Heart pounding in her ears, Deidre ran as hard as she could, clutching the soft hand of the panting deity towards the dark blob she knew to be the scary forest she'd seen from the windows of the palace.
Karma angled them away from the battle. It was too dark to know what was going on for sure, though Deidre caught the flashes of blades in the light of the two moons and saw what looked like an anthill forming in the center of the battle.
Fear shot through her at the idea of Darkyn being at the bottom of that dog pile, beneath dozens of dealers, and she slowed, squinting to see better.
They drew parallel of the mess, and the deity slowed when she noticed the growing mountain in the center of the milling figures.
"What is that?" Deidre asked.
A shout behind them reminded her of what pursued, and Karma jerked her forward.
"Come … on!" she gasped.
Deidre fled.
They reached the forest when Deidre smelled it: the rich, overwhelming, powerful scent of her mate's blood.
Her stomach seized, and she dropped, torn from Karma and her senses by the pain twisting her insides.
"Deidre!" Karma sounded panicked.
Vaguely, Deidre heard the sound of flesh meeting flesh as their pursuers reached them. One of them careened into her and tripped, landing on the ground ahead of her.
This ends now, she chanted again. She wasn't weak, and she wasn't about to be captured or killed when she was so close to her bloodmate.
A sob escaped her, but Deidre forced herself to her feet. "Karma?" she asked shakily, struggling to determine which of the blurry figures near her was her friend.
"Here!" came the grunt.
Deidre leaned against the tree nearest her heavily, righting her senses and quelling her urge to vomit. She closed her eyes to identify the cold flows marking the sources of power radiating off the death dealers. They were heavy here, the thick ribbons of magic emanating from the writhing mass of the main battle swept through her. She shivered from the combination of night and magic then opened her eyes.
Unable to balance more than one person at a time, Karma was fighting off three dealers with a knife and her hands. She ducked and wove among the trees to keep them from ganging up on her at once. Even so, Deidre guessed the dealers were under orders to bring them in alive - or they'd both be dead.
After another second to ground herself, Deidre pushed away from the tree and lunged at the death dealer nearest her. Her claws tore into the flesh of one of his arms, and she discharged the cold power curling within her.