Chapter 16 - "I Can't
Help it if I'm Sick."
As
her
life was pretty much prepared to flash before her eyes, Roan thrust
his sword into the monster's hip and tugged viciously. The
tearing
could be heard even above the thing's wails, and it turned on him with
such force that it collapsed on it's wounded leg. Unfortunately,
that action seemed only to drive it onward.
All
Shadow saw was the beast's position shift--and that was all she
needed.
She darted up in spite of the rough sting slicing through her back,
stumbling
a bit but on her feet again. An arrow flew straight into the side
of the monster's head, and she ducked just in time to miss it.
Her
attention was focused squarely on whatever weapon she could reach--in
this
case, the bloody katana.
Roan
did all he could to hold in a cry as he felt his shoulder
separate.
Out of instinct more than thought, he drove his sword into the
creature's
muzzle even as the teeth were still embedded in his bicep. He
only
glanced once to make certain he was still "whole", then darted away
without
his sword the instant the jaws released. There was no more he
could
do.
The
creature saw the movement, knew it was losing the prey, and lashed out
with a paw at his legs. Claws caught flesh--though the wounds
were
shallow, the force of the impact brought Roan down.
Shadow
caught only the end of this, but it was enough. How she
accomplished
it, she'd never know; somehow she'd leapt onto the monster,
riding
between its shoulder blades only long enough to drive the sword
straight
downward into its spine.
At
that same moment, Evyn had swung the previously dropped ax at the spot
where the pummel still stuck outward, on the opposite side.
Another
gush of blood answered, and the monster began to roll onto its side in
pain and desperation. Almost accidentally, as it kicked outward,
Taerlyn got too close
She
had felt only a claw tear the skin cross her navel. She had no
idea
how much or how deep, but she knew she was injured as she was thrown
unceremoniously
to the ground. She looked up, the pain just beginning to build,
and
saw the thing snapping and foaming with blind, rolling eyes. The
foam had turned pink, and was getting darker and darker red by the
moment.
"Sever
the head!" Roan cried, trying to stand.
They
needed no further instruction. Shadow yanked the sword out and
began
to saw back and forth, and Evyn hacked furiously at the other
side.
It took quite a bit of muscle to get the job done, but finally the
blood
was flowing freely across all of them. The head was certainly
detached.
Shadow
left the weapons where they were, climbing up and over the beast to see
to Roan's injuries. He didn't look so bad off, frankly.
Bloody,
a little torn up, a limp... hey, it could have been a hell of a lot
worse.
Taerlyn
looked down at herself, covered in monster blood. She wanted to
scream
so badly, to pull off the clothes and just run the opposite direction
until
she couldn't run anymore, but something very unusual took a hold of
her.
She started to laugh. She looked toward her companions and just
laughed.
Shadow
stared at Evyn, who had just limped over to take a look at what had
just
occurred. "I hope she hasn't flown the coop again..." she said
quietly.
"No!"
Taerlyn gasped, still laughing. "That was... fun..."
Sandy
slowly stumbled over to the rest of them. She was fine, really,
but
she was still bleeding from the claws. Shadow weakly reached a
hand
up to rub her nose, and the horse accepted gratefully. Had their
leader been able, she'd gladly have healed her friend, but she was
trying
then to heal herself.
"So,
how's the damage?" Evyn asked, looking around.
Roan
stared for a moment at his shoulder, then suddenly punched it. It
made a gut wrenching crack and fell back into alignment. "I'm
okay."
He announced, then looked down at the remains of his pants, rather
disappointed
by the result. In a quick burst, the healing blue flame danced
across
the wounds and disappeared back into the flesh. Another pair
of
pants ruined...
"I've
got some rocks embedded, but that's it." Shadow announced without
moving. Her back had begun to throb, and for some reason she just
couldn't get the blue fire to appear.
Taerlyn
tried to get up, but a wave of pain pushed her back against the
ground.
Her navel felt very weird, detached and somehow uneven. No one
had
seen the blood spill from it, and she just remembered the feeling of it
being slashed. "I'm... open." She announced uneasily.
Evyn
gasped and kneeled by her side, the pain in his knee not phasing
him.
He looked at the three large rips in her dress and panicked. "The
monster's blood has gotten in..."
