by Candy Nicks
"I may not survive the Fire."
"It's a risk, yes. If you don't survive I promise I'll give Sol the antidote myself."
"If I die, my spirit will not rest until it sees you in Hell. How can I trust you after this? Heal him now and I swear on my mother's grave to find you a Sacred Fire."
"Well, I don't trust you, either. Do you think Sol would allow you to help me, after this?"
No. The moment he recovered, Sol would want revenge. Tian touched the scar on his temple. His eyes opened, misted and filled with confusion.
Why waste time over a decision that had already been made? “Let's go,” she said. “Get it over so I never have to look at you again."
"Even without this storm, we've lost the light. We leave first thing in the morning."
She caught the fleeting grimace on Jarek's face. Saw his teeth clench, a hand lift to his chest. His heartbeat faltered, the rhythm an erratic staccato. He groped into his pocket and pulled out his own Crystal, pressing it to his chest.
"You're weakening, Father. I can feel it. Look at you. How much magic have you abused over the years?"
He gave a long, spluttering laugh. “About the same as your mother. Have you any idea of the battles we fought, down the years? A tough one to crack. But crack her I did."
"Everything you say makes me hate you more."
"I don't want your love. Just that beast inside of you. Only the wolf could survive the Sacred Fire. Make sure it knows what's at stake."
"Oh, it knows,” she said eyes flashing. “If you knew how close it was to the edge, you'd tremble."
Jarek shook with mock horror, which ended with another peal of raucous laughter. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said with a flourish. “The thing you've all come to see. I give you—the Lupine!"
A desperately sick man on the verge of death, or a cynical jailer out to use her for his own ends? What did it matter when all she cared about was saving Sol?
There's a good girl. Jarek slid into her mind, probing her thoughts. Murmuring his approval.
For a brief heartbeat, she managed to bring the shutters down. The door between their minds slammed, re-opened. So it could be done.
"Calm.” Sol's voice was nothing more than a croak. “More control..."
Hard to keep calm with her love lying half-dead in her arms.
You have the power to save him, Jarek said. Tian. Listen to me. Together, we have such power.
Wolf's valley. She thought of Wolf's Valley and the life waiting for her. The brother she'd never seen. “We'll get there,” she whispered against Sol's clammy cheek. “If I have to carry you myself. We'll get there."
* * * *
Did the man never sleep? Sol watched Jarek from the foggy depths of a body that didn't feel his own. The man sat, back to the wall, chin resting on his chest. A palm-blaster in one hand. The larger blast-gun on the floor beside him. His eyelids fluttered closed, opened, amber eyes catching the stray beams of moonlight filtering through the dirty glass. The image blurred.
Sol felt Tian and her wolf wrapped around him like a coiled spring. Protective. Watchful. The warmth of her seeping into his chilling bones. No energy left for rage. Only impotence and shame for this shell housing his weakening spirit.
He didn't want to leave her, but how could he go back to life and call himself a man after this?
* * * *
"It's a cage."
"Think of it more as a mark of your trust.” Jarek inclined his head toward the powered transport, waving her inside the barred compartment behind the driver's cabin. The cage was divided in two.
Her father tapped impatient fingers on metal. “If you would be so kind, Daughter. I'd like to be away before the next storm hits."
Balan and the mare shifted nervously on their lead reins, tethered behind the transport. Cora, and the saddlebags lay in a heap in one of the compartments. Sol was still inside the hut.
"I'm going nowhere without him.” Tian folded her arms and faced her father. He frightened her only because of his hold over Sol. Had it not been for Sol, the wolf would have had its way.
"And probably have died in the process. Your thoughts and those of your beast are mine, remember that."
"We'll learn to block you. Sol comes too, or you may quietly die and go to Hell. The choice is yours."
"I don't believe I mentioned a choice. Get in the wagon now."
Change, Tian. He cannot enter my mind so easily. Travelling as wolf is the only hope of planning our escape.
If I change, you will try to kill him.
