I clutch Poppy’s saddle as Darian spurs us across the desert. The star drake ahead of us isn’t slowing down, despite the firework of lights Liz is setting off to signal her rescue. It only lasts for another few seconds; one of the Umbral Blades strikes her across the face, and the illusions shatter into a rainfall of embers, slowly flickering out.

“Will we catch up to them?” I ask. We don’t seem to be getting closer.

“We’ll catch up,” Darian snarls.

“Not like this,” I say. “We need to slow them down.”

Darian growls, then shoves the reins into my hands. “Hold this.”

“Uh!” I don’t know how to steer a lizard. Hell, I don’t even know how to steer a horse. But Darian’s not paying attention. She’s mumbling something, sketching a pattern in the air. A glow of orange trails behind her finger, illuminating a spell circle. It maybe only takes her fifteen seconds to complete the pattern, but clutching the reins of a giant lizard makes it feel like an hour. She finishes, plucks the circle from the air, then flings it ahead of us like a frisbee. It flies further and faster than I thought, striking the ground before the Umbral Blade’s drake.

A pillar of rock erupts from the clay. Their lizard tries to swerve, but it clips the stone. The drake falls on its side, scrambling to its feet just as fast, but not fast enough to keep all of its riders from scattering over the ground. The lizard keeps running, oblivious to its lack of passengers.

“Got them,” Darian hisses. She grabs the reins back from me, and I’m relieved I didn’t have to use them.

[Role Requirement,] Echo abruptly says. [The Knight must protect the Prince.]

“Crap!” I slap a hand to my head as the first hints of static start to creep in. At the same time, that damn Sanity stat appears, already slowly starting to tick down. “Not now!”

“What is it?” Darian snaps.

“Quell is in danger.” I look through the Crimson Aegis’s sight. There’s a fight taking place near the entrance of The Coil, but it’s too far and too frantic to make out. Two more drakes carrying Umbral Blades peel off from the fight and rush toward us. We’re about to be extremely outnumbered.

“You have to go,” Darian says. “Protect the prince.”

[Role Requirement.]

[Sanity Level: 97%]

I grit my teeth against the incoming headache. “You can’t fight them all on your own.”

“There’s only two of them,” Darian says. “It won’t be a problem.”

“There’s a dozen more behind!”

Darian glances back and swears. “I’ll handle Liz. You handle the prince. Give me your arm.”

“What?” I ask, baffled.

“Your arm!”

We’re nearly upon the princess and the Umbral Blades. They’ve recovered and are standing between us and Liz. They brace, weapons raised, but Darian overshoots them, taking us in a U around the clustered soldiers until we’re facing the Coil once more. Then she turns around, shoves the reins into one of my hands, and grabs my other. Before I have a chance to react, she rips my sleeve up and sinks her teeth into my forearm.

I cry out in pain as much as shock, trying to yank my arm back.

The Aegis also takes note. Hey! What is this one doing? That’s our blood! …Can it have some, too?

“Darian! What the hell!”

Darian’s eyes cloud over, and she releases my arm, blood dripping from her fangs and smeared across her lips. Without looking at me, without another word, she springs from the lizard and goes rolling across the ground. Still somewhat stunned, I twist back to watch. Darian leaps to her feet and jumps unnaturally far, tackling the nearest Blade. She crouches on top of them like a cat as they go skidding across the ground, then spins and launches herself at the next one.

[Check,] Echo says. [Status Effect: Bloodlust.]

The surprise finally starts to wear off. No wonder she knew so much about dealing with a Bloodlust. I touch the mask I’m still wearing, pulled up over my nose: she didn’t have this in case she ran into other soldiers who needed it—this one belonged to her.

[Role Requirement]

[Sanity Level: 95%]

No time to think about it now. I face forward just as the two Umbral Blade drakes race past me toward Darian and their comrades. I’m not sure who I’m worried for more.

I squeeze Poppy’s reins in a death grip as we race back toward the Coil. Luckily, she’s heading right where I need her to go. The fighting ahead of us is getting close; all parties appear to be locked in combat. I sure hope I can get Poppy to stop in time.

Repel, I think, activating the first spell. My mana drops to 40/50. I need to wait to activate Devour and Endure until I need them, since they’re a consistent mana drain as long as I have the spells active. What else do I have? My Attuned blood. Could I use that in a pinch? At the thought, I get ready to activate Coagulate and stop the bleeding on my arm.

WAIT! The Aegis leans over my proverbial shoulder. It could use that. Why let it go to waste? It won’t take much—only what’s already leaked out. Then it could become strong enough to use another Blood Ward! Don’t I want to be strong? We could be so powerful!

