All Things Impossible: Heartstealer, page 22
Der choked.
Kelin grinned. "I think Donley had his eye out for you though."
She shook her head. "No, he and Avice are married now."
"So you mentioned. That's not the point that I was trying to make."
"Then what was it?" She looked at him, and then to Mora, searching their faces for some sort of clue.
They grinned and shook their heads.
"Well, Avice is absolutely livid with me for missing the life vows."
"Good for them then." Kelin smiled again. "I think you'll be delighted to hear that you won't ever be married."
Tom suddenly loomed behind Der. "Well, I'm certainly delighted to hear that, but I don't think she'll ever be twenty."
"But, I'm eighteen!"
He crossed his arms. "Then, I don't have much longer to wait, do I?"
Der's face seemed to melt.
He patted her on the head. "Good, you're finally learning your place, mortal."
She turned her face away. "Leave me alone."
"I've been saying that to you quite some time," he sang softly over his shoulder as he walked away again.
Der glared at his back.
"You know that there is no girl." Mora smoothed her skirt. "He has to be searching for whatever this thing is for his own gain, somehow."
Der opened her mouth to argue, but then just sighed. "I hope not. I don't think that he is."
"There is a girl," Thalon said. "We've heard about her."
"He could be lying about a verifiable fact," Mora said. "Those little bits of truth make for the best lies."
"And how do you know that?" Der demanded.
"We're talking about Tom here." Kelin glanced at his friend. "He is a liar, Der. You've said as much yourself. He could be having our blood every night and we wouldn't even know about it!"
Der shook her head. "Not with an elf and a unicorn around. Tom's not stupid. You have to consider that."
"Vampires have mind controlling talents," Mora said. "I learned that in my studies."
"Well, I learned that from personal experience!" Her shoulders sagged. "But, I think my Pallens sword protects me from it. And, it apparently doesn't work on Spike, Jakkobb, or Thistle. I think. Or, he would have used it by now and left you all behind."
"When he used it on you," Kelin growled.
"You promised to help him! He's undead!" Mora leveled an angry finger.
"He's trying to help a dying girl!" Der shouted back. She straightened her shirt. "You don't have to be here, you know."
"None of this changes what he is. Besides, you've proved that he's lying! It's all just a ploy!"
"You have no proof of that."
"And you have no proof that we're wrong. I'm just trying to help."
She sighed. "I know, I know, and we're all grateful. Look, all I know about this adventure is that Tom is after something in an ancient, abandoned monastery. And that he's desperate."
"He's not desperate," Mora replied flatly. "He's always calm, irritatingly calm. I think that it is all a trick. Because, if he really was trying to save this girl, he would at least look desperate."
"How many other vampires do you know? Do any of them ever look desperate? I just don't think we understand. I mean, he's not human like we are."
"Derora," Tom said as softly as a knife. Once again, he appeared behind her with his hood casting impenetrable shadows over his face. "I already told you, I don't need myself justified to them." He knelt beside her and winked one brilliant eye. "I've heard everything you said, and if I cared, I'd do something about it." Before anyone could reply, he glanced up at Mora. "You look thirsty."
She blinked and shook her head. "I am, a little. Der, please hand me that waterskin."
Der noticed the waterskin propped against her leg that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Um." She looked back at Tom. "Where did this come from?"
"It's yours, Der. It's been there the whole time." Tom tossed the waterskin up to Mora.
"No, it hasn't- Wait!" She lunged, but it was too late.
Mora took a drink and immediately sprayed the water out of her mouth. Tom chuckled as she grabbed her throat and wheezed.
"I knew that was the waterskin you gave me!" Der gasped. "You used your power!"
Kelin grabbed onto Mora by her shoulders. He ripped his furious expression to the vampire. "What have you done?"
Der jumped between them, holding out her hands. "I know it burns, she won't be able to speak for awhile! She's not hurt, I swear!"
Tears leaked from Mora's eyes. She gagged as she tried to talk and thrashed around in Kelin's grasp.
