by Lexy Wolfe
Eyes opened and she stared at him as if she had no idea what had happened. “You told me to guard the supplies,” she pointed out in a weak voice. “I did not want to fail you.” She looked troubled. “I won, didn’t I? I saved the food?”
Doom blinked a few times as he struggled to find his voice. “Yes, yes of course you won, Ti. No one has ever beaten the Warrior.” He bit his tongue, but not before she noticed the hesitation.
Growing anger flared in the depths of pain-soaked eyes. “Except who? Who has ever defeated me, Doom?” Her tone hard and anger plain, he knew no amount of placating would soothe her, and he could not lie to her.
He opted for honesty to keep her from causing herself more suffering. “Death, Ti. You won this fight against that…thing. But Death will still win. Your injuries are beyond my skill.” He saw her expression cloud, adding gently, “Everyone is beaten by Death eventually. I guess this is…this is your time.” His voice broke over the last words and he looked away. “At least I kept my promise to you.”
When he looked away, she tried to sit up to comfort him. Distraught at being the cause of his bewildering distress, her thoughts were only for him. “Doom, I’m fine, see? I am not—” She grimaced, looking down at the sharp pain moving caused. Having become used to pain over the years, she stared at her abdomen with an expression of shock, touching her blood with disbelief.
Her gaze moved from her trembling, gore-covered hand to something in front of them he could not see. The defiant glare was one he knew well, and he felt her tense. “Relax, don’t strain yourself.”
“No one defeats the Warrior without a fight. Do you hear me?” she demanded of the invisible opponent before her. “I will never submit meekly!” With inhuman effort, she pulled herself to her feet and lunged with both hands outstretched to rip out an invisible throat, her battle-cry a mere gurgle.
Doom watched helplessly as she collapsed on the sandy ground, not fast enough to stop her. He clenched his teeth and fists to suppress his grief, rolling her onto her back again, expecting to see her wounds made worse. He drew back. “What in the hells…?” The horrid gash began to close, her skin turning an even whiter hue, the rattle in her breath easing. Fresh blood oozed from beneath the golden shackles on her wrists in ruby rivulets down her arms. He hesitated only a moment before he gathered her and held her close.
With a gusty sigh, Doom gently laid her down. “Just a moment, Ti.” He shouldered the bag of food she had fought so hard for, then tied a rope to the dead creature. He gathered Tiwaz into his arms again and returned to the beach.
He laid her in the sun, moving the bloodied tatters of her shirt to examine the site of her wounds. The dreadful bruising hinted that the healing was not thorough, only enough to keep her alive. “I do not know how or why, but thank you to whatever powers that kept you alive, Ti,” he said fervently. He stroked her hair affectionately. “I don’t care how long it will take,” he told her. “We will not be going anywhere until you are in better shape to travel.”
With a tenderness belying his sheer size and horrifying appearance, he carried her to the shelter he had found. Brushing the backs of his fingers along her cheek, he murmured, “I’ll get the rest of our things. Sleep well. You have earned it.”
IT HAS ONLY been three days since we got here, Ti!” Doom exclaimed as Tiwaz methodically packed her backpack. “Stop it.”
Eyes focused on the task, she stated without inflection, “We have already stayed too long. I can travel.”
Eyes rolled skyward in exasperation. He half begged, “Please, let’s just wait a few more days. You need more time to recover.” He grabbed her wrist, not budging when she tried to pull free. “Be reasonable!”
“How many times did I have to fight when I was still injured?” she demanded. She jerked hard just as he released her, forcing him to jump and catch her before she tumbled backwards. Her face flushed with embarrassment but would not concede the argument to him. “I am able to travel. We need to keep moving.”
“No! You are not ready to travel yet, Ti!” Doom bellowed, at wit’s end with her. He briefly wished she would be as daunted by his physical presence as every other human was. When she managed to get the backpack onto one shoulder, she stood shakily and walked to the edge of camp, turning to wait for him. “Blast it to all the hells, what is it with you? You never argued with me about resting so you could heal.”
