“I didn’t do anything!” she cried. Death was coming for her, and nothing would stop it. She quieted as she realized she had intended to die tonight anyway. This way wasn’t going to be painless, but maybe they would show her enough mercy to kill her quickly.
For some reason, she found the movement of a single blade of grass very entrancing as it lifted up off her arm and returned to sway in the gentle breeze. The people gathering near her didn’t reach her attention. She focused on the grass, for as long as she watched that single blade it would not hurt when she died. Someone pulled her hood back. As she expected, a sword scraped quickly out of its sheath to the sound of “She’s got horns!”
Above her, the one they called Odif growled, “Put that thing away before I shove it up your ass!”
Someone let out a sarcastic laugh. “First he wants to save her, now he wants to kill her!”
Sam didn’t resist as one arm was pulled back and taken out of the sleeve then the other. She winced as the cloth scraped against her broken wings, but she was no longer afraid. The dead didn’t need to hide. She felt Odif grip the base of one wing, and the pain in that wing vanished. She imagined that the woman had vaporized it. After a moment, Odif let it go and gripped the other one, relieving the pain there, also.
“See anything like that before?” Shilo asked.
“What do you think she is?” a man asked.
“Got to be part demon, or maybe part bat,” Shilo said lightly.
Odif shifted in place. “Could you go over there and argue? I’m trying to concentrate here.”
“We aren’t arguing, we’re discussing,” Shilo pronounced.
“Well, go over there and do it!”
It occurred to Sam they were talking about her, but not of killing her. A twitch told her she still had both her stubby wings. As she pondered what was taking them so long to kill her, Odif shook her shoulder.
The woman’s face bent down to hers. “Hey! I said sit up.”
She obeyed, wondering why she wasn’t being killed. She watched blankly as Odif grabbed her shin above the ruined ankle. The power flooded down through her foot, taking the pain away. Odif cleaned off the bone sticking out then pulled and moved her foot around, looking very intently at it until it was in its proper place. The swelling and discoloring faded. The hole in her ankle smoothed over with fresh skin.
As she was doing this, Sam came up with a color for the power she used. She had always thought of her mother’s power as black, like the abyss. The woman in the brown robes held the opposite--white power. Magic she generally thought of as red. This power felt like the grass around her. She decided it was green power.
Once Odif was done, she released Sam’s ankle and stood up then grabbed her hand. “Come on, on your feet,” she said as she pulled her up.
Sam was sure she was going to feel pain. What she felt was a wonderful lack of it. Her ankle looked and felt as if nothing had ever happened. She put her weight on it then shifted back and forth to verify she could now walk.
“Thank you,” she whispered, astonished that someone had helped her once they knew what she was. She could feel apprehension from most of them, but no hatred. Still, she kept herself open to their minds.
“No one is going to hurt you,” Odif soothed. “What’s your name?”
“Sam.”
The dark men grinned.
“Is that short for something?” the one she knew was called Theo asked.
Sam shook her head. “My mother has a cruel sense of humor.”
The other dark man, Hutch, spoke up. “Hey, bat lady, where’d you come from?”
Meekly, she said, “The underworld, but I didn’t like it. That was why I escaped.”
“How did you get out?” Odif demanded.
Sam looked at her and discovered Odif was sensing her mind as easily as she was sensing theirs. In the time it took to blink an eye, she and Odif transferred thoughts. Odif knew that her mother was the demon she was after, and Sam knew that Odif was intent on going down to send Aliana back to the abyss, no matter what it took. Sam sensed something else. Beneath the kind, reasoning soul, a wild beast lay waiting to strike. She didn’t know if it was a wolf like she imagined, but this part of Odif lay just under the surface, tensed to rip the throat out of its prey. Quickly, she blocked any thoughts about her escape from the underworld.
Her mouth hung open. “I can’t lead you down there, she’ll kill you!”
Odif eyed her sternly. “I cannot let anything live that wants to destroy everything I hold dear. I helped you, now you will help me.”
