Our mission was to save the kingdom.
I laugh at our naivety when I think about how much hope we had of winning. That girl, she never gave up, no matter how impossible the chance of success became. Looking back on this now, I realize that that sense of determination is part of the reason I was so drawn to her, though I would never have admitted it to myself. The mind can tell some very convincing lies if it does not want to know the truth; even if that truth stares back at you with fierce, frosty blue eyes.
Nine
Dawn's light brought with it an immediate sense of anxiety, and I was out from under my heavy blankets within the span of a heartbeat. Though there was little left to pack or make ready there still remained the matter of getting Sarj off his oversized arse and double checking that we were leaving nothing behind. On the other end of the room Rhynne still lay sleeping, and I quickly decided that she should be allowed to sleep as long as possible on this of all days.
It took several infuriatingly long minutes to put my travel armor on without assistance, but I managed to succeed without waking the sleeping girl beside me. That task completed I carefully snuck out the door and started down the hallway to Sarj's quarters. Before I had gone more than a few steps the man rounded the far corner, shocking me into gaping at him.
"What the hell is this, then? I never knew I'd see the day that you would be ready to go on time." I said mildly once I had gained control of my expression.
"Ther's a first for ev'rythin'." He rumbled darkly as I turned to walk the short distance to my chamber with him.
Rhynne was still asleep when we entered. I found it odd that she would sleep through the clanking of our armor. As the last two months had marched forward she grew extremely in tune with her surroundings, and she once woke me up during the earliest hour of the morning to express alarm at the presence of a wolf that turned out to be howling from beyond the city gates.
Sarj raised one eyebrow, the oddity not lost on him. Walking to her bedside I reached down and shook her shoulder firmly. As expected, her hand flew to the dagger she now kept resting at her hip, and I deftly dodged its singing slice as she attacked whatever was holding her hostage in her dreams.
"Why me?" She groaned almost pitifully before snapping her eyes open with a soft gasp.
"Hello there, sleeping demon of the night. It's a pleasure to see you so lively this morning." I teased, by now long used to hearing her talk in her sleep.
"Go dunk your head in horse manure." She muttered crudely as she tucked her blade back into its proper place.
The boys had been teaching her some colorful language, and I thought perhaps it was time to call a conference of manners.
"Watch your tongue, little viper. I'm still your prince, you know." I chastised her with mock offense.
"Prince of bastards, perhaps." She countered without missing a beat and began washing the remains of her night away in our water basin.
"It's the first week of the month. Are we going to cut your hair when we stop to rest today?" I asked her more seriously.
She paused, water dripping from her cupped hands, and contemplated her answer. Her lower lip worked as she chewed it thoughtfully, and I found that annoyingly distracting. She was always doing that whenever she practiced a new move or was reading a particularly difficult scroll on a new spell. I often wondered how she even grew to have such full lips with all the constant gnawing she tortured them with. Her lower lip popped out of her teeth suddenly as she came to her decision, and it took more restraint than I cared to admit not to tell her to wipe the shiny saliva off of it.
"Many of the boys have long hair, right..? Would it be so bad for me to let it grow just a little?" She asked with an edge to her tone that could have almost been fear.
"Hmm…I would have t'see it." Sarj said while twirling the corner of his mustache thoughtfully.
"I don't think it's a good idea." I offered honestly.
She already had a feminine face, and adding longer hair to that was just like poking a coiled snake. I said as much out loud.
"Mm." She nodded and fell back into thought, that poor lip of hers going straight back into the clutches of her teeth.
"How's this," She said slowly, "I'll not cut it this time and see how it looks by next month."
There was no question in her voice. Rather, she was letting us in on her choice. Really, I could not decide if I liked how confident in her own decisions she had become. More than once over their time there it had made life particularly difficult for me. An image of her holding up the stray kitten she had found in the courtyard two weeks ago sent a shiver down my spine. I did not dislike the felines, but they sent me into an unending fit of sneezes. It was embarrassing.
