As always, thanks to people who reviewed the last chapter, and to those who reviewed my random little Hedge/Chlorr oneshot. Now let's see what Arael's up to...
Arael had no idea where she was going. As she had been pre-occupied with escaping from her window, reaching the stables, and leaving Belisaere without being seen, she hadn't really thought about where she would go. She had been riding for hours, her fur-lined cloak did not completely cut out the chill of the wintery night, and she hadn't remembered to take any food with her either. In short, she was tired, cold, hungry, and beginning to think that her impulsive decision to leave Belisaere had been a rather stupid idea.
She halted her horse on the edge of a small forest, and considered her options. She could turn her horse around and go back now, but that would mean arriving in the city at some ridiculous hour of the morning without having had any sleep at all, and having to endure Anstyr's famous temper. Or, she could stay out here, find somewhere relatively suitable to camp for the night, and return to Belisaere the following morning, when Anstyr's temper might have subsided.
Arael winced as she thought of the last time she had made her brother angry. That thought made the decision clear to her: it would probably be safer to stay where she was. She peered at the forest, contemplating its potential as a camping location. The faint moonlight only just enabled her to see that the trees were spindly and bare, but quite close together, their leafless branches creating some form of shelter. It certainly looked like the best place to sleep nearby, and Arael started to steer her horse into the trees.
Then she suddenly caught the hot, metallic scent of Free Magic. Her horse smelt it too and took a few nervous steps backwards. Arael tightened her grip on the reins, feeling her heart thumping loudly in her chest, her eyes darting around, searching for any sign of movement. She saw nothing, but she moved her horse away from the forest. Anything could be hiding in there, and she didn't want it to creep up on her. The horse snorted and jumped a little, but Arael hardly noticed. All her attention was focused on looking for whatever it was that was out there. Maybe it would be safer to go back to Belisaere after all. Anstyr would be furious, but facing him would be a lot better than facing a Free Magic creature. At least Anstyr would only metaphorically kill her.
Then, without warning, something burst out the trees only a short distance away from her. Arael was about to scream, but her horse beat her to it, rearing up on its hind legs and throwing her from the saddle. Then it was gone, speeding back towards Belisaere at a full gallop. Arael didn't watch the horse go. She stood up as quickly as she could, wincing slightly as her now-bruised hip protested, and turned to look at whatever creature it was that stood only a few paces away, clearly watching her.
It was tall and vaguely humanoid, its violet skin cross-hatched and rough-looking, and its legs ended in hooks instead of feet. It had clubs where hands ought to be, and each club was covered in inch-long spikes, like half-bald hedgehogs. Arael didn't want to see its face, but she found herself looking anyway into two large, black eyes that took up half the creature's face, violet pupils glowing eerily in the dark. As she stared at it, the creature opened its too-wide mouth and revealed a lot of very sharp, black teeth.
Arael could feel her heart beating even louder and faster now. The creature was staring intently back at her and she felt caught in its gaze. She didn't know what she could do. Her hand brushed lightly against the hilt of the sword she wore at her side, but weapons were useless against Free Magic creatures. Everyone knew that.
Slowly, the creature stalked towards her, circling her, and Arael instinctively backed away, though she never took her eyes off it. The Free Magic smell was getting stronger as it came closer, making her feel sick, and she realised that the creature was circling around her, pushing her towards the forest. Perhaps, Arael thought, she could run into the trees and hide from the creature there. It was a wild, crazy idea, and it probably wouldn't work at all, but her mind had gone completely blank of any other plans.
'It will not help if you run,' said a hissing voice, sounding as if it were inside her head. 'I can be quick if I want to be.'
Arael assumed that it was creature speaking to her, and she stepped backwards again as it moved forwards. Her foot met something hard and wouldn't go back as far as she wanted, and she realised that she was now backed against a tree trunk. She would have to look away from it if she wanted to get any further away.
'I need blood,' continued the creature. 'It sustains me. The Travellers I drained earlier were not enough. But I must be quick. Two of the Bright Shiners are approaching, and they would not allow me to feast upon your blood, the traitors.'
'Who are the Bright Shiners?' Arael asked quickly. If she could keep the creature talking, she reasoned, maybe help would arrive before it could kill her.
