He pulled on her leash and moved out onto the path, checking both directions and squinting through the mist. The ground vibrated. Dead leaves fell in waves from the branches above.
They were soon running down the path in the opposite direction. Aldora clutched at his back and he pulled her with him, jutting his head forward. His stamina was more than enough for both of them. His momentum unmatched. The passageway split into three paths.
“To the right,” he yelled, yanking on the leash so that she was suddenly up against him and moving with his body. Her feet dragged for a few steps before righting herself. Vedikus heard nothing but the thunder at his back as he picked passages that would slow the centaur stampede, but the more they ran, the closer the beasts came.
“Halt or die!” one of them roared behind them. Aldora stumbled and he caught her before she fell.
“How do they know where we are? What are they?” she gasped as he hefted her up, and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“They’re close enough to see the mists clear up by you. They’re looking for it.” He grunted as her leg rubbed over his bulge. “Centaurs,” he sneered.
“What should we do?”
“Run,” Vedikus barked, pulling her closer to him just as a spear shot past, narrowly missing her. Aldora clutched his side, her boots digging into his back and hip. He ducked when the whistle of several arrows flew over his head, breezing past his horns.
He dashed forward and followed the swirling mist where the spear had embedded itself into a hedge wall. Dropping his axe, he yanked it free with his open hand. The female dropped from his side and crouched behind with her dagger back in hand.
Vedikus readied the spear and waited, waited for Aldora’s stolen dagger to sink into his flesh, and for the first centaur raider to appear.
“Minotaur! Vengeance will be ours,” a familiar voice shrieked. “We had a deal!”
Horse hooves, sinewy chest decked in ribbons of metal and leather, followed by long, braided golden hair blowing outward appeared and Vedikus pulled his arm back. Two other studs emerged directly behind, flanking their leader, the same one he recognized from the night before. Aldora huddled behind, using him as the shield that he was as the horsemen charged toward them in full force.
“The human is ours!” the leader cried.
Vedikus sneered, knowing the commotion would draw others.
“Be ready to run,” he breathed.
His muscles tense, his body balanced, his vision sharpened.
He flung the spear.
It sliced through the air and struck the leader in the center of his chest, stopping the stud like a wall. Without waiting, Vedikus snatched up his axe and grabbed Aldora. He could hear the angry roars and furious stomping behind them. He dragged the female along and cut through the paths, the distance between him and the centaurs lengthening each second.
He glanced at his female, heaving with exertion. The lax glare of the cove still apparent in her eyes.Her slight body is not used to its magic.He was thankful it kept her going, but for how much longer he wasn’t sure.
Some creatures hunted by smell, by sounds, some by other senses he did not possess. Vedikus could smell her sweat and even to him, it smelled of humanity. Delicious humanity, ripe for the taking.
My humanity.An erotic taste bloomed on his tongue. His mouth watered, readying for more, and he released a pent-up breath of steam.
He ran with her until every last ounce of her energy was gone, until her only hope of movement was him, and as the sun began to set, he kept them moving as she sought out his strength and made it her own.
The need to keep her that way corrupted his soul.
