Depth of the Rain by Orin Drake
A completed novel, available here.

        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.
Content copyright Orin Drake 2011.
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