"If that's what you want." I conceded.
She had also developed a stubbornness to rival my own. It had taken three days of arguing and sneezing uncontrollably to convince her that we could not allow a kitten to share the room with us. In the end, she gave it to that little rat Greggory, who had been surprised and suspicious of her gift until he finally broke and accepted the animal. Now he and the cat were apparently inseparable, a fact that Rhynne was extremely proud of.
"Part of it is because of how terrible you are with a pair of scissors. I wondered once if I should ask Master Norm for a spell to grow back lost ears." She teased me while tugging on her leather riding boots.
"My skills are only as good as you are at sitting still." I huffed, ruffling her hair.
We were all still laughing and arguing good naturedly when my door opened without warning. The Seer stood in the doorframe with her usual inhuman grace and regarded our surprised faces with empty eyes. Sarj was the first to gather his words.
"How may we help yeh, Seer?" He rumbled politely.
"You're wasting time with your pleasantries. The three of you should have been long gone hours ago." She scolded.
I hated her silken voice more than any sound on this earth, though the squeaking of my father's thighs ran a close second.
"We were jus' headin' ou', actually." Sarj said with a bow of his bald head.
Mutely, the Seer stepped out of the way as the large man pointedly stood and walked towards the door. Any sense of excitement gone from our bellies, Rhynne and I followed suit. That woman had a knack for sucking the energy straight out of a room. She stood beside us now without expression, her eyes moving up and down each of us in turn as if to gauge our readiness.
"Where's your sword, Rhyce?" She asked.
"It's with my bags on my mount." She said quickly and displayed the wickedly sharp dagger hanging from her belt. "Inside the castle this allows me to move with more agility. When we're on the road I'll wear both."
"Be sure to. You will find all too quickly that a dagger will not be enough against your stronger enemies."
"As you say, Seer." Rhynne said softly.
I wondered if I was the only one that caught the hatred leaking out of every politely spoken word.
"Very good. Now fly. The faster you reach your destination the sooner your quest will be done with."
We wasted no time in leaving her presence. That meddling woman, if she even truly was a woman, would not be missed.
Outside the sun was just peeking over the Eastern horizon, its morning stretch painting the sky a rich red and gold, and our horses practically dragged the stable boys behind them as they were brought out in their anticipation of the ride to come. Sarj had not yet seen Rhynne behind the saddle and let out a whistle of appreciation at her grace in mounting her steed. Shaking my head at the two of them as they exchanged boasts of their horse riding prowess, I climbed onto my own mount and settled into my saddle comfortably. The road ahead was going to be a long one, and I did not feel up to wearing my armor the entire trip as I knew I would have to.
"Are we ready, then?" Sarj boomed with a grin.
It was a small miracle his steed did not quake under that man's massive weight.
"Yes!" Rhynne cried gleefully.
She had been gathering more and more excitement as the day to set out grew closer and now could no longer hold it in. The woman practically gleamed with happiness. It suited her to smile like that I thought as my own lips tugged up in the corners without permission.
Without further discussion we spurred our horses towards the wall surrounding the castle and the quest that lay before us. An unusual sort of excitement took hold of my chest as we waited for the metal gate to rise, and the smile that had touched my face before refused to fall away. There was nothing as sweet as leaving my accursed home behind and tasting the honeyed air of freedom.
The teeming city of the king parted at our advance as if we were little more than a passing wind. The fear the citizens felt of me and my comrades never sat right with me. Why they should feel unsafe around the men sent by their king to protect them had always been a little mind boggling to me. I studied their faces carefully as we passed by, taking note that no one would look me in the eye for more than a single frightened second. My hatred for my father grew a little hotter every time I saw their hollow expressions. A true king does not rule by fear.
This was not a nation of followers but of slaves.
