Destiny Intertwined, Magic, combat and friendship
#7 of Destiny Intertwined
Hoorah!! Its finally done!! After four weeks of working on and off on it, I finally finished it. Thanks for being patient everybody, I know I took a long time in finishing it and I am sorry, but I have had the WORST last couple weeks and creative projects kinda took a back seat. Anyway, comments are appreciated as usual.
Hope you enjoy it.
Continued from "Reflections"...
Jessica poked her head above water slowly, taking care to not make unneeded noise. The world outside the cave was still covered in white snow, but it was thin and very wet. Green grass was poking up through it in places and she knew that spring was at hand. The time was just before dawn and the world was grey as it awaited the touch of the sunlight. She smiled and crawled out of the small lake, looking around very carefully. Partly, she was watching for enemies, but really she was looking for a certain plant. It wasn't a magic herb and it was usually quite common. Standing up, she moved away from the lake and kept searching, looking low to the ground.
There, in a patch of exposed sand not fifty feet away from the water. The familiar spiny shape. She moved swiftly through the snow, carefully placing her feet with every step on solid rocks that stood out through the white sheath of snow. When she reached the spot, she crouched next to it. A quiet snap sounded in the silence as she broke one of the plant's branches. A sticky, sweet smelling green sap dripped out onto her furred finger from the green plant. She sniffed at it and smiled. This was what she had been looking for. She broke several of the branches off the spiny bush and stowed them in a pouch at her waist. She was wearing only her undergarments and a belt pouch on this expedition out from the cave. Then, a sound carried through the silence and made one of her ears twitch in its direction. It was the distant sound of a fire crackling. By the sound, it was a small fire, just the right size to be a cooking fire. Their watchers were still there it seemed. Foot steps sounded in that direction and Jessica dropped flat, lying in the snow, trusting her lightly colored fur to conceal her. A few moments later, a warrior walked into view. He was what looked like a wolf and was wearing a cloak of thick fur around his shoulders. Blazing red eyes shown out from under the hood. He paused near the water and sniffed, looking around. Spells flitted through her mind as she watched the wolf. If he didn't go away soon, the sun would come up and the silver in her fur would be a dead give away.
And, with the spell-crafting words came a flicker of uncertainty. Before, she would have been able to silence him easily with a single spell. 'Now though...' As she thought this, the wolf turned and walked back towards his camp. She breathed a silent sigh and made her way back to the lake. She paused a brief moment to ensure that the pouch containing her prize was secure. Then, she waded out into the lake and slid beneath its surface once more. As she made the icy swim back to the warm confines of the caverns, she thought back to the events of the last few months.
Since the spell that her adopted mother had laid on her had been removed and she had returned to the shape she had meant to be, she had been working on her new found power. In addition to the magic spells she had learned at Scolor, she had found new powers that she used by instinct rather then training. With Cerule's help, she was learning to control these powers, to focus them on the tasks she wanted to perform. She was getting better at it, but there had been a few accidents, which was why she had emerged from the caverns on this frosty morning. When her head broke the surface of the water inside the cave once more and she started to haul herself out, she marveled at the raw strength that her frame held now. Her new body was strong and flexible. And it was getting stronger every day with Cerule training her to fight as he had trained when he was young. She had swiftly realized that she was much more agile than her love, if not as strong. The fighting came to her easily as the instincts to survive were engrained into every animal at birth.
"Welcome back." Cerule said, sitting up with a wince. Along one side of his uncovered torso, a shiny burn stood out among his fur. It was red and painful still and Jessica walked over, removing the branches from her pouch. She carefully squeezed the green sap onto the burn and spread it gently. Cerule's face was tight at first with the pain, but it soon relaxed and he smiled at her. "That's better."
"I am still sorry it happened." Jessica said, finishing with the sap. The burn had been her fault, the result of a spell that she hadn't been able to control. Cerule had waved off her concerns but she still agonized over it. She had been hesitant with her magic ever since. As she watched, the burn's angry red faded to pink and she knew the plant was doing its work.
"And I keep telling you that it doesn't matter." He said and pulled her into his embrace. She returned his hug carefully, trying not to touch his injury. They lay together for a while beside the fire and then Jessica spoke.
