Innocents
“Die,
miserable Swamp Rat!”
“You’ll
have to be quicker than that you Dirty Human!”
Ithican
stepped back half a step from Sam’s attack.
Having missed his target Sam’s guard was now down and Ithican went to
take advantage of that fact. However,
Sam was quicker than he looked and easily deflected the blow. The two swords clashed and rang musically as
the pair sought out a victor.
Not being
used to the weight of a true sword and missing the versatility of a Tarrin
blade Ithican found himself at a distinct disadvantage. He was definitely glad to have his Elven
reflexes to help him hold his own against Sam’s undeniably skilled assault. Determined not to lose this fight Ithican
switched to a more offensive tactic and succeeded in forcing Sam back a few
steps.
“Had
enough, Old Man?” Ithican teased.
“Old?!” Sam replied indignantly.
“That’s
right, don’t think for a second that I’ve forgotten.” Ithican ducked under Sam’s swing. “You’ll be a hundred in five days...if you live that long.”
“Apparently
you never learned to respect you elders.
But don’t worry,” Sam drove
Ithican back, regaining the ground he’d lost
“I’ll teach you.”
“Don’t be
so sure about that.”
Sam
deftly stepped to the left as Ithican charged.
Having misjudged how much the weight of the sword would pull him Ithican
had to take a few steps forward to keep from losing his balance -giving Sam a
clear shot at his back. Sam slapped
Ithican’s lower back with the broad side of his sword.
“You’ll
never out live me fighting like that.”
Sam mocked.
“If I had
my Tarrin...” Ithican growled rubbing
at the sore spot on his back.
“Ah, but
the whole point is that you don’t.” Sam
swung at his opponent once more. “So
you’d better learn to handle a sword quick, Elf!”
Ithican
grinned and launched himself at Sam once more.
Not expecting the sudden move Sam ended up getting tagged bloodlessly on
the shoulder.
“Don’t
you worry about me, Human, I learn quick enough.”
Sam
laughed and defended himself with more caution. They continued swinging both steel and insults. Had anyone come across the pair in the wood
they might be forced to think that the tentative peace between the Humans and
the Elves had finally failed. It had
been over two years since the so called ‘Blood Brothers’ had changed the nature
of interracial relations. Elves and
Humans still had to watch their step in one another’s territories, but all Laws
against travel and trade had been revoked.
Nuearth
was still far from a safe place for any race to live. A fact that Sam and Ithican knew well. Getting a better feel for the sword Ithican started to turn the
tide of the fight to his favor. The
verbal assaults ended as they both were forced to concentrate more and more on
the physical aspect of the potentially deadly encounter.
Beginning
to feel the affects of the exertion Sam’s skin started to glisten with
sweat. Even Ithican’s hair was starting
to separate into long wet locks.
However, neither was about to back down. Just when it looked like they might find themselves at a
stalemate Sam made a fatal error.
Stepping back out of the arc of Ithican’s reach he caught his heel on
something and lost his footing. Falling
backwards Sam landed on his back hard.
With his
breath knocked out Sam had no chance to recover. Ithican stood over the fallen Human and casually rested the
bright tip of his sword on Sam’s chest.
Sam growled in frustration and released his grip on his own sword. Despite the symbol of surrender Ithican kept
his weapon in strike position.
“How was
that, teacher?” Ithican laughed. He took the sword away from his friend’s
heart.
“Not
bad.” Sam admitted. He put his hand up in a silent request for
help getting to his feet. “As far as I
can see you only have one thing left to learn.”
“Oh?” Ithican asked reaching down to take Sam’s
hand. “What’s that?”
Sam
grinned mischievously. With speed that
caught Ithican off guard he reached up and grasped Ithican’s forearm
tightly. Using his grip as a purchase
Sam yanked Ithican off his feet and twisted him around so he landed back first
on the leaf littered forest floor.
Before he had time to figure out what had happened Ithican found himself
pinned under Sam’s weight.
“Like I
said,” Sam laughed “you still have one thing left to learn:
never help your enemy back up on his feet.”
“Got
it.” Ithican smiled. “Next time I’ll remember to just kill you.”
“See that
you do.”
Sam
released his captive and sat on the cool forest floor still breathing heavily
from the exercise. Ithican had asked
Sam a while back to teach him how to use a sword in case he ever found himself
without his Tarrin. In return for the
swordplay lessons Ithican was teaching Sam to write and polishing his reading
skills.
They
dusted themselves off and made their way back to the small camp they’d made the
night before. Once he’d regained his
strength from trying to kill himself Ithican had wanted nothing more than to
get out of the city. Sam couldn’t have
agreed more, but they had been forced to stay for a few months longer to help
straighten things out with the various ambassadors.
They’d
become somewhat famous for a while, to the point where Sam swore he’d kill the
next person who asked to hear the story again.
So they had spent the past two years aimlessly traveling to avoid anyone
who might possibly know anything about them.
They had nothing better to do than sight see around Nuearth anyway.
“So,
where to now?” Ithican asked.
“Well,
where are we now?”
“Good
question.” Ithican looked around the
thick forest, which looked like every other forest they’d traveled
through. He rummaged through his pack
and pulled out a worn map. “Okay, we
were in Seratics and we’ve been going west for...”
“Seratics?” Sam asked looking at the map. “I thought we just left Larkbury.”
“No,
Larkbury was over by the coast.”
“Are you
sure?”
“Yeah,
they had that fish brandy that even you couldn’t drink.”
“No, that
was Innsmot.” Sam grimaced at the
thought. “That stuff was awful. What were they thinking? Or was that in Tallomark?”
“This is
hopeless.” Ithican pushed the map
away.
“We’ve
been to so many little run down towns that they’re all starting to blur into
one.”
“Tell me
about it.”
“I hate
to say it but I’m almost starting to miss Nueyark.”
“Speak
for yourself.”
“Hey, I
said ‘almost’.” Sam laughed. “Say what you will about the place, at least
there was never a dull moment.”
“That’s
one way of putting it.” Ithican smiled
and shook his head. “Although I have to
admit that things have gotten awful quiet lately.”
“We could
always go looking for trouble.” Sam
offered helpfully.
“Somehow
I don’t thi...” Ithican stopped.
“Ith?”
Ithican
put his hand up to signal for quiet. He
tucked his hair back behind his pointed ears and closed his eyes. Sam remained as still as possible, he
couldn’t hear anything but he knew that that meant little to nothing. He had quickly learnt to trust Ithican’s
senses in these matters.
“Someone’s
coming.” Ithican whispered, still
listening. “More than one, three of
four.”
“They
could just be travelers.” Sam whispered
back.
“I doubt
it.”
“Why?”
“Because
they are trying really hard not to be heard.”
“Perfect.”
“What?”
“Well,
now we don’t have to go looking for trouble.
It found us.”
“And
that’s a good thing?”
