The Poison Princess Read Online Free PDF Page A

energy.
    As she traveled, the thickness of the fog
grew the further she went, and after a while, she became certain
that she had been turned around along the way. She inspected each
tree she passed to ascertain whether she had accidentally doubled
back anywhere, but her direction seemed true. Following the
reputation that the Abyss had acquired, Ruby saw no living thing.
The trees were the only sign that life had ever existed there, but
the malignant sickness of the land had long since killed them.
 They only remained erect from lack of intervention. There was
no wind, no sound, and no change in color, texture, or smell.
Everything she saw was painted from the same palette, as if
everything had come from a stock source. The only unique images in
the whole region were from herself. The once vibrant yellow dress
was the most colorful thing in all of the Abyss, as she had seen
it, but its color was fading with every passing moment. The grimy
fog itself seemed to coat her in its greyness, seeking to snuff out
all that was not muted and gloomy.
    The lack of evidence for the passage of time
began to madden her. Ruby had no idea how long she had been
wandering. All she knew was that despite having not eaten since the
night before her poisoning, the princess was not hungry in the
slightest. She had not tired since her journey from that marked
tree began. Not once had she been forced to stop to relieve herself
either. Whatever chaotic spell had altered her, there was clearly
still more for her to discover. The effects did not end with the
purple goop spilling forth from her mouth.
    Given nothing but time to think, Ruby’s mind
wandered to what Scarlett had said about uncovering all that she
was capable of. About how she would need to learn what the spell
had done to her, if she were to have any hope of stopping the
craggy hand demon. With the unnatural fluid leaking from her mouth,
Ruby knew she had to investigate what it was. Making a bowl shape
with her hands and holding it to her mouth, the princess spit some
of the substance into her cupped palms.
    Some foreign instinct hidden at the back of
her head shoved its way forward, and Ruby knew what to do with this
goop. As though she were molding clay, the princess worked it in
her hands and through her fingers, watching it both harden and
begin to come to a specific shape. Spitting more into her hands,
she added to its size and watched as its form was slowly completed.
The molded purplish poison dried black and came to look like an
impish creature not more than a foot tall. Ruby held her creation
out from her, as the inanimate construct somehow found life within
itself.
    The princess had no fear of what she had just
created. Though she couldn’t say that she’d consciously meant to
mold the poison into the imp, everything about it felt completely
normal, natural, and right. The venom that composed its skin
continuously dripped downward mimicking the liquid from Ruby’s
mouth. Two eyes opened and blinked several times, as it looked up
at the princess, seemingly acknowledging her as its creator. A line
tore across its little head, forming a mouth, and each corner
twisted and curled into a wicked little grin. A pair of floppy
black ears carved themselves out of the sludge, falling limply to
either side of its head. The imp’s body was pudgy, and it had a
distended belly hanging out sloppily in front of it. Thin, lithe,
little arms ended in clumpy, fat fingered hands, while its
similarly shaped legs ended in simple, rounded stumps. It didn’t
seem to mind its crude form one bit, and the princess thought
despite what she had made this strange creature from, it was
actually quite cute in its own way.
    Ruby looked into its eyes, and she almost
felt like she was looking at a reflection. She knew that her mind
had been in part transferred to the imp’s consciousness. She could
give it orders. She could use it to find her way out of that bog of
miasma.
    “Can you understand me?” the