Secrets
Chapter Eleven: The Final Battle
The wind whipped past his face and the rocks under his feet caused Numair to
stumble as he sprinted down the road. The black clouds overhead, which had begun
to fill the sky not long after he had begun his run, loomed ominously to cover
the sun. He glanced at the ground, searching for signs of Tristan or his lover.
He knew he was probably too late, since the tracks he saw in the dirt were far
from fresh. A few hours at least, he thought. Gods, what have I done? It's all
my fault. On he ran...
***
Daine was shoved from behind, her feet in total agony. I think my ankles are
swollen. Tristan Staghorn prodded her with a pointed finger, jeering at her predicament.
"It hurts, doesn't it? Your feet, your head, your back? I'd have thought you'd
be glad to be rid of that curse Arram put on you..." he stopped walking and grabbed her shoulder. "Yolane hated children. Forbid me to ask about it. But when she found out she was pregnant, I think she changed her mind. She lost the child, I remember the day she told me. 'Life goes on' she said. Well, it won't
for you."
Daine was jabbed roughly in the back and forced to walk forward again. He was right, though. Her entire body ached, but her head the most, making it impossible to call for help. She pressed on, shuffling her feet as much as possible to leave Numair a clear trail...
***
Lightening streaked the sky as rain fell mercilessly upon Numair's heavy head.
The cold, wet ground squished under his boots and he slung mud about as he
stopped just outside the cane where he knew Daine had been hiding. He stuck his
head inside the crack and whispered her name softly. The only reply was a quiet
chirp from somewhere in the back of the cave.
"Kitten?"
The tiny dragon poked her head out of the shadows and chirped again. Her scales were nearly white, a color Numair had never seen before on a dragon. Her usually bright, slitted eyes were fixed in a translucent, empty stare. Carefully, he
stepped forward and lifted her off the ground. She was amazingly light, since her bones were hollow like a bird's. She lay listlessly in his arms and gave a low eerie moan that sent chills down his spine.. Shaking it off, he said, "It's all right, Kit. We'll find her."
His reassurance seemed to calm her down and her scales turned a light shade of gray. Satisfied that he had done his part, her down again and reached inside his
soaked robe for the focus.
It was gone.
***
He'll come. He has to come. Daine sloshed about unhappily in the pouring rain, her arms crossed over her chest, The white shirt she had chosen to wear that
morning was now soaked and see-through. Tristan chided her about it as they
continued to move along.
"Aww, come on. It's all right, no need to be shy..." He reached for her arms, but she pulled away quickly. "Am I really that repulsive, Veralidaine?" He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
"Yes!" she spat back, swatting his hand away. "Yes, a thousand times over! You are the most disgusting, loathsome, egotsi-"
He silenced her with a hard smack to the temple. "Watch what you say, peasant. I am an Imperial Mage from Carthak. You are a bastard from the middle of nowhere."
She spit in his face.
He stood stock still for a moment, as if he were contemplating what to do. Beginning to chuckle, he wiped the saliva from his head and flung it to the ground. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced his lips on hers. She tried to hit him, but he shifted his hold to her wrists. She flailed helplessly, overpowered by the larger man.
Help! She called to anything close enough to hear. Help me! Her knees buckled underneath her and she fell limp into Tristan's arms. He laughed heartily as he let her drop to the ground.
"You didn't believe me, did you? I told you, didn't I? Now look what happened." He knelt down next to her, the rain beating on his back. Somehow, through all that this girl had done to him, he felt no enmity towards her. He watched her as she lay on the ground, water puddling around her, and found he wanted nothing more than to take her To make himself part of her.
Daine looked away as Tristan reached for her blouse. She was too weak to fight, so she lay in silence as he stripped her of her wet shirt. Her breast band was not quite as soaked, but it clung to her closer than usual. She shivered as a finger was dragged down her side. She used the last of her strength to wiggle in the mud and get away from the hand, which jerked back as she did.
Tristan stared at the paralyzed figure on the ground in front of him. I could do it, he thought. I could take her. She's helpless. He saw a tear slip down her cheek. That's exactly why I can't. She sniffed back another tear and clenched her jaw. I have to do it.
