Chained
Part Twelve
by Kimra
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Daine sat back on her hindquarters watching the camp with an alert and weary attention. Something was wrong, she couldn't place it, had no idea even where to begin but something was most certainly wrong. The men where quiet, the women silent and a blanketing sense of foreboding smothered the atmosphere. She rocked a little on the balls of her heels, her teeth toying with her low lip in distracted thought.
The woman warrior was laying in the grass only a short distance away, but her casual relaxed pose was offset by the strong fingers curled around a jewelled sword hilt.
A glance about the gathered people and she worried her lip a little more. Her head hurt, it was stinging. But more importantly the man had left and she couldn't see him.
She was worried about him, there where no lies about it and no doubts either. Separation from his presence was effecting her far more then it had the last time. She didn't know why but it was the case and she would accept it. She wasn't the sort, after all, to argue with herself when it came down to the point.
She smelt the air, taking in deep breaths and syphoning through the scents it brought to her. There was leather and metal, and other human things she now recognised as a part of this group. There was the smell of the horses that travelled with the human's, hay and blood and sweet from hard work mingled with that unique scent of the animal that she knew without question.
She scented past the clutter of human presence that smothered the clearing like a dense fog. She could smell the dampness that belonged to the thicket of tree's that rested before them; she could smell the tree's themselves interesting and unique scent's she knew even if she was unsure why she knew them.
She tried to breath deeper, needing to find what else lay beyond her sight and found nothing. Only the lingering concern at the back of her mind told her to keep alert.
She moved then, cautiously, sniffing the air as she went, following the path He had travelled just a few minutes before. She needed to follow him, keep him in her sights until she understood what lay about them like a storm ready to unleash itself upon them all. The woman warrior didn't move, at least not to stop her. The red head merely lifted from it's resting place and amethyst eyes carefully followed her movement but nothing else was done. Emboldened by this Daine pushed on through the temporary camp, ignoring the men she passed, keeping her attention focused instead on that one perfect mix of scent's she knew now belonged to Him.
She entered the forest without hesitation, glad to leave the human's behind her for a few minutes. Their intense silence, she realised once she was free of it, had been bearing down on her like a strange attack she couldn't explain. But more importantly she was getting closer to him. Already his scent was dramatically stronger then it had been and she was feeling the relief begin to take hold of her. She didn't let it overtake however until he was in her sight, his frame a shadow amongst the tree's but it was a shadow she knew and recognised on instinct.
He turned to face her as she approached and she saw the frown burrow itself onto his brow at her appearance. Unapologetic she moved closer to him, checking him over in a protective gesture, making sure she was not incorrect in her assessment of his safety. But here, in the middle of the tree's with barely the sound of the human camp reaching them she was overcome by a sense of security depite the headache that lingered. It was a sense that without him she had been unable to find.
A beautific smile came to her lips, one that defied his frown and in a few short seconds made it vanish. He shook his head at her lightly and made a motion for them both to return to the camp.
She couldn't stop the grin that came to her then, from the acceptance she saw in his movements, the light look in his eyes that overpowered the darkness that had been sitting there since her scare the day before. She had worried that she had done something wrong, that she had set him against her but in that moment of silent communication she knew he held nothing against her and everything would be okay.
Words bubbled in her throat, she wanted to express herself. In the recess of her mind she remembered times when words had not been so foreign to her, when they had flowed from her with the same ease these humans spoke, but it was a long time ago and what words she wanted to say she didn't know. So instead she kept her grin, undisturbed by the fleetingly human thought and reached for his hand willing to compromise with herself.
He allowed himself to be controlled by her, as she shakily drew herself up to her hind legs tucking his hands in close to her body so he would not escape. She needed somehow to express her gratitude, though she wasn't sure how. For some reason though, standing like him, looking into his dark eyes with a smile she couldn't and wouldn't push away made sense to her and filled her with a fluttering of job. She watched as more lines of tension eased from his face, a surrender of the worry that had been holding him since only that morning. Her smile lightened in response, no longer a grin but something to express softer pleasure.
