Trinity (17 page)

“
Is he
dead?”

Nidan pressed harder against Skaric’s chest and placed his
other hand just above Skaric’s nose and mouth.
Don’t be dead
.
His skin felt cold and clammy; his heart pounded.

“
Nidan! Is he
dead?”

Nidan couldn’t feel the warmth of breath on his hand. “Cut him
loose.” He pressed his fingertips against Skaric’s neck, which was
as cold as ice.
Don’t be
dead!
“Cut him loose!”

Nidan watched as Kiana used the dagger to saw through the
ropes. As she pulled them away from Skaric’s wrist, they saw that
his skin was freshly bruised. Nidan felt a surge of energy work up
from his stomach into his throat. He tried to feel for a pulse
again. Skaric couldn’t be dead. Nidan raised his eyes to the sky.
Why would Pios listen? Why was he so desperate for Skaric to live?
For Kiana? So he wasn’t a murderer? It was none of those
things.
Pios, let him
live
.

There was so much blood. No pulse.
No breath. Just blood. Nidan rocked back onto his heels and hung
his head. It was too late.

Kiana cut through the second rope,
allowing Skaric’s body to relax to the ground. “He’s dead, isn’t
he?”

Nidan opened his eyes. He was
shaking as he stared down at Skaric. “I tried.”

“
You stabbed
him!”

He glared at her through damp
eyes. “To save him! They weren’t going to let him live! What choice
did I have?”

Nidan hadn’t wanted Kiana to see
Skaric this way. The sight was terrible. The extra beating the Wolf
had received had left its mark, turning his face into a hideous
swollen mess. The wounds in his gut were open and ugly.

“
I
tried.”

Kiana moved round to cut through the ropes that tied Skaric’s
ankles. What was the point? Nidan narrowed his eyes and stared at
Skaric’s chest. He must have imagined the slight flutter of
movement. He held his breath and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Pios. Miale.
Ysia
.

Nidan laid his hands over the
sword wounds, ignoring the blood that quickly drenched them. He was
aware of Kiana coming to kneel beside him; she squeezed his
shoulder. The action lent Nidan strength and the moment of calmness
that he needed. He felt a great warmth flow through him: the might
of Pios’ power.

He channelled it into Skaric,
targeting the sword wounds.

“
He’s alive!”
Kiana said, her voice much higher in pitch than normal. “Nidan!
He’s breathing!”

Tension exploded out of Nidan in a
sob. He fought to regain his concentration and continue the
healing. If he didn’t, Skaric wouldn’t survive.

As
Nidan had hoped, he had avoided harming any of the Wolf’s internal
workings. Though the wounds looked ugly, they had only caused pain
and blood loss. Nidan grimaced.
Only
. The word made what he
had done sound so trivial. Skaric could have died. Should have
died. He had already been weak from the beating; he hadn’t known
Nidan’s plan to save his life. He should have given up.

Slowly, the wounds began to close.
Skin and sinew began to reform and knit together so that not even a
scar would be left at the entry or exit wounds. It would be as
though it had never even happened, physically.

Nidan allowed his hands to drop
from Skaric’s body so that they hung loosely at his sides, then
bowed his head and breathed out deeply. There was no energy left in
Nidan’s body, and his mind felt dull and fuzzy. Sleep. That’s what
he needed and what he couldn’t have. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Skaric was breathing deeply and easily. It was a good sign, but not
a guarantee of survival.

Nidan got up wearily. “We need to
go.”

Kiana stared at Skaric and then at
him. “But…”

“
Skaric won’t die.”
I
hope
. “But we can’t stay here.
What if the villagers come back?”

Kiana stood. “Are you
sure
he won’t
die?”

Nidan nodded, even though he
wasn’t at all sure.

Kiana pursed her lips as she
stared down at Skaric. “Why isn’t he awake?”

Nidan sighed; her questions were
slowing them down. “He’s weak. From the beating… from the blood
loss… not even the magic of Pios can restore blood to a body. Only
time can do that. Help me?”

