by Wendy Owens
“I didn’t say that.” Rachel could feel the conversation spiraling out of control.
Zipping the last bag shut, Gabe rushed to the door. Stopping in front of her, he grabbed her wrists, and looked into her eyes. “We’ll do this your way, and when all of this blows up in our faces, maybe then you’ll believe me.”
“Gabe, please.” Rachel begged, but he was already at the back door, waiting for the others.
Rachel followed, pleading with him, but Gabe was done talking.
“Is everyone ready?” Uri said, peeking out the back door, ensuring the coast was clear. With a few mumblings, things were set into motion. “Ok, stay near to the tree line as we head out of town. As soon as we get far enough where nobody can see us, high tail it south to the center of the forest. Once we get a couple of miles in it should be safe to transport.
Gabe grabbed a tight hold of Rachel’s hand, growling, “Don’t let go, whatever you do.” Rachel couldn’t help but smile, even when he was angry with her, his top priority was to keep her safe.
The door was flung open the rest of the way, and the group was off. The four travelled as quietly as they could with all of their gear, attempting not to garner any unwanted attention.
Gabe sighed a breath of relief as they emerged over the hillside at the edge of town, certain they were past the worst. Just as the breath left his lips the situation turned for the worse.
“Hey, you there! Stop.” Gabe heard a voice shout just ahead of them, his stomach sank.
The entire group slowed until finally halting. Gabe looked over his shoulder; from where they stood they were no longer visible from the village.
“Uri.” Gabe whispered, motioning over his shoulder to show they were hidden from the village now.
Looking back at Rachel, Gabe handed her the bags and firmly insisted. “Stay here, if anything goes wrong, you run. Do you understand me?”
“What are you going to do? No, please don’t.” Rachel begged.
“Everything will be fine.” Gabe reassured her. He then began to walk towards the distant voice, Uri and Haim joining him. As they came closer, their opponents came into better view; Gabe’s heart began to pound. The one shouting was an oversized Wintok, the spiky turtle like shell on its back showed signs of many battles, it’s wide scaly foot planted in the earth as though it were an immovable force. Standing near him were three other Wintoks, they were younger and stared intensely at their elder, waiting for orders.
Standing directly behind the pack of Wintoks and to the outside, were two Krinams, their weapons already brandished. Gabe knew Uri had a special hatred for Krinams and assumed they would be the first he would go for. A Krinam was a serpent like being; it stood upright like a man but it’s head mirrored one more similar to that of a cobra. Uri had always hated snakes, and took great pride in killing any one that crossed his path. Gabe could only assume this Krinam would be no different.
“We need to see your identification, immediately.” the older Wintok demanded.
The three men approached the six creatures as if they were simply out for an afternoon stroll.
“Stop right there and provide your identification.” the creature shouted, growing increasingly impatient with the strangers.
“Did you hear him—boyssss?” a Krinam hissed as it arched it’s head back.
“Wow, you guys really are some ugly sons of a bitches, aren’t you?” Uri asked, his pace not slowing as he approached. Gabe smiled, he wanted to burst out laughing, but it seemed quite inappropriate at the moment.
“Seize them!” came the gruff command from the senior Wintok.
“I don’t think so.” Uri answered, pulling his sword out from behind his back, the blade making a hissing whisper as he did so. Gabe marveled for a moment at the green glow. He had always loved how each family line had their own color and Uri’s was quite impressive.
“Yeah, we don’t think so.” Haim added, revealing his hammer, which now glowed yellow. Both Uri and Gabe couldn’t help but chuckle at Haim’s attempt to feel part of the moment with what he thought would be a clever statement.
“What?” Haim huffed, his face scrunched up in annoyance.
“Nothing, dork,” Uri dismissed his friend’s comment. “You and Gabe take the Wintoks. I’ve got the two snake breaths.”
Gabe smiled at the confirmation of his assumption; Uri would in fact first kill the Krinams. Without another word the creatures charged at the sign of aggression. Haim swung his hammer over his head bringing it down wildly, and with a thunderous crack, the shell of a younger warrior Wintok split, revealing the wrinkly gray flesh beneath.
