by Nichelle Rae
“This way!” Jonoic yelled over the roaring thunder and the violent winds that took my breath away as they howled across the land. “My wagon isn’t far! Come on!”
He started to go but I stood in place, too busy looking up at the black sky, stunned and overwhelmed. It wasn’t even ten in the morning, but it was dark.
“Azrel! Let’s go!”
I tore my eyes from the night and onto the path that I now could barely make out. I saw Jonoic’s large black silhouette just ahead and went towards it. The wind shifted direction violently, coming directly at my face, lashing me with rain, and making it hard to walk forward. Soon the wind had me standing still in one place, threatening to blow me over if I lifted a toe.
I felt Jonoic grab my hand, but the second he touched me, another deafening clap of thunder and a simultaneous bolt of lightning made us both cower to our knees with our arms over our heads. We both looked up at the sky, confused. Jonoic quickly got to his feet and pulled me to mine.
“Let’s go! Hurry!”
He pulled me along and we began fighting the increasing wind. It was blowing so hard that I was getting suffocated. I had to turn my face to the side and close my eyes, completely depending on Jonoic to pull me along.
I thought about Ortheldo again. My eyes opened and I looked around for him as if he might be nearby, though course he wasn’t. I could only hope he’d be okay in this.
We stopped and I felt Jonoic’s hands around my waist as he lifted me up onto what I assumed was the back bumper of his wagon. He pushed me inside, then climbed in, pulling the door closed behind him and latching it tight.
“Whoo wee!” he exclaimed, facing me. He shook out his hair and smoothed it back with his fingers, keeping a smile on his face. “That was interesting.”
The storm pounded so hard outside that the entire wagon shook, making the shadows on the walls tremble as the numerous oil lamps swayed. I looked around the interior and noticed a pile of stacked crates that filled the entire right side of the wagon. There were a few more crates on the left side, leaving a single bare path down the middle.
Towards the back of the wagon I saw the end of a blue knitted blanket on the floor sticking out from behind the crates on the right. I went to it, curious. When I rounded the corner of the crates I nearly collapsed at what I saw. An absolutely beautiful young woman was sitting on the floor with tears in her eyes, holding a small boy in her arms. She looked up at me desperately as I stared at her and her child. The boy was wrapped tightly in a blanket from head to toe, so only his face peeked out. He couldn’t have been more than three years old, cradled snugly to his mother’s bosom. I finally fell to my knees in front of her. My eyes filled with tears at her baby’s condition.
The woman’s dark brown eyes suddenly went very wide, and she shook her head vigorously at me. She ran her fingertip down her cheek. She was telling me not to cry.
Jonoic suddenly appeared behind me. When I looked up at him, his massive build seemed to have gotten bigger, but stranger still was that there was something different in his presence now. I didn’t feel comfortable near him. As I looked at him I realized there wasn’t even kindness in his eyes, never mind love as he looked at the young woman. His eyes were filled with suspicion.
When I looked at the woman again, I noticed she had forced a smile on her face. “Hello darling,” she said sweetly. Her voice was like a song. Her lips were like ripe cherries and her lovely pale face made her eyes and lips seem a richer color than they already were. She had a blue scarf over her head like a hood, but what I could see of her hair was a pretty dark auburn color with full, thick curls. “Your son’s fever lessened a bit while you were gone.”
Though she was lovely, my attention was on her eyes. I saw that she was absolutely terrified. I narrowed my eyes at her as she looked at me with a fake, soft smile. “And who have you brought with you?”
She appeared calm . . . to the untrained eye. I examined her. Her nostrils flared slightly as she breathed. I saw a speedy rhythmic movement in the side of her neck which I knew was her heart beating too fast and too hard. I carefully shifted my eyes up to hers again. Yes, she was terrified.
“I’m Azrel,” I said. “You must be Nekinda.” I looked at the small boy asleep in her arms, “and Cairikson?”
The women nodded. “Or Cairi as I … uh … we sometimes call him.”
I nodded and looked at the tiny bundle in her arms. “How old is he?”
