Nativewildmage: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you liked it.
Lela-of-Bast: I hope you like this one too.
Esmerelda 01: Thank you for the compliment! I hope the rest of it is as good.
Sonnet Lacewing: Thank you for the reviews and the help!
A/N: A plot actually begins to develop!
Also, this chapter is when I restarted writing after a six-week break, so the style might change slightly.
Disclaimer: It's all Tamora's.
Chapter 11 – A Tangled Web
They said nothing as they left the meeting room, parting silently to pack the necessities for the trip. Daine found Numair at the stables, saddling up spots.
"Everything's ready," she told the mage, preparing Mangle with their packs. Numair nodded automatically and Daine wasn't sure if he'd heard what she said.
"There's a forest southeast of here, the Forest of Kirkfalls. We'll aim to camp on the outskirts of it tonight. It's roughly seven hours ride from here," Numair informed her.
"This is how it's going to be, isn't it?" Daine said, rhetorically. "Riding till late and up early."
Numair nodded and smiled at her, "I'll be missing quite a lot of my beauty sleep."
Daine smiled back at him, appreciating his attempt at lightening the situation.
The reached their intended campsite shortly after dusk. Numair's mood had turned black with being saddle sore and Daine thought it was best to say as little as possible to him. They found a small cave that would suffice as shelter and began to set up camp. Neither was particularly hungry but Daine insisted they ate to keep up their strength.
"You cook and I'll clean up," she told the mage before taking owl shape to view the area and report on any abnormalities. She heard talk of other immortals from the People; a nearby cluster of hurroks, firegills, and the spidrens they had come to dispose of, but for the night they would be fine. Daine asked the night creatures and owls to be there lookouts, which they agreed to happily. Once she had changed back to human and caused Numair to blush by not having her clothes to hand she sensed a pack of wolves nearby. Calling them, their pack leader came to her, unnerving Cloud and the other horses, and sitting with Numair as he cooked.
I am Lightheart, part of the Kirkfalls pack and you are Daine, I know, he told her. We know about you well from the Long Lake pack. If you wish, we can help you, wolf-sister and warn you of any predators.
Daine relayed what he had said to Numair, who nodded, "Will they leave the horses alone? We trust the Long Lake pack, can we trust these?"
She told the wolf their worries.
We have eaten already; all of us will stay away from your horses. I have also heard that one gives a nasty bite, Lightheart promised.
Daine accepted his offer and using he tiniest amount of her will made sure that they would leave the mounts alone.
She drained the bowl of soup that Numair had made and quickly tidied up the food things. She began to ready herself for bed, spreading out her bedroll and squatting behind a large pile of rocks to change into bedclothes.
"I'm exhausted," she told Numair.
"Try to sleep well, Magelet," he whispered, making a little more distance between their bedrolls. "We should make the most of this safety while we can." He snuggled down into his bed, sighing comfortably.
Daine resisted the urge to move closer to him. The night was cold but she loved sleeping outdoors – already local creatures had visited her – and she was comforted by Numair's closeness.
"Goodnight," she whispered, but the mage was already sleeping soundly.
Numair woke Daine with the smell of breakfast. She found that she was hungry, despite feelings of apprehension for the coming months. Numair's face was also etched with anxiety; he was preoccupied and distant as they ate breakfast, he merely picked at the bacon he had prepared, giving much of it to a greedy Kit.
"You need to keep your strength up and stop spoiling her!" Daine attempted to rouse him into conversation. "Shall I find you some berries seeing as you're not fair interested in bacon?"
He gave her a half smile and sighed. He shifted his head to one side and looked at her strangely. After a moment he stretched his leg. "I feel as if we've just began a very long journey and I don't know when it will end."
Daine returned his half-smile. "I feel the same. I'm on edge, just waiting for stormwings or hurroks to appear. Every muscle in me seems to be tensed up."
"Come here then," he said quietly. She stepped over to him and sat down where he pointed, with her back to him. She began to feel gentle warmth on her shoulders, kneading her tightened muscles. She felt herself relax and drifted off into a half-sleep.
"We need to get ready to leave, Magelet," she heard Numair whisper into her ear, gently waking her up. Daine yawned. "Thank you, whatever you did seems to have worked. I hope you didn't use too much of your gift?"
"Only a very little. I've had word from Jon. It appears that the spindren's have moved closer in our direction and we're only a day or so ride away. We should meet the Rider group near there."
