As the five corpses dropped around Emily, the magic in the clouds and red dome faded. No sooner had Emily sighed in relief, than the trembling rose from deep in the earth. It started as a low droning through the sands but rapidly evolved into tremors that shook the sandstone beneath them.

  Emily looked back and saw that the fighting between everyone had temporarily ceased. Seeing this, Emily turned and began running toward Cupcake at full speed.

  Whatever was happening, she wasn’t about to stick around and find out.

  When she got to the Rime wolf the beast licked her face but Emily barely registered it. Hopping onto her back Emily was about to ride when she caught sight of Selia out of the corner of her eye.

  The woman was lying in the sand unmoving as black veins continued to spread out over her skin

  Emily's shoulders drooped and she pulled on Cupcake’s reins to change direction.

  Arriving beside the woman, Emily hopped off and pulled Seila into Cupcake's saddle. She couldn’t leave the woman; firstly, she’d come here to help, and second, Ashe would probably never forgive her if she abandoned her sister.

  The pockets of sand were beginning to bubble as though a reservoir of air were trying to escape.

  Hopping up on Cupcake again, Emily whipped the reins.

  “Go girl, stick to the stone!” Emily growled.

  The three of them launched forward and the Rime wolf deftly danced on the edges of the sand pits, which were now belching forth larger pockets of sulferous air.

  Bits of wet sand sprayed into the air as Emily neared Ashe's fortifications.

  Chaos had descended around the battlefield. Umbra’s men seemed unwilling to give up the fight but the Wandering fangs had beaten their way out of their encirclement.

  It felt like a warzone, with sand scattered everywhere and people fighting on any solid ground they could find. Kale and Umbra had not moved from their original spots, yet they both had several more injuries than when the battle had first begun. People from both sides had clearly tried to help the two fighting titans, but by the looks of the corpses in the sand, they only got in the way.

  There was one exception to this though, Alex, because, of course, he’d found himself in the most dangerous position of all.

  Kael weaved and swung out at Umbra, and in those minute openings Alex would flash in and capitalize on the gaps. Leaving nicks and cuts on Umbra in his wake.

  The fact Alex had not gotten himself killed yet was a testament to his skill and speed, but if Kael was not there Emily knew the scenario would be very different.

  Seeing that most of the Wandering Fangs were already making a break for it, Emily could only assume Kael had given the order.

  Emily rode past a lizard without a rider and saw the creature twitching as its gaze narrowed on the grounds. The other mounts were whinnying and screeching as they fled towards the open desert.

  Emily could see more than half of the Weeping were still capable of chasing them down but they were struggling to get their mounts under control for some reason.

  Umbra’s face was growing more and more twisted he was unable to score a hit on either Alex or Kael.

  Emily could see the duo were quickly getting separated from the main group, and if things continued their escape would be cut off. Clicking her tongue at Cupcake to get nearer, she employed her new life force and created a beachball-sized sphere of blood.

  “Incoming!” Emily yelled as she rushed past the trio of fighters.

  All three of them gazed up at her simultaneously, but Emily was already bringing down her hand.

  The sphere of life energy landed in the middle of their fight and detonated with the force of a grenade.

  Umbra took evasive measures, as did the others but they needn’t have worried. As the blood liquified on contact with them. Umbra on the other hand wasn’t so lucky as he got as he got pelted with bloody shrapnel.

  But Emily was not finished. She wasn’t dumb enough to think that had done any real damage, so she wrapped the surrounding blood around Alex and Kael and yanked.

  For the briefest moment, the blood tightened into cords and shot toward Emily’s hand—before both Kael and Alex were yanked backward by Cupcake’s full-speed retreat.

  Kael’s mount had fled long ago, so they didn’t have a ride and Emily wasn’t going to risk them getting captured again.

  Alex landed hard in Cupcake’s saddle, reeled in like a fish, while Kael flipped through the air and landed standing on the wolf’s rump.

  Umbra went blue in the face and chased after them at frightening speeds.

  “You idiots! Catch them! Bring me that woman!” he yelled.

  The man was, incredibly, able to outpace Cupcake, but Kael had never let his guard down. By the time he caught up with the Rime wolf Kael was ready, and deflected the dagger trying to hamstring Cupcake.

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  Seeing his attempt had failed only frustrate the man more and he accelerated parallel with them.

  He made sure he was out of reach of them and began to throw daggers one after another.

  Kael reacted and deflected the first few but one got through which stabbed into Cupcake's side.

  Emily growled in tune with Cupcake and blood rose in a thin screen around the beast.

  Umbra had begun to slow, and it was obvious that whatever skill he had employed had begun to falter. However, unwilling to let them go, he pushed himself ahead of them.

  Emily saw the man appear in their path and brace himself in the sand. Just behind him, she could see Ashe and Nox running away on the back of a galendmare.

  Glad she had gotten away Emily turned her gaze back to Umbra’s wild stare. For a second their eyes locked and Emily could see equal parts madness and excitement churning in those depths.

  But that had nothing to do with Emily, as far as she was concerned. Clicking her tongue she flipped the man off – Even if he wouldn’t understand her– and had Cupcake bound towards the man.

  Now, Rime wolves were known for their impressive jumping capabilities, but with four riders on her back, it would not be easy.

  At the point the Rime wolf bunched her muscles and brought her legs together for a jump, Emily flickered Blood Price for less than a second to send vitality into the creature.

  The burst of strength sent them flying several meters over the madman, and landing on the other side.

