Immortal Love Ch. 01

"Say you create a lightning strike here right outside this room."

"Okay." She replied, voice low.

"Well, that lightning strike wasn't meant to happen. It changes something else, meaning the weather will change elsewhere -- you might get a tornado four miles away. You could get snow in the middle of the summer. You can get: floods, drought, and terrible things."

Ashleigh looked worried. Such terrible things could happen and yet here she was in her brother's bedroom watching him create nature out of nothing and he was going to show her.

"I don't know about this." She said nervously.

He took the hint; maybe he shouldn't have pressed on. Given she had learned today it might be enough for her.

"Okay, show me." She said more intrigued than nervous. Anything to stay here with you.

He smiled. Her heart turned to butter and the link from their hearts deepened in pink colour.

"Here is what you do..." And so he took her through the stages of creating fire from nothing. He was calm and patient and never got angry or annoyed when she couldn't do it. He calmly spoke to her and reassured her she could.

It took her twenty more failed attempts before she even had a spark in her hands. She furrowed her brow and concentrated on the energy in the air and using that to create fire. Concentration lines etched into her forehead and small but pretty wrinkles lined her eyes.

Finally with an almighty boom a fireball sprang from the air. Like a bomb had been ignited a rush of tremendous heat swamped both their bodies and Ashleigh let out a high pitch wail of a banshee.

Quick as he could David spotted some residue energy far off in the corner of the room. It seemed Ashleigh had used most of the energy in the air to create the fire and not just that in front of her. He desperately attempted to gather the energy remaining and use it to extinguish the fire. Using his magic he moved the energy to water and doused the fire before it could burn any hotter.

The ceiling where the fire had been in contact with had burned and the wooden beams were cracked and charred. The smell of burned wood hung in the air and David used the last of his own energy to cast a 'clean me' spell around his room, getting rid of the smell and the burn marks.

His sister held her right arm in her left grimacing at the pain. She rocked back and forth sitting on the floor repeating the words "I'm sorry."

"Shhh, it's okay." David mused whispering and sitting beside her and wrapping his arms around her body as she lay and cried into his shoulder. "It's okay." He repeated over again trying to calm her down.

"Let me look at that arm." He said holding his hand out so she could present her wound. Her entire forearm was completely red, burned but not damaged. "Go rinse it under cold water. It'll be fine, I promise."

She left the room.

Thank god I placed the 'no-spy' spell mom would have come in here and beaten me raw,

But at least Ashleigh is ok.

After checking the room for any more damage he found Ashleigh inside the john. Her whole arm and hand was submerged in cold water in the bath. He walked beside her and knelt down as she was.

"Thank god I never taught you how to cause lightning." He joked. But the look on her face was one of sadness. "Hey it's going to be okay now; you're going to be fine."

"I'm sorry" Ashleigh sobbed, he didn't know if she was crying because of the burn or because she was upset about what happened. Please don't be upset with me, she thought.

He held her head against his shoulder and rubbed up and down her arm. Repeatedly he whispered calmingly the words: "It is okay." as she repeatedly sobbed: "I'm sorry."

"You did well today. Even I'm impressed by the fireball you created." He said, her head still resting on his shoulder -- her choice.

He lifted her head to meet her eyes and kissed her forehead. Even with the searing pain of being burned she still felt and lingered on the kiss he gave her, if only it was her lips.

Unable to bear her crying sobs or stop and take away her pain David decided to bite the proverbial bullet and asked his mother for help healing his sister. He didn't care when his mother slapped him across the face with enough force to give him whiplash, he didn't care when she called him all manner of vulgarity and slapped him again, but he thanked her when she healed the burn with magic.

He retreated to his room while his sister was in hers, lying on his bed a single tear streaked down his face. He had hurt his sister; he would never forget the pain he saw on her face.

He cried himself to a fitful sleep.

Chapter 3: Hunting and surprises.

David woke from the most disturbing nights' sleep in record; images of his sister's face masked in pain and horror haunted his every dream. Sweat beaded to his forehead and dampened his clothes causing them to stick to his skin. His muscles ached from the constant tossing and turning during his restless night and his eyes were bloodshot from crying. He cast a quick 'clean me' spell to look presentable and headed downstairs.

