Arianna hissed as she felt the sting of cold water lap against her injured leg. She braced herself against the feeling. Another limping step sent a shiver up her spine. She grit her teeth and clutched the arrow, her eyes searching the undulating waves for the sparkle of an unwary fish.

This had been the first morning without Daemon and Fraylon. And Arianna found she was really missing both of them. Somehow she felt more confident with Daemon by her side. She missed Fraylon’s smile when she limped out of her tent, his exclamation that he had caught fish for breakfast, and his gentle company.

Now she had to fish for her own breakfast, which was not exactly a piece of cake. Of course, she was only fishing for herself now, which made things a lot easier. But standing in cool water with an injured leg wasn’t very fun.

Sprite was somewhere near camp, grazing on flowers and Drake was still asleep in her hair. Arianna was very happy that Drake had come with her. He was so dependable and such a good trooper. She had grown very fond of the little vampire. Sprite even seemed to put up with him.

“Hah!” she suddenly exclaimed, the arrow flying from her hand to impale… a leaf. The fish whirled away, its fins flashing beetle green. Arianna stumbled in the shallow water to catch the arrow before it was whisked downstream.

She snatched it up, almost tripping over herself and splashing water everywhere. Suddenly she had the hair-raising feeling that she was being watched. She froze and slowly turned her head.

Standing there, on the bank, was the largest grizzly bear she had ever seen. She nearly screamed, stumbling back as she reached for her bow.

The bear blinked its beady black eyes, its large wet nose snuffling as it swung its great head in Arianna’s direction. It heaved itself to a standing position, its huge paws dangling in front of its massive body. Arianna screamed soundlessly as she was swallowed by its immense shadow. Shakily, her bow popped into existence and she quickly strung it.

The bear pulled back its black lips to reveal its dagger-like canines. Then it spoke. “I wouldn’t do that, Princess.”

Arianna gaped, dropping her arrow. She staggered backwards.

The bear dropped back to all fours with a splash of water. It sauntered to Arianna until she could feel its warm breath on her face, its eyes focused on her. “You’ve been following us,” it stated, considering. It circled around her, its shaggy fur brushing her body. “I’m impressed.”

Arianna shook her head really hard. “What are y-you talking about?”

The bear chuckled. “You know what I’m talking about. But Princess… did you really think you could take us? You know just two of us almost killed your precious green dragon.”

Arianna nodded her head vigorously. Come on, Drake. She thought, now would be a good time to wake up! “Wait- you didn’t already kill them?”

The bear crinkled its snout. “Not yet. But rest assured, Princess. We’ll have them. Soon. We just got word from our sources in Vulnaire that they’ve been captured. The stupid dragon is swinging in a cage to starve and that Rider that dreams of you all the time….” The bear snickered, is huge claws tracing Arianna’s cheek. She winced, knowing one blow from that paw would kill her. “He’s getting special treatment until we get there… from one of our associates. Nice, hmmm?”

“ARIANNA- THERE’S AN EVIL BUNNY AT THE CAMP!” the grizzly turned to look as Sprite galloped out into the open, mane and tail rippling as she surged through the stream with a tremendous splash, “THIS TIME I’M NOT KIDDING!”

In a split second Arianna took advantage of this distraction and strung her bow with another arrow, pulling back as far as she could before unleashing the arrow into the air.

The grizzly roared as it dug deep into the folds of fur on its neck. It reared onto its hind legs, its huge paws flailing.

Arianna didn’t even look back. “RUN!” she yelled to the Pegasus as she ran to the opposite side of the stream, her heart pumping as she put everything she had into escaping. She hardly noticed her hurt leg as her feet touched the bank and she sprinted into the tree line.

The grizzly bellowed as it grabbed the arrow and yanked it out of its neck. Already, it was starting to look not-so-bearish. It’s face became more refined, teeth jutting out of a furry jaw. The ears stretched, hair sleeking out on a slim, muscular body. It looked down at the arrow in its paw. “That hurt,” it snarled. Its tail twitched.

