Iris's Guardian

by Lisa Daniels

  Her anger immediately disappeared as Bree raced forward. She pulled Calixto’s head above water and immediately began to give him mouth to mouth. The larvae should be attracted to her as a greater source of power, but it soon proved a much more difficult fight than she had expected. There were only a few instances of anyone being cured after being exposed, and they all proved that the larvae would detach from the host to seek out the stronger force. They would feed off of the power source until they were ready to change into devils. It was creepy and revolting. No matter how she felt about Calixto, Bree could not condemn him to the fate that came with this kind of infection.

  Treading water, she continued to coax the larvae out through his mouth. At first it didn’t seem to work. Then she felt the wiggle of a tiny thing on her tongue. Quickly she pulled her mouth away from Calixto’s and she spat the thing out into the water. Her mouth went back to work as she created a small hand with the water that crushed the tiny creature.

  She had no idea how long it took, but she managed to pull three of them out of his body. His breathing began to sound normal, and she finally allowed herself to relax. Gently, she held him in the water until he regained consciousness.

  She did not see when his eyes opened as Bree kept Calixto’s head tilted away from her. His head quickly snapped up and he move away from her like she was a serpent.

  “You’re welcome,” she said and swam away. “Go get dressed and then get lost.”

  There was a loud sigh before he said exactly what she expected, “I can’t.”

  “Then you accept that you are probably going to die with me because the demons are not going to stop trying to kill me?” She wanted to turn and look at him, but found that it was nearly impossible to look the man in the eye. It was her fault that he had nearly died, without any warning. The first time was her fault. With this warning, she was absolving herself from whatever happened if he refused to leave her.

  "You can insist all you want, but I cannot just leave your side.”

  “Fine. When you die, it’s on your head.” She began to swim to the opposite bank when his low voice reached her.

  “Yes, it will be.”

  She paused for a moment to ponder his words. Either he was too stubborn and was willing to accept death as the price. Or he actually cared about her and wasn’t willing to let her go it alone. The mere thought that he actually cared caused her to laugh.

  She could hear him walking out of the water on the other side as she reached the bank. The young woman walked a short distance and dried her clothes with a simple spell that would not attract much attention. A quick smile flashed over her face as she marveled at how well made the dress was to have survived everything it had experienced in the last hour. “I really owe you Isaac.”

  A sudden gust of air gave her a momentary chill, but it stopped nearly as quickly as it had started.

  Calixto appeared beside her, “Do you really think you will survive this to be able to repay anyone?”

  Bree was immediately on the defensive, “I’m not the one who failed to cover my face when the larvae spewed out of the ground.

  “I’m not the one with boundless knowledge about what to be wary of when dealing with something beyond my control.”

  Bree glared at the man’s cold face. “Despite being a complete bastard, you are welcome.”

  She was trying to walk away from him when his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. It forced her to turn and look at him. “I am not a bastard like you. Like all of my kind, my birth was planned. But thank you for saving my life.” His voice changed ever so slightly as he expressed his gratitude.

  “Are you quite done?” She allowed her anger to simmer under the surface.

  Calixto looked into her eyes and nodded.

  “Good, because that was hardly a significant attack. It won’t take them long to come up with the next one. If possible, I would like to reach a temporary haven before they prepare whatever they plan to do next.”

  “And you know of one near here?” The man’s voice was emotionless as she asked.

  “It isn’t too far.”

  “If we flew, it would reduce the amount of time, nearly assuring us that we would reach it in safety.”

  Bree rolled her eyes, “I’m a sorceress, not a fairy. I can’t fly.”

  “But you just did.”

  “That was basic levitation, not flying. It only works over very short distances. It would not get us a quarter of the way there, even if I had my full power at this moment, which I do not. And right now, the use of any magic is a really bad idea. The demons will be able to pinpoint us long before we could reach the haven.”

  “So we must get there by foot, without magic. Oh, this is going to be fun.” His voice oozed sarcasm.

  “No one is forcing you to stay with me, sugar lips.” Bree didn’t even look at the man when he stopped.

  “I doubt there is another creature alive who would consider calling me that.”

  “I’m glad you approve,” Bree replied without looking over her shoulder.

  She paused as the man openly laughed. “Are you insane?” Her voice was raised, “We have got to get moving. There is no time to stand around laughing.”

  He gave her a meaningful grin, “No one is forcing you to stop, my dear.”

  Bree gave a derisive snort as she tried to dismiss his retort. “You are the height of wisdom and wit.”

  “And you are the epitome of wild and reckless.”

  “I have a friend you should meet if you think that is true.”

  “Do you mean Leonides?” Calixto’s voice was chilly as he asked.

  Bree could see the look he was giving her out of the corner of his eye. It looked like he was jealous. A small smile played on her lips for a moment until he spoke again.

  “I really like Leonides. He’s every bit the kind of man I wish I could be. Any woman would be lucky to have him.”