“He’s three.” She bit her lip and started crying softly as she held the bundle closer to her. Jonoic squatted down, placing his big hands on her shoulders and pressing his forehead to the side of her head. She almost cowered from him, but I saw him squeeze her shoulders in a warning to not move.
“Please don’t cry, my darling wife.”
Oh Gods! His performance was sickening. These two were clearly either not married at all or he beat her on a regular basis. He certainly didn’t cherish her enough to call her “darling,” or even “wife.” I sneered at the back of his head. I had to get Nekinda and her baby away from him. Whether he’d kidnapped them for some reason, or he beat them, they couldn’t stay here.
“May I hold him?” I asked to the woman as I got off my knees and put myself in a squat in front of her.
“Of course,” Jonoic said a little too eagerly and took Cairikson away from his mother to hand to me. Though Nekinda clearly didn’t want Jonoic touching her son, only her eyes betrayed it.
I took the tiny boy in my arms and looked down at his precious face. I bit my lip at the sight of him. He was definitely sick; that much Jonoic had been truthful about. The front of his dark hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his cheeks were bright red. I gently brushed some of his damp hair away from his face and rested my palm on his forehead, wondering if I could heal him.
Nekinda made a small squeaking noise and suddenly Jonoic exploded. “Shut up!” He screamed, spinning on her. He glared at her as she cowered against the wagon wall. “Azrel won’t hurt him!” He turned back to me with intense, eager eyes. “Go on. Continue what you were doing.” He looked like a child about to receive a great gift.
Oh yes! I had every reason not to trust him now. He was a hunter, like the man Rabryn had gone after in Narcatertus. He wanted proof of who I was.
At the realization that I was so close to such danger I had to force myself to remain calm. I could not panic right now because I had to get Nekinda and Cairikson away from him safely. Stay calm. I told myself. Focus for their sake. Get them safe.
“Continue what I was doing?” I asked, trying sound confused. “I was just seeing how hot he was.”
“Oh,” Jonoic said deflating. “Of course you were.” He forced a smile.
I coolly looked back down at the boy, being sure not to direct my questions to either one of them, giving both the opportunity to answer. “How long has he been sick?”
“A little over a year,” Nekinda replied.
“Dear Gods,” I whispered to myself, resting the back of my hand on his cheek. “Does he ever wake up?”
“Once in a while. But I can’t really talk to him when he does because I’m too busy getting food and water into him,” Nekinda replied. Jonoic stayed silent, still.
“Did you talk to him often? Before he fell ill.”
“Oh yes. He’s a very good talker,” she said.
“He’s beautiful. What color are his eyes?”
“They’re a lovely blend of blue and green.” Nekinda said.
“When will he turn four?”
“In two weeks, on April fourteenth.” Again, it was only her replying.
I nodded, tucking the blanket more snugly around the small boy and holding him against me more firmly. Jonoic had answered my real question by not saying a word. He knew nothing about this child; therefore, I thought it safe to say that it wasn’t his.
I looked up at Nekinda from under my brows and set my jaw firmly. She caught my little meaning and nodded subtly. My fist flew out and sma
shed Jonoic in the jaw. He screamed and went flying backwards as I grabbed Nekinda under her arm and pulled her to her feet. Seeing the door was latched, I let her go and ran for it. With a leap, I turned my body slightly to the side in the air, then kicked my top leg out, smashing the door completely open. I jumped to the ground, Nekinda close behind me. I spun around to see Jonoic, hoping he hadn’t seen that move—one that no one but The White Warrior would be able to do—but he was still picking himself up off the floor after my hard punch.
“Come on!” I shoved Nekinda out in front of me and we started running.
“This isn’t over, White Warrior!” I heard Jonoic scream from the wagon. I heard his heavy boots splash to the ground as he started running after us. I took Nekinda’s arm, pushing the poor woman one way then yanking her another until I felt we’d put some distance between us and him.
Eventually we stopped and I handed Nekinda her son. “Here! Take him!” I cried over the rumbling thunder. “Keep running east and you’ll run into my party. They’ll take care of you.”
“What about you?” she asked as she took her boy. The wind nearly blew all of us over.
