Chapter 5: Eye of the Storm

Eyes still blazing gold fire, Ozorne threw his head back and let out a victorious cry. Prince Deniau smiled self-importantly at the Chaos crystal he gripped in his hand, relishing the feeling of so much power at his disposal. Rain suddenly began to pour down from the blood colored sky, and Numair gathered his unconscious student into his arms and shakily rose to a standing position.

Ozorne's head suddenly snapped forward and his lips curled in a sneer as he regarded his former friend. Still fancy yourself her knight in shining armor, Arram? he asked. Go. Get out of here. Go play nursemaid to your baby and enjoy the eye of the storm. Go now, because I guarantee you, my friend, when we next meet... you will not walk away.

At this unexpected statement, Deniau glanced sharply at Ozorne, noting the stormwing's accelerated breath and his too-pale coloring. Realizing that even in Numair's weakened state and using his borrowed Chaos power he couldn't stand against the Black Robe alone, the prince held the glowing crystal to his heart with one hand and grabbed Ozorne's shoulder with the other. His angry amber eyes glared at the mage for a moment, and then snapped shut. The prince and the stormwing vanished into thin air, leaving Numair standing in the rain.

Too drained to dwell much on the past few hours, Numair looked down at Daine's wet face and realized that they needed to find shelter immediately.

Holding the young woman tightly to his chest, Numair began to run back the way he came. When he reached the rock formations he'd seen earlier that day, Numair looked around desperately, and through the downpour he finally spotted the mouth of a cave. Praying that the cave was not already inhabited by some large human-eating animal, Numair entered the cave to find it blissfully dry and unoccupied.

He sat down against the smooth stone of the cave's wall and settled Daine onto his lap. The slight rise and fall of her chest told him that he'd not lost her to the Black God yet, and Numair began to rub her cold limbs, trying to restart blood circulation and wake her up. He removed her boots, and rubbed her icy feet and toes, desperately trying to warm them. His hands ran over her arms and shoulders, attempting to draw the chill from her.

Numair's eyes unconsciously filled with tears as he spoke to her in a shaky voice. Daine, Daine. Oh Daine, sweetling please wake up. Please. I need you here. I need you with me. He pulled her cold torso flush against his, wrapping his arms around her and rocking back and forth. The tears began to fall as he cried out in anguish. Magelet- Daine, please! Mithros, why? Why isn't she waking up? Daine! Oh Goddess, Daine!

Daine suddenly found herself crashing back to reality. She began coughing violently and Numair gasped in intense relief as her eyes fluttered open and she pulled back to look at him. she choked out, Numair, what's happened?

With tears of joy falling freely, Numair reached out and gently smoothed her tangled hair away from her confused face. I thought you'd left me, sweet. he whispered hoarsely. I thought I'd lost you. Too exhausted to mask his true emotion behind a mask of platonic affection, Daine's breath caught in her throat as she looked at the vulnerability in Numair's eyes.

Memories flooded the girl's mind. Images of her friend and teacher. Of the black hawk she'd nursed, and of the absentminded academic who ruined fine clothes to sit on the ground and watch meteor showers. She thought of the hollowness she'd felt when she believed him dead in Carthak, and of the worry that racked her when he left for Port Legann. Daine smiled softly as the mysteries of her heart opened up into her consciousness.

She lifted a hand to her friend's face and he closed his eyes as her fingers gently traced his features. Her fingertips brushed his forehead and eyelids, they followed the line of his long nose down to his mouth. She raised her other hand and brushed his wet hair back, running her palms down from his temples to his cheeks and eventually his neck.

Numair all but stopped breathing when he felt her soft lips press tenderly against his forehead. She stroked his cheeks with shaking fingertips and bent her head to tentatively kiss his mouth.

Heat flared where their lips touched, and for a moment neither dared to move, each fearing that they would at any moment awaken to reality.

