Aether Winds

Chapter twenty-seven- The Escape

By- IceWind

A/N:

This is my first fanfic for The Protector of the Small books by Tamora Pierce. The names, places, things, ect, all are credited to her. The word Aether goes to Juliet E. McKenna, but the way I use it and the gem idea is all mine. This fanfic is set in an alternate universe. I.E: Joren is NOT dead, Cleon and Kel are not together (hehe), and other incidents that have I messed up on and don't feel like making it exactly like the book. Please REVIEW *grins* and as long as its not flames on how Kel and Cleon should be together or something of that trivial nature, flames are fine. This story is PG-13 for anything that might come up lol.

IceWind: *winces* Wow, who knew I could be so late with an update?

Raen: *twitches and growls at her*

IceWind: *giggles and backs away slowly before running off*

Keita: Your school is covered in cameras? *large sweatdrop* well, that probably sucks for you doesn't it? ^^; Eh, I'd let you destroy my school but you'll land in jail *pouts* Ah well, I rather have you alive and umm… happy, I guess *giggles*

DragonShimmer: -.-; You want Raen to have a mate? *pauses and smirks* I am not telling you a thing.

Krazy Kitty :P: No! They have a planet still! *large sweatdrop* They only used up a bit of the planets power to get there! ^^; Sorry I was so confusing. But they can't be traveling back and forth doing that all of the time, some serious repercussions might happen if they do.

Larzdinn: *pats your back* It's okay if you don't review once in a while. ^^; Just as long as you don't disappear completely on me. You are a procrastinator? Girl, (assuming that you are one) look at me and how late this chapter came out ^__^; Of course I can forgive you *huggies* Though I do believe that this chapter DOES have a cliffhanger… *coughs and hides*

Orange Blossom: *stares at you* Seriously? 4 hours? Hell of a long time… ^__^;;

Twitch: *smiles sheepishly and scuffs toe on ground* Nope, don't really have a good excuse… Just school and everything, I'm on my junior year in high school and god knows how hectic that time is.

Lady Sandrilene: Sorry I didn't reply to your e-mail *giggles nervously* But when I finally noticed that I had read it without replying it was a long time since you e-mailed me. *large sweatdrop and then sticks nose in air* I have an impressive imagination, thank you very much, *winks* I know lots of weapons and places where they could be hidden; my brain is just too dead to form a real reply right now.

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Damn them… Kel thought hollowly to herself as she dangled by her chains. She couldn't move much, her arms and wrists screamed with pain from the countless times she tried to see if she could break loose. Blood dripped slowly down her arms, her writs bleeding from the times she pulled so hard that she scrapped and cut herself on the manacles. Her weary eyes flicked around the small cave, she had long since tried to scream for help. That was fruitless, and all it did was cause the guards endless sorts of amusement by jeering at her and hitting her to shut her up.

There was also the fact that she couldn't scream anymore… a long torture session had taken care of that. It had been mostly mental, pain, so long drawn out and it wouldn't lessen at all… She had screamed so long, so hard, that she made herself hoarse. Now if she screamed it was in silence, striving to make sound yet unable to. Kel hung limply and panted softly, mind furiously working for ideas on how to get away.

Blood streamed from the small cuts that lined her body, lashes from the tip of a whip, each one a fierce and burning red. They didn't only do mental torture. But the physical part was only slight and she could mostly withstand it… even if it hurt like hell if they poured salt water into the wounds. At least she could see what they were doing, the mental torture was much worse…

The funny thing was that they left her face entirely untouched by the lash, mockingly they had told her it was to make her look 'pretty' for Radock. She didn't want to dwell on that thought, not at all. Suddenly Kel gave a hoarse snarl to herself and shook her head fiercely. All this brooding wasn't helping her escape now was it? Silently she thought over what she could do…

And suddenly she had it, a weak plan to be sure but one nevertheless. Kel closed her eyes briefly as she prayed to all of the gods that she knew that this would work and that she could join Raen and Joren… if she ever escaped. "Gods… please let this work…" she silently mouthed those words to the walls before she started to thrash.

~

Joren was pissed. Extremely and utterly pissed off at them all. Two weeks, two fucking weeks, and he still wasn't allowed to go after Kel, and no amount of threats he voiced seemed to sway any of them. Sure he had threatened that he would just disappear… but it seemed that he had more duties and responsibilities than he thought, and those fucking people made him feel guilty… and the hizars even made the cat feel guilty enough to stay as well!

