Description: Daine is brought to Corus and healed of unicorn fever, but Alanna is still furious with Numair for almost killing himself. The Immortals War begins as the mages spend the next six months fighting and protecting Tortall until they face something neither of them is prepared for.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.

Author's Note: I can really imagine Alanna being furious with Numair over almost killing himself. In my previous books she's been a supportive friend, but I also wanted to show how our mage can spike her famous temper occasionally.

I can't decide if Weiryn is aware of Numair's dream before he wakes or not. I'm going to leave it up to you to decide.

Chapter 4

It took four long days of hard travel through thick snow to reach Corus. Daine was taken to the healer's wing immediately and met by Duke Baird. Numair handed over his samples and offered to help work on the cure. The duke took one look at the mage and ordered him to rest before he would be allowed anywhere near a workroom. Alanna dragged the mage away before he could argue and told him in no uncertain terms, that if she found he'd gone back to sit at Daine's bedside instead of sleeping, then she would drag him out to the practice fields and use him for target practice. When Numair got a look at his reflection as he readied himself for bed, he understood why everyone looked so worried. His face looked like he'd aged ten years and he'd gained a few white hairs in his crisp black mane. It was a sharp blow to his vanity but so long as Daine survived, he'd accept the consequences.

It took a week to successfully create a cure for what was being named 'unicorn fever'. Numair had made himself a permanent fixture in the healer's wing, either sat with Daine or offering to assist with the cure. Once it had been administered, the young woman had made a rapid improvement and was now finally conscious and stable. She would be allowed to leave in a few days which was a relief to the healers as it meant the black robe mage would stop hovering around their wing.

Numair was smiling as he walked towards the recovery room where Daine was residing. The Wildmage had slept through her birthday, and he had decided it was finally time that she received her gift. As the mage entered her room, Daine and the young man from the stables broke apart blushing furiously. Numair stood at the door staring between the pair before his brain finally engaged and he mumbled an apology before turning to leave, his good mood destroyed.

"Wait! Numair, don't go." Daine cried. "Perrin was just leaving."

The mage looked back in time to see the clerk appearing distinctly annoyed and couldn't help feeling smug. At least now he knew the young man's name. Perrin left the room quickly after wishing Daine a speedy recovery.

"I thought you were going to turn him into something," she teased when they were alone, except for a grey-scaled Kitten curled up at the end of the bed with Zek on her back.

The mage blushed. "No, I wouldn't dream of interfering."

"You did with Kaddar," Daine pointed out as Zek crawled up the bed to sit on her shoulder.

Numair's blush darkened a few shades, and he avoided his friend's eyes. "Alanna had a little chat with me about my conduct after that incident."

The young woman giggled. "Oh dear, no wonder you look like such a sour puss." The mage scowled not liking her description. "Was she very hard on you?"

He managed a brief smile before taking a seat beside his friend's bed. "Alanna pointed out I had no right to interfere in your romantic life."

"You do get fair protective of me sometimes," Daine agreed.

Kitten, upon realising Perrin had left, lifted her head and chirped happily coming to sit on the young woman's lap.

Numair looked into his friend's eyes with an intense expression as he reached out absently to stroke the dragonet. "I expect to be first in line if any of those young men hurt you."

"It's nothing like that. It's just kissing." Daine said, now it was now her turn to blush. "You brought me daises?"

The mage blushed again and almost rolled his eyes wishing he could get himself under control. "Daisies hardly compare to a rose," he said vanishing the old daisies and replacing them in the vase by her bed. Numair regarded the rose lying on the table wondering if it had been left by the young clerk who had just been kissing his student a moment earlier. It was quite the declaration of love if it was sincere.

"No, I like daises."

The mage looked up and met his friend's twinkling blue-grey eyes as the delighted smile lit up her entire face. It felt like all the air had been knocked out of his lungs as their eyes met. Numair looked away first hoping his own face didn't reveal too much. He busied himself arranging the flowers just for an excuse of something to do.