Between them they lifted their
battered companion and carried him to the horses. With a little
effort, they managed to sit Skaric up on the smaller of the two
animals. Whilst Nidan held Skaric upright, Kiana used the remnants
of the villagers’ rope to tie him to the saddle. When Nidan let go,
Skaric slumped forward against the horse’s neck. The ride wouldn’t
be comfortable but at least he wouldn’t fall off.

“
You’ll need to
double up with me,” Nidan said.

The third horse was still in the
village. Had Cadman claimed it as a prize? Or would he sell it at
the first opportunity? Nidan mounted his horse and leant down to
pick up the reins of the other animal. He took his foot out of the
stirrup and held it out to Kiana.

She swung up behind him. “Nidan…
I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t need her to
apologise.

“
I’m sorry I
didn’t believe in you. I just thought…”

Nidan did his best to look round at her. “Don’t apologise.
It’s what I
wanted
you to believe. I couldn’t risk anyone
in the village finding out what I’d done.”

She rested her cheek against his
back. “Even so, I should have had more faith in you.”

“
It doesn’t
matter.” He meant it. All that mattered was that she was able to
believe in him again and that his crazy plan had worked. Nidan
kicked his horse forward into a brisk walk, feeling an odd sense of
satisfaction as Kiana’s arms wrapped around his chest. He had done
the right thing. Ten days earlier, if anyone had told him he would
save the life of a Wolf—not once, but twice—Nidan would have
laughed at them. He was a Guardian; he had sworn to protect the
people of Gettryne from the Wolves. He glanced across at Skaric:
pale, battered and lifeless. He had done the right
thing.

Chapter
Ten

Frustrated, Kiana dropped the
crude bow and round piece of wood on the ground; Nidan had called
it a socket. The spindle, which had been held in place by the
socket, also fell to the ground, scattering the tinder beneath
it.

“
I’m never going
to be able to do this!”

Nidan picked up the spindle and
socket. “Do you want me to help?”

Kiana looked up at him, scowling.
“You shouldn’t have to. I should be able to do something to help.
How hard can lighting a fire be?”

Apparently much harder without
Skaric’s flint and steel, just one of the things they had lost
along with his horse.

Nidan smiled. “Very, if you
haven’t done it before.”

Kiana sighed and glanced across at
Skaric. “When will he wake up?” She didn’t really expect an answer.
They had put two days distance between them and Norlea, but that
made no difference.

Physically, Skaric looked fine.
Nidan had healed all of his wounds; the bruises that had marred his
face were gone; even the old marks around his neck were now nothing
more than a memory. They’d done their best to clean the dried blood
from his skin and had changed his shirt. The fresh garment had
quickly become dirty from travelling and camping, but at least it
wasn’t stiff with blood. Despite the improvements, Skaric’s skin
was deathly pale and he had shown no signs of waking.

Nidan handed her the spindle and
socket. “Start again.” He smiled at her, encouraging her.

Kiana rolled her eyes, but
nonetheless she regrouped the tinder into a neat pile, stood the
spindle in the centre and placed the socket firmly on top of it.
Nidan had cut a hole into the socket so that the spindle wouldn’t
slide around. He then helped her to wind the bowstring round the
spindle. Next, he held her left hand so that she could apply
greater pressure onto the socket and gently took her right hand,
helping her to achieve the fast sawing motion required for starting
the fire. It was tiring work, even with Nidan’s help, but before
long, Kiana saw a spark and grinned as the tinder caught light.
Nidan quickly placed a pyramid of twigs and logs around the
tinder.

“
Well
done.”

“
Now I just have
to be able to do it myself!” Kiana watched as the dry wood took
light quickly. The warmth of the fire danced on her skin, adding to
the stifling heat of the evening. She and Nidan didn’t need the
fire, but Skaric did.

“
We should talk
about where we’re going,” Nidan said.

Kiana shook her head. “When Skaric
wakes up, we’ll all talk about it.”

“
Kiana…”

She glared at him. “We’re still
going east, right?”