  “I must agree with that.” Bree thought about her time with the man, but found that she couldn’t quite remember what he looked like. She frowned as she tried to remember his masculine features. Every time she tried to remember what he looked like, Calixto’s face appeared. It was the first time that Bree realized she had spent more time memorizing the face of the man beside her than she had ever spent studying anyone. Her heart clenched at the realization.

  “Unfortunately, you are not his type, so even if you didn’t have my mark, you wouldn’t have stood a chance with him.” Calixto continued after a pause.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “He is the most cold and calculating person I have ever met. Mercy and kindness never affect his decision. It is always about what is best for everyone. Elian is the only man I know who is able to temper that side of Leonides.”

  “And why are you telling me this?” Bree tried to make her voice sound disinterested and dispassionate.

  “So that you don’t regret that you cannot be with him.”

  “There was never a risk of that. I’m not the kind of person who ever wanted to end up being with just one person.”

  Calixto fell silent at her words. He stopped walking as they reached the edge of the wood.

  “The haven is on the other side of the mountains over there.” To her surprise, the man said nothing. Bree had no desire to look at him, so as soon as she pointed out where they were heading, she began walking. The sound of his footsteps just behind her was the only indication that he was still following her.

  Chapter 8

  A Sorceresses Fear

  They walked across the field without saying a word. Bree was trying unsuccessfully to think of ways to deal with the demons that wouldn’t involve having to go into their lair. Now that they considered her a failure, there was no chance they would let her leave in one piece. No matter how hard she tried though, the red head’s attention kept going back to the man now walking just a little ways behind her. He was no longer trying to converse with her, and the fact that he would no longer walk beside
her made the young woman feel ill at ease. While she had no idea what to say to him, or even what had made him fall in step behind her, Bree did not like the idea that he could be upset with her. Of course, it seemed preposterous. The man seemed to have no emotions.

  That’s not true, a small part of her spoke up, but Bree ignored it as she tried to drag her mind back to what was important. If I had just stayed focused on the job, none of this would have happened. I would be on to the next job instead of trying to find a way through the plots of demons.

  Ever since her encounter with Annora, nothing had seemed to go right. For a moment, she had a different concern as Bree thought about her friend. A part of her now wished that she had gone after Annora. The last time her friend was seen, Annora was rushing off into a forest bleeding, and Bree hadn’t even bothered to find out how much. It was as if she had intentionally avoided learning anything that would persuade her to do what she should have done.

  Then there was Saskia. Bree had no idea what had happened, why the young woman had rushed off. What if there was something that Bree could have done? Instead of investigation, she had simply accepted it and went on her way.

  The young woman’s justification for her actions was always the same. If she had gone after her friends to help them, it would have brought attention to them. And in the current situation, there was no way that she could guarantee that she could save them. Bree had just barely saved Calixto from what was a relatively easy threat. What if the same thing had happened with her friends around? Bree shook her head trying to get rid of the idea.

  She lived a life that was far too risky to subject her friends to it. Naturally, Bree would take the time to talk with them when she was visiting near where they were, but never for long. And the night when she had encountered Annora, she had completely lied. There was nothing that she needed to do, but she felt dirty for having made a deal with demons. Bree just didn’t realize it until she was face to face with Annora. The happiness that she felt for the first few moments had quickly faded as the young woman worried about Annora finding out what she was doing. Instead of spending a pleasant evening with the friend who had raised her, Bree had run away and gotten lost in the attention of men. If she had stayed, would Annora still have run off into the night?

  A heavy weight had lodged itself in Bree’s heart. It had been there ever since she had learned the extent of her powers – ever since that time, she had been pushing everyone away. Very little about her personality had changed, but her views of the world had completely shifted. Over time that weight seemed to increase until Bree had no idea how much more she could take.

  There were many good reasons why sorcerers and sorceresses had allowed themselves to nearly go extinct. That kind of power was incredibly difficult to contain. Even if someone was strong enough to keep the powers in check most of the time, a single slip up could have extreme consequences. It didn’t matter to the powerful magic wielders how the rest of the world felt about them – it was a self-loathing that had led to their virtual disappearance.

  The young woman’s mind swirled amidst remorse and regret, rendering her completely oblivious to everything around her. She stumbled as her head began to ache. Her thoughts had turned so far inward that it was as if she were watching herself from afar. As the next demon attack started, Bree stopped walking and looked around the field completely indifferent to the danger.

  As the world again erupted around her, Bree felt something slam into her back, knocking her to the ground.

  A voice near her ear began to yell, “What are you thinking? Gods, you are on fire!”

  Bree barely registered the words. She was vaguely aware that the man was working to put out the fire, but Bree felt no pain.

  “It’s alright,” she mumbled into the ground.

  “Shut up,” the man replied.

  Picking her up off of the ground, he began to sprint across the field. Bree began to notice small balls of fire zooming through the air. She reached a hand out to one.

  It was slapped away, “Stop being an idiot.”

  “What do you care?” Her voice was entirely emotionless as her hand reached out again.