“I’ll be a diversion for you! It’s me he wants anyway. Now go!” I yelled, shoving her away from me. I took off in the opposite direction at a brisk run.
The darkness was a great cover, but it slowed down my escape. I dodged tree branches and stumbled on roots, nearly falling on my face every time. Lightning was the only thing illuminating my path. After a while, I realized I was running alongside a low stone wall and decided to keep to that. I tripped on another root, which brought me to one knee painfully. I scrambled into a run again. Rain lashed at my cheeks. Branches and twigs clawed at me, I nearly went numb from the pain, unable to distinguish between the rain and the thorns or twigs.
I tripped on a root again and this time fell hard on my face, my cheek smacking the ground. I was about to get up and keep going when the heel of a heavy boot was driven into the side of my face. I screamed as he pressed my head down into the ground.
I was blinded by horror and couldn’t believe I hadn’t out run him. My mind began racing. I was not going to die like this! I was not!
“You fractured my jaw, you little bitch.”
“Pity I didn’t break your skull,” I responded through clenched teeth.
His boot crushed down on my face harder. I screamed through my tight teeth. “You are in no position to be flippant.”
“And you are in no position to be challenging me, you bastard.”
“A bastard, am I?” He stood on my face with all of his monstrous weight. I couldn’t even scream, only growl loudly from the pain as I felt and heard my face bones break under him. He then brought his opposite foot forward, his toe smashing into my mouth.
My face exploded in pain. My mouth filled with blood. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I begged to pass out. But by the Gods’ hateful, merciless will, I didn’t. I was awake and alert, feeling this indescribable pain, with his boot still grinding my face into the ground. I knew my jaw was broken in multiple places and driven unnaturally deep into the back of my head.
My magic!
No! He was waiting for that! I couldn’t use my fighting style. I couldn’t even cry from the pain I was in If I did, he’d have the proof he needed to take to Hathum of who I was.
He kicked me in the ribs breaking two of them, and then again went for my face. Everything went dark for a moment, but again I was left awake wishing I was dead. My chin was dust, my was nose shattered, and my entire face was swollen beyond anything I’d ever felt. I was choking on my own blood. Broken teeth were cutting my mouth from the inside and I couldn’t breathe.
No airway was left open. I couldn’t open my mouth to let the blood dribble out! He was too heavy!
I struggled as hard as I could with my free arm, grabbing at his shin and calf, digging my nails into his skin, anything to get him off me. My head was hot, and my vision was beginning to blur. I fought on, clawing at him desperately.
“I tried to make it easy for you!” He growled. “I used the woman and the boy! You could have just healed the boy and not gone through this! You’re a fool to give your life for them!”
I’m not dead yet! I wanted to say, but I was unable to speak.
“You will be soon enough—by choking on your own blood!” he said, reading my thoughts. Ortheldo was right; Hathum had taught his people some mind magic.
Wouldn’t that be lovely? a thought, which was more like a voice—my voice—seemed to say in my head. My conscience was slipping. My clawing at his leg lessened. Slowly I started to fade. Hathum’s been looking forward to a battle with me for 3,000 years, the voice said again. You’re very brave to dare disappoint him.
I heard Jonoic take in a sharp breath. Just before I faded completely, he stepped off my face. I opened my mouth, blood and teeth pouring out, and I took in wave after wave, gulp after gulp of sweet, cool air. Even though my broken ribs made it the most agonizing experience of my life, I breathed. The world rushed back to me, as did the pain I was in.
Now what are you doing? my thoughts went on. I suddenly realized it was my magic relating these things to Jonoic. What was it doing? Why wasn’t it hiding in that green “other world” Ortheldo had talked about? If Jonoic looked deeper…
You don’t want to kill me? my thought said to Jonoic. Well, you’d better think of something to do quickly because you have no proof of who I am, so you can’t take me to Hathum. What do you think he’ll do to you if you bring a random girl to him with no proof that she’s The White Warrior?
Jonoic managed a nervous smirk. “He said he wanted you whether you were the White Warrior or not.”
Probably because he thought I was beautiful, right?
“Yeah,” Jonoic said, his voice shaking slightly..