My bright mood died a silent death long before we reached the entrance to the city, but I held my face expressionless. My older brothers would be kings no better than my father, and the only solace to that fact lay in the knowledge that their fat lifestyles would not gift them with many years to rule. One day I would hold the right, and when I sat on the thrown my first order of business would be to flick that insufferable Seer off of her seat of power. Until that day came I would simply have to bide my time.
"Rhynne," I barked as an opportunity to test her knowledge suddenly came to me. "What is the fastest way to reach the western deserts?"
The young warrior jumped at my sudden utterance but just as quickly started wracking her brain for the best answer. I watched in exasperation as her teeth came forward to chew on her lip once more. Perhaps one day I would find myself accustomed to her unusual habit, but until that day came I would have to suffer it in silence.
"Carvin should be the first city we pass through, then the smaller villages of Varrus and Sarki. Doing that should let us avoid the Plain of Mourning." She answered slowly.
I could almost see the maps she memorized over the course of weeks floating behind her blue eyes.
"I did not ask which would be the safest route, warrior. Which is the fastest?" I asked again.
"The fastest way would be to cut northwest around the city of Carvin and carve a straight line across the Plains of Mourning." She answered quickly.
"Yer not thinkin' of actually takin' that way, are yeh?" Sarj drawled with some surprise.
"Not if we don't have to, but I wanted the best answer." I said with a small smile of approval for Rhynne.
She answered it back with a huge grin of pride, and my chest tightened at the sight of her cheeks reddening. Every now and again Rhynne would display her femininity so strongly that I would find myself momentarily at a loss for words.
The plains were in fact an enormous stretch of swamp land. It stretched from one side of the kingdom to the other and even served as its border in some places. Many parts of it were yet to be explored, and any expeditions sent into its depths were often met with failure. What exactly caused this phenomenon was beyond even the eyes of a Seer, and that lead many to speculate that its muddy waters were infested with the Unseen. Regardless, the Plain of Mourning spelled death for almost all that dared enter, but for those that knew how to find the right path it was possible to cross its thinnest arm and end up standing at the base of the western deserts.
"So we'll take the first way?" Rhynne asked.
I fought the urge to reach across the space between our mounts and poke the creases of worry on her forehead. She may have become stronger, but she did not have a death wish and was trying not to look hopeful of my answer.
"Aye," I agreed, "Carvin we go."
I would never tell her that I found her worry amusing, even sweet. I valued my innards too highly.
The plan set, we nodded to the gate guards as we passed through and left the city behind. The roads to the north and east I knew more thoroughly than some knew their own homes, but beyond Carvin my knowledge was limited to memorized maps and charts. Populations so close to the Plains were typically small and the home of criminals trying to lay below the kingdom's eyesight. They were cities of thieves and cutthroats, of whores and brothels, and above all reeking with the stench of desperation. Carvin may very well be safer to pass through than the Plains but we would be hard pressed not to have to kill a few men. The idea brought chills across my skin, and I was unsure whether it was out of dread or excitement.
We road quietly for a time, letting the bird song of the early morning float through the air unhindered. It was peaceful, I had to admit, but it felt like the calm before a storm. The task before us was not going to be an easy one. If this dragon did in fact exist, for it to have lived this long meant that it was inconceivably powerful. Furthermore, how could Rhynne be the key to bringing it down? That whole bit had never made sense to me. Whatever waited for us in the shifting sands of the west was surely aware of our coming, and that alone was enough to bring a ball of apprehension into my gut.
"Arrus, will we be making camp once night falls or will we continue on until morning?" Rhynne asked suddenly, breaking the silence and my thoughts.
"Of course we'll be stopping. Do you expect to get out of your evening exercises? Tonight we begin your work in wrestling." I said with my customary evil smirk, causing her to let out a groan and lean over her horse in defeat.
"Ye haven' taught wrastlin' yet?" Sarj asked with some surprise.
"The king wouldn't let her train on the tournament grounds as she did with Norm, and my room is far too small." I answered, more than a little bitter over the many restrictions cast on me.
