Destiny Intertwined, A matter of trust
#3 of Destiny Intertwined
part three in the tale. As always comments are appreciated. I want to hear from you so give me feedback. Thanks again.
Continued from First Sparks...
When the chill rains at last turned into the warm sunlight of summer, the pair left the academy, headed towards the rising sun. With Cerule at her side, Jessica set foot on the packed earth of the road away from the school where she had spent most of her life. Oddly enough, she felt no sorrow or worry, knowing that Cerule was with her. The odd pair journeyed a short distance along the road before turning off into the woodlands around it. They had to stay off the roads, or risk running into soldiers who might try to kill Cerule. Their first day's journey ended in a clearing miles from where they had began. The lights of the academy had long since faded away and they were alone beneath a hanging curtain of stars. With an ease that Jessica found enviable, Cerule started a fire with two pieces of flint, striking a spark into a pile of dry kindling. As they sat, roasting a pair of rabbits over the fire, Cerule spoke.
"Where did you come from before you were at the academy?" He asked, watching her face in the dancing light of the fire. She smiled at him, but took a moment to answer.
"I came from a village called Turin's Gate. It was many days journey to the west of the academy, right on the coast." She said, remembering the village with a hint of sadness at its destruction. "My father was a fisherman who always seemed to know where the fish were going to be. He was more successful than any other, always bringing in the best catch. And yet, I can't remember him ever being anything other than nice to the other fishermen." She smiled at the memory that rose next. "I remember this one time that a neighbor bet him that he would catch a larger fish than him. My father accepted the bet and the two of them went out on their boats. I came with my father and the other fisherman followed my father's boat around and cast his nets where he saw my father cast them. And, at the end of the day, my father still had the biggest fish. Our neighbor was so mad, so my father gave him the fish as a present and he and my dad were good friends from then on."
"What about your mother?" Cerule asked, testing one of the rabbits with a hand as they turned on the spit.
"She was a healer." Jessica answered, stirring the coals with a stick. "I think that is where my magic ability came from. I can't really remember her very well. She died when I was very young, only about four I think. What I do remember about her is that she was very altruistic. She always put everyone else ahead of herself. Once, she told me that she had even treated a few morphs secretly before sending them on their way. In fact, that is how she died." She fell silent for a few moments, remembering. "There was an epidemic of a terrible disease. The only way to cure it was to use magic and my mother spent all her time healing the sick. Finally, a morph wandered into the village, very sick. My mother found the morph and healed her, but she was too weak to use magic again and she caught the disease. She sealed herself off from the village, making sure that no matter what happened, no one else would get sick. She died not long after that. I never did hear what happened to the morph, but my father got really angry at morphs after that."
"Can't say I blame him." Cerule stated, then removed the rabbits from the fire. The two ate in silence, no words needing to be spoken by either to the other. When their stomachs were full, they laid their blankets out on the ground, and prepared for sleep. Cerule laid his out a short distance away from where they had sat, with Jessica setting up across the fire. Both said goodnight and laid down with magic wards cast about the campsite as their night watch. However, Jessica soon found herself unable to sleep. She found herself thinking about her mother and father. Something about those memories seemed wrong. 'No, not about the memories.' She thought, knowing that the memories were right, 'but something is wrong. What is it?' She strained to think back even farther, tracing the wrong feeling. Then, her straining paid off somehow, for something rose in her. It wasn't really a memory, it was more like a piece of a memory long forgotten. It was a feeling of warmth and of safety. The impression of a beating heart nearby, a woman's voice singing softly. The feeling of fur tickling her as she nestled next to her mother's chest. The feeling of wrong intensified and she suddenly jerked upright.
Her mind was fuzzy and confused and she knew she had nodded off to sleep. And yet, the fragment of dream or memory had seemed right. It was the source of the wrongness in her mind, but she knew that the fragment had made her feel right. She shook her head and put her face in her hands. The feelings of right and wrong twisted about each other in her mind, intertwining about the fragment. And even then, the fragment faded in and out of focus, making her question if it was real at all. Feeling sick, she lay back and stared up at the stars, fighting to sort out her mind. She lay still for what seemed like an eternity and all she succeeded in doing was locking it all deep inside her. She was left feeling lost and even more confused than before. She sat up again and looked around the clearing. The fire had burned low and only the coals were glowing now, a small pile of scarlet stones in the night. Across the fire, Cerule lay in his blankets, seemingly untroubled by such thoughts. She rose from her place and pulled her blankets with her, carrying them over next to the Tigriss. She watched Cerule sleep for a moment and smiled at the peace in his face.