At the same moment, Uri lifted his sword and with a single swipe, sliced through one of the Krinams, leaving him in two pieces on the ground. The remaining serpent creature hissed in outrage as he saw his friend easily sliced into pieces.
“You’ll pay for thhhhaaaat.” the remaining Krinam warned.
Seeing that Uri was quite capable of handling himself, Gabe stepped forward. Lifting his sword in front of him, he thrust it into the backside of the Wintok Haim’s blow had exposed. With a gurgle, it released its last breath.
“Two down boys!” Haim touted.
“Does anyone else think that was far too easy?” Gabe asked, readying himself to do battle with the three remaining Wintoks.
“Who says mercenaries are any good at what they do?” Haim suggested.
“I suppose.” Gabe answered.
“How about we finish them off before we celebrate?” Uri suggested, deflecting the remaining Krinam’s blade as it lunged towards him.
“Good idea.” Gabe agreed, swinging his sword repeatedly at the battle rich Wintok.
Though the creature was large it moved swiftly and Gabe struggled to plant his blade anywhere in its body. He dipped, then weaved to the right, just as he was about to reach him, he slashed downwards with the sword. The Wintok rolled, ducking cleverly out of the way of Gabe’s sword once again. Behind him, Gabe caught sight of Haim smashing his hammer down between the eyes of one of the younger Wintoks. Its head splattered like a melon and Gabe wished he had not been so ambitious by taking on the battle scarred Wintok.
“Prepare to die, scum.” the Wintok warned. Gabe laughed in his mind, and had he not been so busy vigorously defending himself with his sword, he would have done it aloud to ensure the beast knew how ridiculous he sounded.
Gabe swung his sword again, but his opponent was quick to match his move, their blades clashed and clanged against one another, releasing a spray of sparks into the air. Gabe thought quickly, he could hear Haim and Uri still fighting around him and he knew neither would be coming to his aid. As the Wintok raised his sword for another swing, Gabe saw that the creature raised his head, revealing the soft fleshy part of his throat. Without a moment’s hesitation, Gabe swung with an upper cut, landing his fist squarely in the throat of the beast.
Gabe managed to knock the wind out of the Wintok, stunning him for a brief moment. Taking advantage of his opponent’s temporary state, Gabe leaped forward with a sidekick, planting a foot firmly in the monster’s belly. When the Wintok doubled over, Gabe used the brief second to raise his blue, glowing sword high above his head and plant it firmly between the creature’s eyes.
Pulling his blade free from the Wintok’s skull, Gabe breathed a brief sigh of relief before turning to go to his friend’s aid. His companions were however in no need of such services. Haim was finishing up putting an end to his opponent with a thunderous blow of his hammer while Uri was putting on a foot fancy display. Utilizing the open air around them, Uri did a back flip and as he turned, used his feet to strike the Krinam in the face. The Krinam didn’t even see it coming. He fell back to the ground with a thud. Uri leaped on top of the serpent being, thrusting his sword upward through its skull, a groan escaping his lips.
Uri wasted no time, “We need get them off the road though, in case anyone sees them. We wouldn’t want to alert someone to our presence.” Uri suggested.
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br /> “Very true.” Gabe replied. The three made quick work of tossing the bodies down the hill along the roadside and were back at Rachel’s side in no time.
“Wow, my heroes.” Rachel cheered.
“We better hurry before anyone else sees.” Uri urged.
“Agreed,” Gabe said, taking hold of Rachel’s arm and carefully leading her into the thick, dark woods.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“How is she?” Uri asked, looking over Gabe’s shoulder.
Gabe shifted his sleeping wife, resting her weight on his other arm. “She’ll be fine after she sleeps a bit.” Gabe answered.
“Will she ever stop doing that?” Haim asked, not bothering to look at anyone as he asked.
“Shut Up.” Uri instructed quickly.
“What? I just wanted to know. It’s not very safe for us to have an unconscious person on our hands all the time.” Haim defended his question.