"How are we going to get out of here? They are still watching us." She stated and Cerule nodded. "I don't see how we will be able to fight them. I can't use magic, and you are injured."
"Jessica, you can still use magic. You just have to have confidence in your skills." He said and she shook her head dejectedly. He smiled and released her, rising up so he could tend to the fire. "Trust me."
"I don't know." She stated and sat up with him. They ate a quiet meal and then continued to pack provisions for their journey south and west, towards the mysterious thing that the Scio feared. By the time that night fell outside the cave, they were ready to leave at last. After dining once more, they laid out blankets for sleep. Cerule's burn had almost completely gone away and Jessica smiled at the sight of his fur rapidly re-growing over the spot, his healing powers removing any trace of the injury.
When the blankets were set up and the fire had died down to coals, she stripped off her garments and lay down. A moment later, Cerule's body pressed against hers from behind, his arms wrapping around her. He hadn't been wearing any clothes for the last week, preferring instead to live naked. The caverns were warm enough for this and they had much privacy. She still felt totally safe in his embrace and began to nod almost immediately. She was so content that she slipped into sleep without realizing it...
***
A distant sound awakened her from dreams. Turning around, she found Cerule's eyes open as well and the pair got up from where they had been laying. The sound came again. It did not take much time to recognize it as the sound of rock shifting. It came from down one of the side tunnels. With but a look, the pair came to the same consensus. Moving with haste, they covered up swiftly and doused the fire. Then, they stood to either side of the opening to the cave where they had camped. The sound came again, followed by the ominous sound of boots on hard stone. They remained motionless as the sounds intensified. Then, a faint light flickered into existence down the tunnel. The sounds came even nearer. Cerule nodded to Jessica and she nodded back. A lit torch held by a dark furred hand entered the chamber first. It was swiftly followed the form of the wolf that Jessica had seen in the morning when she had gone searching for the healing plant.
Before he had come more than a pace into the room, Cerule moved. The wolf never knew what hit him. Cerule slashed with his claws and tore out a large chunk of the Wolf's neck. Blood splattered the cave floor and the caverns were enveloped in chaos. Warriors swarmed into the room from all directions and Jessica fought as Cerule had taught her. Unarmed, she slashed with her claws and felt them dig into flesh. She bit with her sharp teeth until all she could taste was blood. Bodies began to cover the floor and then there was a moment of clarity. Cerule was against the wall, struggling with a hulking Minotaur. And there, in his blind spot was a Scio assassin, dagger raised to strike. In that brief moment, she could see that the dagger dripped with poison.
Before she knew she had decided to do it, she had reached for a spell. The Scio cried out as he was suddenly lifted from the floor as if caught in an invisible fist. He struggled, but Jessica's spell contracted suddenly and he went limp. Seeing another warrior coming in at her, she flung the dead assassin into the cowled warrior, knocking it to the ground. Then, she raced forward and leapt up into the air, avoiding the blade of the warrior nearest to her.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she raced onward, covering the distance to Cerule's assailant in moments. He was just starting to overpower the tigriss when she reached him. Power surged through her limbs and she grabbed the warrior with both hands. Then, she twisted with her hips and tossed the warrior into the water of the pool. Before he could rise to the surface, she waved a hand at the pool and cold air blasted through the cavern as the water froze solid. Then, she turned to face the remaining warriors. Magic surged once more in her veins and she pointed her fingertips at the warriors as they advanced. Lightning sprang from her fingertips and struck them. As they twitched and writhed with more power than their bodies could possibly handle, she reached out with her other hand and her eyes glowed bright blue. The cavern shook with the force of her spell and the ceiling caved in all around the white tigriss.
When the dust settled at last from her spell, the pair were alone. No sound except for the crackling ice of the pool could be heard. Jessica remained standing where she had been when she cast the spell, her hand still stretched up at the ceiling. The surging magic that had filled her faded away and she lowered the hand slowly, feeling exhilarated by the force of the magic. Cerule gently laid a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him. Neither of them seemed to have been injured, though both were covered in blood.
