The Diablon Series - Book cover

The Diablon Series

G.M. Marks

Chapter 5

Lilitha woke. She sat up in surprise, only to bump her head and flop back down again. She couldn’t believe it. The sun was up! She’d survived the night.

She sat up again, slowly this time, wincing at the sting in her bladder. Keeping still, she listened out for her pursuers.

All she heard was the rustling of leaves as something small moved through the bushes, and a light, musical whistle as the wind resonated through the oak’s cavernous trunk.

A lucky place to hide. A dry place to hide. Even her cloak had managed to mostly dry out.

She wriggled outside and clambered to her feet. Moaning at the stiffness in her joints, she lurched over to an elm, lifted her tunic, and relieved herself, hissing at the unexpected sting.

She reached a hand between her legs. There was blood on her fingertips. Looking closer between her legs, she found more blood crusting the insides of her thighs.

Grimacing, she smoothed down her skirts, struggling against the urge to cry. At least he hadn’t finished. She bet he regretted his attempt now. Her tears dried up at the thought.

She gave a quivering smile, which fell into a frown. She’d failed. She’d failed to kill him.

She’d failed Clara.

A heavy feeling settled in her gut. What if she’d just made things worse? What if he did something to Clara in revenge? She should have just killed him! Why hadn’t she killed him? ~Stupid. Stupid.~

Lilitha looked around at the quiet trees, their tallest branches swaying in the wind. It was an unusually bright morning and it didn’t seem as scary as it had last night.

Where were the monsters? Where were the wild animals? Darkness and terror? She looked up at the sound of a bird singing.

She felt so far away from her home. From her life. Like she was on the other side of the planet.

She rubbed at her eyes with a yawn, then dropped to her knees and crawled back into the trunk. Sleep claimed her within moments.

It was daylight when she woke again. It was several confusing moments before she remembered where she was and grasped that she’d probably only slept a few hours.

Pockets of sunlight poured through the holes in the oak’s trunk. She rubbed her hands, then her arms as she pulled herself into the light.

She was just about to yawn loudly when she froze at the sound of movement.

“Haven’t we already searched around here?” came a voice, terrifyingly close.

“You better not let Mandalay hear you say that, and no, we haven’t.”

“What do I care about Mandalay? He’s not around.” The ground litter squished wetly beneath heavy footsteps. “I swear I’ve seen this tree before.”

“Of course you have, at every turn, at every bend, at every goddamn juncture. They’re everywhere. I’m getting so fucking sick of this forest. If our ministers had any sense, they’d raze it to the ground.”

Debris snapped underfoot as they moved away, and Lilitha breathed a sigh of relief. Their voices faded into the distance.

All day, Lilitha stayed inside the oak. She didn’t have a choice. Twice again they passed her tree. She was hungry—starving. But at least she was warm. Surprisingly warm. The tree was like an oven.

And she managed to sneak some water from a nearby stream. If only they’d leave her alone, she might be able to get somewhere. Anywhere. But this was Sir Mandalay and his Champions.

Mandalay—she seemed to hear his name everywhere. From the Champions. Ringing in the voices of the singing birds. In the whisper of the rustling leaves.

She imagined him sneaking up on her, both eyes whole, both like chips of ice, his arrogant face split into a wolfish grin. Intent on beating her or murdering her or finishing what he’d started.

Lilitha wrapped her arms around her legs.

Darkness fell. Lilitha hoped that they might leave her alone for the night. She even began to prepare herself for the possibility of escape. Escape where, she still didn’t know.

And then she heard it—something that struck such dread in her that she almost cried out.

The bark of a hound.

They’d brought their dogs!

She leapt to her feet, only to bang her head against the oak and fall back down again as more hounds echoed the first. Clutching at her head, she scrambled from the oak.

She twisted frantically on the spot. She couldn’t return to the oak. She couldn’t just run. She couldn’t even climb a tree! She dragged her hands down her face. There was only one solution.

