Page 144 of Death of a Mortal

Cautiously, I placed my palm down again in front of me within the circle to trigger it, then shouted.

I had lifted and turned upside down several feet above my bed, hair brushing the mattress beneath me. Three seconds later, I dropped like a sack of potatoes back onto the bed with a bounce before the glythyr winked out of existence.

It had worked…technically. Thank the gods I’d been on my bed and not the hard ground.

I experimented with the words I spoke, specifying things like “keep the body upright” and “lower the body slowly,” plus some book-recommended tweaks to the circle (“If you find the glythyr not responding exactly the way you intended, try making the circle more oblong or even a square.”). The swirls that appeared within the shapes changed each time I changed the words.

After four more attempts, I successfully created a glythyr that worked exactly right. Five times imbuing my magic—something sominimal—and I already felt slightly drained and tired. It made sense now why Bramick had said fae that overdo glythyrs can use too much magic and deplete themselves. I felt rather depleted at the moment.

The rest of the chapter explained that it takes time and practice to learn how your specific magic works best with these, and that the symbols become almost a signature or a language known only to the creator. As glythyrs become more complex, you have to understand how to draw what you need. A simple circle or square would not be sufficient for bigger magic.

It was a bit confusing, honestly. I just knew I needed to practice and learn how my magic specifically could be transcribed.

Feeling like I’d had a successful day left me smiling, in high spirits as I left my barrack for dinner. I didn’t see Aerie, so I hoped she was at the mess hall already. The thought of eating alone didn’t sit well, and I was not good at making friends.

Just as I was turning onto the road to the main building, I had one crunchy boot step behind me worth of warning before everything went dark.

Something was slipped over my head before I was tripped and shoved to the ground.

A blow to the back of my head sent everything quiet.

Chapter 34

Eyes on Me

When I camearound, hands with tight grips were holding my upper arms and a rough rope bound my wrists in front of me. They were carrying me with my feet dragging on the ground as my chin rested on my chest. The back of my head throbbed. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or not, but the smell of potatoes and metallic blood met my nose.

I would have found the fact that these unknown people covered my head with a potato sack funny if I didn’t feel the beast in my chest waking up and stretching its claws. My anger was building.

I was thrown to the ground before a booted foot connected with my stomach, then another to the back of my thighs, making me curl inward from the pain.

Over the blood pounding in my ears, all I could hear were grunts from my attackers. None spoke. But I knew there had to be at least two.

I let out a cry of pain when one kick connected somewhere around my kidney, making me still. Over and over, they kicked me, dragging me mentally back to the banshee’s truth trial, where I’dwatched Nella get beaten to death by Cassius and Aemilia—I was bound both in body and in mind. Every place they kicked felt like bruises were already forming, and I was desperately trying to protect my organs and face, curled up like a poor, pathetic, and helpless little child.

I hated that tears fell. Besides the pain, I felt weak and alone. Powerless.

The beast was awake and snarling. Thoughts of retribution started swirling through my mind, but I tried to keep the beast from reacting further. I hated these people for what they were doing to me, but even more so, I feared what would happen if the beast lashed out.

“Stop…dangerous,” I coughed out, tasting blood.

“That’s right, youaredangerous.” It was a male voice I didn’t recognize.

“Naci? What’s going on?”

The next kick hit my face, and I felt a splitting pain across my cheekbone, as if it might have fractured. I could feel the shadows moving through my veins, getting ready to strike. I was trying to hold it in, tell it no, but…

But before I could answer Noxie my mind went suddenly calm. These fuckers wanted to fight? They deserved a fight then.

I felt vaguely that those weren’t my thoughts. Or maybe theyweremy thoughts, but the monster’s desires tainted them. I still wasn’t sure.

“I suggest you leave this camp. If you don’t, we’ll kill you. We saw what you did the night you got here. You’re a threat to us all,” a second, still unknown, voice said.

“If you saw that, then you know how idiotic it was for you to do this,” I said through gritted teeth as I rolled over, trying to push myself up onto all fours with my hands still tied.

I didn’t know what was happening beyond the sack over my head, but I heard their retreating steps over the gravel, followed by a panicked, “Come on, let’s go!”

I felt shadow tendrils extend from me. They connected withthree bodies and lifted them—I could feel their racing heartbeats, fast-pumping blood, strained muscles under my grip. So they thought three against one blindfolded and bound female was a fair fight?