"Alanna says I'm supposed to yell at you," she said eying him critically.

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow and looked at Daine.

"You took a big risk for me."

"Well, if that's all –"

"How bad was it?" the young woman interrupted, studying his face closely.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Numair said flashing her a reassuring smile. "It was worth it, and I will say no more than that. Happy birthday, magelet." He produced a velvet pouch from the sleeve of his shirt and handed it to his friend, his eyes sparkling.

The dragonet chirped excitedly and sat on her haunches as Daine opened the pouch and pulled out the locket.

"That is from both Kitten and me."

The young woman smiled curiously looking between the man and dragon. "Thank you."

"You need to open it, magelet," he chuckled.

Daine obeyed and gasped as she looked at the portrait of Kitten. "Oh Numair, it's beautiful!"

The mage grinned unabashed as he watched his friend's happy smile, touching his own invisible bracelet at his wrist containing the other picture and the lock of hair. He knew he should have destroyed it, but he'd wished for a focus so many times over the years that he'd kept the smoky-brown curl and secured it to his own locket with a gold clip.

"The portrait was done by Volney Rain. I believe he would be very open to painting a larger picture if you ever acquire large enough rooms to display it."

Daine laughed. "Nothing for the other side?" she asked.

"I didn't think Cloud would sit for a portrait," he teased, and they both laughed trying to imagine the stubborn pony's reaction to being asked. "I'm sure you'll find someone worthy for the other half."

Some of Numair's good humour faded as he knew one day, he would have to watch his friend get married. On that day, he would retire to live in his tower and let his books consume him, but until then he'd stay by her side content to be in her life.

"Happy birthday," he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

Daine wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly as Numair returned the embrace. He moved away reluctantly and sat in the chair as Kitten received her own cuddle. The mage stayed for several hours chatting with his friend as he updated her on all the happenings while she'd been unconscious. Numair left the room shortly after Daine had fallen asleep, closing the door quietly.

"Is she sleeping?" the Lioness asked from behind him.

Startled, he whirled to see the knight and took a breath. "Only just."

"I've received new orders to move out." Alanna stated. "I was hoping to say goodbye before I left."

"You could wake her." Numair took a step back allowing the Lioness to open the door. "I'm sure Daine would like to say goodbye and thank you herself. We're both extremely grateful for your saving her life."

"Save it!" the knight snapped holding up a hand. "I'm still angry with you. What's worse is you don't think you did anything wrong which means you'll do it again."

"If you mean I will do everything in my power to keep Daine safe, then that shouldn't surprise you," the mage responded evenly.

"It's the lengths you'll go to that concerns me." Alanna took a step forward and eyed him darkly. "This experience has marked you both."

Numair ran a hand through his hair and smiled gravely, knowing what she meant. Daine had acquired a nasty scar on her shoulder, and he'd shortened his lifespan by a few years.

"I'll let her sleep. Goddess knows she probably needs it." The knight turned to leave. "Tell her goodbye for me, will you?" she said over her shoulder.

"Good luck, Alanna. Stay safe." Numair called after his friend.

"See you out there," the Lioness said coldly as she stormed off down the corridor.

Daine recovered fully after another week, and it wasn't long before the two mages were dispatched on their own missions. Immortal sightings began to dramatically increase over spring and far too few were false alarms. By April the mage and Wildmage were dispatched to the northern borders to fight against an alliance of Copper Islanders, Carthaki rebels and Scanran raiders who had been joined by an immeasurable number of Immortals. Tkaa joined them in the north and together the group fought for twelve long weeks against the invaders. In June, they were called to join the king at Port Legann where Kitten was required to drive off the wyverns that were attacking. As a cousin to dragons, wyverns could not resist a command from a dragon, even when she was only three years old, but the effort involved was quickly exhausting Kitten.