She laid her blankets down beside his and laid down so she was looking at him. He made no sign that he noticed her and remained in deep slumber. She smiled and felt a drowsy sensation overtake her mind, settling in like fog. She closed her eyes and drifted off once more, not noticing that her hand had sought out Cerule's paw as she slept, clasping it gently beneath the blankets...
***
The next morning, Jessica woke up to the first rays of dawn coming over the tree line. Cerule was tending to the rebuilt fire and she sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She got up and walked over to where he sat, the confusion of the night before forgotten. She sat down and Cerule passed her a bowl he had filled from the small pot that now hung over the fire. She sniffed at the liquid and decided it was a type of tea, though not any type she was familiar with. She sipped at it and swallowed a mouthful, tasting wild cinnamon and some sort of berry in the mixture. In the chill morning air, it was delicious. She sat drinking the tea for a few moments more before she spoke.
"Where are we going to go now?" She asked and Cerule smiled.
"Where ever the path takes us." He answered and Jessica frowned at him.
"You mean you don't know." She stated and Cerule shrugged. "Well, that is fine for now, but we can't wander aimlessly."
"I know." He stated, "but for now, when prey is plentiful and the world is green, we can go anywhere. When winter comes, we will have to head for one of the few havens I have discovered in my journeys. Until then, I was planning on following the sun."
"Alright then." She said and appropriated the remains of her rabbit from the night before, devouring what was left for a quick breakfast. When both had eaten, Cerule doused the fire by kicking dirt on it and then packed up the camp. Before the sun had yet cleared the horizon, the pair were on their way again. The journey of that day was uneventful and, as the sun set, the pair sat down to a light dinner around the fire. But, this time, instead of laying her blankets down across the fire, the young mage laid them down next to Cerule's. He didn't object or even make mention of it, instead lying down on his back and pulling the blanket up to his chest. Jessica lay next to him in a similar position and stared up at the stars.
"What was he like, the morph that cared for you when you were young?" She asked and Cerule answered slowly.
"He was a wolfen, with fur that was stark white." He said, his voice distant as if he was dredging up memories from a deep place. "He called himself Jeno, and I can always remember how I used to make him laugh. He found me when I was about a year old and saved me from death. He would always laugh when I would act like a kid, but I didn't get to do that very often. From the moment I was old enough to walk and talk, he was teaching me how to survive out here. I was only ten when he was killed." Cerule fell silent for a moment as both of them watched a star shoot across the sky. "One of the few things he told me that didn't have to do with survival was a legend about the stars. He told me that the stars were the winking faces of our people who have passed on. He said that when we die, a new star is born on the earth and goes shooting into the heavens to take its place among the fallen of our ancestors. Its somehow comforting that he is up there, watching over me at night."
"Do you think that my parents are up there?" Jessica asked, wondering if the legend applied to humans.
"I hope so." Cerule said and Jessica looked over at him, confused. "It would mean that we all go to the same place when we are dead."
"I hope so too then." She said and took Cerule's hand, giving it squeeze. He returned the squeeze and smiled at her. She smiled back and the pair fell asleep, their hands linked beneath the blankets once more.
***
For days they journeyed through the wilderness, following the rising sun eastward. The terrain got harder as they entered a mountain range, and the days began to grow shorter and cooler as they marched ever onward towards winter. Though the journey was hard and food was tight, Jessica couldn't think of a time she had ever been happier. Every day, she learned something new from her companion. Cerule proved himself quite capable at surviving in the wilderness by his wits alone. He rarely resorted to magic, accomplishing many things by nothing more than skill. Several times they had had to fight morphic hunters, but with Cerule wielding tooth and claw and Jessica wielding magic, they always prevailed. Every night, they would explore each other's pasts and they learned a great deal about each other. Soon, they knew each other so well that they were able to anticipate each other. Unbeatable in combat, they had no doubt that they would survive. But something was always in the back of her mind.
The fragment of feelings that she had experienced in the first days of summer still bothered her. She hadn't thought about it since then, but it was always there, lurking in the back of her mind. Then, one autumn day, just as the leaves were browning in the dying season, something changed. They were just breaking camp one day when the smell of roasting meat met their noses. Cerule, still more adept at hunting and tracking than she was, tested the air with his nose, then turned northward. Cerule walked up the short ridge that lay in that direction and then dropped to his stomach, crawling forward to peek over the top of the ridge. Jessica moved up beside him and spoke in a whisper.
