Proof read by Danaye

Chapter 13

The creature, something between a human and animal, walked on its hindquarters towards the cloak-covered body on the ground.

The little creature's legs were not those of a human, but instead looked similar to a horse's legs. He was no taller than a boy of ten years old, but his eyes had seen thousands of years pass by. Those eyes held an other-worldly look, the brown irises shot through with gold. Anyone could tell he was not from the land of Calla or Tortall.

His ears sat higher on his head than a human's would, with pointed tips and hairs where they should have been round and smooth. Lower down on his body, his upper torso was naked but below the navel he was covered with horse's fur. The fur was the same shade as his hair.

His name was Ipotane and he was a creature created by an angry mage, using a spell to drain the power from a shield that kept him from his promised wife. Now, Ipotane walked with determination. His goal was to reach the naked woman that lay on the ground. To any human's eyes, she would be cloaked by a spell. However, as an immortal, Ipotane could see her clearly.

Around him laid corpses that had contained the souls of the now long-gone Scanran warriors. He shook his head from side to side over the sight and lifted his hands, gesturing to each of the men's bodies. One by one, they sank slowly down into the ground until they were consumed and the place where they had lain was covered by autumn-grass.

Ipotane knew that the Black God had been in this very clearing and that he had looked down at the still figure of the woman's body, for it had been the Black God who had called Ipotane forth from further up north. If a human had received the call, it would have taken them weeks to get here. However, as a forgotten immortal, Ipotane could bend the air and step through whenever he wanted, bringing him wherever he wished to be.

The Black God had stood watching over the girl and waiting for a very long time, but he had disappeared when Ipotane had reached the clearing. He had also taken with him the restless souls that had been present as well, the warriors that were trying to understand why their earthly bodies laid unmoving on the ground while they stood hovering above them.

Standing in the now empty clearing, Ipotane kneeled down to the ground. He touched the young woman's head and spoke a word that rippled through the air, summoning the God of Hunt. Then he sat himself down beside her and took out a flute. The young woman's eyes fluttered as the soft sounds of the flute filled the clearing. So heart wrenching were the tunes that the young woman began to cry, and Ipotane waited with her as she shed her tears.

She had never before heard such melodies, and Daine's heart ached along with the pain in her back. She knew that the woman had tried to heal her, but had run dry with her gift and had only managed to stop the bleeding.

While Daine had laid nearly unconscious on the cold ground, the woman had spoken to her. In a soft voice, she had told Daine that she would come back for her and that Daine shouldn't be scared. She told her that she would be invisible from everyone's prying gazes, but would be kept warm underneath the cloak the Lioness had laid over her naked frame.

The red haired woman had seemed barbaric to Daine when she had fought the warriors, but when she had displayed a different demeanor when she had healed her, spoken to her and stroked her hair. She had shown nothing but kindness to Daine, like that of a mother to her child.

After the woman had been gone for some time, Daine had suddenly felt someone touch her cheek and she had flinched away from the unknown hands. It was then that she had heard the voice of an unearthly male. The man, whoever it was, had caressed her cheek softly and reassured her that everything would be fine.

Pressing her eyelids together, Daine had heard him say, "Dear child, I've called for help." He had paused briefly before continuing, "Your time will come, but that time is not now." With that, the man had disappeared in a silvery mist, only to be replaced by someone else entirely. It was then that Daine had realized that it had been the Black God looking down upon her, and he had decided to not take her life away.

Now, Daine tried to open her eyes and found that she couldn't, for they were swollen shut from crying. Still they filled with salty water, the tears running down from the corner of her eyes to drip onto the cold earth.

Lying there, unable to move, Daine didn't know her dreams from her reality. She didn't know if she was imagining the stranger's presence or the soft melody twisting from his flute. Only when she blinked away the tears did she did finally manage to get a clear vision of who sat beside her and Daine saw an odd looking boy. He smiled down at her, flashing straight white teeth before he spoke. His boyish voice filled the air and in it she could almost hear leaves falling from the trees on an autumn day.

"You are going to be fine," he told her slowly, fiddling with his instrument. He turned it around in his small hands, "I called for him. He should be here any moment now."

Daine twisted her body until she laid on her back, the movement forcing her wound to split open once more. She moaned as pain shot through her body.

"I know," the boy said and gave her a cautious look of sympathy, as if to let her know that he understood the pain she was suffering, "but he will be able to heal you in ways I cannot."

She closed her eyes and waited for the pain to ease. In her mind, she tried to sort out whom he was speaking about, this person he was so sure could take the pain from her. Suddenly, she was startled as someone lifted her up in their strong arms.

Ipotane looked up as the air began to shimmer and someone, one of the Gods, materialized before him.

The man was tall, with chestnut-brown skin, brown hair and brown eyes. He looked down at the young woman with a great amount of affection and Ipotane recognized that this was his cue to disappear yet again. "You did well," the God acknowledged with a deep voice.

Rising up on his hindquarters, Ipotane bowed deeply. "Thank you, Master," he replied, watching as the God of the Hunt lifted the woman up in his arms. Ipotane reached up with his hand and stroked her hair, "Will she be alright?" he questioned softly.