Arianna screamed breathlessly, the forest becoming a blur around her. The thorns caught her skin and dress like teeth. Vines tugged at her legs, willing her to fall. Her breaths came out in ragged gasps as she tore through the undergrowth. She didn’t know she could even run this fast.

 Something burned into her chest. It was getting hotter and hotter by the second. “Agh!” she cried, clutching at it, her fingers touching something hard.

Her eyes grew big. The gretchshivisk! Still running, she fumbled for it, her fingers meeting the warm scale and snatching it out into the open.

Immediately she knew.

She stopped, holding the scale out into the warm sun. “Rraamakki-“

Countless miles away, Jaydon’s form flickered as he slept in the cage. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Landorrri Ssa”- Arianna screamed as a claw flashed out of nowhere and the necklace snapped off her neck and went flying into the bushes. Her scream was cut short as the creature smashed her to the ground. Suddenly she was looking up at those pitch black eyes.

“Well, well, well, Princess, you have quite a few tricks up your sleeve. Who were you summoning, huh? The great destroyer? The white death, perhaps? It’s too late, girl. We’ve already caught your Pegasus. And now it’s your turn.”

And then… black.

Arianna moaned. She had the most wicked headache. She started to reach her hand up to feel her throbbing head, but something stopped her. She snapped to alert mode. She was tied.

“-some kind of bait?”

“But we already know where he is. We don’t need bait.”

Arianna kept her eyes closed, feigning that she was still knocked out. What kind of bait were they talking about?

A demonic, spine-chilling laugh, “Ah, but chief. She would be a great means of persuasion. We all know how much the Rider cares for his precious Princess. If he doesn’t cooperate we can always use a threat to her safety on him.”

A brief silence. Arianna’s heart leaped to her throat. What? She slightly opened one eye to just a slit, enough to make out part of the scene. She was lying against something hard and sloped, maybe on one of the supports for a tent. Before her, she could make out a section of a camp. Tents made of hide blocked her view of the forest, as well as the hulking figures of two Felinus talking. She could only make out their chest and muscled arms. They reminded her of a Minotaur of Greek legend, with a human-like built chest and arms, albeit with shaggy fur. The one to her right looked as if it had been burned, though, and black skin shone through, ugly and pulsing.

“Too bad that’s an undeniably great plan, Blue,” the burned one purred menacingly, “I was hoping to have Princess steak. But that fat Pegasus should do. Where did you put them?”

Sprite! Arianna thought wildly. She rotated her head, painfully slow, to get a good view of her surroundings. Sure enough, Sprite was fast asleep next to her, her wings draped over the grass and her tail spilling over Arianna’s lap. “Sprite,” Arianna hissed, twitching her leg against the pegasus’s hindquarters.

Suddenly she screamed as she felt rough paws grab her around the middle and jerk her backwards. “Get off me!” she yelled, “Sprite! SPRITE! Get up! Run!” She squiggled in its grasp, her legs flailing. She managed to hit the creature’s rock hard chest a couple times, but didn’t seem to do much damage. Blue watched her with feral interest, holding her up as if she were a toy, not even flinching as the pointy boots met his chest.

Behind them, Sprite shook her head wearily. “I don’t feel so good,” she mumbled. Then she saw Arianna and the giant cat and bolted to her feet. “Oh my tulips. EVIL KITTIES! Don’t worry, I’ll save you Princess!” Her wings started buzzing angrily, her hooves poised to deliver some action.

The Felinus slightly lowered the screaming Princess. “Get the Pegasus!” he barked, “She’s escaping!”

Arianna twisted her head to lock eyes with Sprite, “Don’t worry about me. Run! Run, Sprite! Don’t let them get you!”

Sprite hovered ten feet over the ground, her ears flicking uncertainly. “But- Princess”-

A Felinus shot out of nowhere, its muscular form bunching as it crouched before uncoiling itself and shooting into the sky, its claws extended.

Arianna’s face paled, “Sprite- go! Get out of here!”

