Disclaimer: I don't own Valdemar, and I never will own Valdemar.
That's about the it.
She
It wouldn't stop. Louisville Sluggers descended on her from every direction, only stopping to get back into the air and fall down again. Pain enveloped every inch of her body. She had only defended her best friend and now she was getting beaten to death. Suddenly one of the famous baseball bats hit her in the back of the head and she only saw the blissful darkness.
She opened her eyes. Am I dead? Maybe this is heaven. It's to beautiful to be hell. The young woman, who was sixteen years old, examined what she could while she was lying on her back, not daring to move a muscle, lest her state of no pain be broken. There were many trees. Beautiful, large, magnificent trees. Tree's that would have been wonderful to climb. There was also a large field; a field that was so enormous it could have been the size of one of the Great Lakes. This has to be heaven. Only heaven could be this perfect. But as she thought this something caught her eye. Apparently the field wasn't empty. There were many blazing white horses there as well. Death isn't so bad after all.
She stayed there, in the long grass under the trees, for many hours. Eventually she concluded that it was time to test her muscles and see if she was really dead; if there was pain then she couldn't be dead. She mentally activated the muscles in her right arm and then tested. There was no pain. Yep, I'm dead.
She brought her other muscles back to life and pulled herself into a sitting position, only to find herself face-to-face with one of the white horses. Beautiful would never be a sufficient enough word to describe the animal. It had impossibly blue eyes, and a coat that was whiter that a fresh snow fall and refulgent in every way. An angel. This must be an angel. As the girl stared for a few moments more she felt like crying. Just seeing this beauty was worth dying a million times over.
:Hello, childling,: a voice said inside her head. :My name is Gillyan, and I choose you.:
The young woman caught her breath. At first she wasn't sure she knew what the horse--- no, Companion--- was talking about, but the feeling that followed the words told her all she needed to know. She would never be lonely again. Ever.
:Come, dearling. You will now become a Herald, one of the protectors of Valdemar.: Said the Companion, and led the girl towards the great Collegium, where she would learn to become a protector of this place called 'Valdemar'. Maybe it's another name for Heaven. Maybe it means I'm going to be a Guardian Angel, or something.
And so this young woman's adventure began.
"Me?" she asked.
Kerowyn, the combat trainer, nodded. "Yes, you would be perfect for the job. You are the best fighter I've ever trained; you'd be the perfect assassin for Valdemar."
She thought this over for a while, twisting and turning it in her mind. It's true; I would be best suited as an assassin/spy. Fighting and killing is easily what I'm best at. But. I don't know if I'd be able to deal with it.
Kero seemed to be reading her mind. "I know it sounds difficult, but I believe it's what you would be best at and happiest doing. You'd feel useless if you were riding circuits, you know that because of your internship, and you hate politics so you wouldn't be a good ambassador. And we also need a good fighter and spy in the empire so we know what's going on. You're the best. I believe this is something you should do.
She thought it over a moment more, then came to her decision. "Alright. You are right. It's what I'd be happiest doing. When do I start?"
Kero smiled and nodded. "You will be leaving tomorrow. You will be stationed in the Empire's capital for three years and we will send someone, most likely a Skybolt, to you monthly with orders and to bring your reports back to Haven. Any questions?"
"No ma'am."
She crouched back in her hiding place, which happened to be a broken down ventilation system in the old palace of the Emperor. But when the emperor was killed most of the palace got left in ruins. It was very unpleasant, but she had no choice but to stay there. Her newest target, one of the nobles of the Empire was having a 'secret' meeting there that night. She planned to listen to what they were talking about then kill them all; well, maybe not all of them but she would at least kill the target.
After half a candlemark of waiting in the little crammed space, people began to arrive. Eventually there were ten men at the meeting, her target among them.