Well, it’s right that I’m already bleeding. There’s no point in letting it dry and go to waste if the shield can otherwise use it in the fight. With the Sanity Stat still gnawing at my mind, I’m keen to end this fight as quickly as possible.

Fine, I think, and the Aegis rejoices. But just what’s already leaked out; no taking any blood that’s still in my body.

The Crimson Aegis pulses with excitement. I will not regret this! I will be so impressed. My blood will lead us to victory!

“You sound like some kind of cult leader,” I grumble. The red bands of magic around my shoulders shift, splitting off to wind down my arm and wrap around the two puncture marks. I don’t feel anything as the blood around the wound begins to vanish; I guess it’s keeping its promise to only lap up whatever blood seeps out.

Like a vampire bat, I think with a dark chuckle. Although, I guess I’m the vampire, now.

[Sanity Level: 94%]

I pull back on Poppy’s reins as I approach the fight at the Coil’s entrance. The arrow in my vision points me directly to Prince Quell, otherwise I might not have found him in the chaos. He’s keeping behind Earnest, who’s fighting off two Umbral Blades, while Xamireb has been separated and is fighting another one, also an arachnoid. But there’s more soldiers about, slowly surrounding the fight. It takes me a moment to realize they’re neither Moonfall nor Duneshade, but guards from the Coil. Aw, crap. We promised them we wouldn’t fight in their city, and here we are.

Poppy slows as I continue to pull back on her reins, though not nearly as much as I had hoped. I guess star drakes need a stronger touch. I wait until the last second, then tell the Aegis to shift back to my arm. Deciding to replicate Darian’s jump, roll, and attack tactic, I leap from Poppy’s back.

I wasn’t accounting for the weight of the Crimson Aegis, however, so instead of hitting feet first, I tip over onto my side, the shield clipping the ground. I fall on top of it, skidding a dozen feet over the baked clay earth like a wakeboard. This gives me enough time to gather my bearings and jump to my feet before I’ve finished skidding to a stop. I come up behind the two soldiers attacking Earnest and Quell, and bash the Aegis into the nearest Blade from behind. She goes skipping across the ground as the other turns to me in surprise.

Alright, so not as smooth as Darian, but I’d still give that a solid 7/10 style points.

[Sanity Level: 92%]

The other soldier slashes at me as I duck behind my shield; the blow causes me to go staggering back. Time for that Endure spell now.

The first soldier has climbed to her feet and is sprinting back toward us. Two on one. I don’t hate my odds, but I also need to be careful; I can’t let one of them circle around behind my back.

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Earnest steps up beside me. “Thanks for the assist.” He swipes his water spear at the nearest soldier, who skips back. “You know how to frontline?”

“Er, I don’t think so,” I admit.

Earnest ducks behind me as the soldiers swing for him and strike my shield instead. “Well, this is as good a time as any to learn.”

[Role Requirement]

[Sanity Level: 91%]

I risk a glance behind us, where Quell is hesitating, a hand raised as if to cast a spell. What I don’t like is how The Coil guards are closing in behind him. Will they attack Quell? Us? The Umbral Blades? I have no idea—and I can’t risk leaving it up to chance.

“Get over here,” I shout at him.

He jumps at the order, the shuffles closer. “Is there something I can—”

“Just stay close,” I tell him, turning back to the Moonfall soldiers. “And watch our backs. Say something if it looks like those Coil guards are about to attack.”

“Of course,” Quell says.

I push ahead, and Earnest and Quell keep behind me. When one of the soldiers moves to circle around, Earnest leaps out at them with his spear. I start to fall into a rhythm with him: I defend, he attacks.

The Aegis is frustrated with this progress. Why aren’t we attacking? We can still attack! We don’t need anyone to help us. It has absorbed enough of my blood that it can use a Blood Ward now. We can still win!

We are winning, I tell it.

The Aegis grumbles. Maybe, but not fast enough.

Unfortunately, it might be right about that. I’m worried about Darian. She has to be more experienced dealing with the Bloodlust than me. But still; is it enough to fight off ten fighters at once? All while not hurting the captive we’re trying to save? We need to finish up here quickly so we can join her.

Or stop her.

Someone gives a strangled cry. I can’t figure out who it came from until Xamireb stumbles and falls. The arachnoid they’re fighting steps over them.

Earnest sucks in a breath. “Xamir!” He dashes from my side, darting between the two Moonfall soldiers.

“Earnest, wait!” I cry.

The soldiers turn toward him; an easy, exposed target.

Now! I shout at the Aegis.

[Blood Ward activated.]

