WARNING!! -- this is old, and while recently updated with minor edits and the last of the chapters i never put up back in the day, it shall never be updated...enjoy it anyways!
...since a lot of you seem to keep doing so o-o ...
- Created By itsumademo
Chapter Twelve
The Catalyst
Chapter Twelve
“Jade…Jade…” My name continued to echo back at me while the world rocked and shook lightly. With subtle movements, my eyes eventually were open and wide.
I jerked straight up and looked around. Somehow I was on Orion’s back and in front of him the Immortal walked swiftly with reins in hand.
“I was so positive I had just been holding Orion’s reins and walking…I was just walking…” I held my finger to my lip, which I had already begun to chew on gently.
“You fell asleep while walking and nearly ran into a tree. I thought it best to allow you some peace after your prior ordeal.”
“Prior ordeal?” I blinked several times, trying to come up with something that could in anyway be considered an “ordeal.” Ehh, at least as of today…or yesterday.
“Yes, after falling from a forty foot tree trying to appease the appetite of this horse.”
I distinctly noticed his irate emphasis on the word horse, but chose to dwell on that later, as the more pressing matter of how he always seemed to know everything was yet again becoming problematic.
“How did you know about that?”
“When you have lived as long as I, you find information is far easier to acquire.”
I dropped my brow into a firm line, my arms crossed loosely against my chest. “You’re completely bypassing my question…” I leaned forward, an earnest expression on my face, “please, just answer me straight for once.”
His pace faltered for a split second, which I hardly would have noticed had I not been so intent on his graceful figure. I quickly deleted my mind’s content and went back to pursuing my original point. “So?”
He released a cursory sigh, “I had the pleasure of having Caleb literally trip into camp…though I must admit I was the one who tripped him.” A, rather strange to see, wry grin appeared at the corner of his half hidden mouth.
“Why?”
“He seemed to be stalking the area, so I merely took the opportunity.”
I could still hear the odd little smirk in his generally smooth, calm voice and while I would normally find his recent behavior childish, a part of me really wished I could have seen Caleb fall flat on his face.
While casually pondering how Caleb may have appeared, I found myself slipping back into a weary sleep.
“Do not sleep again, please.”
Mildly startled to hear the Immortal’s voice so sudden and close; I carefully turned to my left and saw him walking slowly beside Orion, reign still in hand. His expressions had returned to normal, though as he glanced towards my direction, there was a little hint of something different…nervousness?.
“We shall be in town very shortly. It would not be prudent if you were to sleep again.”
He returned to the front of our small procession, a confused and curious quirk spread to my brow and lips.
“Um, so, uh…should I pull my hood up then?”
“Yes, though we will stop on the outskirts of the gate. I would prefer it if Orion stayed there, our combined presence will be enough of a surprise.”
“Wait...why?”
He remained silent and though I hadn’t been with him long, I was quickly learning that he was likely never to answer. I had prepared to slump in my seat when Orion abruptly stopped. Looking up I saw an almost canopy-like haven which led to a large opening, where a few shuffling people could be seen back in the distance.
“Is that the town?” The question escaped more like an anxious exhale.
The Immortal’s head bobbed gently in response and without pause he began walking towards the door-less threshold, leaving the worn reins on the dusty path we had come upon.
“Hey?” I nearly jabbed my ankle into Orion’s muscular side when he nickered lightly, alerting me to the Immortal’s outstretched hand supposedly meaning that I was meant to stay.
“Tie up the horse out of direct sight, then come and meet me.”
“But how will I find you?”
“I won’t be far in. You’ll see me, I assure you.”
His long fingers gripped the lengthy hood at his back, swiftly maneuvering his hair beneath the fabric and the scooped opening came to rest elegantly atop his head. That unnervingly inhuman way of his to do…well, anything was certainly hard to not gawk at like an utter moron.
I slipped off Orion’s back, rather nicely I thought, though I could see a mocking glimmer in his eye that may have told differently. Yanking somewhat vengefully on the reins, in order to tug at his bridle, I started to pull him over to a berry and grass strewn flock of brush so that he could at least avoid the undoubtedly festering temptations of taunting others while we were away.
“I wonder if there are vampires in this world. The Immortal sort of reminds me of…” I stopped mid-sentence while wrapping the leather straps around a large tree. Lightly scoffing I began to tie a very constricting knot. “I really have started to go crazy or something. Vampires don’t exist, they defy any possible logic! Then again…I haven’t seen the Immortal eat at all or actually sleep or bathe or drink…or…” I noticed outside my trailing verbal thought process that I had begun lightly stroking Orion’s head, from the tip of his soft ear to the strong bulging velvet cheeks at his muzzle. Oddly enough, he hadn’t bitten my hand or eaten my hair. His piercing blue eyes were in fact closed, and for a single fleeting moment, I believed that this absurd and obnoxious “horse” actually purred. Which I don't think is even possible.
I jerked back at the thought and action only to smack my head against the tall oak-like tree I had apparently been leaning against, the quite thoroughly tied knot in my free hand.
Sighing casually, I brushed off the ideas for later contemplation, as it was surely to invade my mind again. Pulling my hair over my shoulder I did my best to tuck it back behind the heavy cloak. It felt odd to have the equally heavy and smooth hood draped over my head, a bit of material drooping slightly over my forehead. Inwardly I wished I looked even a small portion as good as the Immortal did. However I knew it wasn’t so. The quickly brushing thought pushed against old wounds; I vehemently shook my head before taking a confident step forward.
“Ahhh, finally.” A smile danced on my face, my eyes pulling in a bit at the sun’s bright glare.
The area was actually rather bereft of people or anything really. It seemed to be one of those ignored edges of a town that only the lowest, creepiest, and most repugnant of citizens hung around. Out of the corner of my eye an old looking man stood with his long beard nearly touching the ground and a corny, eccentric grin beneath that hairy exterior. His fingers were all covered in what seemed to be thimbles and a rather large, pigeon-like bird was nesting on his haphazard scalp. Part of me wanted to go over and just stare at him for hours, but another was screaming ‘WARNING! WARNING! STRANGER DANGER!’ I managed to tear my eyes from the odd hobo creature and began to search for the Immortal’s deep blue cloak.
Not much further than a few yards from the opening I spotted his silken hair hanging along his back, apparently he took the opportunity to have his hood down in this shadow-ensconced area. Inhaling strongly, I headed to his side where I stopped and, with a sarcastic tone, spoke to him without even a glance towards his person. “Thanks ever so much for leaving me with a moron in the middle of nowhere; a nowhere I am stranger to.”
“I knew you would be fine.” His eyes also stayed away from my face. A part of me had wished he would acknowledge my existence along with his. I gently bit my lip when I saw an older man slowly step into my view. ‘My view’ being a mere six inches from my face.
His completely bald head and complexion was rather off-putting, considering he had to be well over 100 years old; I had never seen so many wrinkles on a human being before! It seemed unnatural.
I retracted from his uncomfortable stare and foul breath, though he managed to stay just as close somehow.
“Her eyes are odd.”
I blinked rapidly at his sudden statement.
The elderly man went back to his original place, in the shadow of the building we stood behind. Likely why I didn’t see him when I first came to the Immortal’s side.
“Her eyes are of little consequence. Is there anything that can be done?” The Immortal’s voice was soft but slightly urgent sounding. However, I had to admit I hadn’t the slightest idea what he was talking about.
“Perhaps, perhaps.” He stroked his narrow chin. “Let me see the wound.”
