Description: Daine and Numair face off against Ozorne in their final battle.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.
Author's Note: Thank you very much to Sylvanius and AZDesertRose for helping me with the medical aspects of this chapter.
Chapter 42
"You!" Daine snarled, her face dark with fury.
"Here I come to kill my pet for his disobedience, and you do it for me." The emperor laughed, dismounting from his hurrok, very much alive if a little unkempt. "You must really hate him even after you ordered that little rat of yours to steal my focus."
Numair frowned and coughed where he lay prone on the ground. Little rat…? Zek! He'd succeeded in getting the focus away from Ozorne! But the spell, how...? Kitten. It would appear his lover wasn't the only one who was stubborn and resourceful.
Ozorne casually sent a ball of emerald fire in their direction which Numair blocked, raising a shield just in time before the pair were incinerated. His breathing was becoming more laboured with every second, but he needed to protect Daine. She, however, was having none of it as she stood, notching an arrow to her bow and fired. It shattered uselessly against Ozorne's shield who laughed maniacally. Undeterred, Daine fired arrow after arrow until she emptied her quiver.
"Now what, child? Do you intend to throw rocks?" the emperor jeered.
"I've something better in mind," she growled. Discarding the quiver and bow, Daine's body grew fur and claws until she stood on all fours as a snarling timber wolf.
Numair's heart lodged in his throat when his lover charged. She was going to get herself killed! With his vision swimming hazily, blasting Ozorne wasn't an option. There was too much of a risk of hitting Daine who was leaping and snapping, somehow managing to avoid being hit by the emperor's wild blasts. Maybe they could employ the same tactic they'd used against Hadensra. Numair just had to distract Ozorne long enough for Daine to shoot him, but with what?
A horrible idea entered his mind as the mage looked at the arrow impaled through his chest. His instructors would be mortified by what he was about to do. Reaching behind him, Numair found the arrowhead sticking out from his back. Following it with his fingers to the base, he took a deep breath before snapping the shaft. The next part was going to be painful. Grabbing Daine's bow, he stuck it in his mouth and bit down hard. After several rasping breaths while he tried to ignore the nearby blasts, he slowly pulled the shaft from his chest, his screams muffled by the bow.
Lying on the floor panting heavily, Numair connected the two pieces of the arrow using his Gift to fuse the wood together. Now all he had to do was get the arrow to Daine and distract Ozorne. Very simple tasks if he didn't have maybe three minutes left before he bled out. The world spun precariously as Numair pushed himself up off the floor to see his Wildmage leading Ozorne away from him. Of all the times for her to get protective!
Numair didn't trust his legs to carry him that far, and certainly not without Ozorne blasting him to smithereens. He'd take hawk-shape. It took more than one breath and a lot of willpower to convince his failing body to shapeshift, staggering drunkenly when he finally succeeded.
Oh stupid, stupid decision! A bird had a shorter respiratory rate and a smaller body which would bleed out quicker!
There was nothing for it but to make the best of this mistake. Picking up the arrow in his beak, Numair estimated he had roughly twenty breaths left to pull off this foolhardy plan. It took at least five breaths to take off, flapping his wings crazily in an attempt to gain altitude. Another six or seven breaths to reach Daine and drop the arrow at her feet. Hovering for another nerve-wracking breath or two as Numair waited until Ozorne's attention was focused solely on his lover before tucking in his wings and diving at his former friend and master.
He went straight for the eyes, losing complete track of his breaths while he clawed for all his worth when a hand grabbed him roughly around the neck and threw him against something cold and hard. Whatever breath remained to him exhaled in a rush as Numair crumpled to the ground.
Daine howled in fear and rage when her black hawk hit the stone wall, unmoving. Numair had dropped something before attacking their prey with the green fire. A pointed stick. What would a wolf want with such things? The answer floated into her mind as the Wildmage recognised the bloody stick as an arrow. Through the rage Daine forced herself to remember she was a two-legger not just People! Ozorne was screaming in pain, hands covering his face, but he was still dangerous even when blinded.
