Hey everybody! Here's the next chapter, so Enjoy!

Ch. 13

The next few days of trudging through the mud and grime were anything but enjoyable for Daine and Numair. Each night they would retire to their bedroll and fall right to sleep as their head hit their pillow, barely speaking a word to each other.

One particularly rainy day, the two decided to call quits earlier than usually. They rode their horses to the next empty clearing. Daine groaned, as they were getting ready to settle down that night. "How far are we now Numair?"

Numair glanced up and sighed. "Another good 5 days or so. The rain and mud has really slowed us down."

The young woman nodded as she groomed her horse, Cloud. Her cheeks burned as she noticed how Numair's hair looked cute all messy and wet. Even though her heart throbbed for Philip, she couldn't deny the growing attraction she had to Numair. 'Probably because he's been the only guy around me for 2 weeks!' she thought stubbornly. 'And once I see Philip again, I'll probably wonder what I ever saw in him in the first place!'

"Ok Magelet, supper's ready." The young mage informed interrupting her train of thought.

Daine looked down at the grub he handed her. "Yum . . .. Never had this before," she exclaimed sarcastically as she took a big bite of it and shuddered. She watched as her bowl began to fill with the rainwater that was now coming down hard. "Hey Numair, I'm going to finish this in my tent where it's nice and dry. I'll see you in the morning, ok?"

She got up to go when Numair grabbed her wrist. "Daine, wait."

She looked down at his hand in surprise. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to say . . ." he paused and cleared his throat. "Umm. . .I wanted to say . . I-I-I'll see you tomorrow . . .I guess."

"Ok . . ." Daine responded confused.

She stood there for a moment and Numair was beginning to wonder if something was wrong when he noticed her wrist was still in his hand. "Oh! Sorry!" he exclaimed letting go of it quickly.

Daine looked at him puzzled then turned and headed back to her tent wondering if that was what he was really going to say. She glanced back and blushed when she saw he was watching her go. His eyes met hers and they had a warmth in them that made her shiver involuntarily.

Once in her tent, Daine sat down on her bedroll and thought about her life as she ate. She thought about her parents, the battle she was heading towards, the Silent Stormers, Philip, Numair...really life was too short to take for granted, she decided. She could very will perish in this dreadful war as well as Numair, Alanna, or any of her other friends. Maybe she was thinking to hard or was just paranoid, but she couldn't help thinking that this time next year, someone will probably be dead. She was too busy thinking to hear the storm worsen outside. Booming thunder and bright lightning filled the sky. She was startled when she heard commotion outside.

"Daine! Come quick!" Numair shouted.

The young woman didn't stop to think. She hurriedly opened the tent flaps and ran to find Numair pointing at something. She looked high above her to see a tree cracked from lightning and was swaying dangerously above the horses.

"You have to warn them before it falls. I tried, but they wont budge," Numair yelled over the rain and thunder.

'Cloud! Natalia!' Daine quickly communicated. 'Can you hear me.'

'Yes miss,' the mare responded.

'You have to move quickly, a tree is about to fall!'

'But its warm and dry here!' Cloud neighed.

As she watched the tree sway dangerously about to topple over she panicked, 'It won't be anymore if you stand there. You have to move NOW!'

Surprised at the sudden change in the tone of her voice, the two horses bolted off deeper into the woods just as a tree fell right were they were standing. The result of the tree slamming into the ground made another unsteady tree fall, right on top of her and Numair's tents, smashing everything that was in it. Daine gasped in shock and ran to Numair frightened. Numair held her in his arms and shielded her from the increasing wind and rain. He had to take her somewhere safe! He searched the area and saw a ditch a few feet away.

The mage picked up Daine rapidly and cradled her in his arms as he rushed to the designated spot. Another tree fell from lightning a few feet away scaring the woman even more. She whimpered and Numair tightened his grip on her. Once he reached the safe zone, the two individuals huddled close to each other providing warmth and security.

'Mithros! This storm is insane!' Numair thought as he watched squirrels and other animals scamper away trying to find a safe place to hide.

They sat there for what seemed like hours when finally the storm let up. He loosened his grip on Daine and when they felt it was safe enough stood up and glanced at their surroundings. Their belongings were either soaked and ruined, or pinned beneath trees that had fallen. Daine worriedly thought about the two horses.

As if Numair could read her mind, he whispered, "They're fine. I bet they went and found some better place and are all warm and dry." He reached over and brushed a wet curl away from her face and then looked back at their stuff. "Well, it looks like we have a lot of work to do."

Daine nodded in agreement and the two headed out to salvage as much of their stuff as they could.

A few hours later, Numair and Daine rebuilt a fire and were warming up next to it. They were sitting next to each other on a wet log and talked. They talked mostly about her wild magic and the war. When the fire was burning low and the sky was pitch black, Daine let out a yawn and stood up. "I'm really tired Numair. I'm going to try to find somewhere dry to sleep."

Numair rose suddenly. "Wait!"

Daine glanced up and was surprised at how incredibly close his face was to hers. Their eyes connected and they stared each other for a moment not wanted to break eye contact.

"Magelet," he whispered and reached up to cradle her cheek.

She could feel the tingling of his breath on her face. She found it hard to breath. His thumb idly ran across her lips as to test them. He was going to kiss her! And oh did she want him to. The fire was crackling and the crickets were chirping as he leaned his face closer to hers. She closed her eyes and . . .Suddenly they heard a horse neigh as it came increasingly closer. In surprise, they jumped apart and looked through the clearing to see who the rider was. As the horse approached they saw a man with blonde hair and deep blue eyes look around. He grinned as he spotted them. His eyes settled intently on Daine and had a relieved expression on his face.

Daine recognized the rider immediately.

"Philip!"

A/N: Oh! Surprise, surprise! Philip has arrived! Yay! Anywho, its 1:45 in the morning and I'm T-I-R-E-D!!! Im gonna post this and go to bed! So now that u've read this, REVIEW please! Thanx!

Till next time,

*~*SportzGurl*~*