Chapter 9
Searing pain. A paladin who knew what he was doing.
The girl…screaming.
Kwaaku talking in his rumbling voice.
Orcs glaring with accusing eyes.
The Warchief talking in his calm, reassuring voice.
Sylvanas speaking, her voice driving nails into his head.
Her. Screaming again – screaming his name.
Saran.
SARAN.
You. Are. MINE.
Necronim screamed and bolted upright with a feral snarl. He curled himself over his knees a moment later, shuddering and gasping, "NO! Never again, never!"
"Nec!"
He heard the voice – recognized it – but flinched away from it still. The sound of heavy books hitting the floor made him throw himself back against the wall, eyes closed tight as he took in harsh and ragged breaths. His fists clenched in something – a blanket – as he half-sensed someone approaching him.
"Necronim?" breathed a soft voice. Soft. Female.
Her.
He drew a ragged breath in as her hands touched his chest, ever gentle and light as a feather. There was a creak as she leaned on the bed he seemed to be on and then her mouth was by his ear, speaking Common in a low voice laced with tears.
"Saran…you're safe. We're here. And we're not going to let anything happen to you."
Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked at her as she pulled back slightly so he could see her. At the sight of the tears streaming down her cheeks, he lifted a hand and gently brushed them away. And once again marveled that she didn't pull away from his plagued touch.
By the Light, she was a blessing he didn't deserve.
"Kalya," he rasped softly. "You're still here."
She looked confused at that and asked, "Why wouldn't I be?"
He just stared at her and wondered if she hadn't heard. Certainly he hadn't allowed Sylvanas to pull the details of what he'd done out of him but it wasn't that hard to figure it out. SI:7 had taught him well and he'd done things he was ashamed of for…for a reason that seemed stupid now. What he'd done hadn't saved them…
And he had killed. Stolen. Maimed. He had broken apart families just for the hope that he could…could…
Closing his eyes, he thrust those memories back into the past where they belonged. Then he opened his eyes and looked at her again, saying, "Nevermind. Its…its nothing."
Kalya bit her lip and the look in her blue-green eyes told him that she knew he was lying. He knew it, she knew it, and the others in the room probably knew it too. But he couldn't bring himself to give a damn.
No…he wouldn't let himself give a damn.
Kwaaku suddenly loomed over the young woman's shoulder and rumbled, "Good to have you back with us, Nec." No mention of the screaming fit of earlier or the flinching. Just…nothing. That was what he liked about the big Tauren – he knew when to press things and when to leave them well enough along. And he'd learned well over the years they'd been friends when what situation was what.
"Good to be back," said Necronim with a thin smile. He then saw the boy around Kalya's shoulder and frowned. "I know you…"
"Taemmur, sir," came the response nervously in Taur-ahe. "Taemmur Bloodwolf."
"Ah. Caren's son." He then snorted and added, "And drop the 'sir', boy. I wasn't deserving of such when I was alive and that still holds now."
The youth nodded then stooped and picked up one of the fallen books from the floor, carefully straightening one of the pages that had been crumpled. He then stuck it and two others under his arm and said to Kalya, "I'll go then. Let you all have some time together."
"No, Taem, its fine," she said quickly but the youth waved it off with a smile. Kwaaku gave him a sideways glance and Taemmur half-smiled at him before nodding at the pair and leaving without another word – very effectively cutting off her protests. The boy had seen the connection between the two of them too, though he had to admit it was starting to become as clear as daylight.
He probably should speak to both of them about it or just Necronim. With all that was going on…it probably wasn't wise to have such feelings broadcasted loudly.
Looking over at the bed, he silently left the room as well as he saw Kalya settle down onto the edge of the bed. As he closed the door and told the two guards outside the to not let anyone inside, he headed out of the Hold with a shake of his head.
But speaking to them could wait a while.
Let them have their time together while they could.
As the door closed and he heard the sound of Kwaaku's hooves disappearing into the distance, Necronim slowly shifted himself back further towards the wall and away from Kalya. Her presence so close was…it was unnerving. It was bringing up feelings he'd thought long dead – purely human feelings – and he was doing his level best to fight them down.
He had to stop this before it went any further.
"Kalya," he said softly. "You have to go."
She looked at him in confusion, saying, "Go? Nec…where would I go?"
"Back to Moonglade. Caren is the one that took you there before – you probably didn't recognize her now with that hood of hers. There…at least there you might be safe."
