A Girl from Cheemee Ch. 01

"Contemplating deep thoughts out here? Your going to get terrible wrinkles with a brow that furrowed," he had teased.

Ani gave him a small smile. "I'm bummed I can't go to the dance. You know, with Merrilee sick and all."

"Oh," he had said. He threw a piece of bark into the water.

"Was there someone special you wanted to dance with?"

Ani had blushed a deep shade of crimson.Yes, she screamed in her head,you! Instead she had sighed and just replied, "no, no one really. I...well, there isn't anyone there that I really like, anyway."

They sat there for a moment, enjoying the stillness. The sun was setting, and it would get dark soon. Ani knew she needed to leave, but she would have to tell Dallan to go first to get off the branch and it wasn't in her heart to tell him. She glanced towards the tree trunk, starting to wonder how much longer she could stay out until her mother started getting worried. Kinah knew Ani could take care of herself, but she loved her and worried as any mother would. As her eyes traveled back to the trunk, she caught Dallan in a furrowed brow of his own. She started to pick at the bark below her hands, when suddenly she felt Dallan's strong hand upon hers.

She had stilled instantly. His hand rested so beautifully on hers. That moment was forever ingrained in her head. She had just sat there, begging her heart to start beating again and then screaming at it to stop trying to jump out of her chest.

When she had control of herself again, she glanced at Dallan through her lashes, and met his own quick glance before returning to stare out at the quickly darkening shoreline across the lake. She felt like all of her was on fire, her thoughts racing, a glimmer of hope in her heart causing it to beat erratically. His hand shifted, and for a second he removed it from hers. She felt immediately lonely without his warm hand, wondering what he was thinking.

Then, miraculously, she felt his finger gently trail down her forearm and carefully lift her hand and clasp it. He cleared his throat.

"Ani, Ani, look at me."

He spoke so softly, Ani had almost missed it above the pounding of her heart in his ears.

She looked at him then, this boy who had grown into a stunning man. She felt tiny sparks of energy where he was holding her hand, and a slight shiver ran down her back, sending tingles everywhere. The tingles seemed to concentrate between her legs, and she clenched her stomach and thighs together to calm the tingles, only to feel a strong flutter of bliss echo through her. He seemed to search her face for something, and she wanted to die of embarrassment for the nasty thoughts that were growing in her head, and the way her body was betraying her.

"Ani, I know you once liked me, an innocent crush, but since you have grown I...." He then hesitated, not sure how to proceed. She didn't know what was happening, but she wanted to assure this usually confident man, so she gave his hand a small squeeze. His face instantly illuminated into a smile that seemed to hold the dusk at bay.

"You are simply stunning, and we get along so well. I feel happy just to be near you, and constantly find myself wondering where you are just so I can look upon your face. I can't believe I'm saying all of this, because I was just going to ask you to the dance, but what I really want, Ani, is for us to be together." It had come out all in a rush, as his eyes searched hers.

She couldn't help the smile that had curled her lips, and before she realized what she was doing, she leaned in and kissed him. At first it was an innocent brush of her lips against his, and as she started to pull back he increased his grip on her hand, and slid his hand up to cup the side of her face as it led to the gentle curve of her neck. Suddenly, his lips were upon hers in passionate abandon, and they had explored each other's mouth with their tongues. It was all heat, fire, and need. As she was left gasping for air, his mouth trailed down her neck just along her jaw, and she felt a delicious spasm below her navel. Her hands wanted to touch every part of him, but settled for grasping his biceps and upper back.

Ani smiled at the memory of her first kiss with Dallan. They may not have made it to the village dance, but they had done their own waltz that night, to the tune of the love growing between them. Not long after, Dallan had asked Yoshep for her hand in marriage, and her father had given his blessing on an engagement, with the condition that they complete a year of proper courting. It was traditional to court for a year or more in Ani's village, unless it was an arranged marriage and then the courting could be as short as a month. Much of the process was about blending families and resources of the new couple, rather than the depth of feelings between the couple themselves.

Ani started to picture Dallan working in the field, free of his shirt, his back muscles rippling with his movement. She called out to him in her dream, daring him to take off his pants.

"Its so hot, Dallan, so hot. I can barely breath, we need to go swimming."

"And you need to get naked then, if you want to go swimming."

"Yes, yes, I'm naked." Suddenly, because it was a dream, she knew she was.

"Well," said dream Dallan, "you make it quite tempting to skip the lake."

"And what, pray tell good sir, would we do instead? Two naked people, out in the field?" flirted a sensual dream version of Ani.

"Come here and I'll show you, my good lady," the dream Dallan replied, a delightfully sinful grin on his face. He strolled toward her and embraced her, and then picked her up and set her upon the ground, his body atop hers.

"Dallan, I am so hot. It's very very hot," said a breathless dream Ani, her body singing with the feeling of pressure from above and the fire it lighted in her. Suddenly, Dallan was kissing her, and everything became warmer. He caught her mouth with his, and she could barely breath, it was so stifling hot. The pressure in her chest grew.

"I need," she gasped, "I need to breath Dallan. I can't breath...."

"FIRE!" yelled a voice. Dream Ani thought it odd that Kinkei had joined the dream. His voice was quite panicked, and dream Ani was annoyed at the interruption.

"Fire above us," shouted Kinkei.

++++

Suddenly Ani was jolted from her dream and wide-awake from adrenaline.

