All Things Impossible: Heartstealer, page 34
In a voice as ancient as the sea, Goldie spoke, "Stop."
Lynon spun on his men. "Drop those bows!"
Behind him, he heard thunder, and the umbrella of shadow vanished from the ground. He closed his eyes and felt the memory become solid.
* * *
Der caught the little dragon in one hand. She still carried her sword in the other. He was unconscious before he even landed.
Spike hopped in front of her to hide her from view; he needn't have worried, all the troops were still staring at the sky.
She gently settled the dragon in the saddlebag. "They probably saw Jakkobb throw him."
Perhaps. But, what he threw couldn't have possibly been that big.
"Uncle!" Chloe gripped Tom's shoulders tighter. "Thank you, thank you! You saved me!"
He smiled against his will. "Not just me. I had some help." His face receded back into his usual frown. "I... Chloe, I'm going away again, and I won't be coming back this time."
"But-"
His emerald gaze slipped away from her face. "No, dear child. It's for the best. The physician, he's going to help you, take you somewhere else, along with your grandfather, and they're all going to protect you."
"I want you to protect me! You're my uncle!"
He brought his eyes back to her face. "No, child, I'm not your uncle. I never have been."
"Yes, you are!" She threw her arms around his neck. "I don't care about the vampire thing, honest! I love you!"
"I love you too," he whispered. He hugged her. "When you're older, I hope you'll understand. You'll be fine." He pushed her gently back toward Thalon. "You'll do fine."
Sobs escaped from her lips. "No, no, no, don't go! Please!"
"I'm so sorry. I have to." He stood up and gently walked her over to her grandfather. "Take care of her. You will never see me again." He turned his shoulder to the crying girl.
Tom dusted his hands.
Jakkobb appeared not to have noticed anything close to him. His gaze was trained on the armies, standing there, awaiting new orders. "Goldie just bought us time. This is still beyond us."
"Still beyond us..." Der echoed. "What do you mean?"
"Men have died, Der, words can't satisfy this now. These kingdoms will fight."
"But, the cost will only be worse!" Der kicked the dirt, and then, slowly, fixed her gaze on the vampire.
He gasped when he saw her expression. "No! No, no, no, absolutely not. It might expose me!"
"Your power - your hypnotic power! We need to stop this thing once and for all!"
"I'll be hunted for it!" He snapped his fingers, and the edge was back in his voice.
She placed her hands on her hips. "Well, I think it's worth the risk. Put your power to a good use for once."
"I told you," he snarled, leaning forward, "I'm done with the mortal world."
She raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you came back for us?"
"I didn't come back here for your friends, or even Chloe entirely! I knew that you could protect her!"
"Then why are you here?"
"You don't know?" He slapped a hand over his face. "I don't think I want to tell you then, especially since you want me to use my power. I could be hunted if I'm exposed. And you know with this - this thing now..." He petered out in the face of her growing, radiant smile. "What?" he asked, slowly leaning away from that smile.
"You're obviously too scared to do this."
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, ha, I'm a little too smart to fall for such a cute trick."
The smile grew. "So, I'll protect you."
He froze. "What?" he said in a deadpan voice only a dead man could achieve.
Behind him, Jakkobb slapped a hand over where his mouth was underneath his helmet and goggled.
Der's face suddenly became very stern and rigid. She gripped her sword and straightened her shoulders. "I will protect you, since you're obviously too scared - perhaps even too weak - to handle this."
"Too weak! Too weak! How can you protect me? I'm better than you are and you're going to protect me?" His cloak swirled as he spun around. "Where are these generals?" He started to march off, and Der followed. He released a guttural growl. "What are you doing?"
"Protecting you!" She saluted, but couldn't hide her grin, despite the angry vampire growling in her face.
As they left, Jakkobb hung there with his jaw drooping to the bottom of his helmet.
Spike stepped up beside him. I used to think that it was getting hard to surprise us. Well, I was wrong.
* * *
Thistle had gone over to Kelin, who was hunched over Mora. He had straightened her ruined body out into a restful position. Silent tears strolled down his face.
He didn't look at his mentor. He gurgled and coughed and tried not to cry.
"I understand."
Kelin nodded. "What do I do now?"
Thistle calmly folded his hands in front of him. "Bury her, and protect the living."
"How can you say that? How the hell can you say that? To just forget her and move on?"
The chemman bowed his head as if in prayer. "Almost exactly a year ago, I found your campsite where my wife was slain. I was distraught, especially since there was no sign of my son either. At that site, I found a shallow grave among the bodies of the fallen cultists. So, I dug."
"But, why would you?" Kelin coughed out between sobs.
"The elves had buried my wife. She was one of their own. I dug because I had to know." His voice betrayed no spark of sadness, but his orange eyes were focused on a different world.
