Sacrifice

by Underwood, Patrick

  “I have had basic training in dueling swords, but the men do all the fighting.”

  “Wait, you're like a noble, right? Don't they expect you to fight?”

  “We have men for the fighting, while the Chosen lead, and use our power for the benefit of womankind. Occasionally we may duel each other for a grievance but no, we do not fight directly.”

  “Huh,” I said and left it at that, putting the dagger I was going to give her in the bag. Going to have to train her later but let that be a battle for when we were out of immediate danger.

  We stopped by the brook, and I rinsed and filled the water bladders, giving her two to carry. Again, I got a look like I was breaking some kind of rule, but I let it slide.

  “You want to do a quick wash? I'll go stand over there,” I said, pointing back towards the rock outcropping.

  “Don't leave. Just… turn around,” she said with a blush.

  I nodded and went up the embankment, turning away from her and keeping a lookout. I resisted the hormones inside me, telling me to turn and watch as I heard her undress. I may have caught her naked form in my peripheral vision once or twice, but if someone called me on it, I would deny it until the day I died.

  Stupid hormones.

  “Do you have anything I can dry myself with?”

  “Ugh, hold on a second.” I checked my bag, the only thing that I had was the semi-clean and torn clothes I had from earlier. That would not do.

  “I am sorry, I don’t.”

  “That's fine, I will make do. Can you hand me my clothes?”

  I backed towards her until I passed her clothes on the ground. Picking up the clothes, I handed them back to her without turning around.

  “Thank you.”

  I moved back to where I was standing and resumed my post, hearing her get her clothes back on.

  “Finished,” she said.

  I turned around the same as she did after securing her corset.

  “I'm sorry,” I said, immediately avoiding my eyes on her body.

  I felt a flush flow through me. I could see her breasts right through the now wet material, her nipples clearly outlined.

  She covered herself. “It's… it's fine, no avoiding it until I get more clothes.”

  Her face was also blushing when I turned back to her.

  “What uh… happened to your clothes, anyway?”

  “I was in a battle with my mother. In armor towards the rear. We thought we were ambushing my cousin, but it turned out to be the other way around. When it was certain all was lost, my mother sent me with a few bodyguards. They died so that I could get away. I threw off all the armor I was wearing so that I could run faster.” Her face was downcast again.

  “Hey,” I said, reaching out and hugging her again. “I don't know what you're going through right now, but I will do my best to make sure you stay safe. We will figure it out.”

  She nodded in my shoulder again. This time, the tears were only a few and not the waterfall from earlier. She moved away from me, took a deep breath, and put her noble face back on.

  “Thank you. We should be off, though.”

  I nodded. “Ok, follow me, stay silent, keep your ears open and try to step where I step. If we hear anyone out there, we run back into the woods. Got it?”

  She made a face like she was about to argue, but then stopped herself. “Yes, I approve.”

  Something about the way she said that sounded odd. I debated whether it was worth calling her on it. Eying her for a second, I decided it was not worth it yet. Have to observe it more still and see if my suspicions were right, “Alright, let's move.”

  I put my hand up in a stopping sign. Tyla still almost walked right into me, completely ignoring it. Guess I was going to work on signals with her later.

  “Why did—”

  I put my hand over her mouth. “Shhh”

  She nodded, and I let go. I pointed to my ears and then pointed to where we were going. I heard voices, but they were too indistinct to make out.

  Her face took up one of panic when she heard the noise, too.

  The shouts of men.

  I leaned into her, “we are going to make a run back up into the mountains and get away. Do you know if they have dogs?” I whispered.

  “I have not seen them use any, but I know they can track people. Several of my mother's men had hounds for hunting man and beast,” she said, her voice much softer now.

  “Ok.” I thought for a second. If dogs were a thing, then I should take that into account then, just in case. “We are going to do a lot of running in a short amount of time. Can you keep up?”

  She nodded. “I will do what I must.”

  I turned and grabbed her hand, keeping her right behind me as we ran low to the ground, back to the brook. After a few minutes, we came to it, and I helped her jump over it and followed.

  Stopping briefly, I listened for the sounds of pursuit.

  “Ok, I don't hear anyone, that gives us a chance. I am going to go to a clearing up ahead with a real foul smell that will hopefully distract the dogs… if they have them, then we will head up into the mountains and hide out for a bit. Step where I step as best you can.”

  “I agree and approve.”

  I realized this must indeed be a power thing. In this world, it would be someone like her that makes or approves of all the decisions. I needed to get in front of this.

  “Tyla, I am going to be right up front with you now. I do not care that you are royalty or whatever. If you are with me, I will call the shots for now. That does not mean I will not listen to your opinion, or even defer to you if the situation calls for it. But you do not need to give me your permission, because frankly I am not asking. You had the chance to go off on your own, you wanted to stay. Is that going to be acceptable with you?”

