A short story about the rambles of the youngest disciple from Red Hill sect. In this disciple's life, there are two people who he considers his closest family; his shizun and his senior brother Jin. One of them who holds a dangerous secret.
"With time, even a mountain can turn into river. And even if the river runs to the sea, the waters are destined to never meet. Such things, shixiong, are what we call fate."

Reborn in a world surrounded and watched by gods, where numerous clans were living, I became a river. By the river, the willow nourished by me reached the sky. Its willow branches spread to all planes. On the bank, the equinox flowers nourished by me blossomed. They could make everything in the world wither. In the river, countless people were buried. Even gods or demons could not cross the river. Wherever I flew by, there were empires of elves that adored nature; there were powerful empires of beast-men; where equinox flowers blossomed, there were demons who guarded the netherworld. Some people called me the Long River of Time and Space because I flew through boundless planes. Some people called me the River of Netherworld because there was no world that I could not bury. However, my favorite name was the Long River of Destiny, because wherever I flew by, I took everything under my control and I got to decide everyone’s destiny.


The villagers chose a maiden to be the bride of the River God.

In order to save the maiden, Liu Qi went to the River God’s Temple, and beat up the River God as soon as he appeared.

The River God cries and curses the village to flood; Liu Qi raises his harpoon: “Say it again, and I’ll stab you to death!”

The River God cries: “I just want to marry and have a wife!”

Liu Qi clenches his fist: “Lao Zi is your wife, just accept it.”

The River God suddenly cries even more…

A short story selling meng, River God is Gong! A useless good-for-nothing gong! 【Waves goodbye】

Stone-hearted after witnessing a tragic experience, Miles Myers decided he wants justice so he became a Detective, he thought it would end the nightmares but little did he know that it would come alive when his new partner Jayla Glasgow and he finds themselves investigating the wrong case. 

Blood, Sweat, Tears, Raw Emotions, and Coffee.

The truth hurts, but this truth kills.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
A Pure River that runs for Miles into the Ocean.

A girl found a diary of a guy and found out he is dying. The guy had a bucket list to do before he dies will the girl help him without falling in love knowing that the guy is slowly dying?

As he enters the forest, he observes his surroundings if a change had transpired after his last visit. He would do this after exploring the Southside Forest of Acacia. 

Daisy would always come here just to feel the adventure and experience by fighting the small beasts. Since he had always had a list to venture the world and fight monsters. He sometimes goes deep in the forest to fight Monsters that are larger than his size. Usually, he does not win from these fights. He can only win against Horned Fanged Rabbit, a creature that every kid within the age of 7-9 years old can easily defeat. As for children his age, Daisy should be fighting the Copper Squirrel a very weak creature that every kid at his age could defeat but that was for the gifted kids. Ordinary children do not have the power so they always stay in their homes and play until they are grown enough to help their families.

After checking the surroundings, he climbs up a tree and jumps from branch to branch as if he were not to fall. He was about to go to another one of his hiding spots in the area. Jumping From Branch To Branch he finally reaches his hiding spot only to see it destroyed by what seems to be claw marks according to Daisy.

"Woah! What happened here!"

Daisy was stunned to see his hiding spot destroyed in the front of his eyes. He never thought that this spot would never be destroyed by some small beasts. Unless if a bigger beast were to come at the Southside Forest. That was only his speculation but that might be true regarding the somewhat large claw marks.


Seeing the situation at hand Daisy thinks that this is a dangerous beast that he cannot trifle with. Retreat was the only option he could only do. 

"This might be dangerous, I must go back to the village immediately!"

His plan now was to go back to Acacia Village. To inform the people there that a large beast is within the entry of the southside of the forest. Neither did he know that the claw marks were made recently. That large beast was still nearby the second hiding spot Daisy Marked. Nonetheless, he was only safe for a bit of time.


He runs through the branches through the north with haste. Informing the Village chief about that large claw marks that were recently created might eradicate that beast.




