Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the world this is aiming to be set in.
And I'm sorry for any floofs along the way! I do own Darla though. ^___^
**********
Darla hadn't felt like herself for almost a week. Her head felt stuffed full of cotton balls, her ears rang, her sight blurred and focused randomly; and she could almost swear she heard voices even though there was no one else in the room with her. Her mother had said it would pass, her father had told her to toughen up. Her boss had told her to go home, rest, and indulge herself til she felt better. So far, 'indulge herself' had included lots of ice cream and books as far as the eye could see. Which was exactly how Darla liked her days to pass. Music playing softly as backdrops to her most beloved books. Each time she drifted to sleep, the music would follow her into her dreams and she'd be fighting Leareth alongside Vanyel, or learning magic with Firesong, Darkwind, and Elspeth, or she'd be dancing around the Valdemaran court with some refined gentleman, or helping Kiesha with some herbal brew.
But her mother had hinted that she'd felt like this before, in her childhood and that maybe a doctor should look her at. Darla had shrugged her off, if she had lived through it in years past, she could live through it again now. So far she was fine except for her symptoms but those too were diminishing, not that it really mattered to Darla.
******
Darla yawned through her sleepiness. She had slept for most of the day and now the sun was slinking gently up her bed. At the moment it was warming her stomach contentedly. But Darla couldn't explain the strange lethargy she felt, like someone was siphoning off her energy to some no- place. She blinked at the dust motes dancing in front of her eyes, yawning hugely again. She gazed at a spot of sun on the wall through half-lidded eyes. She could almost make out a person standing in the shaft of sunlight. Weird, she thought to herself as she stretched slightly, indulging in another yawn. When she looked back at the wall, the impression of someone standing there looking back at her was almost palpable.
Almost like someone is really there. Darla turned over, feeling thoroughly empty. Her eyes drifted shut of their own accord and soon she felt herself falling into the dark arms of sleep.
******
She was floating, in a sea of darkness, her body was weightless and she was disembodied from her thoughts. Then she felt something pulling at her, forcing her closer to a feeling so cold that it burned.
What is this? Her mind blanched. Where am I? What's happening to me?
::You are awake now, little one.:: There was a chuckle somewhere nearby.
Who is that? She tried to turn to find the voice but there was nothing to turn. Where in hell am I?
::You are on the bridge.:: The voice chuckled again. Suddenly there was some sense of solidarity returning. Darla gingerly moved a body she was sure wasn't actually hers.
::Oh, it's yours little one.:: came the amused voice again. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder. at least, what she believed to be her shoulder, she was still mostly topsy-turvy and turned around since the darkness still surrounded her. She tried to call out into the dark but no sound passed her lips.
Back to thinking then. She mused to herself.
::Yes, it's the only way for now.:: he said again, Darla had determined it was a 'he' by the deep baritone of the voice. ::Would you like some more familiar terrain?:: he asked mockingly.
If you would be so kind, she retorted just before gravity grabbed her and pushed the floor up at her from nowhere.
"Happy now?" he asked her. Darla looked up to find a gorgeous man looking down at her with amusement clearly sparkling in his deep emerald eyes.
"Unbearably," she remarked crossly as she stood up, slightly annoyed that he hadn't offered her a hand. "What do you want from me? Better yet, who in hell are you?"
"Not hell."
"Huh?" Darla looked him like he'd lost his mind.
"I'm not from hell," he said blankly.
"OK, then do you mind telling me who you are?"
"The Shadow-Lover," he shrugged.
"Um.Who's that?" she blinked.
"Death." Darla gasped and crossed herself as she backed hurriedly away. "Oh, knock it off."
"What do you want from me?" she demanded sharply.
"To tell you something."
"Something not good I bet!" The Shadow-Lover sighed, rolling his eyes.heavenward?
"Just calm down." Darla protested and Death's patience ran thin. "Sit!" he roared.
Darla sat down bonelessly, staring up at him shocked. "That's better. Now, first off, you aren't technically dead. At least, not yet you aren't."
"Not yet?" she interrupted.
"It's too complicated for me to just explain randomly, you wouldn't understand and that's not the point-"
"Try me," Darla growled, crossing her arms determined.
"Fine. There's a mage out somewhere that managed to find you and tap your power, thinking you were an energy node," the Shadow-Lover lowered himself across from her.
"Wha-wait a minute? He thought I was an energy node?" she asked incredulously.
