A Girl Named Calamity (Alyria 1)

The grass was tall enough it reached my feet on Gallant; a couple of strands got underneath my pants and tickled my legs. I jumped when I felt it, already antsy. I gritted my teeth when I heard Weston’s chuckle behind me, and pushed forward. The only noises were the swish of grass, the crisp breeze, and the occasional chirp of a cricket. I glanced behind me, and Weston was still in his relaxed position. As we got farther and farther away, I started to assume Weston really was insane.

And that was when the clouds descended on me.

I watched with wide eyes as they circled above my head, and I hopped off Gallant when they were undoubtedly coming straight towards me. My heart raced as they chased me. Sounds of laughter came from the clouds as one knocked me off my feet and I fell, down, and into a dark hole.

It was only wide enough to crawl through, and my chest tightened with fear as it seemed to get smaller and smaller. The air supply was diminishing, and I crawled faster until I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I shoved myself out of the hole before I realized I was in the sky.

I was screaming as I fell from a tunnel in the sky. I fell and fell for so long that I was sure I had fallen asleep. My eyes popped open, and I screamed as I noticed where I was going to land.

The sharp point of a mountain.

I threw my hands out to stop me before I hit the ground with a thunk, and everything went black.

* * *

When I woke, the first thing I noticed was that every muscle in my body was sore. The sky was dark, and the heat of a fire warmed my skin. I looked up and met the eyes of an assassin.

Who knew assassins had a sense of humor? Maybe he shoul

d have been a jester.

Okay, definitely not.

Half of the spectators would probably end up dead.

“Did you enjoy the show?” I croaked, my throat sore from screaming.

“Quite. Although I didn’t expect you to scream so much. That really put a damper on the entertainment.”

I bet, bastard.

A sense of foreboding hit me. It was easy to fall into conversation with Weston lately.

Somehow, I couldn’t help but feel that was a game in itself.

Disgust washed over me. For some reason, I was the one who was entrusted with the future of Alyria. And here I was, chatting with the enemy. I stood up, with nothing but leaving on my mind.

“Sit down,” Weston ordered, having heard my plan.

“No,” I retorted, “I’m leaving, and you can’t stop me.”

I asked myself if I really wanted to throw this tantrum, and I did. Because I needed some reassurance that I wasn’t willingly following my captor around and that I really was a prisoner.

“Oh, trust me. You really are,” Weston said.

I glared at him. “Why don’t you stay out of my head? And go hang yourself while you’re at it?”

“Sit down.”

“I told you, no! Get it through your thick skull! No—” One leg swept out and knocked me off my feet, and down onto my pallet. Definitely not human. I hadn’t even seen him move before the side-sweep. I went to stand up again.

“Stand up and I will physically tie you down,” he said, his voice harsh.

I watched him, trying to decide if it was a bluff.

“I assure you, it’s not,” he said.

“And I assure you, if you don’t get out of my head, I will cause you bodily harm!”