As he Runs towards the branches he hears a roar of a bear. he looks down and sees a bear with red eyes seemingly waiting for Daisy to move. The Bear Climbed the tree as bears were excellent climbers. The moment he looked down at the bear, The bear was suddenly a foot away from him. Luckily he managed to move to another tree and dodged the Climbing bear.

"Woah!, This is the Beast huh!"

"I Still can't fight though, the only thing I can do is run"

Daisy started to run through the trees and get back at Acacia Village. He knew he would get scolded by his Mom and The Village Chief. But he had to do it so that he can be safe against this bear.

Suddenly a The Bear seemingly Jumped from the ground and nearly catches up with Daisy. Daisy Successfully outmaneuvers the Bear. Then the Red Eyed bear attempted to do another Jump. This time a bit faster and higher. It was enough for Daisy to be caught and shredded to pieces by the bear. Of course, he managed to dodge the incoming claws of the bear but it left him a deep wound within his shoulders. He did not feel that he was hit by the claw. He took a few breaths, calmed it over and focused on the situation.

"AH! that hurt!"

"I got to run faster or I would die here!!"

Daisy ran faster than he was before, right now Daisy is heading in the wrong direction. Rather than going north, he accidentally went east due to the pressure of the bear catching him. He was not aware that his direction has changed and will come to a nearby river. To whom he is familiar with also.


"I see a River!, I may have gone in the wrong direction!"

Continuous running for Daisy made him reach the East Acacia River. He jumps down from the tree and lands from the river. The Bear reaches the riverside and sees Daisy In the River. Its Turns into glowy red and stares at Daisy.

"Ha!, Never gonna catch me!

Daisy knew that this was not the best decision. As the river current swept him by and out him to the Acacia River Rapids. Well, at least Daisy knew how to swim as he is able to swim back to the Riverside. Neither did he knew that a bear was a very excellent swimmer. 

At this point, the magical bear swam ti river faster than Daisy swam. Realizing this he was still fucked if he were not to move right now. It was Already Afternoon and he has to go home. He runs inward to the forest when the bear till is out if his sights. He returned back to the river to see if the bear is still there. Surprisingly the bear was not there anymore and with this continues towards north to go back at Acacia Village. As he runs more he sees the roads and knew that Acacia Village was nearby. continuously running through the riverside hoping that the bear would not appear and attack at Daisy. As he Runs more, His stamina depletes now he is tired but not exhausted. Still able to run for a few meters until he becomes exhausted. Now that he is exhausted he sat down the riverside and took a glimpse of the sky. Being exhausted made him in a little bit of pain. But that's only a little, He was able to overcome it a short period of time. 

"Ah, I might need to re...!!!!!!"
"ROAR!!!"

A roar was heard in the southeast part of the forest. Birds flew out in the southeast forest and some trees were moving vigorously. In his common sense, It was the bear that chased him off, it seems that the bear sensed the presence of Daisy Turnip running by the river. Seeing this he ran once again through the riverside. After he ran the Bear appeared once it got out of the trees. Its instincts are focused on killing Daisy, Then sprinted really fast, with by a minute or so the bear would reach at Daisy. 

Meanwhile, Daisy only thought about running. It was his fault and he can't blame anyone else for his stubbornness. He ought to get out of this mess quietly so he can live here thoroughly with peace.

As he ran more he looked to the skies and saw something.

"Huh! *pant*What's That?, *pant* There is something falling  *pant*"

Unbeknownst to him, the falling object would give him glory for all its sake.

(I am a Newbie Author and I mean, I am really a newbie. I Only do this to pass time and also means my hobby. So yeah I am weak and I ask for advice as well)

There was a question that has been passed down for hundreds of years.

The question revolves around the paranormal. Is it really true or just some thought if the human imagination. We won't know unless there was hard proof.

This time we will ask the age-old question. Do the paranormal exist?.

As for our MC, it really felt that it existed. Why? cause he was just sent to a parallel world resembling a modern earth as we know it.