Kelin held onto the young woman with one hand; his other went for his sword.
"No!" Der lunged forward, but Tom caught her shoulder.
"Der," he said icily, "If he wants to attack me, let him. I've made no promise not to hurt him."
"I know!" She shoved against his chest as hard as she could. She couldn't even move him.
Kelin forcibly pulled his hand away from his hilt, all the while promising blood with his eyes at Tom. Then, he put an arm around the panicking Mora. He glared at Der. "I don't know if this is worse than the last time with the elf! You meet someone who has disguised himself as human and then we all drown in a river of trouble!"
"That finally sounds more like the Kelin I know." Der shook her head. "I'm sorry. I had nothing to do with this." She held up her hands. "If you want to fight Tom, fine. I won't stop you. Mora will be alright."
Kelin stiffened, but instead took Mora by the shoulders and led her away. Tom smirked.
"That was disgusting." She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
For the slimmest fraction of a second, his eyes widened, but it was quickly overcome with his usual blank face. "You should have seen what I might have done to her if I didn't need you. After that, you wouldn't help me at all. Consider this a look at what I really am."
"You said you didn't care about what anyone thought, and then she bad mouthed you and-"
He grabbed her tongue. He was so fast that he actually snaked his forefinger and thumb through her teeth and snatched her tongue. "Walk away right now."
"Uhh-amm!"
"Stop trying to talk! Argh!" He let her tongue slide free, and marched away from her.
Der shook her head at him and then spun on her heel and walked toward Jakkobb. He was watching Goldie not too far away. Thalon sharpened one of his knives nearby.
The captain raised an eyebrow. "What's bothering you?"
"All three of them are angry with me."
"Well, perhaps if you learned some tact..." He sighed. "Three of you are certainly very young. I fully expected you to fight. I just hope it doesn't get out of hand." He didn't look away from Goldie, who squatted facing away from them. A patch of burning grass blackened the ground next to him. Goldie whirled around and trotted back. He stretched his wings like a dog stretching his back. "I'm full now."
Jakkobb half grinned. "Wait until you're older and you learn to sustain yourself more on magic than on food. You'll feel much better being big, and I think that you'll find you can process thoughts and ideas better too."
"You can do that whenever you want?" Der asked. She picked up the tiny dragon and perched him on her shoulder.
"Yes, but it makes me so hungry it hurts."
Jakkobb rubbed his forehead. "Yes, most dragons can't do that. I think that he's just so huge that the magic adapted his body for him and gave him this ability."
"What?" she and the dragon asked in unison.
He waved his hand. "Never mind, you'll figure it out eventually. You also need to learn not to flame all the time. Especially not when you're angry, surprised, happy, or bored."
She held Goldie up to eye level. "So, why are you out on your own?"
"I told you I didn't want to talk about it." His graceful head swiveled away.
"I think it would be a good idea," Jakkobb said softly.
The dragon's muscles relaxed in Der's grip, and he looked very much like a wet shirt hanging limply in her hands. His voice was almost a whisper. "I was the last of the four eggs to hatch, and half the size of my siblings. I was the runt."
"How bad is being the runt?" she asked.
"Runts are usually made outcasts by their siblings, even if the parents care for all of them, not always equally though," Jakkobb explained. "Although, there is absolutely no way you are the runt."
"That's what made the others drive me away. My older sister was the biggest - or so she thought until I discovered I could make myself bigger or smaller when I wanted. One day, my father and my mother left us - we were old enough by then to be mostly on our own. For awhile. That's when they drove me out. They didn't like that I could be bigger than them."
"So your brothers and sisters threw you out?" Der cradled the golden creature a little tighter.
Jakkobb frowned. "His parents are probably looking for him. And that's dangerous."
"I came to the human lands so no one would find me."
The knight tapped his fingers against his helmet. "That was wise thinking of you, because I don't think they will."
