She circled her arm around my waist, coaxing me along.
“While I was making sure my brother didn’t kill me, you discovered all dragons have a liking for you?” I mused.
We passed Drystan, who approached the dragon tentatively, not nearly as relaxed as he was with Athebyne but expertly composed. He would catch up with us in the town later, as I assumed he would be staying there a while to document whatever he usually did.
“I’m not sure. I used the tears, and it was wonderful to watch the dragon come alive.” Astraea stopped at the tree line, turning back to yell to Drystan, “His name is Alrakis!” Then she was guiding us through the small forest again, resuming her story. “I was just waiting around for you two, and Alrakis wouldn’t leave. I was glad for the company; strangely it was very soothing. Then at some point I just made my way onto its back and we went flying for a while. Astrinus is beautiful from above. So many mountains with small villages in their valleys.”
“Yes, it keeps the kingdom very peaceful and protected from larger army attacks on foot,” I recalled.
The trek into the nearest town was arduous. I hadn’t felt this weak and exhausted in a long time. We tried the first inn we came across, and they had no lodgings. The next was the same. By the third, Astraea and I shared a look and began to suspect we were being turned away because I looked like trouble in my current state or because people were recognizing us but too afraid to confront us.
“I offered that last one enough money to buy out all the rooms in the wretched place,” she grumbled.
“Money wouldn’t mean anything if the place got destroyed or they got killed. They fear we’d bring enough trouble for that possibility.” My eyelids kept drooping, as much as I tried to keep straight and present while the worry on Astraea’s face grew.
She led me around the side of a building, and I slumped onto a snow-covered barrel. It had to be crawling into night hours with how the temperature was plummeting.
“Just try my blood, here,” she said, resting on her haunches and pushing up her sleeve.
I wanted to refuse because I risked taking more than I usually would to heal myself, and that would leave her weak. But if I fell unconscious I’d leave her alone with my dead weight, and that was a greater fear.
“You’ll need to stop me the moment you feel even a little tired,” I warned.
Astraea nodded with a small, assuring smile.
Taking her wrist, I guided it lazily to my lips and sank my teeth into her flesh. The first drop of her blood on my tongue would usually trigger an acute thirst and feverish demand, but something wasn’t right. I pulled back, spluttering sideward at the first taste, which was like ash and smoke, turning into flame in my chest.
“Nyte, what’s wrong?” Astraea asked in panic, almost holding all my weight now to keep me from tumbling off the barrel.
“I don’t know,” I gasped.
Was it because of my blood within her that was used to harm her? No. I didn’t think that was it. I should have been healing much faster naturally, which led me to believe that the trials were particularly punishing, making sure any wounds sustained in them couldn’t be healed so easily.
“Astraea, I-I can’t… I can’t hold on much longer.” My fear was for her. To leave her alone and panicked with my dead weight in this unfamiliar territory. “You need to leave me and find Drystan,” I said desperately, fighting the dark spots peppering my vision.
“I’ve got you. It’s okay, Nyte.”
The flecks of darkness in my sight merged, slowly stealing the beautiful image of her. Still, I fought to keep conscious enough to follow her direction. Her strained sounds from hauling a lot of my weight were muffled in my ears. She managed to sling my arm around her shoulders and we moved forward. The cold wind stopped lashing us for a few moments. Astraea used the void, pulling us both through it, but I didn’t know where to.
“We just need shelter; then I’ll get help,” she said. Astraea was right beside me yet her voice sounded so distant.
Astraea halted us suddenly, and I grappled for the fading edges of my awareness. At first I thought trees surrounded us, until they began to move, inching closer. Too many bodies, and I could hardly see them, never mind brace to fight them.
“Run, Astraea.”
Her hold only tightened on me, and my teeth gritted painfully. Some of the faces came in and out of focus; I didn’t recognize any, but all I needed to see was the constellation sigil of Astrinus pinned on their cloaks. These were guards of the reigning lord here.
“Looks like you’re going to make this collection easy, Nightsdeath,” one called out, strolling ahead of the others.
The name he used confirmed I was only known for the reputation that began right in this kingdom.
“Stay back,” Astraea warned them.
“Don’t fight for me, please,” I said, barely able to bring words to my mouth now. “Use your magick and run.”
“That’s not happening,” she answered firmly.
“Maiden,” the same soldier greeted; my only relief was that he sounded genuinely respectful toward her. “We mean you no harm, I assure you.”