It's been a couple of hours since Leviethein has seen anything other than dirt and trees, but after walking all this time, he sees a bridge going over a river. Leviethein remembers this bridge, he knows that there is a village at least another hour from here. Leviethein gets a bit thirsty seeing the clean river water, so he walks up to it and drinks from the water. After Leviethein is done drinking his water, he looks around and sees a deer, he was taught by his dad how to hunt and start a fire, so Leviethein takes out his dagger and sneaks around in the bushes, slowly getting closer to the deer. When Leviethein is almost a yard away from the deer, before he goes in for a stab to the head, he hears the deepest and loudest roar he's ever heard before, like as if a horde of orcs was charging into war. When Leviethein gets un-dazed by the roar, he looks back at the deer and one moment later, the deer gets flung across the river, Leviethein stumbles backwards as he sees a huge orcish type creature jump across the river and starts to eat the deer. Leviethein feels the sudden urge to run, so he does, as fast as he can. Leviethein runs past the bridge and towards the village, Leviethein can hear the distant roar of the river troll as it must've seen Leviethein running away from it. Leviethein has been running at full force for almost 7 minutes before he got tired and had to lay down. Leviethein has been laying down behind a rock for quite a bit of time before he got back up and decided to keep on walking down the path, "If I run into a creature that powerful in my current state, I wouldn't even lay a finger on a thing like that.". After 40 minutes of walking, Leviethein enters a grass field, and once he walks over a small hill, he looks over the land in terror and shock. What once used to be a peaceful human village that supplied the human army with food, is now all left down to burning houses and at least 5 different low ranked demon groups roaming around, picking off the remaining villagers. Leviethein grabs out his sword and starts to walk down into the village, until he hears the same roar he heard not too long ago, he looks behind him, and sees the same creature from earlier walk out of the forest. The monster spots Leviethein and then starts to run towards him. Leviethein doesn't hesitate to run down into the burning village as fast as he possibly could. Leviethein enters the village and a group of demons spots him, to which the start to instantly call over all their other demons. Leviethein just runs right through them, pushing one to the ground and then he runs straight out the other side of the village. The demons looks confused, and then they all hear the roar of the same creature from earlier. "IS THAT A RIVER TROLL?" one of the demon's cry out Leviethein thinks about that name as he stops after exiting the other side of the village, the human army actually trained their elite troops with those monsters. Leviethein looks back and sees the river troll destroying the demon army, of course the demons were getting hits on the demon all over its body, but the river troll just kept tanking the damage and killing the demons. Leviethein just stares in awe at the power of this monster, but suddenly, he feels a sharp pain in his stomach. Leviethein screams out in pain and slowly looks down to see a blade sticking right through him, he then proceeds to look behind himself and he sees a demon with the same bone like blades as before, sticking its blade right through Leviethein. Leviethein grabs the blade with one hand so the demon can't pull it out, and then drops his sword so he can grab his dagger, which he then stabs the dagger into the demon's arm a couple of times, and then he releases the blade and the demon stumbles backwards, falling to the ground. Leviethein stands over the demon, grabs the demon's arm, and then kills the demon with its own blade. Leviethein can feel the power from that demon going into him, he feels much stronger than before. Leviethein looks back at the demons fighting the river troll, while holding his stomach since its bleeding a lot. The battle has definitely changed since he got done with that bladed demon, the river troll seems to be losing now and the demon's aren't dying anymore. The river troll took out at least 10 to 20 of them, but there was too much demons for the river troll to handle. Leviethein is contemplating on if he wants to kill all those demons and perhaps save the river troll or just run away. After he is done thinking, the demons are about to kill the river troll, until Leviethein runs down there and starts stabbing and slashing the demons from behind. Each demon that gets stabbed or slashed by Leviethein, ends up crying out in pain to alert the others of his presence. Some of the demons in the back that aren't fighting the river troll, turn to Leviethein to attack him. The bit that turns around can't even swing their weapon because of how fast Leviethein is killing them. Leviethein can definitely tell that he has gotten way stronger than before, this new power he has is infinite, it will never end so he can always get stronger, and Leviethein knows that. After Leviethein has killed the entire back row of the demons, he starts to kill the ones still fighting the river troll. Leviethein picks them off one by one while the river troll starts to do that too. After all the demons are done, the river troll which is clearly exhausted and almost dead, stares a Leviethein for a bit, and Leviethein stares back. The river troll slowly bows its head down to Leviethein as appreciation for saving it. Leviethein hesitantly puts his hand on the river troll's head, and the river troll looks up at him and growls a bit, but then let's him put his hand on its head. Leviethein says to the river troll that it can go off now, but the river troll stares at him for a bit, and then walks closer to him. Leviethein smirks a bit, and then starts to continue his journey of trying to catch the demon army before it reaches the kingdom of Volstina. After travelling with the river troll for a couple of hours, Leviethein thinks to himself on what he would call this river troll so he doesn't have to refer to it as a regular river troll. After walking for quite a while, Leviethein stops and looks at the river troll. "First off, I need a name for you... How do you like Jace?"