He came down stairs and found his sister sitting at the table chewing on some thick slurry he presumed to be oatmeal. Even given the crying from last night she looked pretty and her arm was completely healed thanks to their mother. Again she avoided his gaze -- he deserved it though, almost burning your sister.

She did have enough manors to say good morning and he replied back. Other than that they were totally silent.

"David, I'm so sorry about last night, I didn't mean for anything to happen." His sister said turning to face him and looking into his brown eyes.

"No I should apologize; it's because of me that you got hurt. And I would gladly accept a thousand pain curses before I want anything bad to happen to you."

"Friends?" Ashleigh asked smiling.

"Friends." David confirmed returning that smile.

"So got any plans for today?" His sister asked, almost for any excuse just to look at his handsome face.

"Mom wants me to go hunting, you know, she did yesterday so I should today." He replied.

"Can I come?" Ashleigh asked perking up at the prospect of spending more time with her brother.

"Hunting?"

"Yeah"

"Umm... I don't know, moms pretty mad at me and I promised myself I would never see you hurt again."

"Come on please..." She pulled her best pouting face and repeated. "Please, I'll behave, do whatever you tell me."

She could see the resolve in his eyes, still unsure but warming to the idea.

"Please, no magic. It will be just you me and that poor deer."

David sighed. "Fine you can come." "Do you even know how to hunt for animals?"

"I've seen it done." She replied.

"But have you ever done it yourself?"

"No." She looked down at the slurry in the bowl. Living in more primitive times meant that the women and ladies of the house would stay inside and the men would hunt and brave dangers. "Please, you can teach me."

"I think we all know by now I'm not the best teacher."

"No, but you are the best brother."

He smiled at the compliment making her blush; she quickly turned her head and began eating her oatmeal.

"You're going to have to get changed."

"What? What's wrong with the way I dress?"

"Nothing's wrong but you can't hunt like that." He said gesturing to her typical 'comfy clothes'.

"What's wrong with this?" She asked holding the hem of the shirt.

He sighed -- and I'm teaching her to hunt.

"You need something skin tight, loose clothing rustles and animals will hear you a mile away." He explained more than eager to see his sister in skin tight clothing... what the hell?

She was up and down the stairs in a jiffy, she had replaced her old trousers with now cotton trousers that were dyed a very dark blue, and she wore the same shirt as last time but tied it around her waist with a belt of rope. Good enough.

"Where's mom?" He asked looking around realising he hadn't been hit because of last night yet.

"She's out." His sister replied.

Probably trying to find a man lucky enough to marry you, he thought, sad.

Together they walked through the forest hunting any animals they could find, which so far consisted of three birds, two fish and a potential deer -- who at the pleading of his sister allowed it to live because it was nurturing a baby.

With the stealth of a ninja he stalked through the trees looking out for any tracks on the ground. He spotted several tracks already but they lead of to the more densely populated area and without his sister he may have tracked them but he did not want to lose her.

He stopped and knelt down examining the mud beneath. He was aware of his sister leaning over his shoulder, her hot breath tickling his neck, her strawberry scent filling his nostrils.

"What we looking at?" She whispered.

"Tracks." He replied pointing at the floor. He motioned with his hand several footprints amongst the fallen leaves, Ashleigh never even saw them before. He pointed to a clearing in the brush ahead. "They head that way, probably a deer by the looks."

He followed the tracks through the brush and deeper into the forest. Trying his best to be stealthy he was acutely aware of his sister trying to sneak and failing miserably. He smiled to himself.

The tracks veered to the right and he followed them, checking his sister was still behind him he pressed on.

The sound of running water became more louder, a stream. It was possibly a watering spot for the animal. With the grace of a cat he lifted the light bow of his back, tensed the string in his fingers and fetched an arrow out his quiver lining it up to be fired.

Dead ahead, with its neck craned downwards there stood a male deer lapping at the cool water running downstream. Oblivious to the two strangers the deer remained motionless.

