by Lisa Daniels
Annora did not want to think about what Bree would say if there was a scar on the older friend’s face. There would have been hours of lectures and reprimands about not being cautious enough, which would be entirely true in this case. Satisfied that the damage could be hidden, the dragon slayer stepped back and took in the rest of her reflection. She was fully dressed, but not in her regular clothes. The only part of her regular clothing was the shirt with her papers. The rest of her outfit was looser fitting than she was accustomed to. Wondering how she hadn’t noticed, Annora glared at herself in the mirror.
“What is wrong with you?”
Upset with her steady stream of bad decisions and lack of caution, Annora wanted to get back on track. That meant finding her clothes and…
Suddenly the young woman began looking around, a real sense of panic crushing her heart. Her weapons were nowhere. Without a second thought, the young woman began trashing the room as she desperately looked for the only two things that made her feel comfortable. Lately they hadn’t been as useful as normal, but she knew that was her fault. The dirk had been a gift from her father when she had expressed an interest in fighting at four years old. He had taught her himself, and then he had died trying to defend their town during that first dragon attack. The second attack had taken her mother.
Her whole life had been a quest for revenge. That could not happen without her sword and dirk.
When it was obvious that neither weapon was in the room, Annora pulled the sheets off of the bed and wrapped them around her. As there had been no clothes left behind, that was the next best thing. A silent storm was brewing in the back of her mind as it finally registered that someone had undressed her and put those clothes on her. However, that was not her biggest grief, not by a long shot.
Storming out of the room, she headed down the hall. The young woman stomped down the stairs and ignored the patrons enjoying a meal as she went up to the innkeeper.
“Where are my clothes and weapons?” She looked him in the eye. There was no way he would be unaware of her presence, so now was the time to find out just how stupid the man was. If he tried to feign ignorance, she didn’t need one of her weapons to do considerable damage. Her cold eyes would relay that warning if her low threatening tone didn’t.
The innkeeper simply smiled at her. “Sorry, ma’am, I have no idea where he took your things. If you will please return to your room, I’m sure you will find the answers you want. Just wait for him to come back.”
Annora gritted her teeth. Suddenly her body shook and she began coughing. The fit lasted over a minute. By the time she stopped, the innkeeper had his hand on her back and was trying to offer her a glass of water. Continuing to ignore the crowd of people watching the strange woman in a bedsheet angrily questioning the innkeeper, Annora managed to ask, “And who is he?”
The man looked a little embarrassed. “Well, ma’am, if you don’t know who he is, I’m afraid you will just have to wait for him to arrive. I really can’t tell you much more than I already have.” She glared at him. He shrugged, “I really am not at liberty to tell you anything. He brought you in, he will have to explain. I have to say that although I am very pleased to see you up and about, I really don’t think that you should be down here.”
She began another coughing fit; this time it was so violent that it caused the wound in her back to hurt. Biting back the pain, the young woman tried to sound more confident than she was. “I want my things. I have to do something and I can’t-” She began coughing again.
As the coughs wracked her body, she felt strong arms lift her. “And just what do you think you are doing?” The voice was low and calm. And right beside her ear.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir. I didn’t think it would be right for me to-”
The man holding her tightly cut the innkeeper off. “It’s quite alright, John. I don’t expect you to tame a tiger, let alone such a wild creature as this.”
Despite the coughing and pain, Annora tried to push the man away from her. The sudden motion merely caused the man to sigh. “I apologize, everyone. Please enjoy your meal. John, you can put all of this on my bill.”
With that, Annora felt them turn and head toward the stairs. The coughing had subsided, but she was now beginning to shiver uncontrollably.
The voice grew concerned. “Are you alright?” He pulled her closer, but she continued to try to fight him, pushing him away as much as her trembling hands could. She was shocked when a cold hand suddenly covered her forehead. “Dear gods! You are burning up. Leonides! Bring the kit, she’s burning up!” His voice boomed as he called to some unknown companion.
Annora looked up into the face of the man holding on to her and shouting for assistance.
“Elian?”
Suddenly the man looked down at her. He blinked a few times, “You remember?”
“I thought you were-” Her voice broke as her body began to shake uncontrollably.
“Leonides, hurry! What the-” The man’s voice stopped as they entered the room. “Gods, what did you do to the room?”
She felt herself being set down on the bed. There was some shifting and movement as he put everything back together. The blanket was pulled off of her, and he immediately began rubbing a strange oil on her arms and legs. She tried to move away, but someone else entered the room, and they were easily able to hold her in place while Elian continued to cover her neck and forehead with the oil.
Once it was done, he put the blanket back over her. “I’m terribly sorry for that, but the oil will help to cool you down without making you shake further. Take some of this.” Annora tried to turn her head, but found she was too weak to do much of anything. “Please. It will fight the fever from the inside. We have to get the fever to break and that is not going to happen without medicine.” Then under his breath, he muttered, “And a bit of a miracle.”
