Chapter 4 #2
“Raiden, you’re not making any sense. I’m right here.”
“Find a way. Have to.”
“You need to rest while your body detoxes the poison. Drink this.”
He kept a hold of her arm as she tipped his head back and placed a mug to his lips. Warm liquid carried the bitter taste of sleeping herbs. The remedy settled on his tongue with the numbing tingle of a strong dose.
Giving in to Daya’s pleading gaze, he swallowed the herbs. The heavy weight of sleep began to pull at him immediately, burdening his limbs until he released Daya’s arm. His eyes refused his command to stay open.
He lay on the ground, aching pain drowning his senses as the sound of metal clashed around him.
Shouts of men and women in battle rolled over him—people he was supposed to be with, supposed to defend.
Tipping his head back, he glimpsed a dark swath of shadow a few body lengths from him.
Shadows were good, safe… if he could just get to them.
Movement produced a sharp lancing sting in his lower abdomen and down his leg.
No! Blood splayed brightly against the dim colors around him. He needed to move, to get to them before it was too late. Wrenching to the side, he turned toward the battlefield. One pair of warriors remained fighting.
Alison!
Relief washed away some of his distress. If anyone could survive this mess, it was his fierce mentor. He clutched the symbol of protection that hung around his neck as he watched her battle their remaining enemies.
A flash of gray rippled as a horse raced past, hooves thundering against the hard packed soil. Returning his eyes to the field showed eerie quiet. Dismembered bodies and bloody weapons littered the forest floor, strewn amongst the brightly colored Zamyran blues and purples of the dense plants.
Alison bent over him, blocking his vision. Her blonde hair dripping blood onto him as she shook his shoulder. “Get up, warrior.”
“Can’t,” he coughed, clutching his torn side. “Leave before they come back.”
“Not a chance, kid. I don’t leave my warriors on the field, let alone my family. Get up.”
Knowing it was useless to argue with his soul-guardian when she used that tone, he let her heave him up, vision swimming as tried to focus. Pain seared through him with each step, only one of his legs working. But she kept a strong arm under his shoulder as she carried him away from death.
“Keep moving. I’ve got you, kid.” She pulled him another few steps toward safety. “Not bad for your first battle. Still need to work on your blocking though.”
He wheezed in an attempt at a laugh. She’d been on him about that since the day she’d put his first sword in his hand.
The thud of hooves and angry shouts grew louder, echoing through his aching bones. There was no way they would make it.
“Ali—”
“I hear them.” She stopped and leaned him against a tree. Her hand closed around his where he held the stone—the one she’d given him. “Stay with me, kid. I’ll get you home.”
He nodded, believing her. If they didn’t die today, she’d keep her promise. Always had, no matter the cost.
The clash of metal grated his nerves as he waited in the shadow of the tree. Sweat stung his eyes, blurring the images in front of him. Alison and the enemy she was battling disappeared, vanishing into the fog.
He lurched forward as his surroundings shifted. When his eyes refocused on the battlefield, it had changed.
A different forest. Eldrin trees towering high around him rather than the bright Zamyran plants.
A different battle. His arm and chest taking on the brunt of pain rather than his stomach and leg.
A young, feminine scream pierced his ear drums. The curtain of fog billowed around multiple figures, obscuring their features.
Bright red hair shimmered in the dark night. The mist parted for an instant to show him a young, fiery girl, kicking and screaming as she was dragged further away from him. No! His to protect.
Mist swirled to reveal a hulking warrior approaching, hiding the girl from view for a second as he took her from his comrade. Shifting, he lifted a different, now bound child toward a black horse.
Her hair had changed in color to the dark gold of lentha nectar.
Not as familiar as the red-haired girl but still his to protect.
The thread around his soul that connected her to him pulled tight.
She cried out with soft, whimpering screams as she was slung over the horse and secured with the wide bands of a prisoner harness.
Her disheveled braid was secured with a leather band that matched the bindings on her wrists and ankles.
A black stone bounced against her neck with each jarring movement.
He wrenched forward, stumbling toward the girl, but the shadows wrapped like tendrils around him and held him back. No! His to guard.
He only managed to move his broken body a few feet when the horse carrying the child ran straight toward him, clipping his arm with a deadly crunch as it flew past him. Brown, tear-drenched eyes met his for an instant, piercing his soul with loss as she was taken away.