But look at what you’ve done to me now, Jonoic.
Jonoic’s smirk melted. He looked at me with wide, terrified eyes and started breathing heavily, pulling at his collar. If it wasn’t for the rain, I was sure he would have broken into a sweat.
Didn’t think of that, did you?
“Shut up!” he screamed and took a step back, placing his hands over his ears as if I were speaking out loud.
What’s the matter, Jonoic? Are you afraid Hathum will skin you alive? Or perhaps carve out your heart and have you boil it in your own blood for his supper? Maybe he’ll have a little dessert made from your testicles, too.
“Stop iiiiiiiit!” He screamed like a little girl and pulled at his hair as hard as he could.
Imagine what it feels like to have strips of your skin ripped off the very bottom of your feet, my thoughts hissed.
He screamed like a madman as he drew his foot back for another blow to my face. I closed my eyes and waited for the strike. Suddenly a clap of thunder sounded. I opened my eyes just in time to see the shadow of a cloaked person sail over the stone wall and over my body in one leap. It tackled Jonoic to the ground.
I lay helplessly and watched the two shadows roll away from me. The cloaked figure that had jumped the wall was the first on his feet. He was already at a running start as Jonoic got to his knees. He kicked upwards into Jonoic’s face, the impact so hard that Jonoic’s head went flying back. He landed on his back in the mud.
The cloaked figure stormed towards him and slammed his hands down onto Jonoic’s chest. To my awe, he picked the mammoth man up clear from the ground and threw him into a nearby tree. Crumpling to the earth, Jonoic lay still, unaware that the cloaked figure was at him again. The cloaked figure took up Jonoic’s shirt and drove him back into the tree, holding him there for a moment as he pounded his fist in his face over and over again, smashing the back of his head into the tree trunk each time.
After a few minutes of this—yes, minutes—Jonoic slid down the bark and sat limply at the tree’s base. The cloaked figure took a single step back, then placed his feet wide apart with one foot in front of the other. He brought both fists up, holding
his arms straight out towards his opponent. Gold magic formed around his fists and illuminated his face. It was my brother!
How did he get here? How did he know where I was? What was he doing? Was that really Rabryn looking so fierce and animal-like?
A thin stream of smoky gold magic seeped from his lit up fists and swirled around like a sea snake in a pool of sparkling gold. A flash of gold made me flinch. Faintly glowing gold smoke completely surrounding Jonoic. The huge man started violently convulsing, looking like he was about to break his own back. And then he did! I heard a sickening crack as his spine snapped inward towards his chest and he went still.
Daylight slowly started to return, the black clouds receding layer by layer and the rain slowed to a normal fall. As the clouds began to roll back, I caught a glimpse of something at my feet. Acalith. She was kneeling in the mud, her wide eyes on my brother as he came towards me. Why was she always here when trouble was around?
I shifted my eyes towards Rabryn as he kneeled by my side and the sky lightened to normal, though overcast. “Azrel,” he whispered as he ran his fingers gently though my hair. I could still feel blood running from the corner of my mouth and onto the ground. I couldn’t feel much else except my broken facial bones and ribs. “What did he do to you?”
Rabryn gently ran his fingertip along my jaw, which hurt like the fires of the abyss, then down my nose and over my lips. I realized he was assessing the damage. Even as he did this, the sky took on a light grey color and soft rain now fell, singing a relaxing melody as each droplet splashed on the leaves covering the ground. When he finished running his fingertip down my side, counting my broken ribs, he looked down at me, worried. “I can’t heal this. I’m not skilled enough. I have to get you to Addredoc.”
I tried to talk but only pathetic noises of air came out. My jaw was too damaged to form words.
Rabryn’s brows dropped. He rested his hand on the side of my hair. “Shh, shh. Don’t try to talk. I have to get you help.”
He then got off his knees into a squat and raised his hands just over my body. I felt myself go completely stiff. With his hands still over me, I felt myself begin to lift off the ground, frozen in the awkward position I’d been lying in. It felt strange at first, but I realized the stillness wonderfully minimized the pain I would have been in if he had just lifted me up.