Sleepless (Curse of the Blood Fox Trilogy, Book #1) (36 page)

“Good, my crazy fox. I would have been
disappointed if you gave up there.”

“Like I care what you think of me,” I
murmured, sadly sounding a lot like a child who had been chastised. I looked
away, yanking my fist back and setting my chin down on top of my arms. “Can’t I
be depressed? They were my arms… they kept me alive when I was trapped in the
Dream and during the Broken Treaty wars. I didn’t even get to thank them.”

Traken chuckled. “Thank them? They are
swords… they did what swords do. I told you that talking to them is strange,
didn’t I?” A larger smile appeared, and he swept his arms behind his head,
seemingly content to stay on his back. “Those are the saddest, darkest blue
eyes I’ve ever seen. Don’t be so down, princess… you’re stuck with me,
remember? You’re not going to be alone.”

“Full of yourself, aren’t you?” I
asked, but buried my face further into my arms to hide the warmth creeping
across my cheeks. I wouldn’t say it, but those words were comforting. It hadn’t
occurred to me that I didn’t want to be alone. I had always had Valentina and
Phernado there, even if they couldn’t say anything back.

“How are we going to get out of here?”
I asked instead. “Won’t the residents of Partchoo attack us for what happened?”

He let out a long sigh. “My master was
too secretive for his own good. It’s unlikely anyone knows what went on in here
besides those who are already dead. We merely walk out the door and out of the
town, and no one will think anything of it.”

“That simple, huh?” I shook my head.
“I wonder how long it will take for someone to figure out he’s dead.”

“There have been weeks at a time that
he didn’t contact anyone. Icol and the others bring him meals every day, but
they leave them in the dining hall, and it isn’t uncommon for him to skip
eating. It may be a while before anyone notices anything is wrong at all.”
Traken looked away. “A legacy like his… I would have preferred it to end in an
exciting death, not ebbing silently away.”

I couldn’t have agreed more. I was
supposed to be the one to do it. “We’ll find them. That thing said they were
the ‘Dark Ones’. Someone has to know something.”

My wrath had not been satisfied. I
glanced at my silent swords once again, and wondered if my “song” had answered
the rage within them, or if they had merely been forced into leaving the
blades, hatred unsatisfied as well.

“I hope you’re both happy,” I said,
even though they weren’t there anymore to hear. After a couple minutes of silence
I finally lifted my head and nudged Traken’s arm. “Come on, let’s get out of
here.”

He didn’t move. I looked closely; his
tired eyes had finally closed. Most likely he had fainted while he lay there.
He must have used a lot of his remaining energy to deal with that
shadow-creature.

“Idiot,” I told him. “How am I
supposed to get out of here if you’re asleep? I don’t think that Icol fellow is
going to let me walk out dragging you behind me.” I wrapped my arms around my
bare shoulders. “He’ll probably be suspicious if we look like this too. There
has to be clothes in here somewhere.”

He didn’t answer, of course, locked in
sleep. I lowered my head onto my arms again.

“Fine, I’ll wait. I hope you
appreciate how scary it is in here though.” I sighed. His sleeping face was
rather peaceful. “You won’t sleep in front of anyone, you say, but that’s three
times now, Dogboy. Your willpower isn’t very impressive.”

Still, silence. I groaned, burying my
face down into my arms so I wouldn’t have to look at the Angelblood’s twisted
body or think of those wide-eyed corpses deep in the pond.

Traken’s breath was a constant rhythm,
reassuring me that he, at least, was alive.

“I said I’d wait,” I mumbled, warm
emerald green seeping into my eyes. “You waited for me, after all. When you
wake up, though… you owe me a hat.”

Thank you so much for reading! I
hope you enjoyed it.
Curse of the Blood Fox
is set to be a trilogy, so keep an eye out for the second book,
Curse of the Blood Fox: Dreamless
, coming soon.
Also, if you did enjoy the story, please consider leaving a review for it with
the online store that you purchased it from, and any other sites that deal in
book reviews. (Amazon, Goodreads, etc.) You’ll never know how helpful that is
to us, the writers, and how grateful we are. The success of a book or book
series is determined by the readers who take the time to spread the word.

For updates and art, check out my
blog at:
seraashling.blogspot.com

Sera Ashling is a debut author and a graduate of the
University of South Florida, with a B.A. in Creative Writing. She spends her
free time reading, playing video games and learning new things.

Her specialties lie in fantasy, sci-fi, and action/adventure
stories, with a focus on dialogue and characters. She enjoys the everyday mixed
with the fantastical, and finding a little spark of happy in anything.

She’ll tell you she’s an artist too, but that part is
questionable.

For more on
Sera Ashling, find her at:

http://www.facebook.com/SeraAshling

http://seraashling.blogspot.com