Sarj pulled up on his reigns and stared at me with confusion.
"Ye mean to tell me the king told yeh to train the girl but didn' give yeh the proper means?"
"That's exactly what I mean to say. The king says this quest is to make her into a warrior but he obviously doesn't expect her to come back."
"Balls!" Sarj swore, "What a fool we serve that's frightened of one lass!"
"Honorable knights, may we continue this talk without stopping?" Rhynne piped up mildly.
Sarj and I looked at each other with twin expressions of surprise, and burst out laughing. In our discussion we had reigned our horses to a stop, and Rhynne, cheeky girl that she was, was not about to allow the delay.
"Aye, that we can." I finally managed to say while spurring my horse back into a canter.
"So the king's Seer is a traitor." Sarj rumbled thoughtfully. "What's more, we're followin' her orders."
"Hers is the only plan that doesn't get us killed immediately." Rhynne said with a shake of her head.
As we discussed the ludicrousness of the situation the wind kicked dirt up into tiny whirlwinds that danced around our mounts. Ahead the road branched in three directions, and a sign posted in the middle of the split indicated that Calvin lay down the left trail. We followed it without stopping, taking note of the almost immediate change in the land as we traveled farther.
"I don't like the looks of these hills." I muttered to my companions.
The ground began to rise and fall in steep, rolling mounds within the span of a mile, leaving a lot of room for bandits to hide beyond sight. At that point the castle stood only a few miles behind us, but already it felt like a different country altogether. Our horses labored up and down the shifting road without complaint, but we were moving significantly slower than planned.
"Keep yer eyes open an' weapons ready." Sarj demanded, and I heard Rhynne shift in her saddle to lay her hand on her sword behind me.
Before another mile passed the hills began to rise up and close in on us while the road sank in between them, and too soon for comfort we were locked in by ten foot walls of earth on either side. The road became more treacherous for the horses as its smooth dirt gradually became rocky gravel. Forced to move at a crawl or risk hurting the horses the three of us craned our necks in every direction in anticipation of an attack. A nervous tension grew in the air until it was almost tangible with every step.
"How long until we free ourselves of this trap?" I asked aloud to break the silence.
"More importantly, why am I the only one who wasn't given any armor to wear?" Rhynne asked wryly. "I feel naked out of the castle without my layers."
"I don' like this one bit, an' I don' recall this road havin' any walls like this. Must've been some Wielder's doin', no doubt abou' it." Sarj said in his boom whisper.
His voluminous voice echoed back to us a dozen times.
Our misgivings only grew as the ground started to steadily angle upwards until the horses were practically crawling up its steep slope. This was wrong, I thought. I had traveled at least this far once before, and there had not been anything like this in the way. It was as if someone had shifted the land this way on purpose so that anyone who traveled down it would become little more than sitting ducks for the hunting. The echoing of the horses' hooves striking the ground and sending loose stones clattering behind us seemed to be shouting to the entire world, "Here! We are here!"
"There! Ahead!" Rhynne cried out after several long, intense minutes.
Stretching my neck back I peered over Sarj's bald head at the hill above and felt a tightening in my chest. There ahead was the top of the trail, the exit only just large enough for a single horse to go through. I immediately motioned for everyone to stop their ascent. The horses stood panting from their efforts.
"Why have we stopped? The exit is right there!" Rhynne whispered in exasperation.
I could understand her frustration, but the chance of an ambush was almost guaranteed. I voiced as much out loud and ordered that she ready for a fight.
"You'll have to put your training as a Wielder to use right away, it seems." I finished.
"What if-"
"Shut it, Sarj!" I cut him off under my breath. "You've all the sneak of a drunken ox."
"All we can do is move forward, right? I say we ready ourselves for the worst and just get on with it." Rhynne said, drawing her sword.
"I don't disagree with you, but they're expecting us. We need to think of a way to find out what's up there." I mused, unconsciously bringing a hand up to stroke the stubble on my chin.