"Don't
worry." Roan nearly dismissed. "It was driven and created
entirely
by magic."
"Meaning?"
Evyn looked up. As if at the command of his words, the body of
the
wolf thing suddenly glowed with orange and purple hues and began to
disappear
into a fine mist then blow away, along with it's blood.
"It
wasn't... 'officially' alive." He responded, trying to think of a
way to describe it. "It was never... born. Just created
from
magic. So, when something like that is dead, it returns to
energy."
He glimpsed at Shadow, seeing fresh blood trickle its way through the
many
more tears in the back of her shirt. "Can't heal yourself?"
"Well,
it started to work..." she began, feeling as though something were
missing.
Or, perhaps there was a little something extra.
"The
downside of healing magic..." Roan began, looking at the bits and
pieces
of rock and wood lodged in her back, "Would be having to remove large
objects
stopping the flesh from sealing."
"Oh
this sounds fun." She grinned lightly. She reached behind
herself
and started the task by feel alone.
"Can
you do anything for her?" Evyn asked, carefully inspecting the lightly
bleeding wound across his sister's midsection. It didn't look
that
deep, but it was wide and probably going to be painful walking or even
sitting with. Thankfully the other two claws hadn't hit the skin,
only torn the dress.
Roan
kneeled to take a look. "I think so. But it will be very
draining...
and I'm not certain I can heal it all the way."
"Why
not?" Taerlyn questioned with a light shiver. She didn't quite
like
the feeling of her flesh being open so much.
"People
without natural magic don't tend to heal as quickly even with
assistance..."
he stopped and blinked. "It never made sense to me either."
"Would
medicine help?" Evyn suggested.
"It
probably would." He responded thoughtfully. He glanced at
Shadow,
watching closely, then turned his attention back to Evyn. "You
wrap
her up, and I'll see what I can do for Shadow so she can help me."
The
boy nodded. He planned on watching closely, but he also thought a
little more of Roan than he had. He did, after all, save his
sister's
life, if not all of theirs. Even though he had no intention of
breaking
the treaty between them, he just wanted to be careful... but somehow he
felt as if he didn't need to be anymore.
Roan
got up and walked behind Shadow for a look. "How bad is it?" she
asked.
"Well..."
he began. "Lots to pull out... and some things look very deep..."
"Yay."
Her sarcasm never wavered.
"I
could... uh, help..." he suggested, lightly touching some of the shards
and finding it a little difficult to pull everything through the torn
fabric.
She
got his drift immediately. "Heh. A peek isn't good enough
for
you, huh?"
He
even surprised himself by blushing a little. Now was not the
time...
but it sure helped. "I... uh..."
"Yeah."
She interrupted, grinning. "Gotta do what you gotta do."
She
winked jokingly, then turned to Evyn. "We'll be back. And this
shouldn't
take long."
Evyn
watched,
a little uneasy, slightly uncomfortable, but somehow not all
that
worried. He witnessed the whole event as Roan, with a little bit
of an embarrassed blush, led Shadow a few yards away and indicated she
sit down. She actually had a bit of a devious look on her face,
obviously
planning something. Strangely enough, he wasn't all that
concerned
about it. Hell, he knew her well enough. They weren't going
to... well, y'know.
Taerlyn
giggled as she watched, finding just about everything but her own pain
humorous. She recalled the wolf thing's breath and silenced only
for a few seconds. It hadn't been that pleasant to breathe, magic
created or not. Maybe this is what Coca Cola is like...
she
thought with a crazy little grin.
Her
brother looked up from time to time as he cleaned and wrapped her wound
carefully. He had no intention of interrupting, but... he was
sure
as hell going to watch this.
Shadow
watched
out of her peripheral vision as Roan averted his eyes for a
moment.
Hell, not that she minded at this point, but... yeah, it'd be best this
way. She pulled her shirt off quickly, then used it to hide
her chest behind. "Okay." She invited, pulling her hair to
the side.
Granted
that this was a serious situation, and he certainly meant to take it
that
way, but... he allowed himself one very long sweep of what he could see
before he spoke. "So... how'd you like me to do this? Just
yank, or go slow, or..."
She
couldn't stop herself from laughing. She could almost feel a
small
blush from behind her. "I'm sorry." She laughed a little
harder.