Daine stood up to get ready to leave. As she did she caught Numair's chin and found herself looking into his deep brown eyes. For a moment she saw a flicker of that something she had seen only once or twice before. It turned her legs to jelly and her insides felt like they were melting. She looked away, not quite knowing how to deal with it and started to decamp.
Once saddled and mounted, Numair began to recount all he knew about spidrens and the many ways in which he could think of to dispose of them. Daine listened, interjecting every so often with thoughts and theories of her own. He appreciated her input more than he admitted; she had now well and truly grown out of being his student. She had a mind of her own and he relied on it more than he did on some of his well-loved, arcane books. They travelled quickly, Numair making up in speed what he lacked in grace and finesse. Daine realized how anxious he was to finish their task and head back to Corus.
They paused briefly at mid-afternoon to rest Cloud and Spots and eat a plain lunch from one of the food parcels in their packs. Numair pushed on, Daine keeping up with him, until the sun had just begun its nightly descent.
"We'll set up camp here, Daine," he said, breaking the silence that had circled them for the past two hours. "Can you ask some of the nocturnal creatures to watch out for us? We both need our sleep and strength for tomorrow."
Daine smiled at him as he moved a few loose tendrils of hair out of his eyes. Numair's sharp eyes caught her smile. He blushed and smiled back. He loosened the tie and let his raven hair fall about his face and neck. "Dratted thing!" he cursed. "It's lost its grip!"
"I though I told you years ago, you just need to wet it before you tie it!" Daine said, laughingly.
Numair moved closer to her, looking into blue-grey eyes, framed by those long lashes and wishing for the hundredth time that day that he could kiss her without worrying about the repercussions.
"You've come a long way since then," he managed to say. "You're not that young, wild girl anymore."
Daine shook her head in agreement that she wasn't. "A lot of that is down to you, Numair," she said softly.
Numair shook his head. "No one else would have responded the way you did."
It's getting dark, Daine heard Cloud mutter, Stop your silly chatting and set up for the night! You'll have plenty of time to fawn over each other later!Daine laughed and gave Numair an edited version of what Cloud has said. Numair sighed his agreement with the mare and began to get their camp ready. Daine received numerous offers of help from her request to help keep a watch overnight. She cooked a simple meal from their supplies while Numair sorted out their bedrolls and warded the camp. Kitten shared the meal that Daine had prepared and then promptly fell asleep, snoring quietly in Daine's bedroll.
Numair watched Daine's face glowing in the firelight. If she could see how I saw her she would be shocked, he thought to himself. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met, I just wish… He was interrupted from his thoughts by Daine edging closer to him.
"It's cold," she chattered, her shoulders touching his. "Surely the immortals could've waited until all the snow had gone!"
Numair laughed, putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her closer. Daine sunk into his warmth, sighing peacefully. "This bit I like," she whispered to him.
"Which bit's that?" he murmured back.
"The bit where it's just you and me and the outdoors,"
"You used to prefer it to be just you and the outdoors," Numair felt his heartbeat rise slightly.
"That changed. You… you're fair…" to Numair's disappointment they were interrupted by a rustling from the nearby bushes. A fox appeared, moving towards them.
It's the man-spiders! They are near you! He told Daine in mind-speak.
Numair read her look and quickly and quietly stood up, pulling Daine up with him. She grabbed her bow and arrows and readied herself to use them. Numair woke Kitten and picked her up.
Where are they? She asked the fox. And why didn't I sense them?
There still quite far away, but I thought I should tell you, the fox replied. I will lead you.
He began to take them into the deep woods they were next to. After a slight trek Daine began to sense the immortals and she shuddered inwardly. These were the ones she detested the most, she had seen too many people caught in their webs and their furry bodies and sharp teeth had frequently appeared in her nightmares.
She caught sight of one scuttle in the distance into a large bush. From the corner of her eye she saw Numair lift his hand and mutter something under his breath. An almighty tongue of fire rose up from the bush, throwing up spindren limbs and fur all around. Daine sensed another behind her. She turned around and instinctively let an arrow fly straight into it, consequently being sprayed by its sticky innards.
Two more appeared in front of them; one mottled female cackled a laugh from her human head, causing Daine to shiver.
"We've got your friends all tied up in one of our comfortable homes!" she told them in a high voice. "We're saving them for dessert!" she laughed again, hurting Daine's ears. Daine heard brief noises from behind them and to their sides. Two spidrens were behind them and one to their left and right. They were surrounded.
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