by Orr, Krystal
Those facts were of little comfort to Lao'dahn. He raised his hand and invoked the powers of his Order. A blinding flash lit up the small area of his camp and slammed into the white wolf so close to him. He waited to hear the sounds of agony that should have come from being assaulted with such intense light, but they never came. When his gift faded and his own eyesight cleared, he was stunned to see the wolf still standing and regarding him curiously.
The creature shook its body and head and turned away from him. Lao'dahn, his breathing uneven and his eyes wide with fear and awe, watched the wolf start off at a slow and deliberate pace. He could not understand how the wolf still stood, let alone walked! Such a feat should have been impossible. His gift should have rendered the creature immobile and weak, yet this wolf appeared unaffected.
Intrigued, Lao'dahn sat up on his knees and felt around on the ground until his fingers brushed across his staff. Grabbing it and his pack, he quickly stood up. The wolf had stopped some short distance in front of him and was watching him expectantly. Did it wish him to follow?
If that was so, what purpose did the wolf have in leading him somewhere? Against his better judgment, Lao'dahn felt compelled to go after the wolf. Taking a cautious step forward, he moved toward the enigmatic creature. The wolf started walking again. Lao'dahn followed.
As the wolf led the way, its heart was heavy with a deep sadness. It did not like what it was having to do, but such things were often times required if future events were to be given a chance of life. The wolf despised leading this creature, this evil man, but such was its burden. It knew how matters were to end and that was its only comfort when it heard footsteps behind it.
* * * * * *
"Tell me you love me."
Arizira smiled coyly and turned her head in the playful manner that was her custom. She and Talliea, as they had done the past few nights, were bathing in the hot spring not far from their abode. As promised, Arizira had shown Talliea more of her world from her own perspective. The two of them had walked by moonlight in search of a flower that only bloomed in the deepest twilight of winter. They had played in the snow without a care in the world, throwing snowballs and chasing one another. Just the night before, Arizira had taught Talliea a game her people played where one person attempted to hide from the other while that person sought to seek them out.
Their time together seemed to pass by the both of them quickly, yet neither noticed. It seemed as if a lifetime ago that Talliea had been so unsure of what she was feeling for Arizira while Arizira had fought to ignore her heart's desires. Now, they were completely free with one another. Their bond grew everyday. Each time they laid with one another, new information was shared between them. Communication -- verbal communication, was almost unnecessary between them when they were physical.
The fact that they were from two completely different peoples hardly ever factored into either of their thoughts. They were in love. Selflessly, hopelessly, completely...in love. Each touch, each caress, each kiss became more, became better than the one before. Talliea found herself being far more opinionated and optimistic than she ever could have dreamed before meeting Arizira. She laughed and developed a much more playful side to her personality, a side she owed to Arizira.
Arizira, on the other hand, learned to be less withholding with Talliea. Where before she had been more reserved, she now found herself more willing to speak about what was on her mind as opposed to keeping the thoughts to herself. She had never been one to rely upon another person. Independence had always been her ally. With Talliea, however, she was learning that leaning upon another, one who loved so infinitely, could only prove to strengthen her character, not diminish or weaken it.
All in all, Talliea and Arizira were as happy as any two people newly in love. Their world consisted only of them and what they made of it each day.
Standing in front of Talliea, the warmth of the water covering their chests, Arizira looked up into impossibly dark eyes and smiled. The moon enhanced her people's vision and she found the sight of Talliea in the lunar light to be quite intoxicating. Gliding her hands over the smooth skin of Talliea's chest, slick with water rivulets, she asked, "Why?" in response to Talliea's earlier request.
"Because I like to hear you say it. The words are a beauty when they stand alone, but when they pass your lips they grow all the more sweet."
Smiling again, Arizira caught Talliea's eyes with her own and held her gaze. With the night being so deep and the moon acting as a guard over the spring, Arizira's eyes were glowing more intensely than Talliea had witnessed in a long time.
