Chapter 28: Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Several weeks later, with a very minimal amount of sleep, we decide to stop for the night in Shira. It’s about six towns away from our destination. We’re cold, wet, it’s pouring rain, and Stanya is demanding a bath. My guess it’s the boys’ body odor that is getting to her. To be fair, every time Gedric lifts his arm, the grotesque scent coming from his armpit is enough to make my eyes water. Also, there are no caves to seek shelter in. The ground is also flat, with spaced out trees. There isn’t a way to make a shelter outside of magic. Since Stanya is extending her illusions to help keep Ari off of our trail, she’s used up all of the raven statue Malay was so kind to make, my star, and most of Gedric’s stone. That one has got about another day left in it. I hope that’s all we need, since I really don’t want to go through another overload to fill another one.

When we get to the city, it’s nearly time for curfew. That means that we’re trapped in the town for the night. Considering it’s a torrential rainstorm right now, I don’t mind. I look at Stanya, who is shivering. Halthin is shivering and covered in mud. Gedric seems to be holding up well though.

“Here,” I say, taking Bitzy’s reins. “Go get showered, I’ll catch up.”

“Nat,” she says with a tired expression.

“Go,” I say, giving her a hard look. “You’re exhausted. Your magic is spent. I won’t be long. I’ll stable the horses, get them cleaned up, and meet you there. Go get us two rooms.”

She looks me over and then nods. “I’m coming after you if I haven’t heard from you in twenty minutes.”

“Deal. Gedric, take Halthin and get him cleaned up. He can hardly stand.”

Gedric gives me an annoyed look. “I’m not leaving you alone Nat.”

“Look, he’s dead on his feet. He’s still recovering, and I’m sure as the Fates are evil, that I’m not going to be the one to help him out of those muddy pants.”

He lowers his eyes to a glare. “I’ll help him to bed, and get changed, but I’m coming back to help you in the barn.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. Go.” I take the other horses reins and lead them away, while Stanya and Gedric pair off to help Halthin into the inn.

The barn is nearly empty. Aside from a stable worker, and another traveler that is getting ready to leave, it’s completely empty. After paying the stable worker, I get to work on the horses. I remove their saddles first and then their bridles. Gently, I brush them down, trying to remove as much mud from them as possible.

“Gien gree,” I say quietly to Myter. He started to fidget when I picked up his hoof. “I’m just cleaning your hooves.”

Myter settles down and nudges my head.

I smirk. “I’m soaking wet, and I’ll be the same when I leave to go to bed. It’ll be best to keep my mask on until I can get dry.”

“Who are you talking to?” Gedric’s voice asks.

I look over and see him leaning over the stable railing. “Myter. He doesn’t seem to like my mask.”

“Can’t say I blame him.” Gedric says, looking at Myter with an appraising eye. “For someone who can’t speak with them, you seem to read them really well.”

“My family used to raise horses when I was a little girl.” I answer, carefully picking out a rather large pebble from Myter’s front left hoof. “My mother was rather gifted in understanding them. I suspect it was her spirit that they were drawn too. She was a kind woman, and a gifted healer. We actually didn’t live far from Frostula, so we were visited by the Forest Folk frequently.”

“That’s how you know how to speak it.” Gedric says, a small smile in his voice. “I remember a ranch that my dad liked to take me to when I was young.” His eyes widen. “You’re their little girl! I used to play out by your family’s property all the time.”

I laugh out loud, startling Myter a little. He wasn’t expecting that. “Small world.”

Suddenly he stiffens. “I remember the day we found them. It looked like…” he trails off

“That someone had set fire to the place and sliced out their entrails,” I say, finishing it off for him.

“Did you…”

I shake my head. “No, I didn’t see them. However, I’ve had the scene described to me enough times, to get some pretty gruesome visuals. The desecration of their bodies was from when Ari was stealing their magic. It’s easy to drain them, however, if you mix their blood in with their magic, it makes the stolen magic more easy to recharge within you. The long slice down their belly is Ari’s signature.”

“Like a serial killer?”

“You could say that,” I allow. “In my experience, serial killers are more calculated. Ari’s kills are messy, like he’s angry.”

“I take it you’ve seen your fair share.”

