Those Who Fear the Darkness (BloodRunes: Book 2) (3 page)

“Impressive, isn't it?” Layna darted a glance
in Gryffon's direction and saw that he was watching her with
amusement as she gawked. She realized that her mouth was hanging
open and she clamped it shut and nodded mutely. “There are some
things that I should warn you about before we actually cross,”
Gryffon informed her, and then clicked his tongue to prod Axe into
motion to start their descent.

“Oh?”

“Some of the stories about Treymayne aren't
as far-fetched as you might think.” At her look of alarm he quickly
went on. “We don't really eat babies for breakfast or anything, but
some of the wildlife and people really are a bit - stranger - than
you might be used to.” He urged Axe ahead to fit through a
particularly narrow pass, and paused in his explanation until she
was able to pull up next to him once more. “You see, while in
Gelendan you've been without free reign on magical use for hundreds
of years, in Treymayne that hasn't been the case. For a while after
the border first went up there was a mad rush of mages who came
through seeking protection. They went through a period where they
invented all sorts of protections, many of which included magicking
plants or animals and there was a huge boom in magic
experimentation. Obviously, this caused a lot of problems when you
had desperate mages frantically creating new species. A lot of
things escaped or got out of hand, and there was a time when there
were more magical beasts around than not.”

“Like the hellhounds?”

“Yes and no. There certainly were some like
that, but very little blood-magic. After what happened, no one
wanted to mess with that. Mostly it was things like cows that were
magically trained to report intruders, or vines that re-grew
quickly to block your passage. After the new government took hold,
they put into place more regulations about the use of magic so that
it wouldn't continue to get out of hand. But, as you’ll see there
are still some remaining spells even today from that time.”

“So we could be walking along and a cow will
start yelling at us to get away?” she asked skeptically.

He laughed. “That kind of thing is definitely
few and far between, especially since as I told you the barrier
magic disrupted a lot of the greater talent’s powers so they moved
off and either brought their spelled creatures with them or left
them behind to let the magic wear off. It’s more that here we are
simply more aware that it is possible that some of the spells
remain in full force so if we do happen to run into something out
of the ordinary, we can chalk it up to remnants of past
powers.”

“I see.” She glanced over at him and he gave
her a quick smile. Her heart skipped a beat as the memory of their
kiss floated to the top of her consciousness, unbidden. She had
attempted to put it out of her mind since with all the excitement,
Gryffon had never mentioned the episode and had made no advance
towards her since. Sometimes she wondered if she had imagined it.
But there were definitely reasons that it had been forgotten;
Gryffon’s pain for instance. Layna was getting more and more
worried about the cause of it, and was afraid that his pride was
making him hide how serious it actually was.
And there’s always
my own distractions.

Soon she was forced to pay more attention to
her footing than her thoughts as the descent became rather
treacherous, and they dismounted to make their slow way
downwards.

Eventually they made it safely to the bottom
and Layna breathed a sigh of relief, that is, until she caught
sight of the river which was now the next obstacle in their
path.

She had never before been afraid of water,
and in fact had been quite a little swimmer as a child. But now as
she looked out over the vast expanse of its murky depths, fear
enveloped her. She tried not to let her trepidation show as the
three of them trekked towards the river, but her irrational terror
would not loosen its icy grip.

They paused on the edge and dismounted, and
Charles and Gryffon started tightening saddlebags and removing
excess clothing so that they would not be bogged down in the swim
across.

Charles jutted out his chin at her in a quick
motion. “Feelin’ shy there? We could always turn ‘round for
ya.”

It took Layna a moment to realize that
Charles had mistaken her hesitation for simple modesty and she
shook her head, raising slightly shaking hands to start undoing
laces. She stripped down to her undergarments with them and Gryffon
showed her how to create a spell for keeping the bags dry as they
crossed. Weaving the spell momentarily took her mind off of the
inevitable, but not for long enough.

All too soon, the two men were wading into
the water, leading their mounts by the reins. Even Fly, who had had
the scary experience with her seemed to have forgotten the perils
of water and was following the other horses in, dragging Layna
unhappily behind him.

Her left foot slipped into the cool water
with a small splash. Mud oozed around her bare toes. Her right foot
followed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Nothing to
it.
Just like crossing the stream, no big deal
. Her legs
felt heavy and they jerked underneath her as she forced one and
then the other into motion. Left, right, left,
come on
right
. Charles and Gryffon were already well ahead of her.

The water was above her knees now, and
gaining on her waist - fast. Her breath caught in her throat as she
took a step and faltered, slipping on a slimy rock. Her breathing
became shallow as the river embraced her whole body and she was
finally forced to kick off from the bottom and start to swim.

The shore looked miles away.

The more she swam the farther it got.

Stroke.

Kick.

Stroke.

She gulped in a mouthful as a wave lapped at
her face, and her lungs filled with water.

She panicked. She flailed about wildly,
splashing and coughing.

“You’re fine,” Gryffon’s voice cut through
her fear, and her mad thrashing slowed. She felt his hand take
hers, and guide her through the motions so that together they were
swimming. Her heartbeat slowed to a more normal pace, and she
coughed and sputtered out the last of the water. “Want to try
something new I just thought of?” he asked her and she nodded.
“Remember how you made the water boil the first time you touched
the power?”

She nodded again.

“Well, what if you were to do that again
here, except this time you can control it better so that you can
heat it up only a small amount and contain the area to the inch or
so just around your body. That way we can just be in a nice big hot
bathing pool and we’ll be to the other side before you know
it.”

Layna turned her attention inward, grateful
for this distraction. The great wave of water that her mind had
built up in her imagination dwindled and calmed.