"Wait! I can do that!" My squire said with excited confidence.
"How?" I demanded, already dreading what her explanation might be.
"There's a spell I learned a few weeks ago that sort of bends sunlight around me so that I can't be seen! I was the only one who managed to actually succeed with it!"
"You mean let you go up there alone?"
"Exactly, but any possible enemy would not know it!" She breathed with a proud grin.
"No. Bad plan." I said firmly.
There was no way on this green earth that I would allow her to go alone without any battle experience. I would not let her die before she had a chance to live.
"You don't have a choice." She huffed as she dismounted her horse.
"No! I order you to-Rhynne!" I hissed at her angrily, but before I could even finish my sentence she had written a strange series of symbols in the air and, with a brief spark of light, literally disappeared before my eyes.
Squinting after her I only barely managed to make out a slight shimmering in the air making its way steadily up the rocky slope. Without armor and chainmail to weigh her down she barely even disturbed the ground as she ascended towards the exit. Fury mixed with anxiety brought a bitter taste to my mouth at her disobedience. I was her ruling knight, her protector, and now I had no choice but to sit and wait for her to get herself killed. She would have no breaks in training tonight if she lived to see it. I had to admit to myself that I was impressed with the progress she had made since the day we took her away from the mountain. To think that she had so much natural talent hidden within her tiny frame would have been beyond my imagination even a month ago.
For what felt like hours Sarj and I sat as still as possible with the three horses, waiting for Rhynne to reappear or sounds of a struggle.
"This is ridiculous." I finally muttered and lifted my reigns to urge my horse forward, but Rhynne's voice cut through the air and stopped me in my tracks.
"It's… It's safe to come up." She called down with a voice that trembled. "You're going to want to see this."
"Let's go." I said without bothering to hide the relief coloring my tone and, grabbing her horse's reigns, guided it up behind mine as we moved.
At the crest of the hill a strange and gruesome sight waited for us. There had indeed been a trap for anyone that passed through this area, but the men that had set camp here were all dead. Limbs lay yards away from their owners, dried blood covered nearly every surface and pooled in crimson puddles, and what was left of the fire lay ruined and cold. A single man hung to our left, a branch covered in gore sprouting from his chest. He had been thrown into it with such force that the blunt object pierced straight through his muscled body.
A desperate battle fell out here, of that there was no doubt. Most of the men still grasped their swords and daggers, many of the blades held flat against their chests as if they had died trying to protect themselves. The rocky ground was soaked with their blood and churned up from a dozen pairs of boots. This had been nothing short of a slaughter.
"What creature could've gone and done such a thin'?" Sarj asked in grim wonder as we both dismounted and tied our horses to a tree. He had seen far too much death in his time to be repulsed by the sight, but even he was at a loss for an explanation.
"There's too much left behind for it to have been an Ugran." I mused, carefully turning a headless body over onto its back with my foot.
These men had been dead for hours. Why had the animals not come for them? I shuttered at the possibilities.
"Over here." Rhynne called weakly. She stood to the right of us staring at something hidden behind a large boulder.
"What is it?" I asked as Sarj and I walked to her.
"Balls…" Sarj said with uncharacteristic softness when the body came into view.
It was an Unseen, its ghostly white body crumpled into a heap of long limbs and dagger like claws. A broken sword tip jutted from its forehead and out the back of its bald skull, silver blood still dripping from the sharpened edge. Somehow, the bandits had got in a lucky strike and killed one in their fight for survival. Everything about the creature, from its noseless face to its legs that stretched almost as far as I was tall, seemed to be pulled out until it looked as if it might break in two across its long middle. These things stood as tall as the trees. Its eyes stared, lidless and glazed, and their black emptiness brought a shiver down my spine. For all its strange features the most terrifying were the claws that extended from each of its three fingers. The shortest of the three was easily as long as my forearm, and all six of them were stained crimson with the dried blood of its victims.
