Read Online A Dance of Dragons: Series Starter Bundle by Kaitlyn Davis - Free Book Online

tugging
gently on them while she said, "For your people."
    "Arpapajona." Jinji bowed her head, bringing
her palms together, trying to catch the words and fuse them into
the spirits around her.
    As she wove the three parts together, Leoa
began to hum. Following the rhythm, Jinji let her hands dance,
weaving the words and the spirits together in an invisible braid,
copying her friend's movements in a personal prayer.
    Taikeno.
    Ka'shasten.
    Arpapajona.
    Jinji repeated the words again and again in
her mind, turning them into a song. A song of hope for a future
that was happier than her past.
    And then it was done.
    Leoa tightened the strands, tying a series
of intricate knots at the base of Jinji's braid to keep it tight
and strong.
    Just like that, she was a woman.
    Waiting one more breath, Jinji opened her
eyes.
    And screamed.
    Jumping up and backing quickly away from the
spot, she stumbled over Leoa's feet until they had both fallen to
the ground again.
    Eyes.
    She had seen bright white eyes staring out
of her shadow.
    "We must go," Jinji urged, breathlessly
struggling to stand on her feet. Was that a yell she heard off in
the distance? Were cries riding on the wind? "Do you hear
that?"
    Leoa gripped her hands, keeping her steady.
"What? There is nothing. You're scaring me."
    Jinji paused, took a deep breath, and
listened. She heard nothing. Leoa was right.
    Looking down at her feet, Jinji let her eyes
run over the edge of her shadow, looking deep into the depths for
some sign of betrayal.
    But it was all a dream. It must have been a
trick of the light. An illusion she had woven without realizing
it.
    Everything was fine. Everything was as it
should be.
    Her breath slowed as she tried to relax. Everything will be all right. The past is the past—I will not
let it determine my future.
    She would not let the shadows drive her
crazy—she had moved beyond that, past the craze that Janu's death
had left her in. She was better now. Stronger.
    "Come here," Leoa said, holding up the
dress.
    Jinji stepped closer, turning around and
slipping off the furs that she currently wore. They were brown,
covered in dirt and grass stains, blending into the spot where they
fell.
    She raised her arms up, letting the fresh
dress slide down over her body. It was still rough and unworn,
scratchy against her skin. But it was beautiful. And it made her
copper skin glow.
    Leoa tugged on the strap around Jinji's
waist securing it tightly before stepping back. Jinji turned,
meeting her friend's smile with a weak one of her own.
    "Let's go—" Leoa began.
    But she never got the chance to finish,
because the imagined scream Jinji had heard on the wind turned into
a real one, piercing both of their ears like a dagger.
    Their eyes met. After years of friendship,
of sisterhood, no words were needed. The fear in their gazes said
it all, spoke more than words could, and they ran.
    Another wail cut through the forest.
    Then a growl and a grunt.
    The howl of a warrior cry.
    Then silence.
    Leoa ran faster, her long legs carried her
farther than Jinji's petite frame could match. Before long, her
friend had become a phantom dashing farther and farther out of
Jinji's sight.
    The fringe on Jinji's dress pulled against
branches, tangling her in the forest as if the trees themselves
were trying to stop her. The wind pressed against her limbs, strong
gusts that acted like a wall holding her body. Her feet dipped deep
into soft mud that should have been hard and dry.
    But Jinji pressed on, speeding through the
small stream at the edge of their home until she spotted a figure
in the distance, just beyond the entrance to the great
longhouse.
    She sighed, slowing her steps. It was
Leoa.
    If her friend had stopped running, then
there was nothing to fear. Jinji had gotten them both worked up
over nothing.
    "Leoa?" She called.
    Her friend turned just enough for Jinji to
see a long stick protruding from her chest, a red spot seeping
through her skins.
    "Leoa!" Jinji screamed.