  Umbra turned with a frustrated scowl, but his eye widened when he saw a spear of blood heading straight toward him.

  As they had leaped over the man she’d taken the blood binding from Alex and Kael, and moved it to the underside of Cupcake. When they had moved overhead she had unleashed it straight down at the man’s blind spot.

  By the time he turned around it was so close there wasn’t much he could do, or at least that's what Emily thought.

  At the last possible second Umbra brought his fist up and punched the side of the attack. The sheer absurdity of the motion almost caused Emily to fall from the saddle, but she watched as the hardened blood projectile suddenly changed direction enough that it went past the left side of his face before it exploded into countless droplets.

  As a consolation prize the projectile took off the top half of his ear but it wouldn’t leave any lasting damage.

  The last attack didn’t stop Umbra though, it only seemed to cause a twisted smile to appear on his face.

  Emily would have shivered if the next thing that happened wasn’t all the more harrowing.

  All at once the trembling around them stopped and the bubbling sands exploded outward as dozens of black figures emerged from the sand and into the air in streams.

  Along with them came the droning buzz of insects.

  Emily caught sight of one as it flew past and the best way to describe it was as a football-sized horse fly with a wicked-looking mouth.

  Rows and rows of teeth made for ripping lined the proboscis. As things went it was not the most threatening creature Emily had ever seen, but their number were quickly filling the skies and blotting out the moons.

  Emily glanced back at Umbra’s men, watching as they struggled to control their mounts. Nearby, large lizards rushed in, snapping up the flies midair and munching happily.

  She grimaced in disgust—only for her expression to pale when worm-like creatures began writhing free from the dirt.

  Burrow Mites. The realization hit her like a stone. These flies weren’t just pests; they were the adult stage of Burrow Mites. And thanks to the Blood Mages and all the water they had thrown around, they had practically rung the dinner bell.

  Kael turned back to Emily.

  “Keep going this is perfect!” he yelled over the wind.

  At the same time, he rotated his spear, and a thick chilly vapor expanded from his body leaving a trail like a smoke screen.

  Emily could just make out Umbra’s figure as he covered his eyes in the crook of his elbow and glared at Emily with a look of pure malice. Seconds later his figure was gone from view behind a wall of buzzing bodies and mist.

  The buzzing dwindled as they put distance between themselves and the battlefield.

  The mist created ample cover for their retreat and because of it there wasn’t a single attack on their people.

  They continued to ride for another thirty minutes at Kael’s insistence before slowing down. In that time they had well and truly entered the sands. The dunes were only ripples at this point but their uneven waves acted as the perfect cover to lie low in.

  Kael watched the cloud of Burrow Mites until they disappeared in the distance. Beside them, Gerade and Atticus rode silently on their mounts

  “We’re damned lucky we were over a colony like that, those Mites were the perfect distraction. With their mounts feasting on their favorite snack, the Weeping won’t be going anywhere for a while.” Gerade said quietly.

  Kael glanced at him.

  “I’m sorry old friend, it looks like you are joining us on this journey. For now, I need a head count and find out if Yishmal is alive, we’ll need that old Healer here, Selia is in a bad way.” Kael said as he hopped off Cupcake and began surveying the area.

  Emily looked down at the woman in her lap. Selia was sweating, and she still hadn’t woken up. From the looks of things, the black veins had stopped expanding, but she was not improving.

  Now that they had stopped Ashe came over and there was a look of concern on her face. She had clearly noticed her sister during the chaos but was unable to come to her aid.

  “Oh gods Selia, what happen to her?” Ashe said, concern lacing her voice.

  Emily shook her head.

  “I don’t know. She was hit with an attack from a Blood Mage and went down.” Emily said calmly

  Ashe helped Emily get the woman down from the saddle and laid her out on a blanket.

  Yishmal came lumbering over from the main group, his face a scowl.

  “You know there are plenty of injured. I hope you aren’t abusing your position,” Yishmal started but then frowned when he saw Selia.

  A scowl appeared on his face for a different reason and he shooed everyone away from the shivering woman.

  After a lengthy examination and a pulse of white light, he frowned shaking his head.

  “As I feared. It's a curse, a powerful one at that. It’s designed to corrode her blood, and whoever cast it was a foul individual. It will work as slowly as possible while it kills her over a couple of weeks. I can push back some of the symptoms, but I can’t cure it.”

  Everyone seemed too stunned to respond or even move as Yishmal delivered the news.

  Kael frowned.

  “What would the usual cure for this type of curse be,” he asked quietly.

  Yishmal rubbed his chin.

  “It could be one of a few things. Sometimes if one were to kill the caster, the curse would end.”

  Emily shook her head at that idea and Yishmal frowned.

  “Well then we would need someone with a black bridge and the relevant titles, but Oscar was the only one with the right source and he’s missing or dead. I am sorry.”

  Yishmal left after feeding Selia a potion, saying she would wake up soon but she shouldn’t push herself when she did.

  Emily turned to look at Ashe

  She had not moved from Selia's side and her shoulders were hunched over her sister.

  Emily couldn’t hear the sobs but saw the tears twinkling down her cheeks.

  Glancing at Alex, Emily pressed her lips together and placed a hand on Ashe’s shoulder.

  “Um…Ashe, we’ll figure this out” Emily said awkwardly.

  Then she heard Ashe whispering.

  “It's all my fault, she only went because I begged her to…How can I fix this Emily.”

  Blood points: 481