One of the men stepped before all the rest and began speaking, "good evening, my fellow noblemen. I have called you all here because I have a proposition for you. Because of the recent murder of Augustus II the man Claudius has been asked to replace him. Our plans and ideal government are falling. This 'Shadow stalker' assassin is obviously working for someone who's against us. Many of the followers of our faction have already been murdered. To be exact, twenty three in the past year and a half. What I suggest is that we hire an assassin of our own and have them kill Claudius and the other replacements that follow Claudius, then put our own men back in power. We can not let this power switch go on! We must act."
Some of the men began nodding their agreement. Her target, Nero, stepped forward and spoke to the first speaker, "I agree with you. We should get rid of them all!"
She felt rage begin to boil in her stomach. How dare they plot to kill the men I've put into power. How dare they try to reduce the Empire that is being rebuilt to ruin again. How dare they hurt innocent people so they can have power? Her rage was becoming so strong that it was hard to control. I must get rid of them all! I won't let them ruin what I've built!
She pulled a knife from her belt and began fidgeting with it. They will all die. And with that though she burst out of her hiding spot and slit the throat of the man she landed closest to. Then she turned to the others, who were staring at her in horror.
"Who are you?!?" yelled the leader. "What are you doing here?!"
She smiled; a smile that showed a horrible pleasure. "I am the Shadow Stalker." She grinned when they all shrank back a little bit. "I am an assassin from Valdemar, and now I'm going to kill you all so you can't tell my secret." With that she held her knife up to her face and concentrated on it, and then envisioned it in the leader's chest. In an instant that was where the dagger was and the leader fell, dead, to the ground.
With another wrench of her mind she had the dagger in the throat of her target. Then it hit another, and another, and another. Six down, four to go. And all the Heralds thought you couldn't do this with a Fetching gift.
Now the other members began to realize what was happening, because the other five had died in a matter of seconds, and began to run. It was clear that they were running as fast as they could; like the devil himself was after them, which in a sense was true.
She sent knives into two of them, snapped the neck of the fourth, and now all that was left was one, fat, little man. She had him in a corner and was closing in on him, her bloody knife back in her hand.
This man had tears streaming down his cheeks. "Why are you doing this?" he sputtered.
"To make this Hell into a Heaven." And she brought the knife down into his chest. The body slumped down, dead.
:Well done, Chosen." Said Gillyan.
:You have a guest coming. It's a Herald.: Gillyan told her Herald.
:That's strange. They've never sent a Herald to give me orders before. Usually it's one of Kero's Skybolts. I wonder what's going on.: This really did puzzle her, it had to be a very important assignment if a Herald was being sent to deliver the message.
It had been two nights since her encounter with Nero and the other opposers and she was still tired. Her living quarters were also a mess. I'd better clean up a bit. This would probably make a normal Herald want to vomit. And so she got to work. Picking up the dirty clothing and putting it in a bath to wash, then making her bed, and finally picking up other random items while she was sweeping.
:Your guest is here.:
:Alright. Do you know who it is?:
:His name is Delian. He graduated when we left Haven. He should be about your age. He's on his way up.:
She sighed and opened the door. Standing there was a young man with tan skin, black hair, and deep blue eyes. He has to be at least part Shin'a'in. She had never really been attracted to anybody; man or woman, but she was definitely attracted to him. What's wrong with me, I haven't even spoken to him yet, how could I be attracted to him already. Wait! This is me! I haven't even lost my virginity! This is crazy!
She looked up and saw that he was staring at her curiously. She blushed, and said hurriedly, "I'm sorry. Please forgive my rudeness. Come in."
He smiled and slowly walked in; letting the saddle packs he was carrying on one shoulder slide down into his hand. Once he was inside she quickly closed the door.
For a while he just stood there, looking around the room. The silence was making her a little bit uncomfortable so she asked, "err. excuse me, but why did Haven send a Herald to give me orders?'
