Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) (13 page)

“You don’t approve of what he’s trying to do?”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to get home, it’s
that I don’t think it’s realistic to think we can get you there.
For him to be risking…” He stopped short, knowing Tyler wouldn’t
want her to know what he was risking.

She glanced up at the sky then back to John. “I know
what he’s risking, John. I heard the two of you talking the other
night.”

Disbelief clouded the hazel eyes as they widened.
“And you’re going along with this plan, knowing he’ll die trying to
get you home?”

Her chest tightened and a lump formed in her throat.
“He said he can change it.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“No. He said he thinks he can change it, but he’s got
no clue to go on. He doesn’t know when or where or how. All he
knows is that he dies at the hands of a Zerpanay. By the moons,
Heidi, you’re alive! Isn’t that enough? Tell him you’ll stay. Tell
him you don’t want to go back. He could have left you there, Heidi.
A lot of shifters would have; some of them would have killed you,
but he didn’t. If it weren’t for him, you’d be dead. Return the
favour, Heidi. Tell him you’ll stay. If the plan changes, the
future changes, and Tyler doesn’t die.”

“Alright! It’s all clear!”

The two of them jumped as Tyler reappeared. He
stopped short and looked them over. John’s jaw was clenched,
Heidi’s shoulder’s slumped.

“What’s going on?”

Heidi straightened and shook her head. John grunted,
shifted and loped away.

“What was that all about?” Tyler went to stand by
her. Heidi swallowed hard and looked up into his deep brown eyes.
Her throat tightened at the worry she saw in them. She shook her
head, knowing that if she tried to talk she would start to cry. He
frowned.

“Come along. You can clean up at the river.” He
glanced in the direction John had gone then led the way to the
water’s edge. “I’ll be just over there.” He pointed to a bush and
went to sit behind it.

Heidi looked to where he’d disappeared then pulled
the dark green bandana out of her pocket.

“Oh, god, what am I supposed to do?” she whispered to
herself. Could she seriously continue trying to get home if Tyler
would die because of it? She glanced back at the bush and a tear
slipped over her cheek. John was right. He’d saved her life. In the
time since he’d found her he’d done more for her than anyone ever
had. And why? Other than being friendly, he hadn’t shown any
indication he might be interested in her. This was just him. It was
the reason he’d saved John, gave the humans directions after
letting them out, and let the sisters tag along. Tyler was a good
man. He had his issues, she was sure of it; the dark looks, the
moodiness, it all made her think he was hurting, but despite
everything he was obviously going through, being there for others
was something he couldn’t help doing.

Another tear dropped, and another. Could she make
that decision? Could she say, ‘It’s ok, Tyler. I’ll just stay
here’? She’d never see Blake again, her parents, her friends. Blake
would forget about her and find another woman. Her parents would
think something horrible had happened to her. She looked down and
scrambled to her feet as a brown frog landed near her foot, the
bandana falling from her hand in her haste to stand. The frog’s
blue tongue darted out and snatched it from the ground. With a
farewell croak, it hopped toward the river with surprising
speed.

“No! Get back here!” Heidi scrambled to catch up to
the little creature as it made its way down the bank toward the
river. “Give that back!” New tears welled in her eyes and the sight
of the dark green bandana disappearing into the water blurred.

“Heidi! What’s wrong?” Tyler ran to her side, his
dark brown eyes looking her up and down, trying to see if she was
alright.

She shook her head and tried to stop the sobs from
making their way up her chest.

“Heidi.” Tyler wrapped an arm around her shoulders
and pulled her close. “I’ll get you home. I promise.”

She shook her head again. “That’s not it. That stupid
little thing that looked like a frog… it took my bandana.” She took
a deep breath. “Blake gave it to me. It’s stupid. Don’t worry about
it. It’s just that it’s the only thing I have here from him.”

Tyler’s hold on her loosened and she looked up at
him. He was squinting against the sun, looking into the river.

He smiled. “Hang on.” He pulled off his boots and
tugged his dark green tunic over his head. “I’ll be right
back.”

