I’ve Got You
I’VE GOT YOU
Getting stabbed hurt just as much the umpteenth time as it did the first.
It didn't usually bleed this much, though, Thea thought. She blinked at the pool of blood in her palm and then pressed it against the hole in her right side once again.
A heady cocktail of adrenaline and rage kept her going, and she lurched to her feet, stumbling, but with a staff in hand and vengeance on her mind.
Druids did not revel in death, nor being the cause of it. It was, however, a part of life's cycle. Where there was a beginning, there was an end. Balance. Thea wholeheartedly embraced this as she brought someone to their knees for a nearby dragon to finish off, completing the cycle anew.
She barely dodged an oncoming attack, swerving sloppily, and remembered the wound in her side as it twinged and tore and pain yanked at her senses with a clawed grip.
She tilted, agony dragging her to the ground, and she tried to push past it, above it, and yet her body did not move like she wanted it to.
She had to protect Aaryn.
Aaryn, who was…
Where was she? Was she safe? Thea had to…
Then came a roar so loud it thundered the earth beneath her hands, which was quite an event considering they were suspended in the air on a magically floating isle. When had she quit putting pressure on her wound?
Thea found the dragon's cry just in time to see Aaryn's head snap back. Her eyes went completely dark, the whites replaced with the night sky. Blood dripped from her palm, which rested against Starspark's jaw, and dribbled down her wrist.
She couldn't decide if the vision would haunt her with its horror or its beauty.
Interestingly, she took a second to mourn the date she had already imagined in her head with Aaryn. Firelight, nature, a stream nearby. Coaching Aaryn through the intricacies of magic as they awakened it within her.
There was nothing gentle about the way the magic jolted her body now, about the scream that erupted from her throat. It sounded not pained, but… enraged. Thea had never heard such a sound come from her.
She slumped, unable to hold herself up, unable to look away from Aaryn even as her lids grew heavy.
That gaze turned toward Thea, eyes back to their normal green—no. It was just a flash of green amongst the marble of pinks and purples, the colors of the Tear.
It matched the gleaming ball of power in Starspark's throat. But his mouth did not open and it did not explode in a wave that could evaporate the crowd of innocents and traitors alike.
Thea's breath caught, and caught again, hitching somewhere it shouldn't. Aaryn's eyelids came down over the glowing orbs of her eyes. A blink. And then—
Thea was on her feet, staff in hand, teeth gritted against the unfairness of Evergale's genius plan. Protect, defeat, slash, protect.
Then, as she shoved a bystander away, there was a man before her, sword aiming, stabbing, and Thea knew it was headed for her gut—
It never arrived, because he fell to the ground with a pointed staff in his back, and on the other side of his falling body was Aaryn, chest heaving, a horrified desperation in her eyes as she yanked the weapon out of him.
Thea went to her. "Hey," Thea said softly, too softly to be heard, probably. Blood streaked down Aaryn’s wrist and Thea lifted it between them, gasping at the slash in her palm.
"You—when did you—just couldn't wait for me, huh?" she finally asked.
Aaryn blinked as if in disbelief that Thea was standing before her. She lifted her other hand and pressed it against Thea's right side.
"I'm sorry," Aaryn said. "I'm so sorry. It was you or him, I—"
"It's okay," Thea said, and pulled her close. "It's okay." Thea didn't care about some random fucking asshole who had tried to stab her.
Aaryn hugged her tightly until Thea was almost breathless, and then placed a hand on her side, patting, searching, and Thea grabbed her wrists, lifted both and kissed the backs of her knuckles, not caring that her blood was left behind on Thea's hand.
"You're okay," Aaryn said in awe.
"Are you?" Thea asked. "The magic. Your awakening. We need to get you out of here." Where could they even go that would be safe enough—
"Hey," Aaryn echoed, and Thea stilled as her hand slid to her neck, pulling her attention to her face, streaked with someone else’s blood. "I'm okay for now." That was debatable, but Thea kept that thought to herself as Aaryn tightened her grip on her staff. "Just let me stay with you," Aaryn said.
At least Thea could keep an eye on her that way. Her warmth pressed against Thea's spine as the battle raged on.
They raged with it.
And only when it was over did the fever strike.
The druids remained standing and quiet in the devastation. Then Aaryn dug her staff into the ground and gripped Thea’s arm—and all of a sudden it wasn’t very quiet at all. People were calling for help and dragons were huffing and someone was shouting at people to move.
