All Things Impossible: Heartstealer, page 29
The guardian roared, and its saliva filled the air. Its muscles tightened and it sprang forward again. It not only cleared the height of Kelin's head, but also twisted its way around his weapon. With one giant paw, it shoved Mora to the floor. The mighty jaws bent toward her.
"No!" Kelin hurled his sword. The weapon cartwheeled through the air and the hilt bounced off its eye. The beast didn't flinch or even blink as the sword ricocheted off its cornea. Kelin was right behind the sword and caught it before it could fall. With all the power of a blacksmith combined with panic, he struck the blade down into its muzzle and through its teeth. The powerful jaws were only inches from her face, but now locked together. It growled and screamed through its closed jaws.
Jakkobb hopped up onto the back of the guardian. It squealed under his sudden weight. The beast bucked and rolled but the knight kept his balance. He smashed his heavy axe down between its shoulder blades.
The beast bawled and thrashed more than before, but the knight kept on its back by holding onto the embedded axe. The monster rolled onto the floor. Jakkobb pulled out his axe and slammed it down again and again. Bones shattered beneath the blows.
Slowly, it sank closer to the floor with each strike, and soon its tongue lay motionlessly out of its mouth. It exhaled one last time.
Meanwhile, Kelin pulled Mora away, keeping his body and sword between her and the guardian. He embraced her and pulled her to her feet at the same time. "Are you alright? Did it cut you?" His face was burned with worry.
"Why - why was that thing attacking us?" Mora put a shaky hand in Kelin's.
He smiled toward her. "Um, I think it would attack anything." He glanced around the chapel. "I hate this place."
Jakkobb stepped off the back of the dead beast. "Now, it's dead and no longer an obstacle. As of the moment, we must find Der!" He wiped his axe on the guardian's fur. "I just hope there's not more than one."
Kelin froze with his foot in the air. "Um..."
"Let's just find Der."
As he turned, four more of the guardians appeared out of the air, seemingly spun into existence by the orange light through the crystal dome.
* * *
A sea of ecstasy encased her body. The water was warm, and she floated effortlessly on endless waves. Visions of the tiny tropical island she had spent all of two minutes on once lasted like hours. Her mind rolled around in the thrilling, ticklish ocean. She had never felt so relaxed, so warm, so weightless, and vaguely wondered why she had ever felt worry before. Nothing was wrong - could ever be wrong - here in the laughing ocean waves.
But, the stubborn part of Derora Saxen fought back. Her fingers quested for the pommel of her sword, dragging themselves for miles across the stone. She felt like she was pushing her hand through sand. She couldn't even feel the temperature of the floor.
Her first two fingers touched the sapphire, and a little awareness shot through her mind. Mostly, the realization of numbness everywhere, especially in her mind. She inched it toward her with her fingers until she could finally grasp the hilt.
Strength and will flowed into her arm from the sword even though it felt like the weight of Jakkobb's axe. She lifted and nearly dropped it, but the sword seemed not to allow itself to fall. Against the skylight, she saw the reflections of gold and blue stainless lights along the crystal ceiling. In a dream, she heaved the sword at Tom with all the might she had mustered.
The sword dove into the back of his thigh and traveled downward until it finally wrenched free. The length of Tom's thigh flew free with it.
He threw his face up and an animal scream shook the walls. The agonized yell ripped through her ears. Tom grabbed at his leg. She gritted her teeth and forced the strength to raise the sword again; it was easier this time. She thrust.
The Pallens sword punched through his chest eagerly, but missed his heart in his thrashing. He screamed again and shot for the ceiling. He pressed against it as if he were lying on the floor. One hand covered the bleeding wound in his chest and the other felt the back of his thigh.
After a long moment, he rolled over with his back pressed against the skylight. His face betrayed the anguish throughout his body.
Der stared upward with her sword vaguely angled at him; its point shook wildly.
Slowly, his eyes drained back to the color of an emerald's reflection. He looked around wildly. His fingers shot into his mouth, and came out bloody.
