#Chapter 18: The Hot Spring

Raven “It smells awful in here.” I tugged against Neil’s grip on my hand, digging my heels into the dirt. My nose wrinkled at the scent of something I couldn’t quite place—whatever it was, it smelled like death. And rotten eggs. “Stop struggling,” Neil growled, clearly annoyed with me. “It’s just a little further.” I shook my head and pulled harder. He’d been leading me around like this for a while now, blindfolded, and wouldn’t tell me where he was taking me. All I knew was that we had trudged through some part of the forest, then into what sounded like a cave, and now it smelled like… “It smells like rotting corpses!” I whined. I twisted my wrist and finally broke free from his grip as memories of that enormous, horrible sword coming down on that guy’s neck filled my mind. “Wherever you’re taking me, I’m not—” “Calm down.” Neil caught me easily before I could lift the blindfold from my eyes, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “I’m not