Guardian_Rise of the Nature Walker

by Nancy E. Dunne

  “Ha, again, good one,” she said, chuckling. “I suppose I do spend most of my time healing, don’t I? Well, my mentor said all those years ago that healing was the only thing I was fit for, didn’t she?” The smile that had spread across her face soon faded and she turned back around toward the moon, now reflected in the ocean waves. “That medallion you have? That belonged to my teacher, Sath. She was on her way to meet me the day you… you… the day she died. The gods made sure crossed your path for a reason. You were fated…no, cursed to have me in your life all along, I suppose. Pity…”

  A bright flash of light off to her right interrupted Gin’s words. She turned to see what had happened and nearly lost her balance. Sath lunged to catch her but she righted herself, holding up a hand to him. Gin looked toward the light with one hand raised to shield her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows as it faded. Standing on the other side of the tower roof - near where Gin had left her packs earlier - was Lady Salynth. Gin gaped at her as Sath took an involuntary step backward.

  “It’s the Nature Walker!” Salynth giggled and clapped her hands, then pointed at Gin. “You were keeping a secret, little wood elf, tsk, tsk.” Gin glared at her as Sath turned to look at Gin, clearly puzzled. “If I had known who you were when you invaded the tower and took my pet away, so much of this could have been avoided. But never mind, here you are, and…”

  “What do you want, Salynth?” Gin interrupted. She could feel the Guardians surrounding her again, speaking with and through her, and as she fisted her hands by her sides, she could feel magical power pulsing in her arms, waiting for release.

  “What does she mean, Nature Walker?” Sath whispered.

  “Not now.” Gin cut her gaze around to him for a moment and he nearly lost his footing and plunged off the tower. Suddenly, the glow that surrounded her - he had never seen that before - it was almost enough to make the agnostic Rajah believe in a deity. Her voice resonated and he wondered for a second if that is what he sounded like to her when he purred behind his words.

  “What I mean, Rajah, is that your precious little druid, Gin, is the Nature Walker and she never told anyone at all.” Salynth took a step closer to Gin, visibly annoyed when Gin did not react. “She has tremendous power. It’s in her bloodline.”

  “Stop talking, Salynth.” Gin flexed her hands but immediately fisted them again in order to keep control of the angry power that surged through her. It was almost making it hard for her to think straight to have that buzzing in the back of her mind. Wait. Buzzing. “No…” Gin pressed her fingers to her temples as thought she could physically push the interloper out of her mind.

  Ginolwenye of the Trees, my goodness, is THAT your new title, my dear.

  GO AWAY, Ben. I cannot...not now...

  Oh, no. This is far too entertaining. Say hello to Salynth for me.

  “YOU LED HIM TO ME!” Gin pointed a finger at Salynth.

  “If you mean my pet, Nature Walker, it is quite the opposite. I need him, and I know that he will do anything to protect you - so you are the bait to lead him to me, I’m afraid.” Salynth raised one clawed hand into the air and focused her magical energy on Gin. A reddish glow started to spread from the wood elf’s feet up her legs and onto her arms before elongating and wrapping around her torso and arms and holding her fast. Gin tried to brace herself but the magic that held her also burned into her skin as though she was wound up in a flaming rope that had been pulled tight against her. A scream fought its way up from her midsection but she kept her mouth clamped shut. It would do no good to set off Sath’s bloodlust if she was not able to heal him.

  What is she doing to you, my love? Describe it to me.

  You know what she is doing Ben, but I do not need your help! Leave me alone.

  Ginny, you have to fight back; she will stop if you fight back. She hates weakness. This is just like those humans on the path back to the Outpost. You must fight…

  You don’t get to tell me...what I ‘must’ do...anymore, Ben.

  Gin looked over at Sath, who seemed rooted to the spot. “He can’t help you, Nature Walker,” Salynth hissed from Gin’s other side. She swung her head around to find that the dragonkind sorceress was standing right next to her, watching Gin’s misery with an infantile glee. “He is occupied, but I can promise that this time he won’t be throwing anyone into any bookcases.”