Annora thought she was not meant to hear the last part. Her thoughts were muddled, though, and she couldn’t be entirely sure that she heard him correctly.
Opening her mouth as much as she could, a thick liquid was carefully and gently placed in her mouth. The man’s hand was rough, but not unpleasantly so as he tilted her head by the chin to help her swallow.
Suddenly she began to shake uncontrollably. Her body was pressed up against something firm and warm, but her mind couldn’t understand what it was.
“Leonides, it’s going to be a long night. Can you handle the mission for now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Very good. I trust you to make the right decisions.” The sound of footsteps echoed in her mind before Elian’s voice broke in. “And Leonides.”
The footsteps stopped. “Yes, sir?”
“Don’t mention this.”
The voice sounded like a smile to Annora as the man responded, “Understood, sir.”
The warmth stayed with her well into the night. When her body finally relaxed, the warmth relaxed and moved away a little, but never far enough way that she couldn’t reach out and touch it. When she did, a voice would calm her.
“Yes, but what you need is sleep. Stop fighting it so that you can recover.”
Finally, a large hand began to stroke her head and back. With this reassurance, she finally drifted off into a fevered dream.
Chapter 5
Fevered Nightmares
Annora’s dreams were among the worst of her life. Everywhere she turned, she watched the people she loved being killed as a result of dragon attacks. It was all of the worst moments of her life amplified by the fever.
Tears streamed down her face as she watched Nyle standing between her and the last dragon to have beaten her. All the other scenes went by so quickly, like a mashup of all the worst moments of her life. Now with Nyle in front of her trying to give her time to run, everything was in slow motion. Again she watched him try to take on a full-grown dragon with no experience. She was the fighter, not him. He was several years younger than her, but Nyle had never seemed to care. When he suddenl
y shifted away from his dream of becoming a merchant, something at which he excelled, Annora could not understand it. When he picked up a sword and said he, too, would become a dragon hunter, she had feared the man had lost his mind.
It was only in those final moments when she had understood why he had chosen a life that did not suit him.
Standing between Annora and the dragon, he had thrown a sword into the dragon’s eye, causing it to rock back on its hind legs. In that instant, he had turned and picked up Annora, who was badly injured when the dragon had sliced open her side after she had brazenly tried to take it head-on instead of wearing it down. Nyle had come out of nowhere, sword in his hand. It was the first time she had seen his hand so steady as it threw the sword in a perfect arc.
Running with her, promising she would be ok, Nyle had pressed into her, ensuring that her wound did not open further. The roar of the dragon told them both that it was looking for vengeance. They made it past several houses before he darted inside.
He murmured, “I couldn’t let it be you. Last year I saw what was going to happen, and I couldn’t let it be you.” Gently, he kissed her on the head and murmured, “I love you.”
With that, he gently laid her on a couch and darted back outside. Shocked, she tried to struggle to her feet as she heard Nyle yelling at the dragon.
He never had a chance.
“Nyle!” she screamed as she bolted upright in the bed.
A hand softly but firmly pressed her back onto the bed. “Shh. It’s okay. It’s just a nightmare.”
Annora sobbed. Strong arms pulled her toward the warmth that she had felt earlier.
“Nyle,” she sobbed, “it shouldn’t have been you. It shouldn’t have been you. Why didn’t you tell me? Nyle. I’m so sorry.” The tears eventually slowed down as a hand stroked her back.
“It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
“No. No. It’s never going to be okay again.” She held onto something soft and warm. Arms gently wrapped around her and pulled her closer.
“It will be okay. You just need to get through the worst of it, then you can start to heal.”
“It will never heal. It’s all my fault. He died and it’s all my fault.”
“Rest. You can blame yourself once you are through the worst of it.”
“I want to die. She can be happy if I die. I just want her to be happy again.”
The warmth started to vibrate slightly as the sound of humming filled her ears. There were no more words, just the humming and the warmth.
After a while, she stopped sobbing. “Please make it stop. I can’t keep living through it. Just make the pain stop.”
The humming continued as a hand pushed a strand of hair out of her face. Someone kissed the top of her head, then began to lightly run a hand down her head. The feel of warmth and comfort finally won and she feel into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The voice was much firmer when she woke again. Annora had enough presence of mind to know that the person was not talking to her. Instead of opening her eyes and letting the person know she was awake (through a fog, she felt she ought to know him, but couldn’t remember who it was), the dragon slayer remained still and listened to the discussion.
“Thank you, Leonides. As always, you went well beyond the expectation. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You would ask Nicandro for help.” The second voice was pleasant, but very clipped, like the man was in the military. It made her uncomfortable, but Annora fought the urge to shift at the thought.
The other man laughed. “You are right, which is why I am so glad you are here.”
There was a hint of amusement in Leonides’ voice (Why is that name familiar?) as he said, “Indeed sir. Although I dare say the men would be quite entertained to see you two working so closely together for such a long period of time.”
