She's My Prey Episode 8

Chapter 1

RENEM

Sadie simply stares at Jorban, her blue eyes still wide with shock. Her hands tremble slightly at her sides as the silence stretches on, Sadie catching her bottom lip between her teeth, her brows pulling together as she thinks over Jorban’s request.

A part of me desperately wants to answer for her, to reject Jorban’s request of Sadie stepping into a role that will only bring her more danger, but I keep my mouth shut, clenching my jaws together so tightly I think I might crack a tooth.

“I… I need some time to think,” Sadie blurts out before darting from the room. I follow her without thought, leaving Jorban behind us as a strange storm of emotions swirls in my chest. I latch on to the anger I feel, finding the familiarity of the emotion grounding when everything else seems so foreign.

“I will not allow you to be put in danger like this,” I growl after her, catching her arm and halting her retreat. When Sadie turns to face me, her eyes swim with unshed tears, the crystalline blue sparkling in the low light of the library.

“I know,” she murmurs softly, reaching up to caress my skull. I feel a pang in my chest, my anger at the situation we’ve found ourselves in ebbing away. I’m left feeling…afraid. I’m afraid of what may happen to my little dae, afraid that I will not be able to protect her against what’s coming.

I’m afraid that I may lose her.

“You do not have to do this,” I tell her, softening my voice and lowering myself so I can look into her eyes. “You are free now, little dae- you do not need to force yourself upon this mission.”

“But it’s not forcing myself, is it? It’s been my responsibility longer than I’ve been alive,” Sadie replies quietly with a watery smile.

“It has nothing to do with you,” I say a little too sharply. “They can find someone else. You are not bound to this. We can kill Indor and Gandorf and be done with it- you won’t be in danger anymore,” I say emphatically.

I can see that Sadie is tempted to say yes, to allow this responsibility to be pushed off onto another future generation. Despite her clearly weighing the option I’ve laid before her, we both know deep down that she’d never allow this to become someone else’s problem, least of all one of her descendants.

For the first time, I find myself almost angry at my little dae’s spirit, at the inherent goodness she holds within her. I want her to be selfish- to allow me to be selfish. She is mine, and I am not willing to lose her.

Sadie opens her mouth to respond just as I catch a whiff of something hanging in the air, something that spells danger. I throw myself on top of Sadie, sending us both careening to the ground, as the library explodes.

A deafening boom tears the library apart, books flying off of shelves and wood splintering as the explosion rocks through the small space. Entire walls concave in, and I press myself tighter to Sadie as a dim ringing in my ears replaces all other sounds.

My head is splitting with pain from the ear-bursting noise, but I fight against the dizziness and nausea as flames begin to lick up the walls. Sadie is dazed beneath me, her blue eyes unseeing. Her mouth moves, but I can’t hear what she’s trying to say.

Instead of trying to interpret her words, I succumb to my instincts, my claws extending and my hackles standing on end as I leap off of her and pull her to her feet, tucking her safely behind me as I try to locate the source of the attack. A figure appears in the smoke, and I lunge for it, barely able to reign in my attack as I realize it’s Jorban.

Blue light pours from his outstretched hands as he says something to me, determination set into his every feature. Tendrils of blinding white dance along the edges of the blue, warring with the flames around us.

“GO!” Jorban shouts, his voice finally breaking through the haze in my mind from the explosion. “Get out, now! I’ll hold them off!”

“Who?” Sadie screams from behind me as I sweep her into my arms.

Garagal appears next to Jorban, his own magic violet and swirling, winding around Jorban’s as profiles of dark elves begin to emerge from the smoke. Jorban nods to Garagal, dropping his magic and turning toward us quickly.

Even in the chaos around us, Jorban gives us a comforting smile.

“The dark elves have found us, my dear girl- presumably at the behest of Indor and Gandorf. You need to leave, right now. Allow us to keep you safe.”

“No!” Sadie protests, stepping toward Jorban. “I- I’ll help! I can help! Just tell me how to use my magic, and we can fight them together!”

Jorban shakes his head as Sadie speaks, something sad flitting across his features.

“I’m sorry, Sadie, but there’s no time. I cannot simply tell you how to wield your powers.”