The beast was stirring, maybe from the thought of getting to Aliana, or maybe tensing to strike out at her. She did owe something, and she was going to repay kindness with kindness.
“I will help you the best way I know how,” she said sincerely. “I will not tell you.”
“We dare trust her?” the one they called Entaurus asked.
Odif ignored his question. Her eyes never left Sam’s. “I will find the way down. The less warning she has, the better chance I have.”
Sam began to understand how badly the beast wanted to kill Aliana. She sensed that its life, and the lives of its friends were nothing but a means to get just that much closer to the demon’s throat. Odif was planning to drag her out of this world, if that’s what it took to get rid of her.
“You’re crazy,” she gasped.
“Well, she’s a smart bat lady!” Theo grinned.
“Pretty and smart,” Hutch agreed.
“Pretty smart.” Shilo grinned.
“Enough!” Odif snapped at them. Turning back to Sam, she asked, “Well?”
She took a step back, fearing for a moment that Odif might loosen the beast on her. Somehow, though, she knew Odif would not do that to her. Just to see someone who was willing to talk to her was a dream come true. Odif was not only talking to her, she was holding the others back from harming her. No one would lift a finger against her unless Odif told them to. She felt this as strongly as she felt a new feeling welling up. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out her thoughts.
“Listen to me! She is down there,” she stated, stabbing a finger at the ground. “We are up here. I feel we can be good friends--why do you insist on going down there to die, or worse?”
Odif gazed at her for a moment then gave her a slight nod. “May nature guide you, Sam. I wish you the best.” She turned and pointed at Scorpio. In an angry tone, she said, “You, over there!”
Sam stared in wonder as the woman walked away. That was it? No coercion, no threats? She knew Odif had the power to force her to tell, if she really wanted to; but there was no yelling or any force, only a few parting words. She watched Odif lead Scorpio by the arm towards the group gathered by the trees where the globe had landed. As she thought about how kind Odif had been to her, she started to follow them. In the few short moments she had known Odif, she had found what she never thought possible, someone who might be her friend. She couldn’t let go of such a miracle so easily.
“Do those things work?” Shilo asked from beside her.
She turned her head at the unexpected voice and automatically moved a few steps to the side. It was a silly action--she didn’t have anything to fear from him.
He frowned at her and planted his hands on his hips. “Don’t like my company, huh?”
“Sorry, I’m just not used to people.” She deliberately moved closer to him as she walked towards Odif, who had stopped and was pointing out the destruction to Scorpio. The single biggest thing she sensed from Shilo was curiosity. “I can’t fly, if that’s what you mean.”
Ahead of her, Odif had a confusing mix of feelings boiling around in her. She was yelling at Scorpio, very angry and fearful for him at the same time.
“Your stunt got three people killed!” she barked as she glared at him. “The whole point of staying in the woods was so they wouldn’t know where we were!”
Scorpio shifted in place. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry is not good enough!” Odif yelled. Glancing at Sam, she pointed at her. “She needs to get somewhere safe. You will take her and go back to Longforest.”
Scorpio turned pale. “I’ll never do that again, I promise.”
“You won’t be here to do it again!” Odif snapped.
From Scorpio Sam got a clear vision of someone who had done something similar not too long ago. He wanted desperately to tell this to Odif but feared to get her any angrier.
Sam walked up and told her what he wanted to say. “Odif, you gave your brother another chance. That is all he is asking for now.”
Odif turned her glare on her. “How do you know?”
Tipping her head to Scorpio, she said, “He was thinking it.”
Scorpio gaped at her. “You can read minds?”
“Tayan didn’t get three people killed,” Odif stated.
“Maybe it was my fault,” Sam told her. “If I had run the other way, the pilgyns wouldn’t have seen any of you.”
“She’s got a point,” Shilo agreed. “Can’t say he was being real smart, but I don’t think that was his fault.” He indicated the blasted area. “Maybe it was mine for not catching that other globe.”
