How It Might Have Been:
Chapter 1
The Mission, And A Shock
Disclaimer: sigh sadly, none of this is mine. It belongs to Ms. Pierce.
Rating: PG-13, I guess.
Author's Note: To understand this story, you should probably pretend you don't know anything about 'The Immortals', since the events are kind of random. That said, start reading!
Summary: What if Daine had stayed with the wolves without remembering she was human for a longer time? Say, years?
"So," Jonathan of Conte, King of Tortall, surveyed the two figures before him. "Thank you for coming at such a late hour. I called you here because Fort Dragonslayer has very important information. I need someone to go retrieve it."
Numair Salmalin stared at him for a moment. "Um... wouldn't it be more appropriate to have a messenger go and-"
Jonathan waved a hand. "The Fort insists that the information is extremely valuable. Lord Alun writes that he is afraid the enemy will intercept and kill a regular messenger. He says a trained mage is needed."
"But even so, he didn't say he needed the most powerful mage in Tortall, did he?" Onua Chamtong the horse mistress spoke. She and Numair were not exactly looking their best. Onua's hair was everywhere, pieces of straw tangled in some places. She had decided to sleep with the horses that night. Numair was in a similar state, minus the straw. Both of their clothes were wrinkled and loose, obviously put on hastily.
"No, he didn't. That was my decision." Jonathan looked serious. "It is possible that Fort Dragonslayer has been taken over by the enemy, and Lord Alun was forced to write this letter. He isn't the... strongest person I know, and he could be forced into it. The letter says nothing of the status of the fort. So if I am to send a mage, I want him to be able to take care of himself. Numair is the obvious choice." Jonathan suddenly grinned. "Then I remembered how horses usually react to him and I thought you, Onua, would be a good companion." Numair, embarrassed, looked at the floor. Onua laughed. "You're right, Jon. If Numair goes, I must go. And it sounds like fun."
"Oh, yes. Most fun." muttered Numair. He didn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night to be told he was needed as a messenger boy.
Jonathan spoke quietly. "Numair, it is as your friend I am requesting you do this. Not as your king."
Numair thought for a moment. Then he smiled. "Of course I'll go, Jon." Jonathan returned his smile. "Good. Then you best be off at once. Try to avoid people of your way, and you best be off at once." Onua grumbled something about wet nights. Numair sighed dramatically. "Really, Jon, what would you do without us?"
Numair and Onua returned to their rooms and got ready. They were off by dawn. They traveled as far as they could before the sun really rose, and then stopped. They could still see the castle in the not-so-distance.
Onua detected relief coming from Pinecone, Numair's mount, in waves when his rider dismounted. Tired? she asked in mind-speech.
Stork-man... sits... sack... potatoes. Onua smiled, understanding the horse's meaning. Her wild magic with horses was limited. She could understand about half of their words. Emotions communicated to her easier. Later, she would remind Numair to sit straighter.
At dusk, Onua and Numair mounted up and rode again. They stopped at dawn and rested until nightfall. They continued like this for ten days. On the third, the castle disappeared entirely from view.
At dusk on the tenth day, Numair wearily rose and shook Onua. "Come on. Let's go." Onua, grumbling, got up and saddled the horses while Numair packed everything up. He left Onua to take care of the remains of her wards. This was their unspoken agreement.
Each of the had two horses. They alternated using them every other night. Onua had given Numair the mildest she cold find, as well as the biggest. He had Pinecone and Fairheart, and she had Rage and Sunflower. Tonight, Rage and Fairheart were being ridden. The others trailed behind.
To avoid a large village, the riders were forced to travel through a forest. The horses were nervous. They had to be coaxed to enter. They're smarter than us if we chose to go through here, Numair thought ruefully. It seemed just like any other woodland at first glance, but there was strange something about it. It felt like maybe something didn't belong. Numair soon began to think he was more frightened than even Rage, who was very skittish about anything he couldn't see. He would relish a charge at a fire-breathing dragon, but would be terrified to enter the sleeping dragon's lair.
They were traveling for quite some time when suddenly a rabbit broke for cover almost on top of Fairheart's foot. She reared in fright, almost throwing Numair, before streaking off into the trees.
Fairheart! Stop! cried Onua. But Fairheart had unintentionally created a fear-woven barrier in her mind that blocked out thought and hearing. She tore through the forest, eyes rolling madly. Numair somehow managed to stay on. He tried desperately to coax the dashing horse to a halt , but nothing worked.
Pinecone! Sunflower! Rage! After them! Onua yelled the words out loud as well as in her mind. The horses raced along the trail. Onua was too panicky to remember which way they went.
Numair suddenly thought of something. My gift! How could I be such an idiot?
He concentrated, and black fire wove in and out of his fingers. He sent the fire toward the horse's legs, slowly. If he threw his power there all at once, the horse would stop suddenly and throw him. Without Fairheart's consent, her legs began to slow down. Terrified, she threw her strength into her legs to make them move. Numair, worried the mare would hurt herself, sent the fire faster. In a few seconds the horse was still.
