Aura (26 page)

The stallion panicked at the attack as the wolf’s teeth sunk deep.  This was not something he had been trained to deal with.  Instinct took over the great animal as he reared, seeking to break free of the wolf’s hold on him.  Sillgrim went flying through the air.  The horse’s hooves came down hard as wolf and warhorse fought their own battle.  The wolf was fast and knew to keep out of the way of the slashing hooves as the horse attempted to stomp him.  Blood flowed freely from both animals as the wolf continued to fight to bring down his enemy.  The horse slipped in the blood that collected beneath him.  There was no room to maneuver, no room to fight.  They were hemmed in from all sides.  The horse was quick to get back on his feet, quick to go back on the attack.  He had been trained for battle.  He reared once more as Wolf sunk his teeth into his neck again.  This time they went down together.  The great warhorse landed atop the wolf.  Neither got up.
Thorn did not stop to watch the battle between Wolf and the horse. He saw Sillgrim as he flew from the back of the horse and moved in for the kill.  He managed to swing his sword twice more at Sillgrim, before turning his attention to another combatant.  He rode off into battle knowing that his enemy had been badly wounded, though he had no idea to the degree.  What he did know was that his sword was needed elsewhere.  Sillgrim laid in the bloody mud of the battle, unable to move, his life’s blood flowing from the deep cuts from Thorn’s blade.  He spared a moment to look at the scenes around him and knew his battle had been lost.
Sillgrim’s horse had managed to trample the wolf.  He remembered the sharp yelp that had distracted him.  He doubted if the other warrior had heard and if he had, he had not taken any notice.  Others had fallen all around him; some still lived, most did not.  Some men were complete, some were not, and he decided that all battlefields were the same.  Nothing changed, except this time he was on the ground pouring his life into the mud.  It was all right.  It was a good way to die.  A warrior’s death was an honorable way to end a life. 

“Leave nothing to draw you back," Aura mentally reviewed her instructions as she finished putting the last of her belongings into a backpack.
  Her stepfather noticed her activity as he walked past the open door of her room, and stopped.
 
"Aura?" He knocked on the empty door casing before entering her room.  "Are you going somewhere?"  He looked about and noticed the emptiness of the room.
She gave him a wide-eyed stare and started to answer.  "I," she hesitated then decided to tell him the truth.  "It has come Father, the time to return.  If at all possible I do not intend to come back this time."
"You are sure that this is what you want?"  He had thought she was happy with her studies, he had thought she would be with them forever.  She had been studying so hard and her professors were more than a little impressed with her potential.  She had everything to look forward to here. 
Aura nodded and answered with resolution.  "I miss him father, I love him."
Her stepfather nodded.  He understood, just as he knew that anything he could say at this time would be a waste of breath, but he had to try.
"You do know what you face for a lifestyle in that time and age Aura?  A child every year, left at the whim of your Lord and master?  Nor are living conditions what you are used to."
"I know all of that, but perhaps it will be a little different for me, not all women are so fertile as to conceive on a continuous basis.  As for the conditions, I know about them too, father.  I lived back there three years, remember?"
"You should take a measure of preventatives with you, for your own safety."  He advised.
"I take only what is mine father.  I want nothing more.  I can think of nothing important here anymore."
He sighed as he gave in, recognizing a lost cause when he saw one.  "Do you need a ride to your cave?"
"I would appreciate it, thank you.  I had thought I would have to walk, I only have a packsack and Sid to take, so it would not have been too bad."
"Yes, I know.  What you have is very little, but despite our neglect, I hope you remember us."
Aura put a hand over his arm and spoke lowly.  "I will never forget you father."
He covered her hand with his and assured her.  "Nor I you Aura."
With that she threw her arms about him and gave him a goodbye hug.  As she drew away she turned to face her mother, who was looking at her daughter in disgust.  Before her mother could say anything to her, Aura went to her and also gave her a big hug.  "I was going to stop in to say goodbye to you also mother.  I will never forget you." 
Aura’s mother frowned at her in irritation as she replied:  "You are being absurd Aura.  You talk as if you are never coming back home."
Aura replied.  "I am not and it is time for me to leave.  Goodbye mother."  She picked up her luggage and with quick brisk steps she left the house.  Her step father followed close at her heels.
