Alicja
Ocean pulled me up the grassy knoll away from the door, and held me until he saw Victor stumble out, and the door fade and close behind him. Then he let me go and began walking away. "Follow or don't, it's all the same to me," he said.
"Why, Ocean? Why did you do this?" I yelled.
"Orders. Orders are orders," he lifted his arms, bent at the elbow, palms facing the sky in a 'what can men do' ... but he didn't turn around or stop walking away. When he reached the rise of the grassy knoll, he waved, but still did not turn, "I'll see you soon, I'm sure. Take care."
I had my backpack on, thank the spirits. At least I had something. Who knew what I might need in this place?
Clearly, I thought to myself, I wasn't going with Ocean. So I went to Victor who continued to struggle and stumble and fight for breath.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked, when I reached him.
"Drugged," he managed to say.
"What can I do?"
He shook his head several times, and then said, "It will wear off in a few minutes, I think. I can already feel it draining out."
He sank down and then dropped, to sit on the ground.
I looked around. The ground rose up, becoming a knoll ahead. To the left and behind us there was a forest. Thick stands of trees, which looked to be pine. The air had a chill to it, something I wasn't accustomed to. Right now it felt good, but after the sun went down, I was betting that chill grew razor claws.
A fire, perhaps. I had a lighter. In that forest there had to be fallen branches or something to burn.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked. "I mean, I know which world we are in, but where in this world are we?"
He leaned back on his arms, and took in a deep breath. Then he looked around, "I think we're about a mile away from my home. The capital city."
That didn't sound too bad. Sounded better than camping out under the stars. Did they have stars here?
My terror had crystallized and became a stoic shield wall inside my mind. I might experience backlash from that later, but for now, I was just fine with it. The panic and fear I felt when Ocean pulled me through that door hanging in the air like a bad special effect â I never wanted to experience that again.
I looked back to the door, and saw no sign of it. It was gone. And with it, my way back home.
"Can you make one of those doors?" I asked, believing I knew the answer. Ocean wouldn't have left us if it was that easy for us to return.
"Yes, but I have to be in flight to do it. I can't summon the Mana to open the Way, when I'm on the ground," he said. His voice was coming around, returning to its normal strength.
"I suppose you have tested that theory a few times, yes?" I asked.
He nodded, and looked behind us, "Yes. It's been a point of contention for a long time."
"But you can fly with me, right?" I asked.
"I can't fly at all right now. I can't even unsheathe my wings."
I was about to ask him about that, when the ground began to rumble. The rumbling grew steadily louder, and then became thunderous. Turning around the first of several horses with riders came into view at the top of the knoll.
These were not human. I guessed by the look of them, they were Sidhe.
"Great," Victor groaned. "Not sure I want to know what's going to happen next today."
"Are they friendly?" I asked, unconsciously moving behind Victor.
Victor stood up, much steadier on his legs now. Unless he was faking it. "Friendly? The Sidhe? I hope not."
Then he took a step forward as ten of the riders moved down to meet us. The one in front, a male by appearance, lifted his left hand.
Victor raised his in return, "Hail, Daelion."
"Hail, Victor, how is it with you?" Daelion said, as he dismounted. The horse looked like an Arabian. It was beautiful, whatever it was.
Daelion was taller than I, shorter than Victor. He looked thin, but he also felt powerful. Fast, agile, lethal. His hair looked like Ocean's white blond. Except it was long. It fell down to the middle of his back. Otherwise, like Ocean's it hung without a tangle or split-end on his head. It moved as he moved â with purpose.
On his belt he had a short sword, but some instinct told me that wasn't the weapon to be concerned about. I had no idea what other weapon he had, however.
Victor hadn't acknowledged me yet, and Daelion had already glanced at me three times, with what felt like expectation. Reflexively, I almost smiled when he glanced at me again, but managed to keep my smile to myself. This was Victor's world. It would probably be best to let him lead.
Fear began crawling across the surface of my arms.
"I'm well. Just had a bit of a struggle. Getting my legs back under me. You look well. What are you doing out here?"
"I was asked to come around and see if you needed anything," Daelion said, while scrutinizing Victor's health. His eyes, angled up and wide, took on the look of a predator, wondering if what he was looking at might be prey.
"By who? If I might ask," Victor said.
"The Regent. He said you would be coming through the Ways soon, and might need assistance getting back to your home."
"How polite of him, for me. How rude of him to you, however, because I'm not in need of assistance. I'll scold him for you, if you wish, or you could burden him later, as your choice."
Daelion subjected Victor to another intense scrutiny and then nodded his head. "I'll carry the burden, until I meet him again," he said, and turned his back to Victor to return to his horse. Once mounted again, he glanced at me, and I felt that his true burden was not being introduced. He wanted to know who and what I was.
"Day long, Victor," he said, and then as one they all turned their mounts and rode off over the hill, where there must have been a hundred more of them, because the thunder of the hooves was enough to shake the ground as they rode off.
Victor bent, and then fell back down to sit on the ground, "That went well."
I sat down next to him, "You look a little better."
"I feel a bit better. Fucking zombie dust. What an asshole."
"Zombie dust?" I asked.
"It's the name of the mixture. I'll be back to normal in a few minutes. But we better start going to the city."
"Why can't we fly out of here?" I asked. "You can carry me, can't you?"
He nodded, "I can, but not now. Not with them around."
"They left," I said, turning to look up the knoll.
He grinned, but there was no mirth in it. "He's still here. He's waiting to see us walking to the city. You might not be able to see them, but they'll be there, and they'll be watching. If I try to fly, he'll have his archers bring me down. You're too important to let go, now that you're here."
"What do you mean, too important? I'm not anyone special," I said. "You mean, because I'm bonded to you?"
"Partly," he agreed. "But being bonded to me, as a human, you could also be a Morrigan. I don't suppose you know what that is, do you?"
The passage I read in Oma's journal flashed into my memory, "Oh, no. No, I'm not a Morrigan. I don't want to be a Morrigan."
"I'll take that as a yes, you understand."
"NO, I Don't understand. Why do I need to understand? Victor, I just want to go home. Please. Take me home. Please."
He put his hand on mine, and I let him. His hand was strong and I needed strong right now. "I can't take you home, until I deal with the Regent. But besides that, you may want to stay here until after the change, if there is a change. They won't have any help for you back home. They won't know what to do, and that could be a very long and painful transition. Seriously painful."
I looked up to his eyes, and found compassion, and what I didn't want to see, powerlessness.
"Why didn't you tell me about this Victor? Why? If you knew I would need to come here after the bonding, why did you lie?"
"I didn't lie," he said, his voice suddenly defensive. "I didn't remember it, until Ocean said something about it after he poisoned me."
I thought about that, and came to the realization that Ocean lied as well. "I don't like Ocean any more. He remembered. He knew. That's why he was so upset about our bonding. He knew I would have to return with you. He as much as said so, but he did it with a lie."
Victor nodded, gave my hand a squeeze. "I'll keep you safe, and no matter what, I'll get you home. I promise."
In his eyes I saw conviction, and strength. So I nodded and we stood up.
"Let's get moving before Daelion decides I'm prey."