The Immortal abruptly grabbed my bandaged forearm and pulled up the sleeves, revealing the bloodied white dressing, now a bit frayed from my recent tree plunging activity. Gently but incredibly fast, the old man removed the wrappings, revealing a deep, bodily fluid dried gash from which purple, blue, and red spread out along my skin like a rabid disease seeking new prey. It looked far worse than the last time I saw it, and oddly I felt nothing to suggest it was any worse at all.
His large, bony fingers probed along my evidentially festering wound, while sudden nips and bites of pain would hit me, occasionally causing me to twitch in his hold. I could feel my face scrunch up at the sharp sensations.
The Immortal lightly squeezed my corresponding shoulder. I had momentarily been happy for the attempt at comfort until I saw the small man pull out a small, slender knife. I flinched back hastily but found myself met with the Immortal’s force of strength. My eyes followed as the blade made a careful incision into my discolored forearm, but from the wound, rather than crimson blood, a bubbly blue liquid seeped. Small burns began working their way through the ill flesh, the sharp bites of which sent my nerves in a frenzy beneath my skin. Writhing reflexively from the shock and pain, I jumped back, keeping my arm at a distance, and rammed into the Immortal who still kept me from running away.
“What the h-hell is happening!?” I inhaled sharply through my teeth as the pain started to subside.
Calming heat was flowing through my shoulders, which were held in the Immortal’s firm grasp. He must have been removing my pain all this time. I wanted to thank him, although I was a little more disturbed about why my arm seemed to no longer be an arm.
The thin man came out of the building’s shadow while cleaning his blade. “The poison is far more potent than I would have expected.” His stern brown eyes turned to my own, “you’re lucky you had two magic wielding Immortals with you, girl.”
My brain hardly registered his reference to me as ‘girl’, a title I would generally be rather peeved by, and instead my eyes vaguely gazed over the man, then turned to the ground, wrapped deep in thought. Before I had a chance to return to reality and voice anything, my arm was being re-bandaged with clean white dressings. Once the ends were tied, blue and red fluids had already begun to seep through the fabric. I had wanted to examine it myself but my sleeve was quickly pulled down for me.
I thrust a puzzled glare at the Immortal, but his attention was already with the elderly gentleman again. My ears were more curious than my eyes at the moment, so I also came back to the grouping.
“I can have the mage prepared by late this evening, after the festival has begun. We needn’t attract any extra attention towards you two. Although…” he paused briefly, “there is a chance you’ll be far less recognized seeing as a few years back a new tradition was initiated.”
“And what’s that?” My voice flowed out on its own.
“Ah, wearing blackened hair pieces, girlie. True, they are mostly crude and noticeable but it’s a good cover. Yes, I had nearly forgotten about it.”
My brow quirked both at his returned, slightly altered and more annoying, reference of ‘girlie’ along with the very idea of them not knowing what a wig was. “You mean wigs?”
The Immortal waved off my comment when the man looked at me with confusion.
“That is all good.” He replied to the old stranger. “My friend here needed to acquire a few things in town as it is, so time shouldn’t be an issue. Please have your apprentice find me when you are ready.”
They each nodded to the other and the thin, old creature slipped into the blackness.
“He’s agile for such an elderly man.” I placed my hands to my hips as I watched him vanish.
“Jade.”
“Hmm?” I turned to face him.
“Here is some money, please do not cause any trouble. The villagers should be setting up for the festival about now, so you will not likely bring attention to yourself.”
My lips pursed at his accusation. “I won’t cause trouble.”
He appeared to roll his eyes, but on coming lanterns caused the area to glimmer oddly, so I may have imagined it. Maybe.
I lightly shrugged beneath my cloak and went to head into town, leaving the Immortal at my back. Some part of me had simply assumed he would be joining me while I shopped, except that was really a silly idea. He wouldn’t show himself in such a way just for me.
People had started hustling about all over; this festival looked to be a big deal. It sort of reminded me of a carnival with those myriad stalls and vendors, the little shows and acts going on every which way you looked. I giggled as a playfully disguised group danced around a few small children who kept trying to steal their well-painted masks.
At times I thought I caught eyes on me, watching the stranger covered with a deep green cloak. I tried to make sure my face remained hidden from view, while still attempting to watch the festivities.
In a less busy area of town, an odd but enticing store caused me to stop my wanderings. The front window was littered with several different objects, all rare looking and odd or unique and beautiful, and although I likely couldn’t afford anything, I wanted to explore it.
The place wasn’t huge, but decent and simply covered with all sorts of things from food to weapons and clothing to furniture. I ran interested fingers gently along the cool steel of a sword as I passed an aisle. Luckily no one else had ventured in, however I also couldn’t spot a clerk, not that I was overly upset to be alone to search on by myself, undisturbed. I enjoyed being on my own; it was familiar.
Fidgeting clumsily with a large blade, I thought I heard someone in the store. Embarrassed to be caught, I hurriedly replaced the sword as best as I could and slyly checked the front area only to find no one at all.
“Strange.”
I returned to my sporadic pursuing, this time glancing in awe at the intricate jewelry beneath a glass cover near the back of the shop. A sudden gasp sounded from near where I was, along with a piece of furniture falling over. My heartbeat quickened, curiosity and worry churned inside me as I took a few steps towards the owner’s door at the back wall. I reached out with uncertainty for the handle, when it pulled open on its own and a young, attractive, sandy haired man stepped out, straightening his shirt as he went.
“Oh I’m so sorry...I-I was just..uhh…” I had begun backing up and, without noticing the man’s warning, fell into a large container of furs.
“Are you alright miss?!” His hand reached in to help me out, and I hesitantly accepted. As I was pulled up I felt my hood slip from my head.
He immediately released his grasp and took a step back, eyes wide and mouth agape.
Seeing his gaze grow, the realization I was no longer shrouded from view as I was supposed to be at all times, jerked me straight and I quickly groped for the hood, yanking it down over my hair and features. “I-I-I…um, I’m sorry for spying, I-I was just, uhh” I exhaled nervously. “Please excuse me!” I turned to dash out of the small store, but before I made a step my wrist was captured.
“Wait, please.” His eyes looked far more nervous then I felt, nevertheless his grip was unyielding and strong. “What are you?”
I blinked several times, pondering over an answer to such an odd question, gradually allowing my rapid breathing to calm.
“I uhh, I don’t really know how to answer something like that,” my internal monologue blurted mid-response, “uhm, I-I’m a human…I think?”
The young man released his grip and shook his head in confusion. “You…think?”
My relinquished arm drew up to my chest, where I held it with my other hand. “Uh, yeah. I’m sort of new here.”
“Well,” he puffed a sigh, still puzzled fingers scratched lightly at the scruff of his neck. “Hi then, I guess. I’m Kaiden, this is my father’s shop, and I’m in charge during the festival.”
“Oh, um, hello Kaiden.” I let a small smile slip onto my face.
He released a long breath, ran all those fidgety fingers through his rather tussled hair, and then finally dropped a hand to the small counter to his right.
“So, madam, is there something I can get for you?”
I looked him over cautiously, but his demeanor was fairly calm and easy, not at all threatening. My posture straightened and I lowered my arms, carefully I pulled up the hood a bit back to where I had originally had it placed and could see better.
“Um, my name is Jade. I was looking for several things actually.”
“Jade? Interesting sort of name. Well, we have any and every thing here, just tell me what you are looking for and I can help you find it.” He let a kind, welcoming grin spread across his lightly angular features.
A similar smile danced on my own face in reply. “Then I suggest we get started.”
