The Ancients

Chapter 17

Vipin couldn't even think. Her legs just propelling her faster, faster. Before she even had a chance to think about what she was doing.

They hadn't quite made it through the portal before she closed the distance. Throwing herself at Ryland she wrapped an arm around his midsection, her sudden impact toppling them both over face first into the grass on the other side.

"What –" Ryland started aggressively, rolling over to look at Vipin who was just starting to pick herself up. Just then they heard the sudden thump of an arrow lodging itself into the tree in front of them. Right where Ryland's head was just a moment ago. His jaw dropped as he stared at the crude arrow above him.

Vipin looked behind them, not yet on her feet. Liam made it through the portal just as it closed, dropping to all fours from exhaustion. Ajlen was squatting, his hands on his knees, breaths coming to him in a raspy uneven pattern. Vipin's own heart was throbbing in her chest, begging her to stop and breathe.

There was no snow here, and the air was chilly but not quite freezing. Ahead of them was a dense forest that contained trees as old as Mokosh itself, behind them were valleys of brown grass that was covered in frost, the sun hadn't even thought to rise yet.

Ryland stood, "Thank you," he whispered to Vipin, extending his hand.

Vipin looked at his offer, narrowing her eyes she pushed his hand to the side with a slap and stood by herself. "Now, we're even," she snapped, thinking of his pale fingers wrapping around Liam's wrist and pulling him back onto the steps. She turned in a slow circle, taking her surroundings in. "Fuck," she whispered, anxiety crawling its way out of her throat and slathering itself on her tongue. "Fuck!" her voice was so loud it scared the nearby birds. She put her hands on her head as it started to spin, her heart throbbing rapidly in her chest.

"Where are we?" Liam asked, still gasping for air.

"I don't know, but that's Arvirum's forest," Ajlen answered breathlessly, pointing to the thick winding foliage next to them. They were on the outskirts of the ancient forest, but how far down that border they ended up Vipin had no way of knowing.

"The completely opposite direction of where we're supposed to go," Vipin added, her voice empty and her hands dropping to her sides.

"Vip..." Liam trailed off, leaning back to sit on his ankles.

"What?" she snapped.

Liam pointed at her, his words lost to him. Ajlen and Ryland's gaze followed his finger looking at the half-elf. Vipin's own eyes fell downward.

None of them had gotten the chance to check their injuries yet, they barely noticed they were injured at all. The adrenaline still pumping through every one of their veins. All their pants were horribly shredded, their shirts' sleeves to match. The cloth clung together enough but they would need new clothes before they got caught in a frost. Blood trickled from their wounds that varied from minor scrapes to gashes that might need stitches in normal circumstances. Deep midnight blue blood ran down Ajlen's calves and Ryland's knuckles. Liam had ruby red blood running down his shoulder from a spear that had flown by him, starting to stain his white shirt.

The last time Vipin had seen her blood – and she had seen a lot of it in the last ninety-four years – it was as red as Liam's. Now, it ran down her thigh from a large gash in an indigo stream.

Purple.

Her blood was now purple.

Vipin's breath hitched in her throat. Her hands started to shake as she watched the new blood trickle down her legs in a trance. Everything about her was changing. Her appearance, her ears, her senses, her blood. She was becoming a stranger in her own body.