Sam was
about to respond when ‘trouble’ stepped into view. The small group had a ragtag variety of light hunting-type
weapons, but that wasn’t what caught Ithican and Sam’s attention first. What did was what all the new comers had
undeniably in common. Ithican found
himself at a loss for words. Sam had no
such troubles:
“Hello,
Ladies.”
**************
Ithican
looked up at the ceiling and tried not to think about the mountain of stone
that lay above it. However thoughts
about the amount of solid matter between himself and the clear sky kept
creeping into his mind. After pacing
the room once more he finally sat down on the large bed that dominated the
small room.
He ran
his hands through his black and white hair, a nervous habit that he had
developed shortly after leaving Evergladrida, and tried to piece together
exactly why he was here. The small band
of female hunters (they certainly hadn’t been warriors) that had found them had
insisted on capturing them. Ithican had
discussed this idea over with Sam for quiet sometime before agreeing to
it. There was no way that the women
could have taken them by force, but at the same time neither of them wanted to
hurt the huntresses.
“What’s
the worst that could happen?” Sam had
asked with a lopsided grin.
“I hate
it when you say things like that.”
“Why?”
“Because
we always seem to find out the answer.”
So far
the worse had come when Ithican had discovered that they were being ‘taken’ to
what appeared to be an entire town build into a system of caves. The entrance to which was a discrete doorway
carved into a cliff side. Ithican had
never heard of such a thing, but that didn’t surprise him too much. As a general rule the Elves despise being
underground and never associate with those who live there.
Ithican
swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
The air was surprisingly fresh, but that brought little comfort. It wouldn’t be so bad if he had something
else to think about. He wasn’t even
sure how or when he and Sam had been separated. He’d been too preoccupied with staying calm as they worked their
way through an increasingly complicated network of catacombs. As for Sam he’d been distracted by...other
things.
Running
his fingers through his hair once more Ithican growled in frustration. He’d been left here an hour ago and as far
as he knew he’d been forgotten. The
room was nice enough, kind of like a woman’s bedroom, and lit by various
electrical spells.
Ithican
started in surprise when the door creaked open. The door opened just enough for a pair of brown eyes to peek
in. Any alarm that Ithican had felt
vanished as he heard the newcomer giggle nervously to herself. He waited for her to come inside, but she
only looked.
“It’s
okay, you can come in.” Ithican
offered.
She
hesitated for a second and then with a burst of courage she stepped in the
room. She looked out into the hall and
once satisfied that no one was around she closed the door behind her. Ithican recognized her now as one of the
women who had escorted him here. Her
long dark brown hair bounced in loose curls as she looked around the room.
“Hello,
young Miss.” Ithican greeted. The girl couldn’t be older than forty.
“H...hello.” She replied after a moment. She looked at Ithican like he was an animal
in a zoo.
“My
name’s Ithican, and you are?”
“Chastity.” She answered simply.
“Well,
Chastity, you don’t have to be so nervous, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I
know.” She answered confidently. “It’s just, I’m...I’m not supposed to be
here.”
“Then why
are you here?” Ithican asked hoping to
get some information.
Chastity
blushed furiously. “I’m sorry, I’m just
so curious. Everyone is always telling
me so. ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ they
always say to me.”
“Ah yes,
but ‘satisfaction brought him back’.”
Ithican smiled. “So what about
your curiosity brings you here?”
“Well,
I...it’s just...” She blushed
again. “I’ve never seen anyone who
looks like you before.”
“Looks
like me?” Ithican repeated
confused. “You mean an Elf?”
“Is that
what you are?”
“Yes.” Ithican furrowed his brow. “You’ve never heard of Elves?”
“No.” She replied honestly.
“You’re
people must not come out of their cave very often.”
“Oh no,
we don’t. Only for short hunting trips
every once in a while. We really don’t
even need to do that, but it’s nice to see the sky and trees every now and
then. But we’ve never come across
anything like this before.”
“I
see.” Ithican said even though he
didn’t. “Where’s my friend?”
“I’m not
sure, but I’m sure she’s fine.”
“He.” Ithican corrected.
“He?” Chastity used the word as if it was
unfamiliar.
“Yes, you
said ‘she’, but my friend is male.”
“I
thought you said you two were Elves.”
“No.” Ithican had to smile at the her
mistake. “I’m Elven, he’s Human.”
It was
the girl’s turn to furrow her brow.
“Human? But you just said your
friend was Male.”
“Yes,” Ithican shook his head, getting confused
himself “I did, he’s both.”
“Both?” She looked at Ithican skeptically. “But she looks just like you.”
“No, no, he
looks just lik...” Ithican
stopped. Physically he and Sam had very
little in common, unless... “Wait a
minute...when you said you’d never seen anyone like me, were you talking about
my black hair and green eyes?”
“No,
there’s nothing special about that. The
pointy ears are a bit strange.”
“But you
weren’t talking about my ears either, were you?”
“Not
really.” She flushed.
“Then
what makes me different?” Ithican asked
although he had a good idea what the answer was going to be.
“I don’t
know...it’s just...well you don’t...”
She looked around embarrassed for a moment. “I guess the most noticeable thing would be this.” At the word ‘this’ Chastity brought her
hands up to her chest with a cupping motion.
Ithican
had to quickly bring his hand up to his face to hide his amused smile. “You mean men, you’ve never seen a man
before?”
“Nope.” She smiled innocently.
“And
you’ve never heard of Elves or Humans?”
“No.”
“So what
are you if not a Human?”
“What a
silly question. I’m the same thing as
everyone else.”
“What
would that be?”
“A Nymph,
of course.”
***********
“I told
you this day would come!” Tallutha
hissed. “You shouldn’t let the young
ones run around on their little ‘hunting’ trips, we can gather all the food we
need and more right here. When was the
last time they ever caught anything anyway?”
“They
caught something this time.” Arthlyn
sighed, throwing herself into a plush chair.
“That’s
right: Trouble!”
“Now
let’s not panic, Tallutha. Have
the...” Arthlyn searched for the
word “men, hurt anyone?”
“Not yet,
but they will.”
“You
can’t know that. They are...”
“Dangerous.” Tallutha finished. “You’ve never been out into the Upper World.”
“My
duties keep me here.” Arthlyn said
defensively.
“Well, I
have been out there -*my* duties forced me to.
Unlike our little ‘hunters’ I’ve been beyond the forest that protects
our home, and I paid a terrible price for it.”
“I
know.” Arthlyn said softly. She reached up and brushed the white scar
that ran down the right side of Tallutha’s face.
“That
scar was the least of it.” Tallutha
said bitterly as she pulled away.
“You’re
still beau...” Arthlyn stopped when she
saw the ice in Tallutha’s blue eyes thicken.
Arthlyn sighed, her raven haired friend had never been the same after
her last journey into the Upper World.
“What do you expect me to do?”
“You’re
the Mistress, and as our leader it’s your duty to protect the Nymphs and our
lifestyle.”
“We
should just take them back to where we found them.”
“No! We can’t do that.”
“Why
not?”
“They
will come back, and they will bring others.”
