Shadow Fire (8 page)

"I thought you wouldn't be interested in this job given the circumstances," the glowing man says.

"I wasn't," Zane sighs, running a hand through his unruly auburn hair. "When I saw the ad at the guild I cringed inside. No way was I getting wrapped up in this mess. But then fate landed me in Verdane and I saw her. How could the town send someone so vibrant, so full of life, so beautiful, on this ridiculous quest?"

"How indeed," the odd man answers with a sly smile. "I trust you implicitly, my friend," the man adds in a deep baritone. "Especially after seeing her curled up in your arms. You appeared quite content holding the little huntress." He laughs, the tone almost musical, sending tiny shivers coursing through my body. "She's very important to me, and I love her like a little sister. I was furious when that accursed village selected her to chase after the relic. I was planning to accompany her, but recent events have me wondering as to the accuracy of the information."

"I'll protect her with my life, Loki," Zane replies with a soft sigh. "You go shake down Hosea. We need to know the whole story if we're to have any chance to prevail. He's definitely hiding something. I'd rather not risk my life or Ashlyn's on a wild goose chase."

"I know you're out there, little huntress," Loki calls out. "It's quite rude to eavesdrop on a private conversation."

With a resigned sigh, I walk out from behind the tree to face the two men.

"Come, little one, take a closer look at me and tell me you still don't know who I am."

Creeping forward, I close the distance between myself and the mysterious man. His azure eyes sparkle in the dim moonlight as he watches my wary approach. When he moves his head, I notice pointed ears poking out from beneath his thick veil of white hair. He turns away from me for a moment, and I realize his hair doesn't reach his ankles but ends at his waist. A long white tail swishes at me in a playful fashion, and my breath catches in surprise.

"Zane called you Loki," I manage to choke out, my eyes wide. "I always knew you were too smart to be merely a wolf… but this?"

Loki closes the distance between us and places a hand on my cheek. When he smiles, I gasp in shock. Little white fangs gleam from his mouth.

"Now I see why you appeared to me as a white wolf. Most people would run screaming for the hills if they saw you in this form," I say, still eyeing the strange man warily. "So you really are the demigod Loki, the son of Goddess Reiki and a human. I always thought it merely a legend."

"Most legends tend to be rooted in truth," Loki says, caressing my cheek. "I'm glad you aren't running for the hills," he adds with a snort.

"You've been at my side for four years, protected me more times than I could even begin to count," I say while playing with his long white hair. "I'm not pleased with you right now considering the fact that you've watched me swim naked in a stream on more than one occasion," I add, yanking hard on his hair. He yelps in pain, sounding much more wolfish than human.

"I always looked away to preserve your privacy," Loki says.

"You should've told me," I say, unable to hide the hurt in my voice. "I deserved to know." He has the sense to appear contrite at my statement.

"I'm sorry, Ashlyn. You're right. I should've told you long ago," he concedes. "Forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you, stupid wolf," I say, pulling him into a hug. "Now tell me something. The Goddess is your mother, correct?" He nods in response. "So is the statue I was sent to retrieve the real deal?"

"I don't know for sure. Mother returned to the heavens centuries ago," he replies, glancing away. "The statue has magical properties, but I don't know the full story. I promise I'll do everything I can to try to find out though." He pulls away from my embrace and backs up to gaze at me. "Zane will protect you. He's powerful, listen to him and obey his orders. I have utter faith in his abilities."

"How do you know Zane?" I ask when he begins to walk away.

"I'll leave that for him to explain," Loki replies, shifting into his wolf form.

With one last glance, he lopes into the darkness. I gaze at the forest where he disappeared for a few moments then face Zane with my hands on my hips. He stops me before I can open my mouth to speak.

"I'll explain everything later, I promise," he says, taking my hand to lead me back to our campsite.

Shadow is still on the ground near the dying fire, and he stares at us with undisguised curiosity when we return.

"We need to get some more sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day." He sits back down on his cloak and pulls me to the ground beside him. "You aren't going to rest until I tell you," he comments, noticing my unyielding expression. When I shake my head, he sighs. "Loki helped me out when I left home at twelve to become a mercenary. He stayed with me, trained me, and protected me for four years. Then he left to watch over you apparently."

