Excitement bled through the connection as the she-wolf used her shoulder to push the boulder out of the entrance and crawl into the space. Seeing the Rime wolf advancing on her belly, made Emily laugh softly as Cupcake bumped into her and wrapped herself around Emily.
She had been trekking through the wilds for days now in search of her partner, and now that she had finally found her the feeling of joy echoed through their bond.
The she-wolf was panting hard and even went so far as to nip the side of Emily’s jaw playfully.
“Woah, old girl, what’s gotten into you?”
That’s when Emily felt an interesting emotion coming from Cupcake. Gratefulness?
Cupcake then proudly stood to her full height and Emily’s eyes widened as her bulk took up a majority of the low-hanging cave.
It was as though she were showing off to Emily how big she had grown.
It was difficult to tell in this light but as of right now, Cupcake was only one size smaller than Gerade’s wolf.
Before Cupcake had carried Alex off to safety, the wolf’s fur had taken on a shiny red luster and by the looks of things, the many scars on her pelt had all but faded.
If Emily didn’t know any better she’d say the beast looked to have returned to her prime. All together she looked far more powerful than she had before the landslide.
Emily was happy that the Cupcake had gotten what she wanted, but as far as she could tell the wolf’s desire to get stronger had not waned in the slightest.
This was just the first step for her.
Emily scratched the wolf under her neck and sent feelings of congratulations through their bond.
This only served to make the beast all the more proud as she sat up straighter, preening like a peacock.
“Alright, don’t get a fat head now. How did you even get here girl?” Emily snorted to herself when she realized she wouldn’t get an answer.
Cupcake cocked her head, obviously not done bathing in the glow of victory, she then snorted and settled down again
Emily sighed, she wanted to sleep a little more but there was no rest for the wicked.
If her guess was right she’d been unconscious for a total of five days, almost a full week.
That meant a couple of things.
Firstly, the wandering fangs had a really good head start on her so she needed to catch up to them.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, the Wyrm’s scent was fading, if it hadn’t already.
Pretty soon all the predators on this island were going to start wrestling for control.
When that happened it would be even harder to get off this island.
Unfortunately, Emily also needed to find food before she left so there was really no time to waste.
Emily slowly climbed to her feet and went over to her pack. Only when she reached forward to open the top did she notice her left hand was far lighter than she was used to. Staring down at the empty wrist Emily's eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Oh. No, the fuck you didn’t” She growled as she rummaged through the pack in search of it.
Everything else was there, even her money pouch with all the coins exactly where she’d left them. Save, for one thing, the Cardinex.
The glittering bracelet was no longer on her wrist and Emily was pissed beyond words.
Atticus had taken one of her few belongings in this world.
That’s it, he’d made it onto the list.
Cupcake growled when she felt Emily’s anger bleed through their connection.
Seething, Emily made her way over to the opening and looked out. From here she could see she was partway up the mountain. The shore was still in the distance but the landscape looked about the same as she remembered, with its vegetation and ancient rocks.
They had traveled quite a ways before Emily had passed out, and she would need to make a trip down the mountain but it was probably because she was so high up that nothing had come across her little hidy-hole.
Emily fastened her pack’s straps and welcomed the falling rain as it washed away days of sweat and grime.
Strangely, the biting cold water didn’t bother her as much as she expected. And that was when she noticed a faint layer of steam issuing forth from her skin.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
It was the contrasting temperatures of the cold rain and her feverish body that caused this but the interesting thing was that it didn’t stop when her body temperature acclimated with the outside air.
Instead, Emily found herself staring at the water sliding off her skin in wonder.
The faintest vapor continued to rise up from her body but the cold didn’t seem to be able to lower her body temperature.
Sensing a change Emily began to reach out to her blood. There was something going on here and she needed to know what. A pea-sized droplet of blood separated from Emily’s index finger and floated about a centimeter above it. The warmth from her blood caused vapor to expand off the droplet and because of its size it should have cooled down within seconds of being out of her body, but it didn’t even as icy cold rain fell against it.
Furrowing her brow, Emily closed her eyes and called to her stars. Their response came shortly after as they moved beneath her eyelids.
New features have been unlocked! (Special condition met: consuming blood inheritance.)
Bloodfire(lesser): The user's blood has become mixed with a source lineage(Wyrm), changing their physiology to match that of the originator.
Temperatures above and below a certain level will not affect the user.
Emily opened her eyes and glanced back at the droplet of blood. The skill was far more interesting than it seemed. The way in which it went about making her resistant to the cold was by raising her natural body temperature. That meant that she could ignore the cold to a certain extent because of her hotter blood.
If she had to guess her natural body temperature was almost twice the norm so that probably put her blood at around 70 degrees.
Which was great, her blood was now hotter than it had ever been, but it was far from dangerous.
