Night Calls the Raven (Book 2 of The Master of the Tane) (43 page)

“I know,” Jack said simply, ripping the sheet on Thane’s bed and wrapping it gently around his leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Thane’s eyebrows lifted. “You do?” he asked incredulously.

“How do you think I found you? ‘Give me the Chufa prisoner’, Thane?” He chuckled. “Don’t you think that was a little too direct?”

Thane shrugged.

“That is what I told him,” Jne harrumphed.

“And just who is this pretty lady?” Jack asked, finishing Thane’s bandage and tying it off.

Jne’s face instantly heated, her eyes dropping into narrow slits locked on Jack as she pushed herself away from the tangle of Thane’s body.

Thane coughed, quickly reaching out a hand to grab her arm. “This is Jne of the
Rena’ja
Tjal.”

Jack immediately stopped what he was doing and stood up before bowing to her. “
V’ert’ne, Jne jon jene Tjal Rena’ja. Reshi t’imik’yoek’kenaz vok’vak nok bak draka t’udakar’ye
.”

Jne’s face softened. Bowing her head slightly she answered. “
J’unik’ve
.”

Jack smiled and then bowed again. “We need to go,” he said, his voice suddenly pressing as if nothing had just occurred between them. “Time is running out.”

Jack reached to help his friend up but Thane held back. “No, Jack. First we need to get Tam.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said, grabbing Thane’s arm and gently pulling him to his feet. Jack’s bandage had stemmed the flow of blood somewhat but the bandage was slowly starting to turn red. The arrow hadn’t hit an artery, so the wound was not life threatening as long as they didn’t let it go for too long. Jne quickly wrapped Thane’s free arm around her neck to help Jack support his weight and then moved toward the door.

              “You know where Tam is?” Thane asked, surprised that Jack had left her in such a state without doing something to help her.

“Of course,” he spat, trying to maneuver him through the small doorway so the arrow’s shaft wouldn’t catch. “I’m the one that brought her in.”

              Thane dug in his good leg to stop them as they entered the hall. “And you gave her over to them to hold captive?”

Jack’s voice was heated and incredulous. “What are you talking about? Tam is not held captive.”

“I saw her,” he half yelled.

“Saw her? How? When? That’s impossible. Listen, if you want to see Tam before
she….” He didn’t finish his sentence. Jack’s voice suddenly became desperate. “We can’t waste anymore time here. We have to get you to Tam right now. Please, just trust me. We can talk about all of this later.”

He eyed Jack for a brief moment but finally nodded. “All right, Jack. Let’s go.”

Moving as quickly as they dared, they got him down the hall and then down the stairs. The innkeeper gasped when she saw Thane’s leg and a woman nearest to the stairway looked like she might faint, but no one got in their way or tried to halt their progress as they carried Thane out the front door. The street was bulging with people pushing about, trying to get their last bit of business done before the sun set. Jack called to the six soldiers just outside the door and ordered them to quickly clear a way for them to pass. The one who’d shot Thane looked pale, becoming even more so when he saw the look Jne was giving him. Had he known who she really was, he might have fainted on the spot.

The guards were affective. Without them they probably would not have been able to get Thane safely through the crowd without someone jostling his leg and causing more damage, but the going was still slower than either he or Jack would have liked. Luckily, the inn was almost
kitty-corner with the building in the square so they didn’t have to go very far. Thane’s breath caught in his throat when he realized that they were, in fact, headed toward the prison where Tam was being held. What insanity was this?

Reaching the doorway where they had been turned away only hours before, neither guard moved to stop them as one of Jack’s men opened the entry allowing them to hurry through.

“I only hope we are not too late,” Jack half whispered. Thane looked at his old friend briefly but didn’t say anything as his eyes darted about the small foyer searching for anyone that might pose them a threat. Jack pulled him and Jne to a door just to the right and opened it, dragging the wounded Chufa and Tjal woman in with him. Thane immediately saw the young Chufa girl stretched out on a cot, her arms and legs tied to the bed. He moaned. She looked dead. He heard the scuffling of a chair leg moving against the wood floor and suddenly became aware that someone else was in the room with them. The person stood but was blocked from view because of Jack’s hulking form.

