time until the wonderful feeling began to wear off and sleep came over him. True sleep. True dreams.
Nightmares…
13
Opening his eyes was a mistake.
When is opening your eyes ever a good thing?
It seems all I’ve done lately is wake up to some new pain. Getting old fast….
The light hurt. A lot. His body hurt. So much pain. The sounds of clinking were annoying. He looked around. The tart held two long, metal... somethings… and was clinking them together.
Clink. Clink. Clack
What was she doing?
Clink… clink…
“What…” He wet his mouth, trying to make the words sound like actual words. “What are you doing?”
She started, almost dropping one of the metal things. They looked like thin rods or wands. “So…” She was quick to regain her control.
Clink.
“You’re alive?”
Clink.
“Yes I am. What the hell are you doing?”
Clink. Clink...
She stopped, her eyes locked on his. After a time, she nodded. “So you are awake.” She stood, stretched, tucked the metal rods into her satchel. “Do you remember eating? I thought you were still lost in happy slobbering drug land.”
Ah. He closed his eyes trying to remember it all.
“What was that anyways? What did you take?”
“Forget me not.”
“What?” She frowned.
“It’s called ‘forget me not’.” He snorted. “Funny.”
“You poisoned yourself then? Why?”
“It’s not…” well, it is a poison isn’t it? “…not your business.” He closed his eyes, enjoying the small pains now before he would have to move. Moving. Waking. Then… then the real pain would return. “Looks like I was out for a few hours.”
“Yes.” He opened an eye as he felt her weight against him. She was leaning against him now, looking up at the canopy. “I thought you had died. Even after eating the fish.” She turned her curious gaze to him. “Do you even remember that?”
Oh! She had been the fire headed creature. Daaa. He snorted.
“So you do remember?”
He shrugged. “Vaguely. Bits and pieces.”
He felt her nodding. “So…it’s a drug then. A remedy for your leg? A drug to help your…head? A drug to–”
“Stop the pain. All pain.” He touched his head. His heart. Motioned to his leg. “Forget me not.”
“A drug that makes you forget all pain?” She nodded. “I can see how someone as broken as you would need it. Someone so alone. So lost.”
He nodded. “Yes.” It hurt to talk. Wait. As broken as me? “Wh–”
“Are you thirsty?” She was already away before he could answer. In a beat she was back. “Here.” He opened his mouth. Whatever she poured in was not just water. It made his tongue tingle.
Poison?
He didn’t care.
He closed his eye, never bothering to keep both open as the tart again plopped down beside him. Was she touching his hair? He was too tired to care.
“Is it really that painful for you?” Her voice was soft, resonating within his head. “I’ve never seen a creature as dark and bleak as you, mule. Do you have no hope? No goals?”
“…” He left his mouth open, trying to collect his thoughts. Whatever she had put into him, it was slowly numbing pains he had nearly forgotten.
“You don’t need to answer.” He felt something warm on his lips. His eyes open slowly. She held her finger to his lip, her eyes staring intently. When she saw he was watching, she moved a bit. Her gaze held his own, he could see wheels in there, churning up thoughts. She blinked, saying something in her own tongue.
“You’re young.” He said at last. “When you get to be my age–” He stopped as she pushed herself away, coming to her feet in a much more graceful way than he ever could.
“You have no idea how old I am.” She crossed her arms. “Stop assuming things are so clear you thick headed madman.” She snorted. “Now get up and lead the way.”
Despite himself, he found his body obeying.
I just want to sleep. Is that so wrong?
With no answer forth coming, he sighed…
14
“Why don’t we go that way?” She held her ground, arms crossed, eyes glinting.
“Listen to me tart.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to remain clam. “That is not the way.”
She frowned down the path. It certainly looked inviting compared to the opposite one. An obvious trap.
Trap? Ha!
He laughed slightly, drawing her glower. “Are you trying to be–”
He grabbed her, moving her along the darker trail.
Her skin felt so smooth. And warm. She tried to slow him up a little, but he was having none of it. “This is my land. My woods. My knowledge. That is a trap. An obvious one that catches fools. Old magic like that in an old woods like this is not unheard of.”
