by Morgan Wylie
Chel ran up beside her friend and looped her arm through Kaeleigh’s to help support her friend. Kaeleigh patted her friend’s arm. They both put noses to the sky, sarcastic in their regal strides trying to make light of her misstep, and giggled. Kaeleigh knew she wasn’t the most graceful but she appreciated her friend joining her.
Daegan found himself feeling irritably endeared. He was also surprised by her stubbornness and recklessness; that could be to her both an advantage and a disadvantage—that mouth could get her into trouble... as it could him. He was already unsure of how bringing this group to Maleina would be received. Maleina would not be happy about the “tagalongs.” He was pretty sure he was going to have to ditch the other two somehow, but that could be tricky— they were a very close group, except for the secrets that both Chel and Finn were keeping from Kaeleigh. Daegan was pretty sure of Finn’s hidden secret, but not so sure of Chel’s yet. She was a bit more of a puzzle; he recognized her scent, but it was partial, as if she wasn’t quite whole.
Daegan knew the Elder hadn’t wanted him to take Kaeleigh to see Maleina, but he was bound. The only way he could figure around it was to actually take her there and see how Maleina reacted. Unfortunately, that could be problematic as well. He hoped Hal would be able to help him help her leave their territory unscathed and send her back to the mortal realm where she came from and belonged. Even if she was from here once, she didn’t belong here anymore. She had no idea what it took to survive here.
Chapter Twenty-two
Finn scanned his surroundings suspiciously. He recognized this area of the forest, although it had been a long time since he had seen these parts. Panic started bubbling within his chest. He couldn’t allow his cover to be blown, but his need to protect Kaeleigh at all costs consumed him. Daegan did not inspire trust in him and he did not yet understand his motives. Nerves kept him on edge as he surveyed as far as his eyes could see, which happened to be farther than the average mortal. Picking up his pace, he came alongside Kaeleigh, his posture rigid and wound so tight he thought he might explode.
Kaeleigh sensed his tension next to her and shot a questioning glance up at his face. Finn towered over her by half a head. Knowing now that she could hear him, he whispered, “I have a bad feeling. Something is amiss and I don’t trust where he is leading us.” Finn didn’t even look toward her, but kept his eyes focused straight ahead. He was simmering underneath his skin; agitated, restless, wanting nothing more than to drive his knife into something, hearing the tearing of flesh and the cracking of bone. Being back in this place set his bloodlust on edge. He had not felt the intensity of the need for a fight in a very long time, since the last time he walked through these very woods.
Finn’s hands flexed into tight fists, only to splay wide once again, and then reflexively felt for his daggers at his hips. Kaeleigh watched him with foreign reservation, as if she was seeing him for the first time. And maybe she was seeing him for what he might truly be. A killer.
“Steady, Guardian, I am not who your fight is to be directed at this time,” Daegan said with a steady, calming tone. “Do not draw unnecessary attention, but be prepared on the count of three.”
Kaeleigh and Chel both took in short, surprised breaths. Finn, angry and a little surprised that Daegan could hear him too, cautiously drew one of his daggers. Kaeleigh was his primary concern right now and he would keep her safe. He nodded the acknowledgment but did not turn.
A twig behind them snapped. Chel gave a silent jolt and gripped Kaeleigh’s arm tighter.
Daegan began to whisper a count as both he and Finn stepped close to the girls, ready to surround them. “...Three!” They both whipped around, drawing their weapons out, encircling Chel and Kaeleigh as best they could without a third anchor to complete a protective triad. Once again they moved simultaneously, as if they’d rehearsed this move hundreds of times together.
Silence.
Eyes searching. Nothing. Stances poised and ready for a fight. Still nothing. “Show yourself!” Daegan commanded with absolute authority. Still nothing.
Kaeleigh was watching something off to the right of the path they had just come from. She stared intently. “What do you see?” Finn asked her.
“I’m not sure, but I think that boulder moved. That would be impossible though, wouldn’t it?”
“Not necessarily,” he replied.