(Jayce). The river troll nods its head as it likes the name. "Second off... behind this rock, is a fortress, and if you're hearing what I'm hearing... it sounds like the demon army is here." This is the battle Leviethein has been waiting for. Leviethein runs around the rock, and charges into the battle happening at the fortress, but as he turns around the rock, he sees how much the humans are losing the battle. Leviethein stops for a second, and then remembers everything that has happened in his past, about how the demons killed his father who was an army general. Leviethein gets it through his head as revenge, and rushes into battle. He can hear his adrenaline pumping as he cuts the head off of a mid tier demon. Leviethein feels almost three times as powerful as before, and he keeps on going, he kills off the mid tier demons one by one, and then he realizes, this isn't the demon army, yet a mere conquest. These are only mid tier demons and low tier demons. Though he doesn't understand because he feels a very powerful aura near him. Leviethein looks around real quick, and sees a huge, very built demon, with huge horns, overlooking the battle happening as it just stands there smiling on a big boulder. Leviethein keeps killing the mid tier demons, and the mid tier demons start to notice this happening. All the mid tier demons, that aren't fighting the knights, turn around to Leviethein, and they all start to attack him. Leviethein feels very powerful after killing all those mid tiers, so he starts to breezily kill the rest of the mid tier demons. The huge demon starts to notice this happening, and it hops off its boulder and starts to walk over to Leviethein. Leviethein notices it, and nods to Jace. Jace jumps towards the demon, and the demon grabs out a huge wooden club, and it swings at Jace, which Jace dodges barely, and then it hits the huge demon in its leg. The demon kicks Jace and Jace goes flying into a hill. Leviethein gets mad seeing his companion get hurt, so he starts to kill the mid tier demons faster, but of course the mid tier demons are every now and then slicing or hitting Leviethein, but he just pushes through the pain as every time he kills a demon, he gets stronger and it makes the cuts and punches hurt less and less. The demons start to run away as they are terrified by Leviethein just tanking there punches and killing them. Once Leviethein is done killing all the mid tier demons that haven't ran, he looks towards the high tier demon. He can still feel that this demon is a lot more powerful than him. Leviethein looks over to Jace, who seems to be knocked out inside the hill. Leviethein looks back at the demon and then gets in his battle formation. "This will be fun" says the demon. Leviethein charges in by throwing his only dagger at the demon, which sticks straight into its left arm. Leviethein jumps up and swings his sword down, and the demon just grabs his sword mid-air. Leviethein gets shocked by this, and then he gets hit by the demon's club. Leviethein flies a good ten feet away from the demon. Leviethein stands up, and pulls out the sword from his holster. The demon laughs, and then snaps his previous blade in half with just its hand. Leviethein doesn't see any point in fighting this beast because he doesn't think for a second that he can beat it. Leviethein was taught to never give up, so he ready's his blade and stares the demon down. Leviethein takes a deep breath, and then charges in. Leviethein is just five feet away from the demon, and then he slides under it when it swings, Leviethein cuts the demons leg and then gets up off the ground, to be greeted by getting his in the chest by the demon's club. The impact broke Leviethein's sword because he used it to block the attack. Leviethein starts to panic a bit because he just had his second chance at getting revenge, and then he remembers that he is battling at a fortress. Leviethein looks behind himself at the battle scene, and sees that there are only a couple of demons left. Leviethein calls out to the knights and archers and says "GET YOUR BEST MEN OVER HERE, THIS DEMON IS TOO STRONG FOR ME!" the knights and archers, after killing the demons, tells there best soldiers to go out there since Leviethein pretty much just saved them all. Leviethein looks back at the demon and smiles. "Let's make this battle a memory, since it appears you're a high tier demon" Two knights and an archer come up behind Leviethein and ready their weapons. "Got and extra sword for me?" Leviethein says. One of the knights hands him his extra sword. Leviethein tells them to charge after he does, and to let him get the final blow. Leviethein charges in after the demon, praying to the gods that he will come out victorious in this battle.