'They have betrayed us, all seven of them,' the creature hissed. Arael wasn't sure if it had heard her. 'They oppose the very stuff from which we are made. I am one of the lucky few who escaped them when they imprisoned so many in the long ago.'
'But you are afraid of them,' Arael said, picking up on the underlying note of fear in the creature's words.
'Who would not be?' it answered. 'They surpass us all in power. But that is enough talk. I must have your blood and leave before they come.'
With that, it leapt forwards, crossing the remaining space between itself and Arael in one go, and sinking its razor-sharp teeth into her arm. Arael screamed and tore her arm away from it, then ran as fast as she could into the trees, ignoring the pain and the warm blood soaking into her sleeve. She could hear that the creature was following her, snapping any tree that was in its way. She risked a quick glance over one shoulder, and almost screamed again when she saw how close the creature was behind her.
Then she actually did scream as something reached out from the shadows and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her sideways just as one of the creature's clubbed forearms lashed out towards her. It hit the trunk of a nearby tree instead, smashing through the wood like a brick thrown through glass, and a voice from behind Arael spoke.
'Now, what did that tree do to deserve that?'
Arael half-gasped as she recognised the voice, and she turned around to check that she was correct.
'Mosrael?' she whispered, hardly able to believe it.
Mosrael smiled at Arael, completely unsurprised to see her. 'Hello, Arael,' she said casually, as if she had just happened to pass her on the road. Then, she looked back at the creature, which was standing still, evidently unwilling to continue chasing its prey and unsure of whether to retreat or not.
'Dyrim, how long does it take?' Mosrael called, her gaze moving past the creature, into the dark forest.
'Sorry!' came the reply. Then Dyrim stepped out from the trees, a chain of rather scrawny-looking daisies held in one hand. 'It's harder than you think to find these in the middle of winter. You could have woken some up for me. And where do you think you're going?' she added, as the creature tried to slink away, unnoticed. It started to speed up into a run, but Dyrim threw the daisy chain over its head before it had gone more than a couple of metres. Blue-white sparks crackled as the flowers touched its Free Magic flesh.
'Daisies?' Arael asked, raising one eyebrow sceptically.
'Yes, daisies,' replied Mosrael. 'The first of three chains needed to bind a Hrule.'
Arael did not look at all convinced. 'You bind a thing like that with daisies?'
'I believe you have the next one,' Dyrim said to Mosrael.
Mosrael nodded and drew a chain of pure silver out of one of her sleeves. She handed it to Dyrim, and then turned to Arael.
'Let's do something about your arm,' she said, inspecting Arael's still-bleeding wound. 'Dyrim will deal with the Hrule,' she added, seeing Arael looking over her shoulder at Dyrim, who had now produced a third chain, made of some other type of metal. Mosrael rested one hand gently over Arael's wound, and Arael saw golden light appear under her palm. Slowly, the pain lessened and the blood stopped oozing out of the any punctures made by the creature's teeth. When Mosrael took her hand away, all that was left was a slight, barely noticeable scar.
'Now,' Mosrael said, looking at Arael's arm with satisfaction. 'What exactly are you doing out here, in the company of a Hrule?
'I was… um... running away,' Arael replied, trying to calm her breathing down now she knew she was safe.
'From what?' Mosrael asked. 'Belisaere, or that Hrule?'
'Both,' Arael answered, a little guiltily. Mosrael was probably going to tell her that it had been a stupid idea to leave the city – something Arael had figured out a while ago.
'It's good to know it had the sense to be afraid of us,' Dyrim said, walking up behind Arael now she had bound the Hrule in all three chains. 'Although, clearly not the sense to run away.'
Arael stared at her in surprise. 'You are the... what did it say... the Bright Shiners?'
'That's what we are known as, apparently,' Dyrim replied, shrugging casually.
Arael carried on staring for a while, but then frowned. 'It said there were seven of you.'
'I suppose you will be needing somewhere to sleep tonight,' Mosrael said quickly, deliberately ignoring Arael's comment. 'That is why I brought Dyrim along with me. We have temporarily settled ourselves in a small forest, a few miles south of Orchyre. I will finish dealing with the Hrule, and Dyrim can fly you there, if you'd like. Or she could take you back to Belisaere.'
