Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) (19 page)

“Umm, Bird? I don’t mean to rush you, but I could
really use my hands right about now.”

The blarnen took a few trotting steps toward him and
stopped short at the growl that rose from Tyler’s throat.

“That’s right, you little pest. Wolf. Bigger, badder,
meaner than you.” Tyler growled again to prove his point.

The pest in question crouched low and growled
back.

“Great. Bird, I’m about to become lunch for one of my
distant relatives.” He tried to keep his tone light, though he
could feel the panic rising in his chest.

She flashed him a picture of the rope almost three
quarters of the way gone. He pulled against it.

“I can’t break it.” He felt her get back to work. The
blarnen took a few steps closer. Tyler kicked dirt at it and cried
out as his leg hit the piece of arrow in the other one. The pain
caused the spots to reappear.

“Stay awake, stay awake.” He took a few deep breaths
and opened his eyes. The blarnen had made its way closer.

“Bird?”

The blarnen crouched, ready to pounce. Her image of
the rope holding on by a thread invaded his mind and he pulled his
hands free just as the creature launched itself at him. Tyler
managed to grab it by the neck, its teeth snapping shut mere inches
from his face. He threw it to the side and shifted, his cry of pain
turning into a loud whine. He bared his teeth and snarled at the
smaller dog. It hesitated and he ran at it, three legged, sending
it scrambling back into the woods.

He stayed on guard for a minute before limping back
toward his cave, making sure to keep his weight off of his hind
leg. Once he was by his pack, he lay on his side with a groan. He
took three long breaths and shifted back as he was exhaling the
third. The pain caused tears to spring to his eyes and a sob
shuddered through him. He pulled himself up so that he sat with his
back against the wall. He went through his bag until he found the
leaves he was looking for, took out one of his tunics and a pair of
pants, and picked up a thick stick from the ground. Using his boot
knife, he cut his tunic into strips then cut his pant leg up to his
hip. He used his arm to wipe his face and bit down on the
stick.

His swollen face paled and his muffled scream echoed
through the cave as he worked the arrow out of his leg. His vision
blurred and flashes of white blinded him. With trembling hands, he
dropped it to the ground then lay on his back, willing himself to
stay awake. When he was sure he wouldn’t pass out, he sat up again,
chewed the leaves he’d left out, crushed the paste into the wound
and used strips of his tunic to wrap his leg. He took his canteen
and poured the water over his head, scrubbing the blood from his
face and neck. He slipped off his belt, cut the remainder of his
pants off, and painfully pulled on the new pair.

Tyler sat against the wall, his eyes closed, his head
back against the cool stone. He felt Bird hop onto his good
leg.

“Do you know where they are?” He saw the picture of
campsite and he smiled despite the pain he was in. “I know that
clearing.” He took a deep breath and stood, making his way to where
Heidi’s dagger lay on the ground. He picked it up, stuck it in his
belt, and went to pick up his. He twirled it in his hand and stuck
it in its scabbard with a growl. It was getting dark out. He had to
get to her soon.

Bird flashed him a picture of his pack.

“We’ll be coming here afterwards.”

She managed to ask why he didn’t think the men would
look there again. He looked at her, his eyes full of the anger
Heidi had been scared of.

“Because once I’m done with them, they won’t be able
to look anywhere.” He shifted with a growl of pain and anger and
loped off in the direction of the clearing.

He guessed he’d been at it for a good half hour when
the sound of voices and the crackle of a fire made its way to his
ears. He crouched low and snuck closer.

“Hey! Pass some of that over here!” A man’s voice
barked the order out.

Tyler shifted and peeked around the bush he was
hiding behind. A low growl rumbled through him. There were five men
sitting around the fire passing food and drinks around. Heidi lay
behind them on a blanket, a gag in her mouth and hands tied behind
her back. Even with the bad lighting and the distance between them
he could tell she’d been beaten.

One of the men stood, went to Heidi and stood her up.
Her eyes narrowed before she drove her knee up into the man’s groin
then connected with his face as he doubled over from the pain. She
stood over him, ready to strike again if needed.