He gave a fierce scowl at a passing servant and gave a dark smile when he heard her squeak and scurry away as quickly as she can. Though it made him feel a bit better, he couldn't help but continue brooding, to continue to think up ways to escape this place when it was obvious he still had his duties to attend to. He acknowledged Raen's presence with a brief nod towards the hizar who had emerged seemingly out of no where to silently pad at his side.

I cannot take this anymore, Joren

It was a sign of bad times when the cat actually resorted to using his first name, but he gave no indication of this, instead sneering. Joren cast an arm around and drawled out slowly, "What? This near imprisonment? The fact that we are watched like hawks by not only people, but the animals that Wild Mage volunteered? That we cannot go after Kel even though both of us are bonded to her? That for some reason I'm going slowly insane just because that… that girl is away?!" His voice rose drastically as he continued speaking, the last parts of his sentences were ended with an audible snarl.

Raen slowed down his padding before speeding up again until he was caught up with Joren, his mind-voice was tentative and soft, You miss Mistress, it is understandable. Any ideas on how to leave? Though it was a private mind link, the hizar still looked around suspiciously as if anyone could hear them and stop them from talking about it. Yes, he felt guilt over wanting to leave the others, but it was clear to him what was more important… for Kel was not only his bonded but his only family, unless you counted Joren of course, but the boy was clearly a wreck and tension just surrounded him. One wrong move and you'd probably be full of holes from ice shards.

An extremely sarcastic voice answered him, "And how would that be, hizar? We are both watched more than anyone else in this bloody castle… look at the mouse over there." Seeing Raen look towards where Joren spoke of, the boy sneered and threw a tiny bolt of ice at the little creature half-heartedly, ignoring the way the mouse darted away.

A worried voice permeated into his mind, That… was considerably weaker than I thought you would do in your state of mind. How are you feeling, Joren? Do not lie, I will detect it Raen flicked his ears worriedly towards Joren, a feeling of dread creeping up in the hizar.

A strange, slightly subdued voice answered him, "Tired, my heart strains, cat. Something is missing and it is rather obvious what that something is, but I can't do anything to fix it. I'm tired and I'm getting weaker for no apparent reason." Joren's hand crept up to the chain around his neck, fingering his gem with a slightly pensive expression.

By the seven gods… how could we forget?

That breathless whisper across Joren's mind caused him to jerk his head up and glare at the hizar. His hand clasped around the gem and he squeezed it, snapping out, "What do you mean, you 'forgot'? Forgot what?" Suddenly his gaze flickered to his hand and he released the gem with annoyance, instead using the hand to brush his hair back.

Raen froze in his movements, though this time Joren stopped as well. Dark blue eyes met lighter ones and the feline seemed to wince away, You are going to die if we do not get you to my Mistress He shifted his stance uncomfortably and stared fixedly at a nearby door. They didn't seem to realize… forgot understand, that you were bonded to my Mistress and can't be away from her for long. It's been alright so far, you both have plenty of magical power so that means you can separate from each other for longer periods of time. But… it's been a long time, my Mistress should be noticing some abnormalities with her regular strength, but it won't be as severe are the differences in you

Only a calm, collected voice answered him, "And why not?"

For some reason that frightened Raen more than any anger and he whimpered softly before replying, It should be obvious, but Mistress has more magical strength than you do and so it stands to reason that she should be able to last longer A thoughtful expression appeared in his dark blue eyes, Perhaps this will convince some that we are needed to go rescue Mistress?

A faint sneer appeared on Joren's face and he waved a hand around absentmindedly, "And if it doesn't work… well then, we're just going to have to break out of here aren't we?" He smirked slightly and walked down the hall towards the throne room, mind thinking up ways on how to word the fact that he and the cat would be leaving.

~

"What do you mean we still can't go?!" Joren exploded at the King, almost visibly snarling. His hands clenched tightly at his sides, ice blue eyes narrowed at Jonathon, ignoring the way Raen bristled angrily besides him. "Did you hear a blasted word I said? Pompous old…"

"That is enough!" Jonathon's voice was quick and sharp, "You are forgetting your place Joren of Stone Mountain." Faint reproach and anger appeared in his eyes, "You are not allowed to go. The battles have already started, we need all the knights that we have, and there is already have a plan to get Sir Mindelan free."

