“Sath, I -” she whispered. “I mean I want to but—we are Guardians, and have been given a task that will ensure peace here and at home. That duty is sacred -”
Sath returned to her side, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to him. His lips brushed her ear. “We are also sacred, Gin. This. . .change, my body, is Sephine’s work, Gin. Is there anything more sacred to you than her will and her work?” Gin shook her head as she walked to the building. She traced the lines that made up the leaf on the wooden boards with her fingers. Sath joined her, careful not to touch her. “Gin, I don’t want to do anything to…I mean…” He reached up and moved her hair off the back of her neck and planted a soft kiss there. She turned toward him quickly and responded with a deep kiss. Sath wrapped himself around her, his need answering hers. This time her soft lips traced their way down the side of his neck. “Gin…dear spirits…are you sure?” Gin murmured affirmatively and continued tracing a path down to his collarbone with her lips. He gathered her up, staggering a bit at the weight of her in his new arms. Gin giggled at him.
“I can walk, you know,” she whispered, and then leaped out of his arms. They peeked in the building to find that it was an open structure, mainly used for storage, but it had makeshift living space in one of the corners. A wooden bed stood to the left, and in the back was a hearth and a tattered looking rug. There was no sign that anyone had been there for a long time. She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the door, slamming it behind them. “Now then, Sath, I love you, you know that. And though I will admit that this new outfit of yours is—more convenient, I want you to know that I love YOU, not what you are on the outside, all right? You are my best friend and you are my protector, and I trust you with my life, I really do. Now I trust you with my heart and soul and—the rest of me, as well.” Sath held his breath a moment before he spoke.
“I will not let you down,” Sath whispered as he pulled her to him. He gently pushed her against the wall and ran his hands over her body, amazed at how her skin felt. Gin sighed softly, and Sath looked at her, worry written all over his face. “This is wrong, this is the Qatu way. Oh—I don’t think I know how to do this in this body. I mean…” He grumbled as he turned her back around to face him.
“Over there,” she said as she crossed the room and sat down on the bed. “Better?”
Sath grinned as he positively pounced on her, his rumble drowned out by her giggles. “Much,” he said hoarsely as he wrapped his hands around the back of her head and pulled her to him. “Very much.” Her hands fluttered over his chest and worked at the laces holding his armor in place. “Let me,” he said, making quick work of the armor and the tunic he wore underneath. “How do you manage without fur?” he whispered. “I feel…naked?”
“I think that’s the point, isn’t it?” Gin said, her voice husky. She tried to unlace her own armor, but her fingers fumbled. Sath took her hands in his and brought them to his lips, kissing the backs of her knuckles. She blushed as he nimbly undid the laces, and her armor fell back onto the bed, leaving her in her linen tunic. To her surprise, he left it alone and went back to taking off his own armor. “Didn’t you want me to…?”
“Gin.” Sath’s voice was quiet but firm. “I want you to be comfortable.” He took off the vambraces that kept his forearms safe and then went to work on the greaves that were strapped to his legs. When he was done, he stood up and looked at himself. “Gin, I’m not sure that…I mean, I don’t know if…I’m not sure how this body…”
Gin smiled at him and held out her hand. He took it and sat down on the bed next to her. “I’m a lot tougher than you give me credit for, you know,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about hurting me.” Sath cupped her face in his hand. She climbed onto his lap, kissing his forehead and then his nose. He tilted his face up, and his lips met hers. With what was supposed to be a rumbly growl, he pulled her down onto the bed. Hands and fingers and lips roamed freely, pieces of clothing were discarded to the floor, and soon there was nothing between them.
Sath pulled away from her. “You still okay?” he whispered, his teal eyes ablaze as he looked at her.
“Yes,” Gin said breathlessly. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She pulled further away, reaching around for her tunic to cover herself up. Sath caught her hand.
“Don’t,” he said. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Gin.”