He lies down on his back and holds his arms out to me. With a tiny flush, I curl up against his right side, resting my head on his shoulder. He takes my cloak, gently pulling until it covers his body as well as mine.

"Now sleep, little huntress," he orders, making me giggle at the nickname. Shadow snorts and huffs next to us in what I can only interpret as canine laughter.

"You're not going to suddenly turn out to be a demigod too are you, Shadow?" I ask the black wolf. He shakes his head in response, and my eyes widen a bit. "You're right, Zane, I do need some sleep. Now I'm hallucinating."

"It's not a hallucination if I saw it too," Zane murmurs. "Go to sleep, Ashlyn," he orders again, closing his eyes.

Resting my hand on his chest, I start to draw little shapes along the hard muscle with my finger. His heart begins to race, and I realize he won't get any sleep unless I stop fidgeting. I force my hand to still as I close my eyes, allowing the steady beat of Zane's heart to lull me to sleep.

****

Gentle hands stroking my hair rouse me from a deep sleep. Blinking my eyes against the dim morning light, I whimper in protest before closing them again. I stretch languidly until realizing I'm still sprawled across Zane's broad chest. When I hazard a glance up at him, he has a breathtaking, sexy smirk plastered on his face, his eyes gazing at me in amusement. My pulse begins to race, and my face flushes as I scramble off Zane, kneeling on the ground beside him.

Shadow is gone, presumably out hunting for breakfast. I open my pack and pull out the bag of sandwiches Brinda gave me yesterday. She made three roast beef and cheddar sandwiches, and I take one before giving Zane the other two. While we're eating, Shadow returns with another rabbit and offers it to me.

"You can have it, Shadow," I tell the black wolf. "We're fine, thanks." He hunkers down with his prey, tearing into it with a low growl. "Why are we up so early?" I ask Zane while nibbling on my sandwich.

"It's not that early, you just can't see the sunrise through the thick canopy of trees," Zane says with laughter in his voice.

I grunt in response, feeling another hour or two of sleep couldn't possibly hurt. With a resigned sigh, I grab my pack and head over to the creek, my muscles aching with each step. Dropping my cloak to the ground, I kneel down to dig through my pack searching for my hair tie. Toward the bottom of the bag there's a small cloth bundle. Pulling it out, I tug at the ribbon holding it closed. It contains hair ties, a bar of soap, lip balm, mint paste and a brush. My lips curl into a grin as I think of Brinda and Celeste hiding this bundle in my pack. Sometimes my sisters can be so thoughtful.

I wash my face with the vanilla scented soap and clean my mouth with the mint paste before applying the lip balm. Leave it to my sisters to worry about my appearance, though given my current circumstances I'm glad they did. I feel Zane's presence behind me, and I turn my head to gaze up at him from under my eyelashes. When he glances back at me, my breath catches in my throat and my heart pounds. Just being in his presence has my emotions running amok. He settles down beside me and begins to wash up in the creek.

Running my brush through my hair, I work out the tangles before braiding it into one long braid down the back, my trembling fingers making the mundane task difficult. At least now it won't get caught in any branches like last night. There's nothing like a tree grabbing my hair in the darkness to up the fear factor of the forest. After I finish repacking my bag, I watch Zane tend the fire pit, making sure there are no embers remaining to catch fire. When he finishes, he pulls me to my feet, and we continue our trek through the forest.

Chapter Seven

The Great Prairie

The days begin to blur together, the lack of any change in scenery infuriating. During the day we hike for miles, picking our way through the dense underbrush of the forest. Zane seems to have some internal compass he's following, and I hope he's not as lost as I am. I find myself anticipating rough terrain, waiting for him to offer his hand to help me through. Though I don't need the help, I have no intention of telling him that. The feeling of his rough calloused fingers interlaced with mine is divine.

Shadow is still following us, not that I'm surprised by this. I hope he decides to stick around for the whole journey. It's rather comforting having him nearby. He's familiar, while everything else is so new. While I'm enjoying some perks of the new, it's still a relief to have something to remind me of the past.