Thunder rumbled in the distance as he ravaged her defenseless body…
***
What am I going to do? Numair dug through the muddy earth, searching for the missing locket that he had his focus contained in. Kitten sat about ten yards away doing the same. I'm not Daine! I've never done any tracking other than using my nose to find the kitchen! Gods, help me!
He saw a shimmer in the air in front of him and stood quickly. The blood rushed to his head and he felt dizzy for a moment. The shimmer took a form and the badger god appeared in the rain. He shook his massive coat to remove the water, but soon realized it was no use.
What are you doing here, Mage? he said gruffly. Where's my kit?
Numair walked over to him with a confused expression on his face. "I was hoping you could tell me that."
The god growled in fury. What do you mean? Why, if she's not around, did I come here?
Numair saw Kitten trundle over, her scaled head lowered. She reached the two and held out a clenched forepaw. It opened slowly to reveal the claw necklace Daine always wore. The badger snatched it smartly out of Kitten's outstretched paw and snarled angrily.
I leave her with you to protect her, Mage! I trusted you! Her parents trusted you! Weiryn is going to have your head as a trophy when he finds out! The badger god began sniffing the soggy ground, then huffed in frustration. It's too wet to track her by scent. We're going to have to do this the old fashioned way.
Numair gulped. "I've never tracked anything before. I don't know how."
Just follow the footprints, for gods' sake! Mithros, you act as though it were like building a bridge out of toothpicks. You think you're so smart…
The man nodded and searcged the ground for the rapidly deteriorating boot marks. It took several minutes, but soon they were on their way…
***
Daine felt filthy. Her entire body shook, mostly from the cold of being naked outside during a rain storm, but also from the disgusting thing that had been done not five minutes before. She felt violated, like she would never have any privacy again. Tristan had taken part of her being when he had taken her body… when he had raped her.
"Get up. We must continue." Tristan stood about twenty yards away, putting his pants back on. He threw her muddy shirt and pants at her, which she took behind a tree to wring out and dust off. She did all this in silence as Tristan watched her with burning eyes.
When she came out from behind the tree, he grabbed wrist and dragged her on, dodging puddles as he did.
"Numair will kill you," she said quietly. "He'll kill you slowly when he finds out what you did."
Tristan laughed and replied, "Oh, I doubt that, my dear." He continued to pull her along, but with less rigor. Their pace had slowed drastically a few moments after they'd begun walking again. "We're almost there, my love," he whispered. "We're almost there..."
***
Numair was getting closer. He knew he was. The tracks were becoming easier to see since they were more fresh and the rain had less of a chance to wash them away. He came to a patch on the trail where he found something peculiar. There was a shape in the ground where it looked as though somebody had laid down, with footprints circling all around it. Shrugging it off, he pressed onward with Kitten and the badger god following...
***
The scratching of rodents' claws on the ground and insects' chirping in the night were the only sounds Daine heard as she woke up from the nap she had taken when they had reached another cave in the mountains. Her clothes were still soaked and she smelled retched, but body no longer ached as it had before. She looked around for Tristan, who she found dozing at the front of the cave. He opened on eye and looked at her, saw she was awake, and, strangely, closed his eye again. Daine waited until she heard him snoring to stand up and creep towards the mouth of the crevice. She reached it and began to walk through. A jolting pain in her abdomen forced her backward. It subsided seconds later, and she tried again. She walked through the entrance and was knocked to her knees in agony. She crawled back into the cave and laid in the dirt as she sobbed. She curled up in a fetal position and waited until the pain went away before she moved again. She heard a soft chuckle at the wall of the cave and looked over to see Tristan watching her intently.
"Go ahead," he said. "Leave. I dare you." He stood and walked out and back into the cave. Nothing happened. Daine got to her feet as well. Tristan stood behind her and pushed her forward. "I'm not going to stop you. Just go."
Daine watched him cautiously for a moment then took another step.
"Wait!"
She halted immediately.
"I should warn you," he said as he inspected his nails. "That the entrance is guarded with a spell. If you take one step away from the cave, you child dies. See, if I can't have you, no one will. The only way you're ever getting out of here is if lover boy kills me." He walked out of the cave and called, "Have a nice day."
