Ch 7: Arguments and Storytelling
Felix watched, satisfied, as the horses took off, melting into the shadows of the forest with trilling calls and raised tails. He had to consciously check against the impulse to grab Ana's hand, and spun away, hoping that she was paying attention and would stay right on his tail. Felix's plan had worked as well as he had hoped. The Arsalans would never forgive him for such an insult, and they now possessed double the incentive to stay hot on his and Ana's trail, leaving Luxton in safety.
Quickly orienting himself with what little he could see of the sun through the leaves and clouds, Felix set his course, heading south. He was heading into the Ruby Forest after all, but they would soon change their direction to cross its north-western edges. Friends lay in that land—he wouldn't know their exact location until they were closer. Right now, however, Felix and Ana had to put as much distance between them and the enraged Arsalans as possible. Luck and a bit of magic had sent the horses racing in the exact opposite direction that he and Ana were now headed.
Ducking under a low hanging branch, Felix leapt over a log, utterly relieved when he heard Ana's hard breath behind her. Her feet thudded as she landed only seconds behind Felix, moving with the fluidity of a shadow. His mind constantly revolving, Felix checked their direction again, and subtly adjusted their course more westerly. The sounds of the enraged soldiers gradually faded, until all Felix could hear were the war drums of his beating blood and the steady tandem of their racing feet.
Living with the gifts of a wizard imbued Felix with certain abilities—a greater tolerance for pain, longer endurance, and sharpened senses were among them. Perhaps that was why it didn't immediately occur to him that the hard pace he had set would wear out the fittest of mortals within 300 meters. The whoosh and suck of Ana's breath behind him was growing more jagged and shallow, yet she didn't complain or slow. Felix slowed his speed almost instantly upon realization of how his pace must tax Ana's strength. However, she must have not been expecting it, as she nearly ran into him. Ana's reflexes were quick enough that she just bumped into Felix's left shoulder with her right, and stood several paces in front of him, forcefully keeping her posture straight while she panted, looking to Felix for direction.
For a moment, Felix was a little overwhelmed by the trust she placed in his hands. How could he ever repay such faith? Comforting, proud words were on the tip of his tongue—after all, Ana was paying attention beautifully, and learning quickly what life required of her now—but Felix quickly bit them back as images from the night before flashed through his head, pictures of violence and blood splashing scarlet blotches of pain across his mind's eye. It took all Felix had to stop the physical jerk that instinctively screamed along his nerves, and instead ground his teeth before turning firmly away.
"Come on—we still have a lot of ground to cover." Felix threw the gravel of brusqueness into his voice as he turned away, too quick to see the hardening in Ana's dark emerald eyes. He set off again, keeping his pace slow and steady. Ana stayed right behind him, and they soon passed into the heavy, dark areas of the forest as it spread southwards. Wildlife was more plentiful here, but far more shy. Felix could sense the dappled elk, cobalt eagles, and a stealthy few striker wolves among the depths of the forest's heart, but even his sharp eyes couldn't see a flash of hide in what little dappled light struggled through the heavy foliage.
Instead, there was a breath of presence, like a shiver of awareness up the spine. Felix could feel the heartbeats of the animals in the tips of his fingers and the depths of his throat. But much, much stronger was the presence of the woman following him. It wasn't just the rhythm of her heartbeat thrumming up and down his spine like chimes, but her leveling breath rate brushed along his skin like fog.
It was rare that Felix was this utterly aware of another human being—this reaction was usually reserved to powerful individuals, a reaction doubled when the person in question was emotionally close to him. And while he could sense the vast amount of power she had living just under her skin, Felix was well aware that Ana was in no terms trained or under control. She had no way to manifest what lived in her blood and mind, and so shouldn't affect him so strongly. Not to mention, Felix had known Ana for all of two days—it was ludicrous that he would feel an emotional connection strong enough to elicit such an awareness after so short a period of time. Besides, he had no business even entertaining the idea of becoming emotionally attached to Ana; he had been warned thoroughly the price of such careless and selfish actions.
