Emily stepped into the large crater, edging closer to the giant Wyrm. The closer she got to the thing the more impressive it was to the eye. Its form was large enough that Emily could have easily mistaken it for a dragon in all its splendor, but she’d heard from Alex that dragons existed in this world and they dwarfed Wyrms by a long shot.

If that was the case then this place’s scaling was off the chats. With the size of this Wyrm, a dragon must be a walking natural disaster.

Emily's thoughts flickered back to the task at hand. She’d decided to crawl down to get to the wound in its chest because she’d found it almost impossible to get through the creature's scales.

In her books, whoever had done this to the Wyrm was all the more impressive. It was worrying that they had not come to confirm their kill, but then perhaps they didn’t care, or that last hit had killed them.

Whatever it was, Emily didn’t want to be here if they decided to return so she slid down the side of the rock wall and arrived at the hole in its chest.

She touched the side of the open wound where it had blackened and atrophied.

The attack was large enough that two of Emily could stand on top of one another and only just reach the ceiling.

Emily’s face coursed with displeasure when she took her first step into the wound and it sunk about ten centimeters into the rancid flesh, releasing more of the stench that coated the area.

Holding back the nausea, Emily took another second step in, and a deep rumbling echoed through the Wyrm's chest.

She paused for a second it see if it had the strength left but when it went quiet she took a couple more steps into the wound.

When she was a ways in, she swiped her hand, and a layer of black flesh was pulled away by the surface-level blood, to reveal a small portion of red healthy flesh beneath it.

Stepping up to the wall Emily pushed down her doubts and bit into the wound.

Life force flooded into her, but it was unlike anything she had experienced before. Not even the younger Wyrm could compare to this because there was something different about this creature. Something ancient and wise, it readily began to flood into Emily almost of its own volition.

That's when she began to drink greedily. The vitality sang in Emily’s ears, but it was more than that, it took a minute for her to realize she was also drinking the creature's blood. Her gifts did not require her to consume blood to trigger but she found herself unable to stop as thick ichor ran down her throat, sending waves of need through her. All she could do was take small ragged breaths as she drank the mix of copper, salt, and sweetness.

Huge amounts of vitality washed in but she couldn’t keep track of how much as she was solely focused on drawing in more.

Every gulp of blood caused a burning sensation to spread throughout her body and collect at her bridges which sang in delight.

When her stomach was full she had it absorb the blood into her so she could keep drinking.

The rumbling through the Wyrm's chest grew louder and she even felt some tossing and turning but Emily ignored it

The Wyrm’s energy flow continued to increase as it tried to fill out her reserves, but they were seemingly bottomless. If she did indeed have a limit she had a feeling she would have popped like a tick biting off more than it could chew, but this did not apply to Emily.

Everything the Wyrm could dish out, she could take.

The wound around her had turned grey and lifeless as Emily drew more blood from deep within its body. The beast trembled, unable to offer any resistance. The only downside was that the Wyrm, with barely half its life force left, lay unmoving in the ditch.

The only reason it was not dead was that the ray had missed its second heart and that was somehow enough that it could hang on, but that also meant that when it started to fail so did the incredible buffet before her.

As she drank, the Wyrm’s body trembled, its heartbeat slowing as life drained from it. Emily sensed the flow of vitality thinning but kept drinking. When the rush dwindled to a stream, then a trickle, she let out an animalistic growl, frustration tightening in her chest.

It wasn’t enough, but the Wyrm couldn’t hang on any longer.

Its final breath exploded out of it and Emily felt the moment she drew in its remaining life. The blood came freely after that and to assuage her anger she pulled all the remaining blood in its body towards herself.

The walls of the wound began to flood with blood in ribbons as they coiled around Emily. Once the Wyrm was nothing more than a corpse the blood rushed into her mouth from all directions. It was only minutes later when she had gathered everything from the beast that she dropped to her knees. The corpse was nothing more than a dried-out husk and Emily was still riding the wave of triumph when she heard a whine nearby.

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Glancing up she could see Atticus and Mist staring down at her. Mist had his tail between his legs and Atticus’s face was a mask of horror.

Emily let out a slow breath while looking up at the man and wolf duo. Atticus had that look of disgust and worry that people often got when Emily used her power to their fullest.

She wasn’t sure why but she found herself thinking about Alex, but she knew he wouldn’t be looking at her like that.

Emily stood and began to make her way up the side of the crater, she noticed her bridges felt like hot coals on her back and this made her shift uncomfortably as she got to the top.

Atticus was still watching her with a concerned look on his face.

“...we heard you fighting, so we came to see if we could help…”

Emily nodded to the man and reached out to pet Mist. The Rime wolf watched her approach with care but let her pat his fur.

“Well don’t worry about it now. I’m alive. I could use some help gathering anything that you think is useful.”

Atticus licked his lips and glanced back at the Wyrm corpses, both if which were dried-out shells.

