Cretins.
Fear—both monstrous and human—mixed with the blood of his enemies behind him threatened to drown his senses. Vedikus crushed his tongue between his teeth, flicking his eyes back and forth. Watchful. Angry.
Waiting.
He had her. He just needed to catch her first.
“This life for ours... For those who bask in the sunlight and live in humanity’s kingdom remain forever guarded against magic and curse.”
The chanting stopped and the humans went silent.
The battle shrieks behind him intensified. More had joined the fray. Vedikus felt the ravenous chaos building around him. He knew all of it wasn’t for the human, but for its fresh blood. Human blood meant everything. Vedikus released the heat from his chest with a growl. This human was his. Blood and all.
A cascade of applause and cheers filled the mist.
Vedikus tensed, anticipating the moment the female appeared.
Where?He searched the darkness above him. The roars of the battle happening behind him grew closer.
Her frightened whimper came first, followed by a fluttering of cloth in the breeze, then a flailing form appeared. A howl went up behind him and Vedikus pivoted to the right, reaching...
He caught her, crouching down to cushion as much of her landing as possible.
Vedikus stared down at the female. Her eyes were clenched shut, her body tensed harder than petrified wood, and she had long dark hair, half-braided but mostly tangled around her face.She’s wet.He gripped her tighter to his chest, careful not to press her against the weapons still buckled to him.
His blood-slickened, sweaty hands pressed into her skin and he felt her pulse race beneath his fingers. Though the mists began to clear around them, her features remained unformed in the dark. There were no glimmers or firebeetles to light her face for his perusal, but he knew when she opened her eyes to look up at him.
His muscles strained and his body began to prepare itself...
A shriek at his back had him swiveling on his hooves, grasping the handle of his axe, and swinging it with devastating efficacy at whatever dared to approach him. Vedikus kept the female trapped to his side as he watched the blade of his weapon sink deep into an orc’s shoulder. Blood gushed out as its sword clattered to the ground. He yanked his axe out and let his opponent drop.
More creatures entered the fray, frenzied by the scent of her blood. They began to overwhelm the centaurs. His gaze darted past them as he looked for an escape. The female shoved against him.
“Stop!” he ordered.
Her fighting struggles only increased.
Vedikus flicked the excess blood off his weapon and pushed her back up against the labyrinth wall. A heavy, alarmed gasp escaped her lips and he leaned over her, shielding her from the slaughter.
“You know me,” he hissed, giving her no opportunity to look anywhere else. “You know me,” Vedikus said again. He didn’t know why he cared.
“You...” she wheezed and slunk away from him.
“Do you want to live?” he asked carefully, his voice hoarse. His free hand cupped the back of her neck.
She answered with another whimper.
“Well?” he asked again. The female shook under his palm. The shock of the fall was leaving her system. Vedikus didn’t want to let her go. The feel of her hair on the back of his hand did something to him and he felt his blood quickened. But not for battle... The female nodded and he grunted. “Then do not move from this spot. Do notmove.”
Vedikus squeezed her nape then let her go, watching her. When she didn’t immediately flee, and with one eye still on her prostrated form, he nudged the shortsword the orc had dropped toward her feet. The haze of battle was already taking over and clouding his mind. He would touch her again when everything was dead.
Without another look, he picked up his other battle axe and turned to face the maelstrom.
***
I’m alive.
Her skin burned where the creature had touched her. Her pulse strummed wildly under her skin. She wanted to make it stop, to rub the feel of it off, but her hands remained bound with rope.