  She deflated and looked… relieved? “That is… fine with me. I kind of hate being in charge anyway, but that is what they always expect of me so— “

  “It's fine,” I said, cutting her off. “We do not have time to get into it right now. I am not some asshole that will treat you like property, but I also do not plan on being anyone else's property either. Right now, though, we need to run. So, let's go.”

  She nodded as I grabbed her hand and ran back to the clearing I started in. I could smell it, a good way off. The stink of that beast was nasty and even worse now.

  “Ugh, stop, I smell a dire-wolf,” Tyla said in disgust and fear.

  “Is that what they call them? It was disgusting before I killed it, then it smelled even worse in death.”

  “You killed one?”

  “Yeah, when I showed… when I woke up this morning. Got the jump on me.”

  We continued around the clearing. Hopefully, the smell would throw off our scent, then we headed straight for the mountains.

  “Killing one is next to impossible without a group of men or a Chosen with you. How did you do such a thing?”

  “Luck. I avoided its jump then knifed it in the back through the heart.”

  She just looked at me in shock but said nothing. We picked up our pace and began jogging up the incline. Running on fallen logs as they became available, or other things that would remove footprints and make tracking more difficult. After a mile or two, we slowed down. Tyla was huffing something fierce, and I feared she could not take anymore.

  We approached a nearby creek, bigger than the brook from earlier, and drank our fill and refilled all the bladders.

  “Let's walk up the creek bed for a while. Do not step in the mud, only on the rocks. It will help us lose any trackers if they are out there. Understand?” I asked.

  “Yes, I will follow.”

  I took my shoes off and grabbed the boots she was wearing and put them in my bag. Hiking up my pants, we walked up the shallow creek for a few hundred yards before going back onto dry land again.

  “How much daylight do we have left?”

  “Umm.” She looked into the sky. “A couple more hours?”


  “Okay, we walk up this incline here till it gets dark, then we find a place to sleep for the night.”

  She nodded, and we continued on our way.

  As the sky turned red, I finally found what I was looking for.

  “There,” I said and pointed to one of the willow-maple-oaks. “See how those leaves are hanging over? We will sleep there. No fire tonight though, sorry.”

  “That will… I understand.” She caught herself before she gave me permission. I smiled at her, and she returned the gesture.

  “What are these trees called, by the way?”

  “You live in these woods and do not know? Hmm. The elves have a name for them, but I forget what it was. Humans call them traveler's trees. I do not know where the name came from.”

  “Interesting. My guess is that they make good shelters, but who knows. This will do though.”

  I cleared out the detritus from under the tree and rolled out the bedroll from my bag.

  “Here, you can sleep here tonight, I will sit up against the tree. We should have someone on watch, but I think we are both too tired to expect that to happen tonight.”

  I handed her some of the fruit I had placed in my bag earlier. There was a jar of jerky in it as well and I handed some to each of us. We ate in silence for a few minutes.

  “Umm, you can… sleep with me in the bed roll… it can get cold in the mountains at night, and you are still wet, we can face away from each other,” she said, adding the last part in quickly. I saw her face redden even through the gloom and shadow from the tree and the approaching darkness.

  “If you're fine with that,” I said, simply. Part of me hated the idea, thinking of Jess — no, not going there. The other part of me thought it was a fantastic idea. I crushed both thoughts and shoved them back into the box to deal with it later.

  She just nodded.

  We each did a few basic preparations before bed. I had to escort her into the woods so she could relieve herself since she refused to go anywhere without me nearby. Soon we slipped into the bedroll. I had removed my shoes and she removed her leather corset and boots to make sleeping easier. We settled into the sleeping bag as best we could in the tight space with our backs together, otherwise fully clothed.

  She was asleep instantly, while I struggled with the memories and emotions that struggled to break out of their cage. Eventually I fell asleep, exhaustion finally overcoming the thoughts about my previous life and what I was going to do in this one.

  But the nightmares soon came to me after I lost consciousness.

  6

  Bad Dreams

  I was floating in the void when a view screen of some sort appeared in front of me, a picture of a blonde woman appeared in front of me, and my heart was suddenly in my throat.

  “Hey Derk,” the blond woman said. She had a small smile when she said this, but her eyes were red rimmed, like she had been crying. “I don't know if you will ever see this, but… Captain Smith gave us all permission to send a transmission back to Earth to say goodbye. We don't know if it will make it, and even if it does, you will probably have died hundreds of years before it arrives.”

  She wiped away another tear that had leaked out of her eye.

  “So, they woke us up early from cryosleep. We must throw away the original plan and do a mass landing. Turns out the wormhole collapsed right after we came through, but you probably saw that from your side.”

  She giggled and hiccupped. “That is not the worst part of it all, though. Apparently, this was all arranged by some super powerful aliens to put us in a kind of nature preserve, according to what the captain said, anyway. They are going to take away all our tech and put us on a planet where we can live naturally or some bullshit. God fu—” She ended that last part with a scream before she stopped the video.

  The screen paused for a second and her position changed when she resumed. Her eyes were redder than they were before, and she was wiping them with a tissue.