"That wasn't fair either! Laurel and you helped us - she - Mora - neither of them deserved to die!" He struggled against a sob. "She wasn't perfect, but she didn't deserve to die like this! I'm not perfect either, and neither are you! Why are we still alive?"
Thistle held up his hands.
He spat at his teacher's feet. "And you say to bury her, just like that. How can you be so callous?"
"It's how you're still alive," the chemman said. "When my wife was killed, I protected you."
Kelin stuttered and stared. He dropped his sword and began to sob again. "I'm sorry, Thistle, I'm sorry. I just - why couldn't things have turned out differently? Why did she have to try to be the hero? Not when Der and Jakkobb and you were here."
The chemman shook his head. "Stop. Protect the living. That means you must live with everything that has transpired. Don't wish."
Slowly, Kelin nodded. He squeezed her hand one last time. "Will you help me dig her grave?"
* * *
Tom stormed away from the high command of Thealith, with his crutch slamming against the ground out of sync with his feet.
Der jogged to keep up. "It's almost disgusting how easy that was - for you, anyway. With both generals. You just said 'no war' and that was it. Think of all things-"
He stopped and turned so quickly she crashed into him. He threw the crutch to the ground and grabbed her ear with his remaining hand.
She twisted her head in an effort to lessen the pain. "Ow! Ow! Stop it!" She pawed uselessly at his wrist.
"I'm in danger, Derora, or is that not a significant consideration for you?" He dragged her toward an umbrella of shade beneath some trees on the riverside. "Using my power like that draws attention, maybe not from the humans, but many powers have eyes, and I've got to exist in secret if I want to survive!"
"Speaking of attention," she started to mumble, but looking around - even with her head tilted like an owl she saw how the milling soldiers seemed not to see them.
He spun her around and her back hit the trunk of a tree, hard. She immediately tried to step forward, but he stood right there, inches away. Meanwhile, trumpets began to sound a halt to battle for both sides. Der didn't even register them.
She stared at his grinning, fanged rictus. His hand squeezed her arm and he shoved it against the tree. "Do you have any suspicion at all about how crazy you make me?!"
"Me!"
"Yes! You!"
She could feel the cold air from his mouth on her face. "This was never about me, this was about Chloe!"
He squeezed her wrist tighter. "Yes, it was." The words seemed sharper on his fangs, and Der found herself constantly noticing those in the moment. "Until I met you." He finally let go of her wrist, and pressed his hand against the tree over her shoulder. "Then, all my careful, delicate, secret plans fractured! Broken, irreparable. Don't you see that? Suddenly, it's more than my quest! These two godsdamn kingdoms suddenly aren't going to fight a war because of you! And I'm involved! In just over a month, you've destroyed my entire existence that I worked for centuries to build!"
She licked her lips. "That's going too far-"
"I'm not the one who goes too far! And! And, I hate you. I didn't think a mere mortal was deserving of my hatred, but I hate you!" His fingers dug bloody hollows into the tree. "My damned existence was quiescent and predictable, and then I met you."
Der pressed her shoulders further into the wood. She glanced at his fingertips - he was digging into wood and not noticing. "Um, look, I can see you're upset."
"Upset!" He thrust his lack of hand in front of her eyes. "Upset!" With his remaining hand, he tore the front of his shirt open. On his chest, the Pallens sword's wound was as vivid as the anger on his face. "This is upset!"
She reached out without thinking, and gently brushed her fingertips over the torn skin. "But, I thought you healed quick like."
He was shaking so much that he felt the heart begin to beat again. "I do! That's what's upsetting. I had to use a crutch! A crutch, me!"
"Well, I hope-"
He slammed her shoulder against the tree. "Don't you dare be concerned about my health! Stop it! It's your godsdamn fault! Pallens sword indeed!"
She opened her mouth, but didn't even get a syllable out.
"And you're just a little human! You're nothing but a little mortal!" He ripped at his own hair, pulling a handful free. "I can't control you!"
Then, he stepped back and stared as if this were the first time he'd ever seen her and he was watching her attempting to walk on water. "I can't control you," he repeated and took another step back. His face contorted, as if he were trying to understand something in a foreign language by sheer force of will.
He laughed, and immediately slapped a hand over his mouth. His eyes jerked around in confusion, and then he laughed again. He stumbled further away from her. "What the-" He interrupted himself with another burst of hilarity.
Attempting to squelch the guffaws, he pressed his hand over his mouth. Then, he tripped and fell to the ground, and the laughter erupted. He looked up into the branches of the tree and the blue sky above, and laughed and laughed.
"Tom?" Der leaned over.
