Her arms held him.
Trembling but warm.
WOOOH!
For a moment, the storm seemed far away.
...It was just two.
"Haa...." "....Haa"
Breath mingling in the sounds of wind.
His chest eased.
Her grip didn't loosen.
A moment of peace.
"Blood, blood, the blood I seek..."
The words slid through the haze....
Thump!
Riven's body stiffened....
Fatigued eyes snapped up, cutting through the fog.
Nothing.
Flakes.
Swirls of frost.
The voice didn't stop.
"...I smell thee waking. I drink in sleep."
Closer.
Thump!
Echoes from nowhere.
Echoes from all around.
Thump-
The warmth of embrace withered.
Immediately.
Dread.
Saphira flinched in his embrace.
Her lips parted, breath sharp.
She heard what the winds carried.
As did he.
WOOOOH!
"Blood, blood, the blood I seek..."
The wind hadn't howled.
It whispered...
The rhymes running through the air slithered.
"--haa--"
It was hard to breathe.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Riven's chest tightened.
Thoughts sharpened like glass.
'...Is it him?!'
"...I smell thee waking. I drink in sleep."
Threading through their ears, the air grew colder.
"Riven....that voice--"
Saphira's words stumbled in a shiver...
'If it's him....'
Thump!
The image.
The memory of that night.
It ran through his mind, just as he did soon after....
Thump!
The smell of blood.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
A body, still warm on the cold wooden floor.
Thump!
And those eyes.
If you could call them such...
Thump!
Those ember slits, burning from the dark...
Watching.
Thump!
Waiting.
The rhyme wasn't just in the storm.
"Blood, blood...."
It was in him.
Thump--
Saphira's voice cracked beside him.
The embrace had vanished.
Her eyes whipped all across, heart slowly beating at the....dreaded words.
'...What is that??'
Her eyes spun back, "Riven... we have to--"
He didn't let her finish.
"The blood I seek..."
His hand snapped to Mael's Fang, snowing crunching as he pulled it out from the ground.
Chak!
He pulled her close.
"We have to go!"
Rushed.
Stressed.
The panic was clear.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
They ran.
And as they did....
A blood trail dripped.
Fresh.
Courtesy of the stalker.
------------
WOOOOOOOH!
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Snow exploded under their boots as they tore through white.
"Haaa! Haaa!"
Riven's breaths came sharp, pulled.
Every inhale burning his chest. His shoulder throbbed with each step; a fire that threatened to pull him down.
Crunch! Crunch!
"Haakkk-!"
Saphira's hand was in his.
Tight.
Desperate.
"Haakkk-!"
Her lungs screamed, her own voice breaking in balls of steam.
Crunch! Crunch!
She matched his rushed strides.
Fingers refused to slip, even as the gale howled around them.
There was no chance of separation.
WOOOOOOOOOH!
Not again...
"Haa! Haa!"
"Blood."
Faint echoes travelled far in the wind.
Distant.
Present.
'Why?!'
The question floated, echoing....but not as loud as the rhyme.
"I seek."
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
'What does he want with her?!'
"Haa! Haa!"
He knew it was for her.
In that castle, he overheard slight phrases.
"representative."
WOOOOOOOOOH!
"Haakkk-!"
Crunch! Crunch!
'For what?!'
"Drink."
Crunch! Crunch!
The snow was uneven now.
The flat white gave way to sudden dips and hills.
Riven's boot slipped on a slope, dragging her with him before he caught their balance.
Chaaak! Crunch!
"Haa!"
They vaulted a ridge.
Crunch!
Before sliding down another.
Chaaak!
Snow stung their faces, as lungs clawed for air.
"Haaak--!"
"Riven--wait!" Saphira gasped, stumbling as he pulled her along.
Her eyes darted behind them.
"What... what is that back there?"
He didn't answer.
"Haaa! Haaa!"
He couldn't.
Crunch! Crunch!
His jaw clenched tight, as breath teared through his throat.
Every muscled burned, as Mael's Fang clattered at his side.
It was forever holstered now....
WOOOOOOOOOH!
"Blood, blood....."
It bled through the gale once more.
WOOOOOOH!
Crunch!
But then...silence.
Like the wind itself had swallowed the words for them.
"....Riven! Wait a second..."
They froze for a beat.
"Haaa!" "Haaak--!"
Breaths were loud.
Too loud.
Frost steamed from pale lips.
Heavy and strained.
How long had they ran?
"Haaaa...."
Crunc-
They stood there for a moment, feet sinking deeper into white.
A slope of snow covered them overhead, as they panted heavily.
Cover that they relied on.
"Riven..."
Frost steamed.
"What was that?"
He didn't answer at first.
Rises and falls captured the scene.
"Haaa..."
His eyes darted across the storm torn white.
'...He looks like he's seen a ghost'
Unease rose in Saphira's stomach.
He looked, as if searching for a shadow that wasn't there....
"...Hey."
She called, bringing him back to the ground.
He turned.
But he didn't meet her eyes.
His lips parted to answer...
But no words left.
Her brows knitted, voice slowly trembling.
"You know...don't you?"
WOOOOOOH!
His breath shuddered, white frost spilling into the night.
"...Not something we can fight."
A silence spread, as her eyes shook slightly.
He put his hand out, "So we run."
"Haa...."
She hesitated as his hand wavered in the cold.
Her gaze lingered, a pale against the storm's grey.
'...What happened while I was out?'
The thought clawed at her chest.
She could see the strain in his eyes.
It wasn't just fatigue.
It was something close....
'Fear.'
...Maybe it already was.
"Haaa...." "....Haak---"
Their breaths connected in that frost.
'...He's hiding something....but do I want to find out?'
She reached out, her fingers closing around his, firmer than she expected.
WOOOOOOOOOOH!
A howl of wind.
Rising like laughter.
But still....
They ran.
A blood trail in their wake.