Rivers of blood and sand
Chapter 27

I was grateful he didn’t attempt to throw me over his shoulder, even though it was a struggle for me to keep up with him. I didn’t want him to waste any extra energy on me. As we sprinted, I didn’t check over my shoulder to see what followed us, both because I trusted Ander’s judgment, and with our fast pace combined with the shitty terrain, I’d probably end up with a mouthful of sand.

Sprinting across the sand had my legs tiring and my breaths rasping in and out of my lungs, burning my chest. Keeping my hold on Ander’s hand was far from easy or comfortable, but I wasn’t going to complain.

Behind us, the icy awareness grew stronger, as did the growls and sounds of something fast approaching us. It started out faint, and at first, I hoped I was imagining it, but my hopes were dashed when it became so loud, I couldn't ignore it any longer.

I finally risked a glance over my shoulder and when I saw the “blood mage” bitch, I wished I hadn’t looked.

She was naked as she’d been before, but luckily the black blood covering her body hid all the parts I didn’t want to see. Hopefully, it was a good thing she didn’t have the man with her. At least it meant we outnumbered her. Well, if she was truly alone like I hoped she was. There was always the chance she was herding us into a trap. While we were distracted with her, the man—or the summoner, or the other woman—could easily be waiting, setting the next phase in their plans.

Our lack of knowledge in regards to our enemies was seriously fucking us.

She didn’t appear to be slowed by the sand as we were, gliding effortlessly across the surface as she gained on us. The scent of her stale, overly sweet blood made its way to us and I was once again reminded how she could cast without drawing sigils.

My hand was ripped out of Ander’s as I was flung through the air and crashed into the sand, rolling several times. It was a good thing we were in the desert and not the bramble maze or somewhere with hard ground. My landing would’ve hurt like hell had that been the case.

Over twenty feet was now between them and me. Ander managed to create a shield in time to block a wave of malignant energy full of sharp projectiles. He was at a disadvantage, having to draw sigils to cast and only having one weapon.

Wasting no time, I ran toward them, my dragon waiting just under the surface, ready to add more energy or fire if I needed it. My push dagger was in my right hand, while a longer dagger was in my left.

I was saving my fire as a last resort since it required more energy.

When I was ten feet away, she finally got past Ander’s defenses and managed to draw blood.

Fuck!

My dagger wasn’t meant to be thrown, it was too long and heavy, but that didn’t stop me from doing just that. Nor did the fact I had to use my non-dominant hand. My accuracy wasn’t great; the dagger whizzed past her face, but it drew her attention to me.

She opened her mouth, revealing those horrifying sharp teeth as she growled and charged at me. Her movements were so fast that she blurred for a moment until she appeared right in front of me.

Before I could react, she backhanded me across the face. My vision blurred as random bursts of agony appeared in my stomach, legs, and shoulders that had me crying out. Her surprisingly sharp nails cut into my neck as she tightened her grip, drawing blood and making it drip down my neck. Blood roared in my ears, making it impossible for me to hear anything else. My vision was still fuzzy from the backhand that still had the side of my face throbbing.

Air rushed back into my lungs when her unyielding grip finally eased, but my reprieve was short-lived. My back was slammed into something hard—I assumed it was her knee—and while I tried breathing through the pure agony radiating through my body, she tore into my throat with her serrated teeth.

I would never forget the horrible wet sounds as she gulped down my blood. The fervor with which she drank was the way one would drink water on a hot day, after not having a drink in hours, maybe even a day.

Blood mages having access to your blood was a bad thing, but what did it mean if they drank your blood? I assumed it wasn’t good, but I didn’t know the scope of what it meant. Could she cast against me permanently, or did it not work that way?

My fuzzy vision became worse as black spots appeared. Weakness invaded my body and my feeble fight against her began slowing down. I was sure I’d drawn blood from her with my claws, but it didn’t do anything to slow her. My dragon sending waves of energy to me was probably the only thing keeping me awake. But I couldn’t keep this up for too much longer, something had to change.

I’d say getting drained of my blood counted as a good reason for pulling out my last resort. My palms heated as I pulled fire from my dragon. Placing my hands on either side of her face, I let loose my fire.

Her shrieks had my sensitive ears ringing as she pulled away from my throat and flung me to the side.

I must’ve passed out because I was no longer on the ground but in a strong pair of arms. If I hadn’t smelled the familiar and comforting scent, I might’ve tried fighting. My limbs were weighted, my head throbbed, and my eyes were heavy. I probably wouldn’t have attempted opening them if it weren’t for the pure panic in Ander’s voice. “Come on Starling, keep your eyes open.”

“I’m tired,” I slurred, trying to remember why I was so tired and why my body ached.

“I know, but you need to stay awake.” His words were breathless and that was something I wasn’t used to.

Time slipped away from me again, and the next thing I knew, I was being plunged into icy waters. A growl came from behind us, a feral inhuman edge to it. The woman was standing on the edge of the sand in front of the water, drawing a fresh stream of blood from her arm.

Fire ignited in my veins as my blood began to boil, followed bt a shriek that at first, I hadn’t realized was coming from me. Ander shoved me under the water. I hadn’t been prepared and it got in my nose and mouth, but at least it cooled the fire. When I finally resurfaced, I was coughing up water and wheezing. She still stood at the edge of the desert, her body shaking with rage, but she remained where she was. Even when Ander kept pulling up deeper into the ocean.

She attempted boiling me alive from the inside out multiple times, but her attempts were thwarted each time Ander dunked me under the water until the effects vanished. Each time I came back up I was coughing up salty water.

The icy shock of the water wasn’t enough to keep me awake any longer. My eyes became heavy again as my limbs stopped responding to my commands. Ander kept ordering and pleading with me to stay awake, but this was one of those times I couldn’t listen to him.