The Destroyer (48 page)

We were both swaddled under four different blankets so I pulled my body from around the princess and tried to exit the pile without disturbing her. The wind roared again but the trees offered shelter from most of their torment. The horses were still where I had left them and I saw that the fire had burned down to orange glowing coal. From the ashes I predicted that I might have been asleep for about six hours. There was a small amount of snow on the ground but the branches above were so thick that most of the ice was kept off of us. The dense foliage above also prevented me from viewing the clouds and guessing how much more of the storm was left.

If it had been six hours, it would be close to nightfall. I needed to prepare the camp before we set in for the night. I stood up from the blankets and almost fell over as my head spun and ached. It felt like every muscle in my body had been gnawed on by bears.

I went over to the fire and used the discarded flint to light another small pile of needles and cones. They lit quickly and I added the larger pieces of dried wood to get it burning. The small pot of broth was warm but needed more time to heat. It had probably gotten hot enough during my unconsciousness but I didn't agonize over the time I wasted preparing it.

I went back over to the horses and unsaddled the last one, taking time to rub each one down and inspect them for sores or ticks. The Elvens had taken good care of them and I couldn't find anything that needed attention. The animals did need to be covered with their riding blankets, but before that could happen I would need to move Jessmei into the tent.

I had set up many tents in my life and this one I easily put together. It was made of green, oiled canvas with wood support beams and stakes. Within ten minutes it lay positioned near the fire, absorbing warmth from the flames. I didn't think I could move Jessmei without waking her, so I went back to inspect the rest of the bags. I found more food, some repairing equipment, spare cotton pants and shirts the Elvens wore under their armor, a few more water skins, grain for the horses, and the standard weapon maintenance gear. I wondered how they managed to get all the horses loaded from inside the castle. My best guess was that they had probably assigned a few of their squad to stealing the Nia mounts and procuring traveling supplies while the others kidnapped the princess.

The pot of broth was steaming so I moved it away from the fire and dipped in a small cup I found in the pack. I hesitantly sipped on the salty concoction. It tasted amazing. My head and body still hurt like I had just been crucified by a lightning bolt, but the broth would get me in the right direction. I grabbed a wax bag of dried crackers from one of the packs and dunked it into the broth. They tasted as good as the food at the banquet in Nia.

Once I finished the small cup, I gathered more branches and needles for the fire, checked on the horses, and decided it was time to move Jessmei into the tent. I was able to carefully pick up the bedding she lay on and lift it off the ground; I kind of half-crouched, half-dragged the pad inside the shelter. The princess seemed to be deeply unconscious; the movement didn't wake her or even disturb her slumber. Although, it was hard to tell since she lay wrapped up like a cocooned caterpillar before it turns into a blue and silver butterfly.

I carefully unwrapped the top blanket and exposed her naked, sleeping form. Her skin was white and creamy like the fresh snow that littered the floor of the forest. Her breasts were smaller than Nadea's but created a perfect hemisphere of support for her erect pink nipples. My eyes followed the line of her taut stomach down to her hips and smooth thigh muscles; her entrance was hidden by a small amount of fine blonde and silver hair that matched the mane on her head. I felt my body respond to a different type of hunger than what the beef broth and crackers would satisfy.

It would be so easy to lean down and wrap my mouth around her nipple, to lick across her smooth skin and then taste every inch of her.

I shook my head to get my imagination in check. My body was naked and my erection stood straight up against my stomach. I sighed with regret and carefully pulled the two horse blankets off of her body and wrapped her in the ones I found in the other traveling packs. Before I left the tent I checked her toes to make sure that there were no signs of frostbite. They looked fine.

I covered up the horses and moved them near a tree where they could be tied. Then I knelt by the fire and inspected my weapons. I hadn't really paid them any attention during the last few weeks while I pursued Jessmei, and they probably needed care. The activity took my mind off devouring Jessmei's unconscious form and gave me time to think about the recent memory.

