Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' (38 page)

“Can you help me get my swords on?” I
asked after I had got my coat on. “I keep getting them hooked on my
hood.”

He grinned and straightened everything
out on my back. “Do you have your knife?”

I nodded.

I was almost out the door before I
remembered I was missing something. “Tiny! Come on,
girl.”

She looked up blearily from her nest by
the fireplace and lay her head back down.

“I know how you feel. But at least you
have fur.” I picked her up. “Here, you can ride in my
hood.”

She grumbled but settle herself behind
my head.

I looked at Jasper who was standing by
the door waiting and shook my head.

“What?”

“I just don’t understand. I mean, I get
why you can stay warm when you’re shifted. You have tons of fur.
But how do you keep warmer than me when you’re a human?”

He shrugged. He was only wearing an
extra thick tunic as extra clothing.

The walk took us an hour longer than
usual because of the snow. One section of the path had been so
drifted over that Jasper had shifted and run back and forth a few
times to clear the path for me.

We got to Tara’s and found Ben outside
grabbing some more wood. Jasper grabbed an armful and carried it
in.

“Tara! Hayden and Jasper are here!”
called Ben as he placed a few more logs on the fire. “I think
Hayden could use some tea!”

Jasper laughed and handed him the
poker.

“Hey!” Jasper jumped and it was my turn
to laugh. I pushed my hands farther up his back under his
shirt.

“Not totally immune to the cold then,
are you?”

He turned and hugged me to his chest to
warm me up. “I never said I was!”

Tara walked in carrying four cups of
tea and started to laugh. “Jasper! You look like a bush man! Did
you lose your razor?”

He grinned at her. “I’m told I look
good scruffy. Hayden won’t let me shave.”

Tara handed me my tea. “How was the
trail?”

I smirked. “Well, if you’re a cat, I
guess they’re just fine. When you’re the human, they’re deep as
hell. Not to mention it is bloody cold out there.”

There was a quick knock on the door and
Brice walked in with a frown on his face. He shut the door and
looked up. His eyes widened at the sight of Jasper.

Jasper grinned. “Bush man?”

“No. Well, now that you mention it,
yes. But no. You can’t stay here!” Brice looked at the door as if
to make sure he had closed it properly.

Jasper frowned. “What
happened?”

“I ran into Scott and Brian this
morning. I was on my way here from Fillian’s. About half
way.”

Scott and Brian had been the other two
Namaels with him the day they had stopped to talk to Jasper right
before we were set to fight on the ridge.

“The order is still out. They’re
looking for Hayden. They wanted to know if I had seen or heard
anything to indicate that she had been back to your
cabin.”

I glance at Jasper.

Brice continued. “I told them I was
coming to town and would ask around. They were going to stop at
Fillian’s and then I told them to check at Cholta’s before heading
to the cabin. You know him. He’ll keep them talking for the next
half a day and he knows Hayden doesn’t want to be found. I figured
that would give me enough time to come get Ben and Tara before
heading back to your cabin so you would have some reinforcements if
you needed them. That’s why I’m here.”

My knees felt weak and I sat on the
floor.

“You have to leave again, Hayden.”
Brice looked just as worried as Jasper.

I shook my head. “I can’t. I can’t do
that again. It feels all wrong over there now.”

“I would rather not do that again,
either.” Jasper was twisting his ring around his finger, his eyes
narrowed into blue slits. He was staring at me, but not seeing
me.

I looked at him helplessly.

“Dodge.” He straightened slightly, his
eyes refocusing.

“What about Dodge?”

He took another minute to rethink his
decision, then grinned. “I think it is time to go dragon hunting,
Shlova.”

“You’re going to take her to the
Northern Regions?” exclaimed Brice.

I smiled. “I did promise Dodge we would
go on his stone quest.”

Ben laughed. “They won’t be looking for
her there, that’s for sure.”

“Do you want us to come?” Tara had sat
on the floor beside me.

Jasper shook his head. “If everyone we
know suddenly disappears, they’ll wonder what is going
on.”

“When should we leave?” The thought of
going back out in the snow when I wasn’t entirely warm yet was a
displeasing one.

“Still cold?” He smiled at me and I
stuck my tongue out at him.

“Stop that.”

“I’m not doing anything,” he laughed.
“You project it, I feel it. That’s how it works.” He held his hand
out to me and I went to sit on his lap.

I took a deep breath and lay my head on
his shoulder.

“We have enough time that we’ll make
sure you’re toasty warm before we leave.”

“I better head to the cabin. I told
them I would meet them there. You guys have a safe trip. And be
careful.” Brice gave me a hug, his eyes slightly
narrowed.

Jasper gave him a pat on the back, and
he was off.

By the time we had gotten supplies
packed for the trip and had something to eat I was warm
again.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I
raised an eyebrow at Jasper while he shaved. “Wouldn’t it help keep
you warm?”

He finished the strip he was working on
and looked at me. “It takes two weeks to get there, if we don’t run
into any storms, and I won’t be able to do it on the road. I don’t
mind being covered in fur when I’m a cat,” he laughed, “but when
I’m human, I like to look it. This is about as long as it’s ever
gotten. If I let it go another two weeks, even you won’t be able to
recognize me!”

I grinned up at him. “You better let me
cut your hair then. You look like a girl without the beard.” I
waited until he was done shaving then sat him on a chair and gave
him a haircut.

“Not as nice as when Shondai does it,
but it will have to do.” I laughed. “Sorry. It’s pretty
short.”