“That unconscious person is the reason we’re out here. She is exactly why you are here and the only person you should be worrying about. If you can’t protect her then your mission has been a complete failure, and worse, the war is lost.” Gabe snapped, not taking his eyes off Rachel.
“Alright, sorry I asked.” Haim said in response.
“And by the way, dumb ass, humans do not build up a tolerance to magic, she’ll always pass out from transportation spells. That’s why we don’t use them to travel unless we have to.” Uri added.
“That’s not the only reason. Let’s not say we are stuck because Rachel can’t transport often.” Gabe continued. “What about trackers? Do you really want to go leaving a trace everywhere we go?”
“Look, I said I was sorry, ok already?” Haim said in a final attempt to diffuse the situation.
“Mirada is about two miles east of here. Do we leave Rachel here? We can retrieve her after talking to Mirada.” Uri asked.
“Not an option, I’m not leaving her.” Gabe informed the men flatly.
“Ok— ok—, I’m not saying you have to. I’m simply trying to figure out a way where we won’t be losing so much time, that’s all.” Uri offered.
“If Mirada is as sought after as you say, it’s not wise of us to head straight to her anyways. Use your head Uri! What if a tracker picks up our trace before it fades?” Gabe inquired.
“Really? Because there are trackers in the middle of the woods, just waiting to catch a read on us. Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot, Gabe. I have had a lot more experience with this stuff than you have.” Uri snarled.
“We left a trail of dead bodies behind us!” Gabe added in an irritated tone. “I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to think they could find our trace.”
“Fine, whatever. I’m not going to argue with you. If you want to stay and wait, then that’s what we’ll do.” Uri replied.
“That’s what we’re doing. Haim, can you start a fire? We can rest here until nightfall, maybe by then Rachel will be awake and we can set out for the witch’s home.”
“Really, Gabe? You know she’s not a witch, what is with your attitude?” Uri protested.
“Oh, sorry, Oracle, whatever.” Gabe grinned as he responded.
“What if someone sees our fire?” Haim inquired.
“Are you scared or something?” Gabe mocked his friend.
“Ok, you need to tell me what is going on with you. I’m not kidding around anymore. Haim didn’t do anything to you, for that matter, none of us has, but you’ve been a real ass since the transport.” Uri demanded.
“No I haven’t.” Gabe insisted.
“I think Uri’s right. You’re kind of being a jerk,” Haim added nervously as he went about building the fire.
“I don’t know what—” Gabe started before Uri cut him off abruptly.
“Don’t give me that crap, Gabe! You know exactly what we are talking about, now what is going on?”
Gabe hesitated for a moment. He looked back down at Rachel, who still slept peacefully in his arms. Brushing her hair away from her face, he at last broke his silence. “We’ve been gone from Iron Gate all of what? Two days? Did you guys not see what happened back there? What if we hadn’t gotten out of that? What would have happened to Rachel? I’m her husband, she trusts me to keep her safe. Now I’m going to go to an Oracle, one of the most untrustworthy beings I have ever encountered, and put my faith in them. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Man, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about what this must be like for you.” Uri offered.
“Yeah, but we’ll keep her safe, don’t worry.” Haim added innocently.
“And how’s that going to happen, Haim? Back there on the street we were able to kill a handful of mercenaries, but what happens when it’s an army? What then?” Gabe argued.
“We’ll find a way, we always do.” Haim said.
“Like you found a way when Raimie died? Or like the Guardians found a way when Rampart was destroyed? I don’t have an option to fail.” Gabe’s words trailed off as the fire grew, the soft glow warmed his cheeks. He leaned in close to the flames with Rachel, allowing the warmth to envelop her.
Nobody else spoke after that. Gabe wasn’t sure if it was because he was right or because they were busy thinking of their fallen comrades. Either way, all he was concerned about was Rachel. He would look after her until she awoke, and then they would go and see this Oracle together. He wasn’t sure if it was the right move, but she was right, he couldn’t simply be idle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Rachel shifted, realizing she was lying on someone’s shoulder. Pushing her weight up onto her elbow, she glanced up, where she saw her husband smiling back at her.