Everyone was showing signs of the war, from the king who had gained several white hairs in his black hair to Numair who now had deep creases around his eyes and mouth. He looked and felt a lot older than his mere thirty years of age. Even Daine was showing signs of being overworked, with dark circles under her bright eyes and her clothes hung off her where they'd had to skip one too many meals. The mage had hoped for a brief respite when they joined up with the army, but after barely two days, he and Daine were riding out to investigate a strange sighting.

It was unlike anything the mage had ever read about, a creature that skinned whatever it touched and could not be defeated by any weapon. The Skinners, as they'd been aptly named, only moved during the day and seemed to take time before they started moving in the morning. Leaving Kitten with Tkaa to defend the port, Numair rode out on Spots cloaked in an invisibility spell while Daine flew overhead in eagle shape.

The mage rode for several hours in silence trying to calm his nerves until he reached the edge of the dead zone. Numair dropped his invisibility spell and stared at the devastation before him: the ground was barren, and the trees had been stripped of their leaves and bark. The cry of an eagle made him look up as he saw Daine gliding down towards him. The mage removed her pack from Spots and dropped it to the floor for her as the Wildmage transformed into a wolf when she landed and dragged her pack behind a tree to change. Numair kept his eyes on the landscape before him and listened as Daine reported what she'd seen.

"There's five of 'em that have done this. They're – two-leggers, flesh coloured but they've got no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. I don't know how they do it, but they seem to sense living things and then touch them. When they do, it's like they absorb and become whatever it is they've touched, changing colour or texture briefly. They were in Greenhall when I left to find you."

Numair dismounted as she emerged from behind the tree and retrieved her crossbow and quiver.

"I'm going to send Spots away to a place of safety. I don't want him near those things," she said.

He nodded in agreement letting the Wildmage unsaddle his gelding, and stayed out of the way thinking: if weapons did no damage to these creatures would magic stop them? As yet, no one had tried, so they would be walking into this situation hoping he had the power to somehow stop these things.

Daine placed the saddle on the ground as Spots trotted away and Numair handed her the crossbow and quiver.

"Can we beat them?" he asked

"I don't know." Her blue-grey eyes met his. "I've never seen the like of these things."

Removing his cloak, the mage dropped it over their packs and held out his hand to her. "Give me that quarrel."

Daine handed over the bolt she'd been about to load into her crossbow. Wrapping his fingers around the shaft, he murmured an explosive spell and attached it to the quarrel. Handing it back to Daine, she loaded it and led him to the Skinners.

They walked through the village which was devoid of anything living. People and animals of all shapes and sizes lay bloated and skinned on the ground, plants were brittle and dead, and the smell of the rotting corpses was overwhelming.

"Is it all like this?" the mage asked feeling sick.

"Worse. There's acres of it, clean back to the hills," she replied.

The pair entered an orchard and spotted the Skinners standing in a line, halfway through stripping the trees of their bark and the fruit or their skins. Daine raised her crossbow as the creatures turned to stare at them with featureless faces. The young woman took aim and shot one of the Skinners in the head. Numair made a fist and the quarrel exploded showering pieces of the creature onto the ground. He was about to ask for another quarrel when the pieces began to reform themselves until they manifested into another five smaller Skinners. The mage swore silently as the creatures ran towards the humans. Instinctively he grabbed them with his Gift and lifted them into the air. The creatures squirmed and thrashed managing to shake off his hold over them as they dropped to the floor.

"I hope the owner of this orchard forgives me," he whispered as the Skinners began to stand. Holding out his hands, the mage spoke the incantation to rip a crevasse in the ground as the Skinners tumbled in. "If I can seal them into the earth, that may be the end of it," he said as they approached the fissure "I certainly hope so. I hate simply blasting them with raw power like this." Numair peered carefully over the edge "There is always a spell to uncreate anything, though the consequences may be – oh, dear."

