Chapter 7 - "And You
Spared My Life for This."
Evyn
continued
to sit. Circumstances would not allow him to his feet.
Watching
from hardly a distance, at last Sandy neighed a shrill cry of "Get up!"
in horse and gave his back a good thump with her knee. Not enough
to hurt him, but it was certainly enough to get his attention (not to
mention
echo some already stinging pains through his body) in an attempt to
wake
him out of whatever stunned mental state he'd fallen in.
Looking
up at the animal, he intelligently decided it may be better to get up
before
she tried something like that again. The brown horses walked up
to
him on either side of the sandy steed, appearing as if to help her if
she
had "trouble" with him.
Rising,
he took one quick look around, then groaned quietly. He knew they
needed to find Shadow, but he didn't have the faintest idea how.
He felt sick, aching, and just plain tired, and could hear his heart
beating
loudly. Come to think of it, that wasn't his heart making the
ground
tremble...
Sandy
dropped to the grass and nipped at Evyn's ankle. No time for
pleasantries--she
hoped he'd understand that she needed his sister off of her back, and
luckily
it took no convincing. As he lifted Taerlyn, the steed neighed
something
hissing to the other two horses, then lightly pushed Evyn closer to the
trees with her nose. Numbly, he obeyed her pressing and walked on
until she stopped. Having no more indication of where to go,
hearing
something like a pack of wild dogs, he turned for more
direction--immediately
sorry he'd looked back.
At
the horizon line were five of those horse beasts that had been chasing
him and Shadow just moments before. Their riders had already
dismounted,
leaping right next to the brown horses, one with his ax raised--
"No!"
Evyn screamed, echoed inside of his head, exploded from his lips.
But even by the time he found his voice, the dog monsters had done the
unthinkable. Both brown horses lay on the ground, legs still
kicking,
heads severed.
Panicked,
Evyn gently shoved his sister into the soft underbrush and scrambled to
hide her. He would divert all of the attention he could by
himself,
hopefully finding some way to scare them away; something,
anything.
There was no plan, his mind raging in a shocked silence, but merely
walked
out away from where he'd hidden her and waited for... whatever it was
he
was waiting for.
The
horse killer raised his ax to do the same evil to Sandy, but she for
one
would have none of it. As the blade swung toward her neck, she
dropped
to the ground on her belly to miss the swing, then immediately threw
herself
from the dirt and thrust her forehead forward, forcing the air from the
beast. She rose on her tone back legs and crashed her front
hooves
down upon the body. Turning swiftly, she meant to do the same
thing
to the other monsters, but they were too close, too many of them
circling
her. She did the only thing she could to survive; turned and sped
off toward the beasts they'd ridden in on, trying to frighten them
away,
tail streaming behind her.
Oh.
Great. Evyn thought weakly, seeing only that the last horse
had
fled. All of the beasts stood watching in a semi-circle around
him,
the one with the ax barking laughter, all having turned to mock the
fleeing
horse. All, that is, except the one that was already upon
Evyn.
Anger and a vast feeling of being too tired to put up with anything
else
caused him to hold his ground against the monster. When it was
apparent
that he had no intention of either moving or showing fear, the
creature's
evil grin turned into a far more wicked sneer, drawing a short whip
high
into the air.
Evyn
wasn't even aware of the whip's presence until he felt it's descent,
the
snap echoing in the cooling air. He cried out, feeling no pain
like
the one suddenly encasing him in all his life, his shoulder and a good
part of his already burning back feeling like they had been completely
engulfed in flames. He watched helplessly as the beast raised its
arm for another strike.
Just
as the boy was sure he was seeing his final moment, the instant the
whip
rose to its final peak, it fell from the hand that held it. He
saw
all of the grotesque creatures grasp their heads and begin to roar with
what he could only interpret as a horrible pain, falling one by one to
the ground. The sound was nearly unbearable, loud and high
pitched,
like a million giant rodents all shrieking at the same time.
Though
he didn't know it, something in their chain of commanding magic had
been
severed, and they were completely unable to do anything but wait
helplessly
for the holes to be sealed, so to speak.