Tallutha warned. “The only thing
that keeps the Nymphs safe is the fact that no one knows we’re here. It’s the only thing that keeps us
alive. We can’t let them tell anyone.”
“What are
you suggesting?” Arthlyn snapped
angrily. “That we keep them here?!”
“Of
course not.” Tallutha said calmly.
“But what
else can we do?”
“There’s
a third option.” Tallutha smiled
coldly.
“What?”
“Kill
them.”
“No.” Arthlyn said immediately. Her stomach turned at the mere thought.
“But
Mistres...”
“I said
no!” Arthlyn made it clear that her
word was final. “The Nymphs retreated to
these caves thousands of years ago to escape violence. I will not have blood spilt here! This is a place of innocents.”
“That
innocents is going to be lost!”
Tallutha growled. “You don’t
understand, you’ve only been told what you need to know about the Upper World
to perform your chosen task. I’ve been
taught more because I had to know it for when I would go on a Gathering. But all that knowledge wasn’t enough to
protect me. Men have a power that you
can’t even begin to fathom, and they will use it against us!”
“What
makes you so sure?”
“Because
they can’t help themselves.” Tallutha
said simply. “Males are violent by
their very nature.”
“I don’t
understand.”
“I know
you don’t,” Tallutha smiled
sweetly “and in a way I love you for
it. However this is no time to be
naive. You have to get rid of them.”
“I will
not put forth such a horrible order without proof that these creatures can’t be
reasoned with.”
“You want
proof?” Tallutha asked
rhetorically.
She
walked over to the table where she had placed a black velvet bundle when she’d
first come into the Mistress’s chambers.
She unfolded it and exposed two large swords that gleamed coldly on the
black cloth.
Arthlyn
got up and walked over. She caught her
breath as she stared at the blades. She
had seen hunting tools before: arrows, light daggers and the such, but she’d
never seen anything as wicked looking at the weapons that lay on the
table.
“When the
girls first found the pair they were trying to kill each other with
these.”
“What?” Arthlyn asked alarmed. “Why?”
“Because
they are male, and men are all the same.”
Arthlyn
looked down at the swords again.
Hesitantly she touched one and found the steel to be ice cold. She ran her fingertips down the length the
blade slowly. A chill ran down her
spine at the thought of the damage something like this could do.
“Dangerous...” Arthlyn whispered to herself.
****************
“This was
amusing for a while, Ladies, but I’m starting to lose my patience.”
“Sam,
plea...” Ithican started.
“No,
forget it, I can’t even believe I’m listening to this.” Sam said stubbornly. They had been treated well up until now, but
now the Nymphs were being unreasonable. Sam swallowed against the bitter taste
in his mouth, he couldn’t decided if it was from the odd wine he’d had at
breakfast or from dealing with Tallutha.
“This is ridiculous!”
“Do not
call our Laws ‘ridiculous’, Male!”
Tallutha snapped.
“Tallutha,
please.” Arthlyn chastised. “There’s no need for that, you know her..his
name.”
Arthlyn
rubbed at her temples: this meeting was not going well. She had not decided yet what they were going
to do. She needed more time to discuss
things with the Council, however the men had asked to leave.
“Sam,
Ithican, you two have come into our sanctum and we can not allow you to simply
leave.” Arthlyn explained. “We ha...”
“Wait a
minute,” Sam interrupted “we were brought here. You can’t accuse us of trespassing, we
weren’t the ones who let the foxes into the hen house!”
Ithican
flinched at the expression. He knew
that Sam would never hurt a woman, but at the same time he didn’t seem to have
much respect for the Nymphs. Ithican
looked around the cavernous room that was set up much like a palace court.
Mistress
Arthlyn sat in an ornate chair on a small dais with Tallutha standing next to,
or rather over her. It didn’t take long
to figure out which one held the most power.
There were six other Nymphs present, members of some form of
Council. Two of them had poorly crafted
spears, but they seemed uncomfortable holding them.
“What I
don’t understand,” Ithican said,
interrupting another round of insults between Sam and Tallutha “is what you hope to gain from keeping us
here. I would think that you’d want us
out as quickly as possible.”
“We can’t
risk having you tell others where we are.”
Tallutha responded coolly.
“Well
that’s not an issue,” Sam smiled “we didn’t know where we were before we came
here, and we’re just as lost now.”
“You
can’t expect us to believe that.”
“You
can’t keep us here forever.” Sam
growled, losing his brief brush with humor.
“I’m not about to become some sort of Palace Pet.”
“We have
yet to decide what we are going to do.”
Arthlyn sighed. “It all depends
on...”
“On
what?” Ithican asked when Arthlyn
stopped herself.
“On your
innocents.” Arthlyn finished even
though Tallutha had shot her a glare to try and stop her.
“Innocents?” Ithican repeated. “We have done nothing to the Nymphs.”
“And the
last time I checked,” Sam added “being male wasn’t a crime in and of
itself.”
“It
should be!” Tallutha snarled.
“What?” Sam asked incredulously. “What evidence do you have that we’ve ever
done anything wrong?”
“Just
look at you, look at all those scars.
You’ve obviously been fighting your whole life! Bloodthirsty!”
“It’s a
dangerous world out there, which you Dames have obviously forgotten about
hidden away down here! Not all who
fight are bloodthirsty.” Sam
subconsciously rubbed at his bracelet scars left by the Goblins long ago. “Besides, I see you have some marks
yourself.”
“I was an
innocent victim!”
“So was
I!” Sam barked angrily.
“Please...” Arthlyn started, but was quickly
interrupted.
“I don’t
know many victims who walk around with weapons like these!” Tallutha accused. She exposed the swords from the velvet where they lay at
Arthlyn’s feet. The other council
members looked at them nervously.
“I told
you,” Sam tried to keep his voice
even “it’s a dangerous world out
there.”
“Dangerous
to the point where you have to use these even against your own ‘friend’?”
“What?”
“We saw
you two trying to kill one another.”
“We were
just having fun.”
“Fun?!” Tallutha snorted derisively. “What further proof do we need of your
violent nature?! Fighting for the sheer
pleasure of it, how typically male!”
Ithican
could almost feel Sam’s temper snap.
Facing Sam he stepped between the pair to hold his friend back. Sam growled, but he didn’t attempt to move
Ithican out of his way.
“Sam, if
we are going to be considered guilty until proven innocent, this is the last
thing we need. Calm down.”
“Your
friend seems to have a bit more sense than you, not that that’s saying
much.” Tallutha sneered.
“How are
we supposed to prove anything to these crazy Chicks, Ith?”
“You’d
better think of a way fast.” Tallutha
said coolly. “You don’t have much
time.”
“Time?” Sam asked.
“Time until what?”
“Until
the Yaritine takes affect.”
Both
Ithican and Arthlyn gasped. Sam saw the
sudden fear that flashed over his friend, but he didn’t understand it.
“Tallutha!” Arthlyn cried shocked. “You didn’t!”