Chapter Eleven
The Catalyst
Chapter Eleven
My butt hurt, my torso screamed, and my arm wanted to simply fall off.
“Immortal…can’t we please, please, take a break now?” My voice came out quiet and whiney, “It’s been almost five hours, I need to rest and eat something.” I rubbed my face onto Caleb’s coat, which sat in a messy bundle on my lap.
He stopped and sighed heavily.
“Alright.”
Orion slowed his pace and suddenly bucked me off; as I became airborne I gripped Caleb’s jacket tightly to my chest as if it could somehow save me from the inevitably painful landing. A large twisting flutter grew in my gut and spread to all edges of my limbs, even blurring my vision as it flooded my head.
The Immortal’s black hair blew around beside me, and his strong hands and arms gripped me unexpectedly, I hadn’t even begun to fall back to the earth. In the instant he caught me I glued my hands to his cloak and shirt.
“Don’t you dare drop me.” I barely exhaled, while I tried to gather oxygen back into my lungs…Orion, you ASS!
He slowly sat me down against a large tree.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m f—” My lip dropped from my words as my eyes entangled themselves with the Immortal’s.
There wasn’t ever a time I had found such softness in pure black eyes…I was simply thrown from reality. In the slightest of seconds my fingers edged towards his handsome face, but Orion’s blustered snicker jerked us back.
I scowled at him while his grinning eyes looked back. The Immortal stood up and unpacked a small bag, which most likely had the last of the berries. He looked into it and narrowed his eyes; he abruptly rammed a fist into Orion’s thigh forcing the large horse back and onto the ground. He angrily ground his teeth and writhed around until he stood up tall, attempting to tower over the Immortal, although he only reached about a foot higher.
Seeing them so firmly grounded and erect made me realize that I was much smaller.
“This makes me feel insignificant.”
Both guys moved an eye over to me, one black and one blue.
I inhaled to speak but instead dropped my head onto my knees, for some reason my head was still swimming.
“Jade, you and Orion go out and find something to eat.”
“What about you?”
“I’m just going to get some rest.”
He turned from Orion and dropped down beside me, although with perfect execution. I had to rock myself just in order to balance with the tree so that I could stand.
I looked back at him before I walked off, but the Immortal’s eyes were already shut tight and his head turned down. I lightly bit my lip in thought, but then spun around to follow Orion through the sporadic trees.
Orion was unsettlingly quiet as we walked in near silence. Luckily the farther we went the greener the forest became, creating a somewhat more comfortable atmosphere to walk in.
“Orion, do you even know where any food is?”
His piercing blue eye looked back at me briefly then rolled away, followed by a quick snort and a headshake, his weirdly long auburn hair flapped in my face.
“I’ll take that as a no then.” I sighed.
I was despondently kicking at a few patches of grass when my hood was nipped off my head.
“What?” I glanced up, expecting to find smirking horse eyes, but instead I caught him staring straight up into an adjacent tree’s canopy.
I quirked my brow at his odd behavior, “what is it?”
He blustered anxiously and stomped his hooves against the ground.
I shifted my view up towards the treetop and came across what Orion was so desperately wanting. Hanging from strong, healthy limbs were large and beautifully red apples. They seemed to be calling us to them. We probably looked like drooling pets in wait of a treat.
His snicker pulled me from my fantasies of a full stomach and I looked over to his begging round eyes. His soft nose nudged against my own and a gentler, almost purr-like whine came from between his lips.
I ran my hand along his forehead. “Alright, alright,” I smiled lightly, “let’s grab some fruit then.”
He purposefully licked my entire face, just to annoy me I was sure. Thankfully he was so oddly hygienic for a horse I didn’t have to worry about smelling like rotten hay, or something equally disgusting.
My cape fell completely onto my back as I lifted my arms to take hold of the tree while I found a solid foothold. With a swift inhale I pulled myself up and grabbed onto the larger section of the split trunk and yet again heaved my way up until I was more horizontal then vertical and could take a breather.
From about ten or so feet below, Orion whinnied with restless excitement…which wasn’t really edging me on in any way towards the near twenty, or maybe it was more like thirty, feet to go. My breath was a bit shaky from the strenuous climb, however just the thought of sinking my teeth into a juicy sweet apple was too tempting to give up. I hoisted my dress up further and stretched my leg as high as I could lift it and then lengthened myself out again. I managed to get a strong rhythm in place; the closer the canopy edge approached, the faster I moved.
When I reached the top, slightly less sturdy branches, I began my task of fruit removal. As I looked down to Orion I saw he had collected a large bunch of ripped up dirt, grass, and piles of dead leaves. He was a clever horse…sometimes.
I twisted the apples delicately until they unhitched from the tree limbs and dropped them down, each landing onto the makeshift bedding. I had gotten about fifteen or so apples off the tree when my arms began getting thoroughly exhausted from not only constantly removing the apples, but also holding me to the branch like glue. Every shifted movement I made scraped my hands and arms against the rough bark. Despite my growing desire for something other than berries, I felt the painful sting of my bandaged arm begin to grow as I held tighter to the tree.
“I think that’s all I’m going to grab for now.” I exhaled.
From my perch I could already see Orion nipping at the food I had risked life and limb for.
“You’d better not eat any before I get down there!” My shout wasn’t as forceful as I would have hoped but I could hear his responding snort, alleviating one of my several stress-ridden thoughts. “I can’t have you eating everything before I even touch ground.” I muttered softly to myself.
It hadn’t really occurred to me when I first began my climb that coming down was going to be an entirely different experience. A thoroughly impossible one so it seemed; most especially while wearing a dress and cloak.
“How the hell am I going to get back down from an almost forty foot tree?”
Gradually, I edged down the bark about a foot or so, but as I pulled back I felt my foot slip against a lose piece of bark. Before I even began drifting off the branch’s edging I could feel the flutters of falling dance through my gut, similar to when Orion bucked me off him, but on a whole new level. My nails clawed at the limb out of instinct, raking along for a few seconds until I lost touch of the scratchy tree altogether.
I gasped suddenly.
It was almost surreal seeing the tree fly further and further away, knowing that the earth was coming up just as fast to greet me. Painfully.
My body curled as close together as I could and, tightly, I shut my eyes in preparation for impact.
“OHF!” I jolted sharply from the force, not from hitting bottom but being hit head on.
I peeked from beneath my closed eyelids as I felt the wind come to a stop and the world was in one place again. I uncurled quickly out of shock and my head instantly collided with a firm chin.
“Ow…” Gripping my aching skull I started to register that a pair of sturdy arms was holding me. Familiar arms, in fact.
I turned my face up to see my rescuer and found violet eyes against gentle, though playful, features.
“Caleb!?”
“You really are annoyingly accident prone, aren’t you?” he laughed at me.
My eyes narrowed and I pouted my lips in frustration while still rubbing my scalp.
“What are you doing here? Have you been following me still?” I struggled to be released from his hold but he didn’t seem too keen on abiding. “You have a hard head, you know that?”
He walked at a slow pace towards Orion who, from the looks of it, hadn’t taken one eye off the nest of apples. I frowned at his obliviousness. “Ass.”
Caleb raised a brow at my mumbled curse then giggled softly. “I suppose I deserve that.”
“Hmm? Oh, no no! I didn’t mean you, I meant Orion…not you, no, sorry.” I shook my hands furiously, my eyes a little wide with embarrassment. Though, in retrospect, he may have kind of deserved it actually.
He glanced over at the large white horse and then back down at me.
“What on earth were you even doing?”
“Well I was hungry and so the Immortal— Hey, hold on, I’m going to be asking the questions here and besides you never answered my first ones!”