Unconsciously, Felix lengthened his stride, which in turn forced Ana to hurry her pace as well. It wasn't until he heard a muffled thump that Felix was roused out of his determined march. Turning around, his eyebrows lifted to see Ana splayed out of the ground. His eyes moving quickly, Felix decided that she must have tripped over an arcoak's protruding root. Ana snatched up her fallen hat, ramming it back over her fiery hair. Felix backtracked, offering a hand to help her stand. She glanced up at him, at his hand, and instead pushed up off her knees.
Ana murmured, "I'm fine," brushing herself off with impatient strikes at her clothes before stomping off. Felix was too busy wrestling with his feelings of rejection and relief to notice the embarrassed stain that rode high on Ana's porcelain cheekbones. Shaking his head, Felix quickly followed her, retaking his lead, but careful to keep his pace moderate.
The patterned continued throughout the day, with little to no words spared between the two. It was awkward, but both were enjoying a self-satisfied righteousness with their silence. Felix was doing this for their safety; Ana was doing this for their pride. It seemed worth it.
At least, until night fell, and Felix was busy keeping his eyes sharp for a good place to make camp. Finally, just as the sun painted the horizon in bloody red and simmering bronze, he chose a small grove enclosed by aspens and pines, quiet and near the gurgling stream. Stomping over the rim of bushes, he circled the perimeter, echoing for any spy spells or traps. Deeming the clearing safe and clean, he then circled again, this time casting a protective circle, returning to the center of the clearing at each of the points of the cardinal directions. There was a brief yellow glow, like a small sun, that soared outward like a bowl. Just when it reached the tops of the trees, it paused, then rushed back, bringing protection and luck with it. Despite its grand appearance, the protection spell was a basic one, and Felix was still fresh enough to feel no pain or exhaustion as a result.
He knelt at the center of the clearing to build a fire circle, glancing up once to command Ana to gather kindling as he arranged the stones. For a moment, he thought she hadn't heard him. Glancing up, Felix was surprised to see Ana's lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. Just when he was about to repeat himself, she stalked off, her shoulders high and tight. Guilt twisted a little deeper in his gut, but Felix forced himself to resettle to the task at hand. It was for the best. He had to be certain of that. The thought helped, but didn't ease the grimace from his face.
Felix would have jumped when Ana noisily dropped an armful of small sticks and branches right next to him if he hadn't sensed her coming. She was getting quieter, almost as if movement in the forest was instinctive for her. If Felix hadn't been so attuned to Ana, he would have looked like an idiot. As it was, he reacted fast enough to garner a small smirk from Ana, his head whipping around with speed enough to make his eyesight sparkle.
Briefly tempted to gleefully agree to full-out war of wills, the mage ground his teeth and turned his eyes back to his chore. The ring was complete, but he perfected the formation to give himself time to compose himself. Felix would have preferred to keep the reasons for his distance to himself, but Ana clearly wasn't taking it well. If they were to survive the journey, she couldn't constantly garner her revenge at his expense. She had to be told. But how to word such a… strange situation?
"Sit down, Ana." When she remained utterly still, Felix heaved a sigh. "Please." She dropped down, her long legs folding in under her.
"That wasn't so hard to ask nicely, was it?" she asked, her smooth, low voice just edging into snarky territory. Drawing air through his nose heavily, Felix reared back his head, troubled when her verdant eyes didn't flicker under his gaze. He knew only two people who could survive that glare, and that was because their blood had bequeathed the ability to him in the first place. Turning his heavy, powerful gaze to the small tent of wood he had stacked within the rim of rough stones before him, Felix was dismayed and embarrassed when fire erupted from the wood as if it had been struck by lightning.
Felix's control was usually more finite and implacable; this kind of sloppiness discredited his training and his legacy. Praying that something, anything, would go right this evening, Felix intently lowered the flames to a more pleasant crackle before turning his eyes back to Ana's, careful to keep his gaze gentle, if not a little cool. That she hadn't reacted before was surprising, but Felix decided not to dwell on it.