Whips of blood slash out from the shield, striking the swords of the Umbral Blades before they can hit Earnest. He slips through, sprinting toward his sibling. The Aegis, meanwhile, revels in the fight.

Haha! Pathetic creatures thought they could stand against the great and mighty Crimson Aegis? Fools! Our power is superior in every respect!

[Sanity Level: 89%]

More whips of blood grow from the shield, slashing at the soldier’s arms, legs, weapons, face—anything left unexposed even for a moment. The soldiers stumble back, fear obvious in their wide eyes. The Aegis leaves gashes of red along any exposed portions of skin; the smell of blood hits me, heady and tempting, which only seems to rile the Aegis up even more.

[Sanity Level: 87%]

Two of the whips lash out, grabbing onto the arms of the soldiers. It tugs them forward, sending one stumbling to his knees. Another thread of blood spears into his leg, and I can feel it as the Aegis starts to draw the blood out of him.

“Wait, stop!” I cry, stepping backward. The other soldier turns to run, but the Aegis spears her, too. “Don’t! You’ll kill them!”

The Aegis scoffs. Well it’s not about to let us lose! Attacking them is the point, isn’t it? Absolutely victory!

“Um, Nye?” Quell says.

“Not now!” I growl, focusing on the Aegis. We don’t have to kill them to win. We can just—just knock them out or something!

The Aegis finds this to be absolutely unsatisfactory. It is a weapon. I am not wielding it to its full potential!

[Sanity Level: 85%]

“No!” I step back, trying to pull the whips of blood from the soldiers, but the threads only grow in length. The first soldier collapses to the ground—the second isn’t long after them.

“Nye,” Quell presses, his voice going up in pitch. “It’s the Coil guards—”

“Cease your fighting,” a voice calls at the same time. I spare a glance behind me to confirm Quell’s warning; the Coil guards are advancing, shields and weapons raised. “The Coil is neutral territory. Conflicts between Moonfall and Duneshade forces break the city’s laws of armistice. All parties are to be apprehended.”

The Aegis takes note of these new incoming enemies, more lines of blood peeling away from its facade as it shifts its focus to these new targets.

[Sanity Level: 82%]

“No!” I cry, panic welling up within me, static chewing at my mind. “They’re innocent. They’re not the enemy. Aegis, stop!”

It will stop, it assures me. Just as soon as I am safe.

Blood whips out toward the Coil guards.

I spin, kicking Quell’s legs out from under him. The prince goes down with an undignified squeal, and I step over him, slamming the Aegis into the ground on his other side.

“Repel!”

The spell that had been storing up energy with every strike finally expels its energy: the shockwave radiates from the shield, striking the guards and knocking them back even as spears of blood stab through the air where they had just been.

[Role Requirement satisfied.]

[Sanity Level: 90%]

[Sanity Level: 100%]

I stand there shaking for a moment. Blood rushes in my ears. Panic fizzles out of my limbs. “Add the Aegis to my Inventory.”

No, wait—!

The shield vanishes from around my arm, and I stumble to my knees, nearly falling on top of Quell.

He catches me before that happens, hand braced against my shoulder. His eyes are wide. “Are you alright? What happened?”

I shake my head, breathing heavily, adrenaline shooting like electricity through my limbs. It wasn’t listening to me. I had no control over it. That was too close. Much too close.

The Coil guards are groaning and picking themselves up; I imagine quite a few had the wind knocked out of them. That’ll buy us a couple of seconds. I wish we had more.

“Earnest,” I say, looking back to where I’d last seen him. The arachnoid that had been fighting Xamireb is also now on the ground, Earnest leaning heavily on his spear, though I can’t make out the state of any of them. Quell scrambles to his feet, grabbing my arm and ineffectively trying to pull me up as well; like a toddler trying to lift an adult. I stumble to my feet anyway, glancing back at The Coil guards; they’re starting to regroup. Quell and I hurry over to the twins.

“Is he alive?” Quell blurts, ever tactful.

Earnest looks up at us, breathing heavily. There’s a cut on his forehead, which I try not to focus on, and something like black tar splattered over his chest. When I look at Xamireb and the Moonfall arachnoid, it becomes clear the black dots are arachnoid blood.

“Can’t kill me that easily,” Xamireb says, wincing as they push themself into a sitting position. Even so, they don’t try to stand. There’s a gash in their torso that’s leaking more of the black blood.

“That doesn’t look good,” Quell observes.

“I’ll be fine,” they insist. “Just need to get patched up.

“Can you walk?” I ask.

“No, they can’t,” Earnest says, catching his breath. “And don’t believe them downplaying the severity of that injury. They’ll bleed out if we don’t treat it.”

“We’re at a city,” they say. “We can get a healer.”

