Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) (5 page)

“What’s wrong?” Heidi’s voice broke through the
memory.

He smiled down at her. “Nothing. I thought we were
supposed to be talking about you.” He lifted a branch and let her
walk under his arm. “What’s your mate’s name?”

“Blake.”

“Do you watch many movies?”

Heidi stopped short and Tyler narrowly missed running
into her.

“What?”

“I asked if you liked to watch movies.”

“I heard the question.”

Tyler watched her, confused. “I don’t
understand.”

“Is this a joke? Did Blake put you up to this?” She
clenched her jaw and balled her hands into fists.

Tyler’s eyes widened and he held his hands out.
“Heidi, this isn’t a joke. I don’t understand what I said to upset
you.”

A branch snapped to their left and Tyler pulled her
to his chest then spun so they were hidden behind a tree. He bent
his lips to her ear and kept her mouth covered with his hand.

“Shhh.”

He let go of her mouth but kept a hold around her
waist. Heidi pressed herself back against him, trying to stay as
small as possible. Her heart jumped at the sight of his dagger as
he pulled it loose of its scabbard. She looked back quickly to see
him. His dark eyes met hers briefly before refocusing on their
surroundings. He smiled and motioned for her to look to the right.
The doe looked at them curiously before starting and bounding
away.

He could feel her shaking against him. “Are you
cold?” His voice was still just a whisper.

She shook her head and leaned back into him, not sure
her legs would carry her weight.

“You got mad when I mentioned movies. You’re
wondering how I know of them?”

She nodded and closed her eyes. Part of her wished
he’d say this had all been a bad joke; that she was still home. The
other part of her wanted him to have some strange explanation and
that he wasn't doing this to her on purpose.

“My aunt is from your world. She’s told me of them.”
He felt her relax. “Look, Heidi, I’m not sure what kind of man your
mate is, but I’m not in the habit of playing devastating tricks on
people.”

She turned and glared at him. “He’s not mean like
that; he just has a different sense of humour.”

“And you think he could pull off a completely
different world and make it look like you’d just walked into
it?”

“No. He’s good at setting up scenarios, but not this
good. He’s into special effects…” She touched the bandana around
her neck.

“Heidi.” Tyler waited until she was looking up at
him. “You can trust me.” He turned and led her down to the creek.
She knelt by the water and washed her face and hands. She looked
back to where he was sitting on a log, shaving the bark from a
stick with his dagger.

“What did you think it was back there?”

“I wasn’t sure, but I was going to have the upper
hand if it was going to try to kill us.”

“Do a lot of things try to kill you?”

Tyler grinned. “Lately, yes.” He stood. “Ready? There
isn’t much of a path to the camp.” He held his hand out to her and
started leading her over fallen logs and through dense brush.

John looked up as they entered the firelight. He
smiled and gave a small wave.

“Hello. I’m John.”

“Heidi.” She smiled her thanks as he handed her a
piece of bread and some cheese.

Tyler watched her sit by the fire. “Here,” he said as
he reached for his pack. “You can use my blankets.”

“But what will you use?”

“No worries. I’ll just shift for the night.” He dug
out a tunic and handed it to her. He remembered how his aunt was
always cold and assumed that this was typical of all human women.
She pulled the dark brown tunic over her head and rolled the
sleeves up.

“Thank you.”

Once she was done eating she lay under the blankets
and looked up at him.

“Tyler?”

“Hmmm?”

“Thank you.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Do you think the mammoth thing will be back?”

“It might, but don’t worry. Get some sleep, Heidi.
Tomorrow, we’ll start for Growlen and we’ll find you a cross
stone.”

John stood and made his way to their side. “I’ll take
first watch.”

Tyler nodded. “Wake me in a few hours.” He pulled his
pack to his side and used it as a pillow.

“Are you sure you don’t want your blankets?” Heidi
was watching him.

“I’m fine.” He waited until he was sure she was
sleeping before he let himself drift off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Heidi stretched and took a deep breath. Maybe today
she would open her eyes and find herself in her bed. She tried to
ignore the fact that there was a rock digging into her ribs, a sure
sign that she wasn’t on her mattress. She swallowed hard, trying to
keep the sobs from forcing their way up her throat. She heard
someone sit by her and felt a hand on her arm.