“Unfortunately, but that’s something I have to face with my position.” I carefully stand up and brush my clothes off. I’m covered in horsehair and caked in mud. I just want a hot bath.

“How is your shoulder?” Gedric asks when I pick up my pack. He holds up his hand, “Answer honestly.”

I sigh, “It clicks when I move it. It’s hard to grip things, and it’s trembling.”

He gives me a frustrated look, “Get over here.”

“Fine, but I’m not taking my top off this time.” I tell him, walking towards him.

“You might have to. You’re wet, and your clothes are thick.” He reaches over and starts touching me, making me grimace.

“How about after I get warm,” I say through gritted teeth. My shoulder is getting worse. I hate to admit it, but that stupid sling did more than I anticipated. I honestly thought he was making me wear it because he wanted to be an ass.

“Fine. The heat from the bath will help.” He touches the small of my back, “Go and get washed up. I’ll take the packs and saddles to the room.”

“Room?” I ask him, my eyebrow raised, as I grab my pack so I can change my clothes.

“They’re completely booked.”

I look around the barn. “They are?”

“Most of the other horses are in the second barn. The one closest to the inn. You forget, Shira is a popular town.”

I groan. “I forgot they have two barns.” If it’s that full, what is the bathhouse going to look like? Maybe I’ll hang out in the steam room after quickly washing.

When I make it to the connected bathhouse, it’s nearly dark. I strip down and move into the warm water. I moan as I sit next to Stanya; allowing the warm water to heat up my abused body. She has her head tilted back and her eyes are closed. She’s the only other person here. Even the bath attendant is gone. It must be almost time for dinner services.

“Stanya, come on,” I tell her.

She groans and turns into me, her breasts pressing against me as she curls into me. “I don’t want to move.”

“Well you need to, because you’re falling asleep.”

“But I have to watch you,” she mumbles into my shoulder.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll take a quick bath and a fifteen minute steam. Then I’ll meet you in the room.”

“The boys are sleeping with us,” she tells me, sounding annoyed.

“I know hun.”

“They’re smelly.”

“I know.”

“You better not leave me alone with them.” She stands up and kisses my cheek before leaving to get dressed.

A few minutes after she left, I wash my hair with lemon dew soap. It’s not my favorite smell, but it’s better than anything Stanya would have dumped into the bath. It took several attempts, but I finally get my hair free of snarled knots of hair, twigs, and mud. After washing my hair, I use rose soap to clean my body. I look at my shoulder and grimace. It’s swollen, bruised, and angry. It hurts to move it. Riding Macy as hard as I can to increase our distance between Ari has really taken its toll. Stupid Ari. I wish I could use my magic to heal. I’m able to access it, but I’m still highly prone to overload. It would be a miracle if I used that much magic, and I didn’t go back into overload.

Quietly, I stand in the bath. I hear dinner service has started, and I don’t want to draw attention to myself. A lone female traveler would definitely capture some peoples attention. After wrapping a towel around myself, I go into the steam room to help me warm up a bit. My plan is to sit in there just long enough that I avoid sweating, but that I feel that I have had a moment of peace. This is my first time being alone in weeks, and I’m not going to waste it.

I sit down and lean against the wall, tilting my head back and keeping my mind silent as I close my eyes. I haven’t meditated in weeks; which is something I’ve avoided since we last saw Ari. Stylus is a gifted tracker, and I’m not giving him a single chance to use his gift to find me. A loud bang makes me open my eyes. I hear several people screaming, making me leave the steam room. It’s coming from the dining room.

“Where is she?” The voice yells, making the hair on my arms rise. Ari. How does this man keep finding me? He didn’t even know I was alive for fourteen years, and now he keeps coming back like a bad headache.

“Ari, I don’t even know if she’s here,” Stylus yells. “It was a guess I made by judging the way they were heading.”

“Nat, come on out!” Ari roars, making me cringe. I forgot my last battle with him cost me my nickname. “I promise to make it quick. You’re too weak to fight me, so get out here you pathetic sheik.”

Panic rises and I silently head for the back room of the bathhouse; which is the changing room. There are cubbies and benches that might be able to help hide me. Never in my entire life did I picture Ari finding me wet and naked. This has got to be a nightmare. I can hear more people screaming as Ari orders his men to start searching the rooms.