  “Gin. Fight. Her.” Sath could only manage one word at a time before he was gasping for breath. Where Gin’s bonds were alight, Sath’s were vines that grew stronger and more tangled every time he took a breath. “I. Can’t. Help.” Again, Sath coughed as the vine tightened itself around his throat.

  “Sssh, kitty, be quiet,” Salynth said, moving over to stroke the side of Sath’s face. He tried to pull his head away from her - the motion set off the vine and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head as it tightened yet again. “The more you fight, the worse it will be for you.”

  “Leave him alone.” Gin’s voice was calm and firm, but the voice in her mind was screaming at her to comply or fight or do something.

  Ben, what would happen if I died?

  GINNY! Do not ever say that again. You are not going to die. Just do as she says.

  Would you feel it? Hmmm. Can you feel the pain I’m in now?

  I’m on my way, Ginny. I will save you.

  You can feel it, can’t you? GOOD. I don’t need you, Ben. Save yourself, you’re good at that.

  “Your pet is coming, Salynth. Let Sath go, this is nothing to do with him.” Gin gritted her teeth. The pain from the phantom flames was starting to make her lightheaded, and she blinked to keep her vision clear.

  “I can’t, you know I can’t. What would that accomplish?” She blew a kiss at Sath that was answered with a strangled roar. He was still fighting the vines and coming close to losing consciousness. “That’s right, Rajah, fight those bonds!”

  “Sath, look at me,” Gin said in Qatunari. “Think of your son, Sath. Stop fighting her and the vines will loosen, trust me.”

  “Darlin’, I…” Another vine looped around his neck and tightened, cutting off Sath’s voice. His gaze found Gin’s and she pleaded with him silently - and then had an idea. Why had she not thought of this before?

  Sath?

  Sath’s eyes bugged out even more as he tried to move his head around to look at her.

  I know you can hear me, Sath. You have to be still. I know the magic she is using to hold you and if you are still, the roots will eventually fall away. Please trust me. Just be still.

  Sath’s eyes closed as his body fell limp against the tangled mass of vines. Gin held her breath, partly against the pain of the fiery bonds but also because she feared that she would scream. Had he heard her in time? Was he doing as she asked, or had she been too late? She tried to peer through the vines to see if he was still breathing, but her vision - already cloudy from the intense pain - was too impaired to see clearly.

  Don’t leave me, darlin', please. Stay here with me.

  Calling out to your beast now, are you Ginny?

  Ben! I told you to leave me alone!

  He had to be close because the buzzing had grown louder in her mind. Her body vibrated with the sensation, and she could almost feel him nearby, as though he was standing behind her and clamping down on her shoulders with his slender fingers. Gin scanned the scene. Salynth was watching intently to the west, in the direction of Aynamaede. Her fingers moved almost imperceptibly, indicating spell work. Off in the distance she could see a figure approaching - tall, blue robes, white hair flying in all directions. Gin’s face clouded with anger, and she noticed the pain receding.

  I will not let you become a martyr, Ben.

  Just hold on, Ginny. I’m coming.

  Gin closed her eyes and reached way down deep inside her core, where her magic lived, and without a second thought pulled it up and out of her, streaming through her arms and fingers. White light streamed from her hands, interspersed with blue streaks of electricity that surrounded Salynth
. Her long black hair stood on end as the electric shock coursed through her and she screamed as she spun to face Gin. The attack broke the concentration of the sorceress, and the vines fell away from Sath’s body. He made a move toward Gin but she shook her head at him. Her feet planted, she kept her arms outstretched toward her target and pushed all of the magic that she could muster toward Salynth. The dragonkind female responded with her own magic, and Gin screamed as her fiery bonds tightened. She could feel Salynth’s magic trying to push her arms back down to her sides, but she could not let that happen. She had to protect Sath from Salynth.

  Gin glanced back at Sath who was rapidly losing his battle with patience. For a moment, she felt as though she was watching the battle from above, outside of her body. If he advanced, Salynth would turn her attention there and kill him. She shook her head again.

