Emma lunged between buildings and alleyways with a firm grip on Sora’s hand. Each time they barely ducked before a patrol, the vampire felt the throbbing of her undead heart. Surprisingly, there was a small amount of beating at this point. Her body had also become increasingly warmer.

  Eventually, they stared at several stables towards the exit. There were horses reserved for the guards of the fortress. Emma nodded and took position.

  “Once we are on the horse, hold onto me tightly and don’t fall off. It might get bumpy. I’m pretty sure there are even more guards here.” The vampire pointed towards the top of several structures along the wall where guards made their rounds. They were even more alert than they normally would have been. Apparently, a vampire in the city was cause for concern.

  The little girl next to her tightened her grip on the vampire’s hand. “You don’t need to worry about me, Lady Emma.”

  Emma cringed at the name but decided there was no reason to correct the title, given their short amount of time. Instead, the vampire tucked the little girl into her arms and sprinted forwards towards the stables.

  The reaction time of the guards was nearly instant. A horn bsted from the wall, and several guards began to shout orders.

  Emma jumped onto the horse, pcing the little girl behind her.

  The animal lurched from the sudden invasion on its back. It kicked out its front legs and tried to buck them off at first.

  However, Emma’s cold touch made the animal shiver. The vampire sent ice into her hand, touching the animal’s neck and pulling the reins at the same time with her other hand.

  The vampire felt a certain power coursing through her veins. Her eyes glinted with a new light. A slight blue glow emanated as she spoke. “You obey me now.”

  Her words were the push the horse needed. It followed the silent order to begin running towards the open gates. The horse sprinted like its life depended on it.

  In front of her, Emma saw the whole wall filled with guards. Bows were drawn, aiming straight for her. This is gonna hurt. A lot…

  The vampire didn’t have the time to cast a spell. The only option was shielding the girl behind her and hoping the horse beneath her lived the rain of arrows.

  With a shout of someone up on the wall, arrows were released from the taut strings. Hundreds of them coated the sky in darkness, becoming like a thick cloud. The blotched out sky was a death trap of sharp rain.

  Emma felt them as quickly as she saw them. She spread her arms out to cover as much area as she could, shielding the girl behind her from the danger. The vampire felt the metal sinking into her skin along her arms. She felt the cracking of her bones, many of them striking true to their target.

  Some of them sank into her chest, but her arms were riddled with many of them. One of them had even found its mark in the side of her face, shooting straight through both of her cheeks. She bit down hard on the taste of wood, snapping the wooden shaft between her teeth, and spitting it out.

  “Emma!” Sora shouted.

  “Don’t worry,” Emma spat. “It doesn’t hurt as bad as you think.”

  That’s a fucking lie! It feels like my whole body is on fire! It burns like crazy! What the fuck!?

  It was like needles of pain running through her everything, and the girl wanted to cry tears of agony. Each second was even worse than the second prior. The burning became unrelenting as she pulled arrows out of her body, but the vampire hadn’t the time to worry about her own pain.

  She was momentarily relieved to notice they somehow passed the wall, and the horse hadn’t been struck dead by then. However, that relief was short lived. They’d prepared another volley of arrows to attack her from the rear.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Emma said through clenched teeth.

  She hopped over Sora and stood on the rear of the horse with her two feet, somehow maintaining her bance along the bouncing horse. The vampire willed the reserves of her magic power into her hands, sending frost down her arms.

  An ice shield formed in the air, covering the width of everything behind her. The arrows flew true once more, but they were deflected in mid air by the wall of ice. Each one bounced off and fell uselessly towards the ground.

  They had a short win over the people along the wall. Emma cheered when she found that the guards hadn’t met their target, yet she realized in horror that many of them had begun mounting their own horses. In the distance she saw at least a dozen horses trotting out of the gate.

  Emma couldn’t resist cursing on the wind. “Fuck!”

  Sora didn’t say anything. Emma could see that the girl grew more panicked with each passing second, but she looked in hope towards Emma. The little girl had some kind of faith that the vampire would save her.

  Please, don’t look at me like that. What do you want me to do?

  Emma’s magic power reserves were dwindling. The arrows had taken their toll on her, and most of her magic was used to heal her wounds. She could still feel her vampiric body stitching her skin together. What the heck am I supposed to do?

  Each second that drew by was a second that could spell their doom. The distant torches and trotting of horses came closer. The horse beneath them didn’t have infinite stamina, and she’d not be able to outrun an army.

  Wait...Maybe that will work?

  She took the old reins of the horse and cut them with her sharpened cw. With Karck in her free hand, she used the small remaining magic power to transform it. Karck became the new reins of the horse—a glittering white spectacle.

  The magic power channeled from the reins into the stolen horse, giving it the much needed energy. It kicked its hooves even faster, bouncing the girls roughly with each step.

  However, Emma looked back in awe at the wonders it did. Soon, the torches became fainter with each passing moment. Their horse’s speed had at least doubled, and the arrows could no longer reach them.

  Emma breathed a sigh of relief—her tired eyes lolling her to sleep as she held the reins. She gave one st silent command to the horse.

  Don’t you dare let us die.

  And the horse neighed in affirmation of her request.