Sprite screamed as the cat latched its teeth on her back leg, pulling her down. Her wings worked furiously as she tried to land a kick with her other leg. Other cats gathered, like sharks circling for the kill. A couple leaped up to snatch at her with razor sharp teeth. BAM! A cat screeched as a razor sharp hoof crashed into its skull. It unlatched its teeth from its victim, falling backwards into the fray.

Not losing any time, Sprite’s wings flapped so fast they were almost impossible to make out. A cat’s jaws snapped like a trap a foot from her belly. She twisted mid-air, her hindquarters lashing out to crack the creature in the jaw. Putting on a maniacal burst of speed, the Pegasus flew out of reach, hovering by the treeline. She stopped, twisting her head to look at the captive Princess.

Arianna watched in horror as three cats crouched, their skins changing. Shaggy coats flattened, the color shining and glistening. Muscular arms broadened before unfolding as huge dark wings. She turned back to the Pegasus with desperate eyes. “Just… GO!” she yelled.

The cats looked up, their eyes focused on their prey, beaks glistening. Lion paws touched off from the ground as they took to the skies, their huge wingspan buffeting the Princess as they powered upwards.

Sprite eyed them haughtily. If there was one thing these creeps were going to learn, it was that nobody beats a Pegasus at a race, not even if the Pegasus in question was a fat lazy pony pegasus. “Bring it,” she nickered before flapping around and zooming over the tree tops, her wings buzzing a hundred miles an hour.

They were in for the race of a lifetime.

Back in the clutches of the Felinus named Blue, Arianna was busy talking trash. “You know what? Jaydon’s going to come for me and he’s going to rip you guys apart. You won’t stand a chance, overgrown kittens.”

Blue laughed harshly, his dark face contorting into a devilish smile. “Really? You think so? Well have I got news for you. Last time he tangled with the like of us, he barely made it out alive. We are his living nightmare, not the other way around.”

Arianna bit the cat’s paw.

“Yowch!” Blue hissed as her teeth imbedded in his soft padding. He dropped her onto the grass, where she twirled into a summersault before flipping to her feet, ready to race for the hills.

“Nice try, small one,” Blue growled before an orange striped cat smashed a storage crate down over her. The momentum made her crash into the side before falling backwards at the sight of a cold black eye. The cat smiled between the wooden slats. “Now you stay put until we catch that plump Pegasus. And be good or we’ll eat you instead. It would be nice to have a royal dinner! Hahahaha!” it laughed before sauntering away, its tail flicking wildly.

Arianna watched him leave before sitting hard in the corner of the makeshift cage, her knees pulled to her chest. What was she going to do now?

“Wow, is it already night time?” a voice muttered. Tiny wings pulled at her hair, “It feels like I had hardly any sleep.”

Arianna gasped, “Drake! Drake! Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay. Why?” Drake said loudly.

“Shh,” Arianna warned, “We’ve been captured.”

“Captured?” Drake squeaked. He fluttered to the wooden slats, his huge ears focused on the cat’s camp.

“Who are you talking to?” a deep cat voice drifted into the crate.

“Myself. Wh-who else?” Arianna replied, hardly keeping the tremble out of her voice.

“She’s talking to someone in there,” the cat reported. “She could be summoning a dragon.”

Arianna could see the paws of other cats as they padded closer to her enclosure. She snatched Drake up in her hands, breathing hard. “Listen, Drake,” she whispered, “Get out of here. Don’t worry about me. You’ve been the best help I could ever wish for, but there’s nothing you can do here. Please, go and get Ralem. He’s somewhere in Vulnaire. Tell him that I need him and to be careful, because they are keeping me for ransom. Please, fly as fast as you can. Good luck, my brave little vampire.” And with that, she bent down and kissed the tiny bat on his little fuzzy forehead.

“Drake Winchester at your service! Good luck, Princess!” Drake squeaked, puffing out his chest. And with that, he hopped off her hand and fluttered out into the noontide sun.

Just then her vision was floodlight as the crate was lifted to find her empty handed. She shrugged at the circle of nervous Felinus. “Told you I was talking to myself.”