14. Rin

14

Rin

I brace myself for another hit from Tehlmar, my eyes tightly shut, but his body is suddenly ripped away from me. I collapse to the ground and suck in a breath, feeling pain in my stomach as I am heaving.

Directly in front of me, a big, dark thing doesn't give him a chance to struggle, grabbing Tehlmar by the hair and smashing his neck against the ground in one brutal, swift motion. He's dead before I can process what I've just seen.

I don't have time to process what I have just witnessed or even to scream. Frozen, shivering on the ground, wide-eyed as I stare at Tehlmar's lifeless form. My mouth opens, but only broken sounds come out—half-formed words stuck in my throat. I choke out a gasp, unable to look away as the monster pulls something from his boot and uses it to cut Tehlmar's upper body into chunks at a dizzying speed.

There's an animalistic look in his eyes as he does it, with a singular focus. Like a butcher at work on a piece of meat that he absolutely hates. He separates flesh from flesh in quick and fluid slashes of the blade.

Knees onto the ground, one hand still wrapped around Tehlmar's bright green hair, he separates the head from Tehlmar's neck.

At first, I thought he was just kneeling there doing his grisly work, but I realize he is making a low sound with every hit. It scares me; even with Tehlmar dead he continues to tear the body apart, ripping it into small pieces.

He looks as if he is carrying on a brutal ritual. I have never been more terrified in my life.

Tehlmar's brown blood bathes him, some of it spraying on me. It is a horrifying view from where I sit on the grass, frozen and watching.

Then it gets worse. He lifts the severed head and pushes his blade into one of Tehlmar's dead eyes, letting out a long cry when he pushes it into the second one.

Why is he doing this to the already dead body? He is no stranger to violence. No. He doesn't just embrace it. He is in love with it.

My mind starts to race. What if, after he's done with Tehlmar, he begins his work on me? I try to scramble away, but instincts cross in my panic, leaving me motionless on the ground.

He is kneeling a little straighter now, and he is much bulkier than Tehlmar was when he was alive. Although Tehlmar is obviously dead, this dark, massive beast is still not letting up on his corpse. It's almost like he has been so starved of violence that this is making him obsessed at the mere sight of it.

His efforts seem unwavering, as if he isn't tiring at all. When I look into his eyes, all I see staring back at me is cold deadness. The goat's green eyes of al-Sheytan.

No man who can commit such atrocities with such a cold, unfeeling set of eyes can be anything but a murderous psychopath.

I find myself being carried backward on the wings of memory and I start to succumb to its persuasions until another strange guttural cry brings me back to reality. I look at the monster to see that he has flung Tehlmar's head away from his body and is now looking right at me, his eyes wide and staring directly into my soul.

He takes a step toward me, and I scramble backward, small rocks digging painfully into my palms as I move. He looks behind him, his long hair whipping around, the bones of animals clinking together in his braids. Then he turns back to me, his expression confused and puzzled.

He steps forward again; reaching out, he makes another attempt to move toward me, stretching his bloodied hand out as if offering to help me up. The same hand that held Tehlmar's head, the blood still dripping from his three wide fingers.

I shrink back from his outstretched hand as if struck, causing a clear look of confusion to cross his alien face. It's as if he doesn't understand why I'm rejecting his help.

Then he speaks, revealing that he still thinks I am afraid of Tehlmar. I would be, and part of me still is, but now I am confused. Another savior has arrived, yet I just had one of those attack me.

Can anyone trust someone so clearly violent? My mind swims. No one in this terrible place feels trustworthy.

I yelp and try to get up, but the pain in my stomach reminds me how injured I am. I collapse to the ground like a helpless child, panic setting in. Then it hits me, I'm not actually powerless. If I keep acting helpless, I might make him pity me and use the chance to escape.

I sob, begging him not to come close. Peering at him from the corner of my eye, I fake tears, my throat aching as I speak. At least the pain my voice is real, it doesn't take much effort to sound desperate.

"Please, don't hurt me," I wail, hoping I'm not overdoing it.

I am terrified, the tears streaming down my face are real, and so is the pain. I'm simply giving voice to how I truly feel, praying it works.

The beast steps back, giving me enough time to brace myself. My instinct screams that this is reckless, but I can't stay here. I take a deep breath, push past the pain, and jump to my feet, rushing away from him.

He makes a sound of protest, but I run as fast as I can, ignoring the way my heart and lungs feel as if they want to collapse.

As I flee, I desperately search for Roshan. The darkening sky makes it nearly impossible to spot his coat. "Roshan, where are you?" I call out in a harsh whisper, terrified it will bring the monster to me.

I can't let either of us be the next to die, sliced to pieces and decapitated like Tehlmar.

When I call out again, it dawns on me that he probably doesn't understand his name. Calling for him feels futile. The darker parts of my thoughts wander when it feels like I have exhausted all the oxygen in my lungs from running and trying to call out to the poor, scared animal.

Black spots cloud my vision, but I push forward, stumbling through the brambles, squinting to see through the gloom.

He has to be here somewhere. Did Tehlmar hit him somewhere that would have killed him? I push the thought from my mind and simply focus on trying to find him.

"Roshan, where are you—AH!"

I misstep, tripping over a hidden rut, and crash into a dense, thorny underbrush. Pain stabs at my palms and the back of my hands as I struggle to untangle myself. Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, and my head throbs with pain.

Then I hear it, a low bellow and the rustling of leaves nearby. I rouse myself to my feet and take a step in the direction I heard the sound from, unable to stop myself from sobbing.

"Roshan, I'm coming."

I can barely see but cling to the trees like a lifeline, inching forward and praying he isn't too hurt. I'll need him to carry us both out of here before the killer catches up.

But suddenly, the ground vanishes beneath my feet. it seems as if I am watching someone else fall, a disorienting plunge down a hidden ravine. The undergrowth blurs as my body tumbles, coming to a jarring halt at the bottom.

At first, there's no pain, just numbness and sticky wetness coating my skin.

I wipe a hand across myself, realizing it's blood from countless cuts crisscrossing my body. The air swirls, and through the haze, I see my bābā's face in the leaves above me.

Is this the end of my life?

I blink sluggishly, my eyes heavy, but then I feel something soft brushing against my face. A gentle bleat follows.

"Roshan," I whisper, wincing at the effort it takes to speak.

His big yellow-brown eyes look much larger now that he's the one looking down at me. If this is how I'm going to die, I hope he comes up to Jannah with me.