This is a story about a simple squire that reincarnated when he died protecting his kingdom against a demon army straight from hell. Read the story to find out how this simple squire has reincarnated as a strong warrior that gets stronger every time he kills a monster.

The day started early. The adventurers were wrapped in muted expectation. After a quick breakfast, the adventurers were gathered in their designated positions. A rumbling could be heard almost an hour before the stampede arrived at the gorge. Once it was filled with beasts, Wentlas uses a Light blast ten times its normal size to wipe out a good chunk of the oncoming beasts. But they are quickly filled with even more beasts. He does another blast and continues to do so for 30 minutes. After that, the Fire master, Plasma Break takes over and uses a series of fire blasts for another 30 minutes. A city Elder replaces her and uses an area of effect attack Lightning field. It lasts for about 5 minutes and he recasts it again. Every 30 minutes a new person takes the position to allow the others to rest and recover. After four hours, a significant number of beasts have been obliterated. 
The beast stampede is completely underway. Forlorn's Hope along with some of the new grants and more seasoned adventurers were posted by the river. Its location is strategic because the water was deep and wide making crossing impossible for large groups of beasts. Kauven's water master Gil Pelagos was the commander of the river unit. Because of how long the river stretches, sub-commanders were stationed at certain intervals. Tasha was relieved to see that the man in charge of their area was Koi Tubbs, the quirky adventurer who accompanied her safely to Kauven.
The place they were assigned to protect is further down the river. Therefore, it was a region that wasn't expecting a lot of action and a reasonable place to situate fairly novice adventurers.  However, the beasts have started running amok from all the bottlenecking. Some were trying to back up and avoid the unending assault of powerful attacks. On the ledge of the gorge were long range specialists who attack the beasts that were trying to enter the forest or climb up the ravine. This backed up the mouth of the gorge and diverted some of the beasts towards the rocky and muddy areas that lead to the river. In no time, beasts were trying to cross the river. The sounds of a fierce battle can be heard coming from where Gil and the most powerful water adventurers were located.
Suddenly, a mob of beasts break through the canopy of trees and runs towards the river. The moment the first beast reaches the other side of the bank, Koi with Ellie's help immediately freezes a stretch of the river into Ice impaler. Twenty-six beasts die immediately. This stops the beasts in their tracks. Terrick spams those that were stuck but still alive with Fire ball. Tasha jumps high and cuts up the remaining beasts in the bank with Wind slice.
Althea runs into a mob of beasts on the other side of the river. Conjuring Fire tornado alongside Wind ripper while blinding them with Light Bomb. The Light shines so bright that the only thing the others see is the ripped-up bodies of the dead beasts. Bryce runs even further into the oncoming mob that he completely disappears from view. Using Dark flicker, he stabs two giant monsters and flickers to kill another just a foot away. Dark flicker allows him to efficiently get close to the beasts and move to a safe distance quickly. Using his sword skills, he can slice two to three beasts in one go.
While Koi was busy impaling the main mob of beasts, Ellie runs towards a group of goblins trying to sneak across. She showers them with Ice fall. 30 Ice daggers form in midair and pierce the beasts nearby. At one point she finds herself surrounded, she casts Water disk which creates a spinning disk of paper-thin water around her. It cuts through the monsters that get too close. Tasha and Terrick combine their attack with Wind speed buffing the Fire meteor increasing both speed and heat before they burn five midsized craters demolishing the beasts that stood in front of them just seconds ago. Althea uses her Light daggers to attack the stragglers trying to escape. But in no time, even more beasts fill the spaces that they had just cleared.
Half an hour later, Tasha has received a handful of wounds. Her agility is high but this is at the cost of having lower endurance. Terrick is also near mana depletion so he has been casting less and less Fire balls. Bryce has backed up and stayed closer to the group to allow those who are catching their breath a time to recover. Jeruelle has not stopped spamming the beasts with spells. Although she seems to have focused on staying this side of the bank and waiting for the beast to try and cross. Once the beasts are on the river, she would freeze it effectively drowning them. This strategy allows her to rest in between spell casts. Althea casts AOE Light dome. This heals wounds, and recovers mana and health. The downside is that Healing uses a lot of mana and even at the mana level that Althea was in, healing multiple people multiple times is a huge power drain. The good news is that she has received two level up notifications and has now reached B rank.