"I can't help it if I'm sick."
That
put him a little more at ease, anyway. Turning her body gently
just
so that the sun was full on her, he started carefully. It wasn't
that bad, but there were several chunks of wood or obsidian-like
rock that had found themselves wedged in rather far. The little
ones
were of no concern, merely splinters.
She
cringed from time to time when a particularly jagged something or other
was pulled, but didn't make a sound. It certainly wasn't a fun
experience,
as some of these chunks were actually embedded to the bone. It
was
surprisingly less painful than it was just plain eerie.
"Last
one." He finally informed. With a last tug, all of the
shrapnel
was removed. Frankly, seeing her back with marks and blood was...
he kept that thought at a distance for his own sake. "How was
it?"
"About
as fun as a doctor's visit. No offense." As a tease or a
treat
(or maybe a little of both), she quickly thrust her arms through her
shirt
sleeves and threw it back over her head. She knew no one could
have
seen anything... too risqué.
"Hey."
He protested softly. "Don't I get a reward for that?"
She
grinned as she felt the blue fire seal the wounds completely.
"Yes."
She turned around, leaned forward, kissed him on the cheek, then walked
away.
He
stared at her back blankly. Innocent or a tease? Or maybe,
on some level, a little bit of both? He smirked, realizing that
he
didn't mind. Taking a step to follow, he was nudged in the
shoulder.
Sandy had waited patiently for a little aid, but this was as patient as
she was going to get. No, the wounds weren't terribly bad, but...
she needed his help just the same.
Upon
laying a hand on her flank, something very interesting flashed across
his
mind. It was directed from the steed herself; something of a...
difference.
He couldn't put his finger on it, but she wasn't quite as she appeared
to be, was the general consensus. She healed very fast, fast
enough
to have not needed his help at all. He still completed the
illusion
of needing to add his energy, but said nothing. It was her
secret,
after all.
"How
goes
it, kid?" the newly healed grinned down at Taerlyn.
"Oh,
very fun." The girl grinned back, suffering from only a little
discomfort
from being flat on the ground. The wound itself burned with the
medicine,
but it wasn't all that painful. Not yet at least. Just
very,
very uncomfortable. Separated flesh felt... wrong.
Shadow
looked to Evyn. "I bet you're not tired anymore, huh?"
He
was glad for this humor. "More so than I ought to be, now."
Roan
approached with Sandy at his side, assessing the situation. "How
is it?"
"Just
bad enough to be annoying." Ter responded miserably.
Thinking
about it only made it worse.
He
nodded, glancing at Evyn as if for permission. He got it,
silently,
and kneeled to place a hand over the bandaged area. With Sandy
having
thankfully more or less healed herself, he had plenty of energy for
this
particular endeavor--though he would have to teach Shadow how to do
this
as well. While he'd rather not think of the just in case
situations,
they were a necessary part of the thought process.
Taerlyn
gasped as the blue fire tingled across her navel. It was hot and
cool at once, feeling at first like a hundred tiny insects racing
across
the surface, then like some deep chemical heating/cooling. At
least
it wasn't any worse than the wound itself. When Roan's hand
lifted
from her, she carefully propped herself on her elbows.
"It's
not complete." He cautioned. "But it should be fine by
morning."
She
nodded, just happy she was going to be okay, and soon. It was a
little
sore, the flesh itself tender, but she was perfectly okay to stand on
her
own.
"Alright."
Evyn began with a stretch, assured his sister would make a full
recovery.
"Uh... should we still stay here for the night?"
That
was the question, wasn't it. How likely was it that there may be
another one of those things running around? Well, by the look of
it, not much, but... Shadow let a light groan pass as she began
to
gather up the weapons. "I guess we ought to move a little.
While we still have some light."
Taerlyn
sighed quietly. It was such a pretty place, such a perfect
camp...
but not after all of that, she supposed. Best to move on,
indeed.
When Sandy lay in front of her, she climbed on carefully.
Shadow
broke
the monotony of walking onward yet again by giving them all a
course
in rock and roll. "Rule number one, good fast rock and roll is all
about
sex." She noticed Roan's rather blank expression and suppressed
laughter.
"The more creative the term for sex is, the better the song.