She watched as he jogged to the edge of the riverbank
and dove into the water. He swam to where he’d seen the bandana
floating down the river, grabbed it, and made his way back to the
river’s edge where Heidi was watching with wide grey green
eyes.

Tyler shook himself, water spraying from his
hair.

Heidi grinned.

“What?”

“You reminded me of my dog when he used to go
swimming in the pond behind the house.” Her eyes saddened and she
shook her head before smiling again. “It’s just funny how so many
things you do remind me of a dog.”

He chuckled. “Heidi, I am a dog.” He wrung out the
bandana he’d rescued from the river. “Here. Why don’t we do this
with it so it doesn’t try to escape again, yeah?” He took her wrist
and pulled her right arm straight then wrapped the dark green
bandana around her forearm. He noticed her slight frown as she
looked at his chest.

“Did it hurt?” She traced the eight inch long scar
that ran from his collarbone, across his chest toward his hip.

“I imagine it did. I was in too much shock to feel
much after it happened. I don’t think I realized how bad it was
until the fight was over.” He remembered Jenna begging him to stay
with her, to stay alive. He looked into Heidi’s eyes to bring
himself back to the present. “It was a long time ago.”

She looked away from the deep brown eyes and down to
Tyler’s hip where his hand now covered hers. Neither one of them
moved.

If she asked him to get her home, he’d do it. “How
did you get it?”

“I was trying to get Jenna home after Trent died. We
were ambushed by a pack of humans.” His jaw clenched.

Heidi put her other hand on his other hip. She took a
deep breath. If she asked him to get her home, he’d get more than a
horrible scar associated with painful memories.

“Tyler…”

“Tyler, run!” John’s cry caused Heidi to jump. The
echoing screech raining down on them from the sky made her freeze
with fear.

Tyler grabbed her hand and started to run along the
river, looking for anywhere to hide. Heidi cried out in pain as she
tripped and fell, her shoulder slamming into a large rock. Tyler
stopped, ready to come back for her.

“Keep going! I’ve got her!” John hauled Heidi to her
feet. The Zerpanay shrieked and Tyler fell forward as an energy
blast pushed him off of the ground. He landed face first in the
dirt and leaves with a grunt, turned so he could look back for John
and Heidi. His heart jumped in his chest. Both of his friends had
been knocked down by the blast thrown by the creature that now
stood over them. The thirty foot long serpentine body moved in a
wave using the ten pairs of legs it stood on. It lowered its head,
the dark brown feathers glinting in the sunlight. Heidi screamed as
its long red tongue flicked over her. John kicked up with all of
his might and managed to roll himself onto Heidi. He tensed,
readying himself for whatever came next.

The Zerpanay screamed and bared its two rows of
sharp, pointed teeth.

Tyler scrambled to his feet and pulled his dagger, a
growl rising in his chest. He threw the blade as hard as he could.
The creature threw its head back as it embedded itself to the hilt
in its blood red eye. It shook itself, dislodging the knife. Its
fiery gaze honed in on Tyler.

He swore under his breath, but stood still until he
was sure it would come after him and leave his friends alone. The
Zerpanay stretched its wings and took to the air. Tyler shifted and
ran as fast as his four legs could carry him over fallen trees and
large rocks. The creature screeched and Tyler was knocked flat by
the energy blast it pushed at him. His leg screamed in pain as the
sharp teeth dug into it, the beast plucking him from the earth as
it flew over him. He watched the ground sink away below him.

“Tyler!” Heidi’s scream made him twist so he could
make sure she was alright. Not being able to see, he shifted back
and he cried out as the teeth cut deeper into his thigh. The
Zerpanay swooped back in the direction it had come. Tyler caught
the flash of the sun reflecting off of something metallic hidden in
the woods to their left. The wind caused his eyes to tear and he
wiped at them, trying to see what was below him. He felt a magic
nudge slam into him and the Zerpanay grunted with the force of it.
It rocked sideways, its jaws opening with its screech. Tyler’s
first thought was to thank the moons he was free of the Zerpanay;
his second, was to wonder what it was going to feel like to die
when he finished falling and he hit the ground.