Sorry guys! With all the crazy fires, not sure if I can maintain a steady schedule of releases. This week has been crazy.

A group of friends undergoes the coming of age ritual. They explore the world and meet magical creatures and devious wizards. Join them as they discover their growing powers and a path that leads to their place in the world. Would they stay friends forever? Or will the truths they discover rend them apart.

Chapter seven 
Oakley
I don't want to leave River but I have to. I can hear her scream just as I run out the door, "AFTER HER," Becca calls out. One of her goons runs after me with rope in her hand. I need to get home and get my bb gun. It won't kill them, but it will hurt like the devil. I'm faster than the girl behind me, but she seems to know the woods more than I do, I trip over every rock. She's catching up to me reaching her hand out to grab me, and she does. She pulls on my collar and chokes me. I fall and she jumps on me. I won't let her tie me up, I can't. 


                                                  River  
 One of the other girls has run after Oakley. I try to get up but the whip comes down on my back again and it's too painful to move. The other girl that Becca brought with her is tying me up. She has her knee on my back and I want to scream.
"Aww, why are you crying pet?" She pulls a knife out of her back pocket and runs it over my face. I'm terrified, "Daw, you're so cute," she pushes the blade against my eyebrow, and I can feel it cut through my skin. Blood starts to run down my face.
 "She'll kill you," I say, my voice shaking.
"Is that so?" she smirks, "What if I kill her first?"
"I will."


                                                          Oakley
I'm in full survival mode now. I've got her in a choke hold now I won't kill her just make her unconscious. As she finally slips away, I grab her rope and tie her to a tree. I start to head back to my house when I hear River scream. I'm going back.


                                                              River
Becca's cutting through my leg. I can't help but scream. She's staring at the girl and she's dropped her knife. It's Oakley and her dad.

                                
                                        
                                      Oakley
I ran as fast as I could to my house. My dad was in the kitchen. 
"What happened?!"
I realized I'm bleeding and I've got dirt everywhere, "WE NEED TO GO NOW!"
I run out the back door and my dad chases after me with no questions. I can hear River crying and I start to run towards the shack. My dad grabs my shoulders and puts a finger to his lip. He sneaks around the shack and I follow him. We find a hole and quietly climb through it. He grabs the girl near the corner by the shoulders and by the back of her neck. He comes into the light and Becca drops her knife. She still doesn't see me so I walk over to her and kick her in the back. She falls over and turns on her back. I jump on her and kick her knife away. 
River smiles, "I told you she'd kill you."
My dad throws the girl on the floor, "Stay," and she does.