Death nodded, replying "An energy node is an-"
"Uh-as surprising as this may seem to you, I, uh, I-I-I already know what an energy node is," she stammered, much to his surprise.
"Fine then you understand how they work as well?"
"Vaguely."
"Vaguely will do for now."
"Now, how did he mistake me for one?" she demanded.
"Well, you are a power-lode of sorts." She favored him with a blank look. "Let me try again. You see, you have a great potential for magic but you haven't ever actually used any. However due to the.magnitude of your abilities, you just naturally attract magic flows to you. Even here, on the bridge where magic is supposed to be null, you have at least one or two lines with you."
"Wow."
"Tell us about it," he muttered.
Us? She wondered silently. The Shadow-Lover gave her a strange look.
"First thing's first. We have to teach you to shield, you are a terribly strong projector."
"Sorry," she said a little off-guard.
Death taught her how to shield her thoughts then ran her through the exercise twice more before setting her on her own and then testing the shields himself. When he was satisfied, Darla had to breathe heavily and felt like she'd just taken a brisk walk.
"Make sure you don't do too much, and make sure to eat and rest after you do each exercise or whatever. Magic can take a lot out of even the best of us," the Shadow-Lover admonished. Darla nodded distractedly at him before taking a last deep breath and meeting his sea-green gaze.
"You said something earlier about my not being dead yet," she prompted.
"Oh, yes. That. Well, the thing is, this mage doesn't know what he was doing and he didn't mean to drain you but the thing is he did. Now understand, out there you will probably die. There's no chance that anyone could get to you in time and you don't have the training to reach a true energy line much less a node to retrieve the energy yourself. Even now, he's still draining your body out there."
Darla regarded the Shadow-Lover thoughtfully. "So why am I here?"
"Because you'll probably die, but you're too strong a mage for Fate to just let go of. You still have jobs to do. So we're giving you a new life.Sort of."
"A new life, sort of?" Darla echoed.
"Well, things would be kind of-" Darla glared at him. "OK, fine, they would very different from what you know."
"And let me guess, it's either that, or death right?" He at least had the decency to flush like a child caught in the act of stealing cookies before dinner. "That's not much of a choice you know?"
"I know, but it's the best we could get you at such short notice. We hadn't planned anything for at least four, five, maybe six years."
"Uh-huh." Darla closed her eyes and contemplated the situation, not that there was much to think about. "Fine. I'll play your little game, but dammit, you better not pull any tricks!"
"Tricks?"
"Yeah, like tossing me in a lake or making me just fall out of the sky or something." Death regarded her with a politically blank face. "Fine, I'll take that as a 'Yes'. Let's get on with this then."
"Then I suggest you shut your eyes."
Darla barely had the chance to do that before the 'ground' was yanked out from under her and she felt that strange, half-surreal out-of-body experience thing again. She almost thought she heard Death calling "Good Luck."
***********
Firesong reached again for the node. He had been more than a little surprised at such a large node gathering in what seemed like mere hours to him. It certainly hadn't been there the weak before; at least, it hadn't been so close to the surface a week ago. A week ago it had just been there, but he hadn't been able to reach it, nor had it appeared large enough to warrant the reach for it. Now he just had to reach a slight "hand" for it and energy, pure and distinctly tinged with warmth and, Firesong could almost swear, a feminine feel to it.
The Healer-Adept shrugged and went back to his spell crafting. His project for the morning was creating a searching spell under the watchful gaze of a still lounging lover, Silverfox. This one was to search out a Herald and her trainee who had gotten lost somewhere just north of the Vale. They'd gotten steered off-track by a spell from an outland mage.
Firesong stopped, as there was a disturbance near the node. He began tracing the disturbance until he realized what it was. The node was shifting, in point of fact it was moving towards them! Firesong moved quickly to cut the tie to the node and hoping that it would move away. He sent out another test only to find himself still firmly linked to the node but there was no power moving down the line either way and the node had slowed it's progress.
"Ashke, I think we might have a problem," the Adept turned to the k'Leshyan kestra-chern.
*********
She was moving. Quickly towards some point east of her, she was flying it seemed. Miles seemed to move past like inches. Then she slowed and the miles became feet, then yards in passing. She would have watched the passing scenery but its colors were harsh and they blurred together to produce a blinding headache. She tentatively wondered where she was headed and sensed the male presence that was pulling her along. How much longer is this trip? she wondered.