"Oh no." He stared down again. "No, no, no!"
She swallowed, but kept the sword pointing at him. Her head felt like it was floating above her, and she felt the blood sliding down her neck. Against common sense, it was cold to her sense of touch.
Tom stared at her, and then stared at his trembling, bloody fingers. "I wouldn't... No. Never. Derora? What the hell is happening?"
She tightened her jaw, but couldn't speak. She focused on her sword. It was all the strength she had.
Finally, he pulled his hand away from his thigh and then stared back to the warrior and her bloody sword. Cautiously, he drifted down to the floor. Her unsteady sword point followed him.
He knelt before her on his uninjured leg. "Der, please, let me close those holes. I - I - I wouldn't - You're going to bleed to death."
"Ge' 'way!" The sword weighed down on her arm as if she were trying to hold up a boulder, but she kept it trained on him.
He pressed his shaking hands against the ground in an effort not to fall over. "I don't know what's going on, honestly. The last thing I remember is opening the box, but I can tell, um, part of what happened. I do know, however, that if you don't let me help you, you're going to die. And soon. Did you understand any of that?" He leaned closer.
Der shook her head. The action was more of a flinch, but her intention was clear.
He reached out and she swung the blade at him. It was slow and clumsy, but the blade was sharp. He leaned back out of range and held up his hands. "Der, listen to my voice." He inched closer. "Derora, I have to help you. If you don't lower your blade, I am going to force you."
She didn't lower the sword.
He disarmed her from the wrist before she could even react. At the same time, he pressed his lips against her neck over his bite.
He quivered against the explosion of taste and the terrible will to bite her again. The craving was too powerful a master. He felt every time her heart trembled, and that made the taste more vibrant than the best wine. This, here, right here was the nectar fountain of his existence. His entire being yelled to capitulate to that sweet glory. Their bodies arched together and... and...
He wouldn't take it.
It was right here, just beyond his lips, and he wouldn't have it. He hovered with his face over hers, baring his teeth against the tsunami of instinct and raw desire.
He eased a hand along the side of her face. "Der?"
She blinked a few times and flinched again when she looked at him. "Green. Eyes."
"Yes, it's me." He lowered the hand to her arm. "I don't know what's happening."
"...Safe?"
He dropped his face and looked everywhere but her. "Yes, you are. I didn't drain enough that'd you die, and I'm not cut - at least, not in the traditional places, so I know you didn't drink any of mine, and you'd have to do that. You're safe."
She finally exhaled.
He pressed a hand against the hole in his chest. She'd stabbed him! He almost couldn't believe it. She'd stabbed him with-
Everything shut down. He grabbed his head as reality came into focus, and hollered aloud.
Der straightened against the wall, re-gripping the handle of her sword.
He pointed at the blade. "You ran me through on that! You stabbed with a weapon from Pallens! I should kill you!"
"Um... Serious?" She tightened the grip on her sword.
He stabbed his finger at the sword again. "You just tried to kill me!"
Her entire chest felt like it had caved in on itself. She gasped. "I - I had to! This ain't wood or silver!"
He shook his head wildly. "That's a Pallens sword, you don't understand!"
"Understand what?"
"Take your hand off it! Please!" He watched it like it was a poisonous serpent.
"What's-"
"Please!"
She stared at him like she'd never met him before. Slowly, she released her fingers.
He deflated, eased back against the wall. He felt the pain of his wounds - desperately not thinking about what caused them. The pain rolled along inside of him as hotly as molten metal. But, it was tolerable, incredibly outrageous, but tolerable. What was the worst thing that could happen to him? He'd die from these?
Through thick lips, he finally said, "You're going to have to tell me what happened. Starting with how you were able to strike against me. I bit you, you should have been helpless."
She thought back to the euphoria and then summoned her voice. "That's not going to stop me. I was. I don't know - I truly don't, I just got my hand on my sword."
He winced at mention of the sword. "I told you that you were too stubborn. Now, where are we?"