She opened herself to the power, and
immediately felt more confident. She focused it on the water around
her, inching up the temperature bit by bit until she was enveloped
by a warm and safe sensation. She had to use some trial and error
to figure out how to get it to move with her. Her first attempt had
been to be constantly heating the new water that was rushing in as
her body moved, but this was draining on the power and created a
cold ‘draft’ that she didn’t care for. She eventually altered it so
that the layer of water directly touching her was warmed and
actually moved with her rather than allowing it to flow freely away
as it normally would.

She noticed Gryffon struggling with this
alteration and she nudged his magic with her own so that they were
both traveling in comfort. Layna sent another spell towards Charles
as well, aware that he was unable to provide such a luxury for
himself.

Her limbs stopped shaking from the cold and
from fear, and her confidence grew. She remembered how well she
could swim and was keenly aware of the power available while
maintaining an open channel which further convinced her that she
was safe. There was no limit to what you could dream up with magic.
Perhaps she would invent a spell which allow her to breathe
underwater and then she wouldn’t have to ever worry again.

She squeezed Gryffon’s hand. The expression
he gave her was filled with affection, and she sent a tendril of
happiness over the power line to him. The intimate contact was
almost as exciting as their kiss and she broke it quickly before
she let too much emotion flow over.

Before she realized it, they were at the
other shore and Gryffon helped her to her feet and onto the rocky
shore. She held onto his hand for a moment longer than necessary
and he didn’t seem to mind. Elation shot through her. But she had
to let go so that they could get dressed, so she did so reluctantly
and then dried all of their clothes with a thought.

Gryffon and Charles both expressed their
gratitude of this deed and Layna was warmed by their praise. She
was also sufficiently impressed with her ability to manipulate it
so easily.

She broke contact with the power and
immediately lost her sense of total confidence, but her happiness
remained and she felt as though she would be able to cross back
through the river should the need arise without too much
trouble.

They readied themselves for riding once more
and mounted, and after Gryffon took a moment to orient them they
set out towards where he thought would be a good place to get a
message through the border.

They wound through the forest, thick vines
and underbrush grew up everywhere and Layna was glad for Gryffon’s
excellent tracking ability or she would have been sure that they
were horribly lost. As it was, they soon spotted sunshine ahead of
them, marking the edge of the trees and as they emerged, the
curtain of the border could be seen once more.

Layna was just as impressed, if not more so,
by the sight up close. Gryffon led them right up next to it and
Layna put out a hand to touch it. She stopped her fingertips inches
from the shimmering light.

“Is it safe to touch?” she asked Gryffon, who
had dismounted and was giving the barrier an appraising look.

He spared a glance in her direction and gave
her a nod, then turned his attention back to the barrier and lifted
his hand to his chin in thought.

Layna moved her fingers the last few inches
and was surprised when they encountered a soft sponge-like
resistance. She wrinkled her nose.

“Hmm,” Gryffon commented next to her.

“Yes?”

“I can’t seem to get a probe through. Usually
I can send one pretty easily, basically just a little spell to let
them know that I’m here and ready for a report.”

Layna poked at the cushy curtain some more,
and watched in fascination as it rippled around her hand, but did
not budge from the ground it was attached to. “Can you send
anything through?”

Gryffon scrunched his eyebrows together and
held up a hand. Layna could see his attempts, and could also see
them being repelled. She paused in her entertainment of prodding as
an expression of worry crossed over his features.

“So what do we do now?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

CHAPTER 2

“Come on, pumpkin,” Mother cooed. “I have a
little project for you.”

She took Nat's hand and led him towards the
town where the other children had laughed at him and thrown rocks,
saying that he was a “dirty gypsy”. She guided him behind the row
of houses and whispered something inaudible as she passed her hand
over her mouth. A tiny flame lit in her palm, and she looked around
before stretching it towards the thatching of the roof that
overhung low in the back. It was slow to catch on fire, but as
Nathair watched with fascination, flames starting licking the
underside of the carefully woven roof, licking upwards
greedily.

Small crackles and pops could be heard as the
fire took hold. His mother's lips curved into the smile he knew so
well and her eyes seemed to light up with fire as well as she
watched it spread over the flammable roofing. She blinked and
seemed to have to tear herself away from the sight to quickly drag
him away from the scene.

They strolled nonchalantly onto the street,
and upon Mother's instruction Nat set up their cup to collect the
money that was thrown to them. He skillfully tuned his instrument
and started plucking out a lively beat to which his mother started
dancing. She threw her hips out suggestively and clapped her hands
while kicking out her feet daintily. Nat got so lost in the music
that any thoughts of the fire completely left his mind.

He jumped as someone in the crowd suddenly
shouted.

“Fire!”

Nat jerked to his feet and looked wildly
around, expecting someone to be running towards them to apprehend
the two of them for starting the blaze. He cringed as they
approached, but they ran past, ignoring them on their way to the
house.

The villagers tried to set up a water line,
handing buckets across it and throwing it on the house, but the
roofing had caught well and was engulfed in the orange flames. They
hissed and steamed as the water hit, but did not go out.

A woman came screaming up the street, and
though it was difficult to make out the words in her frantic
babbling, Nat got the gist that her little girl was inside. Nat
looked to his mother in horror, wondering if she had known that the
little girl was there. She once again had that smile playing upon
her lips and Nat paled.

She glanced down at him, amused, and
commented, “Well, aren't you going to get in there and play hero?”
Nat simply stared at her, dumbfounded. Her expression darkened.
“You had better get in there and drag her out if you know what's
good for you,” she threatened.

“But,” Nat started, but the daggers in her
eyes made him clamp his mouth shut again, and he sprinted for the
door to the house.