Feel the Burn (27 page)

‘You’re killing my eyes, Cat.’

‘Sorry. Better than being chewed by vorks.’

‘I don’t know about that,’
the griffon grumbled.

‘Meh! Don’t be a sour puss.’

When Loushka moved past us I reached a hand out and tugged the tuft on her tail.

‘Nearly out, grumpy.’

‘Thanks, Cat,’
she thought dryly.

The spinning motion felt easy now I had the hang of it and I closed my eyes again. Ignatius, I’ve no idea how, squinted the whole time, his bandana just above his eyes. I heard Kerak purr when he passed by and I blindly reached a hand out, just touching the edge of an armor plate on his leg. Leynorah called out as she rode by on Phroma’s back and I smiled in the direction of her voice while setting off another swirl of energy. The vorks kept up their shrieks and we heard the occasional sound of nails scraping over rock when they attempted to move but the constant bursts of light against the dark kept them immobile. They punctuated their shrieks now with irritated whistles that broke off on a loud ‘clak’ of annoyance.

‘Hi friends, I’m the last. You can start moving after me,’
Sito thought, when he started his turn through. The men, Ignatius included, all called out thanks and the dragon ambled slowly past. Ignatius pulled me out the way when Sito exited and called out to the others.

‘Come now, keep up the flashes.’

We kept the count running while I focused on the girls’ life lights, watching them draw closer. Kassie and Rumal exited, with Loi and Sabyn close behind. Sian and Daron drew closer and I kept up the count in my head, flashing on three and one. Just before Sian’s count of four, I heard a stumbling noise then a thud.

Sian?
I thought in alarm, unable to hear her via our link.

‘Sian tripped! She’s out cold,’ Daron shouted.

I threw my energy out, squinting against the light and caught a glimpse of Daron slinging Sian’s limp form over a shoulder. I watched to make sure he got out okay. Ignatius helped him through the exit. The scuttle of nails turned me cold when I realized I’d forgotten to count and I dropped my energy, plunging the cavern into darkness. My heart pounded as I started to count, pulling the fabric around my head down to my neck. I’d seen several lizards much closer to us than I wanted. Before I reached three I heard a sound I couldn’t recognize and Ignatius dropped my hand.

‘Ignatius?’

At the sound of dragging I flashed my energy out and swore. Ignatius lay spread-eagle on the ground, face and body limp while three lizards attempted to drag him away, like wolves with a corpse. They froze at the flash and I lunged forward, grabbing his ankle and yanked, pulling him toward the exit. A morbid tug of war started when they jerked back, wrenching him from my grip.

‘Fuck off!’ I yelled angrily.

With a thought I surrounded Ignatius in my energy then flared it out, this time using heat and light. The lizards dropped him in an instant, smacking into each other in their haste to get away. Using the energy to hold his weight, and to shield his back from the rough floor, I dragged Ignatius to the exit and yelled for help. Rashid and Sabyn appeared and reached in, hauling us out.

The men draped the Lieutenant’s limp form over the back of a cavalry soldier. Two other soldiers stepped forward to guard the exit and prevent the vorks from coming through. Leseach watched it, then turned back to Sian who lay on a bedroll, staring at the ceiling of thin triangular stalactites.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘Concerned.’

Leseach leaned over the frowning girl.

‘Why?’

Sian extended a hand and pointed at the ceiling.

‘What’s the likelihood of those falling down during the night?’

The teasing tone made Leseach shake her head.

‘Well, I see you’re feeling better. Up then, I need to see to my next patient.’

Sian winked and climbed to her feet, stepping off the bedroll straight into Daron’s arms and the two of them moved away to where Nesha and Sito rested.

The men laid the Lieutenant out and she squatted beside him, lightly running her fingers over his swollen hand. The saliva stung and numbed them in an instant. Grabbing the moistened cloth she used for a compress, Leseach wiped her fingers clean then pressed the tips against the mail covering her knee, testing.

‘Can’t you do anything?’ Sabyn asked while he watched, his dark blond brows drawn, eyes flicking from her to Ignatius.

‘I’m not sure. It may wear off in time,’ she said nonchalantly. Indeed the Lieutenant already had some control back; a few of the muscles around his eyes twitched while he attempted to glare at her. The tiniest smile threatened to break loose at his expression and Leseach sat back, pretending to consider the options before her, enjoying the moment.

To be entirely incapacitated while those around observe must be awfully frustrating for him, she thought with an inward snigger.

‘I can help,’ Cat said, and she sat on the other side of Ignatius.

So much for that amusement, Leseach thought. She bowed to the Princess then stood, about to leave.