"Dad!" Thalon, who had loosely been paying attention to Goldie's story, suddenly hopped to his feet. There was nothing approaching in sight from the town. Thistle appeared out of the trees to the side, leading Kelin's horse. Strapped on the saddle were most of their supplies, including Jakkobb's saddle. Kelin, still holding Mora up by the shoulder marched over.
"Some of our things burned." Thistle handed the reins to Kelin, who took them in one hand.
Jakkobb untied his saddle with a long, calculating expression toward Daedle's Locke. "We have anywhere between a fortnight or a few hours before this war breaks, but it's going to happen."
Tom, appearing like the shadow of a fast moving cloud, began to pick through the saddlebags. "I don't have the time for this. We could use the dragon to hasten us." He looked over to where the tiny gold dragon burped a small bubble of swamp-smelling fire.
Jakkobb shook his head. "He can barely control his power."
"Chloe's not safe," Der said.
Tom glared darkly at her. "Don't mention her name, and thank you for pointing out the excessively obvious."
Kelin and Mora drifted closer. He held her up by her shoulders. She pressed one hand against her throat and tears leaked from her eyes. Kelin cleared his and threw a very acute glare at the vampire. "When Mora was captive, she overheard something about a girl."
Tom stepped closer, and Kelin put his body in between them. The vampire snarled, "What was said?"
Mora cried into her hands, smothering her sobs. Kelin barked, "She doesn't know! It's just that those devil worshipers mentioned something about a girl. That's all she told me."
"Then, how do you know it's Chloe? You don't!"
"But, we do. And we know where she is." Thalon accepted the saddlebag his father handed down to him as if Mora, Kelin and Tom were playing an easy game of cards over tea. "We could keep her safe."
"Send word to that pesky physician too," Der added.
Thistle shook his head in silent refusal. His son gazed pitifully at him, and the chemman sighed noiselessly. Thalon grinned and punched the air in victory. "We'll go!"
Tom stuck out his hand. "Absolutely not!"
"You wanted my help, Tom, and this is it." Der stepped up in front of him.
He shoved his nose nearly into hers. "You will send a chemman to my ward?" Behind him, Thistle pulled Thalon back by the boy's shoulders; Kelin and Mora slinked off to the side to dry her tears; and Jakkobb stepped back, folded his arms, waiting.
She nodded. "I trust him."
"I don't!"
She jabbed a finger into his chest. "He may be the only chance she has when this war rolls over her. Are you willing to risk her life?"
His mouth hung open, fangs and all. "But, he's a chemman!"
"And you're a vampire!" She grabbed his hand, and in his shock, he didn't try to pull it away. "Tom! This may be her only chance of survival. They can protect her long enough for us to get back to her."
He slowly took her other hand, and finally his voice was calm. He didn't look at her face. "Derora, this was not my plan."
She half smiled. "And you're not in control of it either. This is why I don't truly plan for things, they never seem to last."
Beneath his heavily shaded hood, he closed his eyes. "I don't know. There are too many people involved, and I don't know them."
"I trust them and they've saved my life more than once. They will protect her."
He shook his head. "I don't know, Derora."
"Trust me, please."
Hesitantly, he opened his claret eyes.
"You know we can't make it in time," she pressed.
"Yes, we can-"
She shook her head. "No, we can't. I saw where we have to go on the map. We don't even have enough time to get back to her. Tom, she's dying right now." He groaned. She squeezed his hand. "We'll help you, but you have to trust me."
He groaned again. His voice was a shadow of a whisper. "No, I can't. I'm sorry."
"Hmm." She tilted her head. "Then would you hold your eyes and ears closed for a moment? I'll poke you when we're done."
"What?" A small dose of panic darted across his face.
She smiled. "So Thistle and Thalon can get a head start. They already know where she is."
"What! No!"
Her grin only spread. "No? I don't think so. You kidnapped me, so this is your punishment: we're going to help you."
He tried to speak, but nothing came out. His frame sagged. "Alright, you win, Derora Saxen. But, if she's not alive when I arrive there will be hell to pay."