He sighed but nodded.
“So, what are you doing here?” I crossed my arms, however with some difficulty while still in the cradle of Caleb’s limbs.
“I had to come back and get my coat of course.” He grinned.
We stopped beside Orion and Caleb let me down easily, and then placed his hands on his hips, still wearing his classic smirk.
“Really?” I cocked my head a bit with my brow furrowed in disbelief at his excuse. “You just happened to be here so that you could get your coat back?”
Orion had started spitting and nipping angrily at Caleb, who seemed unfazed by the horse’s attempts to scare him away. He began pounding at the dirt and preparing a stance to charge.
I smacked my hand onto his nose, while my other hand slowly rubbed my temples in soothing circles. “I’m hungry, tired, injured, confused, lived through death and then near death,” my tone increasing in volume as I listed, “and almost every other emotion possible right now. I can’t be referee to a duel among a boundary-less moron and an oblivious ass.”
A deep breath filled my lungs and slowly calmed me down. I looked up and went over to the saddle where I grabbed Caleb’s coat.
“Here, if you intend to keep it then don’t give it to someone.” I was a little sad to lose the piece of clothing; it had kept a faint scent of Caleb on it, which eased me somewhat. Though I couldn’t really put my finger on why.
He took it from my hand and swiftly slipped into the fabric with more poise than I could ever hope to have. He pulled up the collar and inhaled deeply. “Ahh, it smells like you.”
I ruffled my features in confusion. “I smell?” My voice mumbled half-heartedly. I threw my hands over my mouth in reaction to my thought blurt.
Caleb’s strong, memorable laughter rang through my ears. He’d definitely heard me.
“You’re so funny sometimes,” he tapped my nose with his index finger and grinned.
I had crossed my eyes to follow his poking finger then shook my head.
“Yes yes, I’m a riot.” I began pushing Caleb off into the woods. “Now go back home, or wherever the hell it is you come from all the time.”
He chuckled mildly but moved out of the clearing. “See you later, beautiful!”
I scoffed at his sarcastic farewell, but as I turned back a small smile danced on my features.
Orion looked at me with an odd, pathetic giving expression but quickly changed in order to begin begging for apples. I ruffled his mane and reached down to grab one. His eyes grew wide and he let out a small, eager whiney.
I glanced at his blue gaze then took a large bite out of the fruit in front of him, savoring every bit of the juicy flavor while he watched.
He snorted with irritation, nipping at my shoulder.
“Fine, here.” I held it out in my hand and Orion practically inhaled it from my palm.
“Yuck…” Wet, dripping saliva stuck to my limb, courtesy of Orion. I swiftly rubbed it against the blankets beneath the saddle. “You’re so sanitation conscious for a horse…couldn’t you be a bit more well-mannered?” Mumbled annoyance slipped from my mouth.
He simply ignored that anything was heard and continued nudging at my back for more.
“No, nope. No more for you.” I pushed his nose back from me and went to begin collecting the apples.
There were unfortunately so few places to put them. I managed to get a nice majority into varying saddlebags and a few into my hood as it hung against my back. The remaining ones I held in my arms.
“Come on, let’s get back to the Immortal, we’re probably going to be heading into town today.” I smiled happily at the idea, “I actually sort of miss normal humans.”
Orion snorted at my comment.
The trees behind us rustled lightly. I turned my head quickly at the sound, my brow furrowing in confusion, “Caleb?” No answer came and I shrugged, taking a bite of an apple as I went back to walking, my opposite hand defying my own words and handing another apple to my four-legged companion. “Must just be me.”
Chapter Ten
The Catalyst
Chapter Ten
The Immortal’s voice was light but soft and after the disturbing shock I had, I found that I was stepping back into him for protection and comfort.
As I did, however, I was abruptly swept off the ground and into his arms, just as Caleb had done to me earlier.
“Why do people keep picking me up?” My voice was stronger this time, though the pain still hurt just as much. “Do I look like I need to be carried?”
“Yes.”
I stopped short, and then frowned.
“Well …I don’t. I’m fine.” I began to squirm a bit in his hold. “Put me down!”
“No.”
I thrashed slightly until the intense pain of my injuries caused me to discontinue my efforts towards freedom. Once I calmed down, he then relaxed some of his grip, which made it a bit more comfortable.
“Why did you come for me anyway? Did Caleb talk to you?”
He grimaced at the mention of Caleb, but nodded in reply.
“So you know what happened?”
He mutely nodded again.
“Would you stop being so monosyllabic and uncaring!” His pace stopped and he looked down at me with mild confusion as I hoarsely shouted. “I died! I was dead, gone, vanished completely from this and every world for nearly two hours!”
After I finished my outburst, I glanced up to find the Immortal angrily staring down at me, like a terrifying statue.
“What?” My reply was timid.
He suddenly looked out into the trees, “Orion!”
My head was getting fuzzy; everything was becoming more and more baffling as the day slipped into night.
Orion stubbornly pushed through the trees not long after being called, and seemed to roll his eyes when he saw me.
“Orion, take Jade back to camp.”
I attempted to protest this transfer, but as I opened my mouth to speak, the Immortal effortlessly lifted me onto Orion’s back. As I sat sluggishly, I idly scratched my wrist and laid half-way down.
Once he turned from me, I caught a quick moment of tension between him and Orion; the Immortal was placing a heavy glare on him. However when he left, Orion snorted towards his departure; neither seemed overly pleased right at the moment.
I ruffled his surprisingly soft mane to show my irritation at him and his gesture. He simply shifted a blue eye to me and snickered.
When we headed through the forest, back to camp, I found myself having to lie down along his back and neck since he clearly took no notice to avoid low hanging branches.
I released a sore and heavy sigh against him, blowing pieces of his shining hair.
“Orion, could you slow down a little more? My chest is throbbing from all the movement.”
To my surprise, he complied and lowered his pace. While peacefully riding my eyes began to droop, eventually I shut them completely. His stride became a gentle rhythm to me, so I started to pet along his neck and shoulder in reply to it.
He uttered a soft bluster at the contact, but I was tired and sore and didn’t care right now. Soon he stopped protesting altogether and let me continue stroking his white coat.
I hadn’t noticed until I slid from his high back to the ground, but a pretty humming voice had been coming from my body. Just before I laid onto several strewn blankets, Orion nudged my head with his nose. I looked at his large blue eyes and he then bumped at my forehead, leaving his exhaling nostrils pressed onto my skin.
My brow quirked wearily, “what?”
He lightly smacked against me again, beginning a bizarre attempt at humming. It was definitely the strangest sound I had ever heard, especially from a horse.
“You want me to keep humming?”
He snorted into my face and nodded.
I rubbed my hand against his long muzzle and I dropped down onto the warm bedding. I was just so exhausted all of the sudden. Furiously, I scratched my wrist again before starting to lightly hum the same tune I had been before. A simple lullaby my grandmother had sung to me years ago.
Whisper softly my angel’s lips
Take my hand and soar
Protect my dreams and watch over me
Be there when I slip too far
Guardian with me still
Night’s wings shelter here
And forever I’ll love you my darling
Till dawn’s break into day
I barely managed a second loop before I wholly succumbed to the comfort of sleep.
A sudden jerk pulled me awake and through watery, blurry eyes I saw the fire low and dancing and on the other side sat the Immortal; his eyes appeared closed. I quickly ran my nails along my wrist as I moved to a sitting position.
Orion was quietly standing and sleeping not too far from where I was; his blue eyes were shut and light exhales blew against his long deep auburn mane.
