From Embers

22 - Sewer Run

Although the humans were close on their heels, the group's pace started to slow. Alanis' feet began to drag as she stumbled, kicking up the water behind her. Jai-Jai ignored the squeeze in her stomach every time the boggy water splashed up her legs.

"I can't," Alanis panted, "I can't go on. It hurts."

Jai-Jai nearly toppled over the elf when she halted. Strong hands gripped at her waist, preventing her fall. Slapping Sen's hands away Jai-Jai tried to coax the elf up.

The elf's shoulders sagged. Alanis breathlessly protested as Jai-Jai tried to push her forward. Stumbling, she hissed and grabbed her shoulder.

"Gods be damned," Jai-Jai muttered as she tugged at Alanis' shirt.

Sen tugged on her shirt. "What are you doing?" He snipped, "We need to move on."

Repositioning herself, Jai-Jai leaned against the wall to give the vampire a better view. Gently pulling the ripped tethers of Alanis' shirt to the side, she revealed the skin around the arrow. There hadn't been any time to remove it before.

Letting out the long breath that he'd been holding in, Sen stood in silence.

Rhistel called back, voice shaking, "What's happening back there? Why've we stopped? It's too quiet."

"Rhistel," Jai-Jai called, "I need some light back here."

Boots scraped against the walls as Rhistel tried to twist to face the others.

That damn elf had to wear shoes with all those horrid buckles. Jai-Jai thought to herself.

Flames ignited, and Rhistel's eyes squinted as she reached towards her sister. There was no masking the obvious worry marring her features. Her ears twitched as the human soldier's footsteps neared.

A snicker slipped from Alanis' lips as she wiped sweat from her brow. Jai-Jai heard her inhale sharply before letting out a wretched scream. Sewer water splashed as Alanis threw the arrow to the ground. Before anyone had time to react, she grabbed Rhistel's arm. The smell of burning flesh wafted up Jai-Jai's nose. It brought back a fleeting sense of nostalgia. It took a moment before her brain refocused on the situation in front of her.

"What did ye bloody do tha' for? Daft fool!" Rhistel screamed as she tried to pull back her hand.

Alanis hissed through clenched teeth, "Canna go back now. Ye have tae cauterize the other side or a'll bleed out."

Even with Alanis in the way, Jai-Jai caught a glimpse of the few stray tears that escaped Rhistel's eyes as she squeezed them shut. She brought her hand around and burned the wound closed. Jai-Jai's hand unconsciously grabbed on her shirt right below her heart. Esme didn't look like that when she burned us.

"That's because it was a privilege for her to cause us pain."

She always was a raging-

"Sen," Jai-Jai interrupted herself, "do you think there's enough space for you to squeeze past me?"

"It would be tight, but if you lay down, I could. Why?"

"I recognise the smell of this poison, and it's killed bigger creatures in less time. Alanis won't make it back to Twig on time at this rate. The fact that she's still able to move at all is a wonder. She'll have a much better chance at survival if you carry her out of here. With your speed, you should arrive with enough time for Twig to extract it from Alanis' system."

"No, a canna leave ye two behind."

Rhistel shut Alanis' protest down. "Ye don't get a say in this matter. A donna want to think of what ma will do if a return without ye."