Looking away briefly, she finally said, “We were never free.” Her voice was quiet. “You are finally free. I want you to stay that way.” A ghost of a frown touched her features. “You do still want to be free, don’t you?”
“Of course. I want you free, too,” he replied in a calmer voice, walking over to pull her into a hug. “But more importantly, I want you to stay alive.”
She pushed away from him slowly but firmly. “I am alive and I am well enough to travel. Let’s go.”
Doom sighed. “Fine. It’s clear nothing is going to dissuade you from this stupidity and you’re just as likely to go alone if I refuse. Which you know I wouldn’t not follow you.” Most of their gear packed in case they had no choice but to move, he quickly gathered the rest. He then took her backpack from her.
“I can do my share,” she began, too slow to grab it back.
“Your share is to heal. We’re going. Don’t think I’m about to let you hurt yourself by doing too much. You’re still recovering.” Doom looked at his map before they began walking, forcing her to a slower pace. “We’ll have to stay near the main roads. The terrain will be easier.”
“Near the roads is where others might be more likely to find us?” Tiwaz frowned at the implication. “No. I can go wherever it will be safer.”
Stopping short, he took her by her shoulders and turned her to face him, his demonic yellow eyes staring into her vivid green ones. “I don’t want you to push yourself too hard. I almost lost you too many times over the years. This last...” He shook his head to dislodge the nightmarish memory. “I won’t lose you now. Not when we’re finally free of him. Understand?”
Bristling for a moment, she sighed and looked down, shoulders sagging in defeat. In that moment, she was not the strong warrior of the gladiatorial arenas but a naïve and uncertain child, unsure how to behave without anger and hatred, even with her lifelong companion. Doom smiled and resumed walking. “Good. Now.” His abruptly hesitant demeanor made Tiwaz frown. She kept her eyes on the ground, having to focus where she placed her feet to avoid a disastrous misstep. “Ti, do you still trust me?” he asked after several minutes, his uncertainty plain in his voice.
The question bewildered her enough that she risked looking sideways at him. “Do I trust you? Of course I trust you! What kind of stupid question is that? Doom, I have known you all the life I remember! You saved my life so many times, how could I not trust you?” She stopped and looked up at him in acute puzzlement. “Why are you asking me this now?”
He sighed heavily. “Because things are different now.”
She looked perplexed. “How so?”
He fussed with the straps of one bag uneasily. “Well, it’s just that I can…well, I can do more than you can. I learned how to survive out here. You…you didn’t. I don’t want you to think I’m telling you what you should do.”
Her frown eased once she understood what he was alluding to. “You think I would see you as Master? Doom, you have been telling me what to do ever since you started taking care of me. I have never minded it, and I won’t mind it. I always choose whether to listen to you for myself.”
The gromek had to laugh. “You have a point. But you have never argued with me so much before. Or so adamantly.”
“Before, we weren’t free.” They fell into a companionable silence, walking several hours until Tiwaz stumbled and just about fell.
Doom caught her by the arm. “We’re stopping here.” He held up one finger when she opened her mouth to argue. “No. We made good distance and the weather will hold. There is no dishonor in stopping.” He help
ed her over to a fallen tree, easing her down before shucking the backpacks.
She grimaced, arms wrapped around her middle. “I’m sorry I could not go further. But I will do better next time. I promise.”
Kneeling in front of her, he studied her face intently. “Why are you pushing yourself so hard? You don’t have to. Master…” He shook his head sharply. “Alimar believes you are dead and that I am going to be for losing you. There is nothing for us to fear anymore. We are free, Ti! Well and truly free.”
She could not meet his eyes. “But for how long? He will become bored. If he doesn’t find something new to hold his attention, he will try and torment our souls. I have seen him do it, Doom. When he discovers we are not on the ‘other side,’ he will know we are alive. He will know and he will start looking for us.” She closed her eyes tightly. “We have to get farther away than he will believe possible for us to get.”