"I love you, Tah-li," Arizira said softly. Her face was no longer playful. It was serious and the tone of her voice heartfelt. "I will love you until my last breath and then, after I have passed to the sky above, I shall continue to love you until this world is no more."
Eyes brimming with slight tears, Talliea smiled and leaned forward to softly kiss her love's lips. The two of them continued their bath and enjoyed a comfortable silence. Arizira allowed Talliea to turn her around until her back was to Talliea's front. The position was a favorite of both of theirs.
"You plan on loving me for as long as I plan on loving you," Talliea whispered against Arizira's ear, her lips brushing across the sensitive skin. Smiling at the playful tone in her lover's voice, Arizira wrapped her hands around the arms that were secured about her waist. "If it was your wish, failira, I would spend forever with you."
Something resonated deep within Talliea at the words. She felt something click into place and was soon shocked at how long it had taken her to remember her own circumstances. She let her arms around Arizira's waist slacken as she moved away a small measure. Arizira, sensing the change in mood, turned around to face her. "Something troubles you," she stated.
Talliea did not respond, but her silence spoke enough. Arizira studied her for a moment. Her fingers moved across Talliea's neck and shoulders as the silence stretched between them. "This was unexpected," Talliea said after a time.
Arizira cocked her head to the side as she regarded the woman she loved. Her fingers settled against Talliea's collarbone. "What was unexpected?"
"Us, love. Us. We agreed to wait until the winter passed to make any decisions, but I did not anticipate falling so hopelessly in love with you. At the time, I was unable to fathom how much our relationship would change everything about my world. Yet, I have tasted your skin and touched your spirit now. I have glimpsed into your world and felt you inside of me. I could ask of nothing more from my life than to spend the rest of this cycle with you."
Arizira opened her mouth to speak, but Talliea placed a single finger over her lips. "But, you miss your people, Ahmanae. You miss their ways and their seasons. What course is left to us then? Keeping you here with me is unfair to you. I cannot allow my own selfish desires to burden your heart. I will not."
Trailing the fingers resting against Talliea's collarbone up her arm and to her hand, Arizira kissed the finger at her lips before moving the hand away completely.
"You do not keep me here, Tah-li, nor is your desire to be with me a selfish one. I love you. That love binds me here, to you, to your heart. To your spirit. There is no other place I wish to be than here with you. I still plan to return to my people when the winter moves away from this land. If they cannot accept my love for you, if they cannot look upon us with eyes free from the shade of hatred, then I will not be forsaking them, Tah-li. They will be forsaking me. Love is the highest expression Aitla provides and teaches. If my people cannot celebrate our connection, they also forsake Aitla."
Talliea was quiet for several minutes as she allowed Arizira's words to settle in her mind. She gently grasped the hand that was still entwined with her own and brought the delicate knuckles to her lips. Kissing each one with utter reverence, she sought Arizira's eyes once again. "What would be our course if we both left our people, Ari? What path would we walk? Where would we live?"
Arizira closed the space between their bodies a
nd easily wrapped her hands around Talliea's neck. Kissing the side of her mouth, Arizira rested her forehead against the taller woman's. "Well," she started and her voice had resumed its playful cadence, "our course would be one of our own choosing. Mayhap, given time, we could bring about a unification between our peoples. The path we walked would be with one another."
Talliea smiled, her fears becoming less, and wound her hands around Arizira's slight waist. Pressing her fingers into the small of her love's back, she asked, "And where would we live? In a cave for the remainder of our lives?"
"No!" Arizira replied, laughing softly." We could establish something more permanent. I know nothing of building a home out of solid rock, as your people do, but I could teach you of Arniran homes."
"You mean, we would live in the trees?" Talliea asked, lips unable to keep from smiling.
"Yes, if you wish it. We could each learn from one another."
Talliea made a show of contemplating the pros and cons of their future together. Arizira giggled and tangled her hands into the wet hair about the base of her neck. "You still need to instruct me to use a bow," Talliea said pointedly.