"No, it wasn't. Yet despite what you may believe of me, I had good intentions."
"Hell is paved with good intentions," Ana threw back, her expression stony and unforgiving. It was time to start talking, and quickly, if Felix was to preserve any glimmer of friendship that had arisen between them. For some strange reason, it made him almost ill to think of the connection between them bitter and dry. However, that wave of nausea battled against another sheparded by his vision from the night before. Felix knew he had a choice—Ana's friendship, or her life. The decision had seemed so obvious to him the night before; however, it was only now that he realized that it wasn't his to make. It was up to Ana as to what he must sacrifice. Her answer was obvious. Felix was only going through this painful conversation to alleviate his guilty conscience and his heavy pride. Repeating this mantra in his brain, Felix began to describe what had haunted him the night before.
"A wizard's dreams are nothing to be taken lightly, Ana. Some of us have the gift of sight, but it only manifests in our sleep." Felix decided to leave out the fact that a far fewer number of wizards, so few that Felix only knew of one in his acquaintance, saw with such a regular clarity that their visions should be taken with credence. Felix usually disregarded his dreams—he didn't have Diane's gift, and he had learned long ago the hard way that fate presented far too many paths for a wizard's vague gift of dream sight to be used as any sort of guide.
"You saw the future last night," Ana stated flatly, her eyebrow raised and her eyes glittering with a hard sort of shine. Her skepticism surprised Felix. She had so easily accepted the other magic she had seen and been told of before, it was strange that she chose now to take his words with a grain of salt. Then again, she might have accepted his words under the light of trust—now that Felix believed it gone, he could see that she had reverted to her world's mind set. And for some reason, that irritated the hell out of Felix.
"Yes, Ana. I did. The meaning was clear enough. If I connect myself to you, it would be at the cost of your life." Felix cleared his throat around the knot that wound itself tighter and tighter. Just remembering it with enough clarity to explain it took Felix's breath away; his lungs wanted to collapse under the weight of his dream's blood and screams. Both had poured out of Ana, along with the shine of her life. When he finally met Ana's eyes, her expression was not the one he expected. She looked…angry.
"Your dream claimed that if you became friends with me, I would die as a result." For a moment, she was utterly still, before words burst out of her lips like cracks of lightning. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life!" Felix ground his teeth, and glared at her. Fine. If she didn't believe what he had to say, then she had to be shown. Scooting around the fire, he settled next to Ana, his hand outstretched. She glanced from his hand up to his eyes, and Felix bit back the wave of resentment that threatened to spew out of his mouth in a growl.
Finally she settled her hand in his. Closing his fingers gently around her hand, Felix focused on the form of her tendons and bone as he gathered the specifics of the dream in his mind, and despite the intense pain riddling his skull, kept his grip gentle. Looking up to her eyes, Felix kept the eye contact strong as he gently squeezed her hand. Guilt ripped at him as Ana's eyes slammed shut, her head cracking back as if she had caught a hard punch to the chin. Felix could easily hear her whistling breath as she struggled with the visions painted across the inside of her eyelids, and, despite how much it cost him, closed his eyes to share the pain of the vision. Anything to lessen the blow she was bearing.
The two of them were somewhere dark, and danger crackled in the air like an electric charge. It was dank, the damp of the air seeming to infect the lungs as weak torches provided a sort of discouraged light. Ana kept close to him as he fought off faceless enemy after faceless enemy, both as a mage and as a soldier. There was somewhere they had to go—Felix knew by the intent set on his face and Ana's constant glances over his shoulder to ascertain that they were going the right way. He also knew that the vision Felix was giving everything he had to keep vision Ana safe, fighting much harder than he would have ever been called on to should he have been alone. He pivoted, blocked, struck, and attacked with a sort of vicious consistency, shielding Ana in every instance. In between attacks, they moved as a loping sort of jog, hoping to cover as much ground as possible quietly before the next adversary melted out of the darkness.