The Skinners were already climbing up the sides of the crevasse. He grabbed Daine and pulled her back, shouting the word to close the earth and seal the crack.

"Please Goddess, please Mithros, let that stop them," the mage prayed feeling the sweat run down his face as Daine wrapped an arm around his waist for support. "Grant a boon on Midsummer's Day –"

Ten feet away the ground erupted, and hand shot through the dirt.

"Numair!" Daine cried out whirling to face the enemy.

Instinctively she shot it with her crossbow, but without any magic the bolt did nothing to the emerging creature. Numair shouted a word in Old Thak transforming the creature closest to Daine into water. Another Skinner burst through the ground and the mage dissolved that one as well, relieved to see the magic seemed to hold even though he knew he didn't have enough power to do this to all ten. Unless…

Around them the ground exploded in five places as the Skinners leaped from the earth. Daine screamed and Numair reached to pull her close, only to discover a pair of phantom hands around her arms pulling the young woman through a silvery-white portal.

"No!" he wailed and wrapped his arms around her.

The pain was intense during the passage through the gateway while the mage fought to stay conscious. They landed on a soft grassy meadow at the feet of a human woman and an almost completely naked man with antlers.

"Cursed mortal! No one invited you!" The man raised a large bow and shot an arrow at the mage.

Black sparkling fire shot from his hands as Numair exploded the arrow in mid-air, inches from his face. Drawing heavily on the last of his Gift, the mage formed a shield around himself and Daine as his vision swam.

"My love," the woman stepped forward and placed her hand on the bow arm of the antlered man. "He tried to protect our daughter."

The man snarled but lowered the bow. Numair looked between the strangers slightly bewildered feeling like he should know them. Feeling mildly reassured the man wouldn't shoot him in the back, the mage crawled towards his friend.

"Daine?" He shook her shoulder. "Magelet – please be alright."

"She's only unconscious," the woman said kindly. "Passage between the realms is difficult for mortals. I'm surprised you're still – oh dear."

Numair didn't hear the rest as he collapsed on top of the young woman.

The mage thrashed in bed, trying to fight his way back to consciousness which seemed to slip through his fingers like oil. "The Skinners! Please, they'll kill everyone. I have to go back. I must try and stop them!"

"Calm yourself, Master Salmalín," the woman's voice from the meadow spoke firmly. "Those creatures are being dealt with by Badger. You and Daine are both safe. Rest yourself. You will have your answers when you wake."

Sleep overtook him as he fell into an achingly familiar dream. It was one he'd had several times over the last six months. Numair stood on the beach below Pirate's Swoop with his bare feet in the surf, studying the rocks as he explained the nature of barnacles and anemones to his student. This was a memory from the first Summer he'd spent with Daine when she was thirteen. Only, in his dreams, she was the age she was now, as he looked up to see the young woman dressed in shirt and breeches with her wild curls tied back in a headscarf. Her blue-grey eyes were intent on his as she absorbed the lesson while her skin was damp from the sea spray. She was gorgeous!

A large wave rose behind the mage, taking him by surprise and knocking him off his feet as it crashed over him. Coughing and spluttering, he looked up to see Daine burst into a fit of giggles, almost doubled over as she held her sides. Grabbing her hand, Numair yanked hard and pulled the young woman down into the freezing water. She shrieked as she landed and turned to glare at him, a dangerous light in her stormy eyes. The next ten minutes the pair descended into play fighting, splashing each other until they were both thoroughly drenched to the skin.

This was the point where dream and memory always diverged. In reality, they had walked back to the Swoop sopping wet and laughing, but as Numair looked into that beautiful face, relaxed and happy, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Daine's arms wrapped around his neck as she responded to the kiss, her warm breath mingling with his. It felt so right as he held her and lost himself in the feel of her lips.

The dream began to fade, and the mage moaned wanting to remain there with his beloved in his arms. It was a lie, and a horrible one, because the feeling of Daine in his arms and on his lips was an utter torment. The erotic dreams were easier to set aside as pure fantasy, but the one's that confused memory and dream tore at his defences, making him consider what might happen if he acted on his feelings.