Pressing her body against Talliea's, Arizira moved her hands until they rested on either side of her lover's neck. She turned Talliea's head slightly and kissed the protruding line of jaw that was exposed to her. "We have been otherwise engaged, failira," she whispered hotly in Talliea's ear. "On the morrow, I will begin your lessons."
The two of them laughed and soon grew silent once more. They held each other tightly, hands and fingers tracing the soft contours of skin in a search for completion. The night grew. Gloaming faded. The moon remained high overhead.
"You would leave your people to be with me?" Talliea asked after a moment. She held Arizira's body against her own while her hands glided over the curve of fragile shoulder blades. She still could not believe the speed with which Arizira had healed from her wounds. To this day, she had no answer for such a swift recovery. Arizira still held true to the belief that Talliea had healed her in some way, but that idea was without merit. Talliea had no such abilities.
"I would do anything to be with you. If you ask it of me, it is done," Arizira replied, her lips and nose brushing across Talliea's shoulder and the curve of her neck.
Stifling a moan that wished to be free, Talliea attempted to maintain her focus. Arizira's gentle touches and beautiful declarations were making it difficult to think straight. She felt the erotic nip of teeth against her skin and her hands on Arizira's back flexed. "That is our plan, then? We shall remain together no matter the cost?"
"Yes. To be away from you would be a slow death for me, Tah-li. I would be unable to function. You are my Doira'Liim. I believe this to be true. Where you are, I shall also be."
Talliea opened her mouth to add her own words of love and devotion, but came up short for a sufficient reply. Instead, she only smiled happily and held Arizira closer to her. The Arniran woman dropped her head down to her shoulder as the two of them enjoyed one another in silence.
A distant and very faint sound came suddenly to Arizira's keen ears. She jerked her head back up no sooner had it landed on Talliea's shoulder. "Ari?
Arizira moved away from Talliea and opened up her senses fully to the forest around her. Her eyes, bright and glowing fiercely, examined and regarded every inch of the area around her. Her perceptive ears took in each animal cry, insect chirp, fallen leaf, and brush of wind. Despite being aware of more than Talliea, Arizira felt as if her senses were...numbed. It seemed as though they were disconnected somehow. She paused and wondered at the unusual feeling. What power could be the cause for such a phenomenon?
"Ari?" Talliea questioned again, "What is wrong, love?" Still looking around the trees and deep shadows, Arizira shook her head and released a slow breath. "I do not know. I thought I..." her words trailed off as she felt her disconcerting feeling continue to rise.
"Thought you what?"
"Nothing, failira," Arizira replied, not wishing to alarm her companion. "Let us return. I believe something in the forest watches us this night."
Talliea had been with Arizira long enough to know when to trust her instincts. Looking around the darkened woods, she felt a shudder pass over her body before moving up behind her love. She placed a hand on the smaller woman's shoulder and swallowed an anxious bout of nerves.
"Come, Tah-li. I shall lead you back. The sun's return is but a short time away. Sleep is soon." Talliea nodded and allowed Arizira to pull her toward dry land. As they dressed, Arizira could not shake the feeling that eyes were upon them and danger was somehow close at hand.
* * * * * *
Lao'dahn looked over at the wolf that sat beside him. The beast had led him for a day and a night to his current destination. Curious, for sure. When he had come upon a small ledge that overlooked a dip in the forest below, he had been amazed at the sight that greeted him. A cave, sitting up on another rising across from him, dusted the landscape with a multitude of dancing shadows. Following the ledge he'd been on farther down, Lao'dahn had noticed, not far behind the cave, another hot spring steaming in its perceived seclusion.
Yet, that had not been the most startling of his discoveries. Who was in the spring had been what most intrigued him. The moon above was unusually bright this night and its light had afforded Lao'dahn with a most welcome sight.
Talliea. She was alive, but not alone. Another was with her. A woman, but a very peculiar woman in appearance. What type of creature was the fair-skinned woman? Her hair was not dark, her skin was not bronzed, and a strange luminescent glow surrounded her eyes. Whatever she was, she was not a child of Esuval. She was...something else. Were there others like her?
