Chained

Part Eight

by Kimra

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

Numair watched Alanna as she lent over the sleeping girl feeling tired himself. Somewhere between finding her and returning to his comrades the Cat girl had fallen asleep and it was a luxury he wished he could afford himself.

"What happened?" Alanna asked as sparks of her magic shifted into the girls minor injuries healing them quickly.

He rubbed his brow, trying to push away the headache that wanted to overwhelm him. "I'm not quite sure." He replied evenly. She would have the story from the other men by now, following Cat had taken a fair while. But she was probably hoping for a little more detail from him, or maybe understanding. "How is she?" He asked in a quick attempt at distraction, he was concerned for the girl but didn't think there was anything wrong with her that minor healing spells wouldn't cure.

"She's probably seen worse in her life. A few cuts and bruises." She gave a shrug. "It's mostly stress and exhaustion, nothing that a good rest shouldn't fix." Alanna pulled back from the girl, magic curling back into her control and turned to face Numair. She looked serious as she met his eyes. "We really needed them alive Numair." Her voice betrayed disappointment, a little resentment, and that hopelessness that had begun to eat away at them all.

"They set a trap." He replied slowly, his eyes settling on the slumbering figure. "We where all in the courtyard when they decided to spring it."

"I guess they knew who we where." Alanna interrupted as she fell back onto a stool, looking exhausted herself.

Numair gave a bitter laugh. "At least our information was right." But they both knew the chance of finding anything they needed, with the evidence gone and the conspirators dead, was scarce. Alanna didn't reply, he closed his eyes for a moment before looking out the tent flaps into the courtyard beyond. He reasoned Alanna must have had the tent set up for questioning of the handful of prisoners they had taken. "They had a group of men who drew weapons, and Jesika Debec cast a few harmless spells."

"Harmless, for you?" Alanna inquired and he nodded quickly

"For me." He concurred. "It would have been enough to stop any lower level mage." His eyes went back to the girl and he frowned at the sight, asleep she looked untouched by the afternoon's events, almost serene. "I was thinking through counter spells and the next thing I know Cat was there." He couldn't help but pause as the memory worked it's way though his thoughts.

"Numair?"

"I've never seen anything, anyone so crazed." He was disturbed by what he had seen in her by the wild that had branched out from her clinging onto anything as she had ripped at her prey. "They disserved it, you know." He bit the words out, feeling hatred for the dead and disliking that the anger was there although there was nothing to release it upon. "The things they did-" He shook his head fiercely, he did not want to think about it. He had seen worse, seen far worse in his time but there was something about this girl that made it seem so much more of a crime. "The things she's been through because of them."

"I know." Alanna's hand rested on his arm, calming soothing, her voice compassionate. He didn't know how he had become so angry the contact was needed but the anger subsided at her touch.

"She killed them. With her nails, her teeth. I don't think she cared how it was done as long as it was done. I don't even know how she got there, what she thought she was doing. If she knew." He took a shuddering breath and forced himself to look away from her, forced a little calm into his aggravated system. "I didn't stop her. I could have, easily enough. But I just couldn't stop myself from knowing how much she needed to do that. How much she deserved the right to."

"Numair."

He ignored her, angry at himself. "There was more at stake then some half crazed girl and I froze! I wanted her to do that."

"Numair!" She snapped, and his attention returned to her, forgetting his tangent. "We're human. We're allowed to make mistakes." Her voice was stern, broking no argument and he knew it was true but couldn't help the guilt in his system.

"But what has it cost us?" He met her purple eyes then, could see there was no blame there. "I lost the witness's and let her do something that if she where sane, she probably would never have done. I failed on both accounts."

"Could you have stopped her?" She asked it earnestly, staring into him, refusing him the ability to lie.

He didn't need to lie though, his reply was strong without doubt, he knew what he was capable of. "Yes."

She looked away for a second, refusing to let him see her reaction. When she looked back she seemed calm, almost friendly. "Your tired Numair. I'm going to go and question the people who where still inside, see if they know anything. I expect the others wont take long to round up either. You need to sleep, we'll probably be moving out soon. There's a spare pallet over there." She pointed across the room before standing and without another word, leaving.