Joren gave the king a glare but backed down, visibly trying to get his anger under control, before finally biting out, "What plan?"

Besides him, Raen looked at Jonathon with a condescending air, as if he wouldn't listen to the man no matter what he may say. The hizar started to pace by Joren's side, back and forth, audible growls coming from his muzzle as his tail lashed behind him viciously.

A small smile curved on Jonathon's face, and he raised a brow slightly, "Do you think that you are the only ones concerned about our errant knight? I assure you that both of you don't need to be on the mission to rescue her, you have my word on this." He reclined back slightly in his throne and spoke dismissively, "Trust me on this, I will not hear anymore on this subject."

A sneer flickered onto Joren's face and he murmured softly so that only Raen could hear him, "I do not trust, I only follow orders you bastard." Face set in a stone mask; he spoke again, "Any mission then?"

The king gave him a thin smile, "In fact, yes, I'm sending you both to the front lines, southwest of here, Fort Wyrln. Raoul is in command, you'll report to him. As you already know, the fighting has begun; we think that you will spend your time there better than here… Numair shall be there as well, heavy fighting has besieged the fort, and we cannot let them pass." A frown appeared and he leaned forward slightly, "Strange sorts of monsters have been attacking our forces as well, vicious things of all different kinds. Queen Arylanth insisted at being there… She says that those are beasts from the land they come from, she also thinks that the war will end there as well for some reason, what am I to argue with the Queen of Loryinthia?" A faintly bemused look flickered on his face at those words.

Suddenly Raen spoke up, stopping his pacing long enough to stare at the King directly in the eyes, his own dark blue ones cool and arrogant, I do not take orders from pitiful humans, what makes you think that I will go? Joren gave a secret smirk at the hizar's actions.

Jonathon frowned at Raen and spoke harshly, "I am the king of Tortall and unless you want to be exiled, I suggest that you abide from this kingdom's rules." His tone softened slightly and lowered, "You need not worry about your Mistress, she shall be taken care of and all will be well, but some of the hizars request your appearance for they think that you have more knowledge of things such as human wars."

The ebon fur rippled as Raen shifted slightly, eyes now betraying slight uncertainty, I… am not completely knowledgeable of this human kingdom, nor do I really care to learn. The only reason I am here is because of my Mistress Suddenly a hand passed through his fur and Raen looked up towards the solemn face Joren, listening intently as the boy began to speak.

"We will go to that fort."

Surprise appeared in the very lines of the hizar's body. Raen jerked his head slightly and gave Joren a startled look, What? Why? His body twisted deftly away from Joren's hands, an irate look rising in his dark blue eyes. I thought you cared for my Mistress! I thought--

He was abruptly cut off, "That's not it." Joren looked steadily at the hizar, ignoring the looks anyone might be giving them, "Arylanth thinks that the battle will end there for some reason, why? Think about it, cat, you can not be that much of an idiot, can you?" Seeing Raen's pensive look, he moved on smoothly, "While the elves are not omnipotent, they see more than one may think. Don't they have the psy elves too that are completely dedicated to try to puzzle out the future?"

His hand went to his gem and he tapped it lightly, letting Raen see the swirls of purple within it, "Don't forget that I'm of the psy element as well, though definitely not as skilled at reading the future as those elves… and they aren't as good as some may think. But I still have this feeling creeping up on me, and while we can't help Kel right now, we may as well be at the final battle. I have a feeling that she'll show up."

Raen gave him a searching look, before the creature suddenly dipped his finely shaped head in a slight nod and looked away towards the door, his body relaxing slightly, Then we should prepare, should we not, boy?

Joren smiled faintly and they both turned around to walk away when Jonathon suddenly called out to them.

"Wait."

They both turned towards the king once again, two pairs of inquiring eyes looking steadily at the Tortallan monarch as his silent consort who was sitting beside him.

"…Arylanth said that once you have made up your minds about going that I should tell you about Takeshi," Jonathon ignored the sudden growl that emitted from Raen's mouth, "She said that he'll be there, at Fort Wyrlan, he's one of the commanders of that 'Great Evil's force. Tell me, who is he? She wouldn't give me any specific details."

Raen answered for them both, his mind-voice flat, He's a murderer that must pay for his crimes, Takeshi is mine. Inform your troops if you must, human And then the knight and the hizar walked out of the room.