“Martin, you dummy. You saw what she did to Steve.
Martin?” One of the other men stood and faced Heidi before grabbing
his friend by the arm and pulling him back to the fire.

That’s my girl, Tyler thought to himself. He tried to
think of the best way to get Heidi away from them.

“Hey, Benji, maybe if one of us holds while the other
has his fun.” A dark haired man stood and a blond man nodded and
followed after him.

“Watch yourself, though. She’s not like that other
one we found a few weeks ago.” Benji rubbed a bruise on his
cheek.

Tyler started to circle around the campsite in the
direction that the men were dragging the struggling woman. He could
hear her muffled screams and he forced himself to take a deep
breath. The two men knelt at her side, blocking his view of what
they were doing. He watched as the dark haired man pushed her to
the ground then moved her so that she was kneeling. Benji got on
his own knees, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her down so that
she was bent over. He pushed her face into the dirt and leaves.

“Not so tough now, are you, you little…” Benji’s
comment cut short and his eyes widened. His dark haired friend
looked up at him.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Benji answered by falling forward on top of Heidi,
her dagger in his back. Tyler jumped over the rock he was behind
and lunged at the dark haired man who was too shocked to do much of
anything. Tyler shifted in midair, clamped his jaws over the man’s
throat and bit down as hard as he could. When he was sure the man
was dead, he shifted back and pushed Benji off of a struggling
Heidi.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him. He put a finger
to his lips, untied her hands and removed the gag from her mouth.
Her arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her close. He could
feel her shaking against him as she tried to get some control on
herself.

“Are you alright?” he whispered.

She shook her head and looked up into his deep brown
eyes. “I…I thought you were dead.”

Tyler looked down at the feel of something warm on
his hand. She felt the growl he tried to keep down. “They cut
you!”

She nodded and he noticed a strange look in her grey
green eyes.

“You’re going into shock. Stay here.” He hesitated
for a second before bending over and kissing her softly on the
lips. He crept closer to the fire. There were three men left. Two
sat at the fire and the other, Martin, was still unconscious on the
ground.

Tyler felt the handle of his dagger in his palm and
threw it as hard as he could. It sunk to the hilt into one man’s
belly. The second man scrambled to his feet, pulling his own dagger
out of his belt.

“Who’s there?”

Tyler shifted and limped into the firelight. Heidi
watched on worriedly as the large grey wolf bared his teeth. He
jumped at the man, twisting in the air to avoid the dagger aimed at
him and managed to land on top. This man had obviously had some
experience fighting against dogs. He jammed his arm as deeply as he
could down Tyler’s mouth. Tyler bit down as hard as he could, but
only managed to barely break the skin. He pulled back and was
thrown off by his opponent.

Heidi held down her scream.

Tyler shifted back and crouched low.

“You’re not going to be so tough without your knife.”
The man stepped toward Tyler and slashed at him with his dagger.
Tyler dodged and rolled to the side to get away. The man smiled.
Tyler dug into his pocket and pulled out an oblong wooden
object.

“You’re going to throw that at me and try to knock me
out? It’ll take more than a little piece of wood to do that.”

Tyler waited until the man charged again before
pulling the blade out of the pocket knife. His adversary’s eyes
widened as the small blade slashed across his face. Tyler grabbed
the surprised man’s own dagger, twisted it out of his grasp and
plunged it into his chest.

Heidi caught her breath as Tyler turned toward her.
His dark eyes were wild, his jaw clenched. He pulled his dagger out
of the man it had impaled itself in and he turned to Martin, who
was still unconscious. He knelt down, held the man’s head up by the
hair, and pulled the dagger across his throat.

Tyler wiped the dagger on his pant leg, stuck it in
his belt then simply stayed where he was.

“Tyler?”

He jerked at the sound of his name. He took one deep
breath and made his way back to Heidi who was holding a hand over
the cut on her shoulder. He looked over her bruised face, her grey
green eyes wide. He reached over and wiped the cut on her temple
lightly.

“Are you sure you’re alright? They didn’t…”

Heidi looked up at him. “They didn’t.” She reached up
and put a hand over his which was still against her face. She
closed her eyes.

“Are you really here?”