He
stood there, open mouthed and in pain, and completely clueless as to
what
to do. He watched them writhe, cringing with every loud, high
shriek,
and almost didn't notice the warm nose shoved against the center of his
spine. He turned with a jolt of shock, overwhelmingly glad to see
a very impatient Sandy standing there, her eyes quite wide. She
neighed
and whinnied, then pushed his numb body over to where Taerlyn lay
hidden.
It felt like his shoulder was being torn away from the rest of his body
as he lifted her, the pain of the whip echoing even worse than the
initial
strike had brought upon him. Trying desperately to ignore it, he
sat his sister on Sandy's back when she'd laid on the ground, then
crawled
on behind and held on for dear life to the long black mane.
The
steed absolutely astounded him when she rose smoothly, and immediately
breaking for dear life into a fast run. He glanced behind them
only
for a second, seeing the beasts still grasping their heads and
screaming.
Swallowing a decidedly unpleasant taste in his mouth, he decided it
better
to just keep looking straight ahead. They were headed west by
northwest
on an overly intelligent horse without their leader. His head
pounded
a dull pain, every hoofbeat sounding like it was coming from miles
away.
His shoulder throbbed, he was still slightly in shock, and he had no
idea
what had just happened behind them. He just sank into Sandy's
powerful
run and hoped she knew what she was doing.
The
horse's nose flared as she sniffed the wind. She knew where the
disruption
had come from, and it was her instinct that Shadow would be
there.
For some reason, Evyn knew that. He almost chose not to believe
it,
but he knew it. Sandy tried hard to sink into her own run, let
the
speed simply take her mind away from her fallen friends.
"So,
tell
me how we're supposed to get out of here." Shadow demanded
from
the silent boy looking at her; through her.
"Climb."
He growled his answer.
She
glared at him for long, poisonous seconds, then gazed upward. Not
having ever gone rock climbing, she wasn't certain exactly how to start
off on such a project, not to mention how far it looked, or how tiny
the
hole at the top appeared. Were that their only escape, however,
she
was game. "Who's first?" she asked.
When
Roan didn't answer, she stared upward again. It didn't look at
all
fun, but she was pretty sick of being in a little room with a
maniac.
With a swallow and a deep breath, she stood straight and began seeking
a place to start. All the while, the odd boy stared at her from a
crouch and waited. He watched closely as she began ascending with
careful steps, marking each place she held. Several times her
feet
slipped, but she didn't fall. Only once her left hand slipped
completely
off, but the right grip was true. She stopped many times as she
neared
the top, bracing herself for a severely disappointing fall, just in
case.
She wasn't certain her healing powers could be applied were she to
become
part of the ground, but she hoped. It didn't help, thinking of
old
roadrunner cartoons.
With
a grunt of triumph, she completely surprised herself by reaching the
top
in one piece, nothing broken. It wasn't as far of a climb as she
had first thought, but she still had no desire to look down. She
reached to grab the earth above, and bits and pieces of it fell on top
of her. It was nothing serious, but it was certainly
unnerving.
With another steady reach, she found stable ground and painfully pulled
herself up, arms and legs already aching from the climb due to earlier
"excitement". She crawled several feet away just in case the
ground
decided to give way into the hole again, and waited, still amazed at
what
she'd just accomplished
Having
watched her closely, Roan didn't take too much time to bound up the
walls.
He climbed out of the hole and blinked painfully at the sunlight as
though
he had never seen it before. Seeming something close to
satisfied,
he swallowed and took a long look all around, feeling naked and exposed
to the world.
"I
don't suppose you have food with you." Shadow stated flatly,
looking
into the sky and making certain she knew where west was. A
general
idea, anyway.
He
glared harshly at her, completely unready to be taken wherever it was
she
was headed. "No."
"Goody."
She commented flatly. "Do you need a leash or can you heel?"
He
blinked at the words. "I'll follow if I have no other
choice."
He growled quietly.