~

Kel panted softly, eyeing the key that lay at her feet with a sardonic smile. Rivulets of blood trailed down her massacred wrists, gushing a sickening dark red. To the side, a body seemed to have been thrown to the cave wall, his neck broken, face blue, signs of strangulation upon him. She breathed out softly, "What to do now…"

Killing the man had been the easy part, too bad she hadn't thought much beyond that move. Granted, she hadn't thought that it would be so easy taking him out. All she had to do was struggle and make a lot of noise, drawing the single guard inside, then she lifted her legs from the ground and wrapped them around his neck as he came closer. In doing so, she fractured a wrist and was currently bleeding to high hell, but she continued to strain weight upon her wrists until she was able to break his neck with rapid movements.

She was also lucky that when the man approached he thought it was because she needed to use a latrine and so had the key out of his hands… but luck wouldn't help her now, especially since she didn't know how to get the key off the floor and into her shackles.

Kel gave a soft growl and resisted the urge to kick the floor or wall, teeth biting into her lip as she tried to ignore the pain that screamed out of her wrists, the metal of the shackles really did damage them, especially since she put all of her weight on them. Suddenly she stopped moving and halted, sounds reaching her ears.

Is it Tonshi? Fear plagued her mind at the thought of the deranged god and she abruptly tried to press closer to the wall of the cave, never mind the fact that her back was already pushed up against it and that she had dearly wanted to get away from it before.

Suddenly, to her surprise, a red-tailed hawk winged into the cave, a soft screech emerging from its throat as it landed nearby. Kel started slightly when the face of the hawk changed shape until it formed human lips and actually spoke.

"Kel… there you are, I was getting rather frustrated with the search. I'll get you out…"

Kel suddenly spoke, her voice rough and harsh from the pain and the screaming, "Daine…? By the gods… how did you find me?" She felt her limbs relax, relief flickering in her hazel brown eyes as she stared at the eagle now-turned-girl.

Daine looked down at herself and blushed slightly, but then disregarded her nakedness with a dismissive look. She took the key from the floor and hurriedly made her way towards Kel, muttering to herself how freeing the girl was more important than any shyness she may have. Deftly she unlocked the shackles and gasped as she caught Kel before the girl fell onto the ground, laying her down easily, "Some rats told me where you were… had to bribe them, damned creatures, never could work with them." Her eyes flickered over Kel's form and rested on her wrists, "Kel… you're hurt."

A faint grin appeared on the Wild Mage's face as Kel muttered something about stating the obvious, and Daine quickly made Kel a rough sling, speaking rapidly, "I can't stay with you, Numair and the others need my help at Fort Wyrln and I can't take you along with me if I'm to go my fastest. You'll do fine; I know you will get out alright."

"Artic… do you know where she is?" Kel's raspy voice broke through Daine's ramblings as she tried to get to her feet, only swaying slightly in her attempt.

The Wild Mage looked at Kel closely and frowned, before nodding lightly, "Yes… she's near here, in one of the connecting caverns. I was going to leave her and let you get her… but it seems that you need my help." Daine frowned worriedly and passed a hurried hand through her hair, "Right then…" She sighed and looked down at her unclothed body with a slight grimace, "At least I know that there aren't any guards."

At Kel's inquiring look, Daine explained, "It's remarkably lax in security around here, though I believe it's because nobody is expected to find you. The rats told me that the humans thought that Arctic wouldn't try to do anything and so only left a guard for you… and the replacement guard should be coming soon, we ought to leave. I'm shifting into a cat form, and lead you from there." Suddenly the girl began to shrink down in size until she became a brown tabby with little white markings all over herself.

The cat shook herself and looked at Kel before starting to trot off in the direction of the horse.

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IceWind: -.-;; Sorry, terribly sorry. Well… *pause* at least we only have a couple more chapters left, less than five, more than one. ^^;

Raen: *sighs and rolls his eyes*

IceWind: *hits him on the head and continues on* I've been busy and after Aether, which I most definitely will finish by the way, even if it takes me another year (which I really don't hope it does), I'll probably take a break from writing Tamora Pierce fics… though I still have to work on my other ones. -.-; I don't think I'll take as long to complete my next update, but knowing me… *shrugs* Maybe, probably not.