Pulling back slightly to look at his reaction, Daine smiled to see his eyes remained closed and that he seemed to be holding his breath. At the sudden loss of her warmth, Numair opened his eyes and was greeted by his love's flushed face.

Feeling as if in a dream, Numair closed the space between them, gently brushing her lips with his. Daine pressed closer against his chest, twisting in his lap to wrap her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. Their mouths slowly opened to one another and fire rushed though Numair's body as Daine's impossibly soft tongue caressed his own. Numair's large hands slid down her back to encircle her waist, his thumbs tracing small circles on her hips.

Finally remembering their need for oxygen, they regretfully disengaged their lips. Still wanting contact, each pressed against the other's forehead; her arms encircled his neck and his wrapped around her waist. As chill air blew in from the mouth of the cave, turning the pair's rain soaked clothes uncomfortably cold, they began to shiver and remembered where they were.

Lifting her in his arms, Numair stood and made way for the back of the cave. Black light sparkled at a spot on the ground and then flared up into a campfire. After setting Daine gently on the floor near the heat source, the mage began to search his pockets for a scrap or two of food. Upon finding half a roll and some fruit (the remainder of his breakfast) tied up in a handkerchief, Numair sat down next to the young woman and handed her the food.

Daine caught his eye as his hand touched hers, and when he turned to look away, she grabbed his hand, pressing it to her heart. Peculiarly enough, the gentle throb of her heartbeat calmed him, and he entwined his fingers with hers.

He glanced down at the girl's still shivering form. Oh, Daine. You're hurt. Gentle hands lifted her arms to better see the deep marks left by the stormwings' talons. Her beautiful face was marred by a harsh-looking scratch that ran from her temple to her collarbone, and her breeches were ripped in several places, exposing miscellaneous cuts and bruises.

Daine stilled his concerned hands and turned his body to view the gash Ozorne's wing had made on Numair's upper arm, and the painful-looking burns the Chaos bindings left on his wrists and forearms. Tearing a strip of fabric from the edge of her shirt, she began to wrap the wounds in white muslin.

A small crack in the rock allowed fresh rainwater to drip through the cave's ceiling and pool in a groove on the floor. Tearing a strip from his own shirt, Numair dipped it in the clear water and began to carefully clean the cut trailing down his magelet's face.

As the heat from the fire dried their clothes, Daine and Numair stopped shivering, though they stayed wrapped in one another's arms long after they had finished tending to their injuries. The rain showed no signs of letting up, so the pair laid down by the fire to sleep. Numair used his slowly returning Gift to enchant the stone they lay on to radiate soft heat, trying to make the surroundings as comfortable as possible for Daine. Snuggling against his firm chest, Daine fitted her face against the curve of his neck and entangled her legs with Numair's longer ones. His arms held her securely in her position against his chest, and he leaned his cheek against her smoky brown curls.

Daine's breathing slowed as she dropped off to sleep in the mage's embrace. Neither one had mentioned a word about the cruel circumstances that lead them to this intimate position. Neither wanted to. She shuddered as she remembered the dying horses and Stefan's sacrifice. She said a silent prayer to the Mother Goddess to watch over her departed friend. The horror will still exist tomorrow, Daine thought as she softly kissed Numair's Adam's apple. Tomorrow we will face it together.

Numair's arms tightened around the girl's warm form as her eyes closed. There was so much to say, so much to work out. The raider attacks on Tortall had not stopped. Ozorne's appearance guaranteed much suffering. The immortals' release would certainly prove devastating, and he had no idea how the Goddess of Chaos fit into the equation.

Then there was Daine. He loved her. He always had. But would that suffice? Could he chance throwing away three years of trust and friendship for feelings he wasn't sure she truly reciprocated?

His thoughts were interrupted when Daine sighed against his skin and time slowed to a halt. As far as Numair Samalin was concerned, all that existed for the next eight hours was the sleeping girl he held close during the eye of the storm.