I scream, a determined, frightened cry as I drive the blade into my leg. More fire, more pain, more blood. My scream is pained now and my vision wavers. I’m going to pass out. I can’t pass out. I blink rapidly, trying to steady my vision. Taking long, deep breaths I try to fight back against the growing shock and numbness pulling at my mind. I have to stay awake, stay present, or I’ll have lost this blood for nothing.
Too, too much blood.
Serus pauses, seeming satisfied. I glance towards it, shaking violently. “Enough?” I ask weakly.
“Enough.” It purrs. “You must draw the spell, I cannot.”
I laugh weakly. “You expect me to do it? I can’t move my arms.”
It’s strange eyes flash. “You had better try before the blood dries or it will have been for nothing and you will be dead.”
“Dead,” I murmur. “Right.”
Mustering up the little energy and strength I have left, I cradle my bleeding arm against my chest. With my uninjured hand, I trace a sloppy circle in the mess of blood. “What’s next?” I ask breathlessly, thoughts straying back to the burning pain in my body.
“The Wyrd symbol,” it murmurs, back to pacing.
I swallow hard, feeling suddenly very sleepy. Warm blood coats my finger as I slip it through the blood, picturing the image of the Wyrd in my mind. Serus hasn’t told me much about the Wyrd, and I can’t remember reading about it in the Bloodbane text. Maybe my mind is slipping from the blood loss, or perhaps it’s simply older magic.
I take a shaky breath when the symbol is complete. All sharp angles and gentle curves, I’ve made a mess of the mysterious symbol. But it’s done and complete and every line is connected to another without a beginning or end. Serus crouches beside me and I can feel the anticipation rolling off of him in waves. “Lanuae praesens,” I say haltingly.
There’s a rush of magic and I feel it curl around me. Serus is quiet as the spell takes effect. I picture the realm of the Fae in my mind, but it’s slipping and unsteady. I try to focus on Altair, but all I can think of is the searing pain in my air.
“Focus,” Serus hisses angrily.
“Fuck,” I breathe, clenching my eyes closed.
There’s a whooshing sound and it feels as if my world tips upside down. The portal whisks us out of the ether with the force of a blender and I work hard to hold back my nausea. Compared to this, portal travel with Sadal is smooth sailing. When I open my eyes again, it’s only when I feel cold, gritty earth beneath – nothing like the sensation of the ether on my skin. I laugh breathlessly as the bright sun blinds me.
I lift a hand to block it out and then hiss in pain, in my excitement, I forgot the wounds in my body. I coil back in on myself, trying to cradle the wounded arm and leg. Beside me, I can feel Serus’s tail sweep against my arm. Brows furrowed in pain, I take in our surroundings. We’ve landed in a landscape like none I’ve ever seen before. There are no mountains here, just small specks in the distance. I inhale sharply, if the mountains are any indication, we are far from where I wanted to go.
The earth around us is dotted with shallow pools of steaming water, like a natural hot spring. The air stinks of methane and I wrinkle my nose against it. I glance around, trying to get my bearings when suddenly I hear a low growl from behind. I freeze, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. I don’t like that sound.
Serus’s hackles raise, sensing danger. “Run,” it says, eyeing something behind me.
I lumber to my feet, biting back a cry as pain flares in my left thigh. Serus is pacing nervously at my feet, as solid as any cat. I limp away from the growl, picking up speed as I go until I’ve managed to push myself into a slow run. I can feel the blood seeping from the fresh wound, leaving an easy trail for whatever creature is behind us. Worse, I have no idea where I’m going.
“Serus,” I say through gritted teeth. “Do something,”
It dances around my legs, keeping an eye on what’s lumbering after us. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, magic – anything,” I pant. I splash through boiling hot water, hissing at my stupidity.
“You’re the witch,” Serus counters.
“And you’re a – I don’t know what you are – but I’m certain you’re better at this than me.” I swerve around another pool, catching sight of eyes watching me from long grass.
Serus huffs. “I’ll try.”
Without warning, Serus leaps onto my shoulder, settling into the crook and digging its claws into my back. I grimace, but the pain is nothing compared to the flaring in my arm and thigh. I need to stop; I need to bandage my wounds. But if we stop now, I’m certain whatever is behind us won’t hesitate to eat us.
Serus relaxes on my shoulder and then I hear a deep, gurgling roar behind us. I dare a peek over my shoulder and instantly wish I hadn’t. The creature is as large as a cow almost, with slimy green skin. It blends almost perfectly into the rocks in this odd marshland. Wrinkly, but clearly strong, the beast lumbers to a halt, long claws scratching at its own eyes. I grimace as blue blood oozes from its eyeballs.
“There,” Serus says, darting back to the ground.
“What did you do to it?” I ask, slowing a little.
“A simple illusion,” Serus says, not explaining further.
I stop, breathing heavily. Blood has soaked through my dress and my cloak. Pain flares as my heartbeat returns to normal and the flow of blood ebbs. I wobble on two feet, my eyes going fuzzy and dark for a moment. Serus’ cat eyes