Yes, the wolf agreed. I certainly will.
She turned for the hut, ignoring her father's barked command to stand and face him. Until they found the Sacred Fire, neither of them had the upper hand.
"Sol?” She kneeled beside him, placing a tentative palm to his cheek. Listening for his life signs. Even without touching him she could feel the steady beat of his heart, the pulse of his blood. Glazed eyes stared at the ceiling, the soft grey dulled with confusion, but he was alive and holding on.
"Taking you outside,” she said. “You're coming with us.” Hooking her arms under his shoulders, she took a deep breath and heaved, at the same time apologising for the indignity of dragging him like a sack of garbage over the dirty floor and out into the snow. Outside, Jarek did nothing to hinder or help. He seemed far more interested in the pale plait of hair she was hastily stuffing back into Sol's collar.
"Do you know how valuable yellow hair is?” Jarek had already pulled out a knife.
It will grow back, she thought and kept her face impassive. Save the strength for the important things. It will grow back.
She let Jarek take it without protest, turning away from the blade slicing through the fine strands. While he coiled the precious hair into a drawstring bag, she hauled Sol to his feet and sat him on the edge of the cage. Pushed Balan's enquiring nose away from his beloved master. Sol's height made him an awkward burden. He swayed backwards to land flat on the transport floor. Before she could jump in behind him, Jarek pointed the key at the door and activated the lock.
"The other side, if you please."
"I'm riding with Sol, open the door.” Pulling at the sliding door made no difference. It clanged shut with her hanging on grimly. “Father, this is unnecessary. I'll find your Fire. Let me ride with him."
Jarek tapped the key against the bars. “Hardest substance known to man. The Goddess herself would have trouble breaking it. If you want to help Sol, you'll stop wasting the little time he has left and do as I say."
"You don't look well, Father."
"And I love you, too, Daughter.” Jarek rubbed a hand over his face and straggly beard. “You thought this would be a cosy family reunion? Make up for all the lost years? I own you, Tian. Under Rom law you're little more than my slave. I will let Sol die if you don't co-operate."
"You're right,” she said lifting her chin. “We're wasting time.” Inside, the wolf let out a long, silent howl. Her command of it surprised her. Nothing was more important than saving Sol. The Goddess wanted to see what she was made of? She would show her.
"Locking it for your own safety,” Jarek said when she was inside. “That wolf gets out, we're all in trouble."
"I have it under control.” She'd dropped Sol too far away. With her fingers pushed through the bars, she could barely graze his coat.
"No man's worth the worry, Daughter. Better to learn that lesson now."
Schooling her thoughts and emotions to indifference was impossible when she wanted only to tear down the bars and hold Sol one last time. For him, she had walked willingly into a cage.
"I don't care what you do with me. Promise me you'll save him.” She cursed the wobble in her voice. First her mother and now Sol. Did this test of courage include losing him too?
"It's in your hands, Daughter. Find me what I want and you get to live happily ever after. Can't say fairer."
She twisted to watch her father swing into the driver's cabin. Grabbed at the
bars when the transport shuddered into life. Balan jerked forward, banging a hoof on the metal step. If one of the horses injured themselves, Jarek wouldn't hesitate to destroy them.
"Quiet, boy,” she whispered. “For now we must endure.” The wild hope that they might meet another traveller on the road who would come to their aid soon fled when Jarek turned off the main highway to jolt along a side-track which wound towards a distance mountain range to the south-east. Almost as tall as her own mountains, she guessed the high-peaks would be snow-covered all year round. The lower slopes looked green enough. She shivered, hoping they would soon outrun the snow. The open cage provided no shelter from the elements and she no longer had Sol's warm body to shelter her.
Oh Sol. Sweet Sol. Goddess did you send him all this way to die a pointless death at my father's hand?
The transport moved at walking pace in deference to the horses, spraying muddy slush from the wheels as they ploughed on. Reading Jarek with finesse was a skill she'd yet to master. Mountains, fire and stones—his thoughts fixated on those three things.