Although
that rule doesn't always apply, sometimes it's good to just put it
right
out in the open. You have your Poisons and your Aerosmiths, then
you have your Motley Crues and your Guns N' Roses..." Evyn's grin
silenced her.
"I
just wonder what your world is like, that's all." He said,
noticing
her staring.
"Very
diseased with many children." She answered with a wide
grin.
"Of course, there are different rules for slow songs and love
ballads.
For the most part, hidden religious references tend to work very well."
"Go
back to the fast song rules." Roan suggested.
"I
really don't know if I should get into that." She replied, trying
to be as serious as she could. "There's a delicate flower here,
you
know."
Taerlyn
started to look around her. "Depends on who you ask."
Shadow
laughed, quite proud of her little sister's evil showing. "Okay,
but if you hear something you've never heard before, not my fault I
warped
you. Aerosmith is a good start. The only songs of theirs
that
don't have sexual content are the ones without words."
"So
your world does have music without words." Evyn grinned.
"Yeah,
but not much good stuff." She countered jokingly.
"Wait,
I think maybe my ears really are too sensitive for that." Taerlyn
warned.
Shadow
grinned. "Then we won't start out slow after all. We'll go
for... oh, Guns N' Roses. 'Turn around bitch/ I've got a use for
you' is one of my favorite lines..."
"I'm
not sure I was ready for this side of you." Ter giggled
innocently.
"Is
that how women are viewed in your world?" Evyn asked in disturbed awe.
"Yeah,
pretty much." She admitted. "It's all most of them are
worth,
though." The three non-earthlings all glanced at one another at
her
words. "Truth be told, women of earth aren't very smart... but
neither
are the men I guess, so... the whole planet is screwed. I'm...
glad
to be off it..."
Roan
simply could not keep himself from chuckling. Pictures came into
his head of Shadow, one by one, simply "taking care of" the stupidest
of
earthlings by herself. "So tell me what the second rule
is."
He suggested.
She
was only glad to continue. "Rule number two: it's usually best to
have something offensive in a fast rock song. That often brings
us
back to rule number one, however foul language is great too."
"Is
that where you learned your awful words?" he grinned widely.
"No,
that is where I learned how to use them." She affectionately
grinned
back. "As the different spellings and meanings of various three
to
five letter words..."
"I
think we can change the subject now." Evyn interrupted, trying
hard
not to appear to be as amused as he really was.
"Not
a problem." Shadow said happily. She glanced at the area
just
ahead and to the right--and saw what looked to be a wall through the
trees.
Not really anything attached to said wall, but... it was indeed
a stone wall. The group followed her gaze, becoming just as
intrigued
and puzzled as she was. There was still light to investigate by,
so she looked back at her companions.
Evyn
looked back at her with a helpless shrug. "I guess we're going to
inspect it, huh?"
Ah,
the amusement was great. "I can go it alone." She assured
him.
A few more steps closer and there appeared to be another shape to the
left
of the wall--a rope and plank bridge. As the trees began to
dissipate
into shrubbery, it appeared to be along the same lines at the kind that
lead to One Tree Hill. While the closer they came to the bridge,
the more it seemed to be in tact, the stone wall looked to be the only
section left of some fantastic castle.
When
they came within sprinting distance, it became pretty clear that
whatever
building used to be there had collapsed with the ground underneath
it.
The bridge had obviously been built after the event, as it seemed to
successfully
span the area where the building had once been. Whether or not it
was stable... A sudden motion on the top of the wall caused their
eyes to shift upward. It had looked as if something had darted
over
it, to the other side. Nothing large, but... it hadn't looked
like
a bird.
Stupid
though it may have been, Shadow could not put to rest her
curiosity.
"How about we," she indicated Roan whether he wanted her to or not,
"Take
a look behind that wall, and you three see how stable that bridge is?"
For
once, Evyn preferred this plan. He didn't really want to see what
that thing had been. Not that he really wanted to be jumping up
and
down on a bridge of indeterminable age, but... he preferred that to the
other. "Be careful."
"Oh
of course." She assured him with a subtle grin.