With his remaining hand, he reached up and yanked her down. She crashed onto the ground next to him with a yelp.
He pulled her face to his. Their noses brushed, and then he stopped.
As she watched, she saw the laughter pale in his eyes. He looked away, and pushed himself to his knees. "Farewell, Derora Saxen."
"But..." She blinked. "You don't have to go."
He stood, straightening his torn shirt as best he could. "Yes, I do. I promised."
She shook her head slowly. "No, you don't. You're a liar. Couldn't you have lied about this promise?"
"No. I'm leaving the mortal world." He sighed. "It was a mistake. One I don't regret making, but one I will regret if I don't go." He bunched a fist. "I can't lose control again. Farewell."
He glanced over his shoulder before he vanished into the darkest shadows of the expanding evening. She staggered under the weight of those eyes like an emerald's reflection, and realized that she had never seen eyes so alive.
* * *
"Do you think the truce will hold?" Der sat carefully in Jakkobb's overlarge saddle. She had enough room, and space enough for the puppy sized dragon too. Goldie lay curled up and asleep with his tail across his nose. He had been asleep for days this time.
"I don't know," the knight replied, keeping pace with Spike. "I hope so. If they don't redraw the border, it will happen someday, no matter what."
She stuck out her tongue. "I don't like politics."
He chuckled. "Well, it's a lot easier when you have your own army."
She laughed a little. "Aye, I know, but here, with the rumors about Sennha..."
Jakkobb shrugged. "There's a favorable chance. Besides, Sennha's lot just tipped the scales, and we pushed them back - for now."
It's like finding the poisonous snake in your cellar, nobody wants to be the one to pick it up and get rid of it, Spike said. So, I think both sides may pretend this whole event never happened.
Der sighed. "That will make such a difference to the people who were killed."
"No, it won't. Sarcasm doesn't flatter you, Der," Jakkobb said. "But it will for the people who lived, and that's quite a lot more since the war was diverted."
"Diverted?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Like the river?"
Jakkobb put one hand against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. "That was bad."
Well, you're certainly feeling better, Der.
She nodded. "I suppose so. I'm more worried about Kelin than myself."
He'll be alright, he just needs time.
Jakkobb said, "He's with Thistle and Thalon, they'll take care of him."
"I know, sir. But, he's my friend. Yes, we've grown apart, but, well, I'm just worried about him and I miss being there for him."
"And they're going back to Arborn. Time seems to go faster there anyway."
"What about Chloe? Are she and Erastus going too? Thalon could use a friend, and I think she could too."
Spike shook his head. Right, but we have to worry about the vampire with her around.
Der shook her head. "No, we won't. He promised to leave." She dropped her gaze to the ground. "It hurt him too much, I think."
"Well," Jakkobb clapped his hands together brightly, "He's gone. It doesn't matter." He caught Der's tensed expression. "Don't you even dream about trying to find him."
"I know better, sir," she answered steadily.
He frowned. "Good." Then he shook his head. "He tried to turn you into a vampire! I can't believe you don't want to cut his head off."
Der twisted in the saddle. "Well, he wasn't in control of himself at the time. Besides, I have some questions..." She trailed off under the heat of his gaze. "I won't try to find him."
The unicorn snorted. Do you promise?
"Absolutely." She held up her hands. "I promise."
The knight and Spike exchanged glances. Jakkobb pointed a finger. "That was too easy. We know you better."
"Oh, come on, sir! Finding a vampire who doesn't want to be found has got to be damned impossible to do."
Jakkobb frowned again, but kept walking. "Exactly."
Der pulled the platinum ring from her pocket, and it was nearly blinding in the sunlight. "Do you think he'll want it back?"
Spike stopped and craned his neck around and just glowered.
"How? No - why the hell did you do that?" Jakkobb demanded.
She shrugged, feeling her face heat up. "I don't know." She tried it on, but it only fit her index finger, and loosely. "Speaking of rings," she said quickly in a rush to change the subject. "What about the one we found on the wizard? That one with the wolf's head." She'd wrapped that one in a bundle and thrust it to the bottom of the saddlebag. Even so, her hand felt greasy.
Jakkobb glared for a moment longer, but resumed walking. "I don't know. Maybe he just liked misshapen animals. Anyway, it doesn't matter much. The man is dead."
"I know, but, well, you know, it obviously meant something to him."
"I don't know. Look, we'll ask the commander when we finally get to Silver Dawn's Horizon if it's still bothering you."
"Yes, sir."
"I'm more interested in seeing what he may know about your sword though. By the gods, I thought you were dead with that lightning stunt."
"So did I, sir." She put Tom's ring back into her pocket, and wished she could put the other out of her mind.
* * *
* * *
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Dalton Reed, All Things Impossible: Heartstealer
