Imperial Girl - Excerpt

Morgiana could only think of fear, blood, and salt. She shivered in her small, dirty clothes as she heard the older man yell and scream at the crowd. There were screams of joy when the price stilled, but groans of frustration when the order heighten only grew as the minutes ticked.

The young girl had ceased her crying as the noises drowned out. When there was only silence that remained, she grew curious about what happened. With her weak legs, she slowly stood and peered through opening of the curtain in front of the metal box.

In the replacement of the strangers and the ravenous man, there was nothing but red. Morgiana yelped, closing the curtain and falling back into the little cage. She shivered, unsure what to think. By that time, she couldn’t process death— she didn’t know of it. The young girl knew that the sight of liquid wine, however, meant danger. All of her alarms went off in the consequence of witnessing such a party.

She felt the cage being lifted up. The girl scrambled for purchase, clawing and grasping at air. The cage was spun round and round until the door to the metallic box was pushed open and she fell out.

Crashing onto the wooden stage, she shivered by the dryness of the air. Morgiana’s body had pulsed in a rush of energy, her previously weak legs had lifted her up with ease. She had crouched down into a fighting stance with her knees bent slightly and her arms raised. The girl saw imperial soldiers shouting in outrage as they tried stabbing her with their pointy sticks. She flipped over all of them, easily evading them as if she was playing games. They crashed into each other as she spun around in the air, kicking them if they ever get too close.

When the brawl was done, she was the only one left standing. Well, not exactly. There was one more person standing in front of her, surrounded by non-human creatures. He was a not an adult, but rather he seemed older than her. His ruby eyes seemed to glitter with surprise from her, but dulled by a certain cloud that Morgiana was all too familiar with. They stared at each other for lingering moments

“Oracle.” One of the hooded figures called out to the boy in front of her. Morgiana flinched by the depth of the voice. “Do you wish to eradicate this one?”

The boy laughed. “No, but I do think I found that girl’s birthday present.”

The last thing Morgiana realized was a cold hand to her neck and she fell into the darkness behind her eyes.