Princess Reviled

by Butler, J. M.

  Naatos bellowed, but AaQar kept his grip fast, his elbow pressed deep into the back of Naatos's neck.

  "What good does it do for you to rush in there without taking a few minutes to get what she needs? We can't help her with the spider. And we cannot be foolish in this." AaQar continued. He gritted his teeth as he set his arm tighter around Naatos's neck. "QueQoa, get WroOth in here."

  "WroOth's here," WroOth called out. "There's no sign of the Ignorant Guard. B—what happened?" He turned around, brow creased in a deep frown. "I was barely gone."

  "More spiders," QueQoa said. "She fell through the Tue-Rah. What do you want to do with this one?" He gave Vorec a shake but the Awdawm remained unconscious.

  "Bring him with us," Naatos growled. He twisted around enough to glare at AaQar. "And fine. Let go now."

  AaQar released him. "The supplies are over there." He pointed to a dark corner in the far right. "WroOth, QueQoa, grab them." He stood and brushed cobwebs and silt from his robes. "She is in bad condition, Naatos, but in your state, you can't heal her. And not even we can survive without our weapons in Ecekom." AaQar already ascended the staircase. Webs clung to his hair and sleeves like smoke. "Our previous assessment is still correct. The Tue-Rah has been set off balance. It won't respond as it should until we restore Ecekom's Tue-Rah and it resyncs. Until then…if we simply activate it and all go through at the same time without changing the destination, it should take us to approximately the same point as Amelia. Hopefully it will be near the same time."

  "How far will the time be off?" QueQoa asked, loading up the packs on one arm while dragging Vorec with the other.

  "A second here could be a minute there. Or perhaps longer," Naatos spat. "She could be there for days."

  "In which case it would have made no difference if you followed through immediately afterward. Amelia can't survive alone in Ecekom for more than a few hours, I'd say." AaQar stopped in front of the Tue-Rah. "Wretched Libyshan fools have ruined the Tue-Rah for everyone here." AaQar leaned closer to study it, his hands resting on his thighs as he shook his head.

  The knot in Naatos's chest tightened as he seized the other supply packs and his spear.

  Vorec groaned. "What's—"

  QueQoa dragged him roughly up the stairs. "Be silent. You earned whatever fate you'll get."

  Vorec grasped for his sword but found nothing. "Let go," he said weakly. "I'm not going through there."

  "I think you are," WroOth said. "I think you are, and I think this ends very badly for you."

  Naatos resisted the urge to strike the Awdawm again and instead scaled the stairs on the opposite side. The survival packs barely weighed him down at all.

  As they reached the top, AaQar placed his hands on either side of the Tue-Rah's pedestal. "Let us hope Elonumato favors His Third Nalenth." He bowed his head and leaned forward.

  Naatos stared straight ahead, past the expanding light, working the spear in his hand. She would be alive. She would be fine. She had to be. And yet the terror and anger that consumed him was almost as powerful as the locking and twice as sickening.

  What better way for Elonumato to destroy him than to let Amelia die? But surely Elonumato did not hate him so much that he would go to the lengths of creating a chosen one and dragging her through all this when smiting someone with lightning or making the earth swallow them whole was still a viable option.

  No. Elonumato might be incompetent and short-sighted, but he wasn't petty like that. Surely not even those who would enact the darikov against him could be so cruel. Naatos closed his eyes as the light expanded. No. Amelia would survive. He would find her. He would fix things. And everything would be good.

  The light of the Tue-Rah enveloped him.

  46

  Teaser: Wilderness Untamed

  Thank you so much for reading! Wilderness Untamed the sequel to Princess Reviled will be released in the summer of 2020.

  You can keep up on all the news, get exciting teasers, and hear about upcoming stories by visiting me at my website at www.jmbutlerauthor.com.

  I look forward to seeing you around and sharing even more stories and surprise. In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this sample chapter from Wilderness Untamed.

  (Please note that before Princess Reviled’s release, it was titled Wilderness Untamed, but the book was split and expanded to create stronger focus within both.)

