Detour

Bard was grateful they rested. Kai was likely grateful as well. After they crested the mountains and began to head towards the desert, it became a frightening journey.

He reached back to grab Sen as her scream rammed into his ears. His eyes bulged as he saw a shade swoop in and slash at her, managing to get through the wavering light of the sunstones. The attack was weak, but it made his blood run cold. How long had it been since there was light? The clouds were suspicious. It was dark across the visible land, and if they made a straight run, they would get overwhelmed. They needed shelter.

Kai surged, his growl barely above the growing gale. Bard’s eyes searched for the storm shades, but he couldn’t spot any. Sen leaned in closer to him, her voice labored to grab his attention. A screech, cut off what she was trying to say, before he felt her thump. He prevented her from falling, looking her over. The attack had landed, and her clothes were torn along her back. He gritted his teeth. A shade lurched at them, Kai avoided in time with Bard’s shout. Sen’s eye closed as her body went limp. A bit of panic crept in. He shifted her into his lap and checked the injury, trying not to fall off as Kai weaved around the growing hoard. It wasn’t deep, just a scratch really, but in the dying light, he could see strange lines and the injury was turning black.

A ridge rose ahead, and Bard directed Kai over there. They could pause there and set up the lights to keep the shades away as he looked at this in more depth. Kai stumbled to a halt at the base, flanks heaving. Bard quickly moved his tokens to ward off the shades as he jumped down and broke light sticks, causing them to flare to life. Their light drove off the shades and Bard brought Sen to the ground, into the light where he could observe her.

Her face was pale. Her breathing was getting light. He rested her in his lap, her stomach down, while he checked the wound. Those lines were growing, slowly, turning her skin black. His mind raced. What sort of thing was this? His tokens touched her skin as he hunched over, and the lines retreated a bit. He took them off and placed them against her back. The lines reacted to the melodies of the Elders as if they were tiny shades within her. However, the injury remained black. He didn’t know how to treat this.

He rose, looking through their dwindling supplies. They were so close, but so far.

He paused, taking a breath, trying to keep his growing panic at bay. Sen barely stirred, before going limp again. He looked at Kai, the sunstones were getting dark, they wouldn’t last long. Then his ears picked up Healers melody from the tokens. It was the loudest, signaling that they were closest to his forest.

It would be a detour, but if anyone could help, it would be him. He quickly wrapped Sen in a blanket before strapping her to Kai, his tokens pressed against her, along with her own set to keep her safe. He moved the sunstones to be around her, while replacing the lanterns with the lightsticks.

As he looked out at the shades, they moved about with their piercing red eyes, but that was all, no glowing colors of the harbinger or other pack leaders. He could manage this. His eyes turned to Sen, whose breathing was raspy, and his brows knit in concern.

“Kai, Healer’s woods. Let’s go,” he said, climbing up. Kai looked back before dancing a bit. When Bard was situated, they took off. He reached for his flute, getting it unstrapped and played healer’s song, fueling it to keep the shades away. Had he realized where they were, he would have played sooner. However, the shades still remained threateningly close.

Lightning flashed, and the eyes of the storm shades began to emerge from the clouds. Bard’s stomach knotted as rain began to pour. The shades began to pour in on them and Kai bolted, avoiding scapes and attacks.

He looked back to see Sen’s head loll, and he tried to shield her from the rain.

“Hold on,” he breathed, throat burning. He’d faced shades, ruins, even been attacked himself, but never seen an attack that could do this. This was new.

Trees began to thicken as they left the sands behind. The smell of mint grew, and branches swayed. The rain let up a bit, the storm shades hung back, their eyes following them as a hum threaded the air. The shades slowed, their cries fading at an unseen border. The song grew and Bard played, calling to Healer. Kai staggered and then tripped. Bard held on, grateful he had strapped Sen in, as Kai righted himself then stopped, heaving, and then collapsed. He was spent. Some trees moved in, shielding them with their canopy. Bard quickly untied Sen and brought her down, checking in on her as his stomach formed knots. Her arm on one side was riddled with black veins, the tokens had protected the others but shifted to the side. Her hair was damp, and her forehead hot. He quickly unpacked and began to search for something else to help.

He felt a bit of relief as he head the song of Healer grow louder, and then the familiar sound as he moved through the wood. The air became a strong minty scent, clean and crisp, cutting through the storm’s damp rot.

He quickly moved to Sen’s side as Healer’s trunk loomed, roots shifting.

“Healer, please,” Bard pled, shifting Sen so he could see the problem. Her chest rose faint, uneven. Healer’s song deepened, and then a branch fell from him once again. Bard grabbed it and could hear the song still within, much like the tokens. He moved it to her back and the lines retreated. He plucked the leaves and heard Healer’s song quiver, instructing him in that old way. Another tree came forward with herbs clutched in its roots. Bard recognized them and crushed them with the leaves, smearing the paste onto her back.

Healer hummed, a steady sound that helped ground Bard, and helped his hands to stop shaking. The black receded to the wound and began to seep into the paste. Bard noticed Sen’s breathing easing into a rhythm, and he sank further on his knees. His heart hammered, his stomach was still in knots. Her arm was looking better, and this poison was retreating, but his chest wouldn’t unclench. He felt sick to his stomach. Was he ill? He didn’t have a fever, and the pain was too sharp and deep. He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. He needed to concentrate on Sen. The paste was filling with the black, and Healer instructed him to remove it. They black stayed concentrated around the wound, thanks to the branch, and they made more of the medicine.

Kai huffed, watching with exhausted eyes. Bard pressed the back of his hand to his brow, pushing back a few hairs. The shades were an afterthought now, Healer’s song kept them back above the cliffs to the west. They were safe. Barely.

Healer’s branch brushed his shoulder and he looked up at the tree. “She will be fine, Bard. Though, you must relax.”

“What’s wrong with me?” he asked, trusting Healer to tell him if he was ill or not. His stomach was still making him feel nauseated. Perhaps, dealing with that black had gotten him as well. Healer paused for a while, his branch lingering. The minty scent helped him calm a bit.

“Your sickness is not of the body.”

Bard blinked, his breath caught in his lungs. “What?” There was an amused note that flitted through Healer’s song.

“Love,” Healer said softly. “It grips your heart, twists your stomach. You fear for her.”

The words sank in. Bard’s gaze flicked to Sen, her breathing now steady, her damp hair barely floating around her. Then he felt his hands tremble again, and he tried to stop it. His thoughts raced. Memories of being alone, then with the catfolk caravans surfaced. A single memory stood out, his denial. He’d agreed to the pledge to save his life. He had found her a decent companion, preferable above the catfolk he had traveled with, but he hadn’t given it much thought till now. Her laughter in Pathfinder’s woods still sung in his ears. He could see her tears by Father’s fire, and the feel of her hand as he guided him while blindfolded. It made him shiver. They were so close to getting back to Sal Shefa. Would it become their home? Was it even built? Had the shades taken it? Would he and Sen like it there? He closed his eyes, unable to look out at the world while his internals rocked. Love. Was that really the word for these feelings? It wasn’t how it began, but how it grew.

Healer’s song curled around him, the minty air bringing him back to his senses.

This time, he would help her, just like she had helped him. It was different, but not really. Bard exhaled shakily. He brushed Sen’s hair back, her skin cool under his fingers. Kai’s tail thumped once, weary but warm. The storm shades hung back, creating this strained peace. For now, it was enough.