I’ll have to lead them away from Epona and the nought to deal with them. If I throw a flame ward up around the two, that should be enough to keep the shadow wolves at bay. That’s my best bet at getting us all out of this safely. If I can get my magic to cooperate….
Epona, who’s been doing so well, finally startles, staggering back and bucking us lightly. I pull tight on her reins, urging her back to a still as the shadow wolf in front emits another low growl, lip snapping back to reveal the glow of jagged canines amidst the shadows. He takes a few more cautious steps forward, bringing the shadows with him. We’re completely obscured in darkness now outside of the red glow of their eyes.
The nought sucks in a sharp breath. And I glide my thumb down her jaw to signal to her it’s okay...I’ll make do with this, somehow. I can hear the shadow wolf sniffing at us. I start to push her forward so I can dismount when the shadows suddenly dissipate as he turns on his haunches and creeps back into the woods. He and the other three behind him exit as quietly as they slunk in.
Impossible.
I’m so shocked I don’t move for a solid two minutes, waiting for them to re-emerge. Shadow wolves never back down from a fight—they’re wildly territorial, insanely predatory, and will kill even if they don’t have the hunger to do so.
Once it’s clear they’re not going to return, I let out a slow exhale and drop my hand from her mouth, dragging it over my face when she immediately starts crying again. So, she is capable of turning that off and on when it suits her. Climbing down to retrieve the bottle of ichor, a curse slips from my lips when I find all the liquids drained from the bottle and saturated into the leaves.
Mounting behind her I urge Epona into a crawl, still leery that increasing our speed will entice them after us again. “You need to be quiet so we don’t alert other predators.” In her defense, her crying turns into quiet sniveling but even the sound of that slowly drives me to madness. And I have basically no ichor. This is going to be a long fucking trip.
When I’m certain I can’t handle one more sniffle, I lay a hand gently against her shoulder. “Hey,” I say, careful to keep my voice smooth and calm despite the storm brewing under the surface.
She wrenches her shoulder away. “Don’t touch me,” she snarls.
I yank my hand back, fingers clenching into a fist. “Are you…upset with me?” I ask, completely vexed as to why she would be, though it’s quite clear at this point that, yes,she is.
She lets out a laugh, bordering on maniacal.
“Look, I’m sorry if I seemed rude, but I was trying to keep us out of a dire situation. That could’ve easily gonesomuch worse.”
She starts to sob again, and I shake my head in exasperation. She was literally…fine earlier? “What iswrong with you?”
“What’s…wrong…with…me?” She asks incredulously between sobs.
“Yeah…I mean, you were fine earlier?”
She snorts. “Oh, nothing. I’ve just been traded to a literal witch to do whatever he wants with me…” My eyes widen as more words emit from her lips that turn to gibberish with the force of her sobs.
“I’m not going to do whatever I want—I mean, I don’t want.” Frustration growing, I let out a growl. “For Gods' sake, I don’t want you, nought.”
“Then, k-keep your magic off of me!”
My eyes narrow. “You’re upset…because I put you to sleep?”
“I don’t know what you’ve done to me—but you don’t get to just do whatever you please. Keep your hands off-of-me,” she spits.
Wait…does she think I’ve done something to her while she was asleep? “I only did that because you were freaking out.”
She makes a choked sound, and my irritation plumes like a billowing cloud.
“You were hardly breathing. And my hands weren’t even on you. Well, I mean technically they were—“
She makes another condemning sound.
“But that—it was only because I was worried you’d get a kink in your neck. They were only on your…face.”
“Why am I here?”
A good question but one I have no intention of answering honestly, especially in her current hysterical state. “What else was I supposed to do with you? Look, if you had pissed by the horse like I asked you to, none of that would’ve even happened.”
“You’re insane.”
“Listen, nought,” I snap. “If you want to survive this place, I need you to listen to me. You’re not in Eden anymore. This isn’t a good place for little noughts like you. I’m afraid to say Samore isn’t going to be kind to you either. I need you to trust me.”
She lets out a snort that doesn’t quite land like she wants it to between her hiccuping.