"And
you don't." She assured almost pleasantly. Without another
word, she began to walk west as Bright Sun slowly descended, praying
her
group would be reunited by nightfall. A night alone with this
freak?
Not a pleasant thought.
Sandy
continued
the desperate search for Shadow, but when the crickets began
their chorus and Bright Sun started to fade entirely from the sky,
another
instinct took over. She slowed to a walk and waited for Evyn to
stop
her somewhere for the night.
Seeing
no trees across the vast field of short grass, he sighed. "This
is
as good a place as any." He announced quietly. Obediently,
the steed stopped and carefully lowered herself to the ground.
There
was little more she could do than try to sleep. She could not
afford
to think about what had just happened if she wanted to keep her head,
and
her body could certainly use the break.
Evyn
slid off her back and right onto the ground. He helplessly looked
up at the appearing stars, running a worried hand through his hair,
feeling
much more than merely sick. His stomach was tight, his shoulder
burned
fiercely, and he didn't have the will or the strength to get medicine
for
it. He shivered even though the night was warm, too dazed even to
cry.
Taerlyn,
in her numb half conscious coma, slid off of Sandy's back and sat
beside
him without a word or a glance, and he further felt his heart
sink.
In the back of his mind, he was very glad that the night was warm and
they
didn't need to build a fire, otherwise they'd probably freeze to
death.
The will to live alone had sunken in his mind, let alone the will to do
absolutely anything else. Even the warm breeze of soft flowers
and
grass didn't bring his mind from the depressing thoughts of possible
futures.
And
then that familiar scent of home... The strong, passionate smell
of clover shifted in the wind, and Taerlyn's mind began to thaw. It
smells like mother... she tried so hard to say. As if
something
just snapped, a sudden complete, and overcoming realization; she simply
knew. She just, plain, knew. She knew that she could speak
again, be okay again. "Evyn..." her voice shook gently, echoing
her
uncertainty.
"Ter?"
he whispered softly, terribly afraid of what else may have happened to
her. Did she even know she had spoken?
She
turned her head and looked at him with clear, intelligent eyes,
tears starting to fall from them. All at once she wrapped her
arms
around him weakly, feeling an instant release from the dim place she
had
been all that time before that moment. The shock died into its
own
sullen form of acceptance, of understanding, and the world began to
turn
for her again. "She..." Taerlyn whispered through the sobs,
"Where
is... she..?"
"Shadow?"
Evyn's voice shook, a mixture of pain, hope and confusion making it
hard
to breathe.
His
sister only nodded. It was as though all of the emotions she
should
have experienced during the time she was "away" were flooding her right
then, all at once, and she couldn't speak.
"I...
don't know, Ter." He whispered honestly. It was a question
he'd love to have answered for himself. He held his dear sibling,
softly rubbing her back and trying to comfort her, wishing Shadow was
there
to help, or make him laugh, or... anything. He was sure the
monsters
had killed her, but he didn't want to say so.
"And
our horses..." she whispered dryly, trying her best to stop crying.
"Gone
forever, Ter." He sighed.
She
nodded. She knew that, really... had known that when they were
riding
away on Sandy. The world was finally coming back to her, and she
was glad to have it regardless of the consequences of knowing. As
she hugged her brother tighter, he let out a surprised shriek of pain,
and she immediately let go. "What?"
He
took a deep breath. "Just something I need medicine on, I
think."
He answered simply, trying to ignore the hot, raging flashes of pain.
Taerlyn
gasped. "What happened?"
He
held a hand to her, indicating that she would see in a moment. As
quickly as his body would allow, he removed one of the bags from Sandy
and dug through it for medicine and the rest of Shadow's torn
shirt.
"Help me, Ter." He said quietly, shifting and sitting with his
back
to her, tearing strips from the shirt.
She
gasped, cringing as she saw the rip in his shirt and the bloody gash
from
his shoulder to the center of his back. By then the wound was
more
of an ruddy brown, and she had never seen such a thing. "How'd
you
get this?" she asked in a shocked whisper.
