by Lexy Wolfe
She shook her head. "What I do know is he is alive. He is no longer alone." Tugging the cloak around Ash more securely, she stated, "And I will make sure he stays that way." Patting the drizar's head affectionately, she murmured, "Watch over them, my friend. There is something I must do alone." The drizar chuffed and bobbed his head in agreement.
Leaving the hollow, Storm moved to kneel in the middle of the wide open area, gazing at the star speckled sky above, watching a pair of shooting stars race across the darkness. Drawing in a deep, calming breath, she closed her eyes. Taking out her knife, Storm did not hesitate to draw the blade across her palm. "Father," she murmured as she looked at the blood stained blade a moment. Turning it point down, she drove it into the ground to the hilt. "I am here, Father."
The sky rumbled and a dark, massive shape blotted out the stars. With barely a whisper of sound, the massive shape of the Raging One swooped down to land in the clearing, careful of the woman kneeling there. "Daughter," the dragon rumbled, folding his wings forward as she leaned her cheek against his. "My daughter... I have missed you."
The poignant emotions overwhelmed the young woman. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I love You, Father. Please forgive me. I was angry and hurt and afraid. I should not have turned away from You."
"You are already forgiven, My child," the Desanti god rumbled. "I could not be prouder of you, Aelia. Forgive me for not telling you the true reason I wanted you here. The chains of divine law bind all things, even the gods. My sister risked much speaking to you."
Storm nodded, eyes closed as she leaned into the dragon god's greater warmth, taking comfort in his presence, his scent, his touch. "There is truth in the reason You spoke to me, Father. The Forenten are blind to their own suffering. They—" Storm faltered, sagging against the wall of reptilian hide.
"Storm!" The Raging One sniffed as he examined her critically. "You must release me from this mortal realm. The blood magic that called me here weakens you." He touched her cheek with his nose. "It was different when you helped My sister call to Me."
"Not yet."
"If I leave without you releasing me, you'll bleed to death," the dragon god scolded, the ridges of his spine rising with angry worry.
Storm looked up. "Father, something hunts me. It hunts the god-touched mortal servants. I can sense that much of it, but nothing else. Its scent is familiar, but I do not know why it is familiar. I don't know what it is." Her eyes were dark. "It reminds me of Sumalen. But worse."
The dragon god's glowing eyes narrowed, his teeth baring. "I will set your brothers and sisters to seeking out this hunter. Guard my sister's children, Aelia." She nodded, leaning more against him. "Now. Release me, Daughter."
Nodding slightly, Storm dropped to her knees and pulled the knife out of the ground. She watched as the dragon leapt into the air and vanished with a rumble of soft thunder. Opening the hand she had sliced open, she watched as the wound closed to a thin red line. With a groan, she pushed herself to her feet, stumbling back to the shelter.
Chapter 35
As the sunlight illuminated the entrance to the root hollow, Ash slowly woke up. The moment he realized Storm wasn't next to him, he sat up abruptly, looking around in alarm. He heaved a sigh of relief to see Storm curled against the drizar, the beast's head curled around her protectively as he watched Ash warily. The man frowned a little as he studied the woman who looked almost frail. "Is she all right?" He started to reach out to touch Storm, when the drizar raised his head and bared his sharp, finger-long teeth. "Fine, fine," the mage grumbled. "I trust you know best. Will you allow me to check on Nolyn at least?" he asked the beast sarcastically. The drizar's stuck out his tongue; if Ash hadn't known better, he'd have believed the animal understood him. "Smart ass."
With an inarticulate shout, Nolyn jerked awake abruptly when Ash put his hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Nolyn," Ash hushed. "Storm's sleeping still."
Accepting Ash's hand to pull himself upright, Nolyn thumped his chest exaggeratedly. "Dear gods, warn me before you do that. I think I've just lost a few years off my life."
"So you'll only live to be a hundred thirty instead," Ash replied drolly, unrepentant. Worriedly, he looked at the discolored wound. "How's the leg? I don't have much talent to mend flesh, but Taylin should be able to fix the mess I left your leg in."
