A Paladin's War Ch. 05

"I cannot harm you," Aran said, stepping closer to the taller man, looking up at him unafraid. "And you cannot harm her, or you would have already."

Maloth did not so much as flutter an eyelid, but Aran saw the understanding in his purple-black eyes. "Fool!" He spat. "You think so simply." He smiled, then, and suddenly his eyes seemed to fill Aran's vision until there was room for nothing else. A creeping cold began to grow in his gut, where he would normally feel his vala. Dimly, he heard Maloth speaking, though the words were fuzzy, distant. "She is the gateway to your soul."

Panic reared in him. This was how the Order of Aros had fallen in the first place! He was on his hands and knees in the mud, gasping as he fought the dark tendrils that were wrapping around his heart.

"Yes," Maloth crowed. "This is where you belong, worm! On your knees before me! Perhaps I will give you to my sister. She will keep you for her plaything and parade you before kings and queens to remind them of the price of disobedience."

Aran was having trouble breathing, and his vala appeared to have melted away completely. Through watery eyes, he looked up at Elaina. She watched him passively, no emotion in those brilliant green eyes. I love you, he thought, and managed a weak smile. His strength was just about gone; his muscles felt like jelly, his arms barely keeping him out of the mud. Maloth was still exulting, but Aran barely heard.

Has to be a way. I'm missing something. What was it he said before? Something about a doorway?

A gateway! Digging deeply within, he found that small spark inside him, that seed of light that remained even as darkness overcame him. With a cry, he lurched forward and threw his arms around Elaina, though in reality he did little more than flop limply onto her. Still, the skin-to-skin contact was enough. The melda between them flared to life, making her gasp and shake as it took hold. Feeling her become part of him again made him want to cry in joy, but he used the strength to push himself to his feet instead.

Maloth stared at him, eyes wide in anger and disbelief. "You were right," Aran told him calmly. "She is the gateway. But not for you." Summoning all his strength, and a little extra from Elaina, he formed his vala into a bubble that encased the three of them.

Time slowed down as Maloth reached for his sword, but even as the black blade slid free of its sheath, Aran let all that he was wash through the bubble, and let Maloth feel love. Maloth screamed, his mouth twisted and his eyes bulging wildly. Cracks of light began to spider across his skin, growing wider until they finally exploded in a nimbus of brilliance. What remained of him was silhouetted darkly for a moment within the light, but then it faded into nothing, leaving only empty air.

Kneeling, Aran gathered Elaina up in his arms and helped her to her feet. She leaned into him, hugging him tightly. "I missed you."

"And I you."

She pulled back enough to look up at him. Her fingers brushed his face. "What has happened to you? You are different."

He gently captured her hand in his and kissed her fingertips. "I lost you. I lost all of you, and I had to get you back. It is done, now."

She smiled. "You never lost me." She kissed him, and he kissed her back firmly until she faded in his arms, as the others had.

"I love you," he told the space she'd been occupying. "And I will be back with you soon." At his last word, the earth beneath his feet began to tremble, and as he looked up, the sky started to collapse in on itself, grey clouds splitting apart like eggshells. Taking a deep breath, be braced himself.

*

"Careful, young one. He is waking."

Aran's eyes came open slowly. He had to blink many times to focus in the dim light, and there was a heavy scent of spiced smoke in the air. He was lying on something soft, and two women were leaning over him. One was pretty, with green skin and small tusks jutting from her lower lip. The other was stunning, with fair skin and cobalt hair and eyes. Both women were unclothed, as was he. "What-?" He started to speak, but the green woman put a finger to his lips.

"Shush," she said softly. "You will take some time recovering."

"How long?" He managed in a croaky voice. He needed to know how long he was asleep for. Somehow, that fact was important, though he couldn't remember why.

"Nine days," the pale one said. She smiled down at him tremulously, as if she cared about him deeply and was worried for him. She was very beautiful.

"Evoni." The name was on his lips before his mind had placed it there. She was kissing him, then, soft and deep.

"Yes," she said after the kiss, even as the other woman shot her a disapproving look.

"How long does not matter," she said firmly. "What matters is, it is done. You survived, young one."

Another name came to him. "Masha," he said. Misty memories danced at the edges of his awareness, but he was unable grasp them. "I feel... Weak."

"I am not surprised," Masha replied with a firm-lipped grimace. She sat back on her heels and folded her arms beneath breasts even bigger than Elaina's. "You were thrashing like a cave serpent with its tail stuck in a wolf's jaws for the better part of a week. I had four of the biggest Ash'goth warriors I could find holding your arms and legs, yet you still tossed them around like they were made of willow bark."

"Dreams," Aran muttered, putting a hand to his head and squeezing his eyes shut. "Nightmares." He felt Evoni squeezing his hand. "Did I succeed?" He couldn't remember exactly what he'd been through beyond incomprehensible flashes, but he knew it had been important.

"You came back," Masha said simply. Evoni squeezed harder, and Aran looked up at her.

"Us together. It is better this way," he told her. Now why had he said that? He wasn't sure, but it felt right. A tear escaped Evoni's eye and she was kissing him again, until Masha put a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy now, young Norothi. He needs his rest." She made a gesture to someone elsewhere in the tent and gave some instructions in Orcish before turning her attention back to Aran. "I will take you where you can recover your strength, Anarion." Leaning forward, she scooped him up from the furs and held him close to her bosom as she carried him outside. Aran tried to say he could walk, but the mere thought made his legs tremble.

The smoky scent faded as he was carried outside into the cool night air. Above him, stars twinkled in the sky. He heard murmurs from other Orcs as Masha walked down the dirt street. She turned into another building after a few minutes; a smaller one with a wide bed and a round wooden tub at opposite sides. There was a firepit in the middle of the single-room house where a small fire blazed merrily.

"Here is where you will rest," Masha told him as she laid him down on the bed. Aran grunted as his body protested - he felt as if he'd fought a hundred battles in a row. Evoni cautiously climbed in next to him; there was plenty of room. She held him close, and her warm body felt most welcome. "Lay with him if you will, Norothi," she added. "But he will want sleep more than anything else. He has endured much. As have you."

Aran felt Evoni's nod against his own head as sleep pulled at him. He had questions he wanted to ask, but they slipped away as his eyes closed. Maybe this time there would be no dreams, no nightmares...

***

END OF CHAPTER FIVE

***