"One
of those last monsters had a whip." He responded simply, glancing
back at her. With another deep breath, he slowly took hold of the
bottom of his shirt and lifted it over his head, the burning
intensifying
as he raised his arms, making him bite his lip and take shaking
breaths.
He'd have taken a hundred scraped knees over that throbbing burn...
"What
do I do?" she felt queasy, uncertain if she'd be more of a help or a
hindrance.
"Help
me wrap it up." He more or less suggested, his shoulder still
ignited
with an unworldly pain. Barely able to focus, he unscrewed the
lid
from the bottle and folded one of the strips to about the size of the
wound,
coating it with the medicine. Carefully, he put the wet part over
his shoulder, across the open flesh--and yelped. And he thought
it
had smarted before... it had been nothing like the slap of a medicated
cloth. After the most unpleasant sensation of being branded had
passed,
he caught his breath. "Just hold it there, and I'll do the rest."
She
nodded and did as she was told. The instant she pressed the
fabric
against his back, he yelped softly again, but gritted his teeth and
took
another long strip from the shirt. Though it was hard through the
intensifying heat pulsing through aches and pains, he place the dry
strip
around his chest, tied it in place, then tore another for around his
shoulder
and under his other arm to keep the bandages place. It was the
best
he could do at that moment, and putting his shirt back on brought about
another wave of hissing agony that he sincerely wished Shadow was there
to make fun of.
"Now
what do we do?" Taerlyn whispered.
Evyn
felt Sandy's heavy breathing and decided to follow her lead.
"Sleep
until morning." He answered as hopefully as he could manage.
Taerlyn
backed up against a slumbering Sandy. Her sibling looked at her
for
a long time, trying to convince himself that she was going to be
alright.
As the need for sleep became more imperative, he finally wrapped his
arms
around her, leaned against the heavily breathing horse, and fell
asleep.
"How
did
you get me all the way over here..." Shadow trailed off as she
stopped
and stared at the sky, noting subtle changes in the stars she'd come to
recognize.
"Magic
finds ways." The boy answered bitterly. It was a constant
saying
drilled into his being, always before a terribly painful experience.
"Mmm."
Was her only response, continuing to stare at the stars. Roan
made
careful note of her eyes; just a little lonely, gleaming insanely with
something he was certain he'd never seen before. Perhaps he had
at
one time, but he couldn't remember. Was it hope, maybe? He
wondered... But before the chance to look deeper, she had started
to walk silently westward, with or without him. He followed, as
he
had nothing better to do, and silently considered her to be quite a
challenge.
Hill over hill of grass that looked exactly the same as the last hill
and
the one before that, just walking on and on.
Shadow
asked rather suddenly, at least an hour after they had begun walking
again,
"What was your title?"
"Slave
of the Service." He answered quickly.
She
nodded. "Esteemed title, I see."
"And
you have one?" he growled, tired of walking and not used to having to
do
so in the first place.
"I
am Shadow, Pain in the Ass." She announced proudly.
He
grunted in agreement. At least he had an amusing captor, whether
she meant to be or not. He assumed she'd be amusing him far more
once her guard was down for the night.
"What
did you do?" she asked, closing her eyes and smelling the
breeze.
"Whatever
I was asked to do." Came the curt answer.
A
wave of silence washed over them as Shadow was lost in thought.
"So
what is this Service?" she asked finally, genuinely interested even
though
her voice sounded otherwise.
"The
Service of the Master, the Dark Lord..." he trailed off, feeling her
eyes
lightly holding him to a better answer. "The rightful heir of all
magic."
Her
eyes widened just a touch, barely noticeable. "Big bloated
bastard."
She stated quite seriously in a thoughtful sort of voice.
Roan
wanted to laugh, and hard. He could not have at that moment,
however,
said or done anything. He still felt too empty, too alone and
powerless
in the great big world where, only moments ago, he felt he had complete
control over.
"What's
his real name?" she peered only for a moment at the horizon, trying to
judge the time they had left before it was completely dark.
"Aunger."
He croaked weakly, hating the sound of the man's name and all it
represented.