“I did
what I had to.” Tallutha said
proudly. “It was in the wine.”
“Wine?” Sam asked.
“Ith, what is going on? What is
Yaritine?”
“It’s a
poison.” Ithican explained. “A slow acting one, takes three to four days
to work.”
“Work?”
“Kill.” Ithican clarified.
“That’s
right,” Tallutha smiled cruelly “you’ve got until then to convince me that
you are worthy of an antidote.”
“Worthy?!” Sam spat.
He made a move towards Tallutha, but Ithican stopped him.
“You’ve
made a terrible mistake.” Ithican
hissed at Tallutha.
“I’m sure
you think so.”
“No, you
don’t understand, you’re going to lose more than an enemy.” Ithican paused.
“What do
you mean by that?”
“I never
drink alcohol...”
“There
was none left in your room.” Tallutha
said with a hint of fear. She had lied
when she said had a reversal for the Yaritine.
“That’s
because Chastity drank it.”
“What?!” Arthlyn jumped up out of her chair. “How?!”
“She’s
been visiting me, she didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Who’s
Chastity?” Sam asked.
“My
daughter!” Arthlyn cried stricken.
************
“We have
to let him go!” Arthlyn demanded
firmly.
“No!” Tallutha countered stubbornly. Arthlyn was Mistress, but she could do
little against the Council -who always favored Tallutha. “How do we know that he won’t bring back
enough friends to slaughter us all?”
“I only
have one friend, and he’s dying thanks to you.” Ithican pointed out. “And
if you don’t let me go retrieve the Yaritine antidote Arthlyn’s daughter is
going to die with him.”
“You
think I don’t know that?!” Tallutha
snarled. “She my daughter as well!”
“All the
more reason to help me!”
“How can
she be both of yours daughter?” Sam
asked out of curiosity. To Ithican he
seemed surprisingly unperturbed by the idea of being poisoned.
“She
isn’t going to belong to anyone soon.”
Ithican growled. He pulled his
hands through his hair for about the tenth time since they’d started this
unnecessary arguing. “The longer you
keep me here the less chance I have of succeeding.”
“Please,
Tallutha,” Arthlyn didn’t even attempt
to brush away her tears “we have to
trust him.”
Tallutha
glared at everyone in turn. She thought
about her options and sighed. “All
right.”
“Thank
you.” Ithican said relieved.
“But I’m
coming with you.” Tallutha added.
“You
haven’t been to the Upper World in ten years.”
Arthlyn said concerned.
“I’m going.”
“That’s
fi...” Ithican started.
Sam
interrupted Ithican with a quick nudge.
Sam lowered his voice to point where he could hardly hear himself. It was a trick he used when he wanted to
talk to Ithican in mixed company. No
one other than the keen eared Elf could possibly hear what he had to say.
“Ithican,
I don’t trust her, for obvious reasons.
Their intentions are clear, and they don’t fight fair. I want you leave here alone, and I don’t
want you coming back.”
“Come on,
Tallutha, let’s go.” Ithican said
ignoring Sam. “I could probably use
your help getting back here anyway.”
“Didn’t
you hear me?” Sam growled almost
silently.
“I heard
you,” Ithican smiled “I’m just not listening.”
“You
still haven’t any respect for your elders.”
Sam said out loud, laughing.
“You’ve
still got four days before you are officially an ‘elder’.”
“Very
funny.” Sam admitted. “One hundred isn’t that old.”
“You’re
the one who brought it up.”
Arthlyn
dismissed the men’s disjointed conversation.
She awkwardly picked up one of the swords at random and handed it to
Ithican. Ithican hesitated for a
second, but he took the weapon and secured it in his sword belt.
“What are
you doing, Arthlyn?” Tallutha hissed.
“It’s a
dangerous world out there.” Arthlyn
explained. “Besides, he will keep you
safe if he wants his friend to live.”
“We’ll
see about that.” Tallutha said
darkly. “None of this would have
happened if yo...”
“Well it
has happened!” Arthlyn snapped. “And you had better fix it!”
“We
really should be leaving.” Ithican
interrupted what he feared was going to turn into yet another longwinded
argument.
Tallutha
growled. She given one of her followers
a wordless signal to fetch their supplies when she’d made the decision to
go. Tallutha snatch her things from the
woman and stalked off. Ithican
graciously accepted his own items from the shy Nymph. He secured the cloak around his neck and went to catch up with
Tallutha. Ithican stopped suddenly and
turned around.
“Sam,
don’t do anything I wouldn’t do while I’m away.”
“That’s a
pretty long list, but I’ll try.”
“I guess
that’s the best I can ask for. I’ll be
back in time for your birthday.”
Ithican forced a smile and dashed off once more in pursuit of Tallutha.
“...if I
live that long.”
***********
Tallutha
started awake violently. The trees of
the forest loomed menacingly above her and beyond them stretched the vast
emptiness of the sky. Tallutha shivered
at the thought of all that free space.
She sat up and looked around. It
was just after dawn, which gave the sky an unsettling reddish cast.
Ithican
was sitting about fifteen feet away.
His eyes were closed, but he wasn’t sleeping. Tallutha wondered for a moment if he had slept at all. He had sat down in that exact spot the night
before, and apparently hadn’t moved since.
When he finally did move Tallutha tensed and watched as he raked his
hands through his unusually coloured hair.
“Would
you stop that?” Tallutha demanded irritably.
Ithican
snapped his eyes open and looked at Tallutha blankly. “Stop what?”
“Playing
with your hair like that.”
“Sorry,
it’s just a nervous habit.”
“Yeah
well, it’s driving me crazy.” Tallutha
knew she was being irrational, but she didn’t care.
When
Ithican got up and walked towards her Tallutha scrambled to her feet and backed
against a tree. Ignoring the Nymph he
went over to where he’d left his pack the night before. After a moments search Ithican found a short
length of leather cord. He used the
strap to tie his hair back to keep himself from messing with it.
“Better?” He asked honestly.
Tallutha
just narrowed her cold blue eyes.
“Look, I
don’t like this anymore than you do, Tallutha.” Ithican said exasperated.
He took a step closer.
“Stay
away from me, Male.” Tallutha snarled.
“’Ithican’,
for the hundredth time: my name is Ithican.
And for the thousandth time: I’m not going to hurt you. If I wanted to kill you I would have done so
by now! ”
“I’d have
cut your stomach open if you’d tried!”
Tallutha brandished the small dagger she always kept at the ready.
Ithican
made a noise of pure frustration. If he
hadn’t tied his hair back he’d would have pulled some of it out at this
point. Tallutha was getting harder and
harder to deal with. He took a deep
breath.
“We don’t
have time for this.” Ithican tried to
bring the conversation back to neutral ground.
“If we’re going to save Chastity and Sam we’re going to have to work
together, agreed?”
“Agreed.” Tallutha said grudgingly.
“Okay,
that’s a start.” Ithican looked
around. “Myris Root is not easy to
find, I’m not even sure that it grows arou...”
“Myris
Root?”