She sped deeper into the dark forest, the hounds barking ever closer at her back. Skidding through the damp earth, she ducked and wove through the trees, hair and cloak ripping through the branches.

How she managed to see so well in the darkness was always a mystery. Her throat ached from the cold even as she sweated in her cloak.

Soon, she was forced to slow her pace, breathless and stumbling. She tripped over a root, sprawled to the ground, then got up again. Then she saw something that made her stop.

Actually, it was the smell that got to her first. She knew that smell. Everyone did. That sickly sweet stench. Horror prickled the back of her neck as she stared.

She squinted but couldn’t make it out. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem natural. Not a tree. Not an animal.

She turned with a start at the sound of more barking. Quickly, she approached it. It was a pole driven into the ground, no more than the height of a man. And on top of it…

Lilitha stumbled back with a cry. A head! A human fucking head, impaled on a post! It had a beard, but it was eyeless, its jaw yawing open.

Cold sweat beaded Lilitha’s skin. Vomit surged in her throat. She slumped to her knees, only to wrench herself up again at the sound of more barking. And then she was running again.

Into danger and away from danger. Danger was everywhere, it seemed. What had happened to that man? Who or what had done it? She couldn’t think. She wasn’t allowed to think. She just needed to run!

The hounds were so close now she could hear their iron collars jangling at their throats. She burst out into a clearing, turning at an ear-splitting shriek as bats took to the sky.

At the sound of more screeching, she looked toward a vine-covered rock face to her right. More bats were flapping through a thin, horizontal gash a short climb up from the ground.

A cave.

She rushed over and started climbing. Fingers scrabbling on the slippery rock, gritting her teeth at the pain in her wrist, she clambered onto a small ledge below the opening.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she looked up. The opening was very narrow and lined with jagged rock.

The stink of bat shit turned her belly, but she wriggled inside, disturbing several more residents, who winged their way out, screeching into the night.

Moments later, she heard the hounds enter the clearing, growling and whining and smacking their chops. The Champions arrived shortly after. Three of them.

“Another dead end.”

“I told you, we’re too close to the monsters’ territory. The hounds are deranged.”

“Did you see that head?”

“I can’t unsee it.”

“I want to get out of here.”

Lilitha cringed at a flash of light.

“Is that a cave?”

“Looks like it.”

“We should probably check it out.”

“Bats! You can if you like, but I’m not going anywhere near those things. They can suck out your soul, you know.”

Somebody snorted.

“It’s true!”

The lantern lowered, its golden glow turned on the surrounding trees. “Come on then, we should start back from that tree.”

Then they were gone, and Lilitha could breathe again.

She managed to fall into a doze, despite the hard rock floor pressing into her chest and hips, despite the dread behind and the dread ahead.

Sir Mandalay. That sickening head. Dark magic; the devil and demons; monsters. She ticked them off in her head.

At one point she must have fallen fully asleep because she jerked awake at the sound of more company.

Groggily, she heard laughter. A glow flickered among the trees. Voices echoed.

“Can you believe it? After all his bluster!”

Somebody slapped at their thighs and snickered. “I just—I just can’t get the image out of my head. I wish I’d seen it. Was his cock still hard when you found him?”

“Glory no! It was as limp as an old tit.”

They all roared with laughter.

“At least we don’t have to look at his pretty-boy face any longer. Is it true he lost his eye?”

Lilitha stiffened.

“Apparently. I hear they’re going to start fashioning another one for him soon though. Until then, he’ll have nothing but a gaping hole.”

“I guess he’ll have enough of gaping holes for a while!”

The air was rent with more wild laughter. A couple of night birds squawked in a nearby tree.

“Who would have thought? The great Sir Mandalay bested by a girl. He’ll never live it down. Particularly if I make sure of it!”

More laughter that soon muffled into the distance.

Lilitha dropped her head with a sigh.

Next chapter
Rated 4.4 of 5 on the App Store
82.5K Ratings
Galatea logo

Unlimited books, immersive experiences.

Galatea FacebookGalatea InstagramGalatea TikTok