“Come on out my little raven,” Ari calls, entering the bathhouse. I push myself up against the back wall, and slip in between the small space where the wall and cubbies almost meet. I sink down and cover my mouth when I hear his footsteps to stop any pained whimpers. My shoulder is excruciatingly irritated at my forced angle, as I wedge myself further into that tight corner. Tears are in my eyes as pain courses through me.

My heart starts beating faster when his footsteps come closer. Ari steps into view. He’s wearing a good chunk of mud all over him, and his hair is almost flattened due to the amount of water it holds. It looks like he’s taken a few stumbles in some puddles.

“Where are you,” he yells. I tighten my grip around my mouth, feeling more exposed and vulnerable than ever. I never pictured myself hiding from Ari because I’m so weak. It’s making me feel like I’m six years old and hiding under the bed again. Only this time, Master Brin won’t be there to save me.

“Ari!” Stylus yells. “I found something.”

“What is it?” Ari yells while I hear Stylus running to him.

Stylus is covered in mud worse than Ari. They both appear drained, only Stylus looks like a feather could blow him over. I might be able to fight Stylus off, if I could risk getting touched by magic. Stylus holds up my pack, making my breath stop. Stylus reaches in and pulls out an old magic stone that I had forgotten about. It’s roughly the size of my knuckle. That might be why I forgot about it. That’s from when I was twelve years old. It was my smallest recorded overload.

“Is it hers?” Ari demands, reaching for it. He closes his eyes and smiles. “It’s innocent and strong. She was young when she had this.” Ari closes his hand around the stone, summoning black over it. I silently gasp, as if something is sucking away my power. To my horror, I can feel his power growing.

“What did you just do,” Stylus asks, echoing the question in my mind, while taking an automatic step back.

“I just drained her stones,” Ari chuckles. “Each stone is connected by her magic. I simply followed that sense and took it.”

Well fuck, I silently hiss in my head. Ari turns his hand and drops the blackened stone to the ground, leaving it in ashes the moment it touches the ground. I watch in despair as he flashes a grin to Stylus. “She’s stronger than I thought. No wonder the Fates want her.”

“Did you sense her?” Stylus asks.

“No. She’s either too weak for her magic to register, or most-if not all-of her strength has returned.”

“Then judging by her dry pack, she’s long gone. She might have sensed you were coming.”

“I want the entire city searched before we move on, just in case.” Ari says, feeling a little more content with his strength. I’m going to kill that man. No wait, I can’t. Okay, I’m going to seriously kick that man in the head again. Just enough to almost kill him.

“Go and search.” Ari yells, snatching my pack from Stylus. I’m going to miss that bag.

After it has been quiet for nearly a half hour, and I still hear people screaming, I stand up and silently leave the changing area. I poke my head into the bathhouse and find it empty. Quickly and quietly, I race out of the inn while they’re distracted, and leave to go outside.

It’s heavily pouring rain, and I can’t really see much in front of me. The rain is fortunately washing away my tracks. I’m pressing against buildings as I make my way towards the barn. I cannot safely hide in the inn. I know Stanya will be okay, and so will Halthin. Knowing Stanya, she’ll pretend they’re tired from a romp to make the inspecting Magicnite feel awkward enough to leave. They’re both too weak for their magic to be sensed. Thanks to Ari, my stones are now destroyed, so they won’t be able to sense magic in our room. I don’t know about Gedric though.

When I’m just outside the barn, someone grabs my arm, making me scream. A hand clamps over my mouth when I’m pulled into a room. There is a small light in the room so when my eyes finally focus my breath catches; locking with his hazel green eyes. Gedric.

“Gedric,” I gasp in relief into his hand.

Surprising me, Gedric immediately drops his hand and pulls me into him, hungrily putting his lips on mine. Confused, I remain still, but lean into him automatically; my body drawn in by his warmth. A scream breaks through my paused mind. Stanya.

I throw my arms around Gedric, knowing I’m going to need him for support. I close my eyes as I let my bare feet search through the earth, locking on the bitter senses of the Magicnites and Ari. Ari is near Stanya. Well, time to die I guess. I lock onto Ari’s lifeline, and the dozen Magicnites in or near the city, and think of a very cruel place to send them; the Icy Rock Mountains. When they have vanished my feet lose feeling and I fall into Gedric.