I yawned as I stared at the sand, my little drawing of the white wolf starting right back at me. Probably judging the fact that I was still awake, even this late at night for me. My leg was throbbing and wouldn't let up, so I couldn't sleep. It didn't help when I was in the same tomb as one of the last Anacondrai snakes that may or may not be working with one of the most powerful dragons that ever lived. The sun slowly cracked through the tomb entrance and I knew it was time for the other two to wake up, but I suddenly didn't want them to. Lloyd shifted, beginning to wake up and stretch his limbs as Pythor hissed, waking up to Lloyd's groaning. Turning back to my drawing, I waited for someone else to speak and come up with what we'll do next. Lloyd sat down next to me and I greeted him with a purr. Pythor, however, got nothing as he approached us sitting in the sand, eyes flicking to my leg.
"How's the leg, young girl," he asked.
"Fine," I said, not raising my gaze as I continued adding more detail to my drawing.
"What are we going to do today?" Pythor asked Lloyd.
"Ooo! I was thinking we could go into town and break all their rules!" he said, finishing off with an evil laugh. I rolled my eyes playfully and out of annoyance and couldn't help the little wag in my tail.
Pythor clapped his talons together excitedly. "Wonderful idea, my young boy. Shall we get to it?"
"Yes!" Lloyd said, standing up. "You coming Liz?"
I shook my head with a small smile. "I'm going to stay to rest my leg," I said. "But go be evil for me."
Lloyd nodded, returning my smile and very quickly made his way out with Pythor. I sighed, now alone, and decided to do some snooping around the tomb. My leg was still pretty bad but I had enough time to kill with those two gone. Perfect for snooping.
I searched for who knows how long as I sniffed and turned every nook and cranny finding nothing but bones and old scraps of cloth to replace the bloodied one on my leg. The bleeding had stopped finally and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. However, I sucked it right back in when I saw Pythor entering the tomb, Lloyd nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Lloyd?" I demanded. Pythor tisked a few times, shaking his head. "I'm afraid he stayed behind for a little while longer. You and I have some matters to discuss."
"Like what? I don't even know you."
"Your blood has been in my nose since you arrived, you think I'd be able to resist such power?"
I gasped. "You can't! Bloodpaws are unstable and-"
"Very powerful, yes?"
I responded by straightening my back. "Over my dead body," I growled.
"So be it, little girl."
Pythor lunged at me, talons outreached and I gasped, rolling to the left, screaming in pain and rage with my leg hitting the ground. I sat upright, eyes up and locked on Pythor as I tried to shift into my wolf form, but it was too painful. Whatever adrenaline I had before wasn't coming back this time around and I tried to keep my breathing even. But no matter how hard I tried to doge, he was always a scale ahead of me, grabbing me and pinning me down on the ground, his tail wrapped around my upper body and I started to panic.
"This will only take a moment," Pythor hissed before sinking his large sharp fangs into my leg and I screamed. I felt sick as I felt his tongue try to suck the blood. I stayed quite as to not let him think I was relieved he was trying it this way. It wouldn't work, it had to come in direct contact with your own blood. That was his first mistake.
I continued to scream and was soon shut up by his tail covering my mouth. That was his second. I bit his tail as hard as I could and he screeched in pain, blood decorating his jaw as he let go just enough for my tiny form to slip through. Before I could even think about pushing through the pain to shift, I heard footsteps.
"It's Lloyd," I announced.
Pythor stared at me with death in his eyes. A death I didn't know a living creature could possess... "You say nothing or the boy gets it," he hissed.
I glared at him, tempted to just rip his head off now, but my leg was bleeding again and if I wanted to protect Lloyd, I had to tend to it now before I loose even more blood.
When I was out of sight from Pythor, silent tears stared streaming down my face. How could he do that to me? He seemed to know about the Bloodpaws being a thing. The other two tribes didn't seem to care or even bring it up, I had done that out of assumption. Who told him? Was he more involved with my mother than I thought? Or was there someone else pulling the strings... Phantom had to be a part of this. I have to live to tell Wu and get Lloyd out of here.
I went back from my little hiding spot behind the big rock to see Lloyd with a bunch of candy laying on his back with a now cleaned up Pythor laying beside him. At my arrival, Lloyd sat up and smiled at me and waved for me to try some candy.
I shook my head. "I shouldn't, I need to have my rest."
"This is the only food that I have, you need to eat something!" he insisted.
I sighed. "Alright, I'll have some." My hand reached out towards a brown looking candy and it was soft to the touch when I unwrapped it, putting it into my mouth and causing my eyes to widen. "This... is good."
Lloyd chuckled. "I know, right?"
I decided to lay next to Lloyd but far away from Pythor as possible. Lloyd started talking to Pythor like he was his best friend and talked about getting kicked from the boarding school and getting betrayed and my stomach sank. We're sitting next to a psychopath who's being pulled by another psychopath and there's nothing I can do about it. Not with this leg. And if the princess is really behind this, what could I do against her. Then again, what power does she really have here? Queen Darkness should be pretty on top of all things Curse Realm related, including her daughter. So how is Phantom in contact with Pythor if at all? So many questions, so few answers. That'll be a problem for future me, after I sleep. However, sleep never came and I was plagued with dark, looping thoughts, my tail wrapped around my legs and watching over Lloyd laying next to me.
All I can do is sit, wait, and hope I can get out of here alive.