The Eating Woods, #2
Eldritch
by Keri Lake
Contents
Chapter 54
Overview
In a past timeline, Zevander endures General Loyce’s coercive attempts to force a mating bond. News arrives that mercenaries attacked his family; a surviving raider confesses rape and murder before Loyce beheads him, denying Zev vengeance. A Golvyn urges Zev not to surrender to despair and gives him a red ampoule to seek truth in visions.
Summary
In the mines’ past, Zevander sits at General Loyce’s bedside, numb after years of abuse and forced service. A messenger reports mercenaries in Solassion armor attacked Eidolon castle. Zev fears for his family, recognizing mention of spiders as Branimir’s prodozja. He begs Loyce to surrender the surviving mercenary to him, but she withholds the prisoner and demands Zev’s mating essence in exchange.
Loyce tries for days to coerce a bond—sex, blood exchange, and even other women—yet Zev’s body refuses. Convinced he must already be mated, she grows enraged. She then presents the captured mercenary and interrogates him while Zev lies manacled, seething.
The prisoner admits the mercenaries violated Lady Rydainn and pursued the young girl. He claims Branimir’s spiders descended and devoured the raiders, leaving uncertain whether the girl survived. Zev demands release to kill the man, but before answers about who ordered the raid can be given, Loyce beheads the prisoner, deliberately denying Zev vengeance.
Afterward, Zev collapses into hollow despair, questioning whether he can feel anything at all. A Golvyn caretaker advises him not to accept hearsay and to see with his own eyes. Producing a red ampoule taken from Theron’s hidden stash, the Golvyn urges Zev to use dream-sight to find the truth. Zev drinks, grasping at the only path left to his family’s fate.
Who Appears
- Zevander (Zev)Enslaved by Loyce in the past; denied vengeance; refuses coerced bond; takes a red ampoule to seek truth.
- General LoyceAbusive captor; attempts to force a mating bond; beheads the mercenary, withholding answers from Zev.
- Mercenary prisonerSurvivor of the Eidolon raid; confesses rape and the spiders’ attack; executed by Loyce.
- Golvyn caretakerUrges Zev not to give up; provides a red ampoule from Theron’s stash to seek visions.
- Solassion soldier messengerDelivers news of mercenaries sent to Eidolon castle, triggering Zev’s fear and anger.
- Zephromyte guardImposing sentinel in Loyce’s chamber; obstacle to any assassination attempt.