer to check you out." She smiled again, the points of her teeth visible over thin lips, and Ajax felt an odd shiver roll over him. "Are you ready? I'm going to grab your arms and start pulling. It'll hurt, but you're too big to carry."

"You're not human, are you?" Ajax asked.

"Eh, no, I'm not." She grabbed both of his wrists and began tugging. Ajax was too weak to either fight her off or help her, so he just let her drag him along.

"Succubus?"

The woman snorted again. "Do I look like a succubus?"

Ajax craned his head slightly, surprised to find that the woman was completely nude, wearing only his bag strapped over both shoulders. "Well, you're naked."

"Yeah, but besides that."

Ajax considered for a moment. Her breasts were small, and her arms and thighs hard and lean. There was mud caked on her palms, and a smear of it on one cheek. It was getting hard to keep his eyes open. He shut them, muttering, "I guess you're not attractive enough to be a succubus."

She stopped dragging him, and Ajax opened his eyes again to see her glaring down at him. "Piggy, nip him."

The pig obediently nibbled at his leg. Ajax could hardly feel it.

"Don't worry, he'll get better at that." She began tugging again, and Ajax closed his eyes once more.

"What are you going to do with me?"

The woman snorted again. "I'm going to save your damn life." She sighed, "My brother is going to have my ass over this one."

Ajax half listened as she continued to drag him in small bursts into the woods.

"He'll say 'Myra, what did you bring back this time?'" She grunted as she yanked painfully on his arm. Ajax wondered briefly if his arms might end up ripped from their sockets. "'Another pig, a skunk? It smells like a skunk. A human?', and it'll just be a mess from there."

"My sword..." Ajax mumbled.

"Piggy, get his sword," the woman panted as she pulled him another few feet. The pig oinked once, then Ajax could hear his little feet hurrying through the underbrush.

"I'm going to need it," Ajax said. But why?

"What was that? You're mumbling."

Ajax could feel himself drifting away again, but something nagged at him. There was someone he needed to help. Someone he needed to protect...

"I have to save the Coven," Ajax said, unsure if he said it aloud or not.

"I think we're losing him again, Piggy." The woman's voice was faint, and Ajax hardly bothered to listen to it. "You'll be fine soon, I promise..."