Smoke was drifting down from above. "They must have known we were here. They probably have been waiting for us to leave."

Ani pushed herself up. She felt sore all over, and disconcerted from the shift from her wonderful dream back to her dismal and chaotic reality.

"They mean to burn us alive?" asked doctor Tiwel, terror showing on his face. He was looking about at the patients, a lost look in his eyes.

"No," Kinkei said. "They might not have even lighted the structure, likely they are trying to smoke us out. Gingubi relish the hunt. They've been waiting for us to leave, and have gotten impatient. They may have found the secret entrance to down here in the closet, or they may have just heard or smelled us."

"Well, lets go greet these bastards and kill us some Gingubi!" shouted missing fingers.

"We can't stay here, its true. But some things are worse than death." Kinkei's eyes caught Tiwel's, and he spoke low to the other man, "please, give the helpless among us something to ease their passing."

Kinkei scanned the room. "Any who are able, this is more than just a fight for life. The last bit of mercy to be found is here, not above us. Do not be taken hostage, for you would then die a thousand deaths at these monsters' hands."

With that, a train of 11 men ran up the stairs, leaving Joli, Ani, two other nurses, Tiwel and 4 bed ridden men below. Instantly, swords could be heard clashing above. With everything happening so fast, Ani felt her feet contrarily cemented to the ground, her mind unsure of what action to take.

The smoke was starting to cause her to cough, and her vision was becoming obscured in the already poorly lit basement.

Joli came racing up to her. "Ani, thank the Mighty, I couldn't find you. Eat this, it will ease our passing."

Ani stared at the tiny seed clump Joli had placed in her hand. They used its extract in small doses as a sedative, so this must be a lethal dose. By the time she looked up again, Joli was already gone. Ani started towards the exit, but by this point, she was coughing badly and couldn't see. She stumbled over something, and started crawling on her hands and knees. As she neared the stairwell, she came upon the motionless form of one of the men that had run up the stairs.

She had to crawl over him, and soon her hands became slippery with blood. She was still holding the seed clump between her thumb and forefinger, but it slipped from her grasp as she scrambled up the stairs. Perhaps she should have gone with the others below to their dreamless sleep, but she was a fighter. Further, the concept of rape was not yet visceral for her. She didn't fear it enough to take her own life.

There is always hope, she thought, as she rushed up the last few steps and out into the house. It wasn't visibly on fire, at least in the room with the closet, but she still couldn't see anything. She ran, her hands forward, feeling the walls, trying to find a window or exit. She left a trail of bloody handprints and smears in her search for fresh air. Finally, she noticed the noises of battle faintly to her left. She headed right, and finally found a door to escape from.

Outside, she collapsed to her knees. Her eyes burned and the acrid scent of smoke clung to her. She allowed herself three large breaths, and then forced herself on her feet. Her lungs felt on fire, and her legs were deadweight.Please, my body, please carry me into the woods, please let me escape. Please, legs, move. Please, lungs, breath. She prayed to herself, encouraged herself, asked any protective spirits for help, and, though rather ungracefully, she finally made it away from the house and fighting. She tried to keep moving, but knew she was making slow progress, stopping to have coughing fits, and then standing, listening, dreading the sound of pursuers.

The screams of her male companions periodically pierced the woods. She wasn't sure how, but she knew that they were Banigold screams, and not Gingubi. She kept going, even though her eyes were continually watering and her throat was dry and in throbbing pain. She kept tripping over logs and herself. Her legs just wouldn't work right, as though an extreme lethargy had set it. She was fine for short periods, when she heard a scream or sound that might be pursuit, and her adrenaline spiked from fear, allowing her to run. But it wore off too soon, and the struggle continued, like wading through thick mud.

Finally, she had to stop. She didn't even know where she was headed. She looked up above, and from the sun and basic understanding of where the care house had been, she figured she was going in a south-westerly direction. She laughed, as that was one way back home. At least, it might allow her to cross paths with Banigold soldiers, who could give her help and protection. She kept moving until she didn't hear screams any more, and only the natural bird song and creaking trees sounded her passage.

Eventually she came to a stream. She washed her hands of caked blood and dirt in the gently flowing water and then drank to ease the burning in her throat. She coughed up some black phlegm and sneezed. She rested as long as her fear would allow her, and then pushed on. She thought she might be able to reach a Banigold outpost before nightfall if she was lucky.

Her legs were like deadweight, but she managed to make it to a road that she thought should take her to a Banigold encampment. A week ago Tiwel had gone over an escape route with them. It seemed silly now that they hadn't been better prepared. She knew dusk was fast approaching, but she walked on. It was becoming more difficult to see on the forest path, and before her eyes recognized what she was looking at, her nose was newly assaulted with the stench of death. Breathing through her mouth to spare her nose, she approached a roadside ditch in front of her. It was filled with ten or so corpses of Banigold soldiers. She turned and ran in the opposite direction, stumbling back into the untamed forest.

She didn't know where she was going at this point, simply trying to run from death. It felt futile, but she didn't have many options but to keep going. Ani had good night vision with simple starlight and moonlight, but the trees seemed to block even that. She tried to watch her footing, but then dripped on a fallen branch and went down headfirst.

She was so exhausted she couldn't even stand, so she crawled to a pine with low hanging branches, and decided to take a nap before continuing. She just couldn't push herself any farther for the moment. She lay under the branches, prayed for her companions, family, lover and herself, and then passed out into a dreamless sleep.