"See. I told you." He said, his smile showing bloody teeth. Jessica nodded and moved over to the pool, which had thawed slightly in the warm air of the cavern. She quickly washed the blood from her mouth and claws, then moved over to the packs which were miraculously undamaged in the wake of her spell casting. She knew that prior to her transformation, she could never have managed such feats of magic and still had the strength to move. Now, she didn't even feel tired and she knew she had even more power than that which she had just used. Her thoughts were broken then by Cerule walking over and taking up his pack as well. "I suppose that now is as good a time as any. Lets go."
The pair made their way through the only side tunnel that was still open. The tunnel led them along the long passage towards the echo chamber, but a jumble of rocks that led up to faint light blocked the tunnel before it got to that cavern.
"This must be how they got in." Cerule commented, peering up into the night sky. "By the looks of things, they have been mining down here for a while."
"Do you think it is safe to climb?" Jessica asked and Cerule nodded. The pair scaled the pile and found themselves on top of the ridge they had crossed to get into the valley. Several burnt out cooking fires dotted the small plateau where they stood, with another visible down in the valley. The place had been abandoned as the warriors had all come down into the tunnels to fight.
"Well, we might as well get started on our way then." Jessica stated and Cerule nodded. The pair set off along the ridge and out of the valley...
***
For a long time, they journeyed southwest towards the island of Lan'as'atal. The travel through the wilderness was as easy as it had been when they had left the academy. The pursuit had been stopped when they had killed all the pursuers in the battle in the cave. Being able to set their own pace allowed them to keep up with the training that they had started back in the cave. Cerule continued to train her to fight and soon, she was as good as he was. Every chance she got, Jessica also trained with her magic, learning the limits of her skill. A short time into the journey, she finally realized how her instinctual magic worked. Humans, lacking the innate skill that the morphs possessed, had to use words of power to direct the magic that flowed through the world. The ka-lin needed no such direction; all that was needed was to concentrate on the task at hand. The magic would do the rest. Once she realized this, magic came very easily to her. Soon, all she needed was a single thought to use the magic skills.
Two months into the trip to the sea, with the weather growing ever hotter, something happened that would change the ease of their journey...
***
"What was that?" Jessica asked, looking around the forest with interest. The faint sounds of a triumphant celebration echoed over in the direction of a valley off to the right. Cerule listened for a moment, and then motioned for her to follow him. The pair made their way towards the sounds and paused atop a rock formation, looking down on a horrific scene. A Morphic village occupied the floor of the valley before them. A great bonfire lit the village and its occupants were lined up around it. At first, Jessica thought that it was another coming of age ceremony like the one that they had seen during the last year, but she was wrong. A group of heavily armed warriors were leading a trio of morphs forward, bound by ropes. The problem was that the trio all had white fur.
"Cerule, we have to help them." Jessica stated and he nodded, looking around the village.
"There." He said, pointing to a group of weapons that leaned against a hut below them. They were unguarded and out of sight of the gathering. "Lets go."
The tigriss pair dropped from their perches, landing gracefully on the slope below them and rushing in silence down towards the weapons. When they got there, Jessica picked up a well crafted spear and a dagger that lay nearby. Cerule hefted another spear and picked up an axe that rested next to them. He twirled the axe around in a figure eight and smiled a grin that would have made her terribly afraid if it had been directed at her. In silence, Cerule motioned for her to follow him before heading around the corner of the hut. Cerule led the way forward to the edge of the firelight. The ka-lin were now kneeling in a line in the center of the village, surrounded by fierce warriors. The village shaman was speaking in the horrid tongue of the morphs. It took Jessica a moment to realize that she could actually understand him now.
"We have before us three aberrations." He stated. "They will be culled like their entire evil race." The shaman raised a curve bladed knife of bone and prepared to cut the throat of the nearest ka-lin. He was a fox, but he didn't look to be much older than thirteen or fourteen.
"Go for the shaman." Cerule stated and then leapt astride the nearest hut, bellowing a challenge to the assembled morphs. The entire village looked at him in shock for a moment and then surged towards him with a roar. Cerule leapt down from his perch and raced off into the village. The crowd followed him and Jessica raced from where she had been crouching, rushing at the shaman. His two guards were so intent on the fear in the eyes of the young fox that they failed to notice her until she was close. The first fell to a thrust from her spear, and she released the weapon, pinning him to the ground. The second warrior lunged at her with his axe, but he was laughably slow to her magic enhanced perceptions. Jessica twisted where she stood and the axe blade passed by her easily. With but a thought, she crushed the warrior's heart inside his chest with her magic. He fell without another sound. Jessica then turned her attention to the shaman. He raised his dagger to fight her, but she twisted the weapon from his grip with a flick of magic and he released the weapon. The shaman fell back and Jessica bound him with magic, forcing him to remain where he was.
