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 wasn’t 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 Drax’s growling even after they’d 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. Aren’s dark thoughts from yesterday had followed her through her dreams into the new day, and they’d barely been walking for an hour before her melancholy got the better of her. She stopped and turned on Drax. ‘That’s it! You’re done,’ she snarled. ‘There is no reason for us both to die. Let go of me.’

Drax took a step back from her, his eyes widening in shock. ‘No,’ he said.

‘Yes! I’m sucking the life out of you. I will not be the reason you die. Now let go!’

‘No.’

Aren screamed in frustration. ‘If you don’t let go of me right now, I’ll make you!’ 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. ‘What will you do?’

The question caught Aren off guard. She had no idea. She’d 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.

Drax’s 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.

‘I take back what I said,’ Aren snapped. ‘You need to obey me. Stop harnessing!’

Drax stared at her, then slowly shook his head. ‘You’re sad,’ he said. ‘That’s why you are pretending. This is not you.’ He moved closer, shuffling around Aren’s dagger, his limp hands reaching out to her as if to embrace her. ‘It’s okay, we’ll find food –’

‘No!’

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.

‘Let go! Let go of me!’

Aren wanted to push him off, but she wasn’t 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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