"If it is a human settlement, I should be able to get in and get us something to eat." She said, but Cerule raised a hand slightly, a signal to be quiet. For a moment, she wanted to question his quieting her, but then she realized the reason he wanted her to be quiet. Carried on the wind were fell voices raised in song. Whoever they were, they were not human. Cerule motioned slightly and led the way down the other side of the ridge. They paused in the underbrush at the edge of a large clearing and there they waited. Cerule reached forward and parted the browning fern leaves in front of them and Jessica just barely managed to restrain herself from gasping. They were on the edge of a morphic village. Crude houses and lodges arranged in a double circle, one inside the other, filled the clearing, and the light of a bonfire flickered between the buildings.
"Lets get out of here." Jessica whispered, barely making noise. Cerule nodded slowly and started to back up when she spoke again. "Wait. Look." and he looked back. There, just leaving one of the houses, was a Scio assassin, deep in conversation with an old morph who wore the clothing of a shaman. Both held their breath and listened as assassin and shaman spoke in a language that Jessica didn't understand, but Cerule obviously did. He mouth dropped open and Jessica was surprised to see him suddenly dash into the shadow of a house, his ear cocked to hear what was said. Jessica moved swiftly beside him and whispered.
"What are you doing?!" She hissed, "Lets get out of here!"
"Shhhh." He said and closed his eyes, listening. At last, when the voices had faded away, Cerule turned to her and spoke in a hurried whisper. "They are about to perform the rite of adulthood. It's a coming of age ceremony, but I heard them mention an enchantment. We have to find out what they are doing; it could be the difference between life and death for us."
"Alright, but we have to be quick." She said. Cerule nodded and led the way around the house and into the second row. They peaked around the edge of the building so they could see the whole of the center of the village. A huge bonfire blazed in the center and around it, figures danced. Warriors holding spears and cruel cutting blades were silhouetted around the circle, their blades and voices raised. It was easy to see from there that all had eyes that blazed as if with fire. And there, standing nervously in two rows were several morphic youths, and each looked odd in the firelight, though Jessica could not put her finger on why. Then, all at once, the warrior's song ended and they stopped dancing. Then, the shaman walked forward, the Scio assassin nowhere to be seen. He began to speak loudly in the strange tongue once more and Jessica jumped when Cerule began to translate for her.
"We are here, in the autumn of your thirteenth year, to bring you into the warrior ranks." The shaman proclaimed. "Each of you has been tested, tried and been found worthy. But now, the final test. You must complete the trial of fire." The shaman waved one youth forward and Jessica realized instantly why the youths looked strange. The burning fire was gone from their eyes. The first youth stood before the shaman and the shaman spoke again. "Are you prepared to face the trial?" The youth nodded and the shaman drew a draught from the inside of a caldron with a goblet. "Then let us drink to your success." Then the shaman handed the mug to the youth, saying a few words that sent chills up Jessica's spine. The youth drank and instantly, the bright red light shone forth from his eyes. The youth then turned, and without hesitation, dove into the fire...and emerged unscathed on the other side. As the other youths under went the same treatment, Jessica spoke urgently to Cerule. "It's a spell. It brings the person who drinks the potion under the control of the caster. Do you realize what this means?"
"It means that the Scio are behind it all. The war, the hatred, the death." He whispered back at her, his eyes shining with fury. "They have much to answer for."
The ritual ended and the Shaman left the circle, taking the caldron with him. When he was through the circle, the Scio appeared at his side once more. Jewels changed hands and Cerule carefully followed them back to the house they had come from. Then, he put an ear to the wall of the house and listened.
"Well done." The Scio said, (With Cerule translating), "You pulled that off well. By the way, has been any word on Lan'as'atal?"
"No." The shaman replied. "Still no word. I don't think they made it."
"Hmph." The Scio harrumphed. "We will have to try something a little different then. We need to find them. It could unbalance everything."
Suddenly, the sounds of the gathering became louder and Jessica knew the villagers were returning to their houses. She tapped Cerule's shoulder and he nodded, rushing off swiftly into the wilderness.
***
Neither of them spoke until they were several miles from the village. When they were at last relatively safe, Cerule spoke again.