Aura's mother did not even move from where she stood.  She could not believe that this was happening.  She had bore Aura, raised her, and now her daughter was leaving.  She thought of Aura as a stranger.  She knew nothing about her.  She had no idea where she was going and what was even worse, she didn’t seem to care.  There was, however, a strange, cold, empty spot in her heart, where her daughter used to be.  Why did she feel as if she had just buried her own child?  She walked to the telephone and called one of the girls.  They would have a nice little chat, and she would feel better.  The girls always made her feel so much better.
The trip to the cave was made in silence.  Everything that had to be said had been said, or perhaps it was that neither knew what to say to the other anymore.  It had been a long day already and it was barely three in the afternoon.  The jeep came to a halt just short of the ruins and Aura smiled her thanks to her stepfather.  She then climbed out, and taking the last of her packages with her, she walked over to the hole in the top of the cave.  She hoped everything went according to plan.
Aura looked at the small assortment of packages that symbolized her lifetime accumulation of possessions and smiled in amusement.  It looked like one of her stepsisters about to take a trip, albeit a long one.  Well, so was she, the only difference was that she was not coming back.  She said her final goodbyes to her stepfather then watched him drive away, before lowering herself into the semi darkness of the cave.
"Thorn," Aura gave a breathless whisper to the elements about her.  "Take care of yourself and please be there for me.  I think I would die if something happened to you before I arrived.  Remember, I love you and have come from afar in order to be your wife."
She covered herself with one of the feather quilts.  Eventually she fell asleep.  Would she wake up here, where she had started, or would she wake at home with Thorn?  She felt Sid move in his sack and smiled.  Well at least she was not alone.  Nor was Sid the little snake he had held a year ago.  He had done a lot of changing and growing.  Well, she reflected, so had she.
Aura felt a cool breeze from the side of the cave as she woke from a dream and knew immediately that she was home.  It was early evening and she could hear the sounds of spring all about her.  She looked about and noted that all her belongings had come with her and she smiled.  Thorn, she decided with a deep feeling of satisfaction, was in for a huge surprise, for she had brought some interesting things.  Some things would leave him scratching his head in wonder.  She liked that idea.  She liked making him think about her. 
She walked outside for a while and spent some time gathering dead wood.  She would need fire for warmth.  She could not let Sid get too cold either.  After she returned to her cave she made her fire, took Sid out and spent some time with him, before retiring.  Tomorrow she would start looking for Thorn.
She woke to the faint sound of a massive battle and became immediately alert.  If there was a war going on she could be sure Thorn would be in the thick of it.  She grabbed the bag filled with medical supplies and started off for the field, where the noise was the loudest.  She did not travel very fast, fearing that if she arrived too soon she could find herself close to the center of the fighting, or even worse, be discovered and captured by the enemy.
There was the smell of the dead and the dying everywhere and as always, Aura wondered how the human body could smell, so foul, so quickly.  She had become used to such smells from her days in medical school and now just moved about, marking corpses for removal as she had the last time there had been a battle.  Subconsciously she listened for the sounds of Thorn's horse riding up behind her as she worked.  She heard nothing.  She supposed he was busy fighting where the battle still raged.
There were so many dead; row after row of men hacked to death with few still living to be cared for.   Some were too far-gone to be helped.  Even medicine performed in perfect conditions could not have helped some of these men as they breathed their last breath.
The men had either bled to death, or died quick.  Those, Aura decided, were the lucky ones.  The unlucky ones were like the one before her.  She had cauterized his arm then sewn up the stump and bandaged it.  He would be missing the limb the rest of his life and would probably not thank her for his life, if he did manage to live.  It was not a period of history to favor any person with a missing limb.
Sillgrim watched Aura as she flitted from person to person, stopping where she was needed to care for some poor suffering soul.  There were others who did the same.  They were all recognizable as doctors.  There were others, less savory characters roaming around, stealing bits and pieces from the corpses.  Aura was different from all of them.  He closed his eyes to rest for a few moments while he waited for her attention.  He was sure it would be her who would tend him.  He lay in her path and if she did see to his wounds as he hoped, he would get his chance to quiz her.    
His turn came sooner than he had thought it would.  He heard her approach, although she seemed to move stealthily enough, from a distance.  He opened his eyes as he continued to monitor her progress.  He watched as she marked more of the men who had died in battle and as she leaned over him he asked, in a pain-racked voice.
"Who are you, and why are you here?   One such as you does not belong in a place such as this."