  * * *

  The spider lunged at Amelia, its legs splaying through the light. Amelia fell backwards as she lifted her arms up to shield her face. The spider's horrible snarling maw filled her vision, its furred mandibles spread wide, ready to bite into her.

  Then suddenly she fell backwards. Something struck her back and shoulders as she tumbled down a steep hill.

  The hook-fanged spider struck the ground equally hard and bounced upward. Narrowly missing one another, they crashed down the grassy embankment, the spider hissing and howling with each strike punctuating its irate shrieks.

  Amelia braced herself, expecting to feel the stinging burn of its spiked hairs and vicious jaws. Then she stopped. Dizzy, she thrust herself up and tried to run away, but staggered a few steps toward a ravine. Her knees gave out.

  The spider rolled to a stop just a few feet beyond her. Picking itself up, it shook its entire body, chittering and clacking its jaws.

  Amelia drew her breath in sharply through her teeth as the spider drew closer. Her body remained silent despite the screaming in her mind. Move, move!

  The spider stepped over her. It opened its jaws. Amelia cringed, clenching her eyes shut. Then—

  An unearthly shriek tore through the air.

  Amelia's eyes flew open again as the spider's legs flailed over her, suspended several feet off the ground. Her eyes widened as the hook-fanged spider moved upwards, ever struggling.

  A massive creature with grey eagle wings and a black scorpion's abdomen had stabbed the creature through the abdomen. Silently it rose into the sky.

  Amelia remained motionless, her heart thundering.

  The beast flew higher through the break in the trees as the spider writhed in death throes. Its last wail faded before both predator and prey disappeared beyond the green canopy.

  Silence descended upon the forest. Amelia remained motionless, fighting to slow her heart and calm her breaths. Obviously this was Ecekom, and most likely this was the wilderness. She looked around cautiously.

  She lay on a forest floor. Similar to the sequoia forests she and Uncle Joe had hiked in while searching for information on the Tue-Rah. The numerous trees were gnarled and twisted, jutting out at unusual angles with large growths protruding from the bark. Heavy silver moss hung from many of the branches, and many of the trees and vines had grown over large boulders. The terrain was incredibly uneven as if the forest had overgrown a mountain range.

  Slowly, she sat up and removed both her gun and one of the daggers. No other predators were immediately apparent. That was a good sign. Though it didn't mean some weren't hiding in all this foliage. Her current location was not especially safe.

  Carefully, Amelia stood, and dull pain spread through her body. The medication held most of it at bay, but even so she could not bite off the groan that pushed free. If she had to, she could run. The adrenaline and need to survive might even shut off what relatively little awareness of the pain she had. She adjusted her holsters, knowing she needed to find a better place. Water and heat were the next important things. If Naatos could, he would be certain to follow her through, and he would track her. But…could he follow her? Amelia sighed. Vorec's damage to the Tue-Rah might be permanent. And Naatos had even warned her that they might be weeks away. She needed to prepare.

  Her elmis prickled, and a jolt of adrenaline surged through her. All her senses at once focused on identifying the danger.

  A predator was nearby.

  Amelia scanned the forest, stopping on a particularly dense section of juniper-green bushes. There. The warnings from her elmis intensified.

&nb
sp; She slowly reached for her gun. Running could doom her as well as save her, depending on how this creature hunted. At the moment, she was on soft grass so she stepped back, her gaze fixed on the danger point.

  A deep throaty growl rumbled from that location. Then, slowly, two orange eyes blinked into view. Each one was easily the size of her fist. The round pupils were little more than black dots. Amelia's heart hammered faster. She pointed the gun at the head, but based on the timber of the voice and the size of those eyes, it was too large for her gun to do much more than lightly wound or anger it.

  Another growl expanded from the bracken. Slowly a massive white cat with black and gold speckled stripes slunk out into the clearing, its gaze focused intently on her.