Delian looked very uncomfortable, "well. ah. err. they believe that you need. well protection.or more that you need someone to keep you from overdoing things, and they want me to learn how you use your Fetching gift. They say that you use it in a very unique way and that it helps with your missions. although I really don't see how it could be useful, but that's what I'm going to learn."
She just stood there and stared at him. Okay, let's think this over rationally. AHHH!!!! THIS PISSES ME OFF!!! No. Just calm down. at least they sent me a good looking guy.WAIT!!!!! I'm not supposed to have those kinds of thoughts! This is so irritating! Damn hormones! Humph. He doesn't see how Fetching can be beneficial. well, I suppose most people don't use the gift the way I do. I suppose it could be fun to have a partner.
"Alright," she said, taking a deep breath. "Maybe we should sleep, and talk about the orders in the morning. Okay?"
He smiled and nodded. She turned away and led him into the next room, noticing that her cheeks felt oddly warm.
She woke up early. So early that as she looked at her partner, who was sleeping on the bed while she slept on the floor, was still fast asleep. She got up silently and left the quarters to go find some breakfast. After searching for a few moments she found the small stand near the inn that sold plain bagels and purchased two of them then made her way back to the inn.
When she got into the room Delian was sitting on a couch reading the report she had just written about her most recent assignment. She set the bagel down on the table in front of him and sat down opposite him, nibbling on her bagel.
"So," he eventually said, "this is how you use your Fetching gift? You Fetch a knife into the person? Very interesting."
"Well, knives work the best, but if you want a bloodless death then you can use rocks."
"Rocks?"
She smiled, "if you have a decent sized rock, about half the size of the fist or bigger, then you could Fetch the rock into your target. Preferably into the heart so you could kill them immediately. It actually works really well."
"Oh," was all he said before he picked up his bagel and began eating.
The silence between them seemed to be lasting forever, so finally, after she couldn't bear it anymore, she asked, "so, what's our next assignment?"
"We're going to kill a mage," he said, looking grateful for the change of subject. "We're going to have to go to the capital."
"Oh, a mage? That should be fun. But the capital is about. say one hundred miles from here, so that will take about a week, give or take a day, to get there. Hmm. it seems like the two of us working together now is a good plan after all. With the both of us attacking the mage at the same time he won't be able to block the both of us, so it shouldn't be too difficult."
"Well, from what I've heard, he's an adept mage so it won't be that easy. But I'd say it's a fairly good plan."
"Alright. When do you think we should leave?"
"Today."
"That was not so fun," she said, clutching her bleeding side and arm. The two Heralds had arrived in the capital on time and begun the attack on time but it wasn't as easy as they would have hoped. They'd come in, one on each side, but the mage didn't concentrate on just one of them but knocked one out of the air and then the other. But eventually they got around his magical attacks and killed him.
Now one day after they fled the capital, they were camping in a small patch of forest, and unfortunately both of them were badly wounded. She had already tended to Delian's wounds but now he had to tend to hers. This made her a little uncomfortable.
"Okay, give me your arm," he said.
She reluctantly picked up her left arm and put it in his waiting hands. They were very warm hands and they moved smoothly over her injured arm. In what seemed like no time he was finished.
Then he said, "now, lift up the tunic so I can wrap up that wound."
She looked up at him in an alarmed way, and felt a blush rise in her cheeks. "I can do that one."
He gave her a stern look, "lift up the tunic so I can wrap up that wound."
"But."
"Now."
She grudgingly lifted up the ragged shirt. He smiled warmly when she did this and began putting anti-infectant herbs on it before he wrapped it in a clean white bandage.
"There," he said when he was finished. "That wasn't so bad was it?"
She felt herself blushing uncontrollably again, and looked away. "Thank you."
"Err. no problem," he said awkwardly.
His voice surprised her causing her to look at him again. Amazingly he was looking away and blushing also.