"Ash, your work kept me alive. I'm not complaining. But the leg is... fine. A little numb, actually." Nolyn held up the water skin with the distinctive Desanti mark on it as explanation. "Some desert herb she added to the water. Helped with the pain so I could sleep." He looked over to see the drizar and Storm, smiling a little. "She is an incredible woman, Ash. I may have to go to the deserts to see if I can find my own Swordanzen."
Ash smirked a little. "They don't particularly like our people. It would be rather dangerous."
"To find a woman like her?" Nolyn made a dismissive gesture. "It would be worth it." He squinted at Ash a long moment, and then held up his hand with the star-shaped scar in the palm. "Are things between the both of you settled?"
Ash looked at the mirroring scar in his own palm, rubbing it with his thumb. "Sometimes I forget you can sense what I'm feeling, too."
Nolyn reached over to put a hand on Ash's arm. "You know my heart just as well as I know yours, Ash. You're also avoiding my question." He shook his brother's arm lightly. "Are they settled?"
"For now." Ash glanced over at Storm, the drizar baring his teeth silently at the mage, and made a face. "Until the next time something comes between us. Which it will. There always seems to be something." Putting fingers to one temple, he sighed gustily. "I don't know why I try so hard. She is so stubborn. And illogical!"
"Ash, I know you. Better than you know yourself sometimes." Nolyn tilted his head when Ash looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "If Storm were as timid as most of our own women, you would have nothing to do with her because she could never stand up to you." He grinned wickedly. "Besides. You love it when she challenges you."
"You think I enjoy these conflicts with her?" Ash stared at Nolyn incredulously. "They are exhausting."
"Sure, they may be exhausting. But you still love it. Regardless who you think wins the discussion, you have that smug satisfaction you always got whenever we quarreled because I treated you like a real person, an equal. None of that silly nonsense those highborn twits are so fixated on." He waved a hand at Storm, frowning slightly. "Does she always sleep this soundly? We are not exactly being quiet and she's not even twitched at the noise."
"No idea. The only time I remember ever seeing her sleep was..." Remembering the Final Dance and having pulled her back from death, he shook his head sharply. "Whenever she was near death."
Nolyn recognized Ash's discomfort and dropped the subject. "We should probably be heading back soon. The household is probably still in a tizzy." He regarded the drizar, the animal baring his teeth warningly as he lowered his head around Storm again. "If the beast allows us to awaken her."
Ash shrugged. "Consider it a sign of trust she is willing to sleep at all in your presence. She's literally pushed herself to the brink of death before revealing any hint of weakness, even exhaustion."
Before Nolyn could speak, Ash stated, "She usually does not sleep more than four hours at a time. If she is sleeping this soundly, she probably needs the rest. I'll go get the horses prepared and see if they packed us anything useful to make breakfast. Hopefully she'll be rested enough by then and we can head back before Kelafy sets Ithesra entire into a panic with the Guardsman captain, Illaini Magus and a Githalin Swordanzen missing."
Nolyn rolled his eyes. "Good gods, no, we don't need that." He grimaced as he tried to get to his feet. "I can help—"
Easily pushing him back, Ash grinned at his brother. "No way. Get what rest you can now, Nolyn. Goddess knows it will be a long ride back."
Chapter 36
With the addition of the two mages' horses, the drizar, proud male that he was, abjectly refused to allow them to take the lead.
Without warning, he stopped as they were nearing Ash's trees, chuffing as his bronze-clad claws dug into the dark soil. Storm stood up on his bare back, tilting her head to one side. "They know we are returning," she told the two men as she sat back down. "There are many waiting for us."
Nolyn and Ash looked at each other, both men smiling faintly. "I guess we are getting back in time before Kelafy set the world out to find us."
"It would not matter when they intended to leave. Skyfire would not have allowed them to seek us." Storm did not look at either man. "I did not want to be found. I would have ensured I was not. He is protecting your people from me."
Ash considered the woman. "We found you."