The wrenching pain pulled him into blackness, young screams and hoofbeats following him into the dark.
Fury, fear, and pain heated Raiden’s blood to a boil. “Need to go. Save her.” He repeated the words over and over as instructions to his mind.
Pain lanced his side as he tried to sit up, his head swimming with images and waves of darkness. Lightning sparked in his chest, pulling at him incessantly. Something was wrong.
“Shh, you’re okay.” Cool hands touched his chest, pinning him in place.
The fiery pull dimmed as he tried to follow it.
“No. She needs me.” He fought to move, to get up, but was pushed back down. “I promised.”
Loud avian squawks made him tense, the woman murmuring to them in response. Fighting to focus, he opened his eyes briefly to glimpse Daya. Behind her were two sets of feathered wings.
“Raiden, stay with me.”
“Can’t,” he panted. “Have to get to her.”
He was burning from the inside out, his lungs heaving with the effort to breathe, let alone speak.
Darkness began to edge his vision, blurring the images until he gave in and closed his eyes. Before he could try to move again, a heavy weight settled over his legs. He tried and failed to kick the furry blanket away so he could get up.
The soft, feminine voice began to hum as gentle fingers stroked his head. He wanted the touch, wanted to stay with her, but something tugged at him. He had to go. Had to get somewhere, to someone.
His body shuddered with fatigue as his mind gave in to the entrancing sound of her voice.
A summons thundered through his veins, drawing him through mist-shrouded land.
Heavy shadows blanketed him as he traveled, floating through the forest toward the looming mountainside.
A pair of velentha trees guarded the entrance to a small cavern.
He waited hesitantly until he felt the pull of invitation before crossing the threshold.
The dark walls sparkled in his peripheral vision, but focusing on any spot showed only plain stone.
A rising wave of challenge struck him, throwing him back toward the entrance.
He stayed down, pulling air into his starved lungs.
A sense of question, albeit forceful, stung the air, giving him the impression that he was here to be judged, not to fight.
“What do you want from me?” He forced the words through the constriction in his chest.
“What are you willing to give?” The question burrowed through his mind and into his soul, searching for the answer of its own accord.
A sense of expectance hung heavy in the air. Something behind the rock wall of the cavern seemed to heat and glow, awaiting his response. There was something beyond, but he couldn’t see a way to get to it.
The weight of eyes made his spine itch, and he twisted around to look back out into the night.
Something was out there watching him. Tension built as he scanned the dark valley.
He needed to be ready to move. Resisting the entrancing pull of the mysterious cavern, he crossed the barrier back into the forest.
Awareness of a predator nearby forced Raiden from the dream state. He was being watched, stalked. His eyes sought shadows and escape routes the instant they opened. An odd sensation he couldn’t name pulsed inside him.
Settling, his vision came to focus on the threat that stalked quietly into the room. The great owlcat watched him intently, white fur bright in the dark room as she approached.
He remained perfectly still, obeying the silent command to stay put. Satisfied, she switched her attention to his injured side. His mind felt clearer, but the pain and feverish chills still wracked his body, his lungs burning with exhaustion even as he dreamed.
Neka rumbled deep within her chest as she sniffed the wound. Looking up, she gave him a familiarly disproving look. An image of the gray horse—his horse, he was certain—with the same expression telling him he was in trouble flashed through his mind.
Relaxing at the instinctive knowledge that she wouldn’t hurt him, he let his shaking muscles untense and slumped into the pillows supporting him.
A wave of energy built in the room as Neka’s gleaming golden eyes studied him. His heart pulsed as the air began to hum. The faint gold patterns of her coat glowed bright as she broke eye contact and shifted toward his side.
He blinked. The movement made the light seem to ripple around her. Was her fur really shimmering?
A tingling sensation stole into him as she licked at his wound. Her tongue scratching against his skin made him wince, but he held back his protest.
Finished with her ministrations, Neka chuffed at him as the glow began to fade from her fur. Reaching deep, he found the energy to lean forward and pet her in thanks.
“Does Daya know you’ve been helping me?”
The owlcat ignored the question as she butted her head against his chest. Startled, he realized the wound above his rib cage was healed, evident by the lack of pain from the contact.
“How long have I been out?”
Neka gave him a shove, sending him back into the pillows with ease.
“Oof. Not long enough, I guess.”
Her low rumble told him to stay as she headed for the door.