I was feeling so hot, but every breeze that passed across my skin caused me to shiver violently, disturbing my wounded chest and side. I gripped my torso then scratched my wrist again, though more forcefully this time.
Clumsily pulling to my legs, I nearly toppled over two or three times before I stood straight.
The world was spinning in my view. The trees seemed to be changing places over and over...dancing around me in strange patterns. I tripped and caught myself on a tree that abruptly stopped just to catch my fall.
“Nice tree…….thank you….”
I pushed off from the bark and it went back to its swirling, leaving slight dust clouds in front of me.
The back of my hand swept across my forehead and cold beads of sweat stung against my skin. To keep warm, despite the fire I felt in my stomach, I wrapped my arms around myself, my hands tucked deep into the long sleeves. Afterward, I quickly rubbed my forearm against the fabric of the coat, the skin was beginning to sting and felt raw with each itch that I tried to satisfy.
The area cleared itself of trees as they flew away together and beams of light splattered onto the ground. Young, excited giggling came from a female shadow that ran around me.
“Daela, Daela let’s play hide and seek!” My voice was child-like and as I spun around to chase her I saw my shorter locks of hair swish across my smiling face. Bare feet ran through growing green grasses that glistened in the brightening sun.
“Jade, I want to tell you something special.” She cuddled beside me while we hid up in our favorite tree.
I leaned closer to her quiet voice.
“I have a secret treasure. No one knows about it, so you can’t tell anyone! Especially grandmother!”
Nodding emphatically, my finger drew a cross over my heart.
She slipped a soft box from her pocket, a peculiar design decorating the cover. Before I really got a chance to study it closely she popped open the top and a shining straight diamond glowed from inside. I reached my hand out to touch the piece of jewelry but she immediately closed the lid.
“Hey—“
“Shhhhhh….” She held a finger to her mouth.
“Jade! Daela! Get inside, it’s time for dinner!”
“Come on Jade, we’ll play later.” She took my smaller hand and pulled me away.
Suddenly I lost her grip and she kept moving further and further from me. She turned and smiled happily at me before fading from view, her pretty curly black hair cradling her face.
“Daela….” I whispered.
The trees stopped moving and the ground changed back to dirt and grassy patches. I felt like I was lit on fire, melting inside my clothes.
In the dark blackness I slipped off a cliff that came up from nowhere and fell, fell, fell...stopping with a strange thud. While I lay there, the empty nothingness swallowed me whole.
When I awoke, black hair and eyes on pale, flawless skin hovered over me, the man’s hand on my forehead. I blinked away some of the haze that still plagued my vision, alerting the Immortal that I had woken up.
I lifted my arm to scratch at my wrist but the Immortal grabbed it and stopped me, revealing a bandage covering me from palm to elbow. The white, clean wrappings caught my attention because just at my wrist a brownish red stain was making a spreading pattern into the fibers.
I took a deep breath and my chest only ached a bit, though my side was somewhat stronger in intensity. I was surprised by the lack of writhing pain however and probed at my bruises. It was tender and in a few places sharp and more severe, but all in all I felt… better.
“I’m healed?”
The Immortal finally acknowledged that I had become conscious again and moved my hand away from the wound. “Mostly, though it was much harder with that poison spreading through your system.”
I furrowed my brow and then brought up my once irritated wrist, seeing the bloody bandages again. “What happened?”
He scoffed, his face marred with anger and cynicism. “I’m sure Caleb can elaborate far better than I could.”
I was a little surprised at his flare-up.
I lifted my torso towards him, ignoring the scream that my body gave, and placed my calm, bandaged hand on his fidgeting ones.
“Immortal…are you alright?”
He stopped making his agitated gestures and softened his face.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
He then pushed me back onto what felt like the blankets I had been on before, only more comfortable. I was reluctant to lie back down now that I had gotten up, but I went. When I took a moment to look around I noticed the scenery had changed completely, the trees were a little thinner and much less green and the ground was nearly barren of any other plant except the few sparse roots from the trees.
“Immortal, where are we?”
I tried to sit back up, but he pushed me right down.
“Jade, you have been asleep for five days. Nearly the entire journey is over.”
“WHAT!?” I shot straight up and my dirty hair flung up with me.
“Well, yes. When I found you a few feet away from the campsite five days ago, you were almost completely gone. Your arm was throbbing and deeply bruised with bright colored veins protruding, except for an oozing, bloody slit at your wrist, which was surrounded by a patch of normal colored skin. I have been healing you as best as I could since, and Orion has been carrying you.”
I looked over to him and he snorted, turning his face away from me. He was just close enough that I barely managed to brush my fingers against his leg, my best attempt at a thank you.
“So… I was poisoned somehow and now the journey is almost over, yet you also healed up some of my ribs?” I was having a hard time following everything; perhaps my head was still cloudy from all that sleep.
“Not much, some of that was Caleb’s doing before I found you…it just had not yet taken hold. Though I took away some of the pain; you would sometimes scream in your sleep.”
“I did?”
“Yes, though actually you hum a lot.”
“I hum? How long has this been going on?”
“I hadn’t noticed you doing it before; perhaps you were dreaming something specific.”
I tried to think on what the dream may have been, but the only thing I could think of was the old, forgotten memory of Daela and I years ago, back when we still lived in Maine. “When was it that I remembered this?” I mouthed the words to myself. But, regardless, I didn’t recall any song from that? Out of some habit, I shook my head.
“No, I don’t think I dreamed.” I was looking sadly down at my hands, I couldn’t really describe the feeling but something just felt sad when I tried to remember anything.
“Don’t dwell on it too much.” He stood. “Come on, we need to be heading out. We should reach town by this evening.”
“What! So fast?”
“Yes, we need to get there before sundown.”
I crawled sluggishly from the bedding and used a tree to help me stand up. “Why sundown?” I mumbled half-heartedly as I brushed the dirt from my clothes and cloak.
“People rarely ever come from these woods. The only creatures known to live here are some of the remaining Immortals and several mystical forest dwellers that can’t always be trusted, and for good reason…” he began wrapping up all the blankets I had been spread out on. “Although I suppose there is the occasional traveler who unknowingly stumbles in from an area that is not blocked off.” He shrugged lightly with the bundles on his shoulders, “besides, if we just came out at night, it would cause a terrible panic. Our presence will already be unsettling.” He easily tied the packs onto Orion like an expert, which he most likely became in all the time I had been asleep.
I smacked my forehead for that.
Hands suddenly grasped my waist and then I was hoisted up and settled gently onto Orion’s back. I had blushed a little from the unexpected contact. I wasn’t even sure why, blushing was not something I did too often, although it seemed to be happening quite a bit as of late.
“Let’s go, tonight should be the War Memorial Festival, people are going to be everywhere, coming from all around, and we need to be there at a good time in order to slip in quietly.”
“War Memorial Festival...I never heard of that from grandmother...” I covered my mouth hastily, then sighed. I had been doing so well with not speaking out loud.
The Immortal and Orion chuckled softly at me. This was already turning out to be the beginning of a very long day.
Chapter Nine
The Catalyst
Chapter Nine
Silence. Nothing but silence; I felt nothing, saw nothing, heard, smelled, tasted, breathed, moved nothing…
The world seemed to have been sucked away from me.
For a few brief moments I felt life tingle into my fingers and in those small instances it was as if a vacuum was pulling on my body in every direction. At least it seemed like my body. I couldn’t really tell.