At
that, her entire body shuddered quite visibly, eyes shut tightly,
though
for hardly a noticeable moment. She acted and spoke as though she
hadn't at all been effected by that name, but the core of her being was
backing up into a warm, dark corner. "Bloated name too, I
suppose."
Silence
insued and continued for several more minutes as they walked.
Cresting
over yet another grassy hill, Shadow began humming "Back in Black"
softly
without really noticing, and her tag-along listened carefully.
He'd
hoped that perhaps she'd lose her concentration, forget for a moment,
and
then perhaps he could best her. A chilling thought rolled into
his
mind then; she was ready for just about anything.
"What
is that filth you're humming?" he growled, not sure exactly what he was
trying to accomplish. Even pissing her off felt like a good
option.
"Don't
tell me you're an old schooler." She joked thinly, looking for
any
signs of Evyn and Taerlyn. Seeing that Roan had no idea what she
was talking about, she answered in a very empty voice, "'Back in
Black'.
I wouldn't guess you've ever heard of AC/DC."
He
shook his head, a puzzled expression across his face. He too
peered
across the land and over the swaying grasses, feeling completely
open.
Not being able to see from all sides of himself made him want to keep
spinning,
looking back and forth like a madman, and he rather thought that his
captor
would get a big kick out of it. He squirmed under his skin and
tried
to forget the situation. "Where are we going?" he asked without
much
interest.
"West."
She answered.
He
would never have admitted that he was slightly intrigued. "Why
west?"
"You
care?" she grinned viciously. "My companions are headed
west.
At least, I hope they are." Another long period of silence
followed
as they walked on, Bright Sun completely hidden by the horizon by the
time
she finally spoke again. "Used to sleeping on the ground?"
It wasn't really a question, but it wasn't quite a comment either.
He
grunted. "You're going to sleep all night?"
"Not
all night." She countered thinly, stopping only long enough to
scan
the horizon surrounding them and discovering no trees or hiding
places.
"Of course, there isn't much else to do but sleep."
"And
just what would you normally do with your companions?" he snarled with
a wicked grin.
"Wrestle
raccoons and kill royal guards of course." She answered
humorlessly.
The
boy glared at her. "So that was you." It wasn't an
accusation
so much as a confirmation.
She
only smiled viciously. "What the hell were you doing following us
around, anyway?" She'd known there had been eyes watching her at
camp that night.
"Having
fun." He answered tonelessly. It was enough to send a
shiver
down Shadow's back, but she didn't seem to react at all.
"And
you spared my life for this." She grunted flatly.
"I
should say the same." He growled.
"Well
then we're even." Her voice was coated with sarcasm and overly
joyous
bitterness.
The
silence that followed lasted until the sky had been dark for hours and
Shadow's legs were aching. She stopped suddenly, looked in all
directions,
then dropped directly to the ground at the base of a very small
hill.
"We'll sleep here tonight."
Roan
stared at her for a very long time before he slowly sat. It
somewhat
amazed him, her decision making "skills" being so random. He
wondered
whether she was being herself or just trying to fool him into thinking
of her as, well, whatever it was he thought of her as. Dangerous
and stupid, he supposed.
She
laid back and gazed at the stars, quietly humming various metal songs
with
the accuracy just about anyone could manage. She was too worried
to be tired, but she knew her body was begging for sleep. "Going
to try to get away in the night?" she asked suddenly.
"I
wouldn't dream of it." He grumbled.
"Funny
as hell, you are." She commented, taking a deep breath of gentle
clover in the breeze. She gazed deeply into the sky, still some
of
the twinkling stars in unfamiliar places, and desperately tried to find
a dipper; any size and shape would do, she just needed to find a
dipper.
Slowly and unexpectedly, she slipped into sleep.
Roan
stared at her and waited. He checked her breathing, made certain
her eyes were entirely closed and waited until he was sure he could
make
his move. Slowly, he crawled over to her on all fours, satisfied
that she was in a full sleep. Sitting right next to her, watching
her slow breathing, he very carefully reached a hand for her
throat.