"Aww." He heard his sister moan.

He put his finger to his lip and crouched, then pulled his sister to crouch by his side.

"Want the shot?" He asked.

"Really?" His sister asked looking at the bow and arrow he was holding out for her. She took it shakily in her hands. "What if I miss?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I'll go without dinner tonight."

She knew what he meant; they were to go hunting because there was only enough meat from the antelope for two people. Her heart warmed that he would do this for her, he would not only miss his kill but go hungry so she wouldn't.

"So... how do I do this?" She asked determined not to miss.

He stepped behind her and she stood up along with him. She drew the bow as she thought she should. His hand slid over her shoulder applying just enough pressure for her to relax and lower the bow slightly. She felt the warmness of his hands touching her. His hand then slid down her arm and over her hand holding her hand that held the bow. His right hand snaked around her waist and came to rest on her stomach; again, he applied just enough pressure so she breathed in. His chest nestled against her back. She sighed wanting to stay in the embrace forever.

His head on her shoulders he whispered, "Now draw back." And she did, but he never let her go.

She melted into his embrace. Oh, how she wanted to forget that they were in the forest, even forget that they were brother and sister. She wanted to leap into his arms and never move.

She steadied her breathing and then held her breath as she pulled back a little more. She didn't know how hard she could pull back before the string would snap but it seemed pretty close, anymore tighter and she wouldn't be able to hold onto the arrow never mind fire it accurately.

"Now just let go." He whispered into her ear, his hot breath tickling her neck sending shivers down her spine.

She released the arrow. It sailed through the air heading for its target. And in a split second... it missed. The deer now realised it was in danger quickly galloped off into the forest and away from danger. The arrow lay buried into the grass on the other side of the stream.

She sighed, she had missed. She really hoped she had hit the animal, although she didn't hope it dead, she didn't want to miss it. Because of her now her brother was going to go hungry, there would be no chance of him letting her go hungry. That realisation hurt her more than knowing she didn't know how to hunt. How many times more must her brother suffer for her actions?

"It's okay." He whispered letting go of her body as she lowered the empty bow.

"No, it's not. Because of me you didn't get the kill." She said turning around and looking into his eyes, how she wanted to get lost in those marbles of brown and never escape. They were virtually face to face and if she leaned in just a little... she opened her eyes, unaware she was even closing them. Her brother smiled at her, his devilish handsome smile, but he was further away than he had been.

"Come on." He said waving his hand. "We still got time to hunt."

She smiled at that prospect; she could redeem herself, win some food for her brother and learn to hunt.

They came out the clearing and circled the forest for anther fifteen minutes. She felt as if they were walking aimlessly around and soon the sense of being lost overwhelmed her, she would be lost in the woods with her brother... maybe not too bad after all. She smiled at the thought.

She tried looking at the floor the way she had seen her brother so many times but saw nothing but dirt, fallen leaves and broken twigs.

She looked up at her brother ahead of her. He had stopped and was kneeling down looking at the ground once again.

"Found anything?" She called out.

"More tracks, deer."

Did he just call her dear? No, no he said deer, but she hoped he might call her dear one day.

She followed him as he walked through the trees like a man on a mission.

David knew where the deer were heading; only trouble was a couple more yards ahead and it was no longer the earl's forest who typically allowed people to hunt if they only took the minimum. Up ahead was the Schott land. And in their land anyone who was not family caught stealing were thieves and caught. Usual punishment for stealing involved: whipping, scaring, branding. Ultimately it was up to the owner of the land to judge the severity of the offence and could carry out the punishment however they saw fit.

Any other time and David would have carried on. Families often employed patrol men in the forests and woods to make sure no one was hunting if they weren't allowed, often these patrol men were the most vile of men only employed for money, who knows what they might do if they saw Ashleigh.

If a couple were to face him when he was by himself he would gladly put up a fight, and in the best scenario would win, but if Ashleigh was in the fight he couldn't fight. He would be too concerned about her he wouldn't risk taking her out of eyesight for even a second.

