All the Shadows of Death by Coley Taylor
Author:Coley Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NA fantasy strong female lead, supervillain protagonist fantasy, friends turned enemies fantasy, morally grey characters fantasy, multiple POV fantasy, adult fantasy series indie author, good guy turns bad fantasy
Publisher: Coley Taylor
Published: 2024-10-07T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter 37
Drax barely had enough strength to refill their waterskins the next morning. His body shook as she screwed the caps on, and when he wasnât looking, she snuck a few things from his backpack and shoved them into hers, hoping to lighten his load. He was carrying far too much already.
After that, Aren ripped up some questionable-looking roots, and they chewed on them. They were bitter and tough, and Aren had to force herself to swallow them down. It was enough to dull the pains in her own stomach, but she could hear Draxâs growling even after theyâd eaten. It was nowhere near enough.
They set off into the forest again, hungry and tired and still unsure if they were going the right way. Arenâs dark thoughts from yesterday had followed her through her dreams into the new day, and theyâd barely been walking for an hour before her melancholy got the better of her. She stopped and turned on Drax. âThatâs it! Youâre done,â she snarled. âThere is no reason for us both to die. Let go of me.â
Drax took a step back from her, his eyes widening in shock. âNo,â he said.
âYes! Iâm sucking the life out of you. I will not be the reason you die. Now let go!â
âNo.â
Aren screamed in frustration. âIf you donât let go of me right now, Iâll make you!â She pulled her cardonite dagger from her wraps and swung it up to his face.
Drax flinched and cowered into the ground, his blue eyes fixed on the dagger tip as it quivered between his eyes. âWhat will you do?â
The question caught Aren off guard. She had no idea. Sheâd hoped her threat would scare him enough that he would let go of her heart, but it still beat in her chest, mocking her efforts.
Draxâs gaze flickered to hers, his eyes still wide with fright. But clearly not enough. And there was no way Aren was going to take her blade to him.
Perhaps a change of tact.
âI take back what I said,â Aren snapped. âYou need to obey me. Stop harnessing!â
Drax stared at her, then slowly shook his head. âYouâre sad,â he said. âThatâs why you are pretending. This is not you.â He moved closer, shuffling around Arenâs dagger, his limp hands reaching out to her as if to embrace her. âItâs okay, weâll find food ââ
âNo!â
Desperate, Aren turned and ran, shoving through the bushes, which hurt because they tore at her face and hands, but she kept going anyway. If she got far enough away, Drax would be forced to let go.
She made it about ten steps before her heart buckled and her breath caught. The ground whipped up to meet her. She heard quick, ambling footsteps before Drax crash-landed on top of her, his limp hands weakly gripping her wraps as he pulled himself closer to her heart.
âLet go! Let go of me!â
Aren wanted to push him off, but she wasnât sure which way was off because her world was a whirl of colours, so she just shoved at him and smacked at his scarred hands.
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