  Amelia tightened her grip on the gun, studying the enormous feline. It was twice the size of a Siberian tiger with an pronounced skull and ridge that suggested a headshot would be impossible unless she shot it through the eye. Her instincts warned against that. A wounded animal was even more dangerous, and it could reach her in a single leap. But if it was like most tigers, then eye contact was one of the best ways to keep it from attacking. Tigers hated eye contact. It took away their element of surprise and often convinced them to look elsewhere for food. Unlike leopards who found eye contact offensive and attack worthy. At a glance, it seemed to share more traits with tigers than leopards from its general build to the pupil form to the markings. So as far as large cats went, Amelia just prayed the comparison proved true for behaviors.

  The large cat's black ear twitched. It shook its head, its hackles lifted.

  "Easy there, Shere Khan," Amelia said. "I'm not a threat to you. So you just go on your way, and I'll go on mine." She stepped back. But before she could take another step, her elmis tensed and warned her again.

  There was something else. Behind her.

  Amelia stiffened. She trained the gun on the cat and hinged her gaze backwards, relying on her peripheral. Something large moved.

  The striped cat's ears laid back against its head, its eyes narrowing. But it wasn't looking at her.

  A loud clicking and chirping sounded behind Amelia.

  Amelia dared to glance back. Her eyes widened. A giant praying mantis with silver and black stripes along its enormous foreclaws stood at the edge of the tree line, mere feet from her. "Elonumato, help me," she murmured.

  The praying mantis drew closer, angling its head to the right and left. The large cat crouched, its striped tail lashing back and forth angrily.

  Once more Amelia's elmis tightened. There weren't specific instructions within the warning. Only instincts.

  She lunged to the left just as the cat leaped forward and the mantis reared up. The large cat landed directly between the formidable foreclaws and tore into its face.

  As the two beasts fought, Amelia pushed herself up from the ground and ran. She didn't know where she was running. All that mattered was that she get out. As she reached the top of the first cresting hill, she glanced back. The large cat was up on the mantis's back. Green liquid oozed from the mantis as it shrieked and struggled, one of its wings broken and dragging and one of its legs entirely severed.

  Amelia ran to the lower end of the ridge, then jumped. The adrenaline that now pounded within her veins and throbbed in her ears drowned out all but the vaguest notes of the pain.

  She raced as fast as she could, listening and noting the sensations in her elmis. After breaking through a thick stretch of grey brush and creeping green plants, she reached a higher rock wall that herded her toward the north. She slowed to a trot, knowing how important it was to pace herself.

  Neither the large cat nor the mantis had followed. But she was going to be in need of fresh water and rest very soon. The rushing gurgle of liquid combined with the fresh scent suggested that there was a river close at hand. Amelia slowed even more, knowing that predators often stalked watering holes. Besides, who knew what lurked within the waters itself?

  Amelia urged herself forward, climbed another hill, and looked down over the top. A short distance below was a clearing, and eight strange creatures stood at the base.

  They were as tall as Clydesdales but they looked more like gorgonopsids with their massive oversized jaws and strongly muscled bodies, closing resembling the creature Naatos had beheaded for her at their ceremony of the viskaro. The saber-like teeth that cut down from the upper jaw were easily longer than her arm, tinged with yellow. The other teeth that the grey-green lips exposed were clearly of the carnivorous order as well. Their bodies were covered in a thick scaly soft grey or dull brown hide with patches of close-growing, darker-green fur at random. Large dog-like feet jutted up from their massive feet. These were black or dark grey. But their eyes had no color. They were entirely opaque as if blind. Yet as soon as she had stepped on the top of that hill, they all looked at her.

  Amelia swallowed hard. She had been so quiet. They couldn't have heard her.

  Yet, as one, each of the eight creatures stepped forward. Deep wet growls shuddered from their massive throats.

  I remember these, Amelia thought. Not only had she seen one at the party, she'd read about them while in the temple. They were besreds. Fast. Blind. Cunning. She could never outrun them. They tracked their prey primarily through vibrations but also through sound and scent. The one advantage she had was to get up into the trees.

  She edged to the side, moving toward what looked like a great maple.

  The largest of the besreds advanced, his strides slow, purposeful. His growls intensified.