"Um, you've heard the stories about lifebonded people right? Well, honestly I've never felt any sort of loving emotion for anybody, excluding my family, but for some reason when I look at you my heart begins to pound. Sometimes it even hurts. I really don't understand it, but I thought the lifebonded thing was a possibility. What do you think?" he asked.
She really couldn't think of anything to say so she just sat there, staring at him. What should I say? I'm unfortunately, not as forward as he is and I have a hard time telling anybody anything, how am I going to tell him that I feel the same way? Well. I do have that little smidge of Empathy.
However her thoughts were interrupted when he said, "I understand," and got up to go to his tent.
Oh no. "Wait!" she yelled and as he turned around she took her little bit of Empathy and sent her feelings towards him. "Please stay?"
"As you wish."
They'd been partners for two years now and had just gotten recalled to Haven. "How long has it been since you were there?" Delian asked one morning as they were riding.
"Hmm. well I guess it's been about three and a half years. It feels awkward to be going back after all this time."
:Humph, maybe for you Chosen, but I for one am quite happy to be going back. It's hard, living in horse stalls for three and a half years, and not very pleasant. It'll be nice to be in an open field again with all my friends.: When she said this, Gillyan almost seemed like she was in a fantasy.
The blissful mood around them and the fact that they weren't keeping any kind of guard is what prevented them from seeing the danger that was coming. And when they finally did sense the danger it was too late.
The small army, of approximately one hundred men leapt out of the trees on both sides of the riders and descended on them quickly. There wasn't much time for them to react. Both pulled the knives at their belts and Fetched them into the closest targets, then moved on. Many men fell but there were still too many for them to handle.
She felt her anger boil up within her and she slipped out two throwing knives from their hidden sheaths hidden up her sleeves and Fetched them into more of her targets. Now more of them were falling but more were still coming, but she knew that fighting with three knives wasn't enough so she pulled out two more that were hidden in her boots and let those fly too. Now she was controlling five knives at once; something that was not very easy. It was causing her great strain, she could feel all her muscles tighten up; she had never used her Fetching to this extent.
Amazingly though, men were dropping like flies and it seemed like the two Heralds would live to see Haven again after all. But that thought came too soon because a moment later she felt a horrible pain in her back and felt the hot blood soaking into her shirt. So it's my time to die. but with that thought many memories came back. Many things that she had forgotten. This isn't Heaven after all then. oh well. at least I found him. I wonder how mom and dad are. then she felt the darkness take her over again, but heard one finale thought that came from her beloved Delian, :I love you.: And then she knew no more.
"Her eye twitched! I saw it!" yelled someone who was standing close to her.
What? Where am I? Why do I hurt so much? I wonder if I'm actually dead this time. Then she recognized the voice that had yelled a few moments ago. Dana; her older sister.
"What is it Dana?" asked a voice she didn't recognize.
"Her eye twitched! Like she was about to wake up or something!" yelled the frantic sister.
"I'm sorry, Dear, but the likelihood of your sister ever coming out of that coma is next to none. Maybe you should just go home."
"No! She'll wake up! I know she will!"
The doctor seemed to be loosing patience, "I'm sorry, but it's not very likely."
Uhg. I suppose I should open my eyes. it's been so long since I've seen my sister. but my eyelids feel so heavy. wake up, Eli! That did it. The thought of her name, the name she had forgotten, made her pull her eyes open. Her sister was sitting next to her bed, crying. Eli lifted up her hand and touched Dana's hand, softly. Dana stopped crying immediately, and looked at her. She stared and stared and stared, but eventually burst into tears, sobbing, "I knew you'd wake up!"
Eli's waking up shocked just about everybody.
Later in the day when she was alone with her sister again, she asked, "How long was I in the coma?"
"Two weeks," she said.
"Oh, not very long then," Eli replied, but then it all slapped her in the face and she began crying. Dana threw her arms around her and asked what was wrong but Eli couldn't speak. It was all a dream! A dream! No!!! How could it be a dream? No! Gillyan, Kero, and Delian were all a dream?
