Tyler sat against the wall, his eyes closed, his head back against the cool stone. He felt Bird hop onto his good leg.
“Do you know where they are?” He saw the picture of campsite and he smiled despite the pain he was in. “I know that clearing.” He took a deep breath and stood, making his way to where Heidi’s dagger lay on the ground. He picked it up, stuck it in his belt, and went to pick up his. He twirled it in his hand and stuck it in its scabbard with a growl. It was getting dark out. He had to get to her soon.
Bird flashed him a picture of his pack.
“We’ll be coming here afterwards.”
She managed to ask why he didn’t think the men would look there again. He looked at her, his eyes full of the anger Heidi had been scared of.
“Because once I’m done with them, they won’t be able to look anywhere.” He shifted with a growl of pain and anger and loped off in the direction of the clearing.
He guessed he’d been at it for a good half hour when the sound of voices and the crackle of a fire made its way to his ears. He crouched low and snuck closer.
“Hey! Pass some of that over here!” A man’s voice barked the order out.
Tyler shifted and peeked around the bush he was hiding behind. A low growl rumbled through him. There were five men sitting around the fire passing food and drinks around. Heidi lay behind them on a blanket, a gag in her mouth and hands tied behind her back. Even with the bad lighting and the distance between them he could tell she’d been beaten.
One of the men stood, went to Heidi and stood her up. Her eyes narrowed before she drove her knee up into the man’s groin then connected with his face as he doubled over from the pain. She stood over him, ready to strike again if needed.
“Martin, you dummy. You saw what she did to Steve. Martin?” One of the other men stood and faced Heidi before grabbing his friend by the arm and pulling him back to the fire.
That’s my girl, Tyler thought to himself. He tried to think of the best way to get Heidi away from them.
“Hey, Benji, maybe if one of us holds while the other has his fun.” A dark haired man stood and a blond man nodded and followed after him.
“Watch yourself, though. She’s not like that other one we found a few weeks ago.” Benji rubbed a bruise on his cheek.
Tyler started to circle around the campsite in the direction that the men were dragging the struggling woman. He could hear her muffled screams and he forced himself to take a deep breath. The two men knelt at her side, blocking his view of what they were doing. He watched as the dark haired man pushed her to the ground then moved her so that she was kneeling. Benji got on his own knees, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her down so that she was bent over. He pushed her face into the dirt and leaves.
“Not so tough now, are you, you little…” Benji’s comment cut short and his eyes widened. His dark haired friend looked up at him.
“What’s the matter with you?”
Benji answered by falling forward on top of Heidi, her dagger in his back. Tyler jumped over the rock he was behind and lunged at the dark haired man who was too shocked to do much of anything. Tyler shifted in midair, clamped his jaws over the man’s throat and bit down as hard as he could. When he was sure the man was dead, he shifted back and pushed Benji off of a struggling Heidi.
Her eyes widened at the sight of him. He put a finger to his lips, untied her hands and removed the gag from her mouth. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her close. He could feel her shaking against him as she tried to get some control on herself.
“Are you alright?” he whispered.
She shook her head and looked up into his deep brown eyes. “I…I thought you were dead.”
Tyler looked down at the feel of something warm on his hand. She felt the growl he tried to keep down. “They cut you!”
She nodded and he noticed a strange look in her grey green eyes.
“You’re going into shock. Stay here.” He hesitated for a second before bending over and kissing her softly on the lips. He crept closer to the fire. There were three men left. Two sat at the fire and the other, Martin, was still unconscious on the ground.
Tyler felt the handle of his dagger in his palm and threw it as hard as he could. It sunk to the hilt into one man’s belly. The second man scrambled to his feet, pulling his own dagger out of his belt.
“Who’s there?”
Tyler shifted and limped into the firelight. Heidi watched on worriedly as the large grey wolf bared his teeth. He jumped at the man, twisting in the air to avoid the dagger aimed at him and managed to land on top. This man had obviously had some experience fighting against dogs. He jammed his arm as deeply as he could down Tyler’s mouth. Tyler bit down as hard as he could, but only managed to barely break the skin. He pulled back and was thrown off by his opponent.
Heidi held down her scream.
Tyler shifted back and crouched low.
“You’re not going to be so tough without your knife.” The man stepped toward Tyler and slashed at him with his dagger. Tyler dodged and rolled to the side to get away. The man smiled. Tyler dug into his pocket and pulled out an oblong wooden object.
“You’re going to throw that at me and try to knock me out? It’ll take more than a little piece of wood to do that.”
Tyler waited until the man charged again before pulling the blade out of the pocket knife. His adversary’s eyes widened as the small blade slashed across his face. Tyler grabbed the surprised man’s own dagger, twisted it out of his grasp and plunged it into his chest.
Heidi caught her breath as Tyler turned toward her. His dark eyes were wild, his jaw clenched. He pulled his dagger out of the man it had impaled itself in and he turned to Martin, who was still unconscious. He knelt down, held the man’s head up by the hair, and pulled the dagger across his throat.
Tyler wiped the dagger on his pant leg, stuck it in his belt then simply stayed where he was.