He stopped dead ahead, as if some great barrier stood between him and meat. Ashley bumped into his back.

"What we stopping for?" She asked peering over his shoulder.

"That's Schott land." He replied.

"And?" She drew out the word.

"Well, if you go in there and get caught... well let's just say you won't get a slap like the nice earl might punish you."

"But the deer..."

"If you want meat that bad let's just go back to the stream and catch some fish." He replied.

It made sense, why bother to put yourself in harms' way when back a few paces in relatively safe lands were fish. But still the idea of watching her brother eat a small fish to while she got to enjoy fresh cooked and hot meat made her sad. She would do this... for him.

"Don't be such a girl." She mocked marching ahead and taking the lead.

David was impressed and shocked for a moment before realising her stupidity and ran after her. Finally he caught up behind her.

"Hey brains, learned how to track suddenly?" He said in a calm voice.

She stopped, turned around and pouted, she was more sad than anything. He regretted his taunt.

"Come on I'll teach you." He said walking ahead.

"Yay." She squealed jumping on his back before hoping back down.

As they walked through the dangerous land he showed her how to look for animal signs: a misplaced branch that may have been stepped on, tracks, defecation. He might have talked to her about how the sky was blue and she would have listened, no matter what he talked about she listened and tried to learn all she could from her handsome big brother.

Finally they came to where he thought the deer had resided to. It was a place of safety for many animals. Overhanging rocks shaded the ground beneath and provided shelter, wild plants with nutritious berries bloomed all around.

Sure enough there was the deer, munching down on some berries hanging off a shrub the animal was completely still aside from the head moving about to reach more berries.

"Got it?" David asked.

She drew back the bow the way she was shown before. But was saddened by the fact he remained behind her never touching her delicate body.

SWISH... the arrow flew through the air as if it had wings, getting higher and higher before dropping towards the animal. It hit home. Not a fatal shot the arrow stuck out from the animal's side as if it was a leech sticking on to its prey. The deer gave off a chilling shriek before attempting to flee. Ashleigh thought that it was going to get away again, she had failed... again.

The animal dropped dead, no less than ten feet from where it was hit. Protruding from its neck was a huge hunting knife. Mouth agape and eyes wide Ashleigh looked over at her brother who was slowly regaining his composure and walking towards the fallen animal.

Blood seeped from the knife painting its gleaming silver in a deep red. From where it had been hit by the arrow a small river of blood washed down its carcass to the floor painting the leaves. Her brother, calm as ever, retrieved the knife, wiped it on the animal's body and then slit its throat as a torrent of blood gushed from the hole. Too gross.

"Thank you for this bounty." He prayed eyes closed.

"Good job sis, you hit it." He said patting her on the shoulder.

Sure it wasn't the kind of ending she hoped for, but she had hit it. May not have killed the animal in a ninja reflex like her brother but seeing as how it was her first hunt she felt pride swell in her breast.

"Umm... how are we going to carry this?" She asked, noticing finally that the animal was taller than both of them and probably weighed more.

"Might as well show you now." Her brother said kneeling down in front of the carcass.

She saw her brother's lips move in a chant but didn't hear a sound.

"We're going to curse it?" She asked confused.

He stopped his chanting and looked at her, her hazel eyes shining beautifully. He snapped out of his stare.

"We create a spell, to make it lighter. That way it weighs nothing and we can carry it over our shoulder, and by 'we' I mean me."

"Oh." She sang stretching out the single word.

"Here you try." He said, standing up.

"Oh no, we know what happened last time I tried spells. Remember... fireball.... Boom?"

David remembered all too well... the look on his sister's face, the pain she was in.

"I remember." He said, looking into her eyes. "I showed you, you did, but if you have to go extreme again try not to let it float away." He smiled looking into her hazel eyes, she smiled back.

He showed her what to do and to her surprise it wasn't as difficult as she first thought. David heaved the animal onto his back, it didn't weigh almost anything like he was going to make it, there was still a good amount of weight left, but not wanting to down-put his sister he carried the weight.

"So we head home?" Ashleigh asked.

"Unless you want to stay here forever?"