A/N: So sorry this is late! But I had a load of other priorities. And I have no school today due to snow, so I decided to finish this up. Again I will try to better with updating, but I have midterms in less than a week. So don't expect one until somewhre near Christmas.
Thanks: I would like to thank all my reviewers. Although I would like to thank each of you individually, I have decided that you guys would rather get on the story, so thanks to all. Although just for everyone to know, I am letting the story flow without a definite central pair.
~Achaia Athenae
*[In the Previous Chapter]*
"Daine!!" Numair yelled behind her. But Daine did not look back.
*[Present Chapter]*
Daine just kept on running, ignoring Numair's voice from behind her. Her thoughts were scattered as she wildly searched for some way to get to the deck below.
Kaddar, you can't die! Not now! Daine thought to herself. Not now!
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Daine, why are you doing this? Numair thought sadly. Why think of him when you have me? Numair just watched with worry and anticipation as he saw his Daine's shape dart around the burning boat, looking for something.
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"Calm down, please!" Kaddar looked all around him. Free blacks, free worried blacks were all shivering with fear, a fear of death. Below deck, it was smoky; the fire was gaining on them. Everyone down below was trying to cover his or her faces from the smoke.
He could leave them all here if he wanted to, but that would mean that he considered them slaves, and that was not what he wanted to show them. They were his people, and by Mithros, he will save them all, even if it meant an early death for him, but at least he would die knowing that he saved his people cause he loved them, not because he thought only of their labor.
As he mulled over his thoughts, the sound of feet thumping above deck, spurned him away from his dire thoughts.
"Excuse me, hello?" Kaddar called, while at the same time knocking on the ceiling. "Can you hear me? Anyone up there!"
When the free blacks below deck saw what their lord and ruler was doing, they joined in the noisemaking, in hopes that someone would find them. When all joined in the knocking, it kept their minds off their dire situation, for the time being at least.
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Daine, who was wandering the deck restlessly, did not observe all the noisemaking beneath her feet, for she was too deep in worry and she thought all the racket was just her heart beating in her head. But as the pain in her head started to subside, she took notice that there was still some sort of noise still going on. Creeping across the floor with her head bent to the wooden deck of the boat, Daine attempted to figure out the source of the sound. Taking a glimpse toward the burning end of the boat, she saw that she didn't have much time to lose. Crawling along the deck, Daine knocked against the wood until her knuckles started to hurt that she had to substitute to using her palms, but she relentlessly continued.
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But down below…
"Your Imperial Majesty!" cried a slave, "we won't be saved, for it is too late!"
Kaddar looked to where the slave was pointing. And sure enough, the blazes were closing in on them. And in no time, would their dead bodies be found, burnt and scorched. The storeroom where they were all huddled in was starting to become an oven. Praying to the Graveyard Hag, the patron goddess of Carthak, Kaddar begged her to save him from this inferno. For he did not want to die, not now, nor any sooner, no matter what dangers he would go through, he swore to himself that he would live until he breathed his last dying breath. He could hear the sounds of coughing around him; his people were dying of the heat. Please goddess, send someone to find us! And with that last plead, his own body hit the ground.
**********
Daine jumped up with a jolt. Kaddar was near death; she could feel it. Somewhere he was dying. Dying because she can't him. If only I had something that was of his…Wait a minute! Rushing to where the dais stood, Daine grabbed the golden cloak that lay there.
It had been left there because Kaddar thought it was too burdensome to wear, and left it there for the servants to later pick it up. Dropping the cloak on the deck next to herself, Daine closed her eyes and thought of the Long Lake wolf back home in Tortall. She felt the bones in her body began to shape to that of a wolf.
Opening her eyes, Daine saw no color, only black and white and the shades of gray, she felt proud because she was in the shape of her canine brothers and sisters from home. She walked gingerly, careful not to step too hard on her paws, because the pads on her paws were still tender because she had been out this shape for too long, and she hadn't toughened them up enough to the point in which they won't start to be hurting.
Giving a wolfish shrug, Daine took a few sniffs of the cloak to get a scent of Kaddar, which would help her find him. Her nose found his scent to be musky, salty, along with a smell of soap and sweat, which surprisingly, was pleasing to her. Creeping across the deck, her head bent to the ground, Daine searched for the Emperor, for he was her friend. Her nose shifted through the different scents as she searched. The smoke was starting to make her vision hazy, but the wolf-Daine, trudged on, undaunted by the hindrance.
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Numair just watched with horror as he looked at the burning ship from his own little safety boat, that was only a few meters away, waiting for the Emperor to appear, but it seemed like an eternity. And he felt his heart squeeze because his worry was increasing as he saw the red-orange flames leap out to other parts of the ship, so close to his Daine. No, wait a minute! Did she shapeshift? Squinting his eyes, Numair saw only one form on deck, and from his distance he could see it was that of a large canine. Maybe a wolf? He couldn't tell exactly what animal, but it gave him encouragement because he saw that his own little love was using her magic. Magic she gained from her father, Weiryn, the hunt god. Weiryn, give your daughter all that she needs to get through this! Numair begged as he just stared out to the boat.
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And as if in answer to Numair's plea:
The wolf-Daine, who had been wandering the deck, while at the same time, trying to avoid the leaping fingers of fire, caught a faint whiff of the scent she searched for. Joy and eagerness filled her with shimmering hope. Using the cloak she had been dragging with her, the wolf-Daine used it to mark the area where she had caught the scent. With her eyes, she quickly scanned the deck, noting item, which could be used to help her break through to the deck below, her eyes lit up, when she caught sight of a crowbar near one of the many boxes nearby.
Needing to change back into her human form, the wolf-Daine closed her eyes and thought of herself riding Cloud in the Royal Forest, laughing with the trainees during lunch and just enjoying life to the fullest. When she awoke from her daydream, Daine saw herself, naked, but otherwise in her right form. Ignoring her nudity, Daine ran to where the heavy crowbar lied, and heaved it to where the clock marked the area of where she sensed Kaddar's presence. Holding the bar, above her head, Daine slammed it back on the wood; she continued to that, but at the same time, she did not pay attention to the flames on the fire.
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Numair thanked Weiryn gratefully for showing Daine the way, but still there was still more danger to come. He watched as Daine hit the deck with the crowbar; he liked the way she looked, she looked like a warrior, a fighter. But as he admired the view, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the fiery mess, creeping around Daine until she was almost all surrounded by its all-consuming mass. It seemed too late now. It seemed death was impending upon her, and he could do nothing. Numair tried to get the picture of his Daine's body being buried in the ground, forever away from his touch, but it clouded him with unhappy grievances.
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Daine hammered at the deck, but it showed its resilience, it did not want to be broken through. At least, not yet. But as she continued, she felt herself getting overheated, as perspiration ran down her brow. Taking a quick peek around her, she almost jumped back, but it was the heat blazing behind her that hindered her from doing that. She was surrounded by fire on all sides.
A/N: Finally at a place I can stop at! What do you guys think so far. Any opinions on Tammy's new book Trickster's Choice? Tell me in your review for everyone to see.
~Achaia Athenae