"I think I know why they hunt my people." He stated and Jessica looked at him curiously. "We, the Ka-lin, are magic resistant. That is why the shaman tell their warriors to hunt us. We cannot be controlled, so we are hunted down and killed. Dammit!!" He slugged a tree bole with his fist, chipping off a section of bark.
"What are we to do?" Jessica asked quietly, secretly glad that the Tigriss's anger wasn't directed at her.
"We need to find this Lan'as'atal he was talking about before they do." Cerule said, his eyes unfocusing as he tried to remember something. "In the morphic religion, Lan'asa is the equivalent of heaven. If I remember right, Lan'as'atal means something close to Heaven on Earth. Jeno always seemed to refer to Lan'asa as a place he had been to, but I always thought that was Jeno being Jeno. Maybe he meant this Lan'as'atal place."
"Wait a minute." Jessica said, reaching into her pack. She rummaged about in it for a moment and came out with a parchment scroll. She slid it open on the ground and spread it out, revealing a map of the world. She quickly ran a finger down the coast of one of the continents, bent so close to the surface of the map that her nose almost touched it. After a few moments of this, Jessica tapped the map in triumph and backed up. She motioned for Cerule to look and he bent close enough to the page to see what she pointing at. And there, on the southern coast of the continent, a single island rested, inscribed with the legend Lan'as'atal next to it. "Its an island that is said to be uninhabitable because everyone who has tried to get to the island hasn't come back. I never thought of it before, but what if it wasn't the island itself. What if it was because the people who live there are so dangerous that they slay anyone trying to get there?"
"That would make sense." Cerule said nodding. "If they are dangerous enough to unbalance the plans of the Scio, then it is definitely worth a shot to get to them."
"Alright then, where are we?" Jessica asked and then held her hand over the map, muttering a spell. Instantly a small red dot blossomed on the map, and the pair bent over it. Cerule measured the distance with his eye and shook his head.
"We will never make it to the coast before winter." He stated. "We have at best another six weeks before the blizzards set in. Our best bet is to head for a haven I found north of here. It will be a journey of five weeks, barring anything unfortunate happening."
"But something unfortunate always happens." Jessica stated and Cerule nodded. "Well we had best hurry."
With that she repacked her map into her pack and the pair started off once more. They journeyed with renewed urgency, moving swiftly north of the village. They did not stop at sundown, instead hiking ever onward northward. Finally, when the sun of the next day reached its height, they paused beside a stream to rest. Jessica was exhausted, having had to use magic to keep herself going. She slumped down against a stone and Cerule smiled at her, speaking so his voice wouldn't carry.
"Sleep for a few hours, I will wake you at night fall and we will continue on." He stated and she shook her head.
"What about you?" She asked, concerned that he wouldn't be able to continue on at there current pace.
"I am fine." He stated. "I have had to journey for days at a time before to stay ahead of my pursuers. The experience has taught me to be tougher than the journey's hardships. Sleep now." Jessica nodded and slept immediately.
In her exhausted state, the fragment rose to surface again, uninvited. But this time, she held onto it, trying to push against its end. She did not succeed, but she did hear the song the woman sung once more. It seemed very familiar and she knew she had heard it recently, though she could not place where it had come from. But, before she could consider it further, she felt Cerule shaking her awake. She opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a sky that was ablaze with the fires of sunset. It didn't feel like it had been very long, but she sat up anyway, stretching slightly.
"Why is it that I feel worse than I did before I fell asleep?" She asked, drinking a few mouthfuls of water from her water skin. Cerule smiled at her again then leaned in close and spoke in a whisper.
"We are being hunted. We have to hurry." He stated and she was immediately awake.
"How can you tell?" She asked, looking around carefully.
"A threat has been growing in my mind for some time now." He said, already pulling his pack onto his shoulders. "So I cast a ward about eight hours back across our trail. It was broken by something walking on two legs."
"Alright then, lets move." She said. "I can go on for as long as you can."
"I have no doubt." Cerule stated, then hurried off with Jessica in tow.
