Britiana and Sariya weren't running recklessly. They were headed for the homestead of the richest man in the town. He had horses. He loved horses and raced them in the city. He had five of them. Britiana and Chrystianna couldn't fly, they'd be too easy to track by the Hunters. If anything went wrong, the Hunters had a way to keep a Dragon from regressing to their humanoid form when they died. It became common for Dragons infected with Plague to commit suicide in their humanoid forms rather than letting their bodies revert to their natural state to prevent the Hunters from grave robbing their body parts.

They were only halfway there when the Hunters caught up. Despite the silence wrapped around them, they still left traces as they desperately fled. There was a harsh guttural shout and then the air sizzled as dazzling blue energy shots ripped through the air. 

They wouldn’t be able to outrun them at this rate. Even though Dragons and Eoduun were hearty and quick, the Dragon Hunters had longer legs, and had been evolved to chase down fleeing Dragons. Chrystianna gritted her teeth and turned, holding up her hands and Manifested a domed shield from telekinetic energy. Though invisible, it glimmered with a light electric silver energy as the shots bounced off it. 

Sariya grabbed the bow slung across her back, crouched down, and watched the darkness. She was Eoduun, the night was like daylight to her. These things were walking targets as they ran toward them. One arrow hit their shots every time. Although they didn't die, and ripped out the arrows on the go, it did slow them down.

Of eight arrows she shot, she hit eight people. That was almost half the Hunters. At first it seemed that it had little effect. They even laughed and taunted in their language. They slowed down, seeing that the trio had no way to leave, or risk being hit by their energy weapons. They even put away their hot weapons and drew their cold weapons made of Dragon bones, teeth, or claws.

Britiana was transferring some energy to her mother when they saw them. They felt anger but were helpless about it. If it comes to it, they'll fight in full Dragon form.

Suddenly one of those hit with an arrow staggered and grabbed their wound. Black smoke was beginning to float from their wound as black veins began to spread over their body. Another one started staggering.

The other ones noticed their companions' abnormality. "What's going on?" someone muttered.

"Poison! What kind of poison is this?" Someone explained as they watch their poisoned companions turn ashen gray and their lips turn black.

The Hunters paused. Should they take care of their companions or continue the Hunt? Their leader holding the amber sword spit. "There's nowhere on this puny planet they can hide," he said. He made a hand movement, and the Hunters took their companions and withdrew.

Chrystiana watched them go, but didn't lower her shield. Britiana scanned the area. "They've gone," she said.

Chrystianna gasped and let go of the shield. She almost fainted, but the sturdy Eoduun caught her. She smiled gratefully. "What did you poison them with?" she asked curiously.

"Shadowbane. It's an herb from the Shadow Dimension. My husband gave me seeds, taught me how to cultivate them, and make poison from them," she added with a cold smile. "They can try whatever antidotes they want. They're dead," she said simply. She looked in the direction the Hunters retreated with a grim smile.

"Well done, my dear. Shadowbane. I haven't seen this in millennia," a magnetic male voice said, piercing the night. Raziel Voidstalker was crouching where one of the Hunters had fallen. He touched a blood stain and rubbed it between his fingers.

Sariya was going to warn him not to touch it, but he only magically cleaned his fingers and stood. She was surprised. He just gave her a smile, flashing his fangs slightly. "Where to, ladies?" he asked.

"We'll go to Darius," Britiana answered. "Let mom rest first," she said. She pulled a stool out of her skirt folds and helped her sit down. She then pulled out a small bottle. "Here's some wine made from a silvervine fruit. It's not as good as dragonwyne, but it'll help with the overdraft of psionic abilities," she said. She popped the cork and handed it to her mother.

Chrystianna smiled and drank the soft but astringent, fruity wine.  It did indeed help her overdrawn psionic pool feel better. It wasn't as good as what was available on Emphyralis, but it would do. Despite her young age, she had a large psionic pool; comparable to a Dragon five times her age. But Manifesting was hard for her.

Manifesting was the ability to use telekinetic energy to create tangible objects, like the barrier. Manifesting didn’t come as naturally to her as telepathy and basic telekinesis. She had to push herself. The constant bombardment of  the energy weapons helped drain her psionic pool.

Britiana let her rest and then reached out to Darius. He answered quickly this time. <I'm here. I felt you earlier, but I was in battle with the mountain trolls.>

<Can you whisper?> she asked.