“Jorban!” Garagal calls, his voice strained as his magic sputters. A wall of violet stands between us and the emerging dark elves, but as more and more of the elves begin to wield their own magic, holes begin to appear in the wall, stray spears of elven magic pushing through.

“You must go, now,” Jorban says urgently, blue magic beginning to gather between his fingers as he steps back toward Garagal.

“No, please, Jorban! We can help!” Sadie screams, trying to take a step after him. Jorban smiles sadly at Sadie before his violet eyes find mine, his face turning solemn.

“Protect her, Renem. We will find you when we can.”

I give him a singular nod before I grab Sadie, scooping her into my arms and pressing her tightly to my chest. Sadie writhes against my grasp, her desperate motions to get down, to help, causing a pronounced ache to bloom in my chest.

I only hold her tighter, turning away from where Jorban and Garagal are fending off our attackers. I sprint past the rows of crumbling shelves and leap over walls of flame as Sadie screams back at Jorban.

It feels like it was years ago that we first crossed the threshold of that rear entrance and spent the night together in the basement room, but I silently vow to myself that it will not be the last time we lay together, the last night that we know peace in each other’s arms.

I will get us out of here in one piece, and I will kill anyone who stands in my way.

Sadie’s writhing stops as we approach the exit, her fingers twining tightly in my fur as a choked sob escapes from her lips. The library burns around us, the smoke and heat nearly unbearable as we finally crash through the exit and are enveloped in the cool night air.

A dark elf leaps on us the moment we’re out of the building, forcing me to drop Sadie to catch his sword head-on. The blade slices into the thick skin of my palms as I rip it out of the dark elf’s grasp, throwing it away from us before lunging at him.

The dark elf’s scream is cut short as I unhinge my jaw, catching his skull between my teeth and gnashing on his head like an overripe fruit. The softness of the flesh of his face gives way to hard bone, which cracks under the pressure of my jaws, squirting chunks of brain matter and smooth, hot blood down my throat.

The metallic tang of the elf’s blood dances across my tongue, inciting the bloodlust and aching hunger I’d nearly forgotten about during my time with Sadie. She is the only thing, only person, who has ever dulled the sharp pangs of hunger that robbed me of my mind for so many centuries.

But now that I’ve had a taste of hunting again, I don’t intend to stop any time soon- not until Sadie is safe from those who would wish her harm.

A pained yelp catches my attention, and I whirl toward where I’d dropped Sadie to find her grappling with a dark elf guard. The guard evades her blows easily, grabbing her ankle as she tries to kick at him, jerking her feet out from under her. Sadie lands flat on her back, the wind audibly knocked from her lungs as the dark elf begins to drag her away.

With an enraged roar, I leap at him, the guard reacting too slowly to defend himself. My arms wrap around his waist as I tackle him, my skull in the perfect position to hear his ribs crack beneath my weight as he hits the cobblestones beneath us. In one fluid motion, I rip the elf’s arms from his body, his screams only adding to the violent warsong playing within me.

“Do not touch her,” I snarl at the elf before bringing my foot down in a brutal stomp, caving in his skull and cutting off his screams.

I’m moments away from dipping my skull down to rip open the elf’s exposed belly when I feel Sadie’s hand on my shoulder. When I turn to look at her, her face is pale, her eyes darting about wildly.

“Renem, we have to go!” She says. I know she’s right, but the beast between my ribs protests, the gnawing hunger harder to control now that I’ve been reminded of it. Sadie seems to see my inner struggle, and she grips both sides of my skull, forcing my face to hers.

“Stop! We have to leave, right now!”

The desperation in her voice clears the last of the fog in my mind, and I scoop her into my arms just as a group of dark elves rounds the corner and spots us. I extend my wings, shaking out the stiffness from them being pressed to my back for so long, and in seconds, we’re off the ground.

Black plumes of smoke twist up from the burning library beside us, marring the sky like angry scars. I beat my wings again, harder, in an effort to try and get us further off the ground. Smoke stings my eyes and clogs my nose as we rise higher, the library in shambles beneath us while the dark elves shout to one another.