***
The two ran north for days without end. Days began to merge into weeks, and ever their pursuit dogged their footsteps. They dared not light a fire, for the hunters were too near to allow them the luxury of the heat. Three weeks into the journey North, Jessica awoke to frost covering her blanket and hair. A few days later, the nights became bitterly cold as Cerule led her further into the mountains. Finally, as the fourth week of their flight drew to a close, they paused in the shadow of a ridge. Cerule led her slowly to the top of the ridge line and they crouched together, looking back. The sun had set an hour before and the terrain was very dark. The lights of the pursuer's camp were clearly visible in the valley behind. Cerule whispered to her urgently in the darkness.
"It is a good thing that we are so close to the refuge. They have gained on us." he stated, then turned around so that he was facing the other side of the ridge. "The entrance to the refuge is down in that valley, we should be there before noon tomorrow."
"Cerule, look!!" Jessica hissed, grabbing his arm. A flickering light had lit in the valley's mouth. It was swiftly followed by another and another. Soon the entire entrance of the valley was walled in by the flickering light. Torchlight, Jessica realized as she stared at the glittering points.
"Damn, they sent someone ahead of us to block us from entering." Cerule stated, then scanned the space below the ridge. "It is too dangerous to try and enter this way. There is another way into the valley that doesn't involve us flinging ourselves into the valley from the sides or fighting our way in."
"So what is the problem?" Jessica asked, watching as he looked around again.
"Can't you smell it?" He said and she took a deep breath. The air, already chill with the night, had taken on the distinctive scent of snow. "It will begin to snow tomorrow. We will rest here tonight. Don't forget to wrap up tight."
Jessica nodded and wrapped blankets around herself, huddling against the night's cold. Just when she had gotten comfortable, a chill wind kicked up that somehow knifed its way through her blankets. She shivered, and tried to huddle away from it, ducking beneath the hood of her cloak. Then, all at once, the wind was cut off and Jessica looked up in surprise. The dark form of Cerule obscured the stars in front of her and she realized that he was using his body to block to wind, as he had all those months ago on the castle rampart. The memory of his embrace warmed her far better than her blankets could and she began to nod. She didn't fight the sleep that over took her. Instead, she just huddled beneath her blankets once more, wrapped in the memory...
***
The next morning, she awoke and tossed her hood off, making it crackle with the frost that covered it. She looked about her and saw Cerule sitting nearby, watching her, his breath escaping from his nostrils in puffs of steam. She nodded to him and he returned her nod, throwing off his blankets. She did so as well, and the pair rolled their blankets in the predawn light. They quickly left the top of the ridge and Cerule led her through the fog, right past the valley opening, passing it to the east. Then, he led her through the trees to a deer path. By the time the sun rose fully, they were running along the path, swiftly bypassing the fortified entrance. Jessica looked around in the growing light and realized that the edges of the valley were steep and that trying to descend would be suicide. But Cerule led her on and on along the deer path. About midday, things took a turn for the worse. The sun retreated behind clouds and the first flakes of snow descended from the heights.
"I was afraid of this." He said when they stopped for a rest an hour later. "Look." She looked where he pointed and saw lights moving up the deer path at the head of the valley. Other lights were moving into the valley on the floor. "We have no choice. We must run now."
Jessica nodded and the pair dashed off down the track, sprinting towards some destination that only Cerule knew. They ran on into the night and the snow grew worse. The icy wind cut its way through their cloaks and clothing, freezing flesh and stinging eyes. Jessica began to lose feeling in her fingers and toes. Just when she was about to mention this to Cerule, he stopped and ducked under a nearby pine's branches. He immediately strung his blankets across several of the branches and then ducked under them. The blankets draped down around where he crouched, forming a hollow. Cerule held one of the blankets up and Jessica ducked under it with him. He let the blanket drop and the cold wind immediately stopped. Though it was utterly dark under the blankets, she could still sense that Cerule dropped his pack, laying it so that it weighed down one side of the shelter. She did the same with the other and she half saw Cerule sit with his back to the tree trunk. She sat down beside him and rummaged through her pack for a moment, before coming out with two blankets. She handed one to Cerule and then draped the other across her legs. Though it was very tight quarters in there, the shelter grew warm very quickly and she thought that at any other time, she would have called it cozy.
A few minutes later, the wind howled against the shelter's cloth walls, but the pair were shielded from winter's fury. Jessica knew then that the shelter was saving their lives. The blizzard that raged outside would have frozen them to death if they had camped as they usually did. She began to doze and then she slept, her head against the tree bole.
