Nanowrimo 2021 Day 17 - Word Count and Favorite Bit (Patreon)

Today I added 2006 words to Seek the Oasis, bringing my current total to 27,028!

“I am Aysel, daughter of the Niraj tribe,” she hissed, heels digging into the sand. “I have not died yet, and I will not die here.”

The harilai-nak burst from the sand, mouth wide and ready to devour. Aysel swung wide with her shield, slamming it into the side of the beast’s head. She followed it up with a thrust with her spear, catching the tender spot in the shoulder. The creature screamed right in Aysel’s ear, the force of it sending her to one knee.

“Aysel!” Kinri’s voice broke through the distant-sounding ringing, her blade whipping through the air. The chain wrapped around the beast’s smaller hindquarters, the dagger burying itself in the meaty part of the thigh.

Kinri slid from Leonidas’ back, pulling the chain taut. Leonidas pounced, landing on the harilai-nak’s back, digging his claws in the flesh he found there. He roared, biting down on the back of their foe’s neck. Emboldened, Aysel attempted to stand, only to be knocked asunder by a paw the size of her torso.

She rolled across the sand, the tiny particles stinging the new cuts in her side and shoulder. Her vision blurred as blood dripped into her eye from a gash in her forehead. She hissed in pain, struggling to lift herself up on her hands. She’d lost her shield at some point, and her spear was still lodged in the harilai-nak’s shoulder.

Dammit!