"They are here!!" The shaman shouted, "Come quickly, they are here!!"
Jessica did not hesitate. She could not waste time on the shaman anymore. Drawing her dagger, she slashed the ropes binding the fox.
"Don't just sit there, run!!" She shouted at him and then moved to free the others. One was a leopard morph and the only female; the other was a fox with features like the youth who had taken off towards the treeline. They needed no prompting and leapt up the moment they were freed. Just in time it appeared, for a crowd of warriors had appeared from the direction that Cerule had gone. A few of them appeared to be wounded, but many, too many, were unharmed and angry. Jessica paused only long enough to free her spear from where it had stuck and then raced off back the way she had come.
The other ka-lin followed her, the two of them armed with weapons appropriated from the fallen guards. Jessica paused at the edge of the line of huts and turned around to face the crowd. She remained still for a few critical moments, searching for the right spell. Smiling, she raised a hand and gestured towards the blazing bonfire. At first, the fire just grew higher and brighter, but then two towering figures crafted entirely of flame stepped from it at her command. The pair of flaming beings turned towards the gathered warriors and roared, their scream a sound that did not belong to that world. Their breath was hot enough to set the nearest hut alight and Jessica smiled as the warriors turned and ran away from them. Because they were made of flame and not flesh, they were fairly fragile, but they were still deadly enemies. With this distraction, Jessica turned and ran off. As she left, she could hear the sounds of terrified warriors running from her golems and of rapidly spreading flames as the golems did their deadly work. Just as she passed through the first line of huts, Cerule came out of nowhere to run beside her. His spear was bloody, as was his axe head, but he wasn't hurt in the slightest. Not even his clothing was damaged.
"Nice trick." He said and Jessica smiled. With every breath, she could smell the scent trails of the other ka-lin running on ahead of them and she altered her path to meet up with them. "How long do you think it will last?"
"Long enough for us to get away." Jessica stated and continued to run. Already, she could hear the warriors starting to fight back out of desperation and she ducked beneath the tree line up ahead. The three other ka-lin were waiting for them there, their chests heaving with their sprint. "Are you alright?"
"We will be fine eventually, thanks to you." The elder fox stated, then offered her his paw. "I'm Aden."
"Jessica." She replied and shook hands with him. "This is Cerule."
"Glad to meet you." Aden replied, shaking hands with the warrior. "This is my son Ardal, and my friend Shae."
"Now that we are all acquainted," Cerule stated, not even winded by their flight. "Perhaps we should keep going."
"I agree." Aden stated, looking back at the village. The sounds of combat were dying down as the fire golems fell to the village warriors and the group set off once more, racing southward...
***
Later that night, Jessica and Cerule sat around the fire with Aden. They had made camp within the boundaries of a circle of towering stones that hid the light of the fire. Shae and Ardal were asleep a little ways off, the younger fox snuggled up to the snow leopard. Jessica looked at them with a smile. From the way that Shae was holding the boy, Jessica could tell that she treated him like her own son, even though it was impossible for them to be mother and child.
"I want to thank you for what you did." Aden stated, and Jessica turned back to him. "It is nice to see that there are still those who care enough about us to risk their lives to save strangers."
"Well, we will never turn our backs on fellow ka-lin. There are few enough of us already." Jessica stated and Aden nodded.
"Don't I know it." He said, staring into the campfire. "I tell you, it hasn't been easy since Ardal's mother died."
"What happened?" Jessica asked and Aden smiled.
"Well, I met her by chance when I was on the run from hunters. We stood together against them and started to travel together." The fox stated, still staring into the fire. "We ended up falling in love and we had Ardal. For a year, we stayed together as a family. But then, we stepped in to protect Shae from a group of hunters and my mate was badly wounded. Shae and I took care of her as best we could but there never was much hope without a healer. She died a few weeks later. Shae has traveled with us ever since. She has raised Ardal as if he was her own child. A month ago, we were surprised by hunters who came on our camp and they captured us. They didn't kill us and took us back to the village they came from. On the journey, they took great pleasure from torturing us so I never expected to live once we got to the village, but you have given us another chance at life. We owe you one."