"This explains why none of the animals have dared come close enough to feed…" Rhynne whispered. She had studied in depth what little was known of the Unseen, and every writing spoke of how nature ran from their presence as if they exuded the vilest of poisons.
"For an Unseen to be so close to the castle is unheard of." I finally said. "We must inform the kingdom immediately."
"We can't go back, Arrus." Rhynne said. "The king will kill us for breaking orders even if we bring helpful news with us. Let's just get to Carvin and send a messenger."
I noticed with some concern that her face held a green tinge to it.
"We've only been gone half a day." Sarj argued mildly.
"No, she's right. My father is an idiot, but he's a predictable idiot. He'll have us on the gallows before tomorrow's light."
"To Carvin, then, as planned." The larger man rumbled. I suspected his quick withdrawal was out of an intense unwillingness to relive the experience of the road back downhill.
"Wait…" Rhynne stopped us.
"What is it, lass?" Sarj asked.
"Aren't we going to bury them..?"
"Rhynne, there's no time for that. We have to move on in case there's more of those things close by."
To bury a fallen soldier was one thing, but these men were criminals that would have killed us all and left us for the crows if they had lived to have the chance, and I said as much to our smaller companion.
"I guess you're right… Then, let me do this much, at least." She offered, reaching down to pick two handfuls of wildflowers growing out from under the edges of the boulder.
Quickly, she moved from one man to the next, placing a purple bloom on the chest of each and whispering a single sentence every time. Without explaining or slowing down she worked until she had only one flower left and no more bodies to bless. Her task done, she returned to us with a grim expression. I hated to see the light in her eyes so dimmed, but it had always been an inevitability. To our surprise, she was not done. Placing the last flower on the boney chest of the Unseen, she closed her eyes and repeated her prayer for the final time.
"Let this life force become one again with the earth, and may it serve to further its beauty."
"Yours is a unique soul." I said softly through the knot of shock in my throat.
Over and over she proved herself to be the most selfless and caring human being I had ever met.
"I learned on the mountain that animals exist simply to survive and continue on as a species. The Unseen are no different, and we do not know what sparked the events here. It could have been defending itself." She said sadly.
I pitied her for the guild she felt over their deaths. She would only see more and more as the next few months passed.
"We should move on. This place is marked with misfortune." Sarj spoke into yet another silence that had fallen on us.
Wordlessly, we gathered our horses and set out again. Gone now were the hills. Instead, a heavy woods spread out as far as the eye could see. None of us minded the change in landscape in the slightest. These woods I knew well, and as we continued onward I felt the atmosphere become less strained. With luck we would come across other travelers along the way, but the chances were extremely low.
The next five miles passed without incident. Birds began to sing and chatter, but there were no ground animals to be seen. It brought one to wonder what they were hiding from. The road, now back to dirt, was far easier for the horses to travel, and we made great time the rest of the day. By the end of the fifth mile the sun was on its downward slope, blinding us in its descent, and in a combined decision we stepped off the beaten path to find a clearing out of sight to set up for the night.
"We won't be making a fire, will we?" Rhynne asked with little hope of an affirmative answer.
"No, there's too much chance that something unpleasant will see the smoke." I shook my head. I hated the idea of a cold dinner, too, but there was no helping it.
"What if I make a smokeless fire?" She offered up with a lopsided grin.
"If you can do so, then by all means, but now is the time for training."
"Never get a day off…" Rhynne muttered loudly enough for me to hear.
I only raised an eyebrow at her fake complaints and watched in satisfaction as that simple expression set her to getting ready.
"Take off your weapons." I instructed.
"Wouldn't I still have them on in a real fight?" She asked in confusion.
"Would you like one of us to be run through? You need to know how to rely on your own strength without the help of your blades."
"Fine, as you say, all mighty prince of warriors." My squire retorted sarcastically as she began to shed her weapons.