It inched closer to satiation, almost upon the skin--until a bruising
punch
knocked his arm away. He stared with brutally pained surprise
into
her glittering eyes.
She
didn't say a word, and had no need to. It was the eye contact of
rival wolves ready to tear one another apart, but not really wanting
to;
not yet. The boy glared at her hard, but when she didn't react,
simply
kept her eye contact, he grunted and laid down to sleep. Moments
later, she did the same, secure in her instincts and completely aware
that
there would be no dreaming to distract her that night.
As
soon
as Bright Sun began to peek over the horizon, even before the
stars
were dying to give the sky officially to dawn, Evyn was up and ready to
seek further for their lost companion. He stretched, crying out
in
surprise, having forgotten the whip sting. The swift and accurate
reminder wasn't all that fun, but at least it felt a bit better than it
had the day before. Not by much, honestly, but enough to notice.
Taerlyn
was woken by the shout. She stared at her brother until she was
sure
he was okay, then stretched and rubbed her eyes. Sandy carefully
rolled away from them and got up, warming her muscles and getting ready
to run as far as it took for the day. She threw her head
delicately
and whinnied impatience. Shadow must be there,
somewhere...
"Hold
on girl." Evyn tried to keep himself calm as well, his voice
sounding
tormented.
His
sister looked up at him, sure she knew what was going through his
head.
"No trees." She commented.
"Mmm."
He grumbled dully.
Interrupting
his terrifying thoughts of having to relieve himself in the middle of
an
open field, Sandy neighed a shrill, excited burst of hope. She
was
certain that she'd smelled who they sought after, and she simply
couldn't
wait to meet her. She poked her head lightly into Evyn's chest,
then
nearly fell to the ground, begging them to climb on. While not
entirely
thrilled to get on a bouncing horse at that time of morning, he looked
at Taerlyn, shrugged, and the two of them climbed on for what he hoped
would be a mercifully short ride.
Silently,
Shadow
opened her eyes to the brightening dawn light, stretched widely,
got up and pondered whether or not she should just start walking.
Admittedly, she wasn't certain what the smarter choice would be; take
the
prisoner with her, kill him right there, or leave him to whatever his
own
devices may be. His unfortunate waking and looking at her pretty
much left her with only one choice.
Roan's
eyes
shot open with the sound of movement, and he immediately cursed
himself
for having fallen asleep. He hadn't meant to. He'd wanted
to
stay up all night and keep finding as many ways as he could to throw
his
captor off, maybe try to leave instead of kill her, but he'd fallen
asleep. Perhaps it had been all of the walking.
Whatever
it was, he made a strong mental note not to let it happen again.
She
swallowed
as she stretched her back and felt like groaning. There
were no trees behind which to hide, and she was stuck with a
psycho.
How long she could hold herself, she didn't know, but it was obviously
not going to be fun walking. She could try to go behind the hill,
but it wasn't as if he couldn't just stand on his tip toes and glance
right
over. Perhaps it wasn't the worst concern in the world,
but...
She mumbled something relatively incoherent and gritted her teeth.
And
then
her heart skipped a beat. She saw movement from the
east.
She was fully ready to run, prisoner or no prisoner--but the outline of
a big gray-black steed and two blond riders was just too
apparent.
The instant she and Sandy Grey made that all too familiar distant eye
contact,
the horse bounded in a full run (about the speed of a race car, Shadow
would have guessed) toward her.
Roan
heard
the hoofbeats and was quite panicked at first, sure his master
had
sent someone to find him. When he saw his captor's body language
going from ready to run to waving pleasantries, he wasn't sure what to
think. Something told him the odds didn't look very good for his
survival.
Sandy
whinnied
with excitement and stopped in a long spray of dust.
Evyn
didn't even wait for the horse to lay down before he jumped off and ran
to Shadow. Taerlyn stayed behind and waited for the horse to
politely
lower before she slid off with a grateful pat on the nose.