Raen: *plops down on the ground and moans out* I'm going to be a old hizar before this is done.

IceWind: *giggles and pats his head* Maybe, but don't worry. *glances at readers* At least I haven't stopped right? *dodges flying objects and sweatdrops* ah well, until next time!

~

Facts:

Seibutsu Bond: A bond between a creature and a humanoid. It is less powerful then a life-bond yet it is strong none the less. The bonded can thought-speak to one another and they also feel the others emotions. If one of the bonded dies, the other feels a deep and wrenching pain in themselves, but they don't die also.

Seibutsu Items: These are the items that Raen and Kel got when the bonding was over. Kel had gotten a dagger and Raen a chain. If one of them breaks it symbolizes that one of the bonded has died.

Hizar: A highly intelligent species who are organized like wolf packs with a dominant male and female. All hizar are black and look like large cats, panther sized. They are lithe and graceful, all of them agile and fast. Each one has their own type of magic and that type, and power, is shown by the color of the gems on their forehead. When using their power the hizar's eyes turn that color. The types of gems are fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, ice, lightening, psy, and a silver unknown color. The alpha males must have the silver kinds of gems to lead; the alpha females can have any kind and are chosen by the males.

Jerogil: A type of creature in the world of Medea. They are usually peaceful animals and tend to stay away from others except their own kind. Their color range from black to a muddy gray and they have large eyes for seeing at night. Their tails are curved like a monkey's and can pick things up in that fashion. All over their body they have hard plates for armor, something not easily dented or broken through. Running along their backs is a series of sharp spikes.

Elves: They are tall human like creatures with pointed ears. They all live extremely long lives and each one has magic gems, such as the ones the hizars have, only their powers are stronger. They are a peace-loving race, but they will fight if they have to. They have one king and one queen, both who watch over their lands justly.

Soul Mates: Soul mates are extremely rare in any type of creature. Two people share one soul, literally. They can feel their beloved's emotions and in some occasions, talk to each other mind-to-mind. If one dies, the other dies also because half of their soul just died. You do not know you have a soul bond until you and another acknowledge your feelings for one another, you may go through your entire life without knowing that you have a soul bond. As soon as you acknowledge it, your souls connect and you cannot stay away from the other in a great distance for very long or else you get weak and might even die after an extended period.

Kalyrath Horses: These are extremely intelligent living beings with high stamina and running speed. These horses all have blue eyes, in varying shades, but it is all blue to symbol their purity. They chose their rider, and only one person is allowed to ride the kalyrath horse that is bonded to you unless you are soul mated to a person. Occasionally, there pops up a human/humanoid that can talk to their kalyrath horse, and the horse can talk to any of its kind up to a certain distance. Kalyrath horses are in-tune with their rider and it's rare for any none elf to bond with one since they usually only dwell in Elfin land. They are adept at fighting with their chosen and can be extremely protective depending upon their nature. It is said that they were a gift from the great mother goddess of the elves and they cannot be subvert by any dark magic for that reason.

Aether: The last element, the other nine elements are- fire, water, air, earth, psy, lightening, ice, dark and light. This element is the strongest by far and rare for hizars, extremely rare for elves. It controls all of the elements and its color is always silver for hizars and either a silver or white for elves. White is the most powerful, but none knows why. Aether is not an element known too much about, especially for the elves, all they could discern is that it has something to do with stars… The last elf to have this kind of gem died in a great battle, saving the world of Medea from certain doom.

Carzo: Vicious, mainly amphibious creatures that lived in the world of Medea before being brought to Tortall by the Great Evil -or Tonshi-. They are of a mottled green and blue color, with six yellow eyes. They stand at around a tigers' height at the shoulder with two tentacles on the side of their small and slightly blunt head. Carzo have long webbed feet -strangely able to run quickly still on land- and gill slits on the side of their body. It has a long, thin tail, sharp, which could cut through a multitude of things, the least of which is flesh. They have long, jagged, serrated teeth, made for tearing and ripping. They usually live in pods of about five, and they move so quickly together that it is hard to site one and focus upon it because it then drops back and blends back into the pod.

~

My e-mail address is flyby311@hotmail.com and put Aether Winds, so I know what the e-mail is about. Anything you want to add/criticize/comment/whatever you guys just review it… please? Thanks for listening to me ramble for that you get some snickers. *hands person some snickers*