Was that the last battle I fought? Iolarathe was their general? It seemed so serendipitous, but I guessed she would be alive. I wondered what happened between Shlara and Malek. The note on my stone bed had made it seem that Malek regretted what he had done to me. Was that because of Shlara? Did I kill Iolarathe in that battle? I tried to remember more, but it was like trying to catch an individual drop of water falling from a rain storm.

I flipped the long sword over to inspect it one last time. The edge of the blade was now returned so I oiled it a final time before sheathing the weapon. I pulled out the short sword and began the same process while my mind wandered like a bee seeking pollen from a field of brightly colored flowers. My mind finally settled on a topic I had forgotten until now.

The O'Baarni.

I stood up as I remembered what I had said in the dream. My eyes closed as I repeated the words again.

The O'Baarni wasn't a man. It was us. It was the humans. It was the people I led.

We were the Ancients?

I still didn't understand. Why were the Elvens calling themselves Ancients? Why did the legends Paug told me seem to implicate the O'Baarni as the person that destroyed the Ancients when I knew them to be the same thing? Perhaps history was tainted by hundreds of years of lies and mystery. In the end it didn't matter. Elvens were alive here and I needed to destroy them. I recalled the scorching fervor of the man I used to be. Parts of that heat still burned strongly in my chest.

I didn't feel the same passion, either love or hate, when I thought of Iolarathe. Perhaps time had healed that wound in my heart. Maybe somehow we were bonded and her death had caused me to escape the obsession I had for her.

The wind blew again and I heard it soar across the river far below, up the canyon, through the field of long green grass, and into the forest where we camped. The rustle of the tree needles sounded like thousands of melancholy whispers.

"Kaiyer?" Jessmei's voice called out from inside the tent. I sheathed my sword and walked back over to the entrance.

"I'm here, Jessmei. How do you feel?" She sighed in relief when she heard my voice.

"I'm okay. Very tired, hungry, and thirsty." Her voice died down to a whisper at the end.

"I've got some broth. I'll get you water too. Just stay there." I gripped the small cup I used earlier and filled it with broth from the pot and then I grabbed a few of the hard crackers and a water skin. I opened the entrance to the tent and bent over double before I crawled inside.

Jessmei sat up with the blankets wrapped around her chest to keep her breasts hidden. She smiled at me in undisguised joy and the inside of the tent seemed as bright as daylight. I pushed the cup of broth into her hands and she sighed in delight as she drank the first sip.

"This is so good. I am very hungry." She took another sip and the blanket began to fall off of her chest. Before it could, she hastily grabbed it with her left hand.

"Here are some crackers." It was very dark in the tent. I could see fine but she probably couldn't make out more than my shadowed silhouette. She hummed in satisfaction as she dipped them in the broth.

"They didn't feed me much for the last few weeks." She sounded like she was about to cry, but I couldn't tell if it was from the painful memory or because she was happy.

"They are dead now. You're safe here with me. We'll be back at the castle in a few weeks. Your father must be very worried about you." I handed her the water skin as she finished the cup. "Want more?" she nodded and I went back out to the pot to fill the cup and grab more crackers.

"He probably isn't that worried. Although I'm surprised you came alone. I would have thought that Greykin would have come with you." She smiled again as I passed her the refilled cup.

"Why wouldn't your father be worried?"

"Well, I had prayed that you would come after us. He asked you to, right?" I didn’t understand what she was saying exactly. It must have been another language issue.

"The last time I spoke to the king it was a few days before the night the alarm sounded." I hoped I had explained it to her correctly. She set down her cup and looked at me in shock.

"So who sent you after me?"

"I saw them take you out of the city. I didn't think there was time to get help, so I ran after you."

"You ran after us?" Her mouth hung open. The blanket started to fall off of her chest again but she re-wrapped it over her breasts. "How did you run after us?"

"Don't worry Jessmei." I laughed and lay down on the mat next to her. "You're safe now. I spent a few sleepless nights tracking your new friends before I caught up to you. Then I planned the ambush at the river. How did they capture you at the castle?" She looked back over her shoulder at my body and turned in her blankets so she could face where she thought my voice was coming from.