  Stay put, darlin', please. Please. Trust me.

  Gin broke from Sath’s gaze and looked down at her own feet for a moment as she made another strong push of magic toward Salynth. She was so close to the edge; she hadn’t realized because all of her attention was focused on Sath and Salynth. “He is not coming to help you, Salynth, he is coming to kill you!”

  “He will not risk you, Ginolwenye of the Trees! Even now, my pet advances. He will do whatever it takes to save you from me - whatever I tell him to do!” Gin felt Salynth’s magic grow stronger and for a moment wondered if Taeben was helping her. He disappeared from the path and - with a popping sound that made Gin’s ears ring - appeared on the roof next to Salynth. This was Gin’s chance. She slid her feet off the edge until the only things keeping her from falling backward were her toes on the stone wall and Salynth’s magic.

  “Let her GO!” Taeben bellowed. Sath’s head swung around to gape at the wizard and then back to Gin and he quickly closed the space between them.

  I love you, darlin'. Always. Leave me and RUN. Don’t let Taeben hurt you again over me.

  At the same time that Sath lunged for her, Gin stepped off into space. She raised her arms and cast a healing spell just before she hit the ground with a sickening thud. Sath roared in anger and leapt off the tower right behind her, leaving Salynth and Taeben squared off high above them. Thanks to his natural ability to survive falls from great heights, he landed softly on all fours next to her crumpled form. “Stupid dru,” he hissed as he gathered her up in his arms. “Come ‘ere. I got you darlin'. Gin, please, open your eyes, please…”

  “Darlin',” she murmured, smiling. To his amazement, her eyes fluttered open and met his gaze. “You’ll not be rid of me…ah,” she said, wincing as she tried to move, “that easily, Qa Sathlir Clawsharp. Why didn’t you run...like I told you?” Slowly and carefully, she lifted a tiny hand and touched the fur on the side of his face. “It was all because of me, Sath, all of it. Khujann, Kahzi, all of it. I’m so sorry.” She looked around past him and up toward the top of the tower. Lightning bolts struck the roof in rapid succession as Taeben and Salynth fought each other, thankfully ignoring Gin and Sath.

  “Oh, pet, you are truly a sight for sore eyes,” Salynth shouted over the roar of magical blasts hurled between them.

  “Why won’t you die?” Taeben screamed back. “Why can’t I just reach through the bond and…” His eyes opened wide as realization struck him. His hands dropped to his sides and his eyes closed in concentration. Salynth ceased her onslaught and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. “So predictable,” he hissed. “You always give up when I stop fighting you.”

  Salynth’s eyes widened as Taeben’s dagger, retrieved from his sleeve just before she wrapped herself around him, sliced through her skin and passed between her ribs. He smiled as he twisted his wrist and then drew the dagger up her midsection to her throat before throwing her backward. “Pet, I…” Her words faded to a soft gurgling sound.

  “I was NEVER your pet.” Taeben threw her backward and peered over the edge of the tower. “NO!” he snarled as he cast a quick levitation spell and leaped over the edge.

  “Hush now, darlin',” Sath said. “I know you are sorry, but there’s nothing to be sorry for now. Nothing to fear anymore.”

  “Then you haven’t come to…to kill me?” she whispered.

  “Kill the Nature Walker? You overestimate me.” Sath chuckled, but his smile did not reach his eyes. She had clearly thrown him with that revelation.

  “Sath, I’m serious. I felt sure…I mean I let Tairn into the royal palace. I took Khujann to the tree city and all but handed him over to Ben. I left you with that bard and I stayed behind… I stayed behind in the Keep to kill Dorlagar. All that pain, all that suffering I caused you…” She pushed away from him and looked up at him. “You have every right, Sath. Why not?”

  “Sorry?”

  “Why don’t you hate me? Why am I not already on my way to the dungeon beneath your palace? Why don’t you snap my neck, like you did so many others like me?” she demanded, balling up her tiny fists. Sath took a deep breath before he answered her.