Despite this Emily still liked the skill, with it she would be able to ignore the cold far easier than before.
It actually made her kind of annoyed.
If she’d known she could get this skill, she would have made more of an effort to kill a Wyrm sooner. Though something told her she probably would not have gotten this from anything but the strongest Wyrm’s blood.
Emily squinted her eyes through the pleasant feeling of the now-warm rain and let it soak through her. The warmth in her chest wasn’t unpleasant, it just felt like more than she was used to.
Emily only moved when Cupcake came up behind her and nudged at her shoulder.
“Alright let’s get going…”
Just as Emily swung herself onto Cupcake’s back, her eyes fell on a small pile of rocks near the cave entrance. They were arranged in a tidy arrow, pointing south—at least, she assumed it was south. Did Atticus really think leaving breadcrumbs would make up for robbing her?
Emily pursed her lips and clicked her tongue to get Cupcake moving.
Explorer thought that was the way as well so she didn’t see a problem with following it. Charging downhill on Cupcake's back was an exhilarating experience as the beast charged at an incredible pace. She was even faster than before and her step seemed more certain as she weaved through the trees and scattered rocks with grace.
They made good time down the side of the mountain dodging a good many tribes of elves.
When they got near the bottom they took some time to hunt down some small game as other islands didn’t have such an abundance of food on them.
Emily tried to follow Alex’s example, but a majority of the meat they gathered was from Cupcake's efforts. However, Emily did manage to identify some of the same mushrooms that Atticus had left for her.
When they had a good haul, Emily pulled the excess blood out of the meat to dry it out and preserve it, as she had no more rations.
It was around the time Emily was shoving prepared food into her pack, which was now full to bursting, that they heard the rumbling of a troll nearby.
Slinging the heavy thing over her shoulder Emily hopped onto Cupcake's back and they took off as two trolls burst through the treeline.
Emily didn’t say a word as a worried expression found its way onto her face. She needed time to cut a new craft, but she didn’t think these creatures would give her the breathing room. The island was large but trolls could cover a great deal of distance in a day, so escaping them while trapped on an island was going to be nearly impossible.
Emily glanced at the nearby shoreline and grunted to herself. They would need to kill these bothersome creatures to be free of them. Pulling on Cupcakes reins she got ready to turn and fight, but unexpectedly the she-wolf didn’t respond.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Emily growled as the Rime wolf increased her speed, making a break for the shore.
“Dammit, watch out for the water-”
Emily was cut short when she felt amusement trickling down the connection from Cupcake.
Less than a step away, the water stretched ahead, and the trolls were only two behind when Cupcake bounded from the shore, leaping far out over the lake. Emily felt that brief, breathless sensation of falling before they landed. Rather than breaking through the surface, a ripple spread under Cupcake's front paws, where a droplet of blood hardened the lake beneath them. The surface held firm, and as her back paws followed, more blood swirled down, solidifying each step.
Emily blinked in awe as Cupcake trotted across the lake’s surface. She had a feeling that if wolves could laugh, Cupcake would be in stitches.
“You little—next time, tell me before you pull something amazing like this!” Emily said, laughing, although she knew the wolf couldn’t answer.
Emily kept one hand on the reins as Cupcake bounded toward the next island, far faster than they’d managed before. Her excitement rose with every step, thinking about catching up with Atticus. They arrived at the next island in record time, where Emily spotted a small, carefully placed arrow made of stones, marking their way. But as they prepared to move on, she noticed that Cupcake was panting heavily.
Realization hit her. The skill was taking a toll. Cupcake’s eagerness to keep going masked the strain she was under. With a sigh, Emily conjured a small sphere of blood and offered it to Cupcake, who lapped at it gratefully. Cupcake paused, scrunching her nose and licking her lips. Emily stifled a laugh, thinking it was almost as if Cupcake had tasted something spicy, but the wolf quickly resumed drinking.
After a short rest, they were off again, skimming over the lake’s surface until they reached the second island, where Emily allowed Cupcake to recover. What should have taken them nearly four hours had taken just one. But as they approached the island, a strong current tugged against them, forcing Cupcake to work harder.
Curious, Emily guided her companion along the weather-beaten shore as the water churned around them, its powerful current tugging southward, like an unseen force was drawing them toward the mountain’s shadowed depths. Her excitement grew, thinking this might signal the end of their passage across the range. But rounding the far edge of the island, her heart sank. Looming before them was a gargantuan whirlpool, vast and unyielding, its outer edges pulling in the lake’s surface as if draining the sky itself. Water cascaded from all sides, spiraling down into an immense, darkened hole that plunged far beyond the light's reach, vanishing into the earth’s unseen depths. The roar of water was nearly deafening, and Emily couldn’t shake the eerie sense that the lake was alive, swallowing everything in its path.
Blood points: 271