Dark Wood: Legends of the Guardians (24 page)

Elizabeth
and Allos had returned to the main hall with all the intentions of checking on
her patients. Sola and Neva were working diligently to keep everyone well cared
for in their absence, and insisted the two of them seek rest.

Neva
had placed a basket of food, herbs, tonics, and bandages into Elizabeth’s arms.
“See to it he sleeps soon, and yourself as well. We can take care of them for
now. If anything happens we’ll send for you.” Neva had refused all arguments.

They’d
been in his home when Allos had caught the glow of flames through the window.
Mayla was a heavy sleeper, and Aryaunna hadn’t stepped foot inside their room
in weeks. Elizabeth came here almost every night, if Allos wasn’t training late
with her sister.

Allos
kept little in his room. Weapons hung along one wall. A staff sat in the
corner. Fur throws were piled on the floor a comfortable distance from the
fireplace. A change of clothes sat on a chair in a corner next to a small desk
against a wall. Upon it was parchment and a quill pen. A small jar for the ink.

“Sit
in the chair,” her soft voice instructed when he stood staring at an empty
fireplace, not sure what to do with himself.

Glancing
over at her for a moment, he nodded and moved the clothes over to the corner.
Setting the basket on the table for her, Allos shed his cloak slowly. It hurt
to roll his shoulders back. Before he even tried Elizabeth stepped up behind
him to ease it from his shoulders. Folding it over her arm she carried it to
place over his others.

Ignoring
the chair he walked past her to the fireplace and knelt. A few scarce logs were
stacked on the floor. “What are you doing? Stop that,” she scolded him. It was
so unexpected he stopped and looked up at her.

“How
do you expect to work in the dark, Eli?” A tight smiled tugged at his lips as he
turned back to the wood.

Quickly
she knelt down beside him. “I can light a fire myself, Allos. In fact I’ve been
lighting them all my life. Please. I don’t want you to make it worse.”

Brow
quirked, he sat back on his haunches and waved a hand for the cold hearth. “It
wasn’t my intention to imply you couldn’t. Simply that you shouldn’t have to.
That is all.”

Dropping
onto her knees, she stood closer to him and placed a soft kiss to his cheek.
“That’s precisely why I don’t mind doing it. You can light the fire the next
night, and the night after that.” She giggled, kissing his cheek again. “And
the night after that.”

“Be
mindful, lady, talk like that and I’ll keep you.” His chin tilted to press his
mouth lightly against the corner of hers.

“I
thought you already intended to keep me?” she teased with a smile. Her hand
came up and touched to his cheek, feeling the slight bristle over his cheeks.

“Oh,
sweet woman, I absolutely do.” Their lips touched lightly, prolonging each
second and instant of touch. “Marry me?”

“After
I light the fire.” Another soft kiss touched his mouth, and then his chin.
Turning her small body around in front of him, to block his reach she went
about stacking the wood over cool coals. His hand touched against her side as she
worked on lighting it with the flint stone. It barely took her two minutes to
have it burning, and growing steadily.

“I
confess, you’re quite good at lighting fires. You’ve certainly lit two well
now.” He seemed appreciative.

“Two?”
she questioned, trying to think of another time she’d done this before him but
she couldn’t recall.

“Mine.”
Allos brought a hand up to brush her wild crimson curls over her shoulder. His
lips pressed to the back of her neck lightly. “You are incredible,” his voice
was gentle as he spoke against her neck. “What you did for these people, you
are an angel of mercy.”

Her
chin dipped low, embarrassed by his words. Hand snaking around in front of her,
it rose to gently touch her cheek. His calloused fingers brushed her tender
skin. “My incredible, beautiful angel. I love you, Elizabeth.” His arms wrapped
firmly around her from behind, pulling her back against his chest. Chin resting
down upon her shoulder, he watched the fire flicker behind one of her crimson
curls.

Raising
her hands, she held them over his, tracing her touch back and forth against his
warm arms. “You’re warm.” Nuzzling into him lightly, she melted against him.

“And
you are freezing.” Keeping her flush against his chest, his hands rubbed up and
down her arms to warm her up. The fire was growing. The larger logs began to
catch. Carefully he sat back, his hold on her not loosening as he pulled her
back with him.

“Allos,
I need to look at your back, and make sure you’re not hurt anywhere else,” she
lectured but had moved with him.

“No
torn flesh. Bones will mend. There’s nothing to do about them. They’re not a
danger to me. It’s just an ache,” he reassured her. “Druids heal quickly when
we’re in nature. The only medicine I need is you by my side.”

Pulling
away she turned to face him. “Lay down on your stomach, and I will stay at your
side.”

“Is
that what it takes?” A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he gave in,
turning to lie down on his stomach, twisted half onto his side.

Carefully
she curled back into him. “My mother had a healing touch. That’s why caring for
people comes so naturally to me.” Lying onto her side, she reached her arm
around behind him. “Rest against me,” she urged. Holding her body against his,
she rest her chin gently onto his shoulder.

Touch
light as a feather she ran her fingers around his back what seemed sporadically
almost. Until he realized she was tracing an invisible symbol. She was tending
to his wounds in a way he’d least expected. She was healing him with pagan
magic.

It
was a strange sensation as his bones began to mend, knitting together where
they’d cracked and splintered. It would be tender, but she’d advanced his
healing by weeks when she was done. At that point her body had melted down
against his.