“I’m not Qatu,” she muttered.
“Right now, neither am I,” he responded gently. “But that doesn’t matter.” He placed one hand on her chest, causing her to shudder slightly. “This is the most beautiful, compassionate, guarded heart I’ve ever known. There is no way I could find you anything but amazing.” Gin snuggled up to him, kissing him tenderly.
She pushed his hand from her heart and placed it on her lower back. He pulled her to him, causing her to gasp slightly. “Stop telling me and show me.” Sath grinned and moved closer. He looked down the length of himself and laughed. “What’s so funny?” she asked.
“I hope this all works the way the old me works—only one way to find out,” he said with a snicker. Moving closer to her, he smiled. “Oh, yes, I think it does. Now…tell me if this is too much,” he whispered, his breathing becoming ragged.
“I trust you,” she said, a bit surprised at how much she meant it. Sath smiled.
“I love you, Gin,” he said. “To the Void and back.”
“For always, Sath.”
Dappled sunlight poured through the windows as birds began to flit about outside, chirping at each other. Gin’s eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, she wasn’t sure where she was. A pleasant realization settled on her, and she stretched languidly, smiling, and reaching out for Sath. Her hand grasped only air, and she rolled over, looking around for him as panic rose in her chest. Her breath froze in her throat as her gaze fell on a male wood elf leaning against the wall opposite the bed, his eyes roaming over her body.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” she hissed, reaching for a weapon as the male advanced on her. She rolled off the bed and scooted back against the wall, shouting spell words that would call up swarms of stinging insects. Her attack was cut short by the male holding his hands up in the air to show he wasn’t armed.
“Gin,” he said, and as she met his teal gaze, her entire body relaxed at the familiar voice. “Stand down and put those bees away, would you?”
“You’ve learned enough to recognize that spell, well done, Sath,” she said, smiling at him. Sath blushed, recognizing the tone in her voice that was reserved only for him. He leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips, then pulled back to look at her. “I thought that was a dream! What? I’m sure I look a mess,” she said, pulling back from him.
“You look like Gin,” Sath said, smoothing a hair back behind her ear before pulling her to him roughly. “My Gin. But we have to get moving. I’m pretty sure that Sephine didn’t intend for us to forget the favor we promised her. You need to get that…whatever it was…to Omerith if we have any chance of getting home.” He stood and walked over to the door, his face pinched and tight. “Home, to Khuj…” He clenched his fists and then opened his hands, looking at them in surprise.
“I don’t miss those knuckles cracking,” Gin said, grinning at him. “But I did not expect you to still be…you know…”
“A wood elf?” Sath replied chuckling. “It was a bit of a surprise this morning when I woke up, I’ll be honest. But it makes sense that she would keep me in this outfit so that we can get close to Omerith. Smaller and easier to hide and all that.”
“Sath?” Gin said as she rose from the bed and moved closer to him. “You don’t think that she…I mean, do you think that you are…” She touched the side of his face, and he nuzzled into her hand. “I told you, I love YOU, not what you look like, but do you think Sephine -”
“No,” he said sadly. “That would change too much back home, regardless of the good we do here. I can’t go back to Qatu’anari looki
ng like this and claim to be the Rajah. But darlin',” Sath said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead, “I am going to take full advantage of this while it lasts.” She snuggled into his arms, but he pushed her back, clicking his tongue at her. “Uh-uh, don’t tempt me like that. For now, we need to get moving if we’re going to make it there. I think it will be a lot safer while the sun is still up.”
“You’re right,” Gin said, pouting as she crossed the room. She began putting her armor back on and smiled as Sath moved in behind her to help. “I don’t get my tunic hung on my hair anymore, Cat,” she said, smiling as she remembered the day in the guildhall when he helped her get untangled from her dress armor. “Leather this time. Not the chain link.”