I felt a bit of surprise to see that beyond her dagger and sword she had five other small blades hidden along her person. When she reached into the top of her shirt and pulled out a curved hook blade it was all I could do not to flinch. I pitied the man that made an unwanted pass at this woman.
As she worked so did I in removing my armor one piece at a time until I stood before her in nothing but my tunic and pants. I needed to be able to match her flexibility if I was to teach her properly, but I hated the vulnerable feeling the lack of my armor's weight brought out. This lesson would not be a long one.
"Now what?" She asked. Despite her complaining tone her eyes were bright with excitement for the chance to learn something new.
"Now you try to get free of me." I said, and without warning rushed forward, grabbed her wrists, and pinned her in a hold beneath me.
Gasping in shock at the sudden shift from vertical to horizontal, Rhynne struggled desperately at first. Her strength had grown over her time in the castle but was no match for mine, and she only made me tighten my hold on her.
"Stop panicking." I huffed.
Admittedly, she was harder to keep still than I imagined. Her tiny body held the strength of a boy twice her size, and her legs kept coming up to kick me. I thanked my lucky gods that I had thought to keep my cod piece on.
"How can yeh outwit him, lass?" Sarj put in, trying to be helpful without giving her the answer.
Panting with effort the gears turned frantically behind her icy eyes, and then something flashed behind their clear depths as inspiration struck. All of a sudden her eyes closed and her body went limp, and only my instincts kept me from falling on top of her and causing her injury. She lay there silently, her hands relaxed above my grip on her forearms. Apprehensive of her next move I waited, but she did nothing.
"Rhy-"
As my lips formed around her name her eyes flow open, and an ugly screech burst from her mouth as she thrust her face upwards at mine. Thrown off by the wretched sound I reared back from her. Taking advantage, she yanked her arms to her chest, effectively breaking my grip on them and knocking me off balance, and wrapped her legs around my waist. With all her might she twisted her hips, throwing me cleanly over onto my back. The impact of the ground knocked the wind from me, and as the dust settled it became clear who had come out on top. The petite warrior sat triumphantly straddling my stomach, her hands resting on my shoulders as she panted from the effort of throwing me.
"Did I win..?" She gasped. Her eyes were lidded as they looked down at me from only a few inches away, and her breath fanned across my face from parted lips as she breathed heavily.
"You did well, little tigress." I whispered for fear my shaking would translate into my words.
Laying beneath her, her strong legs squeezing my middle and smooth hands gripping my shoulders, I finally understood the ball of tension in my chest. I was attracted to her. The realization rocked me, stealing my breath away with all the force of hitting the ground from a ten foot drop. Her icy eyes regarded me with pride as her short, soft hair fell down into my face and tickled my nose, and her full lips pulled wide in a triumphant grin. She had absolutely no idea, or return, of my new discovery, of my torture. The tightness of her hips around my middle sent shocks of electricity through my spine, and her plump lips called to me like a siren's dangerous song. Absurdly, I found myself fighting the urge to reach up and run my hands through her blood red hair.
Sarj cleared his throat loudly, making us both jump. To my immense embarrassment, I noticed that my hands were gripping her thighs and yanked them away as if she had burned me. It took everything I had to keep my face blank as she hurriedly slid off and danced over to Sarj without looking back at me. I had completely forgotten his presence.
Standing, I regarded him with my mask firmly in place. Sarj, in contrast, could be read clearly as his face was bright red and held a smugness that sent me into a fury. There was little doubt that he would pursue speaking about this moment, and that was something I would fight with every bit of my strength. There was no reason whatsoever that this subject should ever be broached.
"Did you see that?!" Rhynne was asking him excitedly.
"Aye, but now yeh have t'be able t'do it without yer foe bein' distracted." Sarj said with a wink.
"Can't that be enough for today?" She begged without conviction.
Rhynne had always complained as we trained, but it had never been with feeling. Our understanding had been that she did so only because she had never been able to before and did not truly mean it.