“The…the blood is usually the most expensive part of a Wyrm, then the gall bladder, but neither of those will be an option now. So the next best thing would be the scales near its neck.”

Emily nodded but didn’t say much else. She just went over to the neck and began using her borrowed dagger to pop the scales off. With no liquid in the bodies, the scales came off with ease. There were far more scales here than they could ever carry so they took the mother’s scales because they were tougher. Emily missed Nox’s magic, but they had to leave the remainder lying on the ground.

I’ve found a spot where we can rest, not far from here. If we stay near the edge of the perimeter, we’ll avoid any other predators,” Atticus said quietly.

Emily squinted, stifling a yawn.

“Lead the way, then…” she murmured.

Atticus studied her face briefly before nodding and leading them back through the trees. They walked for half an hour, and during that time, Emily didn’t see a single creature, not even an insect. Everything seemed to be in hiding, too terrified to emerge after the recent events.

She tried to stay alert, but her eyelids felt heavier with each step. Since finishing the Wyrm’s blood, a powerful drowsiness had set in, growing worse as they traveled. Following Atticus became more challenging; the path blurred, forcing her to blink against the fatigue.

Every time her eyes began to close, she snapped them open again, stars flashing in her vision as she fought to stay aware of her surroundings.

If she weren’t so tired, she might think they were trying to tell her something.

Her bridges had cooled slightly, but they had mellowed to a warm embrace that only served to drag Emily down deeper.

“...Stop, Atticus. Something’s wrong…I…I need a break,” she said, leaning up against a tree.

Atticus glanced back at her, a strange look on his face. “It’s just a little further, a couple of minutes at most, then you can rest.”

Emily furrowed her brow and glanced up at Atticus; something about his tone had shifted.

“You know what’s going on, don’t you?”

“Yeah, that would be the Wyrm blood you drank earlier.”

Emily froze, locking eyes with him. “What do you mean?”

Atticus scratched at his neck as he glanced in the direction they were going. “Well, normally, anyone mad enough to drink Wyrm blood already knows the consequences of doing so. But from your demeanor, you clearly didn’t, or you’d never have taken the chance.”

Emily’s rage pushed back her exhaustion. “What the hell do you mean? What’s happening to me?”

Atticus pressed his lips together and took a step away from her as though that would help him. “Well, when someone drinks from a Wyrm, they enter a state of hibernation, depending on how much they drank. If they survive, they’re stronger for it—but not many do. And that’s after the blood has been processed into something less toxic.”

Emily grew still, her eyes narrowing on the man as she tried to assess the situation. “Then why the hell did you lead me out here…?”

“Oh, well, I was hoping you wouldn’t be affected by it. Sometimes people get lucky.”

“Last question…” A wave of warmth pulsed up her spine, and she almost passed out, but she needed to know. “What are you going to do now?”

Atticus glanced over to Mist. “I’m not going to harm you, if that’s what you think. The place I found was a cave, so you’ll be safe there…”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Emily grunted.

“I’m sorry, Emily, but I can’t afford to wait around for a couple of months nursing you on the off chance you make it. It’s nothing personal.”

Emily ground her teeth and swung her arm out, calling to her blood, but it never came. She was shocked to the core—her power had never let her down. But now, when she called to it, it seemed unable to come. It was locked in a contest against the heat; it had been trying to contain it, but the longer it did, the stronger the heat grew.

“Listen to me. Your chances aren’t high, but if we can get you somewhere secluded, at least you’ll be safe from predators.”

Emily’s world spun, but she clung to consciousness. “And why should I trust you…?”

Atticus took a step towards her and slipped her arm over his shoulder. “Because, as funny as it may sound, I still have a contract with you guys. I’ll help as much as I can, but I won’t throw away my life for you. This is the best offer you’re going to get, so take it.”

Emily wanted to spit at his offer. She wanted to kick, cut, and bite the man to death, but right now, survival was more important.

She let Atticus slip her arm over his shoulder. Neither of them spoke as he led her forward.

Emily vaguely stared at the man who had led her to her doom not once, but twice. The first time had been to capture her, and now, to survive this blood plague.

When they reached an area, Emily could make out a small grove, and in the rockface was a large cave. A beast might have once lived here, but it had long gone, scared off by the Wyrm’s pheromones.

Emily also noticed a massive rock in front of the entrance. Was he thinking of closing her inside?

The world was fading, and Atticus had to shoulder more of her weight as time passed. He began to speak, but Emily's consciousness faded in and out.

“...Listen to me. If you make it through this, you’re welcome to hold a grudge, but…I’ll stay until I’m certain you… If you wake up, eat whatever you can to keep your strength up… I’m taking Mist and… Follow the rocks, I wish you luck, girl.”

The warmth became too overwhelming to fight off, eventually dragging her under into the embrace of the stars.

Blood points: 282