And all at once his expression stilled, thoughtful and dark but she was not afraid, he would never hurt her. Gently he withdrew one hand from her hold and reached for her face, brushing hair back from her face with gentle fingers. An instinct told her to lean into the hand but she held that back as he withdrew his touch. She may not understand perfectly, but at that moment nearly eye level with this man who was beyond anything she had ever encountered she knew without a doubt that he was teetering on the edge and any push from her could send him away, away from her.
He gave her a sad smile. "Let's go back to the camp." He recommended and she grinned, not just because he was talking to her, not just because he hadn't been pushed too far, but because for one more moment she knew what he was saying, knew what he meant and understood the tone he had said it in. He wanted the moment to end, and for now she was willing to accept that because his hand was still in hers.
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Numair wanted to hate himself, he really did, but something was preventing the emotion from emerging. Perhaps because he had overcome the fear that had crept into him and made him feel unworthy of her trust. Or perhaps it was the knowledge that she would never know what he had been thinking as they stood their in the trees. And, more importantly, she would never understand in that safely animalistic mind of hers, because all her innocent actions proved to him that she had no idea, and he would keep it that way.
Why his thoughts had turned on her like they had he could only guess, but something he knew with a certainty was that he couldn't take it out on her, she simply had no idea and it was anything but her fault.
Resigned he let out a sigh and involentarily his eyes came to rest on her still figure again. She was crouched not far from him, eyes on the trees in an intense attention he marveled at. Her body seemed tense, one of her hands resting against her forehead and rubbing it slightly. He frowned tilting his head to figure out what was bothering her.
"Numair." Alanna's voice snapped his attention away and he was looking at the violet eyes warrior. "We're nearly ready." She herself was already astride her horse fighting gear on as she monitored the soldiers silently finishing their preparations.
He gave her a nod and turned back to the girl ready to retrieve her only to find she had already come to his side as if knowing what was happening. He gave a bit of a smile and lifted himself into the saddle, bringing her up in front of him as she had been earlier. Being as receptive as she was to him the process had very quickly become very easy.
They didn't wait long like that as the rest of the men mounted up and the women took their place in the cart but Numair noticed through that time, his arms pressed against the sides of the Cat's chest that she was breathing wrong. Sharp small breaths, and alert tension throughout her body. He could feel the definite difference from the earlier ride.
"Are you okay?" He asked more out of habit from talking to people who responded then anything else.
She didn't answer, but her fingers found his arm and curled in, for reassurance or something else he wasn't sure but her body did not slacken.
"Move out." Alanna commanded softly and the men echoed with the same volume in case anyone had missed it. Then they where moving.
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Things started to go wrong an hour or so later, in the thicket of the forest the Cat suddenly lost the control she had been holding onto and he realised immediately why that was.
The horses broke first, some rearing, some pulling free entirely. Cat was right there with them, trying to break free of the arm's about her as if he was keeping her there against her will.
He was too surprised by the simultaneous events to even think to release her and instead tightened his grip as the Immortals made themselves known.
Alanna was barking orders at the men and the battle was met with a well trained and oiled fighting unit.
Cat continued to fight, nails digging into his arm with vicious intensity. He fought back the pain with as much determination as he tried to think of what to do. And the next moment he had an idea and had uttered a spell.
A shield surrounded them, not the soldiers fighting, not Alanna giving orders, not even the hysterical women on the cart, just the two of them, three if you counted the horse.
"Calm!" He ordered her his mouth by her ear and she jerked from the noise her eyes jumping to him in shock. With the shock recognition set in and suddenly she wasn't what she was before, she was only confused. He put more power into the shield, and the world around them began to disappear behind a curved wall of black and white lights.
"Cat." He loosened his hold testing and cringed at the wounds she had inflicted. His arm was bleeding, he could feel the blood seeping out but tried not to pay too much attention to it, he had to deal with the biggest problem. Somewhere in his studies of Wild Magic he was sure he had passed something vaguely like this, though he had never heard of such a reaction. Gifted with the magic of animals it was only a logical step to assume that an animal of brutality, a monstrosity of an animal would disrupt the senses.
Still cautious he poured more magic in the barrier, no longer even aware of what was happening belong.