Sudden pulsing, flaming sensations began feeling their way across every awakening appendage and then abruptly a strong convulsion shot through me. At that moment, I noticed my full self, like I were looking down on my own body and saw every vein, organ, and breath that formed who I was. But afterward it was as though I fell away, back into a blackness where I began to simply fade from existence.
Yet another tremor jumped through me and I saw more, felt more of who I was. Except this time I could see my face; I looked almost sad and a little afraid…and for some reason, wet.
A stronger, exceptionally startling and painful spasm hit me again. My chest and throat began stinging, like sharp knives running along the walls, and in my side an aching, tight knot began to form, growing with each diminishing second that passed.
Once more, I jolted before I noticed a familiar rhythm trying to calm my body, though the sharp knot at my side continued to grow in strength.
The darkness that had pulled at me fell across my eyes again. But instead of feeling its nothingness, I felt contained with several individual beats moving around inside my increasingly warming shell.
Gradually though, everything began to quiet down, eventually all that stayed was a calm thumping and slightly ragged, agonizing breaths. Breaths? Air? …Lungs? I was taking small gasps and the more I dwelled, the sooner I noticed the tingling again, this time all over my body.
Body…I was in my body and breathing.
A warm waft of air abruptly swept across the right side of my face, curling against my ear. It was almost like a trigger went off in my brain and suddenly a swift rush of air passed through my mouth and seemed to run its claws along my raw throat as it continued on to unbearably bundle and whirl in my chest.
The additional fire added to the aches I already endured caused my eyes to rip open and abruptly floods that once clenched my gut now came pouring out. I heaved the water from my lungs, coughing sharply.
A cool breeze made me shiver; I saw sandy, wet dirt through blurry eyes covering the ground I leaned on. I ran the back of my hand across my tear covered face and sat up as best as I could to sit back on the sand.
As I looked directly ahead, I found deep violet eyes staring back at me. For one moment, I felt as though a stranger were before me, the emotion that was held there seemed so foreign. Until a crude smirk replaced it, and I could see Caleb kneeling above me. Almost like a bizarre frontal hovering.
He then pulled back and stood up straight, moving to grab a long thick coat that draped across a rock not far from where I sat. Caleb leaned down and handed me what I presumed was his coat, but he was gentler than I would have expected.
The fabric was heavy and as I took hold of it I found that I could feel the smooth, worn cloth against my shivering skin, all my skin.
My face flamed.
Though my memories were terribly fuzzy, I was realizing that I was entirely naked.
Caleb smirked again at my embarrassed expression but gentlemanly turned his back to me, so I took the hint and swiftly pulled on the thick jacket, wrapping it around my body as tightly as possible.
“What happened?”
I had expected my voice to be loud, but instead that fierce noise was a rasping whisper, which forcefully racked against my body. I grasped at my throat and more aches began creeping their way back to me.
A throbbing pain was now eating away at my side. I tried to stand, but quickly fell back to the sandy ground and landed on my opposite side, while losing grip on the coat that surrounded me.
I reflexively tried to hold my upper torso, but I found that only hurt even more. Trying as best as I could to keep decent, I moved the fabric back to view where my soreness was coming from.
A large black, purple, and even red colored bruise spread over my entire ribcage and sternum. I looked like a truck ran me down or a tree fell on me.
“You moron…” I heaved a little, “…you broke my ribs, didn’t you?”
I awkwardly turned my face up to Caleb while exceptionally gently probing my injured chest.
“I did.”
I glared at him, though it surely appeared more as a pathetic, crippled idiot lying naked in the sand with a poor excuse for any form of expression dancing across my face. Slowly, I released a tiredly indignant and wounded sigh.
Caleb looked down at me like I were stupid. Which, in this instance, I wasn’t entirely sure I could deny.
“Jade.” His voice was low and soft.
He very gently came over and moved me to sit up against another large boulder; he even tightened the jacket I quite loosely wore.
I bit my lip hard as I continued to shiver, partially from the cold and still being somewhat wet but also from the throbbing pain wracking my body. I had just about gotten situated in my sand cushioned seat, when Caleb unexpectedly sat beside me. He slid his arms beneath my legs and across my back and then swiftly pulled me into the cradle of his lap.
My eyes were open wide; I parted my lips to speak and then stopped. When my brain finally caught up to my mouth, I tried to speak again but Caleb slipped a warm finger onto my lips.
“It’s just to keep you warm; your body temperature is severely low.”
I blinked noticeably several times while staring at my arms which rested on his even warmer chest.
“What happened, Caleb?”
A sour, black nothingness started to curl up in my stomach and the longer Caleb stayed silent with his small, deep breaths rising and falling against me, the more I became aware of it.
“You died, Jade.”
My still sore breaths caught in my throat and the dark feeling that swelled inside me spread into everything. Terrifying and yet solemn memories came rushing back to me.
Water coming in from everywhere, I couldn’t see; my body hurt and ripped at me. I wanted to scream and to cry but nothing managed to escape. Tears slipped down my cheeks. And then old memories I had nearly forgotten came back to me as well. A black room, quiet whispers of my cousin speaking to someone I couldn’t see, and then everything was covered in red. No screaming, no crying, black and red splattered everywhere.
It had caused the same terrified pit that flooded me now.
I dug my fingers into Caleb. “…How long?”
“Nearly two hours.”
I bit my lip harder than before and abruptly metallic slivers dripped into my mouth and onto my chin and neck.
My hands wiped across my jaw and eyes almost of their own accord. For some reason Daela’s visage was covering every inch of my thoughts. Her smiling face before that night, that night I didn’t remember and further tainting that memory was another smile I could but couldn’t really see.
I inhaled sharply a few times and leaned my head onto Caleb’s chest; he let me rest even though my blood and tears stained his thin green shirt. As my breaths started to finally calm I looked out over the water I had been in not that long ago and familiar boiling bubbles spun around on the surface.
Curiously, I watched them grow in intensity, and, out of a tangled mix of interest and fear, I clutched Caleb closer and even burrowed my face into his sweet scented shirt with one eye still watching. The water practically exploded and a shrill female voice echoed across the forest. The small, angry yellow eyes and flowing blue-green hair appeared as the water fell back into its pool. She hissed at Caleb and I.
Oddly, I felt him sigh in annoyance. “You did that on purpose.”
I tilted my face up at him with a confused look, but found him to be looking away from me.
Suddenly he started to move, but instead of setting me aside so that he could get up, he simply stood, shifting me from his lap’s cradle to his arm’s. I felt like an awkward bride…naked, in someone else’s dark old coat, still damp, and very much in pain. I nearly managed a giggle at my own tangent thoughts until my ribs decided to tell me otherwise.
The woman I now very clearly remembered stepped immediately closer and hissed yet again, only with stronger hatred in her tone. Her eyes were like daggers, piercing my already injured body, right down to my soul.
“El, stop that!”
I quirked my brow with a sort of puzzled surprise painting my face as he spoke to her, apparently knowing her.
She whimpered, similar to a dog, and then slipped on a more seductive air. “Caleb, why are you with this rubbish? Aren’t they all dead? Why aren’t they dead and gone from us?”
She came even closer as she cooed softly at him with hints of malice slipping out. However, when I watched her face, she appeared genuinely confused and upset.
I looked up at Caleb, whose face was almost unreadable.
“El, she is obviously not dead and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t try to make that a reality.”
She whined again and whirled over using the water to hold up her body in its turns. “But Caleb, Caleb, Caleb! I have waited for sooooo long! I miss you, come back to me.” She purred again.
