Zaiyoz

Chapter 9

The girl pounced on me with her mouth open, trying to have a bite of me.

For deities’ sake! I thought. She was so strong!

I don’t really hurt girls but I guess I had no choice on the matter at the moment. I kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying against the wall. It made her more aggressive instead, making her eyes red. Wait, she must not be a normal human being. But she wasn’t a magician who turned into a cannibal either. She must be some kind of a hybrid, if I wasn’t mistaken.

Right. I think I remember Ezohr’s lesson that a human being half animal, called sanhix, would rather eat human beings than animals. For being half-human, they could still be called cannibals. And this one right here was a sanhix badly wanting to eat me! I could see her salivating over me.

I guess my fate really sucks right now.

Turning my back to get to the stairway, she let out a loud growl. I was mid-way up the stairs when the door opened, letting the light come in. That was weird. When I opened it myself, there was no light that came out.

I saw Cannia coming down the stairs, trapping me and the girl in the process. My unlucky stars! Must I hurt her, too? I don’t also hurt someone who’s older than my mother!

My eyes caught the knife she was holding. I gasped when she almost hit me in the neck. I caught her hand but the girl caught my leg, so I pulled the older woman and threw her toward the girl. Maybe the girl would eat Cannia instead.

Wait, there’s something wrong in this picture.

“Get him, Mama!” the girl yelled and growled afterward.

Now my suspicion was just confirmed. I dashed up the stairs, leaving them behind. Well, I thought I did. But the girl was faster than I thought. She grabbed my right foot and dragged me down the stairs, back to where she wanted me to be so that she could have a feast on me! But no. I didn’t want to be eaten by a sanhix. I didn’t leave the palace for that!

 My hand grabbed the banister before she could drag me all the way down to that damp earth. I kicked her in the face, hard. She fell to the ground with a loud thud, including her mother who attempted to catch her. They both groaned in pain and I got up quickly to run up the stairway.

The girl squealed and it was so sharp that I had to cover my ears. I felt my ears bleed and I didn’t stay to listen to it. I grabbed the doorknob and closed the door. I locked it and was frozen when I turned, seeing a dozen of red-eyed hixes. Hixes had elongated and sharp ears with a face of a small tiger, sharp teeth, black thick fur and a spiky tail. I remembered they were the ones I saw outside. They ate whatever the meat was fed to them. And I could only make an intelligent guess now what it was.

Okay, so that girl called for her… what? Brothers and sisters? One thing was for sure. They were relatives!

One jumped with a sharp shriek, trying to bite my face off. They attacked me at the same time that I had trouble stopping them. I was bitten in the legs and thighs, as well as my arms. I whimpered as their teeth sank into my flesh. I just kicked crazily to get them off and also the ones that attempted to eat me, too. I managed to make them groggy if not dead. Maybe at least five of them.

When I heard the doorknob was being turned behind, I ran even with the hixes still latching on me. The main door suddenly burst open and Shamaro was like the wind, slicing the animals that were on me. They all fell in half. Some more leaped into the air to attack us but Shamaro effortlessly struck them, cutting their heads off. One jumped on me but I dodged and it hit its head in the sharp corner of the open door, resulting to its own demise.

The mother and daughter managed to get out of the basement. They halted in their tracks upon seeing my guard with his diamond sword in hand. He just stood there and shook the blood from its blade. They stepped back but with one smooth movement, Shamaro cut their heads.

“I hate hybrids!” he murmured, clearly pissed off.

“Uh… I think it’s just singular, Shamaro.” I pointed at the younger one.

He looked at me like it was the first time he saw a stupid wizard. Oh, right! It was truly stupid of me. He generally meant “hybrids.” All of them.

I found my sling bag on the table and checked it. Thankfully, my things were there, so I slung it across my shoulder.

I went out of the cabin, looking behind me. I wondered why he didn’t come out right away. But I noticed he reached for a fire maker from his robe’s inside pocket. He lit the curtain and spread the fire all over the cabin. I frowned as the cabin was eaten by huge flames and Shamaro strode away.

I followed him, leading me to a cave. Again. What was with him and the caves? Couldn’t it be like, trees? We could stay on the branches of giant trees, too.

He tended to my wounds with the small fire in front of us. “I’m not going to tell you to go home, Your Highness. But do you think this thing you’re doing is good for you?” His blue eyes probed into mine.

“Thanks for everything, Shamaro. But I want you to stop following me from now on. I want to be on my own and I want to live like a normal person, okay?”

He didn’t answer, just stared at me for long seconds. He moved away to rest his back on the cavern wall, looking at me. I just shook my head and did the same.

“I never said I’m sorry, Your Highness,” he began, slightly changing the topic.

I closed my eyes. I did know what he was talking about but I refused to think of it. It was not his fault it happened. It was mine. I shouldn’t have flaunted Livha in front of my sister.

“Why would you be sorry, Shamaro?” I sounded bored, not letting my emotions show, although he knew me well.

“Princess Arotti, I liked her.”

Now that made me open my eyes. “You what?” I yelled, sitting straight.

“I suggest you don’t yell inside the cave, Your Highness,” he advised quietly.

I sighed. Why did it work me up?

I gave him a sharp look. “Did she know?”

I caught a slight smile on his reddish lips. “Of course not. She was too young to know it.”

Another sigh escaped my lips, shaking my head afterward. “I should’ve known. But it doesn’t matter anymore. She’s gone and it’s all my fault. I’m sorry I killed your happiness, Shamaro.”

“No, it wasn’t your fault, Your Highness. It was an accident. I should’ve done something when she tried to provoke you. But I… I was too distracted of her smile when she thought she could have Livha for herself. It was too late when I realized what was happening. Maybe if I rendered you unconscious, it would’ve helped. But then on second thought, maybe there was no stopping then. Livha appeared unstoppable. I guessed there was something wrong. It could be because of her telekinesis. Or maybe not. But we’ll never know, right, Your Highness?”

I believed it was the longest conversation we’d ever had. He was usually quiet and I could feel his sincerity. I guess it was more than admiration he felt for my late sister. And I was never so dejected in my entire life than now. I took my parents’ one and only daughter and someone’s happiness. Merely seeing her alive and happy was enough for him. And I took that away from him, not even knowing it.

My eyes stung because of the unshed tears. I took a deep breath to steady myself. When I glanced at Shamaro, I saw the tears make their way down his cheeks, looking into space.

I wetted my lips and sniffed.

“If we could only find something or some magic to bring back someone alive without any consequences…” he trailed off and cleared his throat. Then he wiped off his tears before he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm.

After a few minutes, he got up murmuring about finding some wood for the fire. That was when my own tears trekked down my face. I wasn’t a crybaby but thinking of my sister made me one. I couldn’t help it. I even sobbed, not minding whether or not Shamaro heard it. But I knew he understood how I felt. After all, he did cry for her, too.

My chest was so tight that I massaged it. In my mind, I told Arotti I was sorry. Over and over again. I didn’t even count how many times. And it will never be enough.

I guess she would never forgive me if we saw each other again someday in the afterlife.