One second he was seeing the dirt and leaves rushing
up at him and the next, he was lost in a black fog with specs of
flashing light. He felt small hands on his face and lips on his
forehead which caused him to wonder why he could feel Heidi’s hands
and nothing else. After a fall like that, he should have been in
pain, yet he felt peaceful.

“Tyler, please!” Heidi’s tear filled voice floated
through the fog and his throat tightened. The specks of light
became fewer and the dark fog thicker. Heidi’s sobs began to fade
and as the darkness finally won out, his last thought was of his
brother.

Chapter Five

Blake wrapped his arms around her and pressed his
lips against hers.

“
We were worried! My god, Heidi! What happened to
you?” He hugged her tightly and she couldn’t help but think that
Tyler’s hugs had felt stronger, safer. She looked up into Blake’s
green eyes and was shocked to find herself missing the deep brown
she’d been gazing into the past couple of weeks.

“
Heidi, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head and a tear slipped down her
cheek.

“
Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

She shook her head again. A sob shook her.

“
He fell,” she whispered between sobs. She
remembered how Tyler had closed his eyes as the ground had rushed
up at him, the awful noise his body had made when it had hit the
earth not too far from her.

“
Heidi…”

She shook her head, disengaged herself from his
embrace and went to lie on their bed. She buried her face in her
arms, her sobs shaking her whole frame. A breeze blew through the
window and the smell of the sea caused her to frown.

A noise to her left made her reach down to her side.
The cold hilt of the dagger Tyler had bought her pressed into her
palm. The noise reoccurred, this time closer. She took a deep
breath and flipped onto her back, her dagger stabbing in an arc
through the air.

“Ow! Damn it, Heidi, it’s me!” John put a hand over
the shallow cut on his forearm and sat beside her. “You’ve been
gone for two hours; I came to make sure you were alright.”

She blushed and wiped her dagger on a patch of grass
before putting it back in its scabbard. “Sorry. I fell asleep.” The
breeze dried her tears.

“Are you alright?”

She shrugged. “Every time I fall asleep, I dream of
him falling.” She took a deep breath. “This was my fault, John. You
were right.” She swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in her
throat. Heidi sat on the edge of the rocky cliff, the smell of salt
water making her nose tingle. She took another deep breath and
watched the waves smash onto the rocks below her. The afternoon was
cloudy, the air thick with the promise of rain.

“It could have been worse, Heidi.” John put a hand on
her arm.

She shook her head. “No. This is the worst thing that
could have happened.”

The two of them stared at the ocean below.

“He wanted me to take you to Sageden.”

She glanced at him. “Not yet.”

“Heidi, it’s been almost two months.”

“I said no.” She stood and made her way down the
narrow trail that led back to the small town below them. The room
she was staying in seemed empty, lonely. She wasn’t sure why she’d
decided to come here. She never could stay longer than a few
minutes. She exited, moved toward the room down the hall, and
quietly entered. Her chest felt heavy as she looked at Tyler lying
under a blanket. She glanced at his hand. Had it moved? Hadn’t it
been higher up on his chest when she’d left a few hours ago?

She sat on the chair by his bed and took the hand
she’d just been looking at. She took her free hand and brushed the
dark brown bangs away from his face. She smoothed his beard with
her thumb.

“Wake up, Tyler.” She leaned down, kissed him softly
on the lips, and laid her head on his chest. “Please, wake up.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two months. It had been exactly two months since the
Zerpanay’s attack; two and a half months since she’d first crossed
over to Quelondain. Heidi watched as John and Trista walked toward
her, hand in hand. Trista’s smile disappeared under the waves of
red hair that were picked up by the wind. Her grey eyes looked up
and met John’s hazel ones as he gazed down at her adoringly. Heidi
couldn’t help but feel jealous. Had Blake ever looked at her that
way? Did he really love her? Was he so worried about her at this
very minute he could barely function? She took a deep breath. Of
course, he was worried and of course he loved her. She’d been here
for so long she was starting to doubt life back home. And yet, she
couldn’t bring herself to leave. She was the main reason Tyler lay
in that bed and she refused to abandon him in this state.

“How goes it, Heidi?” John sat beside her under the
tree she’d adopted as her thinking tree.