"Calm." He soothed and released her. She was off the horse in a second but not in fear, instead she was approaching the wall of magical fire. She touched it curiously and hissed at it in reflex, but she didn't take her hand away and he was transfixed as she explored the sensation of magic. It had been years since he'd seen the kind of awe she was displaying.
"Cat." He interrupted and she turned to look at him her eyes wide and still confused. He didn't need to ask if she was calm now because he could see it clearly in her eyes.
Slowly, cautiously he began to release the power of the shield, letting the world and it's noise come back to her. He was watching her breathing, testing the limits but he needed to see what was beyond, if he could he needed to help.
What he didn't expect was for her to pause and tilt her head like a bird listening. He stopped to let her adjust, watching the expression of deep thought on her calm face, and what was calm suddenly gave over to fear.
He went to throw the shield back up, ready to stop whatever it was but she defied his best intentions and her small body suddenly hurled itself at his shield.
Not thinking he dropped it before she connected to prevent the damage it would cause. To touch it was harmless, to attack was suicide. Then she threw in another curve, and instead of running like he guessed she would she ran towards the creatures.
Her hand was on her head, clinging but she stumbled onwards. Nobody seemed to notice her, they where fighting their battle, trying to stay alive. He tried to dismount and the slow process cost too much time because in the next second she was passed their ranks and in the midst of the Immortals.
"Stop!" He shouted in horror as weapons continued to fly, the Immortals still taking damage and all the while Cat in the middle of them her arms around one and tears thick on her face.
He watched the magic in her, watching it tugging and ripping at her as it threw itself from her body to the others. There was no control, no skill just sheer determination, sheer power.
"Alanna!" He shouted but he didn't care. She was his charge, it was his duty to protect her so he followed, straight through the Immortal ranks to the side of the wild child and the fallen Unicorn. "Cat!" He tried to pull her from the animal, watching the treads of magic coming from her. He felt something behind him and threw a shield up there but didn't turn from her.
She swung at him ready to scratch as she had in the clearing that night but recognition came this time and instead she began pleading with him blue-grey eyes trying to communicate what she never could in words.
He understood it though, vague as it may have been he could read empathy and pain like any other human who cared. "We're under attack!" He tried to explain not knowing how to help. Certainly Unicorns where not known to be violent, especially not the winged kind, but that did stop the occasions when they where, when something had thrown them down a different path.
Her tears where thick, she was looking about, franticly looking for an answer, her magic still being pulled out of her. He needed to get her away from that creature before too much magic left, he didn't know how much she could handle loosing.
"Alanna stop!" He shouted out but there was no stopping a battle that had already begun. "I can't stop it!" He told her. "Let go!" He tried to pull her free and she looked at him stricken and he felt his heart breaking for the expression. "If they would stop, if they could stop, we would too." It was a promise he had no right to make but he made it anyway. If the attack stopped he would let them go, and he could restrain even Alanna for long enough to let that happen.
Then suddenly, as if nothing had happened the Unicorns still standing banked breaking from their attack and landed neatly away from the battle, putting the Cat and he between them and the enemy.
Hopeful eyes turned to him and he nodded.
"Alanna!" He called and this time she was paying attention.
"What?" She asked her voice dark with battle ready attention.
"Put away your weapons." He could look from those hopeful eyes and he was putting so much faith in them, but he couldn't help it, he could see her in all her glory, magic around and beyond her, the animals, even these Immortals where responding to her.
"Not on your life Numair." Alanna retorted, vicious determination in her voice.
"Put them away Alanna or it'll be your life we're gambling." He turned then to face down the purple eyed warrior. He had never threatened her and he saw the surprise, concealed as it was, then the anger take hold again. Her temper always had it's place.
"And what? They'll just let us walk passed?" She demanded and the next moment the creatures where moving, stepping from the path to it's edges as if knowing what she said.
Numair frowned and looked back to the Cat only to find her smiling at him like a child who had won a race.
"Yeah." He breathed. "Just like that." He added and pulled the girl to her feet and away from the fallen Unicorn. He glanced at it, noted that it wasn't as fallen as it had been and felt ill at the amount of magic that he knew the Cat had just given over.
He motioned her to wait and fetched his horse, then with her stumbling to walk at his side they passed the Unicorns and eventually so did everyone else.
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