She shrugged. "I have no idea. I just ran."
"And I chased. Predator and prey, except that the rabbit is not supposed to bite back."
"I am not prey!"
"All humans are." He rubbed a hand over his face. "Which is why I'm beginning to think that you aren't human." He offered a smile that didn't reach the corners of his mouth or his eyes.
"Neither are you."
He forced a sour chuckle, for appearances' sake. "You are the master of the obvious."
"Alright, neither were you."
"What do you mean?" He frowned.
"Half elf."
His hand shot up to his ear and felt the mostly pointed shape. "Damn."
"Half elven ears."
He slouched. "Yes, I still have some secrets from you though."
"Oh, like the one where you pretend you're happy to be alone?"
His frowned darkened. "I am. It took some time to get used to, but I am."
She shook her head. "You're still a liar, Tom. The only thing you said to me before you," she forced the word, "Bit me was 'never alone again.' "
He refused to look at her.
She leaned back against the wall. "You know that I'm sorry for you."
"Don't." His upper lip curled. "I don't want your pity! I should pity you."
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We're both people - very different people - but people."
"But," his lips moved weakly, "I'm undead. An abomination."
"I don't care. You still make your own decisions."
His eyes moved from her to the Pallens sword and then off into space. Then, he smiled.
"What?" she asked.
He shook his head and pushed himself to his knees. "You would've made a horrible vampire."
She took a moment to turn the thought over. "Aye, probably."
"You're still bleeding." He looked away again. "I - your lips - was that me?"
She wiped her fingers across them, and felt the hot fresh blood. "Oh. Uh, yes."
"Um - well - they won't stop, you know."
"Oh. Oh."
He inched closer. She leaned away. "Um."
He didn't stop moving. She squeezed her eyes shut as he leaned forward. His lips were cold, but soft. After he smoothed his tongue over the punctures, they lingered for the space of a heartbeat.
Tom rested his back against the wall again. "How in the world did we end up here?"
She half smiled. "I have no idea."
"The last thing I remember..." He sat up sharply. "The heart! Where's the heart? Der, where?"
She stared at his chest, where his shirt had been shredded away.
He looked down. "No." His fingernails tore at his chest. "No!"
"Tom, stop!"
His head sprang up like an animal's, and he looked to the sword first.
She shook her head. "Don't. What will happen if you take it out? You ripped out your own heart. I saw that."
"But..." His pale face looked ready to crack. He bunched his fist in an effort to control something within. "This isn't what I intended, Der, I promise." "None of this was supposed to happen. I can't take this ghastly thing out now. Do you know what this means?"
She shook her head. "Um, you'll have more power?"
"No - yes, but, I never told you how dangerous this thing is!"
She licked her lips. "Well, you seem to be in control of it now."
"For now! How long will this last? I was just going to use it and then get rid of it!"
He jumped to his feet and immediately shifted all his weight on his uninjured leg in a grimace of pain. "Chloe! I was going to use it to save Chloe!"
"Oh, yes!"
He reached down and lifted her to stand. "We don't have much time, if any." He squeezed his eyes tightly in pain. He tried to take a step forward. "I can't walk! I should be healing by now!"
"At least you can fly."
"Yes, I know." He tapped his lips. "The exit must be around here somewhere." He closed his eyes. "I think I can feel it, like it's drawing me toward it, it's upstairs. Do you remember stairs?"
"How do you know this?"
He opened his palms. "I'm not sure, but I just suddenly know that this monastery was built for this heart. I know where everything is."
"Tom, this is dangerous."
He smiled sadly. "We'll worry about this later. For now, we need to get to Chloe."
He led them directly to a narrow twist of spiral stairs. Der was forced to lean against the walls to move in a continuously prolonged stumble, but she adamantly refused any help from him. They ascended to a blank stone wall. She narrowed her eyes and searched, but she could find no mysterious words written anywhere. Focusing on anything was a chore right now though.
He ran his fingers over the walls. "I can feel the reverence of fear."
