by Lori Aisling
“Ok, guys! Welcome to my home away from home!” She said, trying to sound as lighthearted as she could. “While Jessie and I find some clothes, feel free to go through any of the storage containers in the kitchen and living room. That is where the food and supplies are. Bottled water, too.”
“How long can we stay here?” Boz asked, directing his question at Ristan and Bror.
“I think we should be safe to stay until morning,” Bror responded. “The chayn will follow, but they will need to gather into a horde before they move and attack again. That should give us time to eat, rest, gather supplies and get on the road at dawn.”
Jayson, Boz, and Bror started opening containers and boxes to figure out their inventory and Ristan went to take care of the two stallions they had left tacked up next to the house. Jessie and Bristol went into a bedroom and began to rummage through some clothes.
“So, Bri, I am really sorry that all of this has happened, but damn, girl. I have five million questions to ask, and only five minutes to ask them.” Jessie said. “I never knew you shifted, but what did you mean that we couldn’t touch you or you would hurt us? Ristan and Bror touched you and they were fine.”
“That has never happened before, Jess. In my shifted form, I am just a horse, from what I can tell. But my skin, maybe my hair, secretes an acid that will burn to the bone. It can’t be washed off and I can’t control it. Trust me, I have tried. It did save my life once when I was captured, but to see what I did to those men that took me was crazy. I can’t imagine hurting any of you guys like that. I never told you I was a shifter because what good is a horse? I can’t fight in my shifted form, just run away. Which I have had to do plenty of times. But I still feel like it’s a weakness, you know?”
“Never feel like that, Bristol.” Jessie admonished. “You are one of the most powerful women I have ever known. You are kind, generous, intelligent and a fierce fighter! Your common sense and ability to take care of yourself surpasses most of us, easily. Not to mention you are gorgeous. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask Ristan and Bror? They look at you like you’re a Goddess. You’re starting to acquire a real fan club.”
“I know, and it feels weird, but not. None of this makes sense. I need to get some answers from them on everything that’s happened, and what we do next. I know that we talked about not trusting Ristan, but honestly Jess, I feel a real connection to both him and Bror. I do trust them. With my life, and with yours. They obviously know way more then we do, so at this point, I am grateful that they found us.”
“They found you, girl. They were looking for you. But you’re right; you need some answers and we need to figure out how the hell we survive with all these chayn-things and what other surprises might be in store for us that they know about. This is some really scary shit, Bri. We have all been through the wringer with The Change and the hysteria following it. But this is a whole new level of fucked-up. Promise me we will stick together?”
Bristol hugged Jessie. “I promise, Jess. We will make it through all of this, and we will always have one another’s backs. We have all come too far to not survive this.” Although she spoke the words, she hoped she would be able to make good on that statement.
Bristol
Stepping back into the kitchen, now fully clothed in jeans and a tank, Bristol saw that the guys had a nice assortment of supplies sorted, stacked and ready to put into packs. “I’ll run out to the barn and grab some saddlebags to get all this loaded up.” She stepped out the swinging screen door into the early evening heat. She could hear the crickets chirping, they obviously didn’t know the end of the world was happening. Again. Rummaging through the barn, she found her saddlebags and some light-weight packs that could be used to store their goods. Seeing a hoof pick laying on the ground, she decided it would be a good time to check Max and Sly’s feet to make sure they were ready for some long days and a lot of miles. Grabbing her hoof kit, she slid the pick inside it and headed out to find her boys. Seeing them grazing next to the creek with Ristan and Bror’s stallions a couple of hundred yards from the house, she headed towards them. As she approached the embankment leading to the creek, she heard splashing. Instantly alert, she slowed her pace, squatted down and snuck forward to get a closer look. She saw Ristan, his back to her, hip-deep in the middle of the creek. Nude, his tanned skin shone where the sun reflected water droplets dotting his skin. His broad shoulders tapered to a slim waist and she could clearly see every muscle running down his back to his tight backside. She saw that the runes on his right arm traveled down his ribcage and onto his back, ending in points that looked like black flames licking his spine. Her breath caught and she felt her body heat as she watched him throw his head back, slinging water off his shoulder-length black hair, his muscles seeming to slither under his skin as he moved.
“Like what you see?” He asked, his voice deep and menacing as he turned to face her.
Bristol felt her face redden as her blush traveled down her neck. “I apologize. I didn’t know you were bathing. I heard a commotion in the water and I came to check it out.”
Ristan walked towards her, stepping out of the creek and walking up the bank towards her. Bristol forced her gaze to stay locked on his eyes as she struggled to keep herself from looking down his body, to admire his perfection as she stood to face him. He smirked, not bothering to hide the look in his eyes as he let them rake down her frame and back up.
“What if I were chayn coming for you, Bristol? Do you have a weapon to defend yourself?”
“I don’t think I need protection from you.”