Nidan sighed and nodded.

“
Then we’re still
travelling towards Orholt. That’s where we’re going.”

Nidan tried to touch her hand but
Kiana pulled away. “You haven’t explained why.”

“
I told
you…”

“
When Skaric
wakes up.” Nidan stared at the fire, glowering.

Kiana tucked a strand of hair
behind her ears. “I’m sorry.” She’d done a lot of apologising since
Norlea.

“
I
know.”

“
I just don’t
want to explain myself twice.”

“
I
know.”

She drew her arms around herself.
She wasn’t cold; how could she be? The summer heat had grown
stronger and stronger and the rain had refused to fall. It felt
like Gettryne was gripped by a fever that it couldn’t recover
from.

A groan behind Kiana made her skin
prickle and her heart momentarily stop beating. She exchanged a
glance with Nidan before turning to look at Skaric. His eyes were
open and he was slowly propping himself up on his elbow.

Kiana grinned. “You’re awake! How
are you feeling? You must be famished!”

Skaric wasn’t looking at her. He
was staring at Nidan, his expression dark and his breathing
ragged.

“
Nidan saved
you.” Kiana’s words seemed to hang on the sudden stillness that
pervaded the air.

“
I’m sorry…”
Nidan began.

“
Sorry
?” Skaric’s face was
pale, sweat beaded his forehead and his eyelids kept opening and
closing.

“
They would have
killed you…” Nidan said.

“
So… what? You
thought you’d get in first?”

Nidan stood and took two steps
towards Skaric. “I did what I had to… to save you…”

“
Stay back.”
Skaric gritted his teeth. His chest was heaving and the arm that
was propping him up was shaking violently.

“
They had to
believe you were dead.” Nidan took another step forward.

“
Stay back.”
Skaric raised his right hand, holding it so the fingers were
outstretched towards Nidan.

Heart racing, Kiana hurried to her
feet and ran to stand in between them. “Think, Skaric! If Nidan had
wanted you dead, you would be!”

Deep lines formed at Skaric’s brow
as he continued to glare at Nidan.

“
I’m sorry,”
Nidan said.

He
tried to move Kiana out of the way, but she resisted by planting
her feet firmly on the ground.
Skaric won’t hurt me; he won’t use his magic against
me.
Kiana found herself staring
at Skaric’s violently shaking hand rather than his face.

“
I
know how scared you must have been.” Nidan raised his hands
placatingly. “But I had no way to tell you my plan.” He breathed in
deeply. “For them to believe…
you
had to
believe.”

“
Listen to him,
please!” Kiana could feel the fear strangling her voice. What would
have been the point if her companions turned on each other
now?

Nidan put a hand on her shoulder.
Was he offering her support or trying to gain some himself?

“
At the village,
your actions made me question everything.” Nidan sidestepped Kiana
as he spoke.

“
Stay
back!”

“
You could have
let the girl die, but you didn’t. You could have used your magic
against the villagers, but you didn’t. Pios help me!” Nidan took
two steps closer so that he was staring down at Skaric. “I thought
I’d die before I ever wanted to help a Wolf.”

Kiana put her hands over her mouth, waiting and watching as
Nidan crouched down.
Please,
Miale, don’t let them hurt each other. Please!

“
I could have
killed you. But I chose to save you,” Nidan said.

“
And now you want
me to be grateful?”

Nidan shook his head. “After the
pain I caused you? No. I made you face death and I’m so sorry. But
I couldn’t think of another way. Facing the Darkness must have been
horrible.”

Skaric dropped his hand to rest on
the ground. “You have no idea.”

“
You’re right. I
don’t.” Nidan shifted so that he was sitting down.

Skaric ran his hand over his face.
“If you’d really wanted me dead… I would be.” He stared at Nidan.
“Thank you.”

Kiana breathed out slowly. Her
chest ached from the effort of holding her breath and her legs were
shaking. She allowed herself to sink to the ground. For several
moments, she could do nothing except breathe in and out slowly and
watch her two companions.