River has been sent away while her parents are getting a divorce, at least that's what they told her. She's starting school in a few weeks or will the zombie's get there first?

River was running.
She stumbles over numerous rocks and felled trees along her path, myriads of cuts form along her bare calves and forearms, one stray branch swipes along her cheek, drawing blood.
She does not stop.
The earth is dry beneath her feet. Frigid night air like razors slicing through her trachea and lungs with each pained inhale. She half-wonders if anyone would notice whether she had expected. There were numerous slaves and the beasts treated them with indifference, her absence would hardly make a dent.
Right?
Then why is she frantically sprinting through the forest? Why is her heart slamming with a vicious intensity against her ribcage, rising her swelling throat and finally ears. She sees nothing but the twilight sky and dim dots of stars. There is no moon tonight. Her supposed final night of living.
If tomorrow is the day we leave, what do we do with them?
We discard them.
Discard them. Hadrius had spoken with such confident ease, such nonchalance... as though their lives mattered as much as a speck of dust did.
We discard them.
River thinks on all the women and girls back at the camp, she wants to halt and turn and run back for them. Yet who would she start with? Anita would give her an earful and beg to be slain by another Beast rather than escape.
And the rest loathed her solely for being Hadrius' slave.
It would be too late to return. She had run so far ahead, one step further from Him brought her a step closer to freedom.
But if you're caught- River stumbles as the notion forms in her mind.
Whip me, she thinks and picks right back up.
The run eventually draws fatigue through her leaden limbs and leans against the scabbed trunk of a tree, stomach heaving. The rough bark pricks her forehead, steadying her.
I must get away from them, from Him, she thinks.
Unable to continue running, and with the mind of preserving her energy reserves for later on, River walks further North along a dusty strip worn smooth by wheels and horse's hooves.
A little beyond the camp is divided. One half-ran south and west, through grass and rocks and low hills; that's the way she was meant to head. The other half twisted northwards, towards the mountains and then beyond, to the sea. Hadrius' home.
River traces it with her eyes. It skirts the wooded foothills for some time before disappearing within them.
Yet she lingers. She had heard they were beautiful, the mountains - pears and cypress and streams of just-melted ice. It would be cool there and shaded.
You're free. The thought is sudden, arresting.
She had come to the road meaning only to escape. But the path lies before her, and the mountains. River's chest rises and falls rapidly as if trying to keep pace with her thoughts. She had nothing that belonged to her, not a tunic, not a sandal; they were the wolves.
I do not need to pack, even.
She hesitates a moment, thinking she might try to go back, to bring another slave along. But it is night. She has only the darkness to travel before He would discover her absence - so she flatters herself - and sends after her.
River glances back at the camp a distance away and sees no one.
Now. It must be now.
She runs.
Away from the camp, down the path towards the woods, feet stinging as they slap the cold-baked ground. As she runs, she promises herself that if she ever sees Anita again, she would ask for forgiveness. The ache in her legs, the knifing heaves of her chest feels cleans and good.
She runs.
Sweat slicks her skin, falls upon the earth beneath her feet. She grows dirty, then dirtier still. Dust and broken bits of leaves cling to her legs.
The world around her narrows to the pounding of her feet and the next dusty yard of road.
Finally, after an hour? Two? River can go no farther. She bends over in pain, the bright stars wavering to black, the rush of blood deafening in her ears. The path is heavily wooded now, on both sides, and the camp is a long way behind her.
To her right looms the mountains with the sea beyond it. She stares at its peak and tries to guess how much farther. Ten thousand paces? Fifteen? River begins to walk in the opposite direction.
Hours pass.
Her muscles grow wobbly and weak, her feet jumble together. The sun is well across the zenith now, hanging low in the western sky. She has four, perhaps five hours until dawn, and the peak is as far as ever.
Suddenly, River understands: She would not reach the woods by nightfall. She had no food, nor water, not hope of shelter. She had nothing but the sandals on her feet and the soaked tunic on her back.