Roan,
who hadn't cared to be on either "team", frankly, just shrugged and
followed
along. Hell, if the wall had held up alright for this long, it
may
well be safe to inspect the edge of this cliff... hopefully. He
took
only little comfort in the fact that Shadow was peering over to see how
packed the soil and rocks were underneath. Hell, it wasn't an
overhang--just
straight down into what appeared to be a stream about, oh, a couple of
hundred feet below them. That wasn't very comforting, but
it helped a little.
"Curiosity will
kill me someday." She assured them both offhandedly.
"You
sure you want to do this, then?" he half joked.
She
straightened and looked at him completely soberly. "I've got to
know
what that thing was. It feels... important."
"I
can't levitate you, you know." He told her gently. "So...
be
very careful."
"You
know I will." She responded similarly. "Or, well, you know
now."
He
nodded. She was right, he knew. But he felt he needed to
make
the recommendation, anyway. It always paid to remind a person to
be careful. He'd be right there, right behind her, waiting.
Should she need him...
Taking
a rather large gulp of air, she edged toward the corner of the
crumbling
wall and glanced around it. The surprise that hit her when two
small,
gleaming eyes looked right back at her from the late afternoon shadows
was nearly enough to trip her up. She hadn't anticipated anything
that would look back at her like that. Grasping the rough wall--a
wall that felt far too much like one she'd been pressed to before--she
held the eyes that gazed back. They held an intelligence that was
all too familiar.
"Well?"
Roan whispered behind her, having quietly rushed to her for the purpose
of making sure she didn't lose her grip.
"I
don't know." She whispered back slowly, still looking at the
curled
up creature in the shadow. She thought for a moment longer, then
held a hand behind her that signaled, stay here.
He
calmly forced himself to stay where he was, peering around the wall to
watch every event. Surely enough there were gleaming eyes in the
darkened ruins, clearly paying attention to the form moving toward
them.
One hand on his sword just in case, he watched Shadow very slowly
approach,
crouched toward the ground with her hands down and in front of her,
palms
up, showing herself unarmed.
To
their surprise, the little animal didn't seem to so much as flinch even
when she was only inches away. Instead, it seemed to make a
gentle
tapping noise against the ground. Like a dog wagging its tail,
she
thought oddly. With another breath held, she softly put her
cupped
hand on the ground in front of the eyes for inspection. It's my
fault
alone if I get eaten... she reminded herself.
With
a quiet, surprised gasp, she felt her hand being licked by a tiny, long
tongue. She was able to make out the head and mouth then as the
creature
craned its neck outward--long and thin, and very lizard-like except for
the forward laid ears that reminded her of a dog. A baby
dragon...
shivered across her mind the second the jewel eyes turned from her hand
to her face with an almost pleased expression. The thought made
her
smile, and the smile seemed to make the little creature even more
brave.
Very slowly, it began to uncurl it's body into the light.
Roan
crouched and got just a bit closer, watching intently. The little
beast first thrust its head into the dying sun, the head and nose
entirely
covered in tiny ebony scales that reflected the light eagerly.
The
eyes looked completely colorless, a clear, pearly gray that somehow
made
both Roan and Shadow shiver at the same time. The shiver almost
seemed
to weaken her, and she had to sit back on her knees to keep from
tipping
over in wonder.
Their
movement didn't seem to bother the little creature at all, as it kept
slowly
creeping into the evening sun. Its neck and shoulders appeared
next,
pulling the rest of itself toward her and completely into the
light.
The beautiful black scales covered it's back and sides, then thinned
out
into soft, short black fur on it's belly. The fur extended to the
bottom half of it's front legs, making them appear to be a cross
between
the short, soft paws of a house cat and the talons of an eagle.
As
is edged further toward Shadow, she could see small wings that looked
like
neatly folded sails on either side of its back, texture resembling
something
like a cross of leather and silk.
Once
again the small beast surprised her by leaping forward and putting its
front paws on her legs just above the knees--and she found out quickly,
to her joy, that the claws were retractable. The little thing
seemed
completely fearless, and she began to think of it as just an odd
looking
tom cat. In fact, the moment she gingerly reached out to touch
it's
head, it began to purr and pressed its nose into her hand. She
laughed
quietly, absolutely amazed with the whole experience. To think,
she
was touching a dragon... Fluidly, it kicked it's
back
legs and leapt fully into her lap, then stood up and, placing its front
paws on her chest, craned it's long neck up to meet her eyes closer.