She
It wouldn't stop. Louisville Sluggers descended on her from every direction, only stopping to get back into the air and fall down again. Pain enveloped every inch of her body. She had only defended her best friend and now she was getting beaten to death. Suddenly one of the famous baseball bats hit her in the back of the head and she only saw the blissful darkness.
She opened her eyes. Am I dead? Maybe this is heaven. It's to beautiful to be hell. The young woman, who was sixteen years old, examined what she could while she was lying on her back, not daring to move a muscle, lest her state of no pain be broken. There were many trees. Beautiful, large, magnificent trees. Tree's that would have been wonderful to climb. There was also a large field; a field that was so enormous it could have been the size of one of the Great Lakes. This has to be heaven. Only heaven could be this perfect. But as she thought this something caught her eye. Apparently the field wasn't empty. There were many blazing white horses there as well. Death isn't so bad after all.
She stayed there, in the long grass under the trees, for many hours. Eventually she concluded that it was time to test her muscles and see if she was really dead; if there was pain then she couldn't be dead. She mentally activated the muscles in her right arm and then tested. There was no pain. Yep, I'm dead.
She brought her other muscles back to life and pulled herself into a sitting position, only to find herself face-to-face with one of the white horses. Beautiful would never be a sufficient enough word to describe the animal. It had impossibly blue eyes, and a coat that was whiter that a fresh snow fall and refulgent in every way. An angel. This must be an angel. As the girl stared for a few moments more she felt like crying. Just seeing this beauty was worth dying a million times over.
:Hello, childling,: a voice said inside her head. :My name is Gillyan, and I choose you.:
The young woman caught her breath. At first she wasn't sure she knew what the horse--- no, Companion--- was talking about, but the feeling that followed the words told her all she needed to know. She would never be lonely again. Ever.
:Come, dearling. You will now become a Herald, one of the protectors of Valdemar.: Said the Companion, and led the girl towards the great Collegium, where she would learn to become a protector of this place called 'Valdemar'. Maybe it's another name for Heaven. Maybe it means I'm going to be a Guardian Angel, or something.
And so this young woman's adventure began.
"Me?" she asked.
Kerowyn, the combat trainer, nodded. "Yes, you would be perfect for the job. You are the best fighter I've ever trained; you'd be the perfect assassin for Valdemar."
She thought this over for a while, twisting and turning it in her mind. It's true; I would be best suited as an assassin/spy. Fighting and killing is easily what I'm best at. But. I don't know if I'd be able to deal with it.
Kero seemed to be reading her mind. "I know it sounds difficult, but I believe it's what you would be best at and happiest doing. You'd feel useless if you were riding circuits, you know that because of your internship, and you hate politics so you wouldn't be a good ambassador. And we also need a good fighter and spy in the empire so we know what's going on. You're the best. I believe this is something you should do.
She thought it over a moment more, then came to her decision. "Alright. You are right. It's what I'd be happiest doing. When do I start?"
Kero smiled and nodded. "You will be leaving tomorrow. You will be stationed in the Empire's capital for three years and we will send someone, most likely a Skybolt, to you monthly with orders and to bring your reports back to Haven. Any questions?"
"No ma'am."
She crouched back in her hiding place, which happened to be a broken down ventilation system in the old palace of the Emperor. But when the emperor was killed most of the palace got left in ruins. It was very unpleasant, but she had no choice but to stay there. Her newest target, one of the nobles of the Empire was having a 'secret' meeting there that night. She planned to listen to what they were talking about then kill them all; well, maybe not all of them but she would at least kill the target.
After half a candlemark of waiting in the little crammed space, people began to arrive. Eventually there were ten men at the meeting, her target among them.