  “So, we are doing an emergency landing in a predetermined location tomorrow and they say all our tech is going to fail within six months, I don't know how or why it will, but things are already breaking more than they should, so I believe it.

  “I am so, so sorry I left things with you the way I did. Now that I know I will never see you again… along with all the other stuff, it is hitting me hard, and I want nothing more than to be with you one more time. I just… wanted you to know that I still love you.”

  I could feel the hot tears running down my face.

  “I hope you move on and find someone that will make you happy… I… you deserved so much more than I gave you. That is what I regret the most, I think. You will always hold a special place in my heart, but please, live your life and be happy. One of us deserves it at least.”

  She looked into the camera one last time. “Goodbye, Derrick.”

  The screen cut off, and I sobbed. I learned long ago that crying did not make you less of a man, it just meant you were human. Sometimes, no matter how much you try to prevent it, the dam just needs to break and release some.

  I floated in the darkness, letting those feelings leak out.

  “Goodbye Jessica.”

  “Derrick! Derrick! Please wake up!”

  “Huh?” I said as I came too. I could see dawn light peeking into the overhand of leaves we called home for the night. The dream was so vivid it felt real. So much so that even now, the dream was not fading from my mind. I could recall it like I could recall a conversation from yesterday.

  “Oh, thank the gods!” Tyla hugged me. “I was so worried.”

  “What? Why were you worried?”

  “I, um… kind of felt your sadness while you were sleeping. It woke me up and just kept increasing. I worried about y — it. You wouldn't wake up when I tried, for several minutes at least.”

  It was then I noticed she had wrapped her arms around me, and we were still laying in the bedroll together. I was on my back with her on my side cuddled next to me.

  Normally this would be a very… intimate pose, but I was still feeling the effects of the dream, so I just laid my head on the torn shirt I was using for a pillow and put my arm around her to return the embrace.

  “I was having a… not a nightmare, but a dream of something that is painful to me. A painful memory and I am still getting used to it.”

  Tyla gazed into my eyes briefly before looking away, still not letting go of me. “I can feel it, even now. What was her name?”

  “Jessica, she's… she's gone now… forever. I don't know whether that dream was real or not, but I know I will never see her again.”

  “I understand… I never knew someone so young could have loved so deeply. I have always wanted a love like that.”

  I just nodded. It was not time to tell her about my past, I had to know more about her first.

  “Just give me a minute,” I said. “Let me get through this, then we will start moving. We have some decisions and plans to make today.”

  She nodded and moved away. I stopped her, not sure why, other than us holding each other felt good. She did not fight it and pushed back into me. I guess we both needed a human’s touch with all that has happened to us.

  We just laid like that for a few minutes.

  It felt good.

  The sun rose, and so did we, both taking care of our morning absolutions deeper into the woods.

  Finishing the last of the fruit and more of the jerky, then polishing it off with water.

  “I would give anything for coffee right about now,” I said while massaging the sore muscles in my body.

  I had pushed myself the day before, much harder than the kid who I now inhabited probably ever did in his life, and I was feeling it.

  “Coffee? You have had coffee?”

  “Yeah, it's a thing here too?” I asked hopefully without thinking, then regretted my word choice.

  “You are strange, what do you mean here too? You say it like you are not from this world at all.”

 
“Sorry, poor choice of words, I don't… talk to people much anymore, forgive my odd phrases occasionally.”

  She eyed me for a second but moved on. “Yes, coffee is a delicacy from the south in the Casting Harbor, usually only the Chosen or burgesses can afford it. I was just surprised you knew what it tasted like. Are you from the south?”

  “Let’s just say further than that. I may tell you my full story someday, but I ask for your patience as we get to know each other.” I needed to get a lay of the land without looking too suspicious right now. These slips were going to get me in trouble.

  “Of course, but trust is a two-way street, Derrick. If you wish me to tell you my stories, I will need some in return.”

  I nodded, not able to argue the point.

  I changed the subject. “So here is the plan. I am going to turn my walking stick into a spear before we leave. As soon as we see another stick suitable, I want to equip you with the same and teach you to use it. They are the simplest weapons a person can be effective with.”

  I stopped to rub my arm again.

  “But I…” she stopped herself from whatever she was going to say. “That sounds wise. Are your muscles in pain?”

  “Yeah, sore from yesterday. I'll live.”

  “Here, let me,” she said and scooted over behind where I sat. She put her hands on my shoulders, moving them over my shoulders, reaching into my shirt. The tingling sensation returned, and then the pain started receding. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

  “Thank you. That power of yours must come in handy.”

  “It is both a blessing and a curse. Others decided my path because of it. This… this is the first time I can remember deciding for myself without someone's input. Well, mostly.” She finished, giving me a sheepish grin as she said it.

  “You still make your own decisions. I just… make the calls for what we are doing right now in the woods. Unless you are some kind of secret wood woman and just playing dumb on me?” I asked, my eyebrow raised in question.