"You're
beautiful..." she breathed as its eyes flickered with mild tones of
opalescent
color. Softly and very slowly, she ran her hand over its scales,
finding them slick and hard as polished stone. She slowed her
touch
as she reached its wings, but it seemed to welcome her hand sliding
over
them. They felt like soft, thin velvet, and as she lifted her
hand
to stroke them again, it wings spread and opened into miraculous pure
black
sails, the bones and veins very well defined in the disappearing
light.
Their span must have been nearly twice the size of the beast's body,
she
guessed, and when they were tightly drawn felt more like a soft leather
jacket. With another casual stroke, the beast folded the wings
back
at its side and cooed quietly.
Without
really needing to think, she wrapped her arms around the little thing
and
lifted from the ground, turning to Roan who had been equally as
enthralled
in the experience. The fur of its belly felt warm and smooth, and it
curled
it's legs around her arms to keep from falling. They finally saw
the beast's long tail, thick at the base yet thinning out quickly into
a whip nearly as long as its body. The creature certainly didn't
seem to mind the movement, and let out a soft squeak of what Shadow
somehow
read as amusement. Speaking to it seemed quite natural, as
natural
as talking to Sandy, and something inside of her told her it would
understand.
"I can't carry you across, I need both hands."
The
dragon blinked twice, then looked down at the bottom of the
cliff.
As if thinking it over, its soft ears tilting and turning, it continued
to stare and blink downward, then back up into Shadow's eyes. Her
smile seemed to reassure it, as it released her arms and darted quickly
across her shoulder and onto her back.
Roan
lifted from his crouch and laughed. "You and your animals."
He grinned, holding his hand out to her which she took gratefully,
carefully
skipping from ledge to ledge and landing safely. As they began
walking
together back to the others, the little dragon began to cover itself in
her hair, putting its head over her shoulder and peeking out of it
playfully.
It felt quite natural, just hanging on her back, peering out from it's
hiding place. And, strangely enough, it was even lighter than her
backpack.
Taerlyn
and Evyn looked up at the sound of Roan and Shadow's laughing. It
certainly wasn't what they had expected to hear at that time in the
journey.
It was a pleasant sound, but... unexpected. Taerlyn gasped and
pointed
as they got close enough for her to see something peering over Shadow's
shoulder that she didn't even seem to realize was there.
Seeing
her reaction, she waited a few more steps to be heard in a normal
voice,
"What do you make of our little friend?"
Evyn
shook his head and walked toward her. He stared at the little
beast
in wonder for quite some time, noticing it's blinking stare seemed to
be
checking him out just as closely. "Interesting." He said at
last, feeling a welcome smile on his lips. The creature made a
"Peep!"
sound without opening its mouth and craned it's neck out for a closer
look.
"Where'd
you find it?" Taerlyn asked, standing well away from the little
thing.
"Wait, that's a stupid question." She felt compelled to go near
it,
to pet it, but at the same time had remembered how lizards used to bite
her father's ankles from time to time when he walked the fields
barefoot.
Something very much bothered her about creatures that would bite your
ankles.
"And
how's the bridge?" Shadow asked hopefully.
"Not...
entirely stable." Evyn admitted. "One at a time and we'll
probably
be alright, though."
Well,
that was somewhat better than it could have been, she supposed.
Their
luck had run so dry that it was time for a miracle, right?
As
if just then noticing the horse following Taerlyn closely, the little
dragon
jerked its head up, eyes widening thoroughly. It was clear that
it
had never seen such a thing in all of it's short life and seemed
completely
amazed. Sandy, on the other hand, just whinnied a hello and began
walking around the group slowly, making the little creature perk it's
ears,
unable to take its eyes off of her.
"Well,
we have to name it." Taerlyn suggested softly as she began to
approach.
Shadow
thought for a moment, and a name hit her harder than any other.
"It
sounds odd, but... Adrian." She silenced and looked at the beast,
who'd taken only a second to look back at her before watching Sandy
again.
"His name is Adrian." How she could be certain about
either
part of that statement was lost to her. But she was beginning to
learn that some things simply... came to you.