Sath grinned. He pulled on his greaves over his leather trousers, scowling at the fit. “These are too big,” he said, frowning at the ill-fitting armor. “How am I supposed to protect you if…”
“How about this time you let me look after you?” Gin interrupted him. She finished buckling on her own greaves and stood looking at him, her hands on her hips. “I have my magic sorted out. I can protect you at this time.” Sath smiled at her, pride beaming from his face as he replaced the ill-fitting armor in his pack. “What?”
“You’ve come a long way from that scared little girl I met in that tunnel,” he said.
“Yeah? You’ve come a long way from the goon that tried to steal my bag—and my sandwiches,” she said, shoving him playfully and then reaching for her staff and rucksack. “Let’s get out of here before I change my mind.”
Twenty-Five
Once More, Into the Void.
Another week had gone by, and Taeben was in Ellie’s mind bright and early every morning, urging her to get up and get back to work. One morning, she woke up sitting in the hard chair at her desk, journals scattered about, and new notes written that weren’t there the night before. Taeben was breaking his promise to stop controlling her body like a puppet, and Ellie was too exhausted to keep up the barriers that held him at bay.
Ellie, get up. GET UP.
No.
WHAT?
She could feel how angry he was, and she didn't care. She was tired—exhausted, really—and she could not get out of the chair.
I said no, I can’t. I need to sleep.
We have things to do, Ellie, you and I. What have you heard from the Mother Dragon?
Nothing. No word.
Don’t lie to me.
Don’t yell at me this early in the morning.
In truth, she had heard from the Mother Dragon’s minions, and she was surprised that Taeben didn’t know that—or maybe that’s why he had accused her of lying. She was too exhausted to be sure. Her trip to the Temple had been fruitless—none of the drakes would tell her how to contact the Mother Dragon. However, as she was leaving, a small red dragonkind female had approached her. She claimed that her mother had been a dragonkind daughter of the Mother. Ellie didn’t really care if the story was true or not, just that the female was in contact with the dragons on the other side of the world through the bond. Ellie had made a bond with that female and now was connected to someone called Embyr, who seemed to know a lot about the Mother Dragon’s comings and goings, but would not reveal how she knew.
How Ellie was able to keep that bond a secret from Taeben she was not sure—and she could share with him only the parts that she felt to be relevant. The fact that the Nature Walker and the Rajah had escaped from the Mother Dragon’s traps she set for them after somehow breaking out of the Void was not something that he needed to know, for example. But the fact that the Mother Dragon had them in her sights had made Taeben very happy.
I am sorry. It has been so long since I have had a corporeal form that I sometimes forget how loud I am. I simply wish to know if you have made progress in locating the orb.
A’chrya, I am sorry, but as far as my sources can tell, the orb is missing from the world. They think that one of the gods has it.
Well, that is ridiculous.
I told them that, but they believe that the All-Mother of the Elves, Sephine, has the orb.
That would explain how Ginny knows where it is, I suppose. She IS the Nature Walker after all.
A’chrya, are you saying that you believe that the All-Mother is real?
Of course I do—but being real and taking corporeal form to come to our realm are two different things. How did Sephine get the orb?
A’chrya, my contact tells me that she has had it for a long time. The human hybrid, Lena Calder, who used the orb as a weapon during the Forest War, delivered the orb to Sephine at the end of the war rather than keep it in the world. Every Nature Walker since has known that Sephine keeps it with her, in the Void.
Lies.
Ellie sighed. She had anticipated that answer when she received the missive from her dragonkind ally in the north. Still, she had been able to find nothing else out about this mysterious orb—only that it was the weapon used to defeat Father Ikara and end the Ikedrian part of the war effort. Defeating Father Ikara? Taking his magic? He merely chose not to use his magic as he now had a legion of wizards to do it for him, everyone knew that. Talk about ridiculous…
Ellie, I need you to come to me in the Void. I have a job for you, but it is not one that I can convey to you through the bond.
Of course, A’chrya. I will make my way there -
No, I mean NOW.