When she placed her hand on the blank wall in an effort to rise, the stone yielded to her touch and wavered. Color seeped in, like the cool waters of a laughing brook, and through it they saw the cloister garth of ruins, barely a step away.
She turned to go back down the stairs, but Tom shook his head. "We can't wait for them. We'll travel faster without. However, we will put a stick in the door so it won't close and seal them inside." She glared at him and he shrugged. "Well, it might work."
She sighed. "You're hardly in any condition to travel at all, you can't even walk."
"At least I'm already dead and don't have to worry about that." He grinned brightly while leaning against the wall.
She sank down against the wall and let her knees come to her chin. "We won't make it before the war."
"You? Being pessimistic and hesitant? I don't believe it. Now, get up or we won't make it there in time to save her life, let alone the war."
She smiled ruefully. "I wasn't finished. I want to stay."
He shook his head firmly. "No, Der, I promised to take you back to Malfax and I can't break my word- although we will go to Chloe first."
She held up her hand. "Tom, let me finish, please! You can travel faster without me, and I won't leave my friends trapped here. I'll wait here for them. Go."
"I promised you."
"I know, and this war is about to crush your girl, so I'm releasing you from your oath."
He blinked and tilted his head to the side. "Do you mean it?"
She nodded and rubbed her neck. "Honestly, I don't want to be around you anyway."
"I understand. I wouldn't either." He glanced down to his hands. "This is farewell then."
"I think it is. I'll remember you." She forced a small smile.
He grinned. "I'm not sure I want that, I do exist in secrecy after all."
"Go to her, Tom." She looked longingly to the peaceful blue sky beyond the door.
He took her hand and kissed it. "Farewell, my little idiot."
"Farewell." Now, she found her smile came naturally and she tried to fight it.
He floated through the door in mimicry of walking, and with a dramatic swirl of his cloak, he vanished. Der felt a sudden surge of loneliness. Was it herself or some sort of empathic sympathy for him? Sighing, she closed her eyes. After a long moment, she shied her way down the stairs, pressing her hands against the center spiral for support. At the base, she sat down on the last stair and waited. She silently counted everything that hurt; it was easier to name things that didn't.
She had no way of reckoning how long she sat there; her mind still was not clear. When she finally heard the footsteps of the others, she didn't call out to them or rise to her feet when they came into view. She had no strength to even try.
Then, she noticed that they were running. She pushed herself up the wall. "To me!"
"Der!" Kelin's voice dripped with relief. "You're - we have to go!"
Behind them, four huge beasts that looked similar to oxen, but with tongues lolling like dogs flew from around the corner. She tried to gasp, and felt faint for doing it.
"Where's the exit, Der?" the captain roared.
She tried to raise her arm to point, but it barely shuffled toward the stairs. The knight didn't even stop running as he yanked her off the floor. Kelin and Mora dogged on his heels.
"Where is it? Where is it?" Mora yelled.
"There's just a wall here!" Jakkobb bellowed.
Behind them, the beasts tried to squeeze into the narrow stairs all at once, blocking each other from lunging. They fought each other for the chance to go first. One of them managed to climb on top of another and launched its ascent up the staircase.
"Jakkobb!" Mora screamed. The beast swiped its claws, tangling them in her skirt.
"Der!" Jakkobb thundered.
She pushed a foot out and the wall vanished. They tumbled forward.
A claw caught the edge of Kelin's shirt as he passed through the door frame. Not a claw's width after they were through, it turned back into part of the half-standing wall.
One giant paw was stuck partially through the stone. It flexed.
Collectively, they breathed out. Jakkobb set Der down on the ground, never looking away from the still-moving paw.
"I wonder if it's screaming on the other side."
Kelin gasped when he looked at his best friend. She flinched and forced down the urge to cover her neck. It wouldn't matter anyway, there was blood on the collar of her shirt, and she couldn't hide that. For a fleeting moment, she remembered Tom had purchased it for her, even if it had been only a bribe.