"I'll kill you!" he shrieked. "I will melt the flesh from your bones until you beg for death!" Holding out a hand, the emperor sent a blast of fire out in front of him.
Daine wasn't sure if that was meant for her or the still form of Numair lying broken and bleeding on the floor. Retaking her human form, the young woman crouched and silently collected the arrow before looking around for her bow. She'd left it with Numair's body when the emperor had arrived.
"Where are you wild girl?" Ozorne called nastily. "You cannot hide from me!"
With one hand on the wall the emperor advanced slowly without any sense of purpose and shooting at every sound. An unfortunate snort from the hurrok had Ozorne sending a fireball in its direction, turning the poor creature to ash. Sending out a sharp command, Daine told all the animals and birds to stay where they were and not to make any sound.
Keeping low, she crept silently towards her bow, narrowly avoiding being hit by several of Ozorne's wild blasts. Retrieving her weapon from the floor, she carefully notched the single arrow and backed up against the wall. Ozorne had stopped and was listening for her, emerald magic balled in his fists.
"Surrender yourself to me and perhaps I shall allow you to live, Veralidaine. You will want to be in the good graces of the king of the world," his voice dripped with honeyed venom.
No thanks, thought Daine as she pulled back the string, sighted and loosed. The arrow flew at great speed to strike Ozorne through the heart. She watched the light leave his eyes as his body slumped to the floor before dashing towards the body of her lover. Maybe she could heal him. Numair wasn't People but he was still a hawk. She had to try!
Daine had barely crossed half the distance when she splashed into an oozing pool of muck spreading out from Ozorne's lifeless body. From out of the pool rose a hunched figure, no part of it remaining in a single form.
Mismatched eyes raised to glare at her. "You dared to interfere!"
Daine slipped and scrambled but she was slowly sinking into the pool which was now up to her knees and couldn't get away. The Queen of Chaos had looked terrible in her dreams, but the reality was far, far worse. Tentacles shot out from Uusoae's body to wrap around Daine. Their touch was worse than a thousand burning needles as the young woman screamed –
Her screams cut off when she landed in – nowhere. An empty space with no sound and no light. The Queen of Chaos still had her tentacles wrapped around Daine but mercifully the pain was gone.
"It is as we said, Father Universe, Mother Flame," Mithros thundered, dressed in golden armour. "In defiance of the ban you laid upon her, she entered the mortal realms and made an alliance with one who influenced mortal lives. She did it to gain an upper hand against us, her brothers and sisters. Are your bans to be set aside lightly by her, or by any of us?"
Uusoae released Daine who huddled and trembled, trying to make herself as small as possible.
Light blazed, the colour of the sun, moon and stars. "Uusoae, I am disappointed," a feminine voice spoke that was the very essence of light and heat. "So soon after the last time, as well."
"It is her nature to strive, to overset, to imagine all as being different," a male voice of darkness and emptiness added. "Still, to follow one's nature is no excuse to openly defy one's parents. Return to the confines of your own realm, Uusoae. There you will be confined in a cage of dead matter and starfire until your mother and I feel better about you."
"How long will that be?" Uusoae demanded, sounding like a petulant child who had been caught stealing a sweet treat instead of someone who had tired to end all of existence.
A cloak settled over Daine and she looked up to see Gainel smiling down at her, offering her a pale hand.
"Until the next star is born, my daughter," Mother Flame informed her. "Rule your subjects from your cage and think on the consequences of your behaviour."
"It is done," Father Universe and Mother Flame spoke as one.
Uusoae vanished along with everything else, and Daine found herself crouched in a marble courtyard with tall columns and elegant fountains. The sky overhead was half daytime while the other half was night. Mithros sat on a golden backless chair regally with the Great Mother Goddess waiting to take her seat, however a black cat was slumbering in the silver chair. The feline ignored her attempts to shoo it until the Great Goddess placed it on the floor and took her seat. The cat made a disgruntled yowl of protest before trotting over to see Daine who held out her hand. Bright purple eyes regarded her before the cat stepped forward, touching its cold wet nose to her fingers.
"Faithful?" she whispered in awe. Alanna had mentioned her cat with its matching purple eyes.