"All who know me call me Aura."  She replied in a language similar to his.  Her accent sounded strange.  He moved slightly as she began to examine him and she took him to task over it.  "I would really appreciate it if you would keep still.  You have been very seriously injured in several places.  I am going to have to inflict still more pain on you before I can help you."
"You could do me no harm."  The man scoffed.  "You are nothing but a girl."
Aura gave a small smile of amusement, but remained silent as she threaded her needles, pulled some medication out of her bag and began to tend to his injuries.  The man had been very lucky she decided as she treated him.  In several places he had come very close to having some major artery, or organ severed or punctured.  No mortal wounds had resulted, although he had lost a great deal of blood and would need a lot of time and attention to heal properly.  She finished the primary care needed to help him then, looking into his still inquisitive gaze, smiled.  He was a strong man.  He had not whimpered or yelled once.  She patted his shoulder and rose to leave.  She had hundreds more to see to.
"Will I see you again Aura?"  He interrupted her progress.
Aura was evasive in her reply, not sure if she would remember him amongst the crowd of faces she had catered to during this day, although she would never forget his strength.  He reminded her a bit of Thorn and she wondered if her husband was safe and well, as it had been a vicious battle.
"Perhaps, probably.  Your injuries, although they are serious, are not mortal.  I would suggest you get some sleep though.  I will make a special point of coming back to see how you are doing later."
"The name is Sillgrim, should you need it for anything."  He told her.
Aura smiled again and nodded.  She then moved off in her search for men in need of her skills.  It seemed such a waste, but then war always was.
Sillgrim continued to watch Aura until she moved from his sight.  She was arresting in her air of mystery and he wondered if she belonged to a special man, or was still free to choose.  He wondered if he would ever be in any shape to be considered worthy, as he had been at one time.  He no longer had a home or money and after they found out who he was, he wondered if he would even have a life.  He then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
As Sillgrim’s thoughts began to sway towards what had been, versus what now was, he remembered a name that had featured prominently during his travels in this country.  The name was that of the Lord Thorn.  This man was reported to be a fierce fighter, yet compassionate and fair.  Sillgrim felt he could have supported such a man, if he had been the type to follow another.  Vernon, according to all reports, was getting increasingly vain and weak.  It was also rumored that he followed Thorn's council, although he was the Duke.  Sometimes, Sillgrim reflected, it worked out that way.  A wise man recognized his own weak points and sought council to cover them.  He decided he would have the girl, what was her name again?  Aura?  There was something special about her.
Vernon found Aura in a grim mood, working over a boy who was barely a man.  The boy had a gruesome sword wound, which had narrowly missed cutting through a major organ.  The cut ran from his shoulder to his mid abdomen.  The boy had passed out and she had almost finished sewing him together.  After she finished she checked his pulse and eye reflexes as he slept.  She then sat back on the calves of her legs in fatigue.
Vernon waited until she was finished with the lad before speaking.  "Will the boy live Aura?"
She looked up and gave him a crooked tired smile as she nodded.
"He will live.  He will also be in a lot of pain.  He will have a nasty scar to show for his efforts here today.  Vernon, he was not old enough to be a part of all of this.  People like him are the future of your land, you cannot afford to keep losing them."
"A boy becomes a man Aura.  This was his time, his decision to make.  It is a fact of life we all have to learn to live with.  Even you.  I realize that you are a woman, it is harder for you, but that is the way it is."
"Perhaps, but give him some time to heal Vernon, so he can grow and live a little before it is time for him to fight another day."  She was quiet for a moment after that then she looked shyly up again and asked.  "How is my Lord Thorn, Vernon?"
"Chasing the remaining forces, as usual.  You know how Thorn is about loose ends."
Aura nodded, just happy at the moment to hear that he was alive and well.  She then asked another question, one which meant more to her.  "Has he missed me?"
"You remain uppermost in his mind and in his prayers."  Vernon assured her.
"Would you do me a favor Vernon?"
"Anything in my power Aura, you only need to ask."
"Do not tell Thorn that I have come back yet."
Vernon looked askance at her and when she remained silent he prodded.  "You had better give me a good reason for this silence Aura.  Thorn has gone through hell because of you during the last year."
"I know."  She had the grace to look ashamed.  "If I were to tell you where I have come from you would never begin to believe me.  I have fought long and hard to get back to him, but I do not want him to just hear that I am back.  I want to surprise him myself.  I want this reunion to be special."
"A repeat of your betrothal night?"  Vernon asked with a smile.
"If it is that which Thorn remembers the most of me, then yes."  She answered.