Tian reached through the bars towards Sol, straining for the briefest touch of flesh. He'd related tales of Finn and how his wolf had thrown itself into a Sacred Fire to release the Soul Cleansers for Carine. It had taken many moons for him to return as human. By then, Sol would be dead.
A human life is too sorrowful, the wolf said. Better we had not known him.
I once thought so, Wolf. No longer, though. When she looked at Sol she saw her world, her life, her future. Unheeding of the scrapes, she peeled back her sleeve and thrust her arm through the bars. His chin was rough with scratchy stubble, the skin of his cheek cold. Cracked lips worked, but no sound came out. This man whom she loved above all else had been sent to bring her back in more ways than one.
Did he realise that he'd lost his hair? The blunt ends lifted in the breeze scattering the strands about his beautiful face. What woman could resist such a man?
By sending her Sol, the Goddess hadn't played fair at all.
* * * *
Sol clawed at the edge of a ravine, fingers scraped raw by the rough rock. Above him, Tian's face, concerned, distant. They should be in Wolf's Valley. How did he get here? If he let go, he would fall.
Call out, he thought. You need her.
Tian's image wavered. Came closer, receded. Sol's throat worked, trying to force out a sound.
And if she saves you—what then? How many songs will they sing of you, after this?
No, you must live. She needs you, too.
The Eagle in him whispered. The Moon Child pleaded. With every passing moment his grip weakened. Hold on, or fall? Oh Goddess, he couldn't decide what to do.
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Chapter 14
Hold on, Sol. Hold on.
The words became a mantra as the day wound down. She would keep him alive by sheer power of will if she had to. Carry him to Wolf's Valley on her back. No doubt remained in her mind that his home was now her home.
"He needs water."
Jarek continued gnawing at a strip of dried meat. Made her wait while he washed it down with a mug of water taken from the stream running beside their makeshift camp. He belched. Wiped his mouth with a piece of cloth.
"Don't try anything,” he said reaching for the blast-gun. “Sol will be the first to die."
Tian slid to the front of the cage on her knees, hands on the bars, watching him fish the remote-key from his pocket. One leap and the wolf could be at his throat. One twitch of his trigger finger and Sol would be dead. She agreed with a nod of the head.
It took all of her resolve to keep the wolf in check. First, she slaked her own thirst. Nothing to eat or drink since last night's meal had left her light headed and unsteady on her feet. Jarek looked on with an amused detachment, indicating the remnants of his own meal with the barrel of the gun.
"See to him, then eat. We have a good distance to travel before night-fall."
The food smelled too good to refuse. She saw no point in weakening herself with hunger. Jarek waved her into Sol's cage with an impatience he was finding difficult to mask. Tian slowed deliberately, knowing it would annoy him. He wasn't having it all his own way.
"Sol,” she said. “Can you hear me?"
The flutter of his eyelids in response to his name gave her hope. When she cradled his head and offered the mug, water spilled from his mouth to dribble over his chin and chest. She wiped it away with her sleeve.
"He's losing heat and his heart is slowing. Let me stay with him."
Jarek shook his head. “You're done. Come and eat, then we leave."
"Give me his gloves. Look how white his hands and cheeks are? His heart is slowing."
Jarek shook his head, a half-smile on his lips. “Young love, eh? Can't live without him now but in two moons you'll be hard pushed to remember his name. Come on girl, you're wasting time. Mine and his."
"Sol belongs to the Goddess. Do you not fear her wrath?"
"Oh, the Goddess and me, we go way back. Who do you think brought her precious Lupines back? That honour went to me. I think we'll cash these horses in soon as we get the chance. Fine stock,” he said casting an expert Rom eye over Balan. “They'll slow us down when we need to move fast. Come on, Daughter. Shift yourself. Any other father would have given you a good whipping by now."
Don't show you care, the wolf cautioned. Jarek grinned, letting her know he'd heard.