Once again, Ellie felt turned inside out and sideways, and when she next opened her eyes, she was standing on the now-familiar parched ground of the Void and under the dark skies filled with unfamiliar stars. But at least here she could see Taeben in person, and for once, she did not stop herself from running to him, arms outstretched, and wrapping herself around him. “A’chrya, I almost cannot bear my life without you physically by my side.”
“I know, my dark flower, I know. But it will not be long now.” He stroked her hair as he looked down at her with a mixture of pride and—something else? She was not sure. It did not matter.
“What do you mean, it will not be long—until what?”
“Not yet, Elspethe. Not yet. Now, I have brought you here because I may have discovered the location of the orb.” Ellie stared up at him. “Yes, you told me that Sephine had the orb, so I sent my magic out into the Void to find her—only she is not here, she has returned to walking Orana as she did centuries ago. I do not think that is a coincidence.” Taeben took her hand and led her over to a portal nearby. Through the arch, Ellie could see nothing but darkness—a shadow that seemed to seethe and writhe. “You must retrieve the orb for me, Elspethe.”
Ellie spun around to face Taeben. “A’chrya, with all due respect, have you taken leave of yourself? You have been in this place a long time—have you gone mad? I cannot just walk up to a goddess and ask her to give me this orb—this weapon of such immense power that allegedly took the magic from Father Ikara.”
“Always full of fire and spirit.” Taeben smiled at her, but it was not a convincing grin. Malevolent intent danced in his silvery eyes. “You seem to be of the impression that you have a choice.” With incredible speed, he moved behind her, holding her fast in front of the writhing blackness within the portal. “I will still be with you, Elspethe, while you do this, and once you bring the orb to me, then I can be released from this Void. Is that not what you want as well?”
“Of course I do, A’chrya, but -”
“Good. Take her!” Elspethe screamed as the blackness formed a tendril and reached out for her, winding around her midsection as Taeben released her arms.
“A’chrya, Taeben, please!”
“Do not let me down, Elspethe.” She heard his words faintly as the blackness filled her eyes and ears and cut off her screams before pulling her through the stone arch. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see more of the black matter that dragged her through the arch, but instead, she saw blue skies and clouds. She was lying on the ground, and it was hard, like lying on a rock. She was still in the Void wh
ere she had been brought by Taeben—wasn’t she? The sound of waves lapping against a coastline and the smell of salt air filled her senses, and she sat up, looking around. She was on a rock on a beach. Was this Qatu’anari?
Hardly, little one. You are on my beach now.
Ellie scrambled to get to her feet. “Who are you? How are you in my mind?”
The bond is easy for me, Elspethe. I am the one that created it, after all. It is innate in my kind.
The urge to run fought against a body paralyzed in fear. “No. This cannot be -”
And why not? You elves are all alike, regardless of skin pigment or living arrangement. When confronted with something new, your first response is to deny that it is true. Is it because you cannot see me? Is that why you do not believe that I am who I say I am? I can remedy that.
“Wait—NO!” No sooner had Ellie scrambled to her feet, but she was turned inside out by that same form of magical transportation that Taeben had used—bringing her somewhere through the bond. She knew from his journal that Salynth had brought him to the Western Tower against his will this way, and the only way he had been able to escape was to use his bond with that wood elf, Ginny. Ellie took a moment to rid her mind of the Nature Walker before she opened her eyes.
The sight awaiting her nearly drove her to her knees. She was in a large room with walls made of polished stone. The floor was covered by exquisite rugs with such a deep pile that she felt her feet sink into them upon her landing. She scanned the room and then stopped as she saw Lady Kaerinth, the Mother Dragon, standing directly opposite her and staring down at her. The ancient dragon crossed the room and closed the space between them faster than Ellie could track her, and as she looked up into those amber eyes, she thought she might faint.
Darkness: A Guardians of Orana Novel Page 22