Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 620

Upon seeing Durran clutching his head and howling at invisible enemies, Argrave first assumed the worst—that he had made a mistake, and he had fed poison to one of the most important people in his kingdom. He had survived the Fruit of Being, but others unrelated to the Gilderwatchers might not be able to endure its power. Or, worse yet, he’d been fooled by Gerechtigkeit, somehow.

With guilt and trepidation both in his heart, he approached the panicking Elenore and the in -agony Durran, who crawled about on the floor beside his bed. Both his hands were balled into tight fists, and he pounded his head with his knuckles. There was a large amount of blood, but Durran seemed entirely uninjured. Then, before his eyes, he saw wounds closing on Durran. It defied his expectations that the fruit had failed if his wounds would close so quickly.

“Help him!” Elenore commanded Argrave, trying to sound authoritative in spite of her worry. “You need to do something, Argrave!”

“Argrave?” Durran lifted his head up, scanning the room. His eyes trembled as if he was bearing an unimaginable weight. He rose shakily, but poor balance caused him to simply lunge at Argrave. He grasped at his knees. “Bastard… gods-damned bastard… get me out of here. Get me the hell out of here.”

Argrave kneeled down. “Focus, Durran. Focus. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Don’t…” Durran bashed his head against Argrave’s knee. “Don’t ask. Just do, do!” He closed his eyes and again screamed, “Shut up!”

Argrave’s eyes danced as he considered his options, then he grabbed Durran’s shoulder. “I’m taking you to Raven.”

“No, no, no! Absolutely not!” Durran crawled away from him like a rabid animal.

“He’s the only one who’ll know what’s wrong, Durran,” Argrave told him insistently.

“I know what’s wrong,” Durran managed coherently, his voice a crying whine. “Just take me away. Far away. Someplace with few people—no people.”

His brain whirled as he processed the strange request, but decided to simply give in. “Alright. I’ll take you to a wide-open field,” he promised.

Durran shook his head frantically, balling up. “People die on plains all the time. No plains. Water plains. The ocean,” he suggested, then latched onto the idea. “Yeah, ocean. Ocean with low people. Ocean between the places. The places we own. Middle of it.”

Argrave tried to translate his gibberish into comprehendible language, and eventually nodded. “The ocean between Vasquer and the Great Chu?”

“Yes, yeah!” Durran nodded frantically.

“Alright.” Argrave stood to his feet. I’ll bring… bring a small rowboat or something, teleport it with us.”

the room the fastest he’d

nervous energy. “Can I

“Kill me,” he said.

nodded. “Any better

“No,” he moaned sadly.

deep breath, Argrave prepared to figure out

#####

sat on a rowboat in the middle of the tumultuous ocean between the Great Chu and Vasquer. Durran, who’d been writhing, had calmed somewhat, and gazed out distantly across the ocean as he

hate you,” he

words wounded Argrave and he fell silent for a few moments

to think of it… I might hate you a little, too. But

coherent. More so, at least.” Argrave rubbed his hands together. “What’s happening to you? You said

on Amazon, be aware that it has been

used his arms to sit up. He looked exhausted. “I should’ve known. I even told you I couldn’t get luckier, but I had to push it. Pushed my luck, now I’m getting

Argrave pointed out. “Listen—we’re going to find some way to fix this.

“I know what I have to do. I just don’t

his legs and jostled him. “Just tell

his arms until he hugged himself. “…the

asked, but he was

last thoughts, take their place, live their life. I can feel the god damned sword piercing my stomach. I can feel it yank out, pulling my guts with it. I can stare up at the

been tied to the location, somehow—and that was why Durran had requested he come here. Incredible guilt welled up at what he’d inflicted upon Durran. He’d made the man die countless times. He’d consigned him to a life

experience that which the dead did… to quite literally pry their

speak to

It’s not funny, you miserable...” He caressed his forehead, then looked at Argrave. “No, I don’t speak with the dead. I become them. It’s

doesn’t puke, maybe.” Argrave crossed his arms. “Still… you’re speaking

the answer that Argrave needed. They sat in silence as the ship rocked. Argrave felt out of sorts, but Durran looked as though he was distracted. Perhaps it was the voice in his head. And given all that Argrave knew about who

“It’s Garm, isn’t it?”

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