Odif gave them all a hard look. To Sam, she felt disappointed she couldn’t run Scorpio off as easily as she would have liked. “Fine, we’ll put it to a vote once we take care of the dead. That’s the best I can do.”
She turned and stomped off towards the group of elves and the brown-robed woman.
Scorpio cast a wary look at Sam. “Why did you do that?”
She gave him a shrug. “I can sense you care about each other. I don’t know everything that is going on, but if I had someone I wanted to be near that badly, I know I would appreciate some help.”
He started after Odif, pausing long enough to say, “Thanks.”
***
Sam helped gather wood for a funeral pyre, making sure she stayed near Odif. Of the four elves left, three were male warriors and one was a female wizard. Sam didn’t sense anything from her but sorrow for her lost friends. The male elves were like most of the others, giving off a mixture of curiosity and caution. Mother Frieda, on the other hand, kept her mind hidden and eyed Sam suspiciously. The whole time they built up the stack of wood then laid the bodies on top, Mother Frieda didn’t say anything to her, just watched her very carefully.
The pyre set, they gathered. Each one of them stepped up to the dead and said goodbye. Odif lit the pyre with a spurt of flame. Mother Frieda said a prayer for the souls of the departed as the fire engulfed the bodies. A few prayed with her, and all of them seemed to share the loss as well as the comfort of being together. It was the first time Sam had ever felt anything like this. Caught up in the moment, she silently watched the flames rise.
The fire was raging high when Mother Frieda turned around to face her. Sam was drawn to meet her eyes and saw Frieda was holding the talisman she wore to her chest. Sam then felt white energy flow towards her.
Fearing she was being attacked, she let out a squeal and tried to hide behind Odif.
Odif grabbed her, holding her firmly in place. “Calm down,” she commanded.
Heart in her throat, Sam felt the white power flow over her. She looked into Odif’s eyes, waiting to be hurt. She didn’t feel pain, though--or anything, for that matter. The power stayed around her for a moment then slipped away. After it did, she let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding.
Mother Frieda lowered her talisman, looking curiously at her. “I sense evil, as I suspected. I also sense good in her.”
Odif snorted. “Some help you are. Everyone has both inside them.”
“Not like this.” Mother Frieda told her. “In her, it is like two sides of a coin. Both are present, but each is distinct.”
Releasing Sam, Odif frowned at her. “They're opposites. How else would you see them?”
“Think of it this way,” Mother Frieda explained as she pointed at Gloredaniel. “Her skin is as white as any I’ve seen. Theo, on the other hand, is about the darkest man I ever saw...”
“Which means I’m more handsome.” Theo beamed at Hutch. Hutch only frowned back at him.
“In any case!” Mother Frieda snapped. “Only the most holy people have an aura of pure good, and only the most vile, evil ones radiate nothing by evil. If you think of it as skin color, most people are tanned, like you are. They do show both, but at varying amounts.” Pointing to Sam, she said, “In our guest, what I see is like if one were to fuse one-half of Theo to one-half of Gloredaniel.”
“Ouch.” Theo winced. The group didn’t hear him; they were focusing on what Mother Frieda was saying.
Odif looked at Sam then back to Mother Frieda. “You’re saying she can be really good, or really bad, right?”
“I am not evil.” Sam said quickly. “I have seen what it means to be evil; I don’t do things like that!”
“I never said you did,” Mother Frieda assured her. “I only know that you are capable.” Her gaze hardened as she asked, “Aren‘t you?”
Under her scrutiny, Sam bowed her head. “If I have to be. I don’t like hurting or killing anyone. That’s why I ran away. That’s why I live out here, so I don’t have to be like that.”
Odif picked up on her memory of the priests. “When people see you, they assume you're evil, so they hurt you.”
She looked at Odif and nodded. Tears began to form in her eyes. “All I ever wanted was to belong somewhere, to not be hated.”
“I don’t hate you,” Odif told her.