I found myself really beginning to hate this woman. I mean she had tried to kill me and, in fact, succeeded, but what tied my stomach in knots the most was her sexy, naked swaying and practically whispering in his ear. It was so…so………UGH!
I began to irately pick at the cuffs of the coat to keep my mind occupied, though her annoyingly beautiful hair kept moving into my view.
“Why don’t you put her down and just come back to me.” I suddenly heard her whisper right beside me and felt her hand beginning to curl around my wrist.
Caleb’s fingers tightened on my arm and thigh. “Eliarya Ktyum, Water Nymph of Talen Forest, I command you to back off now.”
She glared down at me but released her grip with a submissive growl towards Caleb, though in the last moment of her touch I thought I felt a slight scratch across my wrist…but there was no mark.
Caleb felt like a statue. He was a vise holding me even closer as “El” backed away into the water’s deeper edge.
“Caleb…please…” Her siren tone wafted past me, but Caleb didn’t even seem to breathe.
“Leave El.”
I managed to hear her sorrowful moan again until suddenly Caleb dropped to the ground, landing with a hard thud that caused me to scream inside at the jerk of my body’s broken parts. The jolt had greatly aggrieved me and in frustration I smacked my left palm to his forehead.
“Caleb, you absolute and pure idiot!”
For a moment, true sincerity appeared on his face but once I displayed my reaction he suddenly broke into a strong laughter.
I frowned but then furrowed my brows.
“Caleb…what just happened?”
He yet again paused his breathing and almost reflexively tightened his grip around me.
“El is…” he sighed heavily. “El and I are very old friends,” I wrinkled my nose a bit at the way he said friend, almost like a truthful lie, “but she is also close to some rather unsavory people, all of which are not in any way fond of Immortals. However, El always tended to take a particular liking to the men…….”
I cocked my head slightly away to better see his face. “And?”
“She developed an unadulterated, unrelenting hatred of the women; especially that of the first family.”
“First family?”
“You should really get dressed and head back to the Immortal. It’s getting late.”
I confusedly looked at my hands with uncertainty. “First…?” Caleb didn’t seem to hear my mumbling as he very gently set me back on the sand and dropped my clothes down in my lap.
“I’m sure the Immortal has some cloth you can use to bandage your ribs.”
He began to walk away with an exhausted sadness in his eyes that I clearly wasn’t meant to have seen.
“Wait!” I crawled slightly forward, wincing from the pain that shot up through me. “You’re just leaving me here?”
He didn’t turn around but I heard a smile in his voice. “Don’t worry, you should be partially healed by morning and the Immortal can help with the rest. I’m just wiped.” This time he flashed me a silly eyed smirk before jumping away into the trees.
I sat there in a despondent, while also kind of annoyed, way and began to fuss with the coat’s cuff again as I stared out at the swaying trees.
Quickly as I could manage I pulled on my clothes, but after draping the cape and hood across my shoulders I also slipped on the warm coat Caleb had left behind for me. It was comforting to wear, like I was being held in strong, protective arms.
I wrapped my own arms around myself then began to walk back to the camp and my two traveling companions, an emotionally stunted immortal and an ass masquerading as a horse with a personality disorder.
A small giggle escaped my still rasping throat which was followed immediately by sharp pain spreading through my chest. I clutched my side lightly and my small breaths helped to push the ache away. As soon as I looked back up, I heard a snap to my right …most likely a twig and an animal… Following with my stupid inquisitive nature, I stepped toward the noise when sudden, slow opening, lavender eyes caused me to jump back and into tightly grasping hands.
I cried out at the pain that came up through me. The loud noise rattled my head and everything around me, racking its claws against my tender throat.
One of the hands was then unexpectedly on my head, making an affectionate petting motion against my nearly dry black hair. My eyes were wide with surprise and confusion.
“Jade, I’m sorry.”
Chapter Eight
The Catalyst
Chapter Eight
“OH! Come on and move your lazy ass already!!”
I pulled with all my strength on the reins but Orion stood as though I were barely a bother to him. For the past two days Orion had appeared to be more than a pain, he was an arrogant, rude, callous ass of a horse that seemed to be doing nothing more than making my life worse. And he was bringing out the most awful tendencies in me.
“Ugh!” I threw down the reins and crossed my arms tightly across my chest. Jade colored eyes glaring coldly at scoffing blue ones. “What is your problem? Why can’t you simply come along?”
He snorted and stamped a hoof against the dirt and moss covered ground.
“Oh sorry! Please, go! Do whatever the hell it is you do while I just complacently wait here!” I tossed my arms in the air to further prove my point, albeit somewhat sarcastically.
He puffed again, with a pleased grin-like expression on his face. His hooves beat in a light trot as he headed into the woods.
“You know, I don’t actually plan to wait patiently!” I screamed into the unlucky trees and bushes that he had just walked into.
A nickering laugh echoed back at me.
I scoffed and sat down on a broken, old stump. A sudden thump hit the back of my head and a pebble fell beside my foot.
“Very mature, you damn horse!”
I kicked into the dirt and waited with ever growing irritation. I looked up into the trees and saw the familiar silhouette of the Immortal walking into the small clearing I had settled into.
“Where have you been?”
A thin black brow rose at my question.
“You and Orion not getting along again?” He casually said as he slipped down to the earth with a lithely cross of his legs.
“My, how could you tell?” I mumbled under my breath, though I wasn’t entirely sure he couldn’t hear me when I did that. His abilities were still a mystery to me.
I sighed heavily. “I’m sorry; he has me a bit on edge.”
“I’ve noticed.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, whatever, were you able to find anything to eat?”
“There are a few deer grazing near this area.”
“And? You couldn’t bring one here?”
I straightened my posture as I waited for an answer.
“Deer are very rare in this world, I was not about to diminish their population simply to comply with your stomach.”
“Rare? That’s odd…in my world there are so many deer that once a year they are allowed to be hunted in order to keep the populace in check. Well, back home at least.” I leaned onto my hands, my elbows pushing into my thighs.
“Back home?”
“We moved to Ireland three years ago…but we had been living in Maine before that.”
“Ireland?”
“Yes, Ireland is a lovely place and I did like it there, but I missed home. Grandmother had suddenly insisted that we move and since my mother had agreed to take her in after my uncle suddenly went missing…she had to comply. Not that she wanted to pack up and move to a different country, but something in grandmother’s insistence was enough to convince her, I guess.”
“You’ve mentioned your grandmother before…Guinevere. How is she?”
I sat up again at his question. I had been declining to bring up grandmother’s death with him, for some reason I felt I shouldn’t tell him quite yet. However, even though I had resigned to lie, I still hesitated to answer.
“Jade? Are you alright?”
“Yes. Oh, uh, grandmother is fine. Doing well back home. She went on a trip not that long before I left, exploring somewhere in Asia…she didn’t specify where though.” I waved my hand around in an attempt to further prove the truth of my statement.
“Hmm.” He nodded with a knowing look. “She enjoyed exploring here as well.”
“Yes, she always has.”
A comforting feeling came over me whenever I thought back on memories with her.
A sudden hot rush of air hit the back of my head, knocking me from my happy thoughts and bringing me back to reality. Where a pain in the ass horse thought I followed it’s every whim.
“It seems Orion is back. And by the way he’s gritting his teeth in my ear, I would bet that he’s hungry too.” I pressed my lips together to control my annoyance.
“Then why don’t the two of you go out and get something to eat?”
“Us?!” Orion snorted in protest beside me.
“Yes, you two. Just look for some fruit for now, that should sustain you until I can find some meat tomorrow.”
I growled at the thought of food hunting with the damn picky horse.