When it happened, it happened so fast, even Felix was shocked by the sheer speed. Out of the darkness leaped a black wolf, easily twice as big as a normal striker wolf. Its eyes glowed an unholy red with vertical pupils, its yellow teeth snapping on a roar that shivered along Felix's bones. By the time the vision Felix registered the attack, the animal had already latched its dagger-like teeth on his shoulder, ripping the mage to the ground with a rending sound that made Felix's stomach lurch. Vision Felix's bellow echoed down the dim hallways, and sent vision Ana a few quivering steps back. Blood spattered the nearby granite wall as the animal wrenched his head to one side, vision Felix's flesh still in his teeth's grasp. The damage was extensive, and left untended, would quickly kill him. Felix felt every torn muscle, every drop of lost blood. But the worst came when the wolf released the broken vision Felix, his evil eyes fixing on vision Felix's. Without speaking, the animal's harsh, demonic voice floated across Felix's mind. What is yours must be mine.
Suddenly, time slowed. After viewing the attack on vision Felix with such speed, the animal's timeless pivot seemed eerie. His new target was Ana. In reality, he moved with as much speed as he had before, not even giving her the time to throw up her hands in defense. But Felix's horror and helplessness slowed the hands of time, drawing vision Ana's final scream out until it echoed into eternity. Great streaks of blood gleamed in the shivering light as the wolf destroyed Ana, her face and throat its main targets. The ruby liquid seemed frozen in the air, splattering against the wall in discernable splashes with an almost balletic grace. As vision Ana's ravaged body started to collapse under the wolf's weight, Felix and Ana were thrown callously out of the vision, landing beside the fire with heaving, whistling breath.
"Good God," Ana whispered through the tears on her face, speaking in hitching rushes, as if the words hurt but pressed against her heart too hard to be left unsaid. "That was… horrific. I felt your pain, and my death. I was in her, yet saw everything from every possible angle. How could you… function after such a thing like this?" Felix could see the epiphany suddenly light her eyes. "This is why you changed. After you defended me from Apollo in the fire, this is why you became so distant. You didn't stop liking me—you were trying to protect me, because of what the wolf said."
Felix was embarrassed by her succinct summary of a decision that had taken him countless sleepless and restless hours, until he realized that she had heard the exchange between him and Apollo. "Wait! You heard that?" Ana waved it aside as if it were nothing, her brow knitting in concentration.
"You weren't exactly quiet, Felix. Of course I heard you." She scrubbed away the tears still wetting her face, her full mouth bowing down as she unwillingly relived the dream. "I can see your reasoning now, flawed as it was."
"My reasoning was not flawed!" Felix said, anger edging his tone to a growl. "The message couldn't have been clearer. If I connect myself to you as a friend, someone who would protect you, it makes you the wolf's target. He won't outright kill me; the wounds will be fatal, but I would survive long enough to see you destroyed. That is the wolf's real intent, to make me suffer in your death. I refuse to have your blood on my hands, Ana, merely because I want to be your friend, protect you and help you!" Felix had shot to his feet sometime during his rampage, his hands clasped behind his back as he paced, his cloak billowing on a wind that wasn't there.
"So you would abandon me to protect me?" Ana asked in a small voice. Her demure volume should have warned Felix, who, in a wiser stage, would have seen the change in volume for what it was. In his current state, however, he reeled on her, glaring at Ana over the top of the flames.
"If that's what it takes, yes! As I said, I will not live my life knowing you're dead because I could not control my emotional wants! I will get you somewhere safe, and I will get you home! If I cannot connect to you in order to accomplish that, so be it!" Crossing his arms over his chest, Felix believed the conversation over. What woman would forgive him and want to remain his friend after such a rampage? However, when Ana shot to her feet, her hands fisted at her sides and her eyes glowing with rage, Felix was a little taken aback.
"And that's it?! You would emotionally abandon me because you believe me to be the helpless damsel you saw in that vision? I've got news for you, mister!" Ana growled as she stomped around the fire to poke his chest with a hard finger. "I'm no coward, and I have never quivered in fear. If we are to fight, then teach me to fight! But if you think that it's acceptable for you to just let me flounder in a world I don't know because you don't want to take the responsibility for my training, you have another thing coming!"