One of the men stepped before all the rest and began speaking, "good evening, my fellow noblemen. I have called you all here because I have a proposition for you. Because of the recent murder of Augustus II the man Claudius has been asked to replace him. Our plans and ideal government are falling. This 'Shadow stalker' assassin is obviously working for someone who's against us. Many of the followers of our faction have already been murdered. To be exact, twenty three in the past year and a half. What I suggest is that we hire an assassin of our own and have them kill Claudius and the other replacements that follow Claudius, then put our own men back in power. We can not let this power switch go on! We must act."
Some of the men began nodding their agreement. Her target, Nero, stepped forward and spoke to the first speaker, "I agree with you. We should get rid of them all!"
She felt rage begin to boil in her stomach. How dare they plot to kill the men I've put into power. How dare they try to reduce the Empire that is being rebuilt to ruin again. How dare they hurt innocent people so they can have power? Her rage was becoming so strong that it was hard to control. I must get rid of them all! I won't let them ruin what I've built!
She pulled a knife from her belt and began fidgeting with it. They will all die. And with that though she burst out of her hiding spot and slit the throat of the man she landed closest to. Then she turned to the others, who were staring at her in horror.
"Who are you?!?" yelled the leader. "What are you doing here?!"
She smiled; a smile that showed a horrible pleasure. "I am the Shadow Stalker." She grinned when they all shrank back a little bit. "I am an assassin from Valdemar, and now I'm going to kill you all so you can't tell my secret." With that she held her knife up to her face and concentrated on it, and then envisioned it in the leader's chest. In an instant that was where the dagger was and the leader fell, dead, to the ground.
With another wrench of her mind she had the dagger in the throat of her target. Then it hit another, and another, and another. Six down, four to go. And all the Heralds thought you couldn't do this with a Fetching gift.
Now the other members began to realize what was happening, because the other five had died in a matter of seconds, and began to run. It was clear that they were running as fast as they could; like the devil himself was after them, which in a sense was true.
She sent knives into two of them, snapped the neck of the fourth, and now all that was left was one, fat, little man. She had him in a corner and was closing in on him, her bloody knife back in her hand.
This man had tears streaming down his cheeks. "Why are you doing this?" he sputtered.
"To make this Hell into a Heaven." And she brought the knife down into his chest. The body slumped down, dead.
:Well done, Chosen." Said Gillyan.
:You have a guest coming. It's a Herald.: Gillyan told her Herald.
:That's strange. They've never sent a Herald to give me orders before. Usually it's one of Kero's Skybolts. I wonder what's going on.: This really did puzzle her, it had to be a very important assignment if a Herald was being sent to deliver the message.
It had been two nights since her encounter with Nero and the other opposers and she was still tired. Her living quarters were also a mess. I'd better clean up a bit. This would probably make a normal Herald want to vomit. And so she got to work. Picking up the dirty clothing and putting it in a bath to wash, then making her bed, and finally picking up other random items while she was sweeping.
:Your guest is here.:
:Alright. Do you know who it is?:
:His name is Delian. He graduated when we left Haven. He should be about your age. He's on his way up.:
She sighed and opened the door. Standing there was a young man with tan skin, black hair, and deep blue eyes. He has to be at least part Shin'a'in. She had never really been attracted to anybody; man or woman, but she was definitely attracted to him. What's wrong with me, I haven't even spoken to him yet, how could I be attracted to him already. Wait! This is me! I haven't even lost my virginity! This is crazy!
She looked up and saw that he was staring at her curiously. She blushed, and said hurriedly, "I'm sorry. Please forgive my rudeness. Come in."
He smiled and slowly walked in; letting the saddle packs he was carrying on one shoulder slide down into his hand. Once he was inside she quickly closed the door.
For a while he just stood there, looking around the room. The silence was making her a little bit uncomfortable so she asked, "err. excuse me, but why did Haven send a Herald to give me orders?'