Aaryn gasped, and gripped at her midsection, slumping toward her weapon. Her face was flushed with it already, and Thea reached for her, scooping her up in her arms. Thea turned toward a place she knew they would be alone, even if it didn’t quite fit the fantasy they’d built together.
Sometimes, things just didn’t go to plan.
As the circle celebrated their victory, cries ringing across the skies, Thea carried Aaryn home.
Her breathing was heavy, cheeks flushed.
Thea placed her in the bath first and foremost, clothes and all, to cool her off.
Her soft little moan was barely audible over the spill of the water as her head laid on a folded towel.
While the bath filled, Thea raced outside—and found Starspark.
He sat outside the door, their staves between his teeth, and lowered his head to place the weapons down gently.
His tail flicked back and forth as if in a job well done.
Thea held out a hand, and as he nudged into her, the touch zapped at her fingertips like Thea’s clothes sometimes did in the winter.
“Go on then, I’ll take care of her,” Thea said.
Starspark had the energy of a dragon with unfettered access to the Hoard for the very first time, zipping through the sky, releasing his breath in a celebration. He'd be comatose in about an hour, tucked away somewhere safe, tired from all the activity and the new magic settling in him.
Thea plucked moon blooms by the handful, stalks and all, and by the time she returned, the bath level had barely risen, and Aaryn was still resting peacefully.
Thea put out the lanterns, instead placing vases of the softly glowing flowers around the living area, on the windowsills.
Their orange light filled the room more gently, easier for Aaryn's heightened senses to take in.
She changed the sheets, added more blankets, and then opened the door to Zalene, sent by Vaelen to deliver a basket filled with fruit and breads and cheeses, and a small jar of dried blooms.
"Thank you."
"How are things? Any word?" Of Rolim, of Carissa, of Runa, of Cloud Haven itself.
"Don't worry, we're still safe here. You can see to her."
A small breath of relief, an ease of tension.
"And Rolim? Carissa? The others?"
The ones that had been sent to save him.
Zalene's smile turned sad. "We can talk about it after."
Which couldn’t be good. Thea hung her head and sighed. "Fuck."
"Hey," Zalene said, her voice a bit harsher. "Focus on Aaryn. Push everything else to the side. Focus on taking care of her."
"I will." And Thea didn't speak a lie. If she knew anything in this uncertain time, it was Aaryn. "I will. Take care of everything else."
"We will."
Then Zalene was gone and Thea was helpless but to return to Aaryn's side. The water had helped cool the fever a bit, and Thea stroked her hair back, pushing away memories of a much smaller hand, scared of the sweat at the brow of someone close to her.
Aaryn stirred, and those memories faded for the here and now.
"I'm melting," she whined.
"I know, baby," Thea cooed. "Let's get you out of these layers." Her skin was hot to the touch as Thea made quick work of her clothes, much easier now that she was awake, but tacky with blood. The sight of it smeared across Aaryn's skin was awful. It didn't belong there.
"The water will help," Thea told her, as much as she told herself.
"Get in with me."
Thea calmed with every inch of clean skin she revealed, but Aaryn was shifting this way and that, unable to settle.
The water turned murky and Thea drained the tub before filling it again, the Hoard tightening around her when she needed it. With a murmur of magic, water flowed cool enough to ease the burn of Aaryn's skin—temporarily, at least—while Thea cleaned them.
As if Aaryn could sense the magic Thea used, she groaned, and her nails dug into Thea's arms where they wrapped around her. Magic was burning beneath her skin and it needed an outlet.
"It's okay," Thea murmured, and dragged her hands up Aaryn's sides.
"Everyone said—" Aaryn panted, and reopened her wound, smearing blood on the side of the tub. Aaryn had spent the day wielding a staff in her palms, and yet she didn’t seem to feel it. She was preoccupied. "—This was gonna be magical. Where is the magic, Thea?"
She sounded so put out, so disappointed, that Thea chuckled into the back of her neck and slid her hands over her stomach, up to her breasts. Aaryn moaned, her head falling back against Thea's shoulder. "Oh."
"I know we had a different plan," Thea murmured, and squeezed the weight of her in each hand. "Moon blooms, and a little creek, and blankets."
"Picnic basket," Aaryn added on a gasp as Thea caught a nipple between two fingers. She writhed in the water, and each lap of the chilled depths against Thea made goosebumps break out on her own skin, whereas Aaryn seemed to find relief in it. Or maybe she was finding relief in Thea's touch.
"That too," she mused, and drew one of her hands lower. “I thought about taking you to Fleur’s Crossing, where the plants glow from the runes they’re grown upon. It would’ve been perfect. I’m sorry.”