Ithican
paused, he usually considered himself pretty even tempered but he was having
trouble with that now. “You haven’t
heard of Myris?”
“No.” Tallutha flushed at the accusation in
Ithican’s tone.
“I
see.” Ithican said slowly. “So I take it that you haven’t been leading
us towards a source of it.”
“I’ve
been following you.” Tallutha shifted
her weight nervously. “Why?”
“’Why’?” Ithican repeated incredulously. “Because it’s the only thing strong enough
to counter act Yaritine. But you don’t
know that, do you? Because you had no
intention of giving us a chance from the start! You jus...” Ithican
forcibly stopped himself. “It doesn’t
matter now. Myris Root is hard to find
because the only part of the plant above ground is a small pinkish flower that
only opens during the day, so it can’t be found at night. If you want your daughter to live you’ll
help me find it by nightfall.”
With that
Ithican gathered up what little he owned and headed off in a random direction,
keeping a close watch on the ground.
Tallutha stood motionless. It
wasn’t until this moment that she realized that the men had been telling the
truth: they didn’t know where they were.
She had assumed that Ithican had known where he was going.
“Do you
think we’ll find it in time?” Tallutha
asked hesitantly.
“At this
rate? No.”
***********
Arthlyn
couldn’t sleep. She got out of bed and
slipped into a white silk robe. Walking
over to the other bed in the room she brushed at Chastity’s long hair
affectionately. Usually Tallutha slept
where the ailing Chastity now lay.
It hadn’t
always been that way. There had been a
time when the room had held only one bed and they’d shared it happily. As tradition stated the Mistress and the
Captain Gather were always partners.
Before her last trip to the Upper World Tallutha had been more than
happy with the arrangement, and so had Arthlyn. However, Tallutha had come back changed.
Arthlyn
was pulled out of her reverie as Chastity tossed restlessly. She put her hand against the young Nymph’s forehead
and fancied that it felt unusually warm, however she convinced herself that it
was her own hand that was uncharacteristically chilled.
Chastity
struggled as if she was trying to wake.
The Magi had seen to it that she would be locked in sleep until Tallutha
returned to try and help slow the poison.
Arthlyn had offered Sam the same treatment, but he had, not
surprisingly, refused any aid.
Finding
herself suddenly worrying about Sam Arthlyn left Chastity and made her way down
the hall to see how he was doing. When
she came to his door she saw that despite the late hour the lights were still
on. She knocked softly, but got no
response. Alarmed she invited herself
inside.
Sam was
not in the room, however, it didn’t take Arthlyn more than a second to figure
out where he was. Through the closed
bathroom door she could hear him retching violently. Arthlyn’s own stomach knotted in sympathy.
Eventually
Arthlyn heard Sam washing his face in the sink. Knowing that he’d be coming into the room soon she turned to
leave. However, she swallowed her fear
and stood her ground. Sam came out with
his face buried in a white towel which he rubbed up into his soaked hair,
making it curlier than it usually was.
“Hello,
Sam.” Arthlyn greeted, not wanting to
startle him.
It didn’t
work. Not expecting the company he
jumped at the sound of the Nymph’s voice.
Sam welded his eyes shut and swallowed convulsively to keep from going
into another fit of dry heaving. When
he had himself under control again he glared at Arthlyn angrily.
“Come to
watch me die?” Sam snarled.
“No,
I...”
“Then go
away.”
“I want
to help.”
“You’ve
done quite enough already, thank you.”
Sam said sarcastically. He
coughed against the back of his hand, spattering it with blood. He looked at it with annoyance more than
anything else.
“If you
would only let us put you to sleep like Chastity...”
“For
better or worse, if these are to be my last days I want to experience
them.” Sam rubbed the blood off his
hand with the towel and then dropped it.
“Is there
any...”
“The only
thing you can do for me is to leave me alone!”
Arthlyn’s
eyes brightened with near shed tears.
The past ten years had been stressful enough with Tallutha being so
distant, but now with the coming of these strangers, and Chastity dying, and
Tallutha gone again...it was getting to be too much.
“Wait,
don’t do that.” Sam said in alarm when
he saw her drawing dangerously close to tears. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, it’s just I’m worried about
Ithican.”
“Ithican?” Arthlyn repeated a touch surprised. “You’re the one who’s dying.”
“Yeah,
but I’m not the one alone in the woods with Tallutha.” Sam replied with a weak smile.
“Tallutha’s
taking a great risk by going out there.”
Arthlyn said defensively.
“Ithican could easily...could...”
She didn’t know exactly how to end her sentence, but she found she
didn’t have to.
“No,
you’re wrong.” Sam shook his head and
instantly regretted doing so. Not sure
how much longer he’d be able to stand he sat on the edge of the bed with one
hand pressed against his stomach.
“Ithican won’t touch her, in fact I’m confidant that he’ll protect her
with his life if that’s what it takes.”
“How can
you be so sure?”
“He has
an, at times infuriating, habit of putting everyone else’s life above his
own. When you travel with someone for
three years you get to know these things.”
“Three
years? Don’t you have homes in the
Upper World?”
“Not
really.”
“How
bizarre.”
“I didn’t
mean that no one has them.” Sam
corrected. “It’s just that Ithican and
I don’t, not anymore anyway.”
“What
happened?” Arthlyn asked, her fear
giving way to curiosity.
“Ithican’s
story is his own, I have no right to share it with you.”
“What
about you?”
“No big
secrets there.” Sam shrugged. “After nearly fifty year of taking care of
an increasingly insane mother, in a town that had betrayed my father, and
despised me, I did the sensible thing and left.”
“Left? What about your mother?” Arthlyn asked appalled.
“She’s
dead. After my father was killed my
responsibility to her was the only thing that kept me in that miserable
town.” Sam pressed his hand harder
against his stomach to try and quell its rebellion. “Why are we talking about this?
It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m
sorry, I’m just curious.”
“Yeah,
well remember what happened to that cat.”
Sam said darkly.
Arthlyn
gave him a confused looked.
“You
know: curiosity ki...nevermind.” Sam
decided against explaining, he didn’t have the energy for it. He laid down on the bed he’d been sitting on,
hoping that the Mistress would take the hint and go away.
Arthlyn
watched Sam anxiously for a moment. He
wrapped both arms over his stomach as his already irregular breathing
quickened. Arthlyn’s own heart started
to race. He was obviously in pain, but
she didn’t know what to do.
“I’m
sorry about all this, but Tallutha was only doing what she thought was
right.” Arthlyn tried to explain to
alleviate her guilt.
Sam
chuckled to himself, causing Arthlyn to flush in anger and embarrassment. The mirthful noise quickly degraded into
coughing. He sat back up and tried to
bring his breathing back under his control.
“What’s
so funny?!” She demanded, ignoring Sam
discomfort. “Tallutha only wanted to
protect us!”
“You’re
so naive,” Sam growled, struggling for
breath “she wasn’t trying to protect
anyone, if she had she would have let us leave yesterday morning.”