She looked at him with her predator bird-like gaze. "You were near me, but you had not found me. Would you have seen the place I took shelter? You were looking to the tree branches for shelter. You would never have thought I would be so near. I could tell by your voices." She looked forward again. "I would have waited until you left to come out. I chose to reveal myself when you were attacked."
Ash nodded slightly, looking forward again himself. "Your Blood Oath to Almek bound you to protect me. You could not ignore it."
"That is not what drew me out. I had already accepted my death as the inevitable consequence of dishonoring the bond I made to Lord Almek." Both men looked at her in surprise.
"Then what...?" Ash began, stopping himself from asking the question too late.
"Because you would not abandon your brother." She closed her eyes, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "And Nolyn was willing to die for you. I believed there was no possible way any here could have Desanti honor. I could not let such a display die."
Both men fell silent, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Nolyn broke the heavy silence between them, rubbing his leg as the numbness left and the pain returned as a growing ache. "Didn't the spyrics... well, frighten you? They are usually not so large."
"I have faced worse in Desantiva," Storm replied simply. "Many things in the desert have mutated since the Great War." She slowed some as they neared the path that would see the house clearing. Storm's expression held a hint of dread. "Lyra is there. I would rather face the spyrics again than Lyra. She will be angry with me."
Ash smiled faintly. "A little unnerving having people care that much about you, isn't it?" His smile broadened, touched with sympathy, as she looked down, her complexion darkening considerably. Urging his horse forward, he took the lead of their three animals to spare Storm the initial attention.
Almek and his students awaited in the clearing with several guardsmen, a host of mages, and most of the household staff. Skyfire stood with his swords drawn and his drizzen behind him, glaring them all down. He looked over his shoulder as his drizzen answered the drizar's dissonant call; he relaxed, sliding his weapons away.
Ash dismounted as he heard a strident voice so like his own. "Illaini Magus Ash Avarian!" He turned to watch Ellis approach him. The Se'edai scowled at him in silence for a few moments before grabbing him and hugging him fiercely tight. "Don't scare me like that again, boy. The Voice was distressed because the Goddess could not sense you or Nolyn clearly." He looked towards Storm. "Or her at all."
"It was necessary for Nolyn and I to conceal ourselves." Ash looked over his shoulder at Storm, watching as she endured Lyra and Skyfire both scolding her, then both hugging her fiercely as Ellis had done with him. "I had to correct a horrible mistake I made and Storm has a sixth sense about her when it comes to sensing mages. I did not want others following Nolyn and I." He looked around and called, "Master Taylin! Master Nolyn requires your attention!"
Nolyn, who had not dismounted yet to spare himself the indignity of requiring assistance just to stand, tried to defer as the healer approached. "It is not necessary, Master Healer. The wound will heal in time."
Taylin narrowed her eyes up at Nolyn. "Do not even try to start that nonsense with me, Captain Nolyn. I don't let Storm get away with noble suffering; I'm certainly not going to put up with it from you." She waved his hands away from his leg. "I can tell the mending is imperfect. I'll not stand by and watch you being left near crippled.
As her hands rested atop Nolyn's wounded thigh, he nearly passed out at the sudden relief of all pain. "Dear gods, what a gentle touch," he whispered, clinging to his horse's back. "Could you teach him how to heal without pain like that?" Ash smirked at Nolyn.
Taylin blushed brightly at the compliment. "I could try, if he wants to learn. It took me a decade to learn to mute pain while healing, and I started young." She leaned against Mureln and said, "It is not easy to do."
"Not something they teach at the Academy, I assure you," Nolyn stated drolly as he dismounted. He bounced on his feet, marveling at Taylin's skill, before he turned to his guardsmen, calling them over and speaking to them in Forenten, abruptly much more serious.
Ellis's eyes went wide as he listened to Nolyn speaking to his guardsmen. "Spyrics five times larger than normal?"
Ash nodded grimly. "There was very little natural about them, but it was not quite like the darkling tainted creatures that would attack small villages." Lowering his voice, Ash leaned closer to Ellis. "I suspect they were hunting Nolyn and I. We were fortunate Storm was nearby and chose to assist us."