Roan's
eyes
grew wide with a pitiful wonder as he gazed upon Shadow's reunited
companions, staying several steps behind her as she playfully put a
hand
out to Evyn for a shake. The prisoner simply shook his head in
disbelief,
watching the blond haired, blue eyed pair closely. That sort of
bloodline
pretty much didn't exist, where he was from.
"Well
it's
nice to be back." Shadow said with a deep humor, still
holding
her hand out. When Evyn grasped it and pulled her in for a swift
hug, never taking his eyes off of the monster she'd brought back with
her,
she was stiff with shock until he let go. Strange though it would
sound even to himself, he knew the shape of the boy, the feeling he got
up his spine when he looked at him, and realized very quickly that
they'd
met before.
"Just
glad
you're alive." Evyn smiled at her widely and genuinely.
"Better
than
that I think." She nodded toward the still slightly gaping
Roan,
relaxing from the sudden show of affection. "Got ourselves a bit
of a hostage who knows the inside... and magic." She
grinned
and looked at Taerlyn. At that point in time, she appeared to be
what Shadow could only assume was her old self again. Her eyes
were
vivid and full of a distinct young curiosity, but she said nothing.
"How's
the
mental?" the otherworlder, finding herself once again in the middle
of things, joked.
For
a
moment, Taerlyn seemed stunned. Seeing the smile on Shadow's
face
reassured her, and she answered with a smile appearing back on her
own.
"Much better. Less crazy."
"Nothing
wrong
with being loony." Shadow said half seriously, still
inspecting
the younger sibling for signs of needing to be tied down or
watched.
Finding none, she glanced back at Roan. Something inside of her
seemed
to
shudder as she watched him stand there in the sunlight, fancy dark
clothes
and a deep scar barely visible on his neck. There was something
about
the sight that made her heart sink, but she would never have imagined
what
it could have been.
The
shrill,
excited whinny of good old Sandy Grey exploded from the
beast.
Shadow rushed forward and threw her arms about her huge neck, and the
animal
gladly returned the affection with excited grunts. Evyn found it
both fascinating and amusing that she had no problem showing animals
affection,
but people were quite the different story. As girl and horse were
graciously reunited, he glanced the back of her once new shirt and saw
that it had just about been ribboned. "What happened?" he asked,
worried.
Shadow
continued
to hug the horse for a few seconds before turning back to
answer.
Sandy simply placed her huge head across the girl's chest to continue
the
joyous greeting. "Well... I discovered a few things, is
all..."
She suddenly noticed that neither of the siblings had been followed by
the brown horses, and she tilted her head in question.
Evyn
looked
absolutely miserable at that moment. He swallowed and
looked
at her apologetically. "We... lost the other horses..."
With
a
cringe, she looked sadly to Sandy. "Well... lucky me...
again..."
she mumbled softly. Looking back to Evyn, she asked, "How?
Not that I'm sure I want to know."
He
shivered
at the memory. "Those... things... that took you..."
"Did
they
suffer?" her voice was very quiet, angry and sincere.
He
shook
his head. "It was too fast... at least, I hope so."
She
sighed
and gently pet Sandy on the nose. "And how'd she get away
from this?"
"She
ran
like a smart horse." He did his best to grin. "She
tried
to stop them, but..."
"And
the
two of you are okay, right?" she assured, still looking over the
somehow
very different looking Taerlyn.
He
nodded.
"We're fine. I took a bit of a hit, but it's
healing."
He distastefully indicated his own torn clothing, the shoulder area
open
to expose his wrapped wound. "What about you?"
"I'm...
better..."
she simplified a little distantly. She indicated a
very
uncomfortable and stiff Roan with her hand, "I've learned some pretty
neat
tricks from him."
"What's
his
name?" Evyn glanced over.
"Mr.
Prisoner."
She grinned.
All
eyes
immediately turned to Roan, standing stiffly, glaring back at them
with his wicked, raping eyes and a blank face. He said nothing
and
reacted for no one in particular. It felt to him as though it
were
him against the world, and the three people around him were just
obstacles
to overcome. |
|