“Heidi, wake up.” Tyler’s voice was barely a whisper.
“You’re having a nightmare.”

She shook her head under the blankets.

“I suppose it’s when you’re awake that you feel as
though you’re in a bad dream.” He squeezed her arm gently.

The truth in his words and the kindness in his voice
set off the stream of tears she’d been keeping back.

“Hey, now. I know this must be a lot to wrap your
head around, but I’ll get you home.” He rubbed her arm through the
blanket. “I promise.”

Heidi sniffed and tried to get herself under control.
God, what was wrong with her? She wasn’t the kind of girl that had
breakdowns and cried all the time. Of course, not many girls she
knew had ever found themselves in a completely different world. She
thought of Blake and wondered what he was thinking this moment.

“What if they think I just ran off?”

Tyler frowned and looked at the lump under the
blanket. “Are you the type they’d expect it from?”

She shook her head.

He pulled the blanket down so he could see her face.
“Then I’m sure they don’t think that and are doing everything in
their power to find you.” He tucked some stray bangs behind her
ear.

She looked up into his deep brown eyes and watched as
the usual hard look in them softened.

“I’ll get you home, Heidi.”

John stretched and made more noise than necessary to
let them know he was awake without intruding on their
conversation.

Heidi wiped her tears from her cheeks and sat up.

“Great.” John grunted and smiled. “Another one that
doesn’t sleep in.”

She grinned. “I hate sleeping in. I always feel as
though I’ve wasted so much time sleeping when I could have been
doing something else.”

Tyler smiled. “Exactly.”

John rolled his eyes. “Do we have a plan for
today?”

Tyler nodded. “We’ll start for Growlen. We need to
top up our supplies.”

“How far is Growlen?” inquired Heidi.

“A week; maybe a few days more.” Tyler grinned. “It
depends in what kind of shape you’re in.”

“Well, I don’t run marathons or anything, but I’m
always hiking in the woods when I have a free minute…” Heidi
shrugged. “I guess we’ll see what you think qualifies as in
shape.”

John passed the bread and cheese to the others. “I’m
sure you’re in better shape than I am.”

Tyler smiled. “You’ve put on a bit of weight this
past week, if it makes you feel better. There’s that and the fact
that you can actually use your dagger.” He looked at Heidi. “Do you
have a belt on?”

Her eyes widened and he waved off her concern, dug
into his pack, and pulled out his extra dagger. The sight of the
dark brown leather scabbard caused her to shake her head almost
violently.

“Heidi, it’s fine.” Tyler stood and helped her up. He
motioned for her to undo her belt then slipped the scabbard onto it
and watched as she did it back up.

“I don’t… I mean, do you think I really need one?”
Heidi looked at him with wide eyes.

He nodded. “I know the world you come from is
relatively safe, Heidi, but Quelondain is far from it. While you’re
here, you’ll need to learn how to protect yourself.” He smiled to
ease her worries. “Don’t worry. If John can learn how to fight, you
should have no issues.”

“Hey, now!” John objected to the comment and
everybody laughed. He ran his hands through his hair and shook his
head to try and tame his hair

“First things first.” Tyler pulled his dagger from
its scabbard and flipped it in his hand then gestured to Heidi to
do the same. She did as she was told and stood facing Tyler, her
heart pounding in her chest.

“Two simple moves, Heidi; that’s all you need to
learn.” He smiled and showed her. “The first one is if something
has grabbed you from behind.”

John moved behind him and put an arm around his neck
to help him demonstrate.

“When you pull your dagger keep it in your hand just
as you have it. Pull it forward and thrust back as hard as you can
while you twist to the side. Even if you don’t kill whatever has
you, it will give you enough time to get away.” He stabbed
backwards, narrowly missing John who twisted out of the way just in
time.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “And the
second?”