Doom clenched his jaw. “That means we have to go farther than we can. But, Ti.” His voice gentled as he tilted her chin up. “If you push too hard, we won’t get anywhere at all because you won’t’ be able to go anywhere.”
“Then leave me wherever I drop and keep going.” His eyes widened at her blunt words. She clasped his massive hand in both of hers. “You must stay free.”
“Abandon you?! Never!” He stared in shock at the suggestion. “I could never leave you, Ti. Where did you get such an idea?”
With a soft exhalation of breath, she answered his unspoken question, avoiding meeting his eyes. “I would never leave you. But the strongest of us must remain free to make sure M-m-m-” The struggle to repress the title for their former master brought a modicum of solace to Doom. He squeezed her shoulder with sympathetic understanding and gentle encouragement. “We have to make sure Alimar pays for what he did. Make sure he never hurts anyone else.” She put her hand along his cheek. “That is you, Doom. You are strong.” Her expression was stern. “If it comes down to Alimar finding us, you had better leave me behind. Someone has to live to someday go back and repay his ‘kindnesses.’”
“You are right. But.” He held up a finger, drawing her eyes back to his. “We will go together, Ti. It is both of our fight. We will see this to the end together.” Tiwaz smiled weakly, nodding. She followed him with her eyes as he rose, dumping their gear onto the ground next to her. “Now, I think we should see about getting something to eat. I’m starving.” He felt the tension in his shoulders ease when he saw the tiniest of smiles touch his friend’s lips for the first time in far too long.
DOOM LOOKED SHARPLY at his friend when she stumbled. “Hey!” He caught her before she fell, helping ease her to the ground. She breathed raggedly, her complexion sickly. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand and sighed in relief. “You look like death, but at least you don’t feel like it.”
“Sorry,” she repeated in litany. She swallowed and looked up at him. “I just need…a few minutes rest…”
“No. We have made good distance today. We passed two towns and we’re well away from both of them, no one should notice us here.” He began brushing leaves to expose the ground for a camp fire. “We’re going to stay here a few days, Ti.”
She flushed in deep shame. “I will be fine,” she promised, still breathing heavily. “I can keep going.”
He smiled to himself to the familiar argument. “I know you can.” He could sense her surprise. “But we need supplies. I need to hunt and then prepare what I catch so we can travel further. This is a good place to stop. It is near that spring-pond we passed, so we have water. Game should be easier to find near the water, too.”
Straightening, she looked at him defiantly. “I will help!”
Amused at her determination, he responded in mild tones, “I expect you to help.” He nearly outright laughed at her expression when he did not insist she focus on resting and healing. “But not with hunting. Not yet. You need to heal more.”
She frowned, crossing her arms. “Then what do you expect me to do? I’m a gladiator. I have no training in anything but fighting. Hunting is not that different.”
He glanced sidelong at her opinion on his art verses hers, but chose not to argue the point. “There are other things that need to be done. The bandages we have used need to be washed so we can use them again. Whatever I catch needs to be cleaned. The fire needs to be maintained. The water skins need to be kept filled.”
Her expression filled with skepticism. “Filling water skins and washing bandages are simple enough, but I have no skills in the rest. I just know fighting. You know that.” She scratched at the golden shackles still on her wrists in irritation. “I do not need to be coddled. I am not completely helpless.”
“It isn’t coddling, it’s practical. You don’t know how to do a lot, but you’re a fast learner,” he soothed. He rose to fetch several large, fallen branches, easily breaking them into smaller pieces over his knee and arranging them in a pile. “I can teach you. There are many arts a woodsman knows besides hunting and tracking, and those you are healthy enough to do.” She eyed him dubiously. “I promise,” he sighed, “I will teach you to hunt. When you are ready. All right?”
“I suppose.” She scrutinized him as he lit the fire. “Teach me that. To make a fire. That isn’t too strenuous.”