The cat purred and rubbed itself against her legs. All around them the gods were taking their own seats or perching on the fountains. Daine recognised several faces, including the descriptions of the horse lords, but many were unknown to her.
"Brother, there are things to deal with," a sibilant voice whispered. "Her for one."
Daine recoiled from the world snake when silver fire bloomed and Badger materialised between her and Kidunka, fur puffed up and baring his teeth.
"Leave be! You're frightening her," Sarra appeared from somewhere in the crowd to embrace her daughter.
"Ma?" Daine choked on the sudden rush of emotion that swept through her as she hugged her back.
A mostly naked, heavily muscled man dressed in only a loincloth followed Sarra to stand beside them, bow in hand. His reddish-brown tanned skin was streaked with olive and a large, impressive set of antlers emerged from a head of messy brown curls.
"Well met, daughter." The hunt god nodded.
Daine wasn't sure she had any energy left to feel surprised as she stared at her father. "Hullo, Da."
"The Immortals, brother," the Black God spoke up in soft voice. "Humans have forgotten how to live with them. Perhaps they should be returned here."
"Too bad," Badger grumbled. "Once Immortals had a place in things. Human mages threw them out – and you allowed it. You have a chance to fix a wrong here, not repeat it."
The Graveyard Hag thumped her cane on the marble floor. "The badger's right. And it's good for humans to have a few things to be afraid of. Beside us, of course," she cackled, winking at Daine.
– For nearly four centuries, I have laboured with human dreams. The Immortals invoke rich dreams without my striving. Mortal spirits were poorer with the Immortals gone, human imagination less fertile. I have enjoyed a few years' relief from a thankless task. Will you cripple me twice brother? – Gainel asked in a firm voice.
"Give us a chance!" Daine raised her voice, stepping out of Sarra's embrace to address the grand assembly. "You can't just expect us to adjust to a such a big change in a few short years. We're learning how to live with Immortals again. Ogres have begun farming the pass at Dunlath, we've griffins nesting along our coasts, and wyverns patrolling our borders and nesting in the mountains. Even Rikash and his Stormwing flock were willing to spy and fight alongside us in this war. Human mages may have thrown them out but Numair…" she swallowed. In all the excitement she'd forgotten him. "Where's Numair?!" She looked around frantically. "I have to go back. He's dying!"
The Graveyard Hag thumped her walking stick and, in a flash of silver light, the mage appeared, lying on the ground in the centre of the chamber: human, broken and battered, dressed only in a filthy loincloth. Daine tried to rush to his side but a firm hand on her shoulder held her back.
– Allow Hekaja to examine him – Gainel said kindly.
Stepping forward to kneel at Numair's side, the Goddess of Healing waved her hands over his body. "He is clinging to life with his last breath," she announced in a clear voice.
Silver light poured from Hekaja's hands into the mage's still form while Daine fought to hold back tears. It seemed to take hours or maybe it was only minutes when Numair gasped and moaned. Daine raced to his side, the cloak falling from her shoulders in her eagerness to reach him as Hekaja stepped away.
Long lashes fluttered open to reveal soulful brown eyes. "Daine? How –?"
She didn't let him finish his question, grabbing his face in both hands to crush her lips against his. Numair moaned again, a different moan this time, one of enjoyment rather than pain as he deepened the kiss. One hand reached up to tangle in her curls and cradle her neck.
"Enough mortals," an imperious voice boomed.
Numair broke the kiss, blushing furiously when he saw their audience. It wasn't easy but Daine managed to help him to his feet so he could bow respectfully to the gods. His blush got infinitely worse when he discovered her state of undress and valiantly tried to shield her by holding her close until Gainel stepped forward to wrap his cloak around her shoulders once more, offering the pair an amused smile. The Dream King ushered them to one side while the Great Gods continued their debate when Numair faltered.
"Daine, is that…?"
"My parents." She nodded in confirmation.
Numair sucked in a breath and bowed low, looking sheepish. Weiryn glowered at him while Sarra failed to smother a laugh, approaching the pair.
"Let's get you both decent." The goddess motioned for them to separate.
