Melianarrheyal

by G. Deyke

  ~*~

  She reaches into me, plunges her fingers into my flesh and pulls the heart from between my ribs. She smiles as she pulls it out, saying: “Of course you'll do it, won't you, Arri?”

  It is black and lifeless and cold. She holds it between two fingers and wrinkles her nose. “Filthy kretchin thing,” she complains, and she throws it in the river, and wipes her hands. There is fear in her eyes, wild and staring, and she cries: “Arri, come, let us flee! Quickly! I will find you, and I will kill you!"

  Her dagger flashes. Her spell strikes me in the back and everything is pain. She smiles and tells me: “You are my dog and I will take care of you.” She hits me and I fall.

  “I will find you,” she tells me. “I will find you, and I will kill you. You cannot hide.”

  She turns away from me and I am all alone, crying in the darkness, trying to whistle to Snake as well as I can through shaking lips.