Sapphire (21 page)

“Sorry,” he muttered, grinning. “I didn’t mean to
surprise you.”

Shawna moved her mouth and made a few awkward faces,
trying to think of something witty to say, then just bit her lip
and stared at the tree again.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he said, putting his
hand down an inch from hers.

She glanced at his hand, then up at the branches
flashing with tiny lights. It felt like her heart would super-nova
any moment.

“Yeah. What makes it do that?”

“I don’t know, but there used to be more of them.
Now this is one of the only ones I’ve ever seen, and I’ve traveled
far.”

Her fingers spread a little wider, a little closer
to his.

“Where?” She stared at his upturned face.

He turned to look at her in the dim glow, his eyes
reflecting the flashes of light above. She wondered if he was
looking at her the same way she was looking at him.

“Where have you gone?” she said, remembering her
train of thought.

He shrugged. “Places.”

“Why?”

“Had to.”

He looked away and they remained silent for awhile.
Shawna’s heart leapt into her throat when she felt a small brush of
his finger against hers, then it was gone.

“Do you want to get away from all this?” he
said.

She didn’t know what to say. What exactly was he
asking? His torso turned to face her, and she found it both
difficult to look at him and to look away.

“Whatever the dragon told you, Shawna, doesn’t mean
it’s fate. You’re free to do what you want. I can tell what he told
you upset you.” He shifted a little closer.

She leaned away without realizing it, and his eyes
searched her.

“Well,” she said, looking down. “I can’t just run
away.” Her thoughts were finally forming through the fog of his
presence. “I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I was upset, even
angry, but I can’t just turn back. Not now.”

A fleeting look of disappointment crossed his
features before they softened, and he said in a deeper voice, “What
did he tell you?”

The words almost spilled out of her open mouth
before something in the back of her mind caught her. She snapped
her jaw shut, and shifted herself a little further from him like he
was a blazing fire. His face remained expressionless, and that’s
what scared her. She stood up, and he looked a little shocked.

“I just…I have to do this. No matter what he said.
I’m not going to run from anything anymore.” She was a little
surprised at herself as she realized how true that was.

He rose to his feet, looking down at her from his
tall height, and took a quick deep breath.

“You run from
me,
” he said, almost too
quietly for her to hear.

It was so unexpected that she just stood there,
staring up at him. He stepped closer, an arms length away.

“What are you so afraid of? I’m here for
you
.” He was reaching a hand up towards her arm.

Her whole body seethed and roiled with adrenaline;
her throat clenched, her hands clenched, and her stomach knotted
up. She felt the warmth of his hand curl around her arm, the
crumbling space as his body closed the distance between them. His
eyes never strayed from hers as he leaned in, his other hand
grabbing her shoulder, then sliding down her back. She felt herself
melting under the pressure of his gripping fingers. She closed her
eyes, tilted her head, parted her lips. His fingers dug deeper,
clenched harder, and she flinched.

She suddenly felt a rush of danger. Her mind
screamed at her to fly. When she opened her eyes and tried to pull
away, he yanked her closer to him, and she saw in his eyes a
passion, a desperation.

“Let me
go
,” she said sharply, trying to pull
away again.

The softness in his voice was replaced with a
harsher tone. “Tell me what the dragon
said.
Did he say
anything about
me?
”

She stopped struggling at this, and his grip
loosened a little.

“You? Why do you think he would’ve said anything
about you?”

He released her as suddenly as he had grabbed her
and stepped back, the fever in his eyes receding. For an insane
moment she had the urge to comfort him, but clenched her teeth and
laid her hand where her sword usually hung on her hip. She glanced
at it resting against a rock behind Orin, then felt stupid.

Right. He’d disarm me in, like, two seconds.

He hadn’t seemed to notice her glance towards the
sword.

“I’m,” he started to say, not looking at her. “I
apologize. I was afraid…” He looked at her with such intensity it
felt like a jolt of electricity.

She shook her head slowly. “He didn’t say anything
about you.”

Without further explanation, he turned, jumped the
boulder, and disappeared over the other side. She was left standing
there, completely bewildered. She slumped down against the rock and
took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Her arms and hands
felt like a swarm of wasps were buzzing under her skin. When she
looked down at them, she almost jumped and shouted out loud. The
light was flashing along her veins again. She held them up, amazed
and frightened at the same time. Then she noticed the tree.

The tiny sparks of light amongst the leaves had
become brighter while light crawled along the trunk and throughout
the branches. She turned her arm to look at it. A horrific groaning
and cracking came from the giant tree as it too twisted from its
roots, following the twist of her arm. She screamed, leapt to her
feet, turned, and smacked straight into a large hairy chest. Mira
jerked her head up, snorted, and pranced backwards.

“What happened?” she said urgently to Shawna.

Shawna was speechless. She looked down at her hands.
They were normal again. She looked at the tree. It had twisted back
to its original state and looked unharmed, the bright streaming
veins of light gone. Mira pawed the ground.

“Answer me. What was that noise?”

“I,” she stuttered, “I…I don’t…I don’t know. That’s
why I screamed.”

Antares and Lula came up over the slanted boulder.
Antares lashed his tail.

“What’s going on?” Lula said, flying over.

Mira was staring at Shawna almost as severely as
Orin had been, then said, “I think we should move on, and
you”—
she laid her ears back as she addressed Shawna—“aren’t
to stray far from us again.”

She then turned, and began walking away from their
encampment for the night.