Daegan took several steps toward the large boulder and trained his sword toward it while he gave it a kick with his boot. The girls let out a shriek as the boulder rolled out of the way of Daegan’s sword and transformed into a creature similar to a small bear. It had the body and fur of a brown bear, but with an elongated face covered with fur and the tusk of a rhino. The creature had long, razor-sharp claws that could shred an animal—or person—easily in half. He growled, crouching, ready to spring and devour his prey before him. His eyes glowed a murderous red while smoke puffed from his nostrils as it snorted in disgust. Daegan steadied his weapon and his stance as Finn slowly approached, his side daggers tightly gripped in both hands at his sides.
This creature from hell, which was where it looked like it belonged, could easily take them all out, from Kaeleigh’s perspective. Something stirred in her, a fierce protectiveness that she had never felt before. She would not allow them to die. Not when they’d come this far and not when they still had so far to go to get the answers she’d been looking for all her life. Kaeleigh pulled out of Chel’s strong grasp and stepped forward silently until she was right behind Daegan and Finn.
Daegan sensed her approach. “Get back, Kaeleigh! You don’t know what you’re doing,” he spat out angrily. She didn’t back down. She glared at the back of his head. Turning that intense stare from Daegan to the creature before them, Kaeleigh began to stare the creature down. It shifted his murderous eyes of fire from Daegan’s to hers, sniffing the air for the new scent that she brought. His growl deepened and intensified at this new threat... his new prey. She stiffened but still did not back down. A primal and deeply hidden surge tore through her body as she shot her finger out at the beast and shouted, “NO! You will not harm us,” with a command that carried authority that she had never known before. In front of her, both Finn and Daegan flinched at her voiced command, although they did not alter their protective barrier.
The beast snorted and twitched as if something had smacked him on his muzzle. He began to back away with his head low to the ground. Daegan raised his sword, ready to end the creature. Chel gasped behind her, then in anguish cried out, “NO! Don’t!” Daegan froze with frustrated shock and exasperation. Kaeleigh was afraid to lose eye contact with the beast in fear of releasing its submission to her... to me! Ha! Never would’ve believed that.
“What, Chel?” Kaeleigh bit out a bit sharper than she meant to.
“Don’t kill him, please. He means no real harm,” she rushed out all in one breath.
Daegan gritted his teeth and growled deep in his chest. Kaeleigh decided to chance removing her eyes and first looked to Daegan and then at Finn, both fierce in their protective stances. Then she turned to look back at her friend on her knees. Kaeleigh had never seen Chel this way. Her face had gone sheet white and she was holding her head like she was in pain. Kaeleigh rushed to her friend’s side.
“Chel, what’s wrong?” she whispered urgently.
Chel turned her eyes up to Kaeleigh with what seemed like intense effort. “Don’t hurt him, he’s scared and all alone. His mother was killed. He’s young and impulsive and... and sorry,” she spewed out again. Chel usually talked fast when she got on a roll, but not like this, not tortured. Kaeleigh looked at her friend and stroked her hair, not knowing what to do.
“How do you know that, Chel?” Kaeleigh asked gently with concern in her voice.
“I... I can hear him,” she stammered. Out of fear, she raised her voice desperately. “Why can I hear him?”
Finn looked startled but kept his daggers pointed at the beast. Daegan lowered his own with a sigh and turned
sideways so he could see both the creature and the girls behind him huddled on the ground.
“It seems to be part of your gift, although it is unusual in your kind to hear another kind.”
Three pairs of eyes swung up to meet Daegan’s; two were utterly confused, but Chel’s were first surprised then beseeching him at the same time to keep his mouth closed. He glanced at Kaeleigh and understood that she wanted to tell her herself, but still he shot her a perturbed glare.
Chel relaxed a bit when Kaeleigh bit his head off for being condescending once again toward humans, as if they were really that different from him and his “kind.” If only Kaeleigh knew the truth of what she said, at least where Chel was concerned, and something in her told her maybe where both her friends were concerned as well.
“Can you... well, can you talk back to it— the creature?” Kaeleigh said as she pointed toward the beast.
“Um, I don’t know. Let me try,” she said, a bit shaky as she focused her eyes on the beast and even squinted her eyes in concentration. “Hmm, nothing. Maybe it’s one way, maybe he can’t hear me.” Chel sounded a little disappointed.