“I don’t think we’re welcome here anymore.” I look back at the guards. They’ve reformed their ranks and are currently surrounding the fallen Umbral Blades—whether to apprehend, or dispose of their bodies, I’m not certain. My stomach turns as I try to not think about their fates.

“Besides,” I add, turning back to the rest of the group. “Darian’s in trouble. She went to rescue Liz, but at least eight more Blades were headed her way. And she’s in a Bloodlust.”

“What?” Earnest and Quell cry.

Xamireb winces. “That’s troubling.”

“We need to get to her,” I say. “I don’t know if she’ll be able to—”

Quell places two fingers to his lips and blows a shrill, sharp whistle right in my ear.

I lean back with a grimace. “Ow.”

“Sorry,” he says. “But if Darian’s in a Bloodlust, then my sister could be in danger.”

“And the whistle was for…?”

The ground drums, and a couple of the Coil guards let out a cry. Poppy skids to a stop in front of us, tipping her head at Quell.

“Come on,” he says, swinging up onto her back. “It will be a tight fit, but we have to hurry!”

Earnest wipes a sheen of sweat from his brow, clearly in no shape for another fight, but he nods anyway. “Nye. Help me with Xamireb.”

“I’m not sure my anatomy is designed for a star drake saddle,” they say.

“Well unless you’d rather stay here with the guards, you’ll have to make do,” Earnest snaps.

Xamireb grimaces, but doesn’t object further as Earnest gets in position to lift them. I follow his lead, positioning myself on the opposite side. He grabs two of the spider legs right up against the torso, and I do the same. Their shell feels as smooth and hard as polished stone.

Together, we manage to lift the arachnoid and leverage them up onto Poppy’s side. The process maybe takes less than a minute, but I can feel every second ticking by, not knowing the fate of Darian—or the princess. As soon as all of us are aboard, squished up against each other, Quell snaps the reins and we’re off running.

I lean around Poppy’s neck to try to get a look at the scene we’re coming up on. Two star drakes frame the scene, each of them empty of the riders they delivered. There’s bodies scattered over the ground, though several are still standing. I can make out Darian simply by how she moves, a whirlwind of horror, leaping and tearing and slashing like a wild animal. Goosebumps prickle down my spine. Is that what I’d looked like?

As we arrive, the last Umbral Blade falls. Only Darian is left standing, her clawed hands dripping with blood. A nearby boulder ripples, and then vanishes. The princess stands from where she’d been hiding.

“Liz!” Quell shouts as Poppy comes to a stop. “Be careful! Get away from her! It’s a Bloodlust.”

Liz glances over at us in surprise. “Quill!” Then she snorts. “No shit it’s a Bloodlust.” She walks over to Darian.

“Liz!” Quell cries, his voice cracking. He scrambles to get down from the lizard, but I grab him and pull him back.

“Let go of me!” he cries.

“You’ll be in just as much danger as her,” I say, shoving him back into his seat. And what will my Role Requirement do to me if the prince gets himself killed? Nothing good, I imagine. “I’ll go.”

I hop down, but Liz is already feet away from Darian. The captain’s head snaps in Liz’s direction. Shit. I’m not close enough. But if I run, would I startle her into attacking? I have to be careful. This is a delicate situation. The wrong move could be fatal.

“Hey, you big brute,” Liz says. I grimace. “Snap out of your Bloodlust, dummy.”

Darian snarls, stepping toward Liz.

Who slaps her.

She slaps the murderous blood-soaked vampire across the face.

Darian growls, and to my astonishment, Liz grabs her by the chin, turning the captain to face her once more. “That didn’t get through to you, did it?” Liz asks. “Maybe this will.” Liz leans in and kisses her.

My mind shorts out.

Quell makes a strangled, confused noise behind me.

“Oh,” Earnest says. “So that’s what she was doing on all those suspicious ‘top secret’ missions we weren’t invited on.”

“I thought it was obvious, really,” Xamireb replies.

I am mentally replaying every time Darian insisted on rescuing Liz herself.

The tension goes out of Darian, and she gasps in a breath. “Princess.”

“Captain.” Liz pulls away, smiling softly. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Quell lets out another strangled noise. “What?” he says. “What?!”

I turn back to Quell, giving him a pat on the leg. “I think they need a minute.”

Quell looks down at me in such complete, wide-eyed bafflement, that I can’t help but laugh. Then Earnest is laughing, too. Even Xamireb chuckles—then winces.

I lean against Poppy, exhaustion washing over me. I don’t know why any of us laughed. None of this is funny.

Maybe after fear and desperation hollow you out, laughter is the first thing you let back in.