**********
Darla hadn't felt like herself for almost a week. Her head felt stuffed full of cotton balls, her ears rang, her sight blurred and focused randomly; and she could almost swear she heard voices even though there was no one else in the room with her. Her mother had said it would pass, her father had told her to toughen up. Her boss had told her to go home, rest, and indulge herself til she felt better. So far, 'indulge herself' had included lots of ice cream and books as far as the eye could see. Which was exactly how Darla liked her days to pass. Music playing softly as backdrops to her most beloved books. Each time she drifted to sleep, the music would follow her into her dreams and she'd be fighting Leareth alongside Vanyel, or learning magic with Firesong, Darkwind, and Elspeth, or she'd be dancing around the Valdemaran court with some refined gentleman, or helping Kiesha with some herbal brew.
But her mother had hinted that she'd felt like this before, in her childhood and that maybe a doctor should look her at. Darla had shrugged her off, if she had lived through it in years past, she could live through it again now. So far she was fine except for her symptoms but those too were diminishing, not that it really mattered to Darla.
******
Darla yawned through her sleepiness. She had slept for most of the day and now the sun was slinking gently up her bed. At the moment it was warming her stomach contentedly. But Darla couldn't explain the strange lethargy she felt, like someone was siphoning off her energy to some no- place. She blinked at the dust motes dancing in front of her eyes, yawning hugely again. She gazed at a spot of sun on the wall through half-lidded eyes. She could almost make out a person standing in the shaft of sunlight. Weird, she thought to herself as she stretched slightly, indulging in another yawn. When she looked back at the wall, the impression of someone standing there looking back at her was almost palpable.
Almost like someone is really there. Darla turned over, feeling thoroughly empty. Her eyes drifted shut of their own accord and soon she felt herself falling into the dark arms of sleep.
******
She was floating, in a sea of darkness, her body was weightless and she was disembodied from her thoughts. Then she felt something pulling at her, forcing her closer to a feeling so cold that it burned.
What is this? Her mind blanched. Where am I? What's happening to me?
::You are awake now, little one.:: There was a chuckle somewhere nearby.
Who is that? She tried to turn to find the voice but there was nothing to turn. Where in hell am I?
::You are on the bridge.:: The voice chuckled again. Suddenly there was some sense of solidarity returning. Darla gingerly moved a body she was sure wasn't actually hers.
::Oh, it's yours little one.:: came the amused voice again. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder. at least, what she believed to be her shoulder, she was still mostly topsy-turvy and turned around since the darkness still surrounded her. She tried to call out into the dark but no sound passed her lips.
Back to thinking then. She mused to herself.
::Yes, it's the only way for now.:: he said again, Darla had determined it was a 'he' by the deep baritone of the voice. ::Would you like some more familiar terrain?:: he asked mockingly.
If you would be so kind, she retorted just before gravity grabbed her and pushed the floor up at her from nowhere.
"Happy now?" he asked her. Darla looked up to find a gorgeous man looking down at her with amusement clearly sparkling in his deep emerald eyes.
"Unbearably," she remarked crossly as she stood up, slightly annoyed that he hadn't offered her a hand. "What do you want from me? Better yet, who in hell are you?"
"Not hell."
"Huh?" Darla looked him like he'd lost his mind.
"I'm not from hell," he said blankly.
"OK, then do you mind telling me who you are?"
"The Shadow-Lover," he shrugged.
"Um.Who's that?" she blinked.
"Death." Darla gasped and crossed herself as she backed hurriedly away. "Oh, knock it off."
"What do you want from me?" she demanded sharply.
"To tell you something."
"Something not good I bet!" The Shadow-Lover sighed, rolling his eyes.heavenward?
"Just calm down." Darla protested and Death's patience ran thin. "Sit!" he roared.
Darla sat down bonelessly, staring up at him shocked. "That's better. Now, first off, you aren't technically dead. At least, not yet you aren't."
"Not yet?" she interrupted.
"It's too complicated for me to just explain randomly, you wouldn't understand and that's not the point-"
"Try me," Darla growled, crossing her arms determined.
"Fine. There's a mage out somewhere that managed to find you and tap your power, thinking you were an energy node," the Shadow-Lover lowered himself across from her.
"Wha-wait a minute? He thought I was an energy node?" she asked incredulously.