“Tyler?”
He jerked at the sound of his name. He took one deep breath and made his way back to Heidi who was holding a hand over the cut on her shoulder. He looked over her bruised face, her grey green eyes wide. He reached over and wiped the cut on her temple lightly.
“Are you sure you’re alright? They didn’t…”
Heidi looked up at him. “They didn’t.” She reached up and put a hand over his which was still against her face. She closed her eyes.
“Are you really here?”
“I am.” He leaned over until his forehead touched hers. She started to shake uncontrollably. “Hey, now. It’s alright.”
She shook her head. “Nothing about this is alright.” She sat on the ground and started to cry. He sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap, ignoring the pain in his leg. He cradled her to his chest.
“Shush. I’ve got you.” He smoothed his hand over her hair. “I’m going to have a look at your arm to make sure it’s not too bad, alright?”
She gave a slight nod of her head. He pulled the torn sleeve off of her shoulder and growled. By the moons, if he ever made it back to Swandern for any reason at all, he was going to kill that magic wielder.
“What is it?”
“It’s an ‘H’.” The bastards had branded her.
She started to sob. “They said it was so I’d remember what I really was.”
“I’m so sorry, Heidi.”
She shook her head and clung to him. When he thought she’d calmed down a bit, he stood and pulled her up.
“Can you walk?”
She nodded and he took her hand.
“We’ll go back to the cave for the night.” He frowned at the dead look in her eyes. By the time they’d made it to the cave, his leg was throbbing painfully and it was all he could do to muster the strength to lay their blankets on the floor. Heidi lay down and moved back so that her back was to his chest. He wrapped her in his arms, trying to ease her shaking.
“Heidi…” His throat tightened at the feel of tears falling on his arm.
“I’m here, Love. I’m here, and they can’t hurt you again.” He kissed the back of her neck and her shoulders lightly.
She turned, her tears soaking into his blood stained shirt. He rubbed her back until her felt her fall asleep. Exhausted, he finally let himself do the same.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tyler lay on his side, scared to move. It was going to hurt, he knew it was. He couldn’t feel one part on his body that wasn’t in pain. Heidi moved against him, her knee bumping his leg, and he groaned. She went still.
“It’s alright,” he whispered. She shook her head and he felt fresh tears soak into his tunic. He took a deep breath and clenched his jaw then pulled her closer. “Heidi…”
She looked up at him and he frowned at the blank look in her grey green eyes. He brushed the hair from her face.
“Are you hungry?”
She shook her head. He tried to hide his pain as he reached over his head and pulled the canteen toward them.
“Here, have a drink.”
She ignored him and pressed her face back into his chest.
“Heidi, Love, I realize that this probably broke through every threshold you think of in terms of bad things, but we’re here. We’re alive and we’ll heal and the only way we can do that is by eating and drinking.” His frown deepened at the shake of her head.
“Heidi, look at me.”
She did as she was told and Tyler clenched his jaw. Her face was black and blue, her cheek and eye so swollen she could barely see out of it.
“Sit up so I can have a look at your arm.” When she didn’t listen to him, he sat up with a groan and gently pulled her along. She slouched, listless, as he pulled her sleeve up, cleaned the cut, and wrapped it with a new bandage. “Come one, Love, you need to have a drink.” His throat tightened at her lack of response.
“Heidi.” Her name was just a whisper. Tyler brought his lips down to hers softly, careful not to press hard. The only response she gave him was to close her eyes. He wiped the tears from her cheeks.
Knowing he was about to risk the one thing he’d come to care for, he took a second to make up his mind before sitting up and scooping her into his arms. He stood with a pained growl.
“For as much as it will kill me, I am willing to give you up if it means you’ll go back to your life in the other world,” he explained to her. “I will not, however, let you give up on life because of this.”
He limped to the edge of the small lake.
“You need to snap out of this, Heidi. You need to fight this.”
She looked up at him with the same dead look. Panic started to well in his chest. What if she did give up? He walked into the lake, the cool water numbing the pain in his body. Heidi sucked in a breath as the water level reached her. Tyler kept walking until the water came to his chest then ducked under it. He watched as Heidi’s eyes widened. He held her down, waiting for her to start fighting. Please let her start to fight. Her eyes met his and she tapped him lightly on the shoulder. The urge to stand and see if it had worked almost made him do so. He started to rise then stopped. Her eyes were still filled with that horrible look.
Tyler tightened his hold on her and sank lower into the water. Come on, Heidi. Fight, hit, bite, anything…
Her eyes filled with fear as she realized he wasn’t going to let her up for air. His jaw clenched and he swallowed hard. He knew, had known, the fear would come. He had known that to save her from herself, he’d have to lose her.
She pushed against his chest, trying to get out of his grasp. When he didn’t let go, she reached down and dug her fingers where the arrow had penetrated his leg. The pain caused him to suck in a breath. The water hit his lungs and he let go of her so he could get up for air. By the time he’d recovered, Heidi was already swimming back to shore.
He swore under his breath and swam after her. He watched her pull herself up onto the small beach, her body heaving with sobs.