"Does
it mean anything in your world?" Taerlyn asked, rolling the name
over and over in her mind.
"It
means 'dark one' as far as I know." She answered, looking toward
the bridge with a slight worry. "Seems to fit... at the moment,
at
least."
Little
Adrian didn't seem to care much whether he was named or not, his
attention
completely focused on the horse that had begun to approach him for a
good
look. Shadow gently extended her arm to Sandy, and the little
dragon
very slowly crawled up to her shoulder and across her arm to meet the
steed
face to face. It was quite amusing (And cute, Taerlyn thought)
to
watch the wide eyed dragon slowly sneaking up her arm as though posing
to attack, but Sandy just stood there patiently waiting. As
Adrian
finally crept to Shadow's hand, the gentle horse simply nuzzled the
dragon's
nose.
The
young creature obviously didn't know what to think of the beast, and
stayed
quite stiff as though mortified. Shadow covered her mouth with
her
other hand, desperately trying not to laugh or cry out "ET phone
home!"
as he slowly put out a single scaled finger toward Sandy's face.
The horse didn't move a muscle as the soft pad made contact with her
furry
nose, nor when Adrian's whole paw gingerly rested on it. She did,
however, make a very loud and annoyed whinny when the beast leapt and
latched
onto her nose by wrapping all four legs around it.
Evyn
could no longer control himself, and began to laugh quite loudly.
As Taerlyn and Roan joined, Shadow bit her lip hard and very gently
pried
the little dragon off. "Such a friendly creature." She
said,
holding Adrian in her arms again, finally giving into the waiting
laughter
that had encompassed everyone... except Sandy. While still in
good
humor, the steed just stared at the laughing band of "friends".
"Sorry,
girl." Shadow attempted to apologize through the giggles.
Even
as she held onto him, Adrian kept glancing at the horse in complete
amazement.
As
Evyn finally caught his breath, he felt it was his duty to remind
everyone
of the matters at hand. Still chuckling, he inquired, "Shouldn't
we think of crossing the bridge and getting a camp for the night?"
"Almost
forgot about that part." Taerlyn tried very hard to compose
herself.
"But... it's kind of shaky, right? I mean... how will we..."
Shadow
got her point right away. "We'll spread the supplies among
ourselves
so Sandy won't have to carry any extra." She theorized.
"Then
we should all get across just fine."
Evyn
nodded, wondering why the hell he hadn't come up with that simple
plan.
"Well then... let's get started."
Shadow
was
first to go. Adrian on one shoulder and her backpack on
another,
blanket and extra swords under her arm, she carefully edged out onto
the
wooden panels. Well, frankly, it was kind of scary. She
walked
slowly to keep her balance, but felt the sway of the bridge increase
the
closer she got to the center. It was longer and wider than the
ones
at One Tree Hill had been, and she didn't doubt this one would hold
up...
but it was still nerve wracking; carrying all of this stuff, a dragon
craning
over her shoulder, not knowing exactly what the other side of this
crack
in the earth would bring. But, she did indeed make it to the
other
side, in tact, all equipment accounted for. And the other side
wasn't
all that much different. She carefully placed the supplies on the
ground and waved with both arms. She felt weird about yelling for
some reason.
Roan
was
next, arms full of general stuff. Heavier than
Shadow,
he had to take it even more slowly over the middle of the bridge, its
sway
making him feel a little nervous. With a bit of luck and a little
natural agility, however, he made it safely. Adrian bounded from
Shadow's shoulder to his as if in welcome.
Evyn
looked
to his little sister, clearly seeing that she expected him to go
next. He couldn't really argue, seeing as how he really wanted
the
whole damned experience to be over with. Approaching the center
of
the bridge was quite a feat, however. The more it swung, the less
he cared to be there. There was encouragement from the other
side,
though, and thankfully no one said "Don't look down." That's one
of the worst things anyone can possibly say in a situation like
that.
When he slowly shuffled to the other side, he quite literally leapt
away
from the cliff and decided he was going to stand several yards away for
the rest of the time they were to be there.
Sandy
raised
her head for a moment, looking around. There was clearly something
watching. Maybe she was the only one to feel it right at that
moment,
but... she had the dull impression that it was going to make itself
known,
and fast. She lightly nudged at Taerlyn to get her started
across.