“Oh, you don’t think?” His replied sarcastically as he invaded her space, grabbing the back of her hair and pulling her head back so she was looking straight up at him. Before she could respond, he swooped down and his lips collided brutally with hers. He didn’t ask, he took. He took her breath and every other rational thought as his tongue ran along her lower lip before slipping inside her mouth and demanding her response. She kissed him back, reveling in the feeling of her body pressed against his wet frame. She heard a rumble from his chest as his other arm wrapped around her waist dragging her even closer to him. She could feel his hardness pressing into her belly and she whimpered as he slipped his hand under her shirt, skimming up her ribcage to cup her breast and rub his thumb over the hard nipple. Heat pooled between her legs when he caught the nipple between his thumb and forefinger and pinched just hard enough to make her gasp. Feeling helpless to control her body’s reaction to him, Bristol found herself digging her hands into his hips, trying to pull him closer, to feel every curve and dip of his body. Ristan broke the kiss, tugging on her hair to pull her head even farther back, enough to make her wince. She stared into the amber pools of his eyes as they narrowed and honed in on her like a predator does its prey.
“Still think you don’t need protection from me?” He asked as he cupped her chin in his hand, his thumb tracing the line of her lips. She stared back at him, momentarily speechless and unsure if she should kiss him again or step away. Before she could decide, Ristan backed away from her. He grabbed his clothes where he had disguised them behind some rocks and walked away without a backward glance. Bristol ran her fingers over her lips and wondered if she would have been strong enough to do the same in his place.
Bristol
After tending to the hoof care of her horses, Bristol returned to the house, still tense and heated from her exchange with Ristan. Seeing the group of five hanging out next to the fire pit Boz had put together, the scene looked less like a time of war and self-preservation, and more like a gathering of friends hanging out for a weekend BBQ. Thankfully, Ristan was now clothed and stretched out on the grass in a very relaxed pose, but Bristol couldn’t help but feel a blush when she thought of their heated exchange. What was it about these guys? She didn’t know them, she still had not had any time to speak with them about any of the weird things that had happened since they came into her life, yet she still felt a draw towards them. A yearning
to know them better. Dropping the saddlebags and packs she had brought up from the barn to load with their supplies, she flopped down on the ground next to Jessie. She grabbed the bowl of beans her friend extended to her and caught the bottle of water Jayson tossed her way. “Oh, thank God for you two. I am friggin’ dying here. It feels like it’s been a week since I’ve eaten.” She tied into her supper and everyone hung out in comfortable silence, filling their bellies and decompressing from the terror that had happened only one evening before.
Once they had all had their fill, Bror rose to his feet and collected the bags and packs Bristol had brought up. “I’m going to get these all loaded up and ready ta go.”
“I’ll help you. I want to get this done and head down to the creek and wash the last day off of me.” Boz said and the two of them disappeared into the house.
“Any idea where we are headed next?” Jayson asked Ristan, looking a little flustered as he ran his hands through his hair.
“What’s up, Jayson?” Jessie asked, noticing his frustration.
“The vamp needs to feed,” Ristan stated calmly, eyes closed, his body stretched out on the grass.
“I’ll be alright for a while. I can go for quite a few days just eating regular food, but if I don’t actually feed fairly soon, I will get groggy and irritable.” He sighed, frustrated.
“Oh, so you mean you will act like you did when you had to pull the early shift at work?” Jessie joked.
“Ha! She makes jokes! You won’t think it’s so funny when I fall off the fucking horse in the next couple of days.”
“We need to try and steer clear of towns for a day or so,” Ristan said, “But we will get close enough to figure something out for you.”
“Thanks for understanding, man. I think I am going to help those guys so I can head to the creek with Boz and Bror. I stink like those fucking chayn-ganger things.” He stood up and made his way into the house.
Jessie took that moment to hop to her feet and announce, “I know you two have some talking to do. You need to get it done. Bri, I’m going to pack us some clothes that are lightweight and easy to keep in one of those packs since I am assuming you are I are going to be traveling shifted since we only have four horses. I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on running around naked every evening when we camp.” She winked at Bristol and then giggled when she saw Ristan’s eyes pop open at her statement. She jogged across the grass and into the house.
“She’s right,” Bristol said. “Get to explaining.”
Ristan set up, pulling his knees towards his chest and wrapping his arms around them.
“The reason I can talk to you in your head is because I took some of your blood at the bar. That created a bond. There are numerous ways to bond with your Others, and blood is one of them. And yes, I can talk to you like this in your human or shifted form.” he said, projecting the sentence into her head.
“Even though I didn’t give you permission to bite me?” Bristol asked, out loud, not even trying to do the mind speak she still couldn’t comprehend. “I understand that a lot of what you have done is necessary with the appearance of the chayn, but I still feel like you just kind of bossed your way into my brain without permission. Don’t get me wrong, it’s obvious you and Bror are here to help us, but what happens when we go our separate ways? What if you decide that we aren’t worth the trouble and you leave? Will I still be ‘bonded’ to you?” She asked, using air quotes.
Ristan gave her a reassuring smile. “Your Others will never leave you, Bristol. Yes, we will help your friends and we will fight alongside them. But we are here for you. We were all designed by the gods to assist you. Your friends are just a very small part of the big picture here.”
“Gods? As in plural gods? A lot has happened in the last decade that no one understands, but there are no real answers, Ristan. Only more questions.”
