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Unquiet Slumber

Page 11

by Paulette Miller


  In private, Zarin gave Marcus two letters. One letter was from himself and the other from Tianna’s human mother. He was to give them to Tianna only after she found out the truth about herself.

  Since Gabriel’s primary focus was to keep the travelers safe at all costs, Zarin emphasized that Gabriel was to be on his guard at all times. He warned that not all the villages would welcome them with open arms. Tianna’s presence would make them a target. He added, “In times of strife, anything unusual attracts unfriendly, covetous eyes.”

  Zarin shared with Nathaniel some special potions and herbs that can be used to enhance healing abilities. He told him that his primary goal, above all others, was to help protect Tianna. He said, “Unlike Gabriel, your strength isn’t of the body, but of the mind. As Tianna learns of her heritage, her powers will grow quickly, and I need you to monitor her mental stability. Help her be mentally strong and well-adjusted so she can withstand the inner turmoil in her future.” He put his hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder. “Can you do this for me?”

  Nathaniel smiled and bowed, saying, “It would be my pleasure to watch over her, mind and body.”

  Zarin repeatedly told all the Draak, “Along your journey, help her discover her powers. She’ll need to learn to control them if she’s to survive.”

  When the day to leave arrived, everyone mounted their horses and Zarin began his farewell speech. “Continue your hunt for your missing warrior, but keep an open mind. You’ve been searching for a mighty Draak warrior and have a very specific picture of what this creature should look like. Warriors can come in all shapes and sizes, so don’t close your mind to other possibilities. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

  Tianna’s expression turned sad, and Zarin walked over and said, “The purpose for all things will be revealed in time. Learn all you can from these Draak. Trust that they will help protect you.”

  The travelers all bowed from their saddles.

  Tianna wanted to hug her old master. Before she had the chance to lean down to him, he swatted her horse causing it to leap forward. He yelled after them, “Trust in each other. I’ll see you all again.”

  They rode off together and disappeared into the trees.

  They traveled hard for several days. Tianna was an excellent rider and easily kept up with the group. She remained quiet most of the time, however, lost in thought of the adventures that lay ahead of her. Although those traveling with her watched her closely, they gave her the personal time she needed to adjust to her new circumstances.

  Marcus did have to pull Tianna to the side several times when she kept trying to do all the cooking, cleaning, and washing. Her response was always the same, “But for 16 years, that’s been my job as an apprentice to Zarin. It was my responsibility to keep everything in order. I’ve interrupted your quest and feel like I should be doing more.”

  Marcus countered with, “As I’ve said before, you’re not an apprentice within our group. You travel with us as our wizard, an equal member. On this team, we all share in the day-to-day responsibilities. It’s not just to share the work, it also keeps us working as a team at all times.”

  Tianna replied, “I promise I’ll try. It’s just that I’ve never had to work as a team before. It’ll take some time for me to adjust to my new role.”

  “Don’t worry, you’re still in the rotation and will have your turn to take care of us, but you must let the others continue to do their part. Try to enjoy the time while others take their turn to care for you.” He gave her a playful smile.

  In the evenings, when time permitted, Tianna wrote in her book. There was no way for her to hide her journaling. When they asked her about it, she told them that she just liked to keep personal thoughts. She said they were private and didn’t want to share them. Everyone accepted her answer without question except Nathaniel. He was so curious about this bewitching creature that he longed to read what thoughts she wrote about in her journal. He wanted to find a way to influence her and hoped some of the secrets within her book would give him some insight.

  The morning of her rotation for making the morning meal, Tianna woke early. Much to Marcus’ dismay, she again went off on her own to find some items she wanted to use in their morning meal. Marcus sent Seth immediately after her. Marcus planned yet another discussion with her about not wandering off on her own. As a general rule, none of them were allowed to venture off alone given the evil that lurked around every corner.

  Once the food hunters were out of sight, Nathaniel snuck into Tianna’s bedroll and found her journal. He studied the book carefully. Although he could see no locking mechanism, he couldn’t find a way to open it. When he tried to force it open, what initially appeared as a bookmark snaked out and bit him hard on the back of his right hand.

  “Ouch!” he yelled as he dropped the journal. He growled as the snake-like vine returned to its original form. He cursed as he rubbed his wound and gently placed the book back where he found it. He had to chuckle when he saw a perfect “X” shape on the back of his hand. The book had marked him. Although he tried to heal it, he knew it was going to take several days for the mark to completely disappear, assuming it would ever vanish.

  After the two hunters returned and Marcus finished his lecture, Gabriel walked up and asked, “So, what did you two find for us for morning meal?”

  Tianna smiled and said, “Seth found some great mushrooms and I found a large nest.” She showed off a clutch of enormous blue spotted eggs.” She beamed. “I thought I would cook you up some eggs. I have special recipe I use for these blue ones that I think you’ll like.”

  Nathaniel gently picked up an egg and stroked it tenderly saying, “But Tianna, this one looks like my cousin.”