Her ears buzz dully - with cicadas, with the shrill calls of birds, with the rasp of her breath. There is an ache in her stomach, like hunger or despair.
And then there is something else. The barest sound, just at the limit of hearing. But she catches it, and her skin, even in the heat, grows cold. River knows that sound.
It is the sound of stealth, of a man attempting silence. It had been just the smallest misstep, the giving away of a single leaf, but it had been enough.
River whirls around sharply and pales significantly at the sight of Hadrius who stands between two large trees, darkness drifts around and about him, seemingly alive yet unwilling to touch his figure.
They regard each other for a drawn moment, her adrenaline-dilated pupils struggling to focus on him and the world suddenly feels louder.
Had he brought more men?
If he did, where were they?
Hadrius only tilts his head to the side, studying her with a sort of curious stare.
River shakes like a white narcissus beneath his scrutiny, and she can do nothing to hide the trembles in her hands, legs, belly.
"Stay back!" She snaps like a rabid animal, and lunges to her left, scrambling for any weapon. Her fingers curl around a stick. Turning back to his still form, River raises the weapon threateningly. "Not another move."
The silence is surly, unnerving. She waits anxiously searching his imperturbable face for a sliver of emotion, but there is none.
Hadrius' mouth suddenly shifts in a mocking, amused smile. "A stick," he draws out softly, stepping past the shrubs and into the light, "I'm shaking."
Despite her fear-leaden body, something sparks within at his condescending tone. River spreads her feet and squares her shoulders as though riding into war her teeth grind against each other. "I'm not returning."
"Oh?"
"I'm not going back," there is a diminutive quiver in her voice, the slightest trembling of her chin. "You already took everything from me. I will not lose my life to you as well."
Hadrius seems to mull over her words genuinely but then something shifts in his expression, "Tell me, human," he takes a step forward, forcing her back by one, "what did you have before you met me?"
River falters at his question then stiffens when he attempts another step, the dark stretch between steadily closing.
"Perhaps you would prefer if I paraphrased it?" Without awaiting a reply, he continues, "you were a slave, were you not? An orphan, no family, no home, only a mistress. Menial friendships that would surmount to nothing and a crush that did not see you in the same light as you did he."
Another step.
Blood begins to pound in her ears.
"So tell me," Hadrius begins, "you claim that I took everything from you, yet you had nothing, to begin with."
"Freedom," she whispers uncertainly, "I had free-"
"What does a slave know about freedom?" The genuine curiosity in his voice forces heat of displeasure and humiliation to spread along her cheeks.
"I took nothing from you, for you had nothing to give in the first place."
"Is that why you're killing me?" River whispers, something pained in her voice. "Because I have nothing to offer you?"
"Yes."
"But you have not given me anything to do-" the words rush past her lips in desperation, "all I have done is cater to your basic needs... you do not speak to me, you do not regard me in any manner... how am I meant to prove my worth if you do not give me a chance?"
Hadrius' brilliant dark eyes linger on her face, then slowly scour each feature, as though seeking an answer somewhere in the crevices. "What do you offer me?"
"What do you want?" River counters quickly.
It is a rather tragic comedy how she stands before a creature, battering for her life. The tragedy in knowing that someone had placed a value to that which can never be priced, a life. The comedy lay in her glaring stupidity, daring to escape, daring to think that she could fight Hadrius off with the stick.
"Is your maidenhead still attached?" Hadrius' sudden intimate question surfaces hectic spots of red on her cheeks and nose.
River grits her teeth, "It is." She had expected it. The number of women he spent inside only proved his insatiable desire. And now she was his next victim.
Do it to survive.
Hadrius studies her a moment longer, then he grins - his mouth moves a little too slowly. As he does so, her skin grows.
Even in the night light, she sees his bared canines.
And that's when he lunges for her.

a river runs through it novel

The Daily Life of a Disciple

A Fierce Evolution Starting from a River

The Right Way To Offer A Sacrifice To The River God

DETECTIVE MEYERS

Go Through It

The Earth But different

The Squire

The Clear Crystal

River's Flow

…~

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