  Amelia cast her gaze about her surroundings as she holstered her weapons. Outrunning these creatures was out of the question as was fighting them off. Even one would easily overpower her until she knew how they fought and attacked. But perhaps she could out climb them. She stepped back, angling toward the nearest tree.

  More growls followed as the entire pack now drew closer. Amelia bolted to the tree, launching herself up to the nearest branch. The lead besred lunged at her. His jaws snapped with a thick, hollow crunch. Another snatched a smaller branch in its mouth.

  Its hot breath steamed the back of Amelia's leg. She scrambled up higher and higher, thrusting aside the thick leaves and nuts.

  Down below the besreds howled and shrieked. Some reared up and thrust their forelegs against the tree trunk. Their voices wove and trembled with tremulous notes deeper than an overactive bass. Amelia clung to the branch, peering down through the leaves.

  The cat that had been chasing her before bounded into the clearing. It too froze when it saw the besreds, it hackles bristling. The besreds all snapped their attention to it, dropping to all fours and snarling. The cat backed away. It kept its head low to the ground and swished its thick tail back and forth. Then, its muscles tensing briefly, it leaped up onto one of the long branches.

  Amelia inhaled sharply and pressed herself closer to the branch. But the cat had already spotted her. Its hackles lifted again, its orange eyes narrowing.

  "Hey, hey," Amelia said, holding out her hand. "There's room for both of us up here. You don't need to be getting nasty."

  The cat stalked forward on the thick branch, moving as easily as if on the ground.

  "Stay back." Amelia reached up to seize a better handhold, but the bark did not match her expectations. It had cylindrical ridges instead of coarse bark. Almost at once, it moved, creaking and hissing as well. A massive centipede arched its head in front of her, its long antennae brushing against her cheeks. It opened its multi-jawed mouth, antennas and mandibles rattling.

  Amelia strained back, scooting along the branch. The cat leaped up higher, snarling with rage as it disappeared into the leaves. The centipede moved closer.

  "Stay back," Amelia said. She adjusted herself, the branch wobbling. Was her gun powerful enough to kill something like that? And what if there were more like it in the tree? What if shooting this one woke the others up? Maybe it was worth the risk. She moved toward the gun but immediately grabbed the branch as the besreds resumed at
tacking the tree.

  The centipede, unbothered by the thudding vibrations, scrabbled forward, numerous legs clicking and clacking on the back.

  "No, no." Amelia moved hand over over hand back, even as the branch narrowed. Somewhere up above the large cat lurked. Its low growl occasionally penetrated the shroud of leaves and branches. The only good thing was that the centipede seemed more curious than hungry. Its antennae brushed her foot.

  "Oh perfect." Amelia scooted back farther, curling her toes away, annoyed even more to be without her shoes. She slid over to the next branch, trying to find a sturdier spot to defend herself. The centipede crossed over with even more ease. It moved a little faster now, swiping its head and antennae about as it signaled its approach with skin crawling clicks and tocks.

  "You're probably one of those creatures that tastes with its mouth. Not so great for me, but hey, what am I gonna do?" Amelia slid farther away. This time she pressed another smaller branch down as she went, pushing it directly into the centipede's face.

  The centipede angled its head to the side, then shook it, hissing. It lunged forward and chomped down on the branch. With surprising strength, it tore the branch free and cast it aside.

  Amelia thrust herself back against the crook of the tree and seized her gun. It took only a breath to aim and fire directly between its eyes. The belch of gunfire resounded through the wilderness. The air trembled, but the centipede remained stationary. Only a faint black mark scarred the top of its shiny red-brown head. Obviously it hadn't penetrated the exoskeleton, but perhaps the blow had been enough to stun or even kill. It stared at her. Amelia watched it, heart racing, ears straining. It was too quite now.

  The centipede hissed. All of its ridges bristled as it reared back, swaying like a serpent.

  Amelia gritted her teeth and aimed again, this time in its mouth. The shot entered perfectly.

  The centipede fell back, an odd clicking howl emanating from it as it thrashed. It then whipped about, more spines emerging around its head.