"SAFE?!" exploded Kalya, staring at him. "It was in Moonglade that they found me! How will going back there make me safe?"
Necronim sighed and closed his eyes. Why did she have to make this so difficult for him?
"Nec…if you think I'm just going to run away from you, you're wrong. I don't care what you did in your past or for what reason's! Its just that to me – the past."
He growled under his breath and opened his eyes again to look at her. "Its not just that, Kalya!" he snapped. She leaned away from him at the harsh tone in his voice and he softened it as he continued. "Kalya…I…care about you. You know that."
"Yes."
"Too much," he rasped, catching her eyes with his. She stared at him, stared deep into his golden eyes and bit her lip as she felt it tremble.
"Nec…"
He reached out for her hands then and clasped it, feeling the warmth of her seep into his bones. She clutched at his with a fervor that delighted and scared him and he knew, in that moment, that she felt the same for him as he did her. But they couldn't be…
"Saran," he gasped, his voice hoarse as he spoke his real name for the first time in many years. "If anyone will still call me that name, I wish it to be you. Kalya…we can't continue this, you know that."
She sniffed then nodded, ducking her head down against her chest. "I know," she mumbled and he could hear the tears in her voice.
He frowned and rasped, "I wish I could. Light knows you're the first to ever look at me like I'm not the monster I am."
"You're not a monster!" exploded Kalya, jerking her head up. Her voice softened with tears as she freed one of her hands from his and lifted it to clasp his pallid cheek. "You're not a monster…"
"I'm dead," said Necronim coldly. "There is no coming back from this life. And for that…for that I have no right to feel for you the way I do."
"Saran…"
"I don't, Kalya. As this…I can't give you anything."
"I don't care!"
He smiled and touched her cheek briefly, his hand shaking as he forced it back down. What it really wanted to do was stay there and soak in her warmth – her warmth of life that he no longer had.
"You will," he said softly. "You'll want a life…"
"With who?" she hissed in mild anger. "What man would have me after what they charged me with?"
"A smart one that saw you for the woman you are."
"Saran…I don't want anyone else."
He sighed at that and said, "Kalya…"
"I know you can't give me anything a normal man could," she said softly, her fingers tensing against his cheek. "I don't care. Saran, please. Don't make me leave you."
For a long moment he stared at her then chuckled, saying, "You are too stubborn for your own good. I'm giving you an out!"
"I don't want it," she replied.
"You don't know what you're agreeing to. I can feel the emotions, Kalya, and the wants – but I don't have any of the consequences of them. You will."
She shrugged at that. "I'll deal with them."
Necronim blinked a few times then sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his cheek into her touch – her very alive warmth. After a moment he looked at her again and said softly, "We can't be like this anymore. Its too dangerous."
"I know. Just…one last day like this?"
"One last day, Kalya. We have that."
She smiled and abruptly shifted forward on the bed, curled up against his side before he quite knew she had moved. He held himself stiff for a moment, shocked to the core that she would want to be this close to him.
Kalya smiled up at him and said, "You don't reek of death, Saran, no matter how much you might think so."
Necronim relaxed a bit at that, his arm falling across her back to curl around her shoulders. "What then?" he asked, truly curious. His sense of smell had mostly gone out with his death and anything he caught the scent of now had to be strong.
"The forest," she replied. "Leather…metal…"
"No rot of the grave?"
"Not a shred of it."
"But I'm cold," he said rather stiffly.
Her arms wrapped around him then and the warmth of her cheek pressed against his wasted chest, making him wonder again how she could stand to touch his flesh. Her very alive presence tingled against his skin and he groaned, closing his eyes and dropping his head down so his forehead rested on her hair.
"Kalya," he breathed.
"Saran?"
"Thank you."
Kalya just smiled and closed her eyes, content to just sit with him as they were forever. She didn't know how she managed to feel for him for much when he was truly little more than a corpse. Somehow…somehow she just saw him as he really was – a truly good person who had done horrible things in his past for what had seemed a right reason…and who had had horrible things happened to him. And that was what she loved about him, that soul he had managed to keep even despite his ignoring his past and trying to drive everyone away. His body was nothing so long as she could love that wonderful soul and it loved her back.
The brush of his bony fingers against her arm raised bumps there, a chill touch, and then it settled. The hand gripped slightly and at a soft gasp from him she realized just how much he missed the life that had been torn from him. He was shaking, trying desperately not to cling to her, as her living warmth soaked into his dead skin.
By the Light, she wished she could give him back that warmth he so craved.