"Greykin made it to my room a few seconds after the alarm had sounded. An Ancient came through my window and Greykin killed him in a horrific struggle."

"He killed an Ancient?" I asked in surprise. The big man was impressive.

"Yes. Then he grabbed my arm and we tried to get to the armored Safe Room where the rest of my family would be guarded during an invasion. We almost made it there when we were attacked by three more. They put a dagger to my throat and Greykin stopped fighting." She let out a sigh. "I hope they are all okay. You didn't see them before you came after me?"

I nodded and realized she couldn't make out the movement.

"No. They are probably still worried about you. I'm sure they have sent soldiers to track you. I imagine when we turn back south we will run into them in a few days." Jessmei nodded and finished off her second cup of broth.

"Want more?"

"No I am fine. Just water is good." She took a long drink from the skin. "Did you eat? Are you thirsty?" I realized that I was still hungry and thirsty, but I wanted to make sure she got what she needed.

"I'll get some in a bit. Do you feel okay? I was worried that you were going to die of hypothermia."

"I feel tired. That may be because I am so warm and relaxed." She set down the cup on the mat between us and finished drinking the rest of the water. "I knew that you would come for me. At least, I believed that you would. Then the days passed and I began to fear that you wouldn't come. Then weeks passed and I became certain that you wouldn't come. When we were crossing the river I began to imagine what they would do to me when we reached our destination." She shuddered again like when she had been exposed to the cold.

"It just took me a long time to catch up with you. But I never fail," I said to her with a smile. My stomach grumbled.

"You should go eat." I nodded and made my way out of the tent with the cup and began to finish off the rest of the broth.

"Where are we?" she asked through the closed flap.

"About a mile, maybe two, south of the river. I didn't find a cave for shelter but we are in dense woods that seem to be protecting us from the snowstorm."

"It is snowing? No wonder it feels so cold outside of these blankets."

"Don't leave the blankets! You need to relax and be warm." I gulped the rest of the broth and then covered the pot with its lid so it wouldn't attract any animals. I moved about two armfuls of wood onto the fire, grabbed my swords, another water skin, and then went back into the tent.

Jessmei was sitting up and had started to shiver.

"Cold?" I asked as I put my weapons to the side of our mats and lay back down next to her.

"A little."

"Here, open the blankets." She did and I slid my body next to hers and wrapped the opening closed behind me. My arms circled her shoulders again and I pulled her back against my chest. "Is that better?" I said after I had situated our bodies.

"Mmmm. Yes." She sighed. "You're really warm." I smiled at her words. She didn't need to know that my body felt like it was being ripped apart and my headache made me want to bludgeon myself unconscious with a rock. Her body wiggled back and forth a bit as she nestled closer into my arms. Then her movements stopped abruptly.

"Kaiyer?"

"Yes?"

"Are you naked?" she stuttered.

"Yes. Why?" I felt her body tense. Shit. I forgot that they have this aversion to anything carnal.

"We cannot be lying here under these blankets without clothes on!" she whispered. Her heart rate quickened as she scooted a few inches away from me.

"You don't really have any clothes left. I ripped off your nightgown and threw it on the dirt by the fire. Your undergarments are out there in a pile with my clothes. If you want to go out and grab them you are welcome to, but it is cold out and they are probably still soaking wet." I didn't bother to tell her that there were other garments in the Elven's gear. It was comfortable here with her warm skin against mine.

"You ripped my nightgown? What am I going to wear when we travel back?" She didn't seem angry.

"We'll figure that out in the morning." I pulled her back into my chest and nuzzled the back of her neck with my nose. Her hair was dry now but still a tangled shower around my face. She murmured something soft when my face touched the nape of her neck and she didn't try to move away again. I took a deep breath and filled my sinuses with the scent of her.

We listened to the wind pass overhead and the fire crack from outside the tent flap.

"Thank you for coming after me," she interrupted the howl. Her heart started to beat fast again. I hummed in agreement and tightened my arms a small amount around her shoulders.