“I brought you a friend,” Jack said, not speaking to Thane but the other person.

“Not now,” the person pleaded, still hidden behind Jack’s large body. “She’s almost gone. Please just let me alone with her,” the voice pleaded.

Thane felt the hot tears suddenly filling his eyes.
“Dor?”

“Thane?” the voice answered and then moved around Jack to see if it was really true. They stared at each other for a brief moment, neither one willing to believe that the other was real. Dor’s hair was still rather short but that didn’t keep Thane from recognizing him. Tears ran freely down both their cheeks as they caught each other in a hearty embrace. “Oh, Thane,” Dor whispered. “It is so good to see you again, but you’re too late.”

Thane pulled back and looked him. “What do you mean?”

Dor glanced down at Tam’s still body. “She’s almost gone.”

Thane’s face was a mask of horror. “Gone? How? What happened to her and why is she tied up like that?”

“
Dranlok
,” Dor said softly.

Jack answered Thane’s obvious question before he asked it. “It’s a poison the trolls use to control their captives.”

Jne moved around to stand next to Thane, lending him support both with her shoulder and with her presence. “I have heard of this
dranlok
,” she said. “It is extremely lethal when taken in large doses.”

“No,” Thane whispered, and would have collapsed if not for Jne. “This can’t be,” he said, his tears of joy becoming tears of extreme sorrow. “She can’t die. Is there nothing to be done?”

Dor shook his head. “The healers have already done all they can. Kat used her blood, but she said she was not strong enough to completely defeat the poison.”

             
“Who’s Kat?”

“A healer.”
Dor said, a tremble of excitement in his voice. “You don’t know about them. They’re Chufa, Thane. Chufa who have survived on this side of the mountain.”

“What?” Thane and Jack said in unison.

“Yes,” Dor continued, “but they are mixed blood with the HuMans. Kat has the VerSagn Tane but because her blood is not pure she said she didn’t have the strength to completely neutralize the
dranlok
.”

Thane tried to absorb all that Dor was telling him.
Chufa on this side of the mountain? Kat’s blood was too weak? Normally, once VerSagn blood was used to attempt a healing there was nothing more that could be done. If it wasn’t effective the first time, another treatment would do nothing. But he said that Kat’s blood was mixed. She was not of pure VerSagn blood. “Give me your knife,” he said suddenly.

Dor’s eyes widened slightly. “It might work,” he breathed pulling his dagger and handing it to Thane.

“What might work?” Jne and Jack asked.

“Help me kneel down by her bed,” Thane directed to Jne. Helping him to the side of Tam’s bed he winced as he bent his leg so that he could get close enough to Tam to reach her. The cloth Jack had wrapped around his wound was now soaked through and dripping onto the floor. Thane’s face looked pale in the quickly fading light coming through the window at the far side of the room.

“What are you doing?” Jack asked again.

“He’s going to try and heal her,” Dor answered, watching as Thane put the dagger to Tam’s arm preparing to make the cut.

Jack, suddenly realizing what he intended to do, stepped forward as if to stop him but Dor’s hand shot out and held him back.

Tam’s arm was so
cold, it felt as if her life force had already drifted to the beyond and that her body was just not aware it no longer held her spirit. Thane’s hand felt desperately along her arm searching for a pulse. Although there was the small possibility that he could heal her, he could not bring her back from the dead. Pressing his fingers a little harder he finally felt the fluttering movement of blood passing slowly through her veins. There was still a chance. Trying hard to focus through the tears cascading down his face, he pressed the knife against Tam’s arm and made the cut. A trickle of blood seeped out of the wound but not much more. Pressing the blade against his own flesh Thane did the same along the inside of his arm and then quickly pressed the incisions together.

Jack and Jne watched in horrified amazement at what he’d just done, while Dor held his breath, praying that they were in time. He suddenly felt as if a part of him was dying with Tam. He didn’t want to live if she didn’t. It was somewhat of a shocking realization but he could no longer deny feeling it—he loved her.

Thane held the incisions together tightly; a tiny line of blood dripped down his arm, but nothing else seemed to be happening. Tam still lay as motionless as death.