“We
explained that,” Arthlyn said
defensively “we couldn’t risk tell
anyone where we are.”
“But she
thought she’d poisoned us both.” Sam
swallowed against the bile at the back of his throat. “Your secrete would have died in the woods with us.”
“Then
why...” Arthlyn trailed off.
Arthlyn
stared at the Sam in horror as the realization of Tallutha’s motives struck
her. His sky-blue eyes had clouded over
with pain. He was quickly losing the
fight to hide the damage the Yaritine was doing. A sudden jab of nausea forced Sam into another fit of dry
heaves. Arthlyn’s heart jumped at the
display of suffering.
“Tallutha
wanted to watch this...” Arthlyn
whispered.
**********
Two of
the three moons looked down at Tallutha with a cold indifferent stare. In the past she had been more comfortable at
night than during the day when she was visiting the Upper World. The darkness helped close in open space
around her. Now however the night only
mocked her.
They had
searched without rest all day through the thick forest. They hadn’t come across so much as a trace
of the Myris Root. They were running
out of time, but the diurnal nature of the plant forced them to wait till morning
to continue the hunt. Trying to
distract herself Tallutha played with her ring, absent mindedly twisting it
around and around.
Catching
herself performing the nervous ritual from her childhood Tallutha looked up and
found Ithican guilty of a similar crime.
His onyx and pearl hair had long since freed itself from the leather
binding. Ithican muttered something to
himself and pushed his hair out of his eyes once more.
“Why do
you wear that there?” Tallutha asked
suddenly.
“What?”
“That ring,
around your neck. I hadn’t noticed it
before.” Tallutha got up and moved over
to where Ithican was sitting.
“It’s
nothing.”
Tallutha
reached out to take the ring to get a better look at it. Ithican pulled away sharply.
“I’m not
going to hurt you.” Tallutha said the
words before she even thought about them.
“Why
should I believe you?” Ithican snarled.
He tucked the necklace into his shirt.
“Your own daughter is dying at your hand right now.”
“That was
a mistake!”
“Exactly! You’ve already tried to kill me once.”
“I was
trying to save my people!”
“No, you
were trying to make Sam and I to pay for someone else’s crimes! Don’t think that I don’t know what happened
to you. It’s obvious, and I’m sorry it
happened, but we had nothing to do with it!”
“You have
no idea what I’ve been through! I
couldn’t take the risk of putting the rest of the Nymphs in that kind of
danger!”
“Then you
could have at least had the common decency to use something quick. There is no excuse for the sheer cruelty of
your actions. No one deserves to die at
the hands of Yaritine, Chastity least of all!”
The ice
in Tallutha’s eyes melted into tears.
She scrambled to her feet and dashed off into the dark forest. Ithican swore to himself and took
chase. He knew how to make his own way
back to the Nymph cave, but he certainly would not be welcome if he came back
alone.
Tallutha
was quick, but she didn’t go very far.
Ithican found her sitting at the base of a large moss covered
boulder. She looked just as miserable
as he felt. She had seemed so calm and
so distant that it had been easy for him to forget that they were both losing
someone, and in her case she had to deal with guilt as well as grief.
“I’m
sorry Tallutha, I...”
“No,” Tallutha replied trying to dry her
tears “you’re right. There’s no excuse.”
“Let’s
try not to worry about that now. We
still have some time, if we can find the Myris by midday tomorrow we can make
it back in time.”
“We have
to, we have to make it in time. I...I
can’t bare to lose another child.”
“Another?”
“Chastity
was my first, but not my only. Although
I suppose I have no real right to call her ‘mine’.” Tallutha sighed. “The
term ‘Nymph’ is more of a lifestyle, than anything else. Every few decades we must come to the Upper
World to add to our population.”
“You must
have taken Chastity when she was very young.”
“They are
all taken young enough to be raised in innocents.”
“You mean
in ignorance.”
“We
rescue them!” Tallutha said
defensively.
“There is
a dif...” Ithican started to reply
before catching himself -no sense in starting another fight.
“I will
admit that Chastity isn’t of Arthlyn’s or my blood, but we love her as though
she was.” Tears spilt down Tallutha’s
cheeks once more. “The child that I
lost was different. Ten years ago I
went on a Gathering to bring another into the Nymph fold. Only someone found me first...”
“I
understand what happened, you don’t have to explain.”
“Thank
you.” Tallutha whispered. “I could have gotten over it, if it had
ended there. But it didn’t. I got sick, terribly sick and then I started
gaining weight.”
“You
weren’t sick, you were pregnant.”
“I slowly
figured that out, and I considered it worse than any disease. Terrified that the others would figure out
what had happened I left to have the child alone. After...”
Tallutha
feel silent and then broke down into tears that shook her delicate frame. Ithican knelt down in front of her and
hesitantly brushed at her midnight hair.
Forgetting her fear she sought comfort in his presence. Ithican found Tallutha in his arms crying
against his chest before he had time to react.
He instinctively held her closer and rocked gently trying to calm to
hysterical Nymph.
“It’s all
right.” Ithican whispered.
“No, it
isn’t.” Tallutha cried. “I’ve been so quick to judge, when I’m the
only guilty one.”
“For what
it’s worth I understand why you fear us so much, and I can forgive you for
that.”
“You
can’t forgive me for what I’ve done!”
Tallutha snarled. “I’m a murder,
I’m everything the Nymphs have tried to escape from!”
“You
haven’t murdered anyone yet, we can still save them.”
“You
can’t save my son!”
“Son?”
“The
child I carried was male, and I abandoned him in the woods to die because of
it.”
************
“How’s
Chastity doing?”
“Better
than you.”
“That’s
not saying much.” Sam joked with a weak
smile.
Arthlyn
looked down at Sam who was sitting on the floor with his back against the
smooth stone wall. He had long since
given up on trying to keep the sweat off his skin and his medium length hair
hung in heavy wet locks. He had taken
off his belt for some reason and it lay on the floor next to him.
“You
should be in bed.” Arthlyn chastised.
“If I lay
down I’ll just fall asleep.”
“And
that’s a bad thing?”
“It is
when you don’t think you’ll wake up.”
Arthlyn
didn’t know what to say at first. She
had come to see him for a reason, but now that she was here she didn’t know how
to broach the subject. Any hope she had
of coming up with a graceful shift in the conversation was interrupted by Sam
suddenly gasping sharply.
“What’s
wrong?” Arthlyn asked automatically.
“You
should leave.” Sam panted.
“I...I
wanted to talk to you.”
“Not
now.” Sam growled. He wrapped his arms over his stomach and
leaned forward. “Go away!”
Ignoring
the request Arthlyn reached down and gently put her hand on his shoulder. Sam jerked away from the contact. He flashed her a brief look of annoyance as
he started to tremble. Unable to wait
any longer for Arthlyn to leave he snatched up the leather belt and bit down on
it.