***
Her sleep must have lasted a few hours because when next she awoke, it was to silence outside. The blizzard had blown itself out. The first blizzard of winter never lasted very long. But she knew it was a temporary reprieve. Every day after that that did not see snow fall was a day of borrowed time. It was then that she realized her head wasn't laying against the tree anymore. It had lolled to the side and now rested on Cerule's shoulder. He had apparently put an arm around her as she slept and she found that she liked the new arrangements. Snuggling closer to Cerule, she nodded off once more...
***
Jessica awoke once more when the arm she was laying against moved. She opened her eyes and looked around. Pale light was shining weekly through the shelter's sides and she guessed it was mid morning. Cerule smiled at her and held a finger up to his lips, telling her to be quiet. She nodded and watched as Cerule rose onto his feet and stood a little, sticking his head up past the blanket's edge. She saw his neck muscles twist as he moved his head from side to side, before dropping back down into the shelter, pulling the blanket back into place again.
"It is clear outside. Lets eat something quickly, then get moving, I want to get off the ridge by nightfall." He stated and she nodded. The pair quickly ate some dried meat and fruit, some of the last of their carefully rationed food. When they were ready to begin their trek again, Cerule swept the edge of the blanket back, and Jessica could see that a half foot of snow had fallen during the night. When they emerged from the warmth of their shelter, she saw that the blankets had been covered as well, making the shelter look like a snow covered boulder. The footsteps of a hunting party continued along the path right past where they had spent the night and Jessica smiled. Cerule' deception had worked. Then, the pair pulled their hoods up and rushed off into the snow, following the path quickly.
It wasn't long before they reached the valley floor and the end of the path. They turned back into the valley, as if to head towards it entrance, but night began to fall once more. Jessica started to look for a place to stop, but Cerule pointed to the lights of the hunters perusing them. They were close on all sides. If they didn't reach the place where he intended to rest soon, they wouldn't reach it at all. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, but we can't stop tonight. We can't risk having them reach the entrance before us, we have to move." Cerule stated and Jessica nodded listlessly, resigning herself to another freezing night.
Jessica paused a moment to drape a blanket about herself before walking on. The pair ran on through the freezing night and further into the valley. When dawn broke, Jessica gave thanks that they had made it through the night. She was almost constantly shivering now, and she hoped where ever the haven was would be warm. Then, she heard the sounds of people behind them in the valley and she noticed creatures moving through the snow not far behind, close enough that she had no doubt they had been seen. It became clear to her the reason the enemy could keep up this pace in the cold after only a moment of watching. Each was swathed in a thick cloak lined with fur. She turned to see that Cerule was looking at her. She nodded and he returned the nod. Both turned back to the task at hand, running with renewed urgency. Though both were at the limits of their strength, they had to go onward. They moved on, running swiftly through the snow towards a bend in the valley. But, they saw the flickering lights of the hunters ahead of them, coming around the bend and Jessica knew they were trapped.
"Come on." Urged Cerule. "We are almost there."
Jessica labored on through the snow and suddenly Cerule stopped beside a rock and begin to scope snow away from a spot on the ground, revealing a thick layer of ice. Suddenly, she heard the fel voices of the enemy coming from nearby. She looked all about them and saw that a ring of creatures had encircled them while Cerule worked. Each had the hood of a cloak drawn up over their heads, but she could see the red light of their eyes beneath all the hoods. Suddenly, a figure stepped out from the circle, different than the others. It spoke and she was surprised to hear human words coming from it.
"You have led us on quite the merry chase through the wilds." He said and she recognized the voice of the Scio assassin she had seen talking to the shaman. "Under different circumstances, I would have liked to speak to you about it, but now, you have forced my hand. Now, will you give up and come peacefully, or are you going to fight?"
"Cerule, what are we going to do?" She asked, whispering over her shoulder to him. Cerule spoke, but his voice wasn't directed at her. Instead, it was directed at the assassin.
"I know that voice." He said. "And you know exactly who I am. Hence, you know that I will never give myself up..." the rest of his words were suddenly drowned out by a voice in Jessica's head. It was Cerule's and she knew suddenly that he speaking through magic to her. "Jessica, listen closely, I only have time to say this once." The voice said and she focused on his words. "I want you to take as deep a breath as you can and follow me. Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand." Without speaking, she told of her understanding, the magic tendril that connected the minds of both of them carrying the message back to Cerule. She reached back and took Cerule's hand. As the warriors stepped forward, Cerule began to speak, his words that of the language of magic. In an instant, a chill wind swept out from where they stood, blinding their pursuers. More words flowed from her companion and flames danced briefly on the ice as he melted a section of it.