"I'm trying to protect you!" Felix said, his voice just edging into a yell.
"Then protect me! Don't coddle me or abandon me!" Felix ran restless fingers through his hair as he stomped away from Ana, unable to maintain the eye contact that had his stomach twisting. "Make the choice!" she yelled after him.
"It's not my choice to make!" Felix roared as he spun, striding back over to Ana to tower over her in his rage. "It's yours, and you're too thick-headed, stubborn, and proud to make it! End what we have! It's the only way for you to survive!"
"You don't even know me, so don't categorize me into neat adjectives! And can't you open your eyes to see that ending our friendship damns me more than any wolf's attack?!" Felix frowned at the change in Ana's eyes. Anger receded as her emotions leveled, and he found his doing the same. No end would be reached in anger. She just made him so damn furious. When Ana spoke again, her voice had softened.
"I can't count on anyone else, Felix. You know that better than me, perhaps. I'm hunted before people even know my name, and the only person I can place any trust in is you. Please," she whispered as she stepped closer, touching feather-light fingertips to the back of his hand hanging down at his sides, "don't leave me now, just when I need you the most." Felix looked away from her dark eyes, his eyes squinting into the black rimming the clearing as he wrestled with what he knew to be right and what he wanted to be true. Glancing back at her, he raised a hesitant hand to brush back the hair that fell into her eyes.
"Are you sure? There's nothing more I can show you or tell you to dissuade you. It's no question as to the danger you would face," Felix warned. And he had thought that her choice would have been so obvious and simple. Shows how well he knew her.
"In this world, you're all I've got." Felix shook his head at Ana's answer, a small smile playing unwillingly over his lips.
"As you wish, madam." The smile spread across her face slowly, lighting it from her eyes out. Something squirmed in his chest, just under his collarbone, at the warm gratitude in her eyes. He wondered if there was ever a time when his shoulders felt light, unburdened by the responsibility and worry those he held close warranted. Looking into her eyes, and her mind a little, Felix suddenly saw the fear that had riddled her through their argument. Not of death, but of abandonment, rejection. It wouldn't have been the first time she had experienced either. And to think that he had almost scarred her the same way others have before. His old friend guilt stirred, and Felix opened his arms in invitation to make amends for his unintentional damage.
Ana hesitated, and Felix wondered briefly if he had read her wrong. However, he was gratified when she melted into his touch, her slim frame fitting perfectly against his. Ana had made the choice; it was her right. Felix would just have to protect her better than he imagined himself capable.
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As the two of them settled again by the fire and Felix produced two rich brown bread rolls, strips of spicy elk jerky, and a canteen of spring water, they ate for some time in companionable silence. However, after a while, Ana turned to Felix, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of the jerky.
"You mentioned your father as if he were someone I should know. Is he famous?" Felix felt a small grin curve his lips. He had never had the opportunity to tell his parents' story to someone who had never heard of the famous wizard Howl and his wife Sophie before. This should prove interesting.
"My father allotted quite a bit of fame three decades ago. But the real story goes far beyond Howl's actions during the War. Would you like to hear the tale?" At Ana's energetic nod, Felix settled more comfortably, carefully thinking back to the stories and tales that he had heard so many times, it felt like he was there.
"My mother, Sophie, was once a hatter in a small town called Market Chipping far to the south of here, on the edge of the Wastes Proper. One day, when she was about 18 years old, she went to visit her younger sister, Letti, who worked in the bakery. My Aunt Letti now owns Cesari's—some of the best creams puffs ever to be beheld. My mother has never been fond of crowds, and it seemed that everyone in Ingary was busy celebrating the soldiers' departure to glory and honor. After riding on the bus, Sophie went along the back alleys as a short cut. At that time, many of the soldiers recruited to fight in the War had yet to be deployed. Every city and town across Ingary was flooded with soldiers, all of them itching for entertainment and action. So when young Sophie ran into two bored soldiers who would sooner play with a pretty thing like her than be left unamused, Sophie became nervous. She was shy, and knew well from her mother's actions the dangers of men. She tried to discourage the soldiers, her attempt at courage giving way under the quiver in her voice, but they were too bored to be discouraged. Just when she was about to run for it, a low, smooth voice rippled from behind them.