It was coming from behind them, and the sooner they crossed, the better.
Ter
took
a deep breath, then followed slowly with the rest of the
supplies.
She was lighter than any of the rest of them, so her sway wasn't hardly
as bad. As she stepped to the other side, she was met with good
natured
teasing about the subject.
And
then
all hell, as it were, broke loose. Sandy had taken the first
careful, light-footed steps onto the wooden planks when the scent of
those things
almost caused her to choke. Three of those awful donkey beasts
were
racing toward the bridge from the trees. She threw her head
foreword
and decided, in that instant, that she had no other choice--she'd have
to run for it. She backed up quickly just enough to get a good
start
on solid ground, then darted full-out.
Her
companions
could do nothing more than cheer her on from the other
side.
Taerlyn was desperately digging for arrows, but she was scared to death
of accidentally hitting the steed--that thought was pushed to the back
of her mind when they heard the splinter of wood from the other side.
The
bridge
tilted and swung again, making things a hell of a lot
harder.
Sandy closed her eyes and tried to make a full run to the other side,
putting
her full faith in her balance, but the wooden panels began to shatter
into
upward splinters from her sudden swift weight and years of
neglect.
She neighed wildly and kept running, kept dodging, keeping as good a
balance
on the bridge as she could, to the calls of her friends.
"You
can
make it Sandy!" Taerlyn called wildly, loading an arrow and getting
ready to aim.
Shadow
looked
to Roan desperately. "Can't we do anything?"
He
thought
for a moment then nodded as if an idea had just been thrust
into
his mind. "We can try. But I'll warn you, I'm not good at
this
kind of magic."
It
didn't
matter--anything was better than nothing. Adrian jumped
off
of her back as if sensing what needed to be done before she had any
clue
of it herself. Roan dropped to one knee and closed his eyes
tightly,
attracting his energy outward into his fist. Shadow crouched
behind
him, circling him with her arms, closing her eyes and fiercely
concentrating,
adding power to his own. He grunted suddenly and grasped hold of
one of the support ropes, the energy surging green spasms of light into
the bridge. It stabilized almost immediately, and Sandy quickly began
to
cross in a faster run.
"That's
it
girl!" Evyn cried to the steed.
Past
the
center, closing in, Sandy dashed toward them. Then there was
a momentary flash of crimson that arced above the green energy, then
orange
light sparking underneath her hooves. Even as she kept racing,
something
had caused her heart to sink. One of the donkey monsters had used
one of those energy draining darts, sinking it into an area of the
bridge
that was coated with the green energy.
As
though
the dart had touched their bodies, Roan and Shadow cried out in
unison. Their magical effort began to flash in and out like a
dying
electric light. It was being quickly eaten away and dissolved,
and
Taerlyn could feel a scream building somewhere in her throat.
There
was no time to aim, and there was nothing to aim
for.
Sandy was too close, she risked hitting her, she could barely see those
creatures on the other end that already seemed to be making their
getaway...
Sandy's
eyes
were wide, her nostrils flared violently as she pounded toward the
group in a passionate run, her legs just blurs. Evyn and Taerlyn
stood helplessly, calling for her, praying for her to make it
across--but
that electric green energy was completely drained. The color
itself
snapped and faltered, erupting in violent orange before disappearing
entirely.
The entire bridge, Sandy included, was just gone.
Taerlyn
screamed
roughly, no words coming out. Just long, horrible
sounds.
Evyn wrapped his arms around her and let her cry, his gaze blind to the
world for the time being. Even he had tears in his eyes,
swallowing
constantly so not to cry out himself.
"She
was
a unicorn..." Roan coughed distantly before lapsing into completely
drained unconsciousness. For some reason, it didn't surprise any
of them.
Shadow
tried
to stand, tried to get up or say something, to do anything
at all. She felt as though she had been running for miles or
years,
her lungs were tight and all of her muscles begged to be
released.
She tried so hard not to pass out, but as her vision began to blur,
then
dim, her hearing becoming a distant hum, she surrendered to the need to
fall, to rest, and lost her already loose grip on consciousness.
Evyn
stared
helplessly at the collapsed, but couldn't bring himself to
release
Taerlyn from his arms. So much lost, so much undone. |
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