Page 9 of Demon's Prey

My heart catches in my throat, because even near-death she possesses a rare quality.

I reach out, brushing a lock of her fiery hair from her face. Up close, I can make out the delicate features – high cheekbones, full lips slightly parted as she struggles for each breath. Despite her battered state, there's an undeniable beauty about this human woman.

That's when I notice the faint glow emanating from her clenched fist. Carefully, I pry open her fingers to reveal a strange necklace or choker nestled in her palm. The inscriptions etched along its surface are unfamiliar, but they thrum with an ancient power I can't quite place. This human isn't ordinary, and neither is this peculiar talisman clutched so tightly.

I could leave her here to die, the pragmatic voice in my head reasons. She's just a human, fragile and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And yet...something about her compels me to act. That spark of life still smoldering in her eyes, refusing to be extinguished.

"Interesting," I murmur, leaning back on my heels. Perhaps this fortuitous encounter will help slake my thirst for adventure, if only for a little while.

With surprising gentleness, I scoop her into my arms, marveling at how little she weighs – a delicate thing, barely substantial enough to be real. "Let's see what you are, little human."

I carry her back to my manor at a brisk pace, her shallow breaths fanning across the exposed skin of my chest. Once inside the cavernous halls, I bring her to my private chambers and lay her gently on the large canopied bed.

My eyes trail over the extent of her wounds – deep gashes along her sides and back that would surely kill any human without immediate treatment. There's also the matter of that arrow embedded near her femoral artery. A few inches closer, and she'd have bled out within minutes.

Cradling her head in one hand, I lean over and slowly drag my tongue along the seeping wounds. My saliva glows faintly with regenerative magic, knitting the flesh back together with each pass. As I work, I can't help marveling at her fragility. Every breath is labored, every faint throb of her heart a struggle against the inevitable.

And yet, she clings so stubbornly to life. Despite her breakable form, there's an iron will flickering behind those eyes.

I brush the pads of my fingers over her flushed cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin as her chest rises and falls with each ragged inhalation.

"So breakable...and yet so stubborn," I murmur, staring at her unconscious form. "Humans are fascinating."

I sit back on my heels, my curiosity burning hotter with each passing second. Who is this woman? Why was she alone in the unforgiving wilds of Glacies? What power does that strange necklace possess?

So many unanswered questions swirling in my mind. But I'm certain of one thing – this encounter has proven more intriguing than any meaningless bureaucratic drivel.

5

NARINA

The forest blurs around me, trees melting into nightmarish shapes as I run. My feet pound against the loamy earth, each step squelching with the blood that coats my hands. I can't stop, I can't slow down—they're right behind me, their mocking laughter echoing through the twisted branches.

Mariel's voice rings in my ears, her final words a haunting refrain. "Go...find your sister..." Over and over, driving me forward even as my lungs burn for air.

Gnarled faces leer at me from the bark, their mouths stretched wide in rictus grins. Nonsense words scrawl across fallen logs, messages I can't decipher blurring together. This can't be real...can it?

A strangled cry tears from my throat as Claudia's face shimmers before me, eyes wide and pleading.

"Why did you leave me?" she rasps, her skin pallid and drawn. I reach for her, but she dissipates into wisps of shadow.

Arrows whistle past, burying themselves in the trees around me with sickening thunks. The dark elves pursuing me cackle with glee, drunk on the thrill of the hunt. I can't let them catch me, not again?—

My feet tangle in a nest of roots and I pitch forward, slamming into the ground hard enough to drive the air from my lungs. Dazed, I try to push myself up, but icy fingers curl around my ankle, dragging me back.

"No!" I thrash wildly, clawing at the dirt and leaves, but the skeletal hand refuses to release me. More bony limbs burst from the earth, grasping and clutching, pulling me inexorably downward into the suffocating dark.

Claudia's face floats before me, her expression pained as she watches me struggle against the grasping hands.

"Sister, help me!" I cry out, stretching my arm towards her in desperation.

But she just shakes her head slowly, her eyes hollow.

"You left me behind. This is your path now." With those haunting words, she fades away into the gloom of the forest.

I scream in anguish as the bony fingers drag me further down into the black earth, soil filling my mouth and nose. Mariel's face emerges from the shadows, blood dripping from her pale lips.

"I'm sorry, Mariel..." I choke out through the dirt. "I'm so sorry..."

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