I'm Related

Chapter 13

The Spiritual Plane

Neal followed a dazed Shaye to a courtyard where a commotion was erupting. Shaye stopped at the doorway to the bright scene. There was a moment when Shaye froze to survey the chaos before her that Neal wished time could freeze. The sun bounced gently on Shaye's midnight hair and her softly tanned skin from summers Neal could never have imagined. Neal remembered the oddly contrasting features as beautiful and distracting, but she was more than beauty, her personality was decidedly strong and that was why Neal loved her. But, as time often does to those kinds of moments, it sped away with Shaye following.

Shaye couldn't believe the slowness of everything around her, and yet when she looked back on it slow was quite the opposite of the events that occurred. Pale and lush green grass was ripped apart to show barren scars of dirt and mud below. Trampled flowers and smoldering trees framed the chase. Seven men stumbled after a bloated warthog, who had yet to even be wounded. The warthogs fur was the brown color of old gravy, and the eyes were an ice blue which sent chills down Shaye's spine.

The men, all strapping specimens by their looks, were tired and aching. To say that they were hurt would be an understatement. The best of them boasted burns from the odd fire of Mona's corrupted gift. Still pink, but more of a deadly fuchsia then anything else, it struck everything in its path leaving scorch marks and ash where it hit.

Shaye grabbed a fistful of her gift, weaving it into a magical net and quickly tossing it over the once Mona of Milleu. At the contact with the beast a tightness wrapped around Shaye's whole body, every part of her was squeezed and wrenched apart in an instant. All at once she had drained away all of her gift! Impossible she breathed leaning against a cold stone wall. How could Mona have done that?

Insanity does odd things to a person, the thought came from nowhere, but it seemed oddly wise. Perhaps Mona was insane? And if that is true then who will need more saving? Mona or me? Shaye wondered.

She watched again as Mona struck out with her gift, a yelp of protest escaped from Shaye's mouth as she saw Mona's gift laced with brown! Her gift had been sucked up and would now be used against her, unfair, was all she could think. As the fire of the gift hit a nearby tree, turning it to grey and smoldering ash.

Mona had heard the yelp from Shaye and whirled around to face her. Lining up her target Mona reached for her new and improved gift. Snorts and angry wild grunts accompanied Neal's entrance into the courtyard. Mona decided he would make a better target than the girl, and all the more painful to the girl named Shaye!

"Neal don't use your gift whatever you do!" Shaye called. She felt an absolute lack of energy. She heaved, trying to suck in as much oxygen as her lungs could hold. The blackness around her vision was not a welcome sign either. But Shaye refused to go down, she steadied her self on wobbly legs, she would never be able to move more then an inch. but standing she could do.

"Shaye what happened? What's going on here?" Neal asked, worried for her. Her face had turned almost yellow and she was shaking horribly. All his attention was on Shaye, he was clearly underestimating the ugly snout that pointed at him and eyes that were staring at him with an icy contempt.

Shaye saw the bolt of Mona's gift before Neal could even register her presence. Shaye acted quickly as she could and jumped in front of him.

Ok, she admitted to herself later, it was more of a fall then a jump and she was lucky that something that stupid actually worked. Shaye realized she was laying in the grass. It was springy she remembered before her body allowed her to feel the pain of her action. It had seemed like an hour had gone by but seconds and hours merged together when this kind of pain was taking a hold of you.

"Neal," she said softly. "I love you."

"No, Shaye." his voice said. He said something else, but his voice faded too quickly for her to understand anymore. At first Shaye thought she saw Ganiel smiling at her, but she must have imagined that because now all Shaye could see was an intense darkness surrounding her, but she smelt something stronger, rain, she realized. She felt like everything was pretty funny, ironic really, but she wasn't sure why she thought this, not sure at all...

Neal was filled with an intense rage. His heart had shattered and his body tensed. This was not happening!

"You," he said to the warthog. "You!" He heeded Shaye's warning about using his gift and pulled a knife from his belt. Mona grunted fiercely and tossed her head from side to side. Neal ran at her and she swerved away from his knife point. It seemed almost like a graceless dance of swiping and swerving on both sides, Mona from the knife, Neal from the long, ashen tusks. But the dance ended too quickly as Neal tripped and a tusk sliced through his tunic and into the soft stomach area. It wasn't serious enough to kill him, but he could end up with a scar. It didn't really matter now did it? he thought.