“Angel
of mercy,” he spoke in a whisper as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her
against his chest securely. Snaking her arm up between them, Elizabeth touched
three fingers against his chin as her eyes closed. Her body fell lax into his
arms as she drifted into sleep. Weary, his eyes closed.

“Aryaunna?
Where are you going?” Zane came up behind her casually as she mounted the horse
who’d had little rest since their return. Sita was weary, but was ready to ride
again.

“The
pyres light at full dark?” she asked without comment as she turned Sita around
to face him, as his back was to the open gate.

Hesitating
a long moment, he looked from Sita up to her rider: their Emissary. A young
girl in every right, but with more strength of will than he’d seen in many
those twice her age. “They do.”

“I
will meet you there. Keep them safe, Zane. I will not be long.” She gave him no
room for argument for as she spoke she was urging Sita forward to stride past
him. The moment Sita broke the gate her pace hastened. Though it was not a hard
run, she kept the brisk walk straight through the village to the Dark Wood.

The
journey had become well-traveled, as well as the pathway to Brisheer if not
more. The trees had seemed to have defined a path, moving out of their natural
way. Even the limbs of the haunted wood pulled back for the Emissary on this day
of mourning.

“I
know of your tire, Sita, but we must make haste.” Sita was panting but as
Aryaunna spoke to her she pushed her body harder. Her hooves hammered the
frozen ground at a near full run.

In
time Aryaunna could see Mount Dia through the trees. They were nearly there.
Sita seemed to find a renewed energy. Before they knew it the mountain’s base
sprawled the ground before them, stretching out in what seemed like a never
ending horizon.

“
Reign
!”
Aryaunna let out his name in a deafening plea. Dismounting Sita fluidly, she
gave her a gentle touch on the side of the neck. “Go, Sita. I will call you
when it’s time to leave.” Turning away from the mare, her feet took her rapidly
up the ever steepening base. Again she called for him, “Reign!”

Deep
inside the mountain steam puffed out of the Dragon’s maw as he climbed
vertically up a large cliff that overhung the great pool. Talons like raw
diamond dug effortlessly into the stone, propelling himself onward and up.
Having heard her call, he was moving rapidly to get to her.

Reign
found himself out of breath once he reached the inner caves. A winding
labyrinth of winding tunnels. Shaking off the ache in his underused muscles, he
ran through the caverns to the closest opening. His body struggled to fit through
the small opening. Talons dug into the exposed rock side to help pull himself
through.

Though
his wings were dead, they stretched wide as his body leapt through the air to
jump from one edifice to the next in search of her. She’d stopped calling for
him. As the Dragon bellowed her name it rippled through the skies like thunder
and echoed off the mountainside.

A
crumble of rocks could be heard behind him, further down the mountain. She was
on foot. Spinning in a sudden half circle, Reign leapt out off the side of the
mountain. He moved with a practiced agility. Despite his size he never lost
balance as he moved swiftly for her.

Even
though Reign could have made the distance to the base of the mountain in little
more time, Aryaunna had been climbing ever higher to meet him. Her hands shook
as she reached up for the next surface, wide enough to stand on if little else
before she’d have to climb higher. Her forearm placed sturdily as her fingers
dug into the unforgiving edifice.

Long
talons slipped between her arm and her torso as scaled appendages securely
wrapped around her bicep. “Reach up, and take my wing,” he instructed her.

Right
hand reaching up blindly, she felt through the air and against his slick hard
scales until she found what felt like bone. His wings. The grip of her fingers
wasn’t as tight as it could be, but she held as he lifted her up.

Without
speaking further, Reign helped her find a secure hold to his neck. Half
carrying her, he made his way to a safer place.

Setting
her down carefully, he pulled back enough to look at her. They’d come to a
small enclave upon the side of the mountain. Raising his large hands, each
talon the size of one of her fingers, he lift one claw up under her chin.
“When’s the last time you slept?” he asked in a mild tone.

Her
shoulders began to shake though she was silent for the first few seconds. Slow
and soft he could hear her laughter as she began to giggle almost hysterically.
“I cannot find peace to sleep inside their village. The last I slept was as
Sita and I rode through a field of Brisheer, and the Drow burned in my
slumber.” Laughter erupted from her lips.

The
claw holding gently under her chin slid away, his long arm wrapped around her
back and held her close; wings wrapping around her like a cage. She laughed
harder, though there was nothing funny. It took a moment for her to calm down
and catch her breath so that she could continue. It’s why she’d come. “The
village was burned. We lost two homes, the smithery, the great tree… and… and
more lives than we should’ve. Six are dead, including Lena.”

Reign
gave no condolences as he listened. It was a burden she’d have to endure until
the end of her time. “I’ve come to ask your favor, Reign.”

“You
have my favor, Aryaunna.” He looked doubtful as he looked down upon her, wings
still incasing her body. His tone implied more than he’d said. It was his duty
to aid her in any way he was able, as she was well aware.

“You
once told me that Dragon kind don’t sleep?” she asked hesitantly, still trying
to form the idea in her mind of what she would do, and how she would obtain
what she needed.

“There
was a time we slept, but that was millennia ago. As we discovered that we were
most vulnerable when we slept, we found ways to protect ourselves.” He kept his
answer vague, though she already knew that Reign never slept.

“You
found a way to not sleep. I need that now, Reign.” Looking up at the massive
head that loomed above her, she sought his eyes with her desperate gaze. For
the first time since knowing one another, he looked upon her with pity. Her
body was soaked and stained in the blood of men. Judging by the splatter and
the look in her eyes, she’d spilt each drop herself.