  “Gods dammit!” Without losing his stride, Calixto adjusted her position so that she was wrapped around his back, her arms pressed against her body. It didn’t even occur to her to try to get away. Her face watched as the fireballs zoomed past. A few times she laughed and blew at them.

  Calixto was nearly breathless as they reached the foot of the mountain. “Stream. In.” It was the only warning he offered before they rushed into a stream that wrapped around the mountain and lazily passed toward the forest. It was the same stream they had been in before, just further up when it was still relatively small.

  Bree began to protest the cold that had suddenly hit her, but she was still submerged. Bubbles wafted before her face. Reaching her hand up to touch one, the young woman began laughing, causing more air bubbles to rise from her mouth in a steady stream. Suddenly an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her out of the water.

  A sharp pain brought Bree back to her senses momentarily. Looking down, she realized that she had been very badly burned. “That hurts.” She stated before passing out.

  The pain woke her several hours later. Automatically, Bree moved her hand down to use her magic to stop it, but another hand stopped hers. “No magic, remember.” The voice was cold.

  The water was cold. Bree’s thoughts were disorganized and random.

  Groggily, Bree turned to look at her companion. Calixto gave her a cold look before turning his attention back to a fire. She realized that the fire and some blankets had kept her from feeling cold. A pillow rested under her head. Her eyebrows knit together as she reached up and touched her hair. It was dry. Letting her eyes wonder to Calixto, Bree noticed that he was also dry. Several questions wandered across her mind, but Bree was too indifferent to ask them.

  Her sense of smell finally nudged her brain enough that she realized that there was food being cooked nearby. Her eyes moved to the fire. Calixto was roasting something, but it did not look familiar. Again, several questions marched across her mind, but Bree simply ignored them as Calixto kept his eyes on his work.

  Staring up, Bree saw they were in another cave. A laugh escaped her lips, startling Calixto, who turned to look at her. Bree found that she liked the sound of the laugh as it echoed around the cave, so she did it again. A hand immediately clamped down over her mouth.

  “What are you doing?” The floor seemed to rumble as the man barely contained his anger. Surprised, Bree looked up into his red eyes and saw that he was furious. Something in her stirred, and for a moment she felt guilty for making him suffer.

  She mumbled something into his hand.

  He glared down at her before removing his hand. Bree sat up, “I’m sorry.” Once the words were out, the indifference settled back in, and she looked away.

  For several minutes the only sound was that of the meat and fire. Once it was done, Calixto put it on a make-shift plate and put it down beside Bree. He began to eat his own.

  Bree looked at him, then at her plate, but found she did not want to eat. The pain that had woken her was growing steadily worse. Without touching her food, Bree stood up and began to walk toward a dim light, thinking that movement would distract her form the pain.

  An arm wrapped around her as she shuffled through the cave. “I don’t know what it is you are doing, but stop it.” Calixto picked her up and took her back to the fire. He was less than gentle as he dropped her back on the blankets next to her food and sat back in his seat, his face cold and dispassionate.

  For a second, Bree wanted to hurt him, she wanted to wrap him in flames and force him to leave her. As soon as the thought occurred to her, a tear ran down her face. Moving closer to him, she put her head on his shoulder and held onto his arm. She felt his body tense, but he did not say a word. After a pause, he resumed eating.

  “You need to eat something.”

 
Bree did not respond.

  “Sorceress, you need to eat something.”

  Bree did not move.

  Calixto tried to shake her off of his arm, “It has been over three days since you ate. Eat.” He held a piece of food near her. Still Bree did not move. Though it was awkward, Calixto pulled her mouth open and pushed the food into it. He closed her mouth too. The woman remained motionless apart from his actions.

  Suddenly the room became incredibly hot, causing her wound to burn more. Calixto stood up quickly, finally getting Bree off of his arm. “How am I supposed to react to this?” His voice was full of anger and resentment.

  Bree stared at the wall, “Leave.”

  The man made a frustrated noise. Bree knew that was what he must have done, but from her hazy thoughts his reaction sounded like the roar of a dragon. Slowly she turned her head to look at him.

  He got down in front of her, his red eyes full of pain and anger, “If I had any choice, I would. But you have already seen for yourself what was started. I have as much ability to walk away as you do to cease being a sorceress.”

  Her eyes looked into his, “I would stop being one if I could.”

  It was like a cold bucket of water had been dumped on him. Running a hand through his hair, Calixto sat down, the rage subsiding. “Is that what this is about?”

  Bree blinked a few times, but said nothing.

  A warm hand turned her face to look at him, “Are you honestly sitting here right now wishing that you weren’t what you are?”

  It was an inelegant question, but there was no way to mistake what he meant.

  Bree frowned, “It would be better if I could be something else.”

  Calixto snorted, “And it would be better if there were more hours in the day, but that isn’t going to change anything. There’s no point in regretting the impossible.”

  “I don’t need to regret what I am because I have enough to regret with what I’ve done.”