“Fine. Come on, Orion.” I took hold of his bridle and pulled him forward until I had time to pick up the reins, which dragged along the ground.
After a relatively quiet walk Orion began making his bored clicking sound as I wrung the leather straps in my hands.
“Stop that.”
He scoffed with a small neigh.
“Why can’t you cooperate? At least help me search!”
He made a short snorting sound and then suddenly pulled at my cloak.
“What?”
He bobbed his head in the direction he had tugged where a huge tree stood several yards away with large fruit looking objects growing from its branches.
“Good job.”
I made an attempt to rub his nose, though he pulled away and moved his head to look down at me with a large blue eye as I tried.
I sighed. “Arrogant.”
I began walking to the tree, dropping Orion’s reins in the process.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Autumn called to me from back where I once stood.
“Autumn? Why are you here?”
“Watching out for you, of course. That silly Immortal never really pays enough attention.”
“What do you mean?” I stepped away from the tree and towards her; Orion chose to wait a few feet from her position.
“That tree’s fruit is poisonous…pretty but deadly.”
“Well, it wasn’t my find exactly.” I looked over at Orion and he spun around to have his butt staring back at me.
I narrowed my eyes. “Thank you, Autumn.” Then moved to look at her again. “I’m glad you came to help. Would you point us to some non lethal fruit?”
“Sure I will.” She smiled pleasantly, turned her feet in the opposite direction, and began walking off.
I followed, grabbing Orion’s bridle as I checked to make sure that he came along.
“Here, these berries are small but the flavor is good and they fill you up rather quickly.” I saw her reach out to a strange hairy looking bush of green and brownish red, bringing back with her some bright pink and yellow colored berries.
“I think the pink ones are sweeter, the yellow have more flavor though.” She picked several and set them in my hands.
“Um, can you flip open the satchel on Orion’s side?”
Autumn tossed back the leather cover so that I could drop all the fruit in safely.
I sighed happily. “Thanks for your help.”
“My pleasure.” She bowed, her brown hair tumbling over her shoulders.
I took hold of the reins again and turned to find Autumn gone.
A sharp tug on my cloak redirected my attention to Orion, who nudged as best as he could against the bag filled with berries.
“Alright…” I removed a few and held them out to him, he gently took the fruit one by one from my hand, eating away from me before bringing his head back to retrieve more.
Despite his definite faults, he was really very clean for a horse. Although the longer I spent my time with him the more I was beginning to wonder what sort of horse he was.
When we arrived back at the clearing, the Immortal was still sitting exactly where he was, though his black eyes were closed.
I walked past him quietly so that I didn’t wake him up, but as Orion headed by he snorted at the back of my head. My eyes opened wide and I spun around quickly to clamp my arms around his muzzle. He shook his head around to be released, but I held fast.
“I’m not asleep; you don’t need to restrain him.”
I sighed in relief and let Orion go. He scoffed angrily at me and bit at my arm.
“Stop that Orion!” I swatted at him. “Immortal, did you happen to find any water near here? I’d love a bath after all this walking.”
“There’s one in that direction,” his arm stretched in the opposite bearing of where Orion and I had just come from, “not far, but enough so that you’ll feel comfortable.”
I smiled cheerfully. “Finally! Thank you Immortal!” I started heading for the water, eager to clean myself of all the dirt and grime of the last two days.
“You smiled.”
I stopped my feet and looked back to the Immortal. “What?”
“You smiled. You haven’t smiled since we left. It’s nice.”
My face warmed a little as we looked at each other. I wasn’t sure how long we had been there, neither of us moving. Orion suddenly pushed against my shoulder. I blinked several times and narrowed my eyes.
“Ugh, Orion stop that!” I pushed against his head and began walking back towards the water. His nickering laugh followed me as I went.
“Stupid horse.”
The more I walked on the better I was able to maneuver through the trees, and they seemed to be getting thinner once I spotted the clear water.
The small shore was nothing more than warm sand but the deeper edges were lined with large rocks and boulders and perhaps 20 or 30 feet across the surface a tall, beautiful waterfall dropped into the small lake.
The air surrounding the place was clean and fresh, not lined with dust and heavy with the scent of nature. I glanced around me just to be sure there was no one in the area and then I started loosening the ties and cords of my clothing, laying it all upon one of the larger rocks near the water’s closest edge.
I shivered briefly as the wind ran its breath across my naked body, where small bumps came up onto my skin. I rubbed my arms quickly to warm up. Slowly I stepped up onto the stones and took a long deep breath before jumping into the spotless pool beneath.
The water pushed against me as I broke past the surface and started to swim gracefully in the silent peace that surrounded me.
For a long while I let the waves guide me along in the deep, getting bluer the further down I went. Inside I was quite glad I had been forced to swim so often in the ocean with my mother, even though she knew I hated it greatly. Swimming and I never really mixed well.
I returned to the surface and took another breath after my extensive time beneath. I leaned my head back and brought my feet up with balance and floated on the exterior of the water.
“I wonder what town will be like. This place seems far more primitive than home…it may be like going back in time.” A giggle escaped me.
I moved my arms around my body, propelling closer towards the waterfall. As I went it was gradually becoming more difficult to move, the water felt as though it were hardening and stopping me in place. I lifted my head but my legs and torso stayed, like I was lying on a bed. I struggled against whatever held me until, slowly, two blue tinted arms appeared by my waist on either side and wrapped themselves tightly.
“How dare you...” A wisp like female voice whispered in my ear.
“Who’s there? Who are you?” I tried to turn my head but as I did so the arms suddenly vanished, leaving water pooled on my stomach. My body was free and I dropped into the water, looking around for the woman.
“Tsk tsk.” The voice clicked its tongue. “You…you things…”
“Hey! I’m not a thing! Who the hell are you?”
Cerulean colored hair bobbed to the surface in front of me and soon the lightly blue tinted skin of a forehead appeared and sure enough a lovely face followed. Yellow, spotted eyes glared at me.
“Why are YOU here!? How the hell ARE you here!?” Her voice was uncomfortably soothing as she yelled with fire in her tone.
“I’m just bathing. It’s been a long journey and there are more days ahead, I am simply trying to relax.”
“Bathing? Relaxing?” She growled.
“Yes. But I do apologize; I didn’t realize someone lived here. If I had I wouldn’t have come.” I spoke slowly, holding back the anger this bizarre woman instilled in me.
“HA!” She scoffed. “Liar.”
“I’m not lying! I’ve never been here before; I was merely taking a bath!”
The water began to heat up as her feral eyes glared down on me and her body started rising up from the waters. She stood upon the surface, her skin entirely highlighted blue and naked with long bluish green hair draping down to her feet. In some places there were fin-looking appendages protruding from her limbs, yellow and black colored lines and spots painted parts of her skin.
I couldn’t find anything to say to her and soon the water was set in motion, spinning and bubbling, the heat getting like boiling water.
“You females….things…creatures unworthy of them. You die and you die, you damn extinct woman…when you’re gone you should stay DEAD!” Her voice reached a scream and abruptly my legs were seized and yanked down.
I had no time to breathe and the longer I tried not to let go the more I felt the tightening of my chest wrench at my body. I struggled as hard as I could against the arms holding me but the pressure of the depth beat against me even harder.
My eyes blurred, I could feel unconsciousness weighing down. The last bits of air from my lungs escaped and I felt boiling waters rush in, burning my nose and lungs. In the seconds before I drifted away I thought I sensed hands wrap onto my torso and in my final living thought I imagined it to be the Immortal saving me from death.