Daine wailed in disgust. "You've just thought of everything, haven't you?!" She sat back down to wait, hoping Numair was on his way…
***
The rain was letting up by the time Numair and his posse reached the summit of a mountain, but the ever present drizzle that fell from the sky was still a nuisance. He led Kitten and the badger god, who had shimmered in and out of the Divine Realms several times on their journey, down the worn footpath where the two sets of tracks were trodden.
He stopped them just outside a small opening in the rock, sensing a hint of magic in the air. He tried to enter the cave, but was thrown back as a flash of light and shocking blow came from inside. He sat up in time to see a dim glow vanish into the back of the cave, followed by a muffled, "THWAK". He followed the glow down the damp cavern, with the badger running to catch up.
You're going to need my help, Mage, he said. Remember he's got Chaos on his side.
Numair nodded as he walked faster. The tunnel came to an end up ahead, but he could see a silhouette from the light of a lantern on the wall. Slowing down, he brought out the crystal and chanted in a whisper the words he'd been reciting all day.
"Cinubus, Exanumus, Zot
"Daine! Daine, where are you?!" Numair scrambled over the pile of rocks that he hoped were heaped on top of Tristan Staghorn.
"She's underneath your feet, Arram."
Numair turned slowly to face the man he hated more than anything or anyone in the entire world. Tristan stood at the bottom of the accumulated rocks, smirking. He was completely free of any debris from the cave-in, and yet he still looked wounded.
"Your lover is *under* the rubble, Arram. What are you going to do about it?"
Numair watched him as he slowly made his way down the unstable load, tears forming in his eyes. Now I've really done it. Goddess, give me strength. "I'll kill you, that's what I'll do!" He hurled a black ball of fire at Tristan's head, but the other mage barely flinched as he countered with a ball of fire even larger than the first. The magic Numair had thrown disintegrated in seconds as the two orbs collided. The badger god snarled and threw himself at Tristan's back, who was bowled over by the large animals unexpected weight. Numair was on him in a flash, a spark of black at his fingertips that itched to wring his enemy's neck. Tristan gulped in surprise and smiled a smile that told Numair he was scared out of his mind.
"He, I, uh, you really don't want to kill me, do you? It wouldn't solve anything, you know. She'd still be dead." He swallowed.
"She may still be dead, but I won't have to live, knowing I let you go." Numair let the black fame inch its way over Tristan's skin, crawling over his face and filling his mouth and nose. His eyes went wide as the magic swelled up, blocking his airways. Slowly, his lips turned purple, then blue, and finally white. He gasped for a breath as his eyes glazed over and he lay still.
Numair fell over onto the ground, exhausted. The badger came over and patted him on the back with a heavy paw. "Nice work, Mage. Very nice work." He waddled over to the pile of rocks and began to dig, slowly at first, then faster as a muffled wail came from somewhere in the middle. Energized by the hope of that cry, Numair sat up and helped the badger throw the stones away. He saw a flash of skin before it was covered again by falling rocks. Daine's hand was the first thing he uncovered, he gripped it firmly as he finished exposing the rest of her arm, then her shoulder, neck, and finally, her head.
Daine lay silent, but she breathed shallowly. Numair stroked her face, washing it with his tears. "Daine, my love, sweet Daine. Don't leave. Please don't leave me…"
***
Daine heard voices in her head. They were calling to her. She opened her eyes, then shut them up again. It was too bright outside. The sun was shining as she floated down a path the middle of a forest. She reopened her eyes and focused. She wasn't floating. Someone was carrying her: Numair.
"Unhh," she grunted uneasily. Numair jumped, surprised, and set her down on the ground.
"Daine? Daine, are you okay? Say something Daine!" He shook her gently, but hard enough to shake her fully awake.
"Something Daine," she replied, smiling up at him. He looked at her as though she had come back from the dead, as she very well might have, since she didn't remember much past Tristan hitting her with a rock.
"Great Goddess, you're alive! Thank you, Mithros! Badger! Come here! She woke up!" He called over his shoulder as he pulled her close to his chest. She saw the badger god run over on all fours, his ears pricked up happily.
My kit! I knew you'd be all right! He rubbed his head affectionately against her leg, since that was the only part of her Numair didn't have wrapped up in a hug.