The beast snorted and shook its head and looked like it rolled its eyes. “Oh!” Chel said, a bit surprised. “He can hear and understand us just fine, I guess.” She sounded a little embarrassed.
Kaeleigh patted her friend on the arm and rose to stand. “Don’t worry, Chel, you’ve always been sensitive to animals. Maybe your gift gets amplified here.” Chel slowly nodded as Kaeleigh began to move toward the beast. Kaeleigh stood up straight, trying to look taller and full of authority that she didn’t have here in this place, but no one else was doing anything. “We will not harm you if you do not harm us. Move away slowly and be on your way.”
Finn didn’t lower his daggers until the beast had backed all the way into the trees beyond their sight. Daegan looked at Kaeleigh with one eyebrow raised in that cocky way that was also a bit of a breath-taker. He nodded at her. “Well done, Kaeleigh. Keep an eye out and let’s move on. We need to make camp for the night. We won’t make it to my friend tonight.”
Well done, Kaeleigh was all he said and yet it sent flutters all through her stomach. It shouldn’t have. Daegan led the way, while she and Chel walked together in the middle and Finn brought up the rear. Lovely, a gender sandwich.
Not even an hour later, Finn stopped, arms folded at his chest, daring Daegan to counter him, maybe even hoping he would. “This looks like a decent place to stop for the night.”
Both the girls looked at Daegan, pleading with their eyes but not allowing their bodies to reflect how tired they really were. Daegan surveyed the area, gave a curt nod, then walked back the short distance to where they all had stopped.
They were still deep in the forest but had found a small clearing. It was surrounded by giant trees tall and proud alongside smaller ones draped in greenery that clung from tree to tree and branch to branch, stitching them together. Large boulders and smaller, newer trees were scattered amidst the clearing. The ground was mostly dirt but scattered patches of grasses, flowers, and various other coverings gave it a comfortable, peaceful atmosphere.
Looking around, Kaeleigh took it all in. “There is something oddly familiar about this place,” she said to no one in particular. “It looks like it was used for something. Those boulders don’t look naturally placed the way they are, like they were put there to circle something.”
Finn, too, looked around at what she was seeing and stiffened. In a memory flash he was instantly taken back to a time sixteen years ago. He had been here before... there was a wedding. But why would Kaeleigh find it familiar? Unless... Finn’s hands at his sides began shaking.
Kaeleigh, closing the gap between them, asked, “Finn, are you okay? Did you hear something? Is someone coming?”
He quickly regained his composure and used the out she had just unknowingly provided him. “I thought I heard something, but I don’t think so now.” You would have heard it long before I did with that new hearing of yours, he thought to himself. He inconspicuously tried to gauge Daegan’s reaction as he no doubt heard their entire interaction.
Daegan’s face remained impassive, but he was taking in the entire clearing with a hard look in his eyes. “We should move on,” he flatly stated and began to circle back around to the way they were heading.
“What?” Kaeleigh demanded.
“Why?” Chel asked at the same time with her eyes locked hard onto Daegan’s and her arms stubbornly crossed at her chest. As soon as he returned her stare, she couldn’t help but lower her eyes.
Finn remained quiet, but undoubtedly looked uncomfortable. Daegan looked to him, studying his face. For what? Support? Allegiance? Well, he isn’t going to get it from me even though I would do almost anything to not stay the night here, Finn thought.
A little quirk appeared at the side of Daegan’s mouth as he suddenly came to some internal decision. “All right, after further thought, we will stay here as planned. You still good with that, Finn?”
All eyes shifted to Finn. He shifted his posture from defensive to casual, leaning against one of the boulders. He met the challenge. “Of course, fine,” he said stronger than he felt at present, but to let Daegan see that would give him the satisfaction he was looking for and Finn wasn’t going to be the one to give it to him.
The girls gave a sigh of relief and sagged against each other on a large boulder that was roughly flattened on top, making a nice place to sit. Kaeleigh hugged her knees up to her chest. “Now what?”