The Se'edai blinked at Ash. "You think she might not have?"
"She said as much." Ash looked away, jaw muscles jumping. "In my arrogance, I miscalculated exactly how upset she could become, how much I insulted her." He sighed heavily. "I am only grateful she chose not to abandon us. I could have stopped them or fled, but it would have meant sacrificing Nolyn. I was not ready to do that."
"I see." Ellis looked from the Desanti to Nolyn. "I am going to resume the mandatory practice of journeymen taking a turn serving as guardsmen or some other duty that would require intensive use of their skills, magic and otherwise, before they can attain their masteries. Besides giving them practical experience with their skills..." Ellis grimaced. "I suspect we will need the guardsmen even more."
Kelafy emerged from the throng of servants and approached the Swordanzen. Shoulders squared, back straight, her eyes were nevertheless lowered. "Githalin Swordanzen Storm, forgive me," she stated, loud enough to draw all attention towards the small group. "It is the gravest of failures for a servant of Forenta not to be aware of cultural differences of foreign guests to our land. I humbly beg of you your forgiveness for my failure."
Skyfire shrugged one shoulder. "How could you know about our people when we are the first to leave Desantiva?"
The woman shook her head sharply. "Ignorance is no excuse. Our Great Mother bids we should learn about what we do not know, and I failed to do that. I will not fail Her or Master Ash again." She paused and asked, "Can you forgive me?"
Storm met Kelafy's eyes for a long time, barely flicking a glance to the silent eyes that were resting on them. "I forgive you," Storm finally stated. Ignoring the murmurs of approval from those watching them, Storm held Kelafy's eyes and bowed slightly to the woman, who returned the gesture.
Almek approached Storm and said, "Come, let us get out of this frigid air. There is a warm fire and comfortable chair waiting for me inside." Putting his hand on Storm's shoulder, he said, "And there is much to talk about. Such as the proper way to address disagreements. Destroying furniture is not one of them."
Storm lowered her eyes, nodding. "Yes, Lord Almek."
Chapter 37
Nearing the winter solstice, the household had settled into a comfortable routine. This day was little different than the past several weeks since Storm's breakfast outburst. The three Sevmanen and the Vodani were seated around the low table in the common room, the men having finally convinced Taylin to try her hand at one of the dice games. Almek, Ash, and Terrence were outside with Skyfire and Storm to observe them training.
Dressed to go outside, Lyra came out from the dining room with a bright smile as she sat a tray with small cakes and mugs of warm cider on the table. "I thought you might like
some before I take some to everyone outside. They don't like to complain, but I know Mistress Storm and Master Skyfire dislike the cold very much." She smacked the back of Emil's hand scoldingly as he reached for the entire plate. "Just one! You are supposed to share with the others, Master Emil."
"Aw, where be th'fun in that?" Emil asked with a comical pout, ducking a punch to the arm from Emaris. "Missed me!" He didn't see Mureln aiming a punch to his other shoulder. "Ow! Hey!"
"I cannot wait to go outside," Lyra said cheerfully as she handed the extra mugs out to each of them. "I love the snow, especially first snow. It looks like tiny pieces of clouds. It is so peaceful, like a dream."
Mureln nearly choked on his drink, setting the mug down as he coughed, brushing the splash off of himself hastily while Emil pounded his back and Taylin put a worried hand on his arm. "Wait, it's snowing?" The alarmed question puzzled the others.
Blinking, Lyra nodded. "Yes, Master Mureln, it is just starting." The bard jumped out of his seat, running to the door and grabbing his cloak as he ran. "Master Mureln! What's wrong?"
"It doesn't snow in Desantiva," was all he replied before dashing outside. The others were fast on his heels. The snowflakes were tiny, but growing in size the more time passed.
They reached the area the Desanti preferred to train the moment the two warriors noticed the first of the huge, fluffy snowflakes drifting down. Abruptly, they went from facing one another to standing back to back, searching the grey sky with wild-eyed panic. The scene might have been comical if the two desert folk were not already primed for combat with weapons in hand.