‘Do you want me to fix your hand?’ Cat asked.

‘No. Thank you. I want to see how long it takes to wear off.’

Leseach moved away and Rashid followed. I watched for a moment, amused when the Lieutenant casually lifted her hand with the pretense of examining it. All those near the couple stiffened when Leseach went dangerously still. Rashid just as casually released her hand while asking appropriate questions. The internal struggle visible on Leseach’s face while her eyes narrowed and shoulders stiffened, made me smile. She answered his questions in a calm, even voice and Rashid nodded, smiling blandly and not moving until she did, then matched her stride when she stalked to the fire, still asking questions that she appeared compelled to answer, despite her obvious irritation.

Beside me Sabyn snorted and I glanced over, meeting his amused eyes.

‘Rashid always did love a challenge,’ he muttered before looking down to Ignatius.

‘You can fix him, cousin?’

‘I think so. Guess we’ll soon see.’

Sabyn stood, reaching down to squeeze my shoulder. ‘I’ll leave you to it then.’

Let me know if you need any help.

I looked up to meet Loi’s gaze.

Will do. Thanks.

I turned back to Ignatius and gave a reassuring smile, hoping to calm the panic visible in his eyes. Letting my eyes un-focus I raised energy and watched his life light glow before me. Unlike the normal healthy glow it looked muddied, coated in a brackish green shade and dim. Extending the energy I enveloped his life force and lifted his swollen hand, the source of entry. With some effort and concentration I traced from the center of his being out, following the venom. When I had the whole track clear in my mind I slowly and carefully applied heat, watching his life form for any signs of distress. The venom refused to budge. I increased the heat, then with a silent apology, increased it some more. The hand in mine stiffened then constricted, the Lieutenant’s body contorting while I burned the final traces of venom from his system. When the flame glowed its normal vibrant color, I released it.

‘Ignatius?’
 

His eyes came back into focus. Still expecting nothing, Ignatius attempted to draw a breath and felt a rush of sheer relief when his lungs, finally, filled with air. The sharp inhalation seemed to catch in his throat and he rolled to the side, coughing hard.

Small hands held him, patting his back and an awkward sideways glance showed Catherine leaning over his side, anxiously regarding him, her plait dangling against his heaving chest.

‘Take it easy, small breaths.’

He wheezed and managed a nod between coughs. Catherine sat back, out of his immediate line of vision and he heard her comment to someone.

‘Hell! I didn’t realize he couldn’t breathe!’

Too damn right, he thought, finally getting the coughing under control and flopped onto his back. The quarter hour or so had felt like eons. His ears rang and body seemed to hum with energy, even though he knew Catherine had withdrawn hers.

‘A drink,’ he croaked and a goblin helped him to sit, Catherine offering a water bladder. The cool liquid helped to drown the last of the fire she’d left within. The goblin left but Catherine stayed at his side.

Ignatius shut his eyes, ignoring everything for the moment, needing peace after the terrifying lack of control. The sudden darkness after seeing that blasted lizard too close for comfort, then the slight sting. After that he’d felt nothing. It didn’t occur to him, until they slung him across the centaur’s back, that he couldn’t breathe. By the time Catherine worked on him it had almost been too late.

‘How did you do it?’

Catherine’s quiet question made him open both eyes, regarding her in surprise.

‘Do what?’

‘Survive without breathing! It must have been ten minutes or so.’

Scrubbing both hands over his face; eyes tired from the flashing lights and his face tingling unpleasantly, Ignatius leaned his elbows against his bent knees then regarded Catherine, with her serious, earnest expression.

‘I swim. It’s part of the General Guard training and breath competitions are part of it too. I often won,’ he added with the hint of a smile.

Catherine looked impressed and went to say something when a loud shout rang out. Across the cavern a couple of soldiers yanked a vork out of a nook and killed it. Catherine glanced back to him with excited eyes then stood, making her way over along with everyone else. The Northerner caught Ignatius’ eye while she walked, shadowed by Rashid, to where the crowd poked and prodded the dead lizard. The recollection of that alien’s freakish eyes smirking made him thoughtful and he regarded the Northerner, squatting beside the Princess while they examined the vork. With a casual glance to check no one watched Ignatius went through the medicine basket left behind by Leseach and located just what he needed. Pushing the basket back in place, he stood and stretched, working out the kinks, then went to sort out his bedding while running through an idea in his head.