She was moving now, frown plastered on her face. “Old magic. Like the stars? Those colored ones?” He nodded. “Then maybe it leads to something helpful. Something interesting.”
“No.”
“But how do you–”
“These were lures for an enemy on a local mage’s land.”
“But how–”
“Damn it girl! I know!” He frowned at her.
She stared thoughtfully. Nodded finally. “I see. So you were caught down one of these paths.” She placed her hand over his.
Yes. Yes, upon a time, he had been. It killed many. Yet another thing that should have been his end yet…here he stood. Still.
“No I didn’t fall for it,” so what is a lie? “but many a comrade did. And those that made it…well… you don’t want to know.”
She nodded, letting him pull her along. She didn’t seem as upset as she had appeared. “You are not very good at lying.” She shook her head. “I just don’t understand why. I’m no threat. Honesty, with me, will not harm you in any way.” She looked up at him, eyes showing strangely from under her lids. Suddenly her arm felt warm, her hand on his like fire. “I know you better than you think.”
He frowned, pulling himself free. At least from her grip. Her eyes never let him go. There was kindness there. And sorrow. Sorrow for him. Even sympathy.
“Know me better than I think?” What could one say to that? On one hand, he wanted to drag her back and throw her down the path to be rid of her, on the other… he felt this urge. A strange thing. A strange feeling.
“Careful love.” Mayla sounded cautious as she studied the small form. “This one is far more than she appears.”
“Yes. I’ve noticed.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing tart. Nothing.”
He jumped when she brushed by, her fingers left burning marks across his stomach. He pulled away. What the…? He watched her. She didn’t look back. Glancing at the emptiness around them instead. “Was that one of your dead friends?”
She was very observant for one that looked so young. Was she human? He fingered one of his daggers as he stalked up behind her. She was walking the path, looking at the surrounding fauna. She didn’t seem pleased.
Maybe it’d be best to end this now?
He slipped the dagger from its hiding place. She froze. He paused,
No way she heard that. No way. He had been an assassin from time to time as needs dictated. He knew there was no way…
“Good. You’ll need that.” When she turned on him, her eyes were flaming. Without another word, she tossed a slicing blade of red at him. He dropped to the ground, spinning. As the blade passed over his head, the red sliced into the man that had, somehow, crept up on him.
Wha–
The girl!
He rolled to the side, tossing his dagger as he came to his knees. The man behind her let out a grunt as it took him in the chest. Two other men, one carrying a barbed, crackling net, jumped for
ward.
He pushed himself forward, knives flashing. One took the man with the net in the neck, he couldn’t see where the other landed as a flash of red flared over him.
He didn’t need to turn to know the tart had taken out another man.
Still lunging forward and low, his vision snapped on the man as he came within reach of the girl. Without thinking, he swept her aside, feeling the fire from her burn through him as he sprung onto the man.
It wasn’t much of a fight from there. The man had a sword but no idea how to use it. A quick jab to the throat pretty much ended him. Rolling along with the gagging man he caught the poor sap’s head just so and…snap.
This was no warrior.
He leapt to his feet, spinning quickly. Eyes. Ears. Nose. He couldn’t detect any threat. His attention landed on the girl. Her burning eyes were tracking something. He yanked his dagger from the body of the man with the net and waited. Keeping one eye on the girl, while watching her track the enemy.
When she froze, he smiled. “Save your magic.” As the dark cloaked man burst out from the brush, a knife took him squarely between the eyes. He flopped to the ground, jerking.
“That was…unexpected.” She sounded odd. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a shiver run through her as the…whatever it was…left her. As it passed, she was just the tart again.
True magic? He didn’t like the thought of it. He didn’t really believe it, even now. His mind was having trouble accepting that true magic was being used through this strange girl that had somehow fallen into his lap.
She caught him studying her. She shrugged. “The Source gave me warning.” She sighed. “So much killing. I just want this over with.” Was that a tear? He quickly walked away, gathering his daggers, wiping them on the dead men.
What was this? An ambush? But why? These were not assassins or highly trained in the