Finn dropped the firewood he had just been gathering when he noticed where the girls had sat. His jaw dropped slightly open. “Get off the rock,” he whispered shakily. Kaeleigh and Chel jumped up as if their asses were on fire, remembering the last rock they thought was a boulder, but turned out to be a large beast of a creature.
“What? What?” they cried, flailing about as if there was something on them they were trying to get off.
Finn, white as a ghost, shook his head quickly and wiped a hand down his face to shake off the memories. He then kicked the rock to cover up his falter. “I guess it was nothing. I thought I saw it move.” He stormed back into the forest to get more firewood and blow off a little steam. If he was wound any tighter, he was going to explode. Daegan knew something, and it had him on edge.
Daegan watched the charade with little interest, but watched nonetheless. He had his own memories of this place, but Finn seemed to be much more haunted than he was letting on. The girls seemed to be oblivious—well at least Chel did—but Kaeleigh appeared to be putting on a bit of her own show for Finn, probably buying time while she puzzled it out. She was seeing something but he wasn’t sure what it was. Not that he cared. He didn’t need to know anything about these people, as he was just delivering them amongst his other duties, but they were becoming more interesting the further into Alandria they got. He must not get involved though. His arm had burned him a couple times already; a warning.
✾✾✾
The fire was crackling and finally giving off a good amount of heat as Kaeleigh, Chel, and Finn snuggled close together, warming their hands and bodies by the fire. Daegan had come back earlier from a quick hunting trip with a couple of rabbits that they cooked up for dinner. Kaeleigh had never eaten rabbit nor did she want to, but she was starving and tried to pretend it was chicken. Chel, on the other hand, who had been sensitive to animals all her life, would have rather starved herself into an early grave before she ate Bambi or his friend Thumper. Luckily for her, they had packed some of their own snacks in their backpacks so she wouldn’t starve—at least not tonight. Night had fallen and with it a cool breeze. Daegan stood off a bit from their group, close enough that he could still feel the fire, but far enough not to be considered a part. Isolated. His hand rested on the pommel of his sword strapped at his hip. His eyes scanned the forest, constantly on alert. Kaeleigh felt safe with him there, whether he was really there for their safety or just keeping them safe long enough to g
et somewhere—hopefully, somewhere with answers.
Finally resting in this place, she was able to give way to some of her thoughts. Finn didn’t trust Daegan and she didn’t completely either, but she wanted—no, needed—some answers, and right now that outweighed her uneasy feeling. Something was going on with each of her friends too, but she didn’t know how to approach it, especially with Daegan around. She didn’t want to expose them to a stranger. Even though it seems he knows more about them than I do right now. He had all but proved that he could hear extremely well too. Her own enhanced hearing was a surprise to her. So many things were feeling new. She felt this new energy stirring and fluttering up inside her body and she didn’t know what to make of it.
Glancing back to where Daegan stood, she felt another emotion stir... sadness. He seemed not only distant and cold, but also alone. As if sensing her thoughts, he turned sharply to look at her with anger—no! hatred—in his eyes. She shrank back, taken off guard, bumping into Chel. Assuring Chel she was truly fine, she quickly glanced at Daegan again, to find him not looking at her but head down with a frown, pinching the bridge of his nose as if to relieve a headache. Something seemed off. There was an odd, faint green aura around him she didn’t remember seeing. Well, she was not going to be some weak, helpless little girl that let some big mean guy bully her around. She didn’t understand what she often saw storming in his eyes, but she would not be made to be afraid. Not again.
Kaeleigh got up, gathering her inner courage with her. Come on, Kaeleigh, pull up those big-girl panties. She didn’t march like an entitled brat over to get in his face, she simply walked. Boldly. He didn’t even watch her approach, although he knew she was coming. He ignored her, the ultimate insult. Kaeleigh got close, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off of his chest but not so close that she couldn’t look up to his face. Shaking inside, her heart beating loudly and out of control, she thought she might be sick, but took a deep breath to gather her control. Feeling that unfamiliar stirring in her soul once again, she clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to regain control of her heart. She would not let him intimidate her and she would not back down until he acknowledged her.