Daine stepped back and Sarra waved her hand as a black glittering curtain surrounded her daughter. Daine couldn't see out, but neither could anyone see in.
"But – Ma, you can't – You never –" she stuttered in surprise. Her mother had only ever been able to do small magics before.
"Sarra is a minor goddess," Badger reminded her from outside the curtain.
"Hand me Gainel's coat, dear." Sarra's hand entered through the curtain to take the cloak. Beside Daine, a lavender dress, bodice, slippers and undergarments appeared.
She dressed swiftly, appreciating how soft the fabric was and how perfectly it fit her even if it was a dress. "Ma, I'm decent."
The curtain vanished for Daine to see Weiryn with his arm wrapped around her mother's waist. It was nice to see Sarra looking so happy. Daine felt a large hand take hers and looked up to see Numair dressed in a white silk shirt with billowing sleeves and brown breeches. She grinned and he squeezed her hand in response, eyes roaming over her.
"Very well. Those Immortals who dwelled in the mortal realms at the summer solstice may remain, if they choose," Mithros conceded.
"And what of them?" Kidunka directed his piercing slit-pupiled gaze at the mages.
"Mortal, you will be returned but Weiryn's daughter you must make a choice," the Great Mother Goddess stated firmly.
"A choice? I don't understand." Daine frowned feeling Numair tense beside her.
"You are godborn, Veralidaine Sarrasri. You can return to the mortal realms to live out your life, or you may remain here, as a lesser goddess," the sun god explained. "Once you decide, you will never be able to change your mind."
Choose? Daine went completely numb. How was she supposed to choose between seeing her ma again or staying with Numair? Getting to know a father whom she'd never known or Onua? But she could be a goddess, learning to use divine magic to protect and heal, not just the animals she encountered on her travels, but animals everywhere in the entire realm! But what about Cloud, Kit, Zek and Spots? What about Onua's Tahoi or the Rider ponies? Could she leave behind Alanna, George, King Jonathan or Queen Thayet? Daine buried her face into Numair's chest feeling so torn and confused. He wrapped his arms around her tightly when, just as quickly, he released her to step back.
"Darling, listen to me." He cupped her cheeks in his hands. "I will treasure every moment we have shared together –"
"What are you saying? I've not made a decision yet," she argued, trembling.
Numair shook his head. "There aren't many who are given the opportunity to become a goddess and, while it may be egotistical of me, I wouldn't want to be among the reasons for your refusal. From the moment I met you, I knew you would go on to do great things. You have been given the rare chance to be with your family, don't throw that away." He pressed his lips to her forehead, lingering. Daine could feel hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "You will have your first devout worshipper in me," he chuckled but there were tears in his eyes too. "I love you. I will always love you." Numair turned to address the Great Gods. "I am ready to return."
"Go then Arram Draper, or Numair Salmalín, or whatever you call yourself these days but stop this nonsense of believing your life is diminished in any way!" the Graveyard Hag scolded. "Do you truly believe I would harm one who has served me so well? You insult me!" The mage had the grace to look bashful. "You will live a full life depending on how well you play the game."
"Thank you," Numair murmured, bowing again.
"Wait!" Daine cried as Mithros waved his hand and her lover vanished in a flash of light.
A chocked sob came from her throat as Sarra stepped forward to hold her daughter. She smelled of fresh flowers and mountain air. Daine could hold back the tide no longer as she clung to her mother and wept.
"What is your decision Weiryn's daughter?" the sun god demanded.
"Give her a moment!" Badger snarled.
"I missed you, dear one," Sarra whispered, stroking Daine's hair.
"I missed you too, Ma," she sniffled.
"And look at you now, a healer." The goddess moved back to smile proudly at her daughter. "Not quite how I imagined, but you always did do things your own way. I can't say I approve of all this fighting though." Sarra frowned. "I never raised you to be always fighting and killing. That's not woman's work."
Daine scowled at the familiar phrase. "You taught me a woman has to know how to defend herself."
"I never!" Sarra exclaimed.
"You taught me when you were murdered in your own house." Daine could almost smell the burned word and spilled blood.