*~*~*

Chapter Twenty

The lizard steaks made an interesting addition to dinner. Afterward, while the girls and their guys retired for the evening, I stayed up late playing cards with Belsesus, Ignatius, Gredel, and Chaieth. Playing against the Lieutenants and Gredel, who all had decades of practice meant quite a bit of sitting out for me in the beginning, I lost so quickly. Then they paired me up with one of them each game, considering it a personal challenge to beat the others while teaching me how to play.

‘No,’ Belsesus murmured in my ear. ‘Play that one.’

I shifted on his saddle, my perch for this game, and offered the card up for the others to see. Belsesus plucked the card from my hand and dropped it on the pile. The other three regarded it suspiciously, with speculative glances at their own hands. The deck of cards belonged to Gredel, the same deck we’d used those long months ago while traveling to the castle. There were four classes in the deck; water, air, earth, and fire, and the cards bore images of creatures that represented each element. Obvious ones, birds for air, fish for water, burrowing creatures for earth and then the unusual ones for fire; fire dragons, phoenixs and others.

‘Is this a fire creature?’ I whispered to Belsesus, cupping the card and he twisted at the waist to look.

‘They have bad tempers so are considered fiery,’ he explained softly, mouth close to my ear.

Well I can’t disagree with that, I thought, regarding the card. The tehnear looked angry too, snarling in the picture. I held the card closer and studied it, remembering the speed and fury of the one that chased us that time.

The first time Alek kissed me.

A smile escaped as I remembered it. His hand slipping under the plait Sian had woven in my hair, the breath on my face an instant before he pulled me close and the hammering of his heart while he held me afterward.

‘Cat?’

‘Oh!’ I snapped out of it and found Belsesus arching an eyebrow at me.

‘Come on, our turn.’

To the centaur’s blatant disappointment we lost, but then you can only do so much with a bad hand. I swung a leg over and dropped to the ground, sitting with Ignatius for the next game. Gredel scooped the cards up with one hand and started doing a clever swift shuffle, flicking through the large pack of cards, grinning at me as I watched avidly.

‘Princess?’

Everyone twisted. Leseach stood back from our circle with a mug of nellor. Ignatius stood.

‘Here, let me. I’ll bring her over after this game.’

The genuinely pleasant manner he said it in astonished me enough to forget grumbling about their excessive babying. Even Gredel and the other two looked surprised. Leseach handed the mug to Ignatius and he sat beside me, passing it over while we started the final game.

Loi woke early and snuggled closer to Sabyn, giggling quietly when he mumbled ‘goddess’ in his sleep and fumbled, petting her back. Sabyn’s wandering hands had nearly earned him a black eye the first time Loi encountered it. Not that she didn’t like the affectionate touches, it just wasn’t expected when sound asleep. Especially not a hand fumbling its way up her side before latching onto a breast. Jerking awake, Loi’s sleep addled brain had just made the connection in time before she threw a fist out.

Still, Loi thought in amusement when she remembered that night, if he ever tries that ‘honk honk’ trick again I’ll honk something of his and see how he likes it. The mental image of Sabyn abruptly waking due to that, caused more giggles and she bit her lip trying to stop the sound, her back quivering. A grumble and shift from the sleeping man made Loi freeze.

‘Nice try, goddess.’

Loi giggled and pressed her face to his bare chest.

‘Sorry.’

‘I’ll forgive you, if you keep your icy nose to yourself.’

He shifted, rolling so her back pressed to the bedroll and Loi could sense him looking around, though other than the dim lights from those on guard nothing could be seen. Then she felt his breath on her face and a smile spread.

‘Hmmm?’

Sabyn chuckled softly and his lips brushed over her nose while he sought her mouth.

‘Hmmmm,’ he responded, lips pressing to hers.

It aroused a sense of illicit thrill while they moved slowly and quietly in the dark; fingers stroking, hands exploring and tugging clothes out of the way, the sinfully deep kisses that caught any sounds while they moved together. She locked her legs around his hips, pulling up when he pressed down and gasped against his mouth, feeling that dark smile when he thrust again. Beneath his hands and body she felt the tremble start and he went still, holding her gently; his turn to gasp when her muscles tightened around him. The sensations, like dozens of tiny sparks, flashed throughout, evaporating any tension and she slumped back against the bedroll, head ringing with pleasure. Sabyn ducked his head to kiss her and she pushed up to her elbows, rocking her hips, drawing him in while he neared his peak and intentionally squeezed. It made him gasp against her mouth. A tiny evil chuckle slipped out when she did it again. In response he drew out nearly full length then thrust in hard, dropping his head and bit the crook of her neck, shuddering when he climaxed. Loi could feel his heart racing, chest pressed to her breasts, and she nipped his neck in retaliation, then his ear, just to tease him.