Numair dismounted quickly and stroked the horse's neck, trying to calm her, but the horse was even more spooked then before. She tried desperately to move, flailing from side to side. Numair didn't know what to do. If he lifted the spell, the horse would split and he would have to catch her somehow. If he didn't, Fairheart would break her neck or burst some vital organ or something and Onua would never forgive him.
Fortunately, Numair was saved from making the decision by the arrival of Onua. She charged up the path on Rage, followed by Pinecone and Sunflower.
"Numair, what did you do?!?" Without waiting for an answer, she practically dove of Rage and ran to Fairheart, scolding all the while.
"You probably used some idiotic spell to get her to stop, and you probably aimed it only at her legs instead of all of her so she could break her neck or burst some vital organ or something-"
Onua's voice died to a mutter as she tried to scold Numair and soothe the horse at the same time. Numair sighed in relief.
What's wrong? asked Onua silently. Fairheart's barrier had broken down when she had stopped running.
...legs... paralyzed... Onua sighed in despair at Numair's predictability and soothed the horse. Then she turned to Numair. "Lift that curse."
"But-" Onua glared at him. He hastened to obey. Black fire swirled around the mare's legs, then disappeared. She whinnied in relief and trotted around in a circle. The other horses went to make sure she was okay.
Dawn was beginning to light the sky.
Onua sighed and sat down. Numair imitated her. They rested for a long moment. Then Numair said, "Any idea where we are?" Onua suddenly stood up and looked around. The horses had moved. The grass which had flattened from all the pounding hooves had righted itself. Every tree looked the same.
Onua groaned and sank back to the grass. "Great. Now we're lost."
Numair sighed. He was too exhausted from traveling all night and the chase to use his gift to trace their path. Onua silently asked the horses. Any idea where we are?
We... in the forest. said Sunflower as though it were obvious.
Which way is the way we were traveling? Onua tried again.
We traveled... way we... Rage spoke now.
Could you answer that again, please?
... traveled any way... wanted. Rage repeated.
Onua sighed. "They don't understand the question."
Numair thought for a moment. "Well, we are too tired to do anything about it now anyway. Even if we did figure out the direction we came from and where we had to go, the horses couldn't carry us. We need to sleep. In the morning I can use my gift to figure out the way."
Onua nodded. "You're right. Let's set up," Then she grinned jokingly. "How 'bout you scout the area as a hawk?"
The sun had almost risen properly by the time the wards were set and the fire was going. Then the two exhausted mages collapsed underneath their blankets.
When Numair awoke, light was just beginning to touch the horizon. He frowned still befuddled by sleep. If I went to sleep after the sun rose, how can I wake at dawn? he asked himself. Then he began to think more clearly and realized he must have slept through the night. He sat up, and looked to the other side of the fire to see if Onua was awake. She wasn't.
Numair rose quietly, careful not to make too much noise. He stretched. He then felt the need to relieve himself. If he was lucky, on the way he would find a stream to bathe in and drink from. He walked to the edge of the encampment and spoke the password to the wards. He walked through and stretched again, blinking in the brightening light. The he briskly began to walk.
He relieved himself a little ways away from the camp. Then he continued on, until his water search turning into more of a pleasure walk. The forest seemed a lot more inviting in the light of day. The green leaves shone yellow in the light, and little pools of sunshine appeared where there were gaps in the trees.
He was just about to give up and turn back when he came to a clearing. The sunshine poured in, and he squinted in the light. When he got used to it, he saw a pond near the center of the clearing. Cattails grew along the edges, and lush grass poked up everywhere.
Numair smiled. Perfect. The horses could graze here, and it was perfect for a bath. The water looked clean enough, and he could purify it with his gift anyway. Still grinning, Numair went to get a drink. Pushing through cattails, he came to the water. It sparkled clear blue, reflecting the cloudless sky. Cupping the liquid into his hands, he whispered the spell to purify it. Now any water he picked up in the next hour would be clean.
Things were going too well. Later, Numair thought he should have guessed something bad was going to happen. It was just his luck.
At the opposite end of the pond, he spied some strawberries. His mouth watered just looking at them and he realized how hungry he was. So he started off toward them. He kept quiet, because it seemed a nasty thing to disturb the peace.
When he reached the strawberries, he was just about to pick one when he saw something through the cattail wall. He peered through, and jumped at what he saw. A pack of wolves was dozing at the other side of the wall. He knew it was pure luck that they hadn't scented him yet and that he was upwind. That could change any minute. He wasn't sure if the wolves would chase him, but there was no point disturbing them. Plus he wasn't exactly in the mood for running or fighting. He was just creeping away when a wolf rolled over in its sleep, and Numair got the shock of his life. A completely naked, wild looking girl was sleeping with the wolves.