'There you are, sweetheart. Sorry I'm late. I was looking everywhere for you.' An arm settled possessively across her shoulder." Felix was unaware that deep in the throes of the story, his father's words had come out in a tone slightly different from his natural one, carrying Howl's huskier inflection. Ana was enraptured by the tale and Felix's theatrical gestures, and a little surprised by the easy change in his voice.
"The soldiers did not appreciate some stranger poaching in on their catch, and tried to discourage the newcomer by claiming to be busy. However, as he smoothly said, 'Really? To me, it looked like the two of you were just leaving,' he sent them marching unwillingly away with a few quick flicks of his hand. Sophie glanced up at her rescuer. He was tall, his hair a light, fair blond that was long enough to fall into his icy, frosted blue eyes. A pink and slate diamond-patterned coat was draped across his shoulders, and a blue stone danced against his chest.
'Don't hold it against them. They're actually not all that bad,' the stranger said in the soldiers' defense. 'Where to? I'll be your escort this evening' he announced. Sophie stuttered that she was just heading to the bakery, to which he quickly warned her not to be alarmed, as he was being followed. After bidding Sophie to act normally, the stranger took her arm, leading her down the alleyway. As they walked, shadow fiends started to gather on their heels, melting out of the shade on the walls." At Ana's raised brow in question, Felix paused to explain.
"Shadow fiends are employed by wizards. They're an oil-like substance in a humanoid form, and live in shadows, hence their name. They're obedient, easy to make and maintain, and they're tireless. However, they have the unfortunate tendency to melt into a mob attitude when a group of them start to coalesce, so you have to maintain strict control in those kind of situations. Anyway," Felix said as he cleared his throat, "back to the story."
"The stranger whispered an apology for her involvement. Sophie could now clearly see more shadow fiends appearing before them when the stranger suddenly turned to the left, rushing her down another alley. The stranger was walking faster and faster, until he was almost running, but it did no good, as they were soon cut off again. Sophie could see the shadow fiends melting together not twenty feet away when the stranger warned her to hold on and grabbed her waist before shooting into the air." Ana's eyes showed how she remembered the sensation from her first day in Luxton, and immediately sympathized with Sophie.
"Sophie watched as the shadow fiends below collided, while she and the stranger rose about fifty feet into the air. As they started to slow, the stranger took both her hands, advising gently to straighten her legs and start walking. 'See? Not so hard, is it?' the stranger said. Sophie gasped in amazement as she walked on air across the square, hundreds of people blithely going about their business below, totally unaware of the couple strolling across the sky. He told Sophie that she was a natural, and got his first smile. When they finally reached Cesari's balcony, the stranger gently floated her down, assuring her that he would draw the shadow fiends off. He warned her to wait to go outside again, and after her acknowledgement, floated back from the balcony with a wave of his arm and the warm statement, 'That's my girl.' It was the first time Sophie Hatter met Wizard Howl. And not even a reputation like his could stop the tremors racing along her skin."
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I can't even begin to apologize for how long this chapter took. This whole step in the story was very hard to figure without losing sight of the characters and their personalities. (Huge shout out to Laurel, who pretty much saved this chapter from dying)But I think I managed it. Let me know what you think of the fight scene. It's one of my firsts, and I rather enjoyed it. For those of you who don't want to read a recap of the movie, well… that sucks. Because I said a long time ago I would start this. If you don't like it, skip those parts. I won't do every scene of the movie, especially not in that kind of detail. Just my favorite parts (mainly the ones with Howl in them ;) ). To those of you who have only seen the movie and not read the book (like me), there are some details that might puzzle you. They're pulled from the book (except the shadow fiends; I made that name up). Also, those of you who can catch the reference to the Princess Bride, here's a cookie. Hope you enjoy!