Walking through the peaceful forest with this man I barely know is stirring such foreign feelings within me. I feel safe with Zane, like I can let my guard down and be myself. He's sweet and caring underneath that strong masculine exterior. Just the thought of him sets my heart racing, and when he holds my hand my stomach always flutters in response. Could I be falling for him?

Sometimes this all seems more dream than reality.

Every night I sleep in Zane's arms. The nightmares I've had since the mayor announced I was the Chosen have ceased. I swear I'm sleeping better on the cold, hard ground with him than I ever did in my soft bed at home. Each morning we're up with the dawn, then off for another day of endless walking. In all my years of hunting, I never realized the forest was this vast. Zane insists we're heading south by southeast, but deep down I begin to wonder if we're walking in circles.

On the morning of the fourth day, I realize the trees are becoming sparser. It appears we managed to pass through the entire forest without incident. So much for all the rumors about ghosts attacking unwary travelers, dragging them into the darkest pit of the netherworld. Though we did encounter quite a few aggressive, red-eyed boars, I never saw anything that even hinted at being a ghost. I'm not sure why anyone would worry about a ghost when monstrous boars with fangs the length of my upper arm roam these woods.

All in all I'm ready to leave the dark, foreboding forest behind. The thought of a landscape that doesn't include hundreds of trees is appealing. When we reach the edge of the forest, my mood soars. I feel like running off through the knee-high grass. Zane grabs my hand, holding me close to his side, perhaps having sensed my excitement.

"Welcome to the Great Prairie," he says, sounding anything but welcoming. "We need to head over to the main merchant road for safety." Gazing into my eyes, he adds, "The plains are dangerous. Stay on your guard and don't stray from my side."

He drops my hand before heading off to our left, trailing the outskirts of the forest. Shadow doesn't seem to like the open prairie. He darts in and out of the trees at the edge of the forest, a silent black streak almost invisible in the tree line. After an hour or so of walking, we reach what appears to be a main path worn into the plains from years of use. We follow the road south away from the Planthes Forest.

The Great Prairie is rather disappointing. It's a vast open plain as far as the eye can see. I can just make out the foothills far to our left, marking the beginning of the Yazard Mountains. I know the sea is somewhere to our right, but there's no obvious sign of its presence. Few plants grow on the plains other than the knee-high, green grass. There's nowhere to hide or to take cover from the elements. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle from the feeling of being watched. My eyes dart around but we seem to be alone on this endless trail. Swallowing hard, I try to relax my muscles, which are tensed and ready to flee.

"How far is the next town?" I ask.

"Four days at least, two days to the Zodiac Inn," he replies. His gaze drifts up to the sky. "Depends on the weather. Rainfall isn't uncommon this time of year. It'll slow us down."

The thought of rain with no viable shelter isn't comforting. Maybe we'll be lucky and avoid the rain. The sky is clear, not a cloud in sight to mar the bright azure blue expanse.

Zane appears tenser than I've ever seen him. When I hazard a glance at his face, his jaw is set in a grim line of determination, his eyes darting around to constantly survey our surroundings. My nerves are starting to fray as my apprehension soars to new heights. Shadow, sensing my discomfort, brushes his large head against my hand. With my hand buried in his thick fur, I manage several deep, calming breaths.

We walk in silence for what seems like several hours. The sun is at midday, yet we still haven't stopped to rest. Zane isn't holding my hand like he was in the forest. Of course, there's nothing for me to trip over on this wide clear road, with the exception of the ruts from the wagon wheels. I miss feeling his strong hand gripping mine. Perhaps I should just be bold like Celeste and take his hand if I want to hold it. The thought leads to a tiny giggle escaping my mouth. I'm mortified when Zane glances back at me, his right eyebrow arched.

"Are you okay?" he asks as he stops walking. My face must be crimson. When I don't answer, he places his hand on my forehead. "You're quite warm. Maybe we should rest for a little bit."

I nod my agreement and sit down in the tall grass on the side of the road. Hopefully the grass will conceal my red face from view. Zane does one last survey of our surroundings before lowering himself to the ground next to me.