"No." Cerule stated and Aden looked at him in confusion. "We acknowledge no debt for saving you. We have saved you because we know why they hate us so much."
"Because our fur is white?" Aden asked, smiling at his joke.
"Not entirely, but that is part of it." Jessica stated, and paused a moment to gather her thoughts. "There is an organization of humans called the Scio assassin order. This group is the reason that we are being hunted."
"The Scio are bribing the village shamen to perform a powerful magic charm." Cerule continued for her. "The charm binds the people of the villages to the control of the shaman when they come of age. The mark of this charm is the blazing red eyes that many of our folk have. We are being hunted down because we are naturally immune to the charm. As for why they are doing this, we do not know."
"But, we do know that there is something that the Scio fear. It is a place called Lan'as'atal." Jessica stated and Aden looked at her with interest.
"There is actually such a place?" He asked and the pair nodded.
"It is an island off the southern coast." Jessica said, "We were on way to the coast to find a way to get there when we found that village."
"Well, if what you say is true, than we will come with you." He stated. Cerule did not seem surprised, but Jessica was. At her look Aden gazed over at his son. "I want my son to be able to live as I was never allowed to. All my life, I have been running and hiding. I don't even know who my parents were. I was abandoned by my mother when I was young and it was only for the kindness of a pair of ka-lin that I survived at all. I want my son to have the chance that I never had. We stand a better chance of reaching this place if we travel together." The fox yawned and stretched. But, about halfway through, he winced. Jessica got up and walked over to him. She touched his side and her magic flowed into him, healing the wounds that had been inflicted by his captors. He smiled at her and spoke once more. "Thank you. That is much better."
"You should get some rest Aden, we have a hard journey ahead." Cerule stated and the fox nodded, laying down on the other side of his son from Shae. He was asleep in moments. "You know, this is the most ka-lin I have seen in one place before."
"Yes." Jessica agreed, but something that Aden had said echoed in her mind.
"Cerule, what would we do if we had children?"
"I would protect them with my life and cherish them as I have cherished you." He stated without hesitation and smiled at her. "Why do you ask?"
"I haven't thought about it before." She said and looked into the fire once more.
"Well, take some time and think about it, I will stand watch." He said and kissed her before getting up and climbing one of the stones above them, disappearing into the shadows above it. Jessica sat for a while, staring into the flickering flames. She honestly hadn't thought about children before. She knew that she wanted them sometime, but she didn't want to have them when they were running for their lives. Now would be a bad time to get pregnant.
She shifted where she sat for a moment and then climbed a rock on the other side of the circle from Cerule. Looking out on the rolling plains that stretched away to the sea on that side, she found herself wondering if she could handle seeing the ocean again, especially with all the memories that it brought with it. She was still there when dawn broke. As the eastern sky brightened, she got to her feet and dropped back into the circle.
"Aden," she whispered, shaking the fox gently. He stirred and opened one eye. "Its dawn, we have to get going."
"Alright." He said, yawning and as Jessica moved over to the fire to get the food ready, he sat up and woke Shae. When all the ka-lin were awake, the four of them ate a quick meal of dried meat and fruit before packing their gear once more. Moments later, Cerule dropped down off his perch and spoke.
"We have company." He said and Jessica nodded.
"How many?" She asked, stuffing a blanket into her pack.
"Too many." Cerule stated, moving off to pack his equipment as well. "We have only a day's lead on them. From the looks of things, they are from the village we fought our way through. Leave the fire burning, it might throw them off the trail."
"Are you well enough to run?" Jessica asked, looking in the direction of the three newcomers.
"We will have to be." Aden stated, standing up with his spear in hand. "If needs be, we can carry Ardal."
"I don't need any help." Ardal stated obstinately, a fiercely determined look on his face.
"Then let us run." Cerule stated. With that, the five white furred warriors turned and ran onto the plain...
As I said, comments are appreciated.