Arael was about to answer, but then she hesitated, something else that the Hrule had said repeating itself in her head. Dyrim, having evidently read her mind, suddenly laughed.
'We may be powerful, Arael, but we are only dangerous when we want to be. And what is it with you and thinking that we are going to eat you?'
Arael flushed and tried to clear her mind completely.
'It's not working,' Dyrim said, grinning mischievously. 'And yes, you're right, I can be very annoying. As to flying you all the way to Orchyre, that's simple.' To demonstrate, she fluidly changed her form, becoming an unnaturally large eagle. 'You sit on my back, and we will be there in only an hour or so.' There was a pause while Arael considered what to say, and Dyrim sighed. 'I am offended by your lack of trust. Only this morning, you were quite happy to be alone with all of us.'
'I know,' Arael replied. 'But then, I thought you were only lesser Free Magic beings, because you didn't seem dangerous and you don't smell of Free Magic, like that Hrule did. Now it would seem as though I was wrong.'
'You were,' Mosrael answered. 'But why does that mean that we are any different now?'
'Exactly,' pronounced Dyrim. 'Now, do you want to come with me, or do you want to stay here on your own?'
'I think I want to come with you,' Arael said, cautiously moving closer to Dyrim and placing a hand on her feathery back.
'Good,' said Dyrim, waiting patiently as Arael sat just in front of her wings. 'Do you mind if I fly quite fast? It's more fun that way.'
'As long as I don't fall off,' Arael answered.
'If you do, I can catch you easily enough,' said Dyrim. 'Just remember to hold on tight.'
With that, she began to flap her powerful wings and, within seconds, was soaring smoothly into the air, Mosrael waving to them from the ground.
For the first few minutes, Arael concentrated only on not falling off, but as she gradually became accustomed to the feeling of flying, she started enjoying the feeling of freedom she got from being so high up and seeing the land rushing past beneath her. Everything looked so tiny, and the silver-grey moonlight made it all look slightly eerie, in a strange and beautiful way. At one point, Dyrim turned around to face the north and hovered there for a moment.
'Well, there's Belisaere,' she commented. 'Am I right in guessing that you've never seen it like that before?'
Arael could do nothing but stare at the great mass of the Belisaere, the towers of the palace visible even behind the city's walls, and she found herself laughing at the thought of Nehima and Anstyr's expressions if they saw what she was doing now.
All too soon, Dyrim turned back to the south and carried on flying. As she had said, after around an hour, she flew over the town of Orchyre, and then began to descend towards a patch of fir trees, landing gracefully on the edge of the forest.
'How was that?' she asked, resuming her human shape once Arael had climbed off her back.
Arael leaned against a tree and tried to get back the breath that adrenaline had taken away. 'Amazing,' she managed to say eventually.
Dyrim beamed. 'Good.' She started to lead the way into the thicket of trees. 'This way.'
Arael followed her obediently, occasionally stumbling on raised tree roots that the darkness concealed. Every time she tripped, Dyrim looked back at her, shook her head, and muttered something about humans having rubbish eyesight and balance. Arael rolled her eye at these comments, and guessed that she would have to endure several more of them during the night. She began to think up a few witty responses, but then she tripped again and decided to concentrate on where she was going instead.
Presently, Dyrim led her to a group of trees that grew in a rough circle, their branches protruding from their trunks at odd, twisted angles, so some of them nearly reached the ground. Belgaer and Kibeth were reclining comfortably on some of the lower branches, and Ranna was lying – apparently sleeping – on one that was almost horizontal.
'We have company,' Dyrim announced, stopping just inside the ring of trees.
'Who?' Belgaer asked, looking round at Dyrim. Her face lit up when she saw Arael. 'Hello, Arael!'
'Be quiet!' hissed Ranna, turning her head just enough so she could glare at Belgaer. 'Some of us are trying to sleep.'
'Arael's decided to join us,' Kibeth explained brightly, grinning at Arael from her branch.
'Oh.' Ranna did not sound particularly enthusiastic. Or awake.