Delian looked very uncomfortable, "well. ah. err. they believe that you need. well protection.or more that you need someone to keep you from overdoing things, and they want me to learn how you use your Fetching gift. They say that you use it in a very unique way and that it helps with your missions. although I really don't see how it could be useful, but that's what I'm going to learn."
She just stood there and stared at him. Okay, let's think this over rationally. AHHH!!!! THIS PISSES ME OFF!!! No. Just calm down. at least they sent me a good looking guy.WAIT!!!!! I'm not supposed to have those kinds of thoughts! This is so irritating! Damn hormones! Humph. He doesn't see how Fetching can be beneficial. well, I suppose most people don't use the gift the way I do. I suppose it could be fun to have a partner.
"Alright," she said, taking a deep breath. "Maybe we should sleep, and talk about the orders in the morning. Okay?"
He smiled and nodded. She turned away and led him into the next room, noticing that her cheeks felt oddly warm.
She woke up early. So early that as she looked at her partner, who was sleeping on the bed while she slept on the floor, was still fast asleep. She got up silently and left the quarters to go find some breakfast. After searching for a few moments she found the small stand near the inn that sold plain bagels and purchased two of them then made her way back to the inn.
When she got into the room Delian was sitting on a couch reading the report she had just written about her most recent assignment. She set the bagel down on the table in front of him and sat down opposite him, nibbling on her bagel.
"So," he eventually said, "this is how you use your Fetching gift? You Fetch a knife into the person? Very interesting."
"Well, knives work the best, but if you want a bloodless death then you can use rocks."
"Rocks?"
She smiled, "if you have a decent sized rock, about half the size of the fist or bigger, then you could Fetch the rock into your target. Preferably into the heart so you could kill them immediately. It actually works really well."
"Oh," was all he said before he picked up his bagel and began eating.
The silence between them seemed to be lasting forever, so finally, after she couldn't bear it anymore, she asked, "so, what's our next assignment?"
"We're going to kill a mage," he said, looking grateful for the change of subject. "We're going to have to go to the capital."
"Oh, a mage? That should be fun. But the capital is about. say one hundred miles from here, so that will take about a week, give or take a day, to get there. Hmm. it seems like the two of us working together now is a good plan after all. With the both of us attacking the mage at the same time he won't be able to block the both of us, so it shouldn't be too difficult."
"Well, from what I've heard, he's an adept mage so it won't be that easy. But I'd say it's a fairly good plan."
"Alright. When do you think we should leave?"
"Today."
"That was not so fun," she said, clutching her bleeding side and arm. The two Heralds had arrived in the capital on time and begun the attack on time but it wasn't as easy as they would have hoped. They'd come in, one on each side, but the mage didn't concentrate on just one of them but knocked one out of the air and then the other. But eventually they got around his magical attacks and killed him.
Now one day after they fled the capital, they were camping in a small patch of forest, and unfortunately both of them were badly wounded. She had already tended to Delian's wounds but now he had to tend to hers. This made her a little uncomfortable.
"Okay, give me your arm," he said.
She reluctantly picked up her left arm and put it in his waiting hands. They were very warm hands and they moved smoothly over her injured arm. In what seemed like no time he was finished.
Then he said, "now, lift up the tunic so I can wrap up that wound."
She looked up at him in an alarmed way, and felt a blush rise in her cheeks. "I can do that one."
He gave her a stern look, "lift up the tunic so I can wrap up that wound."
"But."
"Now."
She grudgingly lifted up the ragged shirt. He smiled warmly when she did this and began putting anti-infectant herbs on it before he wrapped it in a clean white bandage.
"There," he said when he was finished. "That wasn't so bad was it?"
She felt herself blushing uncontrollably again, and looked away. "Thank you."
"Err. no problem," he said awkwardly.
His voice surprised her causing her to look at him again. Amazingly he was looking away and blushing also.
"Um, you've heard the stories about lifebonded people right? Well, honestly I've never felt any sort of loving emotion for anybody, excluding my family, but for some reason when I look at you my heart begins to pound. Sometimes it even hurts. I really don't understand it, but I thought the lifebonded thing was a possibility. What do you think?" he asked.