“That’s why I don’t want you to go down there,” she stressed. “The best thing that could happen to you is if you die. You might end up being tortured for a very long time. All of you!” she finished, searching for someone in the group to understand.
“I will be killed,” Odif said as if it meant nothing to her. “So might everyone who goes with me.” Placing a hand on Sam’s shoulder, she said in a gentle tone, “Go to Longforest with Scorpio; he’ll show you a place where you can live in peace.”
Maybe it was the kindness Odif showed her or the strength Odif radiated, but as Sam looked at her what she saw was a solid rock, a safe haven jutting out of a boiling sea of loneliness and hate. Somewhere in the backs of their minds, the others saw this, too, for they were each tied to her in their own way. Sam wanted to throw her arms around Odif and hold on as tightly as she could. She wanted even more to keep her away from Aliana. She had no idea which one was more powerful and shuddered at the thought of two such colossal forces crashing together. No matter the consequences, she could not leave Odif.
She cleared her throat and told her with her voice and mind, “I am staying with you.”
“You will probably die,” Odif pointed out, hoping to scare her into changing her mind.
“I had planned on dying tonight,” she replied. “You saved me. I would rather live only a few days, with ones who could be my friends, than spend any more years alone.”
Odif nodded slightly. “What can you do? We're heading for a fight, not to walk hand-in-hand in the sunshine.”
Clearly, she saw the pitched battles Odif was thinking about. Battles not only of steel weapons, but with the spears and magic that left hardened warriors broken and crying. She stiffened herself to wade into such chaos with her new friend. “I have a sword, and I know some magic.”
“We’ll see.” Motioning to Gloredaniel, Odif said, “Gloredaniel will test you and find our what you can do with magic. Scorpio, you’ll help her with swordsmanship. I’ll work with her mind.”
“Before you fill her head with magical mumbo-jumbo,” Mother Frieda stated as she took Sam by the arm, “I need to set her soul right.” Locking her eyes with Sam’s, she asked, “You wish to avoid the abyss, correct?”
Sam nodded, so Frieda continued. “I’m sure you already know about Lucifer, so I will tell you about Leighna and Odin, they are the ones who can save you...”
Sam listened to Mother Frieda, who told
her about Leighna, the Goddess of Light and Home, as if she intended to save her whether she wanted to be saved or not. The only break she got was when Odif called for a vote on sending Scorpio back. Much to the druid's dismay, no one in the group wanted him to go, so she settled on threatening to break his legs and leave him if he ever disobeyed her again.
Theo and Shilo dug Sam’s sword out of the ruins of her hut. She had some armor she had stolen, but Mother Frieda pronounced it evil and made them leave it. The only other thing they took from the remains of the cabin was some food. Sam left the field of destruction with her new friends, ready to do her best to stand with them.
***
The next days proved to be the toughest in her life. Odif promised she would be tested. Grilled and pushed until she couldn’t move or think was more like it. She quickly found out there was much more to handling a sword than being able to chop at someone. Like her swordsmanship, she found out she knew next to nothing about magic.
Her daily routine was harsh. Before breakfast, Scorpio worked with her using wooden sticks for practice. He explained moves and made her go through them and ended each session with a brisk match. Each time, he quickly disarmed her or gave her a smack on the bottom. Not once was she able to touch him with her own weapon.
Breakfast was followed by the march, during which Mother Frieda gave her lessons on Leighna and deeds of prophets and saints as they walked along. Gloredaniel took her turn at the midday break, first making her read and comprehend spell scrolls then prodding her to use bits of magic. The afternoon hike she spent repeating back everything she had read. Then, as everyone else was making camp and getting settled, Odif took a turn to work her mind.
Normally, it was easy for her to figure out what other people were thinking. After a full day on her feet, arms sore from her bouts with Scorpio and her mind sore from tiny shocks when she didn’t repeat the magic words right, it was taxing just to tell Odif what she was thinking. She also found out Odif could mask her thoughts. The third night, she spent an hour probing Odif’s mind only to find out she was wondering why her right eyebrow had a tiny break in it.
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