  Tianna instantly panicked. “You don’t hatch from eggs, do you?” She suddenly cradled the remaining eggs like she was swaddling newborn babies. She almost became ill thinking that she may have previously eaten a Draak before he hatched.

  They all laughed, Nathaniel the loudest. Marcus tried to hold back his amusement as he said, “Nathaniel is teasing. Don’t worry, these aren’t shifters. We’re born in human form. I think I need to provide you some lessons on the Draak.”

  Gabriel snickered while taking the egg from Nathaniel and said, “I would love some eggs. I’ll help cook.”

  During the meal, Tianna asked Nathaniel to pass her some bread. He had forgotten about his mark and handed her a roll. Tianna’s giggle made him realize his mistake. He tried to pull his hand back quickly, but it was too late. Tianna had seen the mark. She knew exactly what it was since she had seen similar marks on both Zarin’s and her father’s hands.

  She glared at Nathaniel and smirked. “Nathaniel, is there something you need to tell me?”

  He shook his head and had a rather sheepish look on his face. For once he was speechless. Everyone else watching the exchange was confused.

  Seth asked, “What’s going on?”

  Tianna stared at Nathaniel. “I think you need to ask Nathaniel that question.”

  They all shifted their eyes to Nathaniel, and when he didn’t respond, Tianna did. “Someone tried to read my journal.”

  Nathaniel shrugged. “Sorry, I was curious. I wanted to know what secrets you’ve hidden in those pages.” He rubbed his hand as if it ached. “That journal of yours really has quite a bite.”

  “That’s what you deserve for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

  Gabriel threw some bread at Nathaniel. “Serves you right, Lover Boy.”

  Tianna looked over at the now laughing Draak and explained. “I started journaling once I moved into Zarin’s home. Although I was thrilled to be Zarin’s apprentice, I had a difficult time adjusting to my new role and surroundings. It was also hard to deal with the villager’s unkind words about my new arrangements. Since I couldn’t express my feelings out loud, my mother suggested that I try writing my feelings down. She gave me a journal as a gift. When I started to write, I found that it helped. One night I caught Za
rin trying to read my journal. I scolded him and placed a spell on my book. It was one of my first home-made spells. After Zarin felt the sting of a bite, he apologized for trying to read my private thoughts, although he was quite impressed by my natural spell abilities.”

  Marcus chuckled and said, “Very inventive.”

  Tianna pointed to Nathaniel’s newest mark. “Zarin carried the ‘X’ for a very long time. If I look at his hand now really hard, you can still see a faint outline of it.”

  Nathaniel continued to rub his hand and muttered, “Great.”

  Tianna was about to call her healing fire to heal his ache, when blue fire suddenly flared in Nathaniel’s left hand. He sighed in relief as he pressed the flames on his latest body art.

  Tianna was shocked, and she stared at Nathaniel’s fire in amazement. She had never seen anyone else able to wield this power. She now understood the fire in his dragon mark. For a brief moment, she thought about willing her fire forward and showing him that she had the same skill. She decided against it. Nathaniel was a Draak. The thought that she shared a common power with a Draak scared her. She knew they already thought of her as an oddity, and she didn’t want to give them any more proof, so she remained silent about her hidden talent. Maybe on another day she would privately share her secret with Nathaniel.

  A daily routine gradually emerged as the days passed. They took turns performing all of the day to day chores. They rode hard throughout the day on a path that Seth laid out. Marcus typically picked out the place that they would stay for the night. Tianna continued to sleep in trees. The Draak were amazed how she never slipped or fell off of a branch. It was as if the trees protected her as she climbed or slept.

  In the evenings before bed, Marcus gave Tianna Draak history lessons and Gabriel gave fighting lessons to Seth. Gabriel encouraged Tianna to join them. She was exceptional with her bow, but that wouldn’t help much at close distances. Although he knew she was strong, he didn’t know if she had any experience in self-defense. Given the dangers they faced on their travels, he wanted her to be able to defend herself.

  As they trained, he was pleasantly surprised by her natural warrior abilities. Her archery and knife skills were excellent. However, techniques that utilized her body’s small size to her advantage were unknown to her. Everyone took turns trying to attack her until Gabriel was satisfied that she could handle the most common attack scenarios. Most nights, Tianna was exhausted and fell asleep early.

  After a week’s travel, they were setting up camp for the night and Tianna ventured off to collect firewood. She promised to stay within sight of the camp, so Marcus agreed to let her go by herself. After she had traveled a short distance, she heard something rustling in the brush in the opposite direction from the camp. She turned to look, not seeing anything. She assumed it was just an animal. This pleased her because she knew the men were hungry for meat and now she had the opportunity to surprise them by bringing back their meal. She didn’t have her bow with her, so she drew her long knife in one hand and a dagger in the other. She stalked her prey silently, moving temporarily out of sight of the camp toward the noise.

  When she approached a cluster of thick brush, a dark, unfamiliar voice spoke quietly from close behind her. “Hello sweet thing.”

  Tianna froze. As she stood there, two other men walked out of the dark in front of her with their swords at the ready.