“Great,” Lula said, landing on Shawna’s shoulder.
“You were kissing that boy again, weren’t you.”

“
No.
” She hadn’t meant to say it so bitingly,
but Lula had struck too close.

Lula flew up and hovered to face her, crossing her
arms, as Antares loped over. She gave Shawna a scathing look before
flying away. Dragging her feet, Shawna sighed and picked up her
sword. The cold iron comforted her some as she curled her hand
around it and tied it to her waist. She jerked her head around when
she heard a growl, but it was only Antares. He was looking past her
at a nearby tumble of boulders.

“Get going,” he said.

She looked back at the outcropping where Orin had
been standing moments before, and took a deep breath. She hoped he
hadn’t been able to see right through her and realize she had
lied.

They traveled many miles through the mountains
without further incident. Orin kept his distance, and at this
Shawna was both relieved and irritated. She tried to approach him
once, but he brushed her off by claiming that he had to go hunt.
They were walking a winding path through the forest when Mira
whirled around, planted her feet, and lowered her horn. There was
chattering and laughing just around the bend behind them. Antares
crouched, lightning crackling from his tail, and everyone stood
still. Shawna untied her sword and raised it. Orin did the same a
few feet in front of her. Lula hovered near her, sprinkling dust,
and holding her nose with both hands.

“Do
not
sneeze,” Shawna hissed.

“Aye wohn’t,” said Lula, right before she
sneezed.

When the voices rounded the corner, the sun
reflected off Shawna’s crystal blade straight into the first man’s
face.

“Agh!” he yelled, shielding his eyes, while his two
companions drew their weapons in defense.

“Who are you?!” demanded a rough looking young man,
stepping forward with his axe raised. Then he saw Mira.

“Unicorn,” he said breathlessly. His other
companions looked just as shocked, and terrified.

Mira flared her nostrils, clearly surprised at their
encounter, and raised her horn slightly.

“Tell us who
you
are,” said Antares, baring
his fangs.

The three men diverted all their attention to the
large lion-beast surrounded by curling red energy. The axe of the
youngest man was trembling.

“You are in danger of us, not the other way around,”
said Antares. “Tell us who you are, or else I will not have to hunt
later tonight.”

He grinned, and lashed his tail, sending sparks in
every direction.

“Please,” said the youngest, a teenaged boy with
long dark hair. “We’re just out hunting. We’re from a nearby
village.” The older man who had first spoken stamped on the boy’s
foot and he stopped talking, now looking more worried than
before.

Antares glanced at their leather arm and shin
guards, their intricate axes curved with gilded wolf-heads, and
growled even more threateningly.

“We’ll let you pass through, but keep to the ridge,”
said the man. His eyes were glued to Mira. “We want nothing to do
with you, so just let us part ways.”

The last man, the eldest, who had not said a word,
was staring at Orin. He lowered his axe, and the lines on his
forehead deepened.

His voice was a whisper. “It can’t be.”

His companions glanced between him and Orin. Orin
only continued to glare back. The man tucked his axe into its
leather loop, and took a small step forward. Everyone tensed. Mira
stamped her hoof in warning, but her eyes told Shawna that she
didn’t feel any real danger in this man’s heart.

“You can’t be Elias’s son.” He stepped closer, and
Orin began to raise his sword. Something jangled at the man’s belt
and reflected the sun. Orin froze, captured by the shining
objects.

“And you.” The man set his deep eyes on Mira. “I
know you as well, unicorn.” Mira slowly raised her head, but said
nothing as he turned back to Orin. “You look just like him.”

“Stop,” Orin said, raising his sword
defensively.

The man didn’t step any nearer, instead he began to
smile, and opened his palms in a gesture of peace.

“Orin,” he said.

Orin almost dropped his sword. Shawna opened her
mouth to say something, then closed it again, and slowly lowered
her own sword.

“How do you know me?” Orin said quietly.

“My name is Faolan, Alpha-don of a small village in
the Agonian range. As your unicorn here”—he nodded at Mira—“knows
quite well.”

Everyone turned the shock on their faces from Orin
to Mira. The man folded his arms, and the other two men put away
their axes, obviously unconcerned that Antares would eat them
anymore.

“You.” Faolan pointed at a very puzzled Orin. “Are
Orin, Elias’s son, there’s no doubt of it.”

Faolan’s eyes brimmed with tears, but he blinked
them away quickly and cleared his throat. “Your father was my
brother, a great man, and Beta-chief, or second in command. I never
thought this day would come, but Zev’s song has brought you home.”
He swept his arm around. “If these are your friends”—though he
didn’t look like he believed it—“they may come along too.”

Orin stepped aside as Faolan walked past him,
patting him on the back, and gesturing for them to follow. Orin
looked at Shawna. In his eyes was the same numb disbelief she had
felt when told about a world, a life, she had never known was hers.
She was about to step towards him, but he turned and followed
Faolan. She felt a little stung. They both were, after all,
apparently orphans.

The other two introduced themselves as Garn and Lan,
and they kept pace behind them all, still cautious despite Faolan’s
warm welcome. Mira inclined her head at Faolan, subduing her
suspicions for the moment in light of their odd predicament. Shawna
had learned it was rare, or maybe even unheard of, for a unicorn to
be tricked by deceit.

“Your
home
?” said Shawna when she caught up
to Orin. “But I thought you said you—”

“I don’t care what you thought. Stop asking me
questions.”

It felt like he had physically smacked her. She let
him walk away from her.