“The answers are always the same, Bristol. Every realm, every Re-Order. And yes, plural gods.”
“Which gods? How many? How do you know they are real?” The disbelief was apparent in her voice.
“The simple answer is, all of them. They are all real, regardless of what realm, what century or whatever apocalypse we are dropped into. The gods never change. They created all of this and they have always been. I know they are real because they created you and the Others. They created everything. But they made us for a specific reason. Think of this world as a giant chessboard. All the humans in this realm, in all realms, are like pawns on the board. They spend all their existence, well, existing. Living their lives, having families, working, whatever. The gods dabble, contort and twist circumstances to play their game. In the early times, when their intrusion caused such a great imbalance that the realm suffered and collapsed, the gods sent in the chayn, along with numerous other cruel creatures, to wipe the playboard clean, so to speak, and they would just start over. However, some of the gods disagreed with this practice. Adrestia, the goddess of balance, was the biggest opposer of their practice. She felt that the balance must be kept, always. She, along with a group of other gods and goddesses that shared the same mindset came up with new rules for the game.
Between all of them, they would create the ultimate vessel of balance. A descendant of the gods designed to restore the natural order of the realm. This descendant would be given four warriors with numerous traits gifted from all the participating gods to assist her in all ways; your Others. If she succeeds in restoring the proper balance by defeating Chaos, then the realm will be given another chance to thrive with no interference by the gods for a century. If she fails, the realm will be destroyed and the gods will start the game anew.”
Bristol just stared at him, mouth agape, eyes wide with disbelief. “So, I am supposed to believe that I am the daughter of some goddess that got busy with some other god or something and made some little warrior, vessel, thing, that is supposed to fight the imbalance of the world? Seriously? You got the wrong girl, cowboy. I am a simple farm girl from fucking Nebraska. I have a mom and a dad. They were great and wonderful, but they weren’t gods. And you and Bror are good men, I can tell, but you need to find the real goddess-lady, or whatever, and get back to work. Because I am telling you right now, I’m no superhero that can save the world. How could I be? I was born here, on earth, in this ‘realm’ as you call it, and I don’t even know for sure if god, as in Jesus God, was real, or what even happened here. Let alone know that there is a bunch of asshole gods fucking with people so they can play a fucking game? Oh my God! Gods! Whatever. How do you think I am going to fight that?” Her breath rushed out and she realized she was shouting. Ristan was just watching her, smiling, still as relaxed as he had been when the conversation had started.
“Bror said you would react like this. And I figured as much, too. You are very logical and level-headed in this life, yet so passionate. But you see, your Others never forget, even though you do. We move from realm to realm. Every time a realm falls too far from center, there is a Change. The situations surrounding the imbalance are often different, the gods like to keep their play boards interesting, but the end goal is still the same. Find you, whoever you may be in the present realm, and restore the balance. We have not always succeeded, Bristol. There have been times that we have failed and those realms have fallen. You don’t do well with that, and neither do we. We were created for one purpose: Balance. I know you can feel that part of you, it’s unavoidable. Although your Others are moved to start the cycle over again, you must be reborn in the failing realm. So yes, you were born in Nebraska, to human parents. Parents that the gods chose for a reason. I am sure they were good people, as you needed a stable, solid upbringing to prepare you for your destiny. But there is no error, my dear, you are the woman we seek. Bror and I found you and your two remaining Others will as well. We are drawn to you. It’s our destiny, too.”
“So we save the world, you four will vanish into thin air, only to reappear in some other ‘realm’. I will die on the planet we fixed then b
e reborn in some other place and do it all over again? That isn’t balance! That is the definition of insanity! Webster defines it as ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’. Look it up! So if what you say is true, then you are saying the gods are all fucking crazy and that this is it? This is my life? I have no say in this? What if I don’t want to be responsible for the continued existence of mankind? Jesus! That is some heavy shit, Ristan!” She drug a shaky hand through her hair, her heart pounding.
“That is basically the condensed version, I guess. But yes, that is about the sum of it.”
“Well, it’s bullshit and your answers have just led to more questions. How many realms are there? Are you talking like planets? Dimensions? What is a realm?”
“From what we have gathered through the centuries, there appear to be unlimited realms. And they aren’t necessarily other planets but areas of existence. As I am sure you can deduce from your friend, Boz, the Fae are indeed from Faerie. There are numerous Fae realms as well. The vamp, demon and shifter forms manifest in most realms and are not an actual race, per se, more of a mutation.”
“Wait. Back up. Centuries? We have been doing this for centuries? How old are you?”
“I honestly don’t know how old we are, Bristol. Time passes differently in every realm, so the human idea of time is not something we can track as we are relocated. I know it has been many centuries that we have helped maintain and restore balance, but there really is no way to know for sure.”
“Holy Christ on a crutch. You suck at light conversation, anyone ever tell you that?”
“Actually, yes. I have heard that a time or two, perhaps using different phrases with the same meaning. From a specific lady.” He winked at her. “But rest assured, your Others will help you. We will explain everything to you, answer any questions you may have and we will do everything in our power to help you succeed.”