"I'm fine, Badger. Really, I just want to be able to breathe…" she trailed off, implying that Numair should let her go, which he did when he figured out she was not going to fall over dead on him.
"Did you ever find Cloud and Zek? Spots, too. Can't forget about Spots. I was getting pretty worried until I got bashed in the head with half of a mountain." Daine stood up on her own, only faltering when she got a head rush. "So, did you find them?"
Numair bit his lip. Could he tell her? She was already injured, on top of being pregnant, and she would want to go help them. He knew where they were, and he could have someone come back for them, but he didn't know how long they would last. "Yeah, we found them."
"So let's go then," Daine started down the path.
He ran up and caught her. "No, I can't let you do that."
Daine heaved a sigh. "I thought we were past this, Numair. I told you before, I'm not going to stop healing or even talking to animals just because I get a little sick, or because you tell me to. Don't even try to tell me again."
It was his turn to sigh. "Daine, this isn't about me, or even you. You can't heal for the sake of our child. Do you want her to die because you couldn't just leave the helping to someone else for a little while?"
Daine raised her eyebrows in question. "Her? Do you know something I don't?"
He chuckled lightheartedly. "I can hope, can't I?"
"I guess. But I still will not leave the only family I have-" she stopped when Numair glared at her. "The only family I have for now… I'm not going to leave her for dead in the middle of no where."
"We'll see when we get there…"
***
The hike back to the spot in the trail where Numair had left Cloud, Spots, and Zek took a lot out of the trio. Daine, Numair, and Kitten had gone on alone, while the badger god went back to the Divine Realms to tell Weiryn and Sarra the good news.
When they reached the three animals, Daine was the first to gasp, followed shortly by a choking breath from Numair, and a gurgle from Kitten. Cloud, Spots, and Zek were covered in flies. The buzzing insects hovered menacingly over them crawled on them as they twitched helplessly. Cloud was the least hurt, with only a few scratched and cuts, except they were all severely infected. Spots had a broken hind leg and a nasty gash along his neck that was also infected, but Zek… Daine almost cried when she saw him.
Zek was curled up between the bulky bodies of the horses, his tiny body covered in blood. Daine saw a bone sticking out of his leg, the wound beyond festering. She tried to pick him up, but he snapped at her hand, dementia taking over his mind. She was content to stand above him and enter his mind, but Numair stopped her before she did.
"Daine, don't! You can't save him, it's over. Don't hurt yourself trying to save a lost cause!" Numair held her close, but she pushed him away.
"Numair Salamalin, you listen to me. There is no way, in all Chaos' realm, that you will stop me from saving this creature. You could tie me up, knock me out… Hell, you might as well kill me because I might end up dead anyway, but I will never leave an animal without at least trying!" She breathed heavily as she finished her debate.
Numair backed down, knowing what that kind of talk led to: more yelling and often times, bruises.
"So it's settled," Daine nodded triumphantly. She walked back over to Zek and stood above him. She closed her eyes and lost herself in concentration. She opened her eyes again, and found that night had settled over them. Numair dozed by a tree with Kitten in his lap. Her clothes were soaked, only not with rainwater anymore. Zek was out cold, but he was relatively healed. Only a few scars remained on his tiny body.
Daine, who felt as though she would never walk again, shuffled over to Spots. He healed quickly, so she moved to Cloud who looked at her pleadingly.
Maybe you shouldn't, she said, her mind voice shaking. Maybe we should just go, and I'll get help back at Tortall. Don't waste yourself on me. Come on, I'll be okay.
The girl shook her head. "I'm only going to do a little bit, just to…." She yawned. "Take the edge off."
The horse whinnied, but half nodded in submission. Daine took some of the pain off of Cloud's wounds before crawling back to the tree with Numair and Kitten to sleep away her exhaustion.
Authors Note: okay, it's going on 11:00 at night, and I am up finishing this story all for by best friend and worst critic, Sirena. (hey, I just might explain that one day. Ask me after break or something). So, as I finish, I just want to say that it has been so great hearing what all of you think, and I hope this last chapter will make you a little happier with me. BTW, this is the last chapter, but I have to write an epilogue before I abandon this completely. Thanks.
*Kyla*