  She was surrounded.

  The men in front of her gawked at her body and gave her leering smiles. The larger of the two spoke, “You’re a pretty little one. Now put down those pointy sticks of yours before you hurt yourself.” He kissed at her, twirling his huge broadsword as he spoke.

  Tianna held tight to her weapons and tried to remember Gabriel’s lessons, willing her body to remain calm. She smelled a man who desperately needed a bath directly behind her and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him raise his arms slowly like he was about to try to grab her. She surprised him by shoving back into him, causing him to stagger with her weight. She took advantage of his unsteady position and kicked back up between his legs as hard as she could. She knew she had hit her target when she heard him gasp in pain. She quickly dropped into a squatting position as his arms tried to grab her on his way to the ground. He caught nothing but air and fell to the ground in obvious agony.

  One of the other men snarled, “That wasn’t very nice.”

  She scurried back up onto her feet and screamed for her protectors just as the man came after her. There was no way to run, so she needed to defend herself until help arrived. When he sliced his sword down at her, she swung her long knife and deflected his strike. The power in his strike was so hard that it almost knocked her off her feet.

  She knew she couldn’t withstand his strength and decided to listen to an inner voice telling her what to do. She readied herself. When she blocked his next strike, she slid down under him and stabbed her dagger up through his stomach into his chest as hard and deep as she could.

  She screamed again as his body went limp and fell on top of her.

  With a flash, the man was lifted off of her and thrown into the trunk of a tree. She watched as he dropped to the ground, lifeless. When she stared up, she saw a partially shifted Gabriel staring back down at her with a sword in his hand. Nathaniel was at his side.

  Gabriel commanded to Nathaniel, “Take her to safety. Make sure she isn’t injured.”

  Nathaniel scooped up Tianna like she weighed nothing and within seconds had her away from the fighting. As Nathaniel checked Tianna’s body, she watched as Gabriel and Marcus fought and killed the other two men. Seth was nowhere in sight.

  Nathaniel grabbed her face so she would look at him. Obviously he had been talking to her and she hadn’t heard him. “Are you injured?” he asked in a panic.

  She stared at him, confused, until she examined herself. She was covered in blood. She did a quick body check and said shakily, “Other than this cut on my arm, I think I’m fine. Most of this blood isn’t mine. It’s his.” She pointed to the body lying at the base of the tree with her dagger sticking out of his belly. Nathaniel sat her down carefully and started tearing her shirt away from the cut.

  Tianna jumped when Seth burst from the trees. He announced while panting, “I searched the area and found no one else, but I did find their camp. Looks like these three are the only ones in their group.”

  They all returned to Tianna’s side, remaining alert.

  Seth asked, “How is she?”

  Nathaniel sighed in relief. “She has a bad cut on her arm, but it appears she’ll be fine.”

  Gabriel growled. “If she can be moved, let’s get her back to our camp.”

  Tianna was about to stand when Nathaniel scooped her up. She protested but he refused to put her down. He needed her close. The fear of what could have happened to her overwhelmed him.

  She asked, “Can I at least go get my dagger and knife?”

  Before Nathaniel could respond, Gabriel walked over to the downed warrior and pulled her dagger out. On the way back he picked up her long knife.

  Once they were back in camp, Nathaniel helped Tianna clean up as the other Draaks stood guard. Nathaniel willed his blue fire to heal her wound. She closed her eyes and sighed as the pain eased, realizing that this was the first time she had ever been the recipient of someone else’s blue fire. It truly was magical.

  Once Nathaniel was done, she thanked him and proceeded to tell exactly what happened.

  She stared at Gabriel and tried to smile. “I tried to do what you taught me, well, close to it. I had to improvise a little.” She then asked very apprehensively. “Did I kill him?” She wasn’t sure what she wanted as the answer.

  Gabriel nodded. “Your dagger penetrated his heart. I think he was dead before he fell on you.” What he didn’t tell her was that her dagger had penetrated the enemy’s body in a perfect angle for killing. He had trouble teaching his young warriors in Haven to be able to achieve this strike during close combat. This small
human was able to do it instinctively.

  “No, not human,” he reminded himself silently.

  Tianna hung her head. “I’ve killed animals before, but I’ve never killed a person.” Her body started to shake like she was just as cold on the outside as she felt on the inside.

  Gabriel patted her on her shoulder. “You did what you needed to do. It’s never easy to take a life.” Sensing her distress, Nathaniel pressed his palm against her back and willed his blue fire to appear, causing her body to relax.

  Once she calmed down, Tianna asked, “Who were those men?”

  Marcus answered. “Those were warriors of the Drenn. They’re evil and ruthless. You’re very lucky to have walked away relatively unharmed.”

  Before Marcus could reprimand her yet again, Tianna said, “I’m sorry I went too far away from the camp alone. It won’t happen again.” Marcus could hear the honesty in her voice and hoped this was the final lesson on the subject. She now understood the dangers waiting out there and was grateful the lesson ended as it did.

 

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