"Of course," the God replied comfortingly. "She's just as strong in her heart as she is in her spirit. Hopefully, she will find peace with the man I've chosen for her," the man told the him and began to walk away, but stopped in his tracks to look back at where Ipotane stood.

Meeting the boy's brown eyes, he spoke kindly, "One last thing, please find Badger and tell him to meet me at the cave. It will be some time before the woman gets there. Tell him that I need to discuss something with him and that it is imperative that he show up."

Ipotane bowed deeply once more, "As my master wishes." With this as his parting, he turned around and the air in front of him bent at his will, opening up a hole to an underground cave. He entered the hole and was gone the next second.

Daine drifted in and out of unconsciousness, lying securely in the embrace of warm arms. When she came around the second time, she could feel both the heat from a fire not far from her body and the cold chill of the ground underneath her. She absentmindedly noted a presence sitting beside her, stroking her hair.

She could smell the freshness of the wildlife that surrounded the forest. She also noticed the presence of two familiar horses, one she had known forever and one she had only known for a short time. Slowly, a calmness began to creep over her body and mind, willing her to close her eyes and lulling her to sleep.

"Badger," a rough voice greeted and Daine was suddenly wrenched back into wakefulness. She tried to hear what the other presence said in reply, but she couldn't make out any other sounds beside growling. She only understood the man's words.

"Quit it, Badger! Scolding me here to Baltane will get you nowhere. I'm doing the best I can. I can't be everywhere at once. That's why I told you to look after her."

Daine moved her head, wanting to open her eyes and see who it was that spoke, but the man's hands touched her forehead affectionately and his voice echoed through the cave.

"Don't open them," he warned her. He spoke again but his words were directed at someone else. "Aye, I know, but I'm here now. I can make everything that is wrong right again — even though it's only for a few minutes."

Daine's head was spinning with unanswered questions. What was wrong? What did this man know that she didn't? Who was the other person he was speaking with and was it even a person or something else entirely? She tried to raise herself up on her arms while keeping her eyes closed, but it was in vain. Tiredness and exhaustion flooded her body and forced her head to drop back to the floor.

A warm hand touched her shoulder and Daine flinched away from the stranger.

"Easy there," the rough voice ordered her and Daine gave up on trying to rise. "I'm only here to help you."

Daine pressed her eyes closed as a pair of calloused hands touched her head. The feeling of raw power floated into her aching body, making the unseen world spin around her and causing her to be dizzy. The pain that followed almost forced her to cry out as the open wound in her side slowly closed, but she didn't — she couldn't. Her throat felt like sand, desert sand she thought, as the feeling of power continued. This feeling was unlike the power the woman had used on her. The woman's power had been nice and gentle, but this was something else entirely — something that caused the thing inside her to stir.

Suddenly a cold nose touched her own nose and Daine found that the pain subsided quickly. The untamed beast that had been about to wake went back to its sleep once more. With the pain gone and the beast asleep, she slowly melted into the darkness and warmth encircled her, giving her peace.

"That's it," the man spoke yet again in his rough voice. "See to it that she doesn't do something like this again, will you? Her wildness can only be controlled by herself, not by an idiotic mage who thinks it only takes a spell, a few runes and a glass wall. I can't enter this world when she crosses the border between Galla and Tortall, but you can."

The nose that had sent her the eudaimonia was being pulled away from her again, and Daine found that she desperately wished it back. She wished that the calming feeling would come back to her. The animal, smelling of musk, touched her throat and forced her to lift her chin up as it settled its nose onto her cold skin.

The smell was familiar and brought forth happy feelings that Daine hadn't felt since her childhood. Feeling content, she wrapped her arms around the creature and pulled it towards her.

"Where is that woman?" the man asked roughly, his voice laced with frustration.

Daine could hear the sounds of his footsteps as he paced the floor not far from her, but she didn't care. She only wanted to indulge in the presence of the thing that made her so relaxed. She felt as if she was just a child again and her favorite nocturnal visitor had returned.

The pacing man's words filled the cave's air as he suddenly hissed low, "She's supposed to be here, unless —"

Something silenced him and Daine could feel his presence nearing her, looking down at where a large badger lay within her arms, his hackles raised.

"What do you mean that she's showing signs?" the man asked, irritated.

Daine felt warm hands grip her arms, forcing the animal from her. The hands turned her carefully. She felt how her back was bared and the pink scars from her punishment were revealed.

The silence that followed was deafening, while a warm finger followed the line of something on her back, making her shiver.

"This cannot be," the man claimed, his voice full of anger. However, an undertone of fright lingered just beneath the rage. "This cannot be happening," the man continued, pressing down on her skin. The pressure made her want to scream, but her vocal cords would never allow such a thing.

Her ears caught the noise of hooves pounding the ground in the distance, not far from the cave. The woman would be here any moment, and she would find that Daine was not at all alone.

The man sighed deeply in resignation before speaking, "There's nothing I can do now." Daine could clearly hear the regret and the hopelessness in the man's voice as he spoke his parting words.

"The Goddess has decided. She's an Untouchable now."