Chapter 10
Upon hearing Sophie’s scream, Zeth instantly pushed himself to his feet, adrenaline the only thing that allowed him to walk with the pain coursing through his body.
He wildly glanced around, searching for her and hoping she didn’t see his face, but thankfully, he spotted her standing over by the corpse of the fleshtaker, staring at it. He couldn’t see her expression in the darkness, silhouette only barely visible from the embers covering the monster’s body. She didn’t even glance in his direction, gaze instead fixed on the scene of the charred monster still twitching in a pile on the dirt.
“Stay away from that,” he said, gasping for breath and deepening his voice to ensure she didn’t recognize him. In the dark night, he was sure she wouldn’t make out his face as long as he stayed away from the fire.
“Wh—” She turned to look at his silhouette standing above the foliage and stumbled back. “U-um, who are you?”
“I’m the guy telling you to keep away from the monster,” Zeth said. “Run back home, little girl. This doesn’t concern you.”
He started walking toward the dead fleshtaker, but Sophie didn’t budge, instead standing there and watching him. “Um, did you make the fire?”
“Yes. These monsters are extremely dangerous, and the fire is even more dangerous. It’s magic, unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. If you even barely touch it, you’ll—”
Sophie instantly took a step forward, face coming into view by the firelight. Her eyes grew wide. “It’s magic? You can do magic?!”
For a moment, Zeth was almost proud of her that his threats of danger didn’t push her away from trying to sate her curiosity, but right now, his sister’s hunger for information was extremely inconvenient. He bent down and grabbed the charred cloak that had been extinguished by now, still keeping his face angled away from her, and put it on, drawing the hood to hide his identity. “It’s—listen, you really need to get away from here.”