*Disclaimer: all character belong to Tamora Pierce
A Rude Awakening
Daine had decided to let Numair sleep and get some extra hunting in this morning before they set out. From the way he had talked last night, they would be walking till they dropped, and she dad no wish to do her hunting in the dead of night after a long day.
She had wandered into a small patch of trees not two hundred yards from their camp. Suddenly she felt a twinge on the edge of her magical radar; she fad felt that many times before, Stormwings. Daine had not seen a stormwing in several months, not since the conclusion of the Immortals War. She had no way of knowing whether these Stormwings would be friendly or not. As she felt their approach she placed a bolt in her bow, knelt down next to the tree, and waited. Soon she saw a flock of about fifteen Stormwings coming straight at her.
They came to land at the edge of the clearing just beyond the trees. Cocking her head, Daine peered through the breaks in the trees to see if she could recognize any of the Stormwings. But what she saw merely caused her to fall over with shock.
Standing at the head of the group, also peering through the trees stood Rikash, she knew him by the bones that always adorned his hair. "But how could this be," she thought. Rikash had been killed in the battle of Port Legann. Yet there he stood, softly calling her name.
"Daine, Daine is that you, I need your help, please." Slowly Daine lowered her bow, stood up, and walked out of the cover of the trees. "Rikash," she said bewildered, "what happened I thought you were dead." All this time she had been slowly moving toward him, so when she stopped she was about a foot in front of him. But she had not noticed the other Stormwings closing a circle around her until she felt the sharp, cold steel on her arms.
Suddenly Rikash thrust his razor wing tip under her chin, drawing a shallow cut along her throat. His voice changed, it became darker and his mouth cracked in a wicked smile. "I told you we'd have no trouble, this one's just like any other, trusts too much to what she sees, not what is."
The other Stormwings had thrown a net over her. She tried to struggle, but the net cut her, more than that, it seemed to be draining her. "Rikash," she gasped. "What are you doing?!"
Rikash threw back his head and howled with laughter, as did the other Stormwings around him. "Rikash!" The Stormwing snapped his head down and glared at her, "don't mention that soppy, soft brother of mine. He spent his days kissing filthy human shoes just so he could live another day." He spat on the ground. "He chose to stay and fight with you filthy humans rather than join the rest of his kind under Ozorne's protection. But be assured little one, I am not so foolish."
Now Daine was terrified, something in the way he mentioned Ozorne's name installed in her an acute sense of terror. In one desperate attempt to escape she tried shape shifting. First she tried hawk, but still found herself trapped by the net. Next she tried a garden snake, still she was not able to free herself.
By the time she had regained her human form she had lost her cloths and the badger claw she wore on a chain around her neck. She was dimly aware of the laughter of the Stormwings as she groped for the claw. If she found it she could call on her friend the badger god who had given her the claw in the first place for help. But it was gone and the effort of touching the net was draining her to the point where she was ready to pass out, and she did, just as she felt the net underneath her being lifted up.
+++
A cloaked and hooded figure watched the reflection of a floor to ceiling mirror. In it, the tall, lanky man who was Numair Salmalin clumsily rise out of his bedroll. Numair put his lips, but for the figure watching him the call was a barely audible whisper, "Daine, Daine!"
The figure watched as Numair, dazed by sleep, stumbled off in search of her. The cloaked figure leaned back into the shadows and some where within the dark recesses of his hood cracked a wicked grin.
+-+
Author's note:
Ok guys, what do you think, good, bad, insane, let me know.