  “Because without you, all I can be is the Bane of the Forest, darlin',” Sath said, his voice low like a purr in her ear. “Something changed for me when...in the Outlands with the wizard…I was so glad that you weren’t there to see that because I realized that what you think of me is important, so important…more important than I ever knew. You’ve brought me back from the brink so many times, and you keep me on the straight and narrow.” He beamed a toothy smile at her. “Well, maybe not the straight and narrow, but at least headed in the right direction.” He brought one finger up to her face and carefully traced the old scar on her cheek. “We’ve come a long way since this, haven’t we?”

  Gin smiled. “We have, Sath. But I think I might still have a marmalade sandwich or two in my pack. You don’t even have to break the straps this time.” Sath roared with laughter.

  “I love you, Gin…Ginolwenye Clawsharp...of the Trees,” he said, still chuckling. Her eyes widened as she mouthed the word Really? Sath smiled at her and nodded. “Always have, I guess. Always will.”

  “And I love you, Rajah,” she said, giggling. “Rajah! Oh my dear spirits, Sath, I bet Elys and Hack had a good long laugh over that one, hey?” Sath nodded and hugged her to him. Over his shoulder, she saw Taeben hovering several feet above their heads and descending fast. “Na’hina!” Sath’s eyes widened at her use of the Qatunari swear word as Gin pushed back from him, pointing as the figure floated closer.

  Sath turned to look as the approaching figure became clear and roared. Taeben slowed his descent and stopped, hovering just a few feet away from Sath and Gin as they struggled to their feet. “Don’t let me interrupt,” the wizard said. “Look at the two of you, all wound up in each other’s arms! This is almost too tragic to be true! First, I free myself of that hag and now THIS.” Taeben twitched his right hand and his staff spun up into it, seemingly out of nowhere. His left arm extended and sparks flew around the fingers on that hand. Sath gaped at Taeben’s newly grown hands. “Surprised?” he said, his tone mocking. “You underestimate me, Qatu.”

  “I hate to admit it, but you’re right, I should have known leaving you and that witch to kill each other was too easy,” Sath growled, shoving Gin around behind him. “A mistake I won’t repeat.” Gin wiggled free of his grip and ran back around in between them.

  “Ben, please, don’t hurt Sath. We had a deal! What can I do? Tell me what to do! I will come back, anything you ask, just please…” she said. Taeben laughed in her face.

  “Ben, please, don’t hurt Sath,” he mimicked her. “Seriously, Gin, don’t you have anything else to say? You’ve been simpering for that Qatu since the day we found each other again in that cursed tower.” He shook his head. “And you say you’d come back to me? [1][2][3]Thank you, but no thank you. Third time is NOT the charm when it comes to you, I don’t think. As if I’d want that beast’s cast offs anyway…” A blast of frosty air hit Gin in the chest, knocking her backward onto the ground and leaving her shivering. Sath lunged for the wizard, bu
t Taeben had already cast a spell that sent tangling vines erupting from the ground around his ankles to slow him down.

  “You think tricks you learned from that witch up there will save you, wizard?” Sath tugged at the roots, roaring in frustration. Scrambling to her feet, Gin countered with a swarm of insects that flew down into Taeben’s cobalt robes, stinging him until he cried out repeatedly. He waved his arms and the insects disappeared. A commotion behind him stole his focus for a moment and he sighed loudly at what he saw.

  “We’re coming, Ginny!” shouted Hackort as he, Teeand and Elysiam appeared at a dead run, heading for the base of the wall. The two warriors had weapons at the ready as they ran, and Elysiam had drawn her scimitar. Sath freed his feet from the last of the magical vines, and then rose to his full height to advance on the wizard.

  “Oh, look, the circus has arrived,” Taeben said dismissively in their general direction. He looked back to see Sath’s clawed hand coming at his face, but didn’t duck in time to avoid the tips of the lethal weapon slicing through the skin on the side of his face. The wizard howled in pain and sent a blast of lightning down onto the Qatu’s head. The odor of singed fur filled the air.