'How exactly can you balance on those branches whilst sleeping?' Arael asked, noticing the fact that very few of the trees' branches were thick enough for anyone to lie down on without the risk of falling off.
'We're not sleeping,' Kibeth answered.
'I am,' Ranna mumbled.
'You don't need to sleep,' said Dyrim dismissively. 'Be sociable.' She picked up a pine cone from the forest floor and threw it at Ranna. It hit her on the shoulder and knocked her off the branch, and Ranna only just managed to turn her fall into something slightly more graceful.
'Oh, alright,' Ranna sighed, landing neatly, almost like a cat. 'Hello, Arael,' she added, remembering that she hadn't greeted the girl yet.
'Aren't you and Mosrael supposed to be dealing with a Hrule?' Belgaer asked, eyeing Dyrim suspiciously.
'We did deal with it,' Dyrim answered, sitting herself down on a low branch. 'Mosrael is just putting it away. Guess who I found with it.'
Kibeth rolled her eyes sarcastically. 'Typical. Didn't anyone tell you that not all Free Magic creatures are friendly? Why are you out here, anyway?'
'I ran away,' Arael replied shortly.
'I've told her that she can stay here, with us,' Dyrim added. 'She can sleep on a branch, like Ranna was.'
Belgaer frowned. 'It that a good idea?' she asked.
'That's right,' Kibeth added sarcastically. 'It's not really a good idea for a human to stay with us. We might forget to feed it, or one of us might decide to eat it during the night. After all, we are dangerous Free Magic beings as well. You shouldn't really be anywhere near us, Arael.'
'Oh, shut up, Kibeth,' Belgaer sighed. 'You know what I mean.'
'Can you, please, quieten down so I can go to sleep?' Ranna asked, climbing back up onto her branch and lying back down on it as easily as if it were a bed. 'I expect Arael's tired as well.'
'She's evidently not as tired as you're pretending to be,' Dyrim retorted. 'You can't even get tired. All that time in Belisaere has had a lasting effect on you, Ranna. You're acting almost as human as Arael at the moment.'
'I doubt I will ever be able to sleep on this,' Arael muttered to herself, sitting down beside Dyrim. The branch was more comfortable than she had expected, but it was still very narrow. 'I'll probably fall off in the middle of the night.'
'I think you'll fall off earlier than that,' Kibeth teased.
Arael glared at Kibeth. 'I think I'll sleep on the ground.'
'Good idea,' said Belgaer. Then, she looked up into the higher branches of the trees and called, 'Astarael, make sure you don't say anything! Arael's staying with us tonight! Maybe we should have mentioned this before,' she added slowly, seeing Arael look at her questioningly. 'If you hear Astarael's voice, you will die.'
'Why?' asked Arael, puzzled.
Belgaer shrugged her shoulders. 'We don't know. It's just her, we think.'
Arael looked up to where Astarael was sitting, on one of the highest branches. She seemed to be intent on carefully folding a small piece of paper into a delicate shape, although Arael couldn't quite see what shape it was. When she had finished, she rested it on her palm for a moment, and then picked it up again. Then, she viciously ripped it in two and let the pieces fall from her hands. One half caught in the lower branches of the tree, but the other fluttered all the way down. Arael caught it and looked at it: it was half of a tiny moth, the paper folded with beautiful intricacy, and she wondered why Astarael had torn it up.
'It's best just to ignore her,' Dyrim added. 'That's what we do.'
Arael frowned at that and opened her mouth to comment, but a yawn came out instead of words. Quickly, she tried to stifle it, rolling her eyes as Kibeth and Dyrim started laughing.
'So much for you telling yourself that you're not tired,' said Dyrim, putting her arm around Arael's shoulders. 'Sleep if you want. We won't wake you up. Well, not on purpose, at least.'
'We definitely won't do this,' added Kibeth, throwing a pine cone at Ranna in the same way Dyrim had done earlier. This time, Ranna caught it and threw it back, seemingly without waking up.
'Good,' Arael said, grinning and resting her head against Dyrim's shoulder. The rush of adrenaline she had got from flying had worn off completely now, and she had only just noticed how tired she was. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself, and closed her eyes. Within minutes, she was fast asleep.
Reviews are always welcome, people!