There was another laugh. “They just want to see who would survive it. Who would have believed that we still have not evolved beyond such insipid infighting? The men shall be denied the privilege and you shall bear the brunt of the workload for suggesting it. That will teach you to toy with my delicate emotions.”
There was a snort before Leonides replied, “As you say, sir. Will that be all?” There was a pause and she could almost feel him fighting the urge to ask another question.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one aware of the meaning behind his question. The voice was serious and louder. (He must be facing me.) “I think she is through the worst of it, but she is still so weak that I’m afraid I cannot quite leave yet.”
Even though she did not even know what he looked like, Annora thought she could imagine the look on Leonides face as he asked something that was likely unwelcome. “Sir, with all due respect, you don’t even know who she is. How can-”
Annora had no idea what happened, but the man’s voice died without any hint of anything happening. Daring to open her eyes a crack, she looked at the two men. Leonides’ face was downcast and his expression quite knowing that he had crossed a line. There was no sign that the other man had said or done anything. All she saw was his broad back looking very tense and his arms were folded.
Finally, Leonides, in a somewhat hollow voice, said, “I apologize. I was out of line. Is there anything else I can do?”
The other man was slow to respond. “I apologize as well. I called you here to discuss matters and have ended up making you uncomfortable. You already know the next phase. If you could look for her and see if there is any trace of sanity left. I cannot make the next call without finding out if there is still a way to save her.”
Leonides looked up and his eyes flicked down toward Annora. “Sir.” His voice was hesitant, but it was enough to let the man know that she was awake.
“Thank you, Leo. Please let me know what you find.” The second man bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.
“So, you are finally awake.” The man turned to look at her.
“You.” She almost recognized the face.
“Yes, it’s me.” His eyes sparkled as he looked at her.
“I should know your name, but I can’t seem to…” Her voice trailed off as she looked hard at him.
“How much of that did you hear?” The man did not seem concerned with whatever she was thinking.
“I can’t remember who you are. Why can’t I remember?” She put her hand on her head and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the man’s face was close to hers, but he was not smiling.
“That is not what is important. How much did you hear?”
Flashes of what happened went through her mind, and she remembered what she was wearing. Pulling the covers closer she tried to move away from the man. “I don’t understand. I thought Nyle…”
Something like a growl escaped from the man, but it caused the bed to vibrate. It reminded her of the sound dragons made when angered. Instinctively, Annora pressed herself up against the wall and grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on. It was a vase with flowers. The water that had been in it spilled on the bed. The water trickled down her arm as she held it out toward his face.
The man looked down at the flowers and vase and into her now stern face. It was thinner than it had been a week ago, and the hollowness in her cheeks detracted a bit from the woman’s beauty. If she did not start to recover soon, there was a good chance she would die. The more skeletal look of her face was evidence enough that she was deteriorating.
Running a hand through his black hair, the man responded, “And what exactly are you going to do with that? I’m not allergic.”
Annora looked at what she held. Without a word, she smashed the vase against the wall, spraying flowers, water, and glass shards all over the bed. Her hand was bleeding as she brought it back around.
The man gave her a scathing look. “Now you are just being childish.”
“Let me go.”
“And do what, exactly? Every time I see you, you are blacking out from blood loss or a concus
sion. If you walk out of here now, you aren’t going to finish what you started.” He looked her in the eyes. “And then wouldn’t Nyle’s death have been in vain?” The man’s lip curled up in a sneer.
The sound that rumbled up deep from within her throat was like that of a wounded wolf. Before the man could move, she lunged forward, scraping her leg against the glass shards. The dragon hunter almost struck him in the throat, but his reflexes were inhuman. Pressing her hand down, the man forced her to drop the broken vase.
“Gods, you are even more of a mess. Oswald!” His voice boomed out. A few seconds later someone who was clearly a soldier entered the room.
“Sir?” His eyes took in the scene around him, but Oswald said nothing about it.
“If you would please clean up this mess. It seems my stray has managed to get new injuries while she convalesces.”
“Yes, sir.”
The man picked her up and carried her toward a side room. Annora’s strength had not fully returned, but she was not about to let the man do whatever he wanted. She kicked and elbowed him, but he did not seem to notice, almost as if he weren’t carrying anything. When she scratched his neck, though, the man finally looked down on her. His reddish eyes gave her an unspoken warning as blood began to ooze from the scratches her nails had left. One hand gripped her tighter while the other grabbed her wrists. She almost felt like a hog being tied up for the slaughter as he took her into the bathroom.
He placed her down but firmly blocked her only way out of the room. Looking around, she spotted a small window. It was just large enough that she knew she could squeeze through. As he turned on the water, she stepped up on the bath and reached for the window.
Arms wrapped around her and pulled her back down. “I swear… do not make me tie you up, you foolish girl.”
Annora sat and glared at him as the man began to dress her latest set of wounds. She didn’t even flinch as he pressed the disinfectant against the deepest gash. His eyes watched her as if trying to detect any sign of pain. Refusing to show weakness, the woman glared back at him.