How could she hide her emotions with her mind so invaded? To one who had been so free, it was a violation only distance would cure.
She gobbled the food, feeling like a traitor for leaving the cage without a backward glance. Back in her own cage, she pressed herself against the bars realising she'd missed the opportunity to move Sol closer. Poor Balan would spend the rest of his life pining for his master. Even now, she saw the incomprehension in the beast's eyes. The way he strained towards Sol's inert body.
"Balan will not take another rider."
"Sol tell you that, did he? Two days,” Jarek said offering the horse a candy-cube on the flat of his hand. “Triskil-Root. They can't resist it. Five more doses and Sol might have never existed."
Tian bit her tongue to stop the reply. A waste of breath to argue from the inside of a cage.
He never intended to save him, Tian. Sol will be beyond help before we reach the mountain.
Wolf, no. I must trust him. It's all we have.
Listen to him, the wolf insisted. You are too naïve. Sol will return like an avenging angel. Would Jarek risk that?
Jarek continued securing the horses, the only indication that he'd heard her wolf a slight curving of his lips. “I see you kept the old story-harp,” he said. “She was mine, you know. Given to me by my mother."
"The harp came to me through my mother. It's mine by right of birth.” Each time he spoke, her world tilted a little more. She concentrated on breathing a steady in and out, holding the wolf on a leash of pure determination.
"Ahh, Daughter. We could have made a fortune together. You have no idea what people will pay to see this.” He lunged suddenly at the cage, teeth bared, growling low in his throat. Her wolf leaped in response. The world dimmed, came back into focus.
"See how it works? Lose your harmony, that fine balance, and you're nothing but a blind woman housing a beast. A freak-show. Hell, even the Goddess believed that. Why do you think she allowed our race to be hunted to obscurity?"
"I curse the Goddess. And the heaven she lives in. I curse her for not striking you dead, right now. Do you think I care for her games?” She listened for the Goddess's wrath and heard only the murmur of the stream tumbling towards some distant river or lake. The erratic beat of Jarek's heart. His rasping breath.
"If the Goddess cared for me,” she said more quietly, “she would not have given me the free will to make such a mess of my life."
"Our free will amuses her beyond measure.” Jarek shrugged. “We are all but diversions for her, but think. It's the one
big flaw in her cosmic plan. By giving us free will, she gives us the chance to beat her at her own games."
"You think to out manoeuvre the Goddess? You really are mad."
"Well, I've managed it this far. You prefer the alternative? To be a puppet, waiting for someone to pull your strings?"
"Like you wish to pull mine? I prefer to be free."
"And I will show you that freedom. After you find my Soul Cleansers, of course. Now step away from the bars, if you please."
"Why?” Jarek's thoughts flooded her mind, their intensity like a blow from his fist. “You promised he would live,” she cried. “We had a deal."
"I said I wouldn't kill him. Different thing entirely. Stand back."
"No, Father. Please don't do this.” She pulled at the bars in vain, desperate to intervene. Watched in horror when he rolled Sol to the door and dumped him without ceremony into the mud. Her wolf measured the distance between the bars. Too narrow to squeeze through.
Jarek jumped down from the cage and set about rifling through Sol's jacket pockets, efficiently stripping him of his compass, his telescope, Janelle's sugar candy. The candy Jarek fed to the horses. The rest he stowed in a pouch inside his coat.
Tian could not take her eyes from Sol, lying on the track, arms spread wide. Had she listened to him, they would be half-way to Wolf's Valley by now. She gripped the bars until her fingers went numb.
"I'll do anything. Go with you. Stay with you for however long you have left..."
"And spend every waking hour looking over my shoulder for the wrath of Sol? No thank you.” He tossed away the remnants of his meal. Bent to rinse the metal plate in the stream. The wolf held her back when Jarek stepped deliberately over Sol and stowed the plate and mug under the transport.
"You're a fool,” she said blinking away tears. “Sol was the only thing keeping you alive. You've just made it easier for me."