“If someone comes at you from the front, get down on
one knee, act scared. Wait until they’re too close to react, pull
your dagger loose, stand and step forward and thrust it as hard as
you can. Aim for the belly. If you hit a rib it will do minimal
damage and you’ll most likely drop your blade.” He stuck his dagger
back in its place and moved so he was standing behind her. She
stiffened as his arm snaked around her neck and he pulled her
against him.

Heidi swallowed hard and thrust her dagger back like
she’d just seen him do. He smiled at her surprised cry as he
reached down quickly and caught her arm by the wrist, trapping
her.

“Faster, Heidi; if I can see it coming I can stop
it.” He released her arm but kept a hold of her neck. On the
seventh try, Heidi stumbled as Tyler twisted sideways, away from
the dagger he hadn’t been able to stop. He steadied her and smiled.
“Good job.”

They practiced the frontal defense a dozen times
before Tyler was satisfied she’d gotten the hang of it.

John grinned. “Remind me never to take you on in a
real fight.”

Heidi blushed and Tyler laughed.

“We’ll practice every time we stop.”

“He’s not joking.” John faked a groan. “The man is a
slave driver.”

“Oh, stop complaining. You’ll thank me one day when
you need the skills. You can’t spend the rest of you days just
throwing the dagger at whatever is coming at you.” Tyler laughed.
“One of these days, you’ll miss.”

John put his hand on the hilt of his dagger. “Name
it.”

Tyler grinned and looked around. “Alright, then…” He
pointed to a tree that stood a good thirty to forty feet away and
the small red lizard that clung part ways up its trunk. “The
yoll.”

John smiled. “It’s a bit small for breakfast, don’t
you think?”

“Not if you just cut the head off.”

Heidi watched, amazed. “There’s no way you can just
cut the head off. It’s too far away.”

John tilted his head and judged the distance before
nodding. “Off with its head, then.” He pulled his dagger and threw
it in on smooth motion from over his shoulder.

The three of them watched as the yoll’s head stayed
pinned to the tree while its body fell to the ground.

“Oh my god! That was amazing! That’s
unbelievable!”

It was John’s turn to blush at the attention. He
shrugged and went to pull his dagger from the tree trunk. He bent
to pick up the dead lizard and grinned. “Here, catch!”

Tyler cushioned the eggs as John tossed them lightly
to him.

“Put your bread away, Heidi.” Tyler gave John a slap
on the back. “It looks like yoll egg omelettes are on the
menu.”

She watched as John skinned and gutted the lizard
while Tyler prepared the fire to cook breakfast over.

“How long have you guys known each other?”

Tyler chuckled. “Well, if you count the time John
tried to steal my pack, it would be in the neighborhood of three
weeks.”

John blushed. “I don’t count that day.” He looked up
at Heidi. “I prefer to remember our first meeting as the one when
he saved my life.”

“What happened?”

John’s hazel eyes saddened though his smile stayed
firmly on his face. “Let’s just say that two weeks ago I was not in
a good place in my life. Truth be told, the past five years have
been pure hell and had that buck managed to kill me, I don’t think
I would have minded.” He handed Tyler the cut up lizard meat. Tyler
took it and put it in the scrambled eggs.

“You don’t mean that,” the younger of the two men
said. “There’s a reason you lived for five years in the conditions
you did. Any other being would have been killed or would have
starved long ago.”

John shrugged. “Well, either way, that day was a
close call for me and Tyler happened to pull me out of a jam.” He
pulled the coffee out and put some water on to boil.

They all watched as the eggs cooked.

“Hello, camp!”

John and Tyler stood, Tyler’s arm pushing Heidi
behind them. He felt her hand on the small of his back.

Five men walked towards them.

“Good day,” stated Tyler.

The blond man in the lead nodded. “Indeed it is.”

“Is there something we can help you with?” John
frowned as the man nodded again.

“We heard a woman. Where is she?”

Tyler stiffened. “Why do you want to know?”

“We’re rogue hunters. Our job is to find the humans
and bring them to our captain.”

Heidi’s hand tightened around a handful of his
tunic.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about her. She’s with
us.”

“But she’s human?”

There was no point in lying, really. All they had to
do was look. “She is.”

“Then she comes with us.”