"Only hell? I've dealt with higher stakes." She winked.
Jakkobb coughed loudly into his hand and pulled Der back by the shoulder. Tom's and her hands fell away from each other, and they both gasped as they noticed. She felt her face heat up, and she didn't know why it was doing that. She was sure she was as red as a cherry.
The knight clapped his hands. "Then, it's settled. They'll guard the girl, while we get whatever object can heal her. Keep in mind, we'll probably be returning in the middle of a war."
The vampire lifted his upper lip toward Der. "If this fails, the chemman's a dead man."
"Look at who's talking."
"I'm not joking. If this fails, once my oath to you is fulfilled, I will hunt you."
The knight-captain tapped his axe with his hand. "Then our war truly begins."
* * *
The world sang in opposite colors. The sky was pink, water was orange and grass was purple. Giant giggling multi-colored bugs flew around them, and left trails of exploding sparkles in their wake. Kelin danced with Mora to music only they could hear. There were so many things that his heart pushed to say, that he was so tempted to say... but he'd just met this girl... and she was so fragile.
You've had your fun, now that's enough, a melodious voice ordered. Several green, purple and pink glowing bugs fluttered around Spike's head. His silver and golden horn appeared and glowed as they swirled around it.
Jakkobb waved at the fairies. "Playful buggers." He held out his hand and a green glowing tiny person twirled across it. The fairy's wings were delicate and transparent, while her long green hair reached to her waist.
Must we? a collective voice asked. We're having too much fun.
"We have places to be, little ones," the knight said.
Then go.
"With them." The elf sighed. "Let them out of your spell."
So be it. You have ruined our fun.
"And you've ruined my efforts to move quickly."
You know the girl has not been honest with you. She knows more than she says. Why do you let her continue?
"Because it's fun. Now, be gone!"
The giggling lights vanished as if they'd never been there.
Kelin and Mora blinked as the world's colors stirred into their rightful order and the laughing music dissolved. There were no signs of the giggling bugs. Then, they looked at each other, with their faces only a few inches apart.
Spike snickered.
Jakkobb smirked. "Come on, children, out of the fairy ring."
"Fairy ring?" Mora looked around wildly. She jumped away from Kelin, while her cheeks glowed warmly.
The knight nodded. "Yes, the one you're standing in." He nodded to the circle. Around them, the forest grew without quarter to clearings and open spaces, except for this one tiny ring on the knob of a small hill. A circle of fungi kept everything else from growing inside. "My advice, don't ever eat the mushrooms. Don't worry, fairy rings are far too common up here."
"We didn't, did we?" Kelin asked quickly. "Do anything stupid?"
"No." He grinned. "Believe me."
Spike rolled his eyes and turned down the hill. The others started to walk after him, hints of tiny laughter chased after them. Kelin and Mora were both as pink as some of the surrounding flowers.
Jakkobb said, "You've been missing for hours."
"No!" Kelin shot a look back up the hill. "It's only been a few minutes at most."
"Kelin, you know better than to doubt me."
"I do, but you can also be tricky! After all, you never told us that we were going to be captured in Darkreign. Kaleb told me that was your plan all along, and you didn't tell us." He paused. "Sir."
The captain blinked. "How can you construe 'you've been missing for hours' into something tricky?"
"Uh, well, I swear it's only been..." He looked up at the sun. "Oh."
"Fairies will do that to you."
"But, I don't remember any fairies," Mora protested. "And they're magical..."
"I'm not surprised."
"Fairies?" Tom's voice emerged from a tree. The hooded and gloved figure followed. "You should've left them. They would've been happy." Mora squeezed her body behind Kelin at the sight of the vampire.
"Until they starved to death. You know fairies often forget to feed their pets." Jakkobb frowned at the vampire.
Tom shrugged and opened his hands wide. "They would've never noticed."
I'm impressed. You're not trying to take your hostage and run while we're distracted, pin-tooth? Spike stepped between Tom and the humans.