Numair woke slowly, feeling a soft mattress beneath him and warm blankets over the top. What struck him as odd was that the bed fit his tall frame. His feet stuck out the end of most beds due to being six foot five inches in height. The phantom feeling of Daine's lips on his still lingered but the taste of her was lost to the dream as the mage blinked bleary eyes and tried to take in his surroundings. He was in a quaint room which contained a single bed and a dresser. His eyes fell on the heavily muscled man standing at the end of his bed wearing nothing but a loincloth. He had olive-streaked reddish-brown skin, emerald eyes and a large, impressive set of antlers protruding from curly brown hair. Numair yelped and sat up fast, only for the world to spin and for him to crash back onto the pillows.

"Relax, mage. You are a guest in my house. If I wished you dead, I would have killed you already. Passage between the realms is uncomfortable for mortals. You will need time to recover."

That explained how he was still alive and why he felt so dizzy. "The Skinners –"

"Have been taken care of by Badger," was the curt reply.

The mage sighed in relief before curiosity got the better of him. "Might I ask how –"

"He turned them to ice. They melted."

It was starting to get more than a little irritating that he couldn't finish a single question when speaking with his host, but it was gratifying to learn his theory on how to defeat the Skinners had been correct. He'd just drained too much of his Gift to be able to liquify all ten of the creatures. Opening his eyes again, Numair brought the man into focus as his mind finally caught up. An antlered man from another realm – this was the hunt god, Weiryn, the man they suspected of being Daine's father.

"How is Daine?" the mage asked tentatively.

The god scowled darkly. "My daughter is fine no thanks to you."

That answered that question. The two men stared each other down until Weiryn tilted his head in a very familiar gesture and left the room. Hearing female voices from the next room, Numair decided to investigate, especially as he recognised one of the speakers as Daine. Needing to see her for himself, the mage sat up slowly letting the world stop spinning before he staggered to his feet. He couldn't believe how fatigued his body felt. It was as if every fibre of him ached from being put under extreme stress. Passing through an arcane gateway took a certain toll on the body but nothing in comparison to this.

He had to hold the wall for support, but Numair slowly made his way out of the bedroom across the hall where he saw Weiryn standing near a blonde woman who he realised must be Daine's mother, Sarra.

"Daine?" he peered around the door to see his friend awake and sitting up in bed. "You know that the badger destroyed the Skinners, yes?"

"Ma told me. You don't look so good."

He smiled warmly relieved to see she was feeling well enough to worry. "I'll survive. Are you all right?"

"I hurt a little." If she felt anything like he did 'a little' was a vast understatement.

"I am informed that passage between the realms has an adverse effect on mortals." His legs wobbled and he clung to the doorframe to stop himself from ending up in a heap on the floor.

The badger god appeared in the middle of the floor in a silver light and waddled over to Daine.

"Hullo," the young woman said. "So we've you to thank for handling those Skinners?"

"You wouldn't rest until you knew they were dealt with." Badger rose onto his hindquarters so Daine could reach to scratch his ears.

It took a moment for the mage to comprehend that he had heard the animal speak with his ears and not his mind.

Sarra looked away from her daughter to frown at the mage. "You are supposed to sit, and stay sat." She made a pulling gesture at the wall and the room began to move until it formed a chair. "Down, Master Salmalín!"

Numair sat down quickly while still trying to wrap his head around how she had just manipulated the wall. He hadn't seen her use any magic, and he knew from Daine that in life, her mother had possessed only a small amount of the Gift.

Daine looked equally stunned. "But – Ma, you can't – You never –"

"Things are different here. In the Divine Realms, we gods can shape our surroundings to suit ourselves," the badger explained.

"Sometimes," Weiryn amended.

"Wonderful," Daine huffed.