He ran a hand over his head and smiled.
“It’s fine.” He stood and kissed me softly. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

We said our goodbyes to Tara, Ben and
Tiny, then started on our day long trip to where the Winged Ones
stayed.

Chapter 10

A week and a half in to our journey, we
were still only half way to the North Region’s border. Thankfully,
the farther north we went, the warmer it got. Unfortunately, there
had been a lot more snow.

When we came across the cabin in the
middle of nowhere, my first instinct had been to turn around and
bypass it.

Jasper put a hand on my leg. “It’s
alright, Sholva. Do you remember Kantong? The Wedelve who was burnt
while trying to free his deer from the burning barn?”

I nodded. By the looks of the scars, it
was a miracle he had survived without help from a healer. “This is
his?”

“It used to be. He stays in Sageden
now. Stay here while I go make sure it’s still empty.”

I stayed on Dodge and got ready to run
if needed.

Jasper poked his head out of the front
door. “All clear, Hayden.”

I let out a breath and Dodge made his
way to the house. “Has he been gone long?”

Dodge shook his head.

“Let’s go check by the barn. Maybe some
of the hay is still here.”

My spirits lifted at the sight of the
hay shed still standing behind the burnt barn. I swung open the
doors and smiled at Dodge. “Breakfast is served.” I broke open a
bale, patted him on the neck, and trudged through the snow to the
house.

Jasper had a fire going. “Here. I found
some soap and cloths. I filled the big pot with snow. I’m going to
go hunt.”

I looked at him. He looked exhausted.
“Why don’t you have a rest and then go hunt?”

He shook his head. “No. The sooner we
eat, the sooner we can get going again.” He gave me a quick kiss
and headed back outside.

I heated the snow in the big pot and
washed up, then turned my attention to getting most of our clothes
cleaned. I hung them up around the house. When that was done I
stood at the window that faced the hay shed and smiled.

Dodge had spent the last week and a
half living off of the little bit of grass he managed to dig up and
a type of energy bar I had made for him composed of grain, nuts and
fruit. This was all held together with honey and molasses. Though
they were sufficient enough to keep his energy levels up, they
didn’t do much to fill the gap.

I caught some movement on top of the
hill behind the barn and watched until I was sure it was Jasper
coming back. He pulled something all the way to the top, knelt,
then stripped out of both his tunics. He glanced down at his pants,
shrugged, then pulled his dagger out to butcher whatever he had
caught.

I turned back to the kitchen and looked
through the cupboards. From the looks of things, Kantong hadn’t
come back to get any of his things once he had
recovered.

I turned at the sound of the door
opening and burst out laughing.

“What?”

“Did your nose get itchy?”

I was used to seeing him after he
butchered and the fact that his arms were bloody to the elbows and
his pants were soaked with blood weren’t a big shock. It was the
streak of red that ran from his nose to his left ear that had me
laughing. “You look like you’re going to war!”

He grinned. “Well, I hope not. Though
if that’s what it takes to keep you safe, that’s what I’ll do.” He
kissed my forehead, careful not to get any blood on me. “Did you
happen to come across any cloth, or strips of material?”

“How about a shirt? Kantong left
everything here.”

“That will work. Could you grab a
couple of them for me?”

I found him a couple of shirts and he
trudged back up the hill.

I threw on a few more logs on the fire
and refilled the pot with fresh snow so it would be ready when he
came in.

“We should have enough meat to last
until we get there now.” Jasper had cut the meat into strips,
wrapped it in the shirts so they wouldn’t freeze together, then put
those in one of our bags outside.

“Here, come stand by the fire. And
don’t tell me you’re not cold. You might be able to tolerate winter
better than me, but after taking a snow bath, you’re all pink.” His
skin looked raw where he had attempted to clean off as much of the
blood off with snow.

He grinned and did as he was told.
“I’ll admit it does get a bit chilly when the wind picks up and you
don’t have a shirt on.”

I brought him the pot of hot water and
the soap.

He winced when the hot water touched
the skin he had just scrubbed with snow.

I handed him some clean pants and took
the blood soaked ones from him. I gave them a long glance and
sighed. “I guess these aren’t your good pants anymore.”

“Sorry.”

“Not really your fault, hun. We didn’t
exactly plan on taking a road trip when we packed back at the
cabin.” I washed them the best I could and hung them up with the
rest of the clothes I had strung up around the room. I set off a
small breeze to help dry them then went to check on the meat I had
put on the stove. “What’s wrong?”

He was sitting right by the fire, his
arms wrapped around his knees. “Nothing. I just can’t seem to get
warm.”

I pulled the meat off of the fire and
went to kneel behind him. He leaned back into me.

“You’re shivering.”

He grinned back at me. “I believe
that’s what people do when they are cold, Shlova.”

“Jasper, I don’t think I have ever seen
you shiver. Not because of the cold, anyway.” I put my hand on his
forehead. “You’re hot.”

He chuckled.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I’m always warmer than
you.”

“It’s probably because you’re tired.
I’ll get you a blanket.”

I got the blanket, put a couple more
logs on the fire, and brought him something to eat. I sat beside
him with my meal. “We’ll stay until tomorrow.”

“We will, will we?” His blue eyes
didn’t hide any of his amusement at being told what to
do.

“You’re exhausted, Jasper. You need to
rest. You don’t sleep because you insist on keeping watch, you
don’t eat because this is taking longer than we thought and you
don’t want to run out of food. Even when we’re moving, you insist
on scouting ahead and do twice as much travelling as me and
Dodge.”