“Good morning.” Gabe said.
“What happened?” Rachel asked puzzled.
“You set a new record for transportation recovery.” Uri growled from across the campfire.
“Huh?” Rachel moaned.
“Don’t listen to him.” Gabe answered softly, shifting to sit up next to her. “He’s just not a morning person.”
“Wait,” Rachel said, contemplating the time that had passed. “I passed out again from the transportation? How long was I out?”
“Long enough, do you feel rested?” Gabe questioned, still smiling.
Realizing she was not going to get a straight answer out of Gabe, Rachel looked to Uri. “How long was I out?”
Purposefully avoiding the disapproving glare of his friend, Uri responded quickly, “Two days!”
“What? I don’t understand. I thought I was only supposed to be out for a few hours. I should be getting better at this, not worse.” Rachel argued.
“Actually, darling, you’re human, we really have no idea how magic will affect you. It can be different every time. Also, the further distance we transport, the harder it is on your body. It’s not that big of a deal though, don’t worry about it.”
Uri huffed in response to Gabe’s statement, clearly he did not agree about the delay not being an issue.
“What about the Oracle? What did she say?” Rachel asked.
“Your husband insisted on not going to see her until you woke up.” Uri added in a snarky tone.
“Gabe? Why would you do that?” Rachel squealed.
“What do you mean? It was your idea for me to go and see the Oracle, I wasn’t about to see her without you. Besides that, what was I supposed to do? Just leave you here with Haim?” Gabe argued.
“Yes!” Rachel snapped. “I’m not some delicate flower you have to always be worried about.”
“Well, actually, you are kind of delicate,” Uri corrected her, scrunching his face as he did so.
“Oh will you shut up?” Rachel quipped. “I’m serious, how are we ever going to be safe if you don’t trust your friends to be able to take care of me?”
“Whatever, it wasn’t like that.” Gabe snarled, hopping to his feet. Kicking dirt onto the flames he commanded, “Let’s go.”
Gabe left the circle without another word. As he left, Ha
im approached. Noticing the scowl on Gabe’s face he asked, “What’s wrong?” Gabe did not answer.
The two mile hike to Mirada’s cabin was a quiet one. Rachel and Gabe were both still steaming about their brief spat, while Haim and Uri were terrified of being pulled into the lover’s quarrel.
“It’s just over that hillside there.” Uri said at last, motioning ahead of the group.
“When we get in there, let me do the talking.” Gabe instructed.
“Oh, of course, I wouldn’t want to get in the way any more than I already have.” Rachel’s snarky tone caused Gabe’s back to stiffen. He chose not to respond.
The four approached the cabin quietly. Rachel quickly noticed how unassuming everything was. There was a stone path that led up to the wooden stairs that the earth had begun to reclaim many years ago. There was a small garden bed along the side of the home filled with various herbs, and a wind chime hanging from a metal rod stuck in the ground.
“Pst…” Uri said, motioning towards the door, glaring at Gabe as he drew his sword.
Alarmed, Gabe looked up and realized what had set Uri on edge. The door was cracked open, the reality set in that perhaps they were not the first ones to find Mirada. Gabe and Haim quickly followed suit, brandishing their weapons.
“Stay here.” Gabe commanded in a low voice to Rachel.
Rachel thought for a brief moment of arguing, but while she knew she was capable of handling herself with a street thug, she was not so confident in a fight against some super natural being.
Uri led the way, creeping up the stairs slowly and silently. Reaching the door, he looked back at his comrades. Haim nodded, reassuring him he was ready for what awaited them. Turning back to face the unknown, Uri pushed the door open further.
All three men held their breath, unsure what would await them within. Gabe looked back at Rachel one last time, allowing his gaze to linger for a moment. She smiled slightly in an attempt to comfort him, and Gabe felt a warmth rush over his flesh.
“Are you four going to stand out there all day playing with your weapons or do you plan to come in?” a voice called from the darkness.