“The next one,” he assured. “We do not need more than one.” He sat across the fire from her and picked up one of the branches. “In the morning, we will need more firewood and there are plenty of fallen branches near here. Any size branch will do, but the largest will burn longer. And make certain the wood is dry or it won’t burn well.”
She nodded, filing the instructions away for future use. Doom recognized her expression and grinned. “Remember, you had to be a fast learner to survive Alimar. I have faith you can learn anything you set your mind to.”
She scowled, but nodded. “How do I tell if it’s dry?”
“Break it. Or try to. Wet wood will either bend or feel heavier than an old one of a similar size. Dry wood is brittle.” He snapped the branch he held with his bare hands as an example, several splinters flying into the air, a few landing in the fire in blazing glory. She nodded again. “Another thing we need is water. The water is cleanest nearest the spring itself. And with it being autumn, you will be able to find plenty of berries and nuts to gather near here. They will do well to sustain us if the hunting turns poor.”
“Aren’t some nuts and berries poisonous?” she asked with a frown. “Alimar was very fond of those.”
Doom scowled. “He used them to make his poisons?” he inquired with uncertainty at the unexpected question. He had never known Tiwaz to speak about their former master’s habits or other business.
She shook her head. “Not always. He ate them.”
“Ate them?” he asked in disbelief. “Impossible! There’s a reason they’re called ‘poisonous’, Ti. You know that.”
She shrugged indifferently then shuddered and pulled her knees to her chest to hunch under her cloak, pulling it closer around her shoulders. “I do not miss that place at all.”
Doom moved to her side, put his arm and cloak around her shoulders, and held her close. She sighed, leaning into his much greater warmth. “Neither do I,” he rumbled. Doom sat still, watching the fire. In a moment, he felt her relax into sleep. His embrace tightened minutely, afraid to cause her any hurt, but unwilling to let her outside of his protection.
DOOM RETURNED TO the camp with a brace of rabbits and paused to scan the campsite out of habit. He grinned to see Tiwaz trying her best to mend one of the few shirts that fit him. The stitching was terrible, crooked and uneven. She held it up to examine. “It’s awful.”
“It’s beautiful for your first try,” he told her with pride for her effort. “You can’t be master of everything under the Empire’s sun inside of a day. You’re doing great.” He hung the pair of rabbits in a branch above before sitting across from her. “Maybe I can start teaching you to read later.” She made a disagreeable sound, balled
up the garment and threw it at him. He caught it, shaking his head. “You are not a gladiator anymore, Ti. Reading and writing are useful.”
“You already know it. I do not need it.” She stood, trying to reach the rabbits, grimacing as it pulled at her still tender abdomen. He retrieved them, handing them to her. Deftly, she began to skin them. He had been unsurprised at her skill and dexterity. If a task involved a weapon, she took to it like a fish to water. “You need more clothes. Most of what you have is barely fit to make bandages from, much less wear.”
He shrugged. “What we have will do for now. You know extreme temperatures never bothered me. I could go about naked and not notice the cold or heat. You are the one who needs more clothing, especially since we’re heading to the colder north. You are more sensitive to it than I am.” He turned his attention to the fire, poking the wood unnecessarily. “Our allies didn’t give much for you. They believed you were going to die.” He closed his eyes. “So did I for a while.”
She stopped, staring into the flames. “Doom, tell me what happened the day we escaped to when I woke up in that little cave near the beach. Exactly what happened.” Her hands clenched, the only outward expression of the turmoil of emotions she hid behind an iron façade.
Doom hesitated, both not sure where to begin nor wanting to remember. “How much do you remember?”
“I remember Alimar wanted me to kill Tambek.” Her eyes glinted with hatred. “I did not want to kill anymore. Not for Alimar’s entertainment or anybody else’s. Arena law dictates no death if the opponent has yielded. He couldn’t make me break the rules, even to protect you.”
His eyes darkened with remembered anger at her tortured expression. “So that is why he kept having me beaten in front of you.” She closed her eyes and nodded. “That was when the death matches began.”