“I am.” He leaned over until his forehead touched
hers. She started to shake uncontrollably. “Hey, now. It’s
alright.”

She shook her head. “Nothing about this is alright.”
She sat on the ground and started to cry. He sat beside her and
pulled her onto his lap, ignoring the pain in his leg. He cradled
her to his chest.

“Shush. I’ve got you.” He smoothed his hand over her
hair. “I’m going to have a look at your arm to make sure it’s not
too bad, alright?”

She gave a slight nod of her head. He pulled the torn
sleeve off of her shoulder and growled. By the moons, if he ever
made it back to Swandern for any reason at all, he was going to
kill that magic wielder.

“What is it?”

“It’s an ‘H’.” The bastards had branded her.

She started to sob. “They said it was so I’d remember
what I really was.”

“I’m so sorry, Heidi.”

She shook her head and clung to him. When he thought
she’d calmed down a bit, he stood and pulled her up.

“Can you walk?”

She nodded and he took her hand.

“We’ll go back to the cave for the night.” He frowned
at the dead look in her eyes. By the time they’d made it to the
cave, his leg was throbbing painfully and it was all he could do to
muster the strength to lay their blankets on the floor. Heidi lay
down and moved back so that her back was to his chest. He wrapped
her in his arms, trying to ease her shaking.

“Heidi…” His throat tightened at the feel of tears
falling on his arm. “I’m here, Love. I’m here, and they can’t hurt
you again.” He kissed the back of her neck and her shoulders
lightly.

She turned, her tears soaking into his blood stained
shirt. He rubbed her back until her felt her fall asleep.
Exhausted, he finally let himself do the same.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tyler lay on his side, scared to move. It was going
to hurt, he knew it was. He couldn’t feel one part on his body that
wasn’t in pain. Heidi moved against him, her knee bumping his leg,
and he groaned. She went still.

“It’s alright,” he whispered. She shook her head and
he felt fresh tears soak into his tunic. He took a deep breath and
clenched his jaw then pulled her closer. “Heidi…”

She looked up at him and he frowned at the blank look
in her grey green eyes. He brushed the hair from her face.

“Are you hungry?”

She shook her head. He tried to hide his pain as he
reached over his head and pulled the canteen toward them.

“Here, have a drink.”

She ignored him and pressed her face back into his
chest.

“Heidi, Love, I realize that this probably broke
through every threshold you think of in terms of bad things, but
we’re here. We’re alive and we’ll heal and the only way we can do
that is by eating and drinking.” His frown deepened at the shake of
her head.

“Heidi, look at me.”

She did as she was told and Tyler clenched his jaw.
Her face was black and blue, her cheek and eye so swollen she could
barely see out of it.

“Sit up so I can have a look at your arm.” When she
didn’t listen to him, he sat up with a groan and gently pulled her
along. She slouched, listless, as he pulled her sleeve up, cleaned
the cut, and wrapped it with a new bandage. “Come one, Love, you
need to have a drink.” His throat tightened at her lack of
response.

“Heidi.” Her name was just a whisper. Tyler brought
his lips down to hers softly, careful not to press hard. The only
response she gave him was to close her eyes. He wiped the tears
from her cheeks.

Knowing he was about to risk the one thing he’d come
to care for, he took a second to make up his mind before sitting up
and scooping her into his arms. He stood with a pained growl.

“For as much as it will kill me, I am willing to give
you up if it means you’ll go back to your life in the other world,”
he explained to her. “I will not, however, let you give up on life
because of this.”

He limped to the edge of the small lake.

“You need to snap out of this, Heidi. You need to
fight this.”

She looked up at him with the same dead look. Panic
started to well in his chest. What if she did give up? He walked
into the lake, the cool water numbing the pain in his body. Heidi
sucked in a breath as the water level reached her. Tyler kept
walking until the water came to his chest then ducked under it. He
watched as Heidi’s eyes widened. He held her down, waiting for her
to start fighting. Please let her start to fight. Her eyes met his
and she tapped him lightly on the shoulder. The urge to stand and
see if it had worked almost made him do so. He started to rise then
stopped. Her eyes were still filled with that horrible look.