Sarra backed away to bury her face into Weiryn's chest, and Daine felt a sharp stab of guilt for making her mother cry.
Badger leaned against her leg as she crouched down to bury face in his fur, surrounding herself with his familiar reassuring scent. "You don't belong here, my kit. Your work is down there with the People and mortals."
"Now, wait just one second –" the hunt god protested.
"Flatten your fur, Weiryn!" Badger bared his teeth. "You know as well as I where she truly belongs. Put aside your selfish desires and think how miserable she will be if you separate her from everyone she loves."
"She will have us!" Weiryn argued.
"And how long will that sustain her? Every kit must leave the den eventually," Badger snorted, ruffling his fur.
"The badger is right, my love, though it pains me to say it." Sarra sniffed, taking out a handkerchief from thin air to blow her nose before tucking it into a pocket. Stepping away from her mate she took Daine's hands. "I wanted to spend time with you, but we can't restore the years that were taken from us. It was a misery, but we can't change it." Daine stood to embrace her mother. "You're loved and you're needed. Those are wonderous gifts, sweetling. You can't throw all that away so easily."
Weiryn grunted. "We will visit on the Fall equinox. I'd like a word with that mage."
Daine twisted to scowl at him. "Leave him be, Da."
"It's not much but we'll come to you on the equinoxes and solstices." Sarra stroked a hand through her curls. "I, for one, am looking forward to getting to know this man of yours."
Daine rolled her eyes. It was just like her ma to want her settled down, married and making babies.
"Veralidaine, do you choose?" Mithros boomed impatiently.
"Our daughter is going home to the Mortal Realm," Sarra told sun god, stubborn chin held high.
"Is that so?" the Great God regarded the young woman with dark eyes.
"Yessir." Daine bobbed her head nervously.
Sarra hugged her tight. "We'll see you soon. The Fall Equinox isn't far off."
Daine returned the embrace not ready to give her mother up just yet. How many times had she prayed for a moment like this? There had been so much she'd wanted to say but for the life of her she couldn't remember any of it. All Daine could do was hope they would come visit her.
Weiryn leaned down to kiss both her cheeks. "We shall see you again, so what's the point of goodbyes?"
"None at all." Daine wiped her eyes on a sleeve.
The hunt god handed her his bow. "I should have given you a proper bow long before this," he apologised.
The bow was slightly too heavy at first, but it seemed to adjust in her grip until it was the exact weight and size she looked for in a bow.
"Badger." Daine turned to her friend and mentor, tears filling eyes. "I s'pose you're done with me, now that I'm grown and know my Da and all."
"You aren't rid of me so easily, my kit." The animal god grunted. "I will check on you often."
She hugged him tight before straightening to look at her parents.
"I return you to the mortal realms, Weiryn's daughter," Mithros intoned.
Daine waved to her Ma, Da and Badger; keeping her eyes fixed on Sarra until everything faded to white.
She reappeared stood in the ruins of Fort Mastiff, the sun well past midday to find Numair stood motionless looking completely lost and red-eyed.
"Daine?" he gasped, taking a hesitant step forward. "What are you…?"
"Ma's right, life is too short to give up so easily. I've plenty of time to be a goddess later." She grinned.
It took two strides for him to sweep her up into a desperate kiss making Daine giddy with desire. When they finally separated, Numair pulled back to see her face. "Marry me?"
"What happened to waiting ten years?" She giggled.
"I changed my mind." He captured her lips again in an intense kiss that left her knees weak and very grateful he was holding her up.
"I'll think about it." She smiled impishly, feeling too silly to make any rational decisions right now.
"If King Jonathan or the Lioness don't kill me on sight, I would gladly spend the rest of my life trying to convince you," he promised earnestly.
"Convince me?"
With a gleam in his eye, Numair eased his lips over hers until Daine was trembling all over and very tempted to rip off his shirt. She moaned regretfully doubting either of them would get much further than desire at this point. "I might be convinced… after a hot bath and a decent meal if you want to try that again."
Placing kisses on her forehead, cheeks, nose and lips, he grinned at her from ear to ear. "That is a promise, my dear."