Without hesitation, she followed Cerule as he dove into the hole he made, drawing as long a breath as she could. When she hit the water, cold shot into her instantly and she tried desperately to move despite the pain. She saw Cerule seal the hole in the ice with a spell, then swiftly swim down and away. She swam as best she could through the icy water, resisting the urge to lay down and die. For an eternity, they swam in the icy water, until she saw the vague outline of a tunnel in the cliff face. It was hidden by an overhang and the only way anyone could see it would be to dive in. Jessica' head pounded with the cold and she couldn't feel her limbs any longer. She knew she was dying, freezing to death in the water under the ice. But, the knowledge that Cerule knew what he was doing made her swim on. Cerule swam hard into the passage ahead and Jessica swam on beside him, her hand clasped hard on his paw. They continued to swim for a long time in the dark of the tunnel and Jessica concentrated all her mind on swimming onward. Her strength was leaving her and her lungs burned with the need to release her breath. Dark spots were swimming before her vision, and she felt deathly tired. She vaguely noticed that they were now swimming upward, but that didn't make a difference to her. She prepared to give up, unable to move any further...
Her head broke from the water suddenly and she gasped, a warm breath flowing into her lungs. It took her mind a moment to realize that they were in air once more and she grabbed frantically for the edge of the pool she found herself in. Then, she felt a hand seize her groping arm and haul her out of the water. She found herself set on warm stone, ice cold water dripping off her. Cerule hand was closed onto her arm and he nodded to her. His mouth was moving, but her brain was so numbed from the cold that she didn't understand what he was saying.
She felt Cerule remove her pack and she vaguely heard the sound of it hitting the wall. Her hearing was coming back slowly, but she felt as if her clothes were dragging her down to the floor. All at once, her voice exploded into her head, coming from some haven deep down inside where it hadn't been frozen with the cold. 'Get out of your clothes!!' Her mind commanded, 'They are freezing you while you stand there.' Reacting quickly to this realization, she stripped her sodden robes off with great difficulty. Her fingers seemed to resist moving and she fumbled a lot with the ties. When she had disrobed fully, Jessica shuddered with the chill of the water, but felt thankful that she was able to feel at all. Her mind was slowly coming back to life and figured that another few moments in the water and she would have died. She felt like she was forgetting something of great import, and suddenly realized what it was. She was naked before her companion. She instantly covered up, her flesh puckering with the cold. But then, the traitorous voice that she hadn't heard for months spoke up again, pointing something out that she hadn't noticed. 'Yes, you are naked, but so is Cerule.' It whispered. And, in spite of herself, she turned to her companion and looked at him. In the darkness of the cave, she could see his dim outline and realized that it was right. The old urge to see him naked flared in her and she silently gave thanks for the slight mercy that she couldn't see more. Then, she began to shiver, and she realized just how cold she was. Her shivers became more and more violent and she felt a wave of light headedness settle over her as her body rushed blood into her torso, trying desperately to protect its most important functions. Her vision became darker and her hearing began to fail once more. Then, as she shuddered and almost fell, she felt a furred hand on her shoulder. Its warmth was incredible and she instinctually moved in that direction.
She traced the arm attached to the warm hand with her hands until she found the body it belonged to. She huddled close to it and felt two fur covered arms encircle her naked body. Warmth surged into her and feeling began to return to her flesh. The fur on the arms and the body made her shudder and an electric feeling shot through her, but it was followed by a feeling of incredible warmth as she pressed into the soft fur of the tigriss. She felt herself tipping backward and allowed Cerule to lay her down on the dry, warm stone. He lay down beside her and she cuddled closer to him. 'By the gods, he is warm.' She thought. The heat emanating from his body enfolded her like his arms had, feeling like a warm blanket descending over her. She began to warm up and a drowsy feeling washed over her as exhaustion caught up with her. She could hear Cerule's heart beating next to her ear as she cuddled up to his chest. Its soft rhythm, coupled with the quiet whoosh of his breath served better than any lullaby had ever done. She began to nod off, but she fought it for a moment, her rational mind needing to ask one last question. For you to sleep naked in the arms of a man, you must trust him without reservation. Do you trust him enough for this? It asked and the answer came to her mind the instant before she toppled into the grey fog of sleep. Yes...
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