Arthlyn
could almost feel the intensity of Sam’s fit rise herself. His muscles tensed to the point where she
could clearly see the definition of each one as the tendons pulled them tight
against the skin. An uncontrollable
shiver ran down Arthlyn’s spine when Sam finally cried out, a deep growling
sound muffled by the belt he still chewed on.
Arthlyn broke into tears and sat down on the stone floor.
“I asked
you to leave,” Sam whispered after the
tide had subsided “I warned you.”
“I
know.” Arthlyn replied, brushing away
her tears. “Are you all right now?”
“For the
moment.”
“Things
are such a mess,” Arthlyn
whimpered. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Just
promise me that you’ll let Ithican go when he comes back.”
“You
think that we wouldn’t?” Arthlyn asked
indignantly.
“No one
ever told us that we’d gain our freedom by saving Chastity. I have the feeling that Tallutha went with
Ithican to make sure that he’d come back, if so she’s not going to just let him
walk away from here.”
“Don’t
worry about Tallutha.” Arthlyn said
coldly.
“It’s
hard not to.”
“I know
and I will never forgive her for what has happened. It is obvious that you and your friend are not the violent,
unthinking creatures that she accused you of being. That’s what I came here to tell you, I wanted you to know that
she is not going to be welcome back.”
“What are
you talking about?”
“I’m
exiling Tallutha.” Arthlyn stated
firmly. “As Mistress and her partner it
is my right, the Council can not refuse me.
And if Chastity dies they won’t even try.”
Sam
studied Arthlyn for a moment. Her tear
reddened eyes gleamed with resolve.
Leaning back against the cool wall Sam closed his eyes and sighed
heavily. He muttered something to
himself that Arthlyn couldn’t understand then trained his blue eyes on her once
more.
“Don’t do
that.”
“What?” Arthlyn asked surprised. “Why not?”
“Do you
know how she got that scar?”
“No, she
won’t talk about it. All I know is that
it happened in the Upper World.”
“Well, I
think I have a pretty good idea of what happened. It doesn’t justify what she’s done, but it does explain it.” Sam shook his head, unable to believe that
he was saying this. “In the end I can’t
blame her.”
“Can’t
blame her? She tried to kill you!”
“And she
might still succeed, but that’s not the point.
The point is that if the Nymphs had brought almost any other male here
they would have been in big trouble, and Tallutha would have been in the
right. You’ve just happened to have
pulled this trick on Ithican and I. We
are the exception to just about every rule...actually I take that back: Ithican
is the exception.”
“I don’t
know what you mean by that.”
“Three
years ago I found my conscience, picked him up out of the snow actually. Looking back on it I’m not even sure why I
did it.” Sam mused to himself. “I guess I just don’t like seeing someone
out numbered in a fight...”
“Sam,
you’re rambling.” Arthlyn said with
concern. “I’m getting the Magi.”
“No,
wait, I have a point. All I’m saying is
that if you had stumbled across me three years ago things would have turned out
a lot differently. I certainly would
never force myself on anyone, however, you have a lot of curious young ladies
here. I’m sure I would have persuaded
the innocents away from more than one, and that’s exactly what Tallutha fears.”
“I don’t
understand.”
“That’s
why it would have been so easy.” Sam
smiled. “I’m not about to explain it to
you, all you really need to know is that Tallutha isn’t as ‘evil’ as you may
think. She may have been a bit too
hungry for revenge, but at the same time she has excellent reason for it, men
can be very dangerous.”
“You
realize that you are practically admitting guilt to save her.”
“I
understand that.”
“I would
think that you’d want her punished, that’s why I wanted to tell you. Why are you defending her?”
“Because
I told Ithican that I wouldn’t do anything he wouldn’t do while he was
away. And he’s the last person I know
who would stand by and let someone be exiled for doing something that they thought
was right.”
**************
Ithican
woke gently without opening his eyes. A
near intoxicating sent filled his senses, a mellow sweet smell that all women
seem to share. He automatically pulled
the delicate creature spooned up against him closer. Lazily opening half awake eyes all he could see was her black
hair, shining in the light of the new dawn.
Nuzzling at her neck Ithican pushed her hair away from her ivory
skin. He gently bit the exposed area to
wake her, as he had done for forty-seven years.
Tallutha’s
sudden cry of panic violently assaulted Ithican’s sensitive hearing. Although instantly jolted awake it still
took him a moment to figure out his mistake.
Tallutha had cried herself to exhaustion last night and they had fallen
asleep together. Somehow this morning
Ithican had found it so easy to dismiss the last three years of his life as a
bad dream.
However,
this was not Llandra, and she did not appreciate the affection. Tallutha jabbed Ithican in the ribs to free herself. She sprang to her feet and darted off in a
random direction. Ithican was up just
as quickly and easily out paced her.
When he grabbed one of her wrists to stop her she whipped around with a
speed that he didn’t think Humans capable of and slapped him savagely.
“I
deserved that.” Ithican admitted after
seizing her other wrist as well.
Tallutha
struggled for a second and then screamed at the top of her lungs. Ithican cringed at the painfully loud
protest.
“Stop
that!” He insisted. “Please, let me explain. Before you ruin my hearing.”
“There is
nothing you can say!” Tallutha cried
angrily. “I knew it would come to
this!”
“No, no
wait, I simply made a mistake. Remember
when I told you the ring on my necklace didn’t mean anything? I lied, it means everything to me, it’s a
wedding band. It’s been over three
years since my wife died and I still wake up every morning expecting to find
her next to me. I’m sorry, I didn’t
mean any harm.”
Ithican
kept Tallutha captive while she thought about what he’d said. Tears still slipped down her cheeks, but she
started to calm down. Ithican was about
to release the Nymph when her eyes widened in obvious terror.
“Let her
go.” A deep voice demanded.
Ithican
cursed under his breath as a sword point pressed against his back. The affects of Tallutha’s screaming still
rang in his ears and he hadn’t heard the new comer approaching. Tallutha started to tremble and fought
against his grip weakly.
“Let her
go, now!”
“Tallutha,” Ithican said quietly “I’m going to let you go, but please don’t
run.”
Ithican
wasn’t sure if it was Tallutha’s courage or fear that kept her from running
away instantly. Whatever it was, it
didn’t last long. Keeping her eyes on
the stranger she took three steps back and then she turned and fled. Ithican sighed.
“Don’t
move, scum!”
“This
isn’t what you think.” Ithican tried to
explain.
“It’s
exactly what I think it is: a woman screaming bloody murder at the hands of an
Elf.”
Ithican
grit his teeth in frustration. “I
wasn’t goi...”
“Enough!” The newcomer spat. “If you are interested in a clean death I’d turn around if I were
you. Otherwise...”
It was
obvious that the stranger had never fought with an Elf before. Anyone with any experience would never give
one an inch of leeway. Ithican snapped
around and kicked what turned out to be a young Human in the chest. The man staggered back a few feet, but
managed to keep his balance.
“If
you’ll just hear me out...” Ithican had
hoped that knocking the wind out of the stranger would make him think twice
about fighting him.