“Is it working?” Jack asked, breaking the tomblike silence.

Thane shook his head, trying to maintain his composure enough to keep the blood flowing together at their arms. “She’s not responding,” he sobbed, rubbing his arm harder against hers as if trying to force his blood into her veins. They were going to lose her. The realization was like the shock of icy water splashing over him. He was too late. “Oh Tam, please, no,” he whispered as waves of sobs pulsed through him. “Live.”

Suddenly, he felt Dor’s hand on his head. “It’s done,” he said through his own sobs. “You did what you could, Thane. She’s lost to us.”

Thane looked over his shoulder at Dor and then dropped his head. He was right. There was nothing for it. He could not heal the dead. The
dranlok
was too strong and he was too late. Had he only gotten there sooner, he was sure he could have healed her. It wasn’t fair. Tam should not be dead. She shouldn’t even be here tied to the bed like some kind of animal. It wasn’t right.

             
Jack rested a hand on Thane’s shoulder, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Thane.”

Thane nodded slightly. They should be celebrating their reunion together right now instead of saying goodbye to Tam. He looked at her pale face, feeling suddenly dizzy from his own loss of blood. She looked so peaceful. At least in death she would have joy and rest.

Her eyelids flickered just so slightly. Thane blinked quickly, trying to clear his vision from the tears and leaned a bit closer. Had he really seen what he thought he had? They flickered again, and then suddenly Tam’s eyes popped open and she gasped, drawing in a large breath as if pushing through the surface of a deep pool and finally reaching the life giving air above. Everyone else in the room held their breath and all was still for a brief moment until, without warning, her whole body seized, shooting her hips high into the air and straining the ropes that held her arms and legs. It took all the remaining strength Thane had to keep his hold on her arm so his blood could continue to mix with hers.

Dor reached over and clamped his hands around their arms trying to help Thane, who was quickly weakening, hold them together as Tam continued to thrash about the bed. Her whole body shuttered in a wave from her head to her feet and then strained against the ropes one last time. She seized again, this time letting out a small scream before suddenly dropping to the bed and going completely limp.

Dor held their arms together for a moment longer before slowly pulling his hands away and then leaning close to check on Tam. Her face was flush now and her chest rose and fell at a strong and steady rate.

“She’s alive,” he whispered, and then turned excitedly to Thane. “You did it!” the sheer joy he felt filling his voice.
“Thane?”

Quickly reaching out, Dor caught Thane’s shoulders just as his friend slumped to the floor.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

He opened his eyes, blinking away the last film of sleep, as he tried to focus on his surroundings. He’d had the strangest dream, the memory of it melting away like the sleep under his lids. What was it? It was about someone he knew. It was about someone he was close to but he couldn’t quite put a face or a name to the person. He felt a certain amount of desperation connected with the individual but didn’t know why. There was something important he needed to do but the memory of it was evaporating like dew in the late morning sun.

The room finally began to pull into focus so he dismissed the dream as nothing more than that, and concentrated instead on figuring out where he was. His body felt somewhat stiff, especially his right thigh, and his arm felt a little sore, but otherwise he seemed whole.

The window directly above the cot, where he lay, let in the slightest shafts of light as if from the first beams of an early morning sunrise lending him just enough light to make out his surroundings. He was in a very plain and small room, the foot and head of his cot pressed against either wall as if keeping them from squeezing in any further. Looking to his left he could make out no other furniture save for another cot against the far wall that appeared to also be occupied.

Squinting his eyes he could just make out the form of another occupant bundled up on the floor close to the head of the cot. Strangely, it all seemed familiar. Something in him seemed to be screaming at his mind to remember but it was all so hazy. His head felt heavy, like it had been stuffed full of cotton.

Swinging his feet around he forced himself into a sitting position; though doing so was proving more difficult than he had originally thought. Placing his bare feet on the cold, stone
floor, he leaned back against the wall and rested his head just below the windowsill. The wall’s coolness felt good against his warm skin and seemed to help clear his mind though only slightly. The cotton he felt was stuffed in his head seemed to be dropping away.