‘Goddess,’ he tried to grumble, barely able to get the word out while his breath came back. Loi chuckled and nipped his ear again, deliberately tickling the lobe with her tongue.

‘Arrrgh,’ Sabyn seized her and flopped to the bedroll, his heart still beating a drum. The instant of joy literally snatched the air from his lungs—Loi knew he took a moment to recover.

‘You brat,’ he growled in her ear, her long hair tickling his nose. Then he returned the favor, shifting her hair out of the way with a sweep of a hand and delicately took her earlobe between his teeth, making Loi shudder when he flicked his tongue over it.

‘Eeeeeeee.’

‘Serves you right,’ he murmured and felt the almost silent giggle from her reverberate through his chest. Not far from where they lay a soldier huffed then rolled over and they stilled. The solders weren’t resentful about the situation, but Sabyn, Rumal, and Daron, all found spots away from the main sleeping area to tuck their bedrolls. Pressing a light kiss to Loi’s forehead he shifted, rolling her so her back pressed to his chest and with an arm re-adjusted the covers over them. Beneath the covers Loi slipped her wool underclothes back on and he wriggled into his pants. Then they relaxed, sighing in unison and settled down to sleep again. She lifted the arm he’d draped over her, slender fingers entwining his and he smiled when her lips brushed his knuckles before she tucked the arm closer.

Tomiar’s thoughts woke Loi later, when the others began to stir.

‘Wakey, wakey, plant lady.’

‘Morning, Tomiar. Sleep well?’

‘No. But every day is closer to the surface. How about you?’

Particularly well for the last hour or so, Loi thought smugly to herself, but to Tomiar she thought,
‘As well as you can on a bedroll.’

‘In a cave,’
added the griffon.

‘Yup.’

Strangely enough, or perhaps not, Loi found the caves comforting. With all her friends here and Sabyn at her side, and with the voices of the plants, she enjoyed the time spent underground. The remarkable beauty of the caves and the varying rock types. All manner of stalagmites and stalactites, it gave her plenty to admire. Certain rocks gleamed gold or silver in the lights and other rocks absorbed the light. And then all the different creatures!

So many things to see, Loi thought.

Around the fire, while they munched on supplies and discussed the day’s plan, Loi caught up with the other girls. A hug from Kassie, and Sian, a shoulder nudge from Cat, teasing when she crouched beside her. It made most around the fire laugh when Loi nudged her back, promptly causing Cat to fall over.

‘Why do that?’ She asked with a wide grin while Cat sat laughing on the stone. ‘Your sense of balance is always awful in the morning.’

Cat snorted and attempted to balance in the crouch again, a hand on the ground to stay steady. ‘It’s always awful you mean.’

In next to no time they’d packed the camp up and set off for the day. Sabyn held her hand while Tomiar walked right behind them. She tuned into the murmurs of the plants and earth, reaching out to the resonant voices that had guided them this far.

Maybe that’s why I don’t mind the caves, she realized, every time I speak with them I get the sense of fresh air and sunlight.

Not so far now, earth one.

You have made very good time.

Only four sunrises before you surface.

Four,
Loi thought in surprise.
You said five the other day.

Four.

Fast travelers.

Be wary of others.

They feed.

And seek.

Stealthy.

‘They’re talking about the others again,’ Loi said quietly to Sabyn. He met her eyes before his gaze went distant, considering it.

‘Did they say anything else?’

‘Only four days left.’

That made his eyebrows rise, a rare full smile illuminating his face.

‘Excellent, we’ll tell the others when we set camp.’

The sound of hooves caused Loi to glance behind Sabyn, spotting Chaieth and Larvaste.

‘Did they give you any idea of the ‘others’, Loi?’ Larvaste asked.

She shook her head.

‘No, they’re rather cryptic at the best of times. I think they expect me to know more than I do.’

‘Perhaps you will, once you reach your full potential,’ Chaieth suggested.

‘Hmmm.’

The centaurs stayed close while they trekked through the array of tunnels and caves. Tomiar took careful note of ceiling heights and the widths of tunnels, letting the other griffons and Sito know. It felt lighter now to Loi and the surface being closer reflected in the change of rock and appearance of animals. Several times throughout the day they heard the sound of startled creatures attempting to flee, rocks tumbling in the corners of caves that they passed through and glimpses of shadows vanishing. Pretty lizards started to appear, tiny compared to the vorks, the largest the length of her forearm, and they glowed along the spine, little dots of orange.

‘Don’t,’ Sabyn warned when Loi reached for one. ‘The orange spots are poisonous spines.’