This post contains spoilers for Nightshade Academy
It’s come to my attention that I haven’t shared much bonus content for the Belladonna series. So, I finally dug through my old drafts and found a deleted scene just for you.
Context for this deleted scene
In the published version of Nightshade Academy, Yahshi’s runaway arc is emotional, centered around his grief, guilt, and the choice to give himself a second chance.
But in an older draft, I took a very different approach. His time on the run was grueling, action‑packed, and filled with external threats. This scene showcases one of the many dangers he faced.
I ended up deleting this scene because my beta readers didn’t find the conflict relevant—and I think they were 100% right. Yes, it was tense and showed off the skills Yahshi learned at the Academy, but it didn’t serve his emotional arc.
I replaced this scene with something quieter—Yahshi having a conversation with a young woman over a meal. This rewrite forced me to recognize the difference between true conflict and flashy drama.
All that being said, it’s pretty fun in isolation, so here it is…
(This isn’t a first draft, but it’s definitely not polished either. I’m leaving it rough so you can see what my unpublished work tends to look like.)
Deleted Scene
A biting breeze filled the woods, but the cold couldn’t break Yahshi’s spirit. He remembered seeing Atherus City on maps, in bold letters, way up north along the coast. His destination was far, but at least he had one.
I’ll head east first, reach the shoreline, and travel north from there. Hopefully I can find a map on the way.
He ran for as long as he could before slowing to a walking pace, struggling to catch his breath. His legs were wobbly from running and numb from the cold. If only he could rest for the night…
I’ll walk for a bit. Yahshi rubbed his dry eyes, struggling to keep them open. Just for a bit.
As his breathing began to settle, he focused on the sounds of the forest. The chirping of crickets, the rustling of bushes, the whispering of wind. Dirt crumbled beneath his boots—the last piece of the Force that remained with him—and twigs snapped like fire crackling.
A fire would be really nice right now.
He was deciding how long to travel before sleeping when a muddle of high-pitched howls and yelps caught his attention. Closing his eyes, he tuned into the noise. A pack of animals were approaching from somewhere behind him, and they were getting louder. Closer.
Yahshi reached over his shoulders for sword handles that weren’t there. Great. I miss my tools.
There was nowhere to hide, so he continued running and focused on reducing the impact of his footsteps. He surprised himself with how easily he cut through the darkness like a shadow, his heavy boots soft against even the crumbliest and snappiest materials. But despite the skills he’d picked up in training, the howling and yelping followed right in his trail.
He quickened his pace, ignoring his form completely as he hopped over bushes and darted around tree trunks. The noises grew louder, right behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see a pack of coyotes baring their teeth.
His heart pounded against his chest, but even adrenaline couldn’t save him.
Something sharp pierced his ankle.
Yahshi choked for air, struggling to stay afoot. A coyote had sunk its teeth deep into his calf.
He jerked his leg forward and landed a blow to the coyote’s head. It released him with a whimper.
Blood dripped down his leg and into his boots, but with his life on the line, Yahshi was numb to the pain. He scanned the area as he sprinted, desperate for a cave or a ditch or something.
And then, in the distance, he spotted a tree. It wasn’t like the others, which had tall branches out of reach. It was similar to the one he had climbed in the woods at the Academy—the one Ceylon had threatened him to scale. Its lower branches would make for an easy climb.
As he neared it, Yahshi launched forward and jumped onto one of the shorter branches. He reached for another and pulled himself over it, tugging his knees up in the process to keep his feet barely out of the coyotes’ reach. They howled and jumped and scratched at the trunk as he climbed even higher.
When he reached a sturdy branch, he leaned back against the trunk and bent his knee with a wince. A deep ache spread through his leg as he pulled the fabric of his trousers up. The bite wound was bleeding furiously, and the sight left him gritting his teeth. Tuning out the noisy coyotes, he removed his wool sweater and pressed the fabric against his wound.
Ten to twenty minutes of pressure for a wound like this. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, fighting through the pain as he applied more pressure to slow the bleeding.
A few minutes later, the coyotes stopped howling. He opened his eyes to peer down, only to find them still there, swirling quietly and slowly around the trunk.
To scare them off, Yahshi snapped a thin branch from the tree and tossed it down. The coyote he struck growled in response, and soon, they were all making a ruckus again.
“I already have guardians after me!” Yahshi yelled. “I don’t need more enemies!”
They howled louder in response, and he had a sick feeling they were here to stay.
When their howling settled once again, Yahshi removed the bloody sweater from his leg to examine the wound. The bleeding had slowed, so he propped his leg up on a slightly higher branch to elevate it above his heart.
One of the coyotes growled, and Yahshi chucked a handful of bark at it.
As the night wore on, the air grew colder. He couldn’t keep from shaking, which intensified the pain in his leg. He considered traveling from tree to tree through the branches, but they weren’t close enough, and he didn’t trust himself to jump. His only option was to wait.
“You have no idea how much I’ve gone through to get here,” Yahshi muttered, peering down at the coyotes. “Wait as long as you want, but I’m not losing to you.” He threw another handful of bark. They didn’t growl this time, but they didn’t leave either.
Hours passed as he sat in that tree. His neck and back ached, but he feared that moving into another position would reignite the coyotes’ growling, and that was the last thing he wanted. He liked them better when they waited silently—and perhaps if he kept them bored for long enough, they’d give up.
Thunder struck, then lightning. Yahshi heard the rain pattering on the leaves above him, and soon enough those raindrops were slipping onto his head. The sprinkle turned into a pour, and he peeked down to see the coyotes trotting away, seeking shelter.
After waiting a few minutes longer, just to be safe, Yahshi sighed in relief and began to climb down the tree, keeping most of his weight on his good leg.
Why is it always that same leg? He chuckled bitterly at the memory of his broken leg at the Academy. If only he had Doctor Blimmery’s crutches now, because when he reached the ground and tested his weight on his bad leg, a shock ran straight through his body. Even the slightest pressure was nearly unbearable.
The storm raged on, and despite racing the clock, Yahshi knew he couldn’t run. He looked around as he limped briskly through the woods, paranoid another pack of animals might end him for good.
The forest had always been such a haunting thing.
—
Fun fact: I made a lot of worldbuilding progress after this scene and concluded that the island Belladonna is set on would absolutely not have coyotes!