Sadie coughs, making a choking sound as she grabs at my fur frantically. I spare a split second to look down at her, trying to understand what’s agitated her, when I hear a whistling sound split through the air.

I bank left, throwing my body weight into the turn in an effort to evade the arrow flying toward us. It misses Sadie and my torso by little more than a hair, but my wing isn’t so lucky. I roar my pain into the sky, trying desperately to keep us up right as a nauseating wave of pain crashes through me.

More arrows begin to fly toward us, and I grit my teeth, launching us further up into the sky and away from the elves, using the smoke rising from the library to try and hide our location. I waste no time navigating us back to our cabin, skirting around the city edges and trying to avoid any populated areas more dark elves might be hiding in.

Thankfully, we manage to get to the cabin without incident. I land harder than I intend to, sending both Sadie and I sprawling to the ground from the impact. I’m barely able to push myself up to my hands and knees, and Sadie rushes to me, her worry evident on her face.

“You’re worried,” I manage to say, though the effort of using my voice makes me dizzy. Sadie gives me a small smile, although her brows never smooth.

“You’re getting better with emotions,” she replies before turning an assessing eye to my wing. I follow her gaze, the hole that’s been torn in my wing slick with a black-green, pungent substance.

“Let’s get you inside,” Sadie murmurs, casting a nervous glance at the woods around us before helping me to my feet. Once inside, I all but collapse on the edge of the bed, my body spent from the effort of getting us here while feeling so terribly.

Sadie gathers her supplies quickly before returning to sit beside me, coaching me to extend my wing and dabbing at the tear gently with a warm, wet washcloth. The tear has healed only marginally, and Sadie gives me another worried look.

“You’re not healing as fast as before,” she says, looking between me and my wing.

“It was poisoned,” I tell her. Exhaustion begins to creep in, making my body feel heavy. “It will be fine tomorrow, little dae. But first, we need to rest.”

Sadie looks skeptical, but sets aside the bowl of warm water and the cloth, satisfied that my wound is as clean as it will get. I settle back against the cushions of the bed, extending my hand to her. She takes it, allowing me to lead her into bed beside me.

We’re silent for a moment, simply staring at one another as the truth of all that’s happened in the past day begins to sink in. This is not the first time I’ve come so close to losing her, and yet it feels different than all of the others- more permanent.

It makes me appreciate this moment all the more.

I dip my head to hers, nuzzling the side of her cheek with my snout and allowing myself to bathe in her scent. The song Sadie’s blood sings for me only heightens my exhaustion, lulling me too close to sleep.

“Do… Do you think Jorban and Garagal made it out?” Sadie asks quietly. I pull my skull from the crook of her neck, holding her gaze.

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. Sadie takes her lower lip between her teeth at my response, nodding.

“I hope they did,” she says softly, almost too softly for me to hear. I pull her closer in lieu of a response, not knowing what I can say to assuage her fears.

“You need rest, little dae. We must leave tomorrow. It’s no longer safe for us here.”

Sadie hums her assent, nuzzling closer into my chest. I extract one of my arms to grab a blanket, pulling it over the two of us and tucking the end in firmly beneath her back. Despite all of the anxieties I know to be plaguing her, Sadie falls asleep quickly, her breaths becoming deep and slow as we lay together.

Despite my own exhaustion, I don’t dare allow myself to sleep. I very nearly failed her today- I will never let that happen again.

Even with that silent vow, however, a familiar fear wriggles and turns in my chest. With all that we’ve learned of Sadie, of Indor and Gandorf’s plans for her, I feel for the first time as if I’m not capable of anything.

I knew Gandorf and Indor smelled strange, that there was something about the duo and their manor that felt different and yet familiar, but I wasn’t able to put my finger on it until Jorban revealed everything to us.

Gandorf and Indor smell of black magic. While I have many strengths, I am not invincible- and black magic is the most powerful type of magic that can be wielded, the most lethal of all the weapons in a dark elf’s arsenal.

My arms squeeze tighter around Sadie at my thoughts, the wriggling fear in my chest growing. I must protect her no matter what, even at the cost of my own life- but will I be able to withstand such dark magic when the time comes?

Or will only one of us make it out of this alive?