Numair rubbed his face roughly, scrunched his eyes together and pushed back any thoughts of mistakes made. What ever discission had been made couldn't be taken back and he as always would do what had to be done to fix those mistakes. Ignoring the offered bed, with a quick glance to make sure the Cat was still asleep he followed Alanna outside.

- - - - - - - - - -

She woke slowly, the scent's of ash and cooking meat thick in the air around her. Groggy sleep pushed itself away as she pulled her body upright, trying to recapture her bearings. The bed wasn't soft, but the blankets where, so she knew it couldn't be her room.

If she couldn't remember her last moments before sleep she probably would have panicked. Everything around her was strange and new. The shadows dancing against the material walls where ire but the scent of her human lingered softly around her. Without that reassurance she would have been in a panic and gone.

Slowly, cautiously, hearing the boisterous voices of men she did not know nor trust beyond this new room Daine crept to the passage where the air blew in from. Light flickered against the stark darkness of the night, people talking, humans in quite conversation. The loud ones where further away, not crowded about the… fire. Yes she remembered the word for that, strange as it was it came to her easily.

She heard Him speak and the small amount of uncertainty that had settled into place flicked away quickly. Still weary she slipped out of the room into the open world.

A cool wind caressed her check and throat, the scents of animals and plants thick in it's coils. She breathed it in deep, letting it tickle her throat with it's cold, letting it penetrate her skin. There where animals about, not close, away from the fire and the light it gave off. She could hear them in the forest around them, talking, whispering, moving, hunting. A thrill set in her soul at the knowledge that she could join them, a movement and she would be amongst them hidden from the humans safe and free.

A night bird, swooped in low above her, letting out a cry that echoed her sentiments and she felt a response to the very state of her thoughts in the People. She breathed that in as well, soaking in the feelings around her, delving into the moment that felt so surreal in it's uplifting purity. And when she had to let the breath out, she did so smoothly relishing the knowledge that it would not be the last breath to be taken, nor the last time she would know the taste of this particular freedom.

Then she moved, away from the room, away from the forest, and towards the fire where the voice of the man she knew sounded in soft conversations.

She felt the tensing of strangers as she skirted around them, approaching her destination. Felt the eyes that fell on her even when she was still in shadows. Heard two voice's, the female she had seen before in her room, and the male who was hers, speaking things to the other men that made the tension fade.

When she approached his side by the fire he turned to look down at her crouched form, then spoke in his soothing voice words she did not understand.

She did not try to understand as he held something out to her, knowing that at this moment the words where not so important as the tone. Confidently she took the offered object into her hands releasing a surprised yelp when warmth pooled into her fingers. Automatically her fingers released their grip, and just as quickly, as if anticipating her move his hands caught around hers keeping what ever it was in her grip. It took a moment of contact to realise the warmth was not burning, to push down the instinct to release the object and to relax her arms.

Her attention moved from the first curiosity to the second when she realised contact had been made.

It was funny, he felt no different from any other man. His skin was a little courser then some, softer then others, but it held that definite human quality she had begun to suspect he was void of. For a moment it scared her, the possibility that he was no more different then the rest, but when in startled uncertainty her eyes meet his again she could detect none of the violence she had witnessed in so many before. And what ever fear had crept in during her moment of uncertainty vanished replaced by a timid, almost human, smile.

He withdrew his hands, turned his attention away from her and began to speak with the red haired lady beside him. Daine's attention, only a little rattled by nerves, shifted to the object in her hand.

It was smooth all over, a light brown colour in the light afforded her, and it emanated a warmth that seeped into her cool fingers. Her head titled as she settled her body down comfortably onto the dirt beside Him. Her finger tips explored the surface, it looked like an egg, larger then any she had seen before but it felt too light. Lifting it to her nose she took a deep whiff of it's scent and was surprised, it smelt like food with a sprinkle of pine ash.

Cautiously, aware that He would not have given her something of harm Daine began to pick at the food, testing it. And after she had managed to swallow the first piece the conversations around the fire took up more animation, as if they had been waiting to see her response. She ignored the people for the most part, attention on nothing but the food of which the quality was beyond anything she could remember eating before.

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget to Review! Please!