She really couldn't think of anything to say so she just sat there, staring at him. What should I say? I'm unfortunately, not as forward as he is and I have a hard time telling anybody anything, how am I going to tell him that I feel the same way? Well. I do have that little smidge of Empathy.
However her thoughts were interrupted when he said, "I understand," and got up to go to his tent.
Oh no. "Wait!" she yelled and as he turned around she took her little bit of Empathy and sent her feelings towards him. "Please stay?"
"As you wish."
They'd been partners for two years now and had just gotten recalled to Haven. "How long has it been since you were there?" Delian asked one morning as they were riding.
"Hmm. well I guess it's been about three and a half years. It feels awkward to be going back after all this time."
:Humph, maybe for you Chosen, but I for one am quite happy to be going back. It's hard, living in horse stalls for three and a half years, and not very pleasant. It'll be nice to be in an open field again with all my friends.: When she said this, Gillyan almost seemed like she was in a fantasy.
The blissful mood around them and the fact that they weren't keeping any kind of guard is what prevented them from seeing the danger that was coming. And when they finally did sense the danger it was too late.
The small army, of approximately one hundred men leapt out of the trees on both sides of the riders and descended on them quickly. There wasn't much time for them to react. Both pulled the knives at their belts and Fetched them into the closest targets, then moved on. Many men fell but there were still too many for them to handle.
She felt her anger boil up within her and she slipped out two throwing knives from their hidden sheaths hidden up her sleeves and Fetched them into more of her targets. Now more of them were falling but more were still coming, but she knew that fighting with three knives wasn't enough so she pulled out two more that were hidden in her boots and let those fly too. Now she was controlling five knives at once; something that was not very easy. It was causing her great strain, she could feel all her muscles tighten up; she had never used her Fetching to this extent.
Amazingly though, men were dropping like flies and it seemed like the two Heralds would live to see Haven again after all. But that thought came too soon because a moment later she felt a horrible pain in her back and felt the hot blood soaking into her shirt. So it's my time to die. but with that thought many memories came back. Many things that she had forgotten. This isn't Heaven after all then. oh well. at least I found him. I wonder how mom and dad are. then she felt the darkness take her over again, but heard one finale thought that came from her beloved Delian, :I love you.: And then she knew no more.
"Her eye twitched! I saw it!" yelled someone who was standing close to her.
What? Where am I? Why do I hurt so much? I wonder if I'm actually dead this time. Then she recognized the voice that had yelled a few moments ago. Dana; her older sister.
"What is it Dana?" asked a voice she didn't recognize.
"Her eye twitched! Like she was about to wake up or something!" yelled the frantic sister.
"I'm sorry, Dear, but the likelihood of your sister ever coming out of that coma is next to none. Maybe you should just go home."
"No! She'll wake up! I know she will!"
The doctor seemed to be loosing patience, "I'm sorry, but it's not very likely."
Uhg. I suppose I should open my eyes. it's been so long since I've seen my sister. but my eyelids feel so heavy. wake up, Eli! That did it. The thought of her name, the name she had forgotten, made her pull her eyes open. Her sister was sitting next to her bed, crying. Eli lifted up her hand and touched Dana's hand, softly. Dana stopped crying immediately, and looked at her. She stared and stared and stared, but eventually burst into tears, sobbing, "I knew you'd wake up!"
Eli's waking up shocked just about everybody.
Later in the day when she was alone with her sister again, she asked, "How long was I in the coma?"
"Two weeks," she said.
"Oh, not very long then," Eli replied, but then it all slapped her in the face and she began crying. Dana threw her arms around her and asked what was wrong but Eli couldn't speak. It was all a dream! A dream! No!!! How could it be a dream? No! Gillyan, Kero, and Delian were all a dream?