“Heidi, I’m sorry.”
Her whole body stiffened at the sound of his voice. He reached for her arm to help her up and stopped as she shied away from his touch. His heart sank. The damage had been done.
“Come get changed,” he said softly. “Bird brought back a cross stone. Let’s get you home.” He led the way back to the cave. He glanced back once to look at her, but quickly turned back around at the fear and hate in her eyes. Once back at the cave, he went in, grabbed his pack, and walked back out. With great effort, he pulled off his wet clothes and put on clean ones. He unrolled the note his aunt had written.
Hey there, Tyler
Here is the cross gem the blue bird came for. She was very vague on the details, but I trust you know what you’re doing. If you decide to cross over, be sure to let us know.
Love,
Aunt Hayden
He rolled the small white stone in his hand, admiring the light blue veining. Heidi appeared wearing the jeans and t-shirt he’d found her in, the green bandana holding the hair out of her face. He dropped the stone into her hand. He tried to think of something, anything at all, that he could say to get rid of the hard look on her face.
Bird chirped and he nodded. She flew ahead, showing them exactly where Hayden had told her the crossing was.
“I…I’m not sure where you’ll come out, but I do know you won’t be anywhere near where you were when you first crossed over here.” Tyler stopped walking and turned to her.
She glared at him. “I don’t care where I end up, so long as it’s not in this godforsaken place.” She turned away from him and smiled at Bird. “Take care, Bird.”
Tyler took advantage of her distraction to slip the boot knife he’d bought her into her pack. Bird pecked her cheek and bobbed her head.
“You see the deer trail that runs by the orange bush?”
Heidi nodded and looked where he was pointing.
“Just follow it. The stone will do all the work and you’ll be back in your world in no time.” The urge to pull her close overwhelmed him and he took a step toward her.
“Don’t,” she whispered. Her eyes welled with tears and she wiped them with her arm.
He took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “Heidi...”
She turned and walked down the trail. He watched her walk around the bush. Bird flashed a picture of him holding her face at the dance. He marvelled at the look on her face, the way she was melting into his touch. She didn’t hate him… she couldn’t hate him. By the moons, he just had to explain why he’d done it. She was a smart woman; she’d have to understand he’d done it because he loved her.
He swore under his breath. He had to tell her. Even if she decided to go back, he couldn’t just let her leave without telling her how he felt. He started to run down the trail after her.
“Heidi, wait! Please!” He turned the corner around the bush and stopped short. His chest tightened. He sank to the ground, unable to think of anything else to do. Before him, the woods were calm, quiet, and empty. She was gone.
Bird landed on his knee.
“Did you tell Auntie where we were?”
She did her impression of a head shake.
“Good.” He rubbed his hands over his face. She looked up at him, her head tilted to the side. “I’m fine. All is back to normal. This is what we wanted, yeah?” He stood and started limping back to the cave.
She showed him a picture of his family and he shook his head. “No.” He took a deep breath. “How about west? Let’s go see what the coast looks like on that side of the Quelondain.”
She flew into the cave ahead of him and landed on his blankets.
“You think I need to heal first.”
She bobbed her head.
“It’s tempting.” His leg was throbbing painfully. He looked down and saw a spot of blood starting to soak through the pant leg. The thought of being so close to home, where someone might accidently come across him… having to explain that he wasn’t back to stay. “We’ll use the displacement stone and make camp elsewhere.” He stuffed his things into hi
s pack and reached into his pocket for the stone. Not finding it in the left one, he tried the right.
“By the moons, today just gets better and better.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “It must have fallen out of my pocket when I was in the lake.” He hiked his pack onto his shoulder and started limping away from the cave.
Bird flashed him another picture and he raised an eyebrow at her. “You’ve lost your mind, have you? You actually think I should go after her.”
She nodded.
“She has a mate, Bird.” His dark eyes widened. “No, it’s not me. She’s better off there and I belong here. Leave it be.”
Three hours later, he dropped to the ground. The throbbing in his leg had gone past the point of painful and his entire leg from his hip to below his knee was numb. He took a drink from his canteen and leaned back against a tree.
Bird showed him a picture of his aunt. He clenched his jaw. “I said no. If you want to go back, then don’t let me keep you.”
She chirped.
“Damn it, Bird, I know she’s a healer!
He felt her resentment as she flashed him a picture of his angry bruised face before she flew away. He growled to himself. Great. He checked the dressing on his leg, only bothering to wrap another layer of cloth over the old one before struggling to his feet and continuing on his way.
Chapter Eight
Heidi awoke with a start, her hand moving to where her dagger should have been by her head. Someone cleared their throat.
“Morning.”
She took a deep breath and rolled onto her back so she could look up into Blake’s dark blue eyes. He stood at the foot of the bed in just his pyjama pants. “Morning.”
“How did you sleep?”
“Alright.” She glanced around and noticed she’d pulled her blankets off of the bed and she was now sleeping on the floor. “I’m sorry.” She hadn’t been able to sleep in their bed since she’d gotten back. She always started the night in bed beside him, but managed to wake up on the floor in the mornings.
Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) Page 15