As Mona snorted in triumph Neal's knife found a spot between her ribs. Mona squealed and jerked about, running herself into a wall where she lay motionless. The seven men hesitantly gathered the warthog up and took her to the king.

Neal knelt down next the Shaye, pleading with her to wake up, knowing very well that she might never do that. She was barely breathing and her heart was beating too slowly. Neal scooped up Shaye's battered body, letting a tear roll down his face as he ran to find his father, hoping against all hope that he could heal her and awaken her from this deathly sleep.

Shaye was tired of lying in darkness, she had no idea how long she had done it for, but she knew it was time to get up. Unfortunately thinking it was easier then doing it. Shaye couldn't move any part of her body, but her determined mind jerked her up and out.

Her first thoughts were of Neal, but for some reason he wasn't registering at the top of her list, she felt funny also, light. Taking in her surroundings Shaye felt lost and confused, but it didn't seem to worry her at all. White walls and a fire place gave vague clues to her whereabouts. She could have been in her own room if it weren't so tidy. Shaye turned to see a bed with her own body lying on it.

She wasn't in shock to see herself on the bed when she knew she was standing just feet away, she wasn't even really bothered with it at all. What bothered her most was the state of her face. The gorgeous face paint that had given her such a mysterious look at the ball was now smeared against tear stained and muddy cheeks, but even this was more funny then any other emotion she could come up with. Even her feeling of funniness was removed, detached. But this discovery of her body had led only to questions that echoed with no real importance.

"How did I get here?" she decided to ask aloud for no reason. When no one answered her she decided she must be dead, but that was a little silly. This couldn't be death! The idea was laughable, although she didn't know why. The dead do not merely walk among the living, do they? Where was the Black God to take her to the realms of the Dead? What was going on? she mused.

A noise startled Shaye out of her pondering, she turned to meet sad green eyes. Neal, she thought happily! She ran to him, arms open wide for a hug, to her displeasure her attempts were in vain. She merely passed right through him. A frown etched itself across her face. He couldn't see her, Shaye was upset at this, but this feeling like all the rest was detached and quickly pushed to the back of her mind.

"Neal," she pouted aloud. His head whipped up, his mussed light brown locks only seconds behind. Shaye's heart leaped, he could not see, but he could hear!

"Ne-," she began again, but something stopped her. A figure with black robes had a hand on her shoulder, Shaye watched him beckon her to a seam of light in what must have been the realm of the Dead. Shaye took a step back and shook her head furiously. The Black God gripped her arm more forcefully and attempted to lead her to the realms of the Dead.

"No, Brother," called a powerful voice that reminded Shaye of fog and wind. "She is needed for a quest to save Weiryn's Daughter. Speak with Mithros if you wish, but grant her time." Ganiel shimmered in Shaye's mind, but not in front of her. She supposed he still couldn't cross into the room so blatantly, but since she was technically dead she could hear him. The Black God, loosened his grip, as he nodded and faded away.

"Child, you must hurry and save her!" the Dream King said.

"Daine?" Shaye asked, feeling as if she should be more worried then she was.

"Yes, now listen, she is still here on your plane of existence you need to wake her up, she is stuck in her body, she won't let go of the Mage so not even the Black God can get her out. I must warn you that Mona's spirit is here also, but it is only half. Her gift is not here and won't hinder you. Now you absolutely must remember that there is a limit on the time your spirit can be out of your body without you dying, you have less than an hour. And this detached feeling you have will hinder you even more than Mona if you let it! Now go!"

"Why couldn't you have told me this before? In the Dream?" Shaye asked, her concern still lacking.

"There are rules child! I cannot tell you exactly what will happen and your best course of action! Now you should also know that people can only hear you when they can't see you and can see you when they can't hear you. Speak to people only if you must." Ganiel said, trying to awaken her senses with his own urgency, at least a little.

"You are very confusing," Shaye told him.

"Just go!" said the Dream King with exasperation, Shaye realized he left and decided that finding Daine sounded like a fun idea. She left the room and made her way lazily to the ball room, leaving Neal and her body behind.

Shaye twirled and danced her way through the corridors like a bored child. When she reached the ballroom she cart-wheeled through the double doors and onward to her destiny.