"It can be enough. With all that's happened you deserve a bit of rest." I said wearily as I stood and dusted the dirt from my tunic.
I would never admit the truth, that if I found myself so close to her so soon I may not have been able to control myself.
Letting out a whoop of victory, the girl danced about gathering fire wood. I did not bother stopping her or trying to remind her that a far was too dangerous. There was too little strength left in me to argue after the long day we had all had. Sarj chuckled beside me as I sat down heavily to his left.
"Feelin' a lil' off, lad?" The larger man asked with a twinkle in his eye. I fought the urge to strike him and sighed.
"Aye," I confessed as the will to fight him suddenly fled, "but I don't understand it."
"Yeh won't for a while, yet." He said with another chortle that sent his mustache dancing.
"I don't like not feeling in control. I can never predict what she'll do next."
"Yeh'll feel better after a while, jus' give it time." He promised, clapping me on the shoulder.
The moment over, we sat and watched Rhynne work. By then, completely oblivious to our exchange, she had gathered a suitable pile of tinder. Whispering a short incantation she brought green flames into life. The eerie flames danced smokelessly and gave off almost no light, and I recognized the slow moving roll of the Witch Fire that was used on the torches of the castle. I felt glad to see a different color.
Nodding my approval of her work, I stood and gathered my bow and arrows from my horse. If we had a fire we might as well have fresh meat to eat. Briefly explaining myself to my companions, I set out to find a good catch. What I could not say was that I desperately needed the chance to clear my clouded mind. Why this girl of all girls? What exactly was it about her that threw me so off balance? With relief I could at least say that my feelings were purely physical for the moment, and I decided grimly that that would be as far as I would allow them to go. The ball of tension that had never quite left tightened uncomfortably, and I ignored the little voice in the back of my head fearfully asking if it were too late for that, too.
I thought in circle as I hunted without finding any answers, but managed to scare out a fox for my troubles. Without any answers but having completed my task I had no choice but to return to them. The fox roasted well, its skinned flesh popping as it cooked over the fire. It smelled of earth and wild, and I found my hunger to be a ready distraction from my whirling mind.
We ate our meal in companionable silence and doused the fire soon after, laying down for the night with Sarj as look out. I put up no resistance when he offered and thanked him kindly.
"Good night, men." Rhynne said softly from her furs, and we both chimed in accordingly. Her voice pulled at my chest.
That night I did not sleep, though my bones creaked from exhaustion. Something nagged in the back of my mind insistently, but its source escaped me. Troubled and restless, I stood and told Sarj quietly that I was going for a quick walk. The older man nodded and reminded me to be careful.
I paced a circle around our clearing once, twice, and then widened my path. With my third pass I decided that I should try scoping out the area a little bit in hope that the hiking might tire me out enough to force sleep. Branching off my route randomly I found myself at a cliff after only a couple hundred yards. The view of the moon and stars from its edge was breathtaking, and I decided that I would sit there a time. What caught my eye below stopped me cold.
Four Unseen sat silently in a square not twenty feet below me. Cursing to myself for being so stupid I ducked my head down and crawled on my belly back to the edge. The creatures had not stirred, perhaps unable to hear me from so far away. They sat with their long legs crossed and arms stretched to either side to grasp their neighbor's. They did not speak or make any sound, but I held the distinct impression that they were communicating to each other somehow. Slowly, carefully, I retreated backwards away from them and stood up. The others would need to know how close they were.
Back at camp Sarj tilted his head at my stern expression.
"They're near. The Unseen have made camp just a few hundred yards in that direction. We're going to have to detour around them."
"Balls..!" Sarj cursed furiously.
It would seem that the Unseen were out in numbers only miles from our home. Without a means to warn them the chances of a surprise attack were astronomical, and we had to somehow make it through the woods without being slaughtered ourselves. Comfortable in her furs, Rhynne slept on without any clue as to the mortal danger that sit silently only feet away from her.