Death nodded, replying "An energy node is an-"
"Uh-as surprising as this may seem to you, I, uh, I-I-I already know what an energy node is," she stammered, much to his surprise.
"Fine then you understand how they work as well?"
"Vaguely."
"Vaguely will do for now."
"Now, how did he mistake me for one?" she demanded.
"Well, you are a power-lode of sorts." She favored him with a blank look. "Let me try again. You see, you have a great potential for magic but you haven't ever actually used any. However due to the.magnitude of your abilities, you just naturally attract magic flows to you. Even here, on the bridge where magic is supposed to be null, you have at least one or two lines with you."
"Wow."
"Tell us about it," he muttered.
Us? She wondered silently. The Shadow-Lover gave her a strange look.
"First thing's first. We have to teach you to shield, you are a terribly strong projector."
"Sorry," she said a little off-guard.
Death taught her how to shield her thoughts then ran her through the exercise twice more before setting her on her own and then testing the shields himself. When he was satisfied, Darla had to breathe heavily and felt like she'd just taken a brisk walk.
"Make sure you don't do too much, and make sure to eat and rest after you do each exercise or whatever. Magic can take a lot out of even the best of us," the Shadow-Lover admonished. Darla nodded distractedly at him before taking a last deep breath and meeting his sea-green gaze.
"You said something earlier about my not being dead yet," she prompted.
"Oh, yes. That. Well, the thing is, this mage doesn't know what he was doing and he didn't mean to drain you but the thing is he did. Now understand, out there you will probably die. There's no chance that anyone could get to you in time and you don't have the training to reach a true energy line much less a node to retrieve the energy yourself. Even now, he's still draining your body out there."
Darla regarded the Shadow-Lover thoughtfully. "So why am I here?"
"Because you'll probably die, but you're too strong a mage for Fate to just let go of. You still have jobs to do. So we're giving you a new life.Sort of."
"A new life, sort of?" Darla echoed.
"Well, things would be kind of-" Darla glared at him. "OK, fine, they would very different from what you know."
"And let me guess, it's either that, or death right?" He at least had the decency to flush like a child caught in the act of stealing cookies before dinner. "That's not much of a choice you know?"
"I know, but it's the best we could get you at such short notice. We hadn't planned anything for at least four, five, maybe six years."
"Uh-huh." Darla closed her eyes and contemplated the situation, not that there was much to think about. "Fine. I'll play your little game, but dammit, you better not pull any tricks!"
"Tricks?"
"Yeah, like tossing me in a lake or making me just fall out of the sky or something." Death regarded her with a politically blank face. "Fine, I'll take that as a 'Yes'. Let's get on with this then."
"Then I suggest you shut your eyes."
Darla barely had the chance to do that before the 'ground' was yanked out from under her and she felt that strange, half-surreal out-of-body experience thing again. She almost thought she heard Death calling "Good Luck."
***********
Firesong reached again for the node. He had been more than a little surprised at such a large node gathering in what seemed like mere hours to him. It certainly hadn't been there the weak before; at least, it hadn't been so close to the surface a week ago. A week ago it had just been there, but he hadn't been able to reach it, nor had it appeared large enough to warrant the reach for it. Now he just had to reach a slight "hand" for it and energy, pure and distinctly tinged with warmth and, Firesong could almost swear, a feminine feel to it.
The Healer-Adept shrugged and went back to his spell crafting. His project for the morning was creating a searching spell under the watchful gaze of a still lounging lover, Silverfox. This one was to search out a Herald and her trainee who had gotten lost somewhere just north of the Vale. They'd gotten steered off-track by a spell from an outland mage.
Firesong stopped, as there was a disturbance near the node. He began tracing the disturbance until he realized what it was. The node was shifting, in point of fact it was moving towards them! Firesong moved quickly to cut the tie to the node and hoping that it would move away. He sent out another test only to find himself still firmly linked to the node but there was no power moving down the line either way and the node had slowed it's progress.
"Ashke, I think we might have a problem," the Adept turned to the k'Leshyan kestra-chern.
*********
She was moving. Quickly towards some point east of her, she was flying it seemed. Miles seemed to move past like inches. Then she slowed and the miles became feet, then yards in passing. She would have watched the passing scenery but its colors were harsh and they blurred together to produce a blinding headache. She tentatively wondered where she was headed and sensed the male presence that was pulling her along. How much longer is this trip? she wondered.