Lao'dahn had not been able to ponder such thoughts for long. His attention had been ripped from him as he had watched the two women bathing. And...kissing? Talliea was...
No. Talliea was disobedient. She was unruly and wild and defiant, but she was not a sinner. She could not be giving her body to that woman! Could she? Such an act was a defilement. It was abhorrent and disgusting! It was an act Esuval could not, and would not, condone in any way. Talliea needed a man's guidance. She needed to be cleansed and purified.
Holding the wolf's intense blue eyes, Lao'dahn watched as the two women left the waters of the spring and went about drying and dressing himself. He allowed his eyes to travel across both of their bodies, Talliea's longer than the other woman, before lowering himself closer to the ground. They were heading in the direction of the cave. His time was nigh.
Talliea was his.
Chapter 33: The Separation
Something was wrong. Things felt...off. There was something happening. Or was it about to happen? What had interrupted her sleep?
Talliea opened her eyes. Their dark brown depths were wide as they tried to focus on her surroundings. She blinked in an effort to clear the sleep from her vision. The sun was already streaming shafts of light down to the forest floor. It was morning. Or early afternoon.
Taking a deep and calming breath, Talliea rolled over onto her side to face Arizira. The sight that greeted her caused her heart to slam into her ribs. A wolf, large and white, sat next to Arizira. Its eyes were blue and its coat a flawless white. As Talliea swallowed her initial shock, she realized that she did not feel threatened by the creature. She felt almost safe.
"Ari?" she whispered, keeping her eyes locked on the wolf. "Ari-sera, wake up."
Arizira did not awake. She did not stir. Her chest continued to rise and fall in a steady pattern that denoted a deep and peaceful sleep. Why did she not respond to Talliea's request? Talliea attempted to reach over to shake the sleeping woman, but the wolf lowered itself over Arizira's body. Its head landed against a slowly rising chest while its muzzle brushed across Arizira's shoulder. The gesture almost looked like one intended to guard another, but why would the wolf feel the need to protect Arizira from her, if in fact that was what it was doing?
"You keep her in slumber," Talli
ea said as her eyes looked from the wolf's blue eyes to Arizira's face. "Why?"
How such a thing was possible, Talliea did not know. Her sense of danger, of something being wrong, was still persistent but she now knew it had nothing to do with the wolf resting against her love. Whatever had ripped her from her sleep was not inside the cave. It was outside.
Somehow, she knew that the wolf would not harm Arizira. This creature, she suddenly became aware, was the same creature she had seen before. It watched over them, just as it was watching over Arizira now. Talliea felt a pang of panic at the possibility of having to face whatever was outside alone. Arizira was the one trained in weapons and combat. She was the one, out of the two of them, that had keen and amazing senses.
What could Talliea hope to accomplish if something with malcontent truly was lurking outside? Does it matter? her inner voice spoke up.
If something was intent on harming either of them, whether beast or man, Talliea knew she would do anything to protect Arizira. Anything at all. For reasons unknown, the wolf was keeping Arizira asleep. How she knew that, Talliea was unsure. She felt compelled to search the area just outside the cave, as though her actions were already determined. The wolf's icy and chilling stare seemed to be forcing her to search for answers.
Looking down at Arizira's peaceful and beautiful face, Talliea felt a renewed sense of purpose. This woman was her life. Her love, her trust and her perfection. If anything was hiding about outside with the intent of bringing either of them harm, then Talliea knew she had to keep Arizira safe.
She sighed. She was being ridiculous. There was nothing wrong. She was with Arizira and Arizira was safe. Her thoughts were nothing more than the frenzied lingerings of dream like images and yet...
She could not shake the feeling that she stood upon a precipice watching events unfold in her life. She could not ignore the nagging sensation that there was something wrong. What was she supposed to do? Leave Arizira and take a look around their borders to satisfy her own misgivings?