Dammit, dammit, dammit! He internally cursed at himself as he sprinted through the Virens, leaving small whirlwinds of leaves in his wake. The last time he’d been here he’d gotten off lucky. And even then, with luck catching him out of the corner of her eye, he and his former travelling companion had still nearly been killed. The problem with this wood was that it cut a straight path to Vilpamolan. Well, the clearest path that didn’t go through a mountain range that is. And Vilpamolan was his exact destination. Unfortunately.

He shot a hand out, catching the bark of a tree with his palm just in time to use his momentum to propel him in another direction. Right now his speed was all that was keeping him alive, but the rumble of his pursuer was catching up to him faster than he would have liked. Thirst had made him more impulsive than usual. He didn’t always think things through, but very rarely was he so careless as he’d been tonight. Always be on your highest alert in the Virens, always, he’d even taunted others for not taking care for goodness’ sake!

The shakes of withdrawal were already well underway; tensing up his muscles and causing him to sweat. Two days. Two days without blood, and this blasted wood had scarcely provided him anything. Any other like him would be fine for even a week without blood, but he’d grown so addicted to it over the decades that his body ached for the warmth of it down his throat. Even if it was all psychosomatic bullshit it still didn’t help his present situation.

A glint of steel spiraled past his head and he skidded to a halt just in time to see the sharpened edge of a double-sided axe slice into a tree. The loose threads of his sleeve fluttered away, showing just how close that throw had come to him. While the weapon was indeed wedged deeply in the bark, he watched in horror and anger as it started to vibrate itself free. Witches and their guard dogs.

The blade pinwheeled backwards to find its thrower, but he wouldn’t be around long enough to play target again. Breath sufficiently caught in the two seconds he’d frozen, he raced off as the hulking man roared behind him. He hadn’t even done anything, this was ridiculous, why chase him so far?! It wasn’t as if he’d done more than step on territory. Unmarked territory at that! Magick, wards, sigils, blah blah blah he had only been walking!

There were plenty of things Jakobi deserved to be decapitated for, but stumbling had to be at the bottom of the list. Last time he and the nymph had managed to climb out of sight, but they’d gone without being seen at all. This time he’d been spotted and doubted he’d be able to pull the same trick twice. Once a beast like his attacker started to berserk, there wasn’t much to be done in distracting them from their goal.

There was something almost enjoyable about taking a nap in a forest. Drake and Danwe had gone off to do their own thing, which left Xeik to wander about as he pleased. And since he was forewarned about the dangers of the Virens, he had decided it would be better to nap. Low and behold, that would not be happening.

As he settled in to close his eyes in a branch high above the ground, a sudden thud, followed by the tree shaking violently caused him to nearly lose his balance and fall. The young thief gripped the branch with all his strength until the shaking stopped, and then glanced down from his perch. What was that!? he thought, his eyes wide. His eyes scanned the ground, and he noticed someone running away from the tree. Okay… he looked down at the tree, just in time to see a huge man run by, a wild glint in his eye, and a large axe in hand.

Well that explains one thing… Xeik jumped up, and then took a stance. Okay. Now I’m curious, he thought as he leapt from one tree branch to the next, following. He had sensed this kind of murderous intent before, though it had not been acted upon. It reminded him of that odd oaf of a man that claimed to be a demon hunter. Their accord had fallen through, but Xeik had already received payment for his services, and that did not sit well with the hunter.

“If this guy is anything like the other one,” Xeik muttered as he struggled to keep up, “Then I should probably stop him before he causes too much trouble.” Besides…the other person might feel a bit generous after having his life saved.

With a sudden burst of speed, Xeik blew past the pursuer, and then jumped down, landing a few feet away from the rampage. He hit the ground hard, and then raised his hand, “Flash!” A burst of light erupted from his hand, hopefully blinding the berserker and his charge. He immediately rolled out of the way, making sure to steer clear of the ensuing chaos.

Hopefully that’ll slow him down. It should give me enough time to… He spotted the runner, and started to run towards him. Hopefully he could tell what happened, and would follow Xeik. C;mon. Follow me! And don’t speak. If he hears you, he’ll just charge you!

Seemingly out of nowhere, a thunderous crash echoed through the dark trees. He paused only for a second to look back. What in the world? He hadn’t done that, so what was it? Unbeknownst to him, the flash had been enough of a surprise for the berserker that it had sent him raging head first into one of the thick trunks. He blinked slowly, dazed, as if trying to figure out what had happened, but it left enough time for his blinder to run safely.

By that time Jakobi had already continued his sprint. Whatever had slowed that thing was either a lifesaver or something worse. So, one could only imagine his surprise when he saw a child come running towards him. His eyes halved in irritation when they should have been brightening with gratitude. Luckily, he was smart enough not to speak out loud and took note of the urgency in the boy’s eyes just before he changed his course.

He wanted him to follow, and well, it made about as much sense as anything else did today, so he turned and went with him. They were only allotted a half minute more until the charging continued, but at least now the berserker had lost scent of the trail; instead rushing in bursts in random directions. That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t get lucky. For whatever reason the boy was helping him, and he was so unaccustomed to others helping him rather than cursing him that all he could do was scowl in a poor attempt of thanks.

Where was he leading him to though? He didn’t look like a slayer, didn’t smell like one, and age meant nothing to their lot since they liked to get them young. While he was fortunate enough to be helped by him, he doubted he’d be willing to give up his neck. When he felt they were at a safe enough distance he whispered through the rushing wind that cycloned them as they ran, “Where are you going?” his words were fast, precise, but not without wariness.

The fact that the pursued had followed was a good sign. He at least had common sense. They had been running for long enough that Xeik felt it near time to stop and inquire as to why the man had been being chased. As if to prove a point with dramatic timing, the person behind asked a question, to which the boy responded by stopping, almost abruptly.

“Anywhere that isn’t in that…thing’s path.” Xeik hesitated calling it a person. To be fair, the thief had met his fair share of large humanoids, but that was something new. “And you’re okay?” he asked, glancing back. “What exactly were you doing? And how did you piss it off?” The boy’s green eyes looked over the man. He had a similar build to Xeik, but was older. His red eyes were unsettling, but Xeik had grown accustomed to Drake’s when he shifted into his dragon forms…though the dragon’s eyes and…this man’s eyes were completely different in intent.

“You could have died you know,” the brown haired boy said matter-of-factly. “You should really be more careful.”