“I’m not
going to let you live to hurt her!”
The young
man came at Ithican once more.
Reluctant to draw his sword and start a true fight to the death Ithican
simply dodged the attack. He managed to
back away from a few more swings.
However the Human had some skill with a weapon and eventually forced Ithican
to defend himself with steel.
Drawing
the sword Arthlyn had given to him Ithican had planned to simply maneuver his
opponent into a bloodless surrender.
However, he quickly remembered that when Arthlyn had handed him a
weapon, it hadn’t been his own. He
hadn’t thought it mattered much at the time, but now he found that Sam’s blade
was quite a bit heavier than one he’d been practicing with.
It was
too late for him to try and get at his Tarrin, he was already committed to
using the sword. He was skilled enough
to use it to defend himself with it, but when he used it to get under the
Human’s guard the unexpected weight of Sam’s weapon pulled him too far forward
and he drove the point deep into the young man’s shoulder.
The Human
cried out in pain and pressed his free hand against the wound. Ithican hadn’t been trying to draw blood, he
had just wanted to get the Human into a position where he’d have to listen to
reason. He had made mistakes like this
in the Tarrin Games before, and accidentally wounded opponents. Swordplay is a game of inches, and fighting
with an unfamiliar weapon almost always leads to mistakes.
Ignoring
the last thing Sam had tried to teach him Ithican instinctively stepped forward
to help the injured man. In the Games
it had always been considered good sportsmanship to forfeit any Tarrin Duel
that came to blood.
The
Human, understandably, did not think this was a Game. When Ithican came closer the man swung violently at him. Ithican jerked back to avoid the sharp
blade. Seeing that the Elf was off
balance the Human used the hilt of his sword to knock Ithican to the ground.
Ithican
landed on his back hard. Knowing that
he wouldn’t have time to recover he braced himself for the strike. When he survived the next few moments he
looked up and found that something else had captured the young man’s
attention. Not questioning it Ithican
used his legs to bring the Human down to the dirt as well.
Jumping
up Ithican pinned the shocked man to the ground and backhanded him across the temple hard enough to knock him
out. Ithican held still for a moment to
make sure the fight was over. Getting
off the unconscious man he sat next to him and breathed a sigh of relief. When Ithican looked up he found himself
momentarily spellbound by the same distraction that had saved his life.
Tallutha
was standing ten feet away wearing nothing more than a delicate silver
necklace. A lifetime of living
underground made her skin look like pure white marble -a living statue of
beauty. When she saw that her trick had
worked and that it was now Ithican who was staring at her she blushed
furiously.
“I...I
didn’t know what else to do.” Tallutha
stuttered.
“It
worked perfectly, thank you.”
Ithican
looked away and turned his attention to the Human. Tallutha gathered up her dress.
She put it back on and watched as Ithican ripped open the stranger’s
shirt. She gasped at the sight of the
bright blood that seeped from his shoulder.
Ithican pressed his hand against the wound.
“In my
pack is a glass bottle with some oil and leaves in it, please bring it over
here.” Ithican instructed.
Tallutha
hesitated for a moment, but then fetched the bottle. It had about a dozen long leaves in it that were soaking in an
amber liquid.
“I need
one of the leaves.”
Tallutha
opened the bottle and wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell. She fished one of the thick leaves out of
the oil. She handed it to Ithican, who
took it with a blood soaked hand. He
rubbed the leaf between his palms till the white sap inside the leaf and the
oil had mixed into a sticky paste. He
pressed the mixture against the Human’s injured shoulder and held it there.
“What are
you doing?” Tallutha finally asked.
“Stopping
the bleeding, the oil will help prevent infection as well. I didn’t mean to cut him so deeply.”
“You
weren’t trying to kill him?”
“No.”
“Why
not? He would have killed you.”
“He was
just trying to protect you.”
“Protect
me? From who?”
“From
me.”
Tallutha
didn’t know how to respond so she just watched silently as Ithican ripped
strips out of the man’s shirt and used them to bandage the wound that he had
inflicted. The sap and oil worked
quickly and the bleeding had already stopped.
Although he had lost a lot of blood in a short period of time. Tallutha got the feeling that he would have
died if Ithican hadn’t helped him.
“Are you
a Magi?” Tallutha asked.
“Sort
of.” Ithican replied vaguely.
“’Sort
of’?”
“I never
finished my apprenticeship.” Ithican
tied off the makeshift bandage.
“Why
not?”
“That’s a
story I’d rather not tell.” Ithican
looked up to see how far the sun had made it into the sky. “He’ll dehydrate if we leave him here.”
Ithican
gathered the Human up as gently as he could.
Tallutha watched him carry the man over into the shade of one of the
many large rock outcroppings. Looking
at the position of the sun herself she realized that he was wasting daylight
helping a stranger while his friend ran out of time. Ashamed of all the trouble she’d caused she bowed her head and
stared down at the dirt where the man had been laying. Something caught her eye, she bent down and
picked it up.
“Ithican,
what’s this?”
“You know
that is the first time you’ve used my na...”
Ithican
stopped cold when Tallutha held up a small pink flower of the Myris Root.
************
Sam
groaned and swallowed against a disgustingly bitter taste. He experimentally opened his eyes and stared
up at the stone ceiling. He was briefly
annoyed by the fact that he wasn’t dead yet.
He realized that he must have some how taken Arthlyn’s advice because he
found himself in bed. Sam tried to sit
up but someone quickly stopped him.
“Good morning,
Sunshine.”
“That’s
my line.” Sam replied looking over at
Ithican with a weak smile.
“How are
you feeling?”
“Awful.”
“Well, I
guess we can’t expect you to bounce back instantly. It will probably be a month or two before you’re truly healed. Arthlyn’s going to let us stay here till
then.”
“Where’s
Tallutha?” Sam asked, suddenly
remembering. “Arthly...” Sam had tried to sit up again and Ithican
had easily forced him back down.
“It’s all
right, Tallutha’s fine. Arthlyn told me
what happened. It was very forgiving of
you to help her like that.”
“I
wouldn’t wish exile on my worst enemy, it’s a terrible fate.”
“It has
it’s ups and downs.” Ithican admited
with a smile.
Sam
laughed. Arthlyn stepped into the room,
surprised to find the pair in high spirits.
“Hello,
Arthlyn.” Sam greeted. “How’s Chastity?”
“She’s
going to be just fine.” Arthlyn
blushed. “So is Tallutha, she’s almost
back to the woman I used to know.”
“I think
I’d like to keep my innocence on what you mean by that.” Sam laughed.
Arthlyn
blushed even harder.
“Arthlyn,
why don’t you go see if you can find something for Sam to eat?” Ithican asked coming to the Nymph’s
rescue.
“All
right.”
“Actually,
I’d rather just get some more sleep.”
Sam intervened.
“That’s
fine too.” Ithican conceded and went to
leave with Arthlyn. He stopped in the
doorway and turned around.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Happy
Birthday.”
****************