The Southern Trail (Book 4) (25 page)

Argen and Ellersbine were on their knees in a spot next to the fire, while all the men of the traveling band were gathered around as an appreciative crowd for the show underway.

“We’ve sold a lot of material,” a man shouted to the audience.  He stood immediately over the two captives.  Neither wore more than a few shreds of clothing, most of their attire gone.  Ellersbine desperately tried to grasp a few remaining shreds in front of herself.  The portions of her shoulders and back that Marco could see showed that the girl had been beaten and flayed; there were scratches and bruises and bloody welts upon her body as well as Argen’s.

“Now it gets even more interesting,” the man standing over the two captives said.  “Since we’ve concluded that these two aren’t going to make it all the way to Foulata with us, now we’re going to see what they’re worth to you before we dispose of them.

“Who’ll give me a fair bid for the last bit of royal clothing the princess has to sell, and then who’ll give me the winning bid to take the princess off into the night to get their money’s worth?” he shouted.

There was a roar of approval, and the man yanked Ellersbine’s last piece of cloth away from her, eliciting another sobbing scream from her, and an angry motion from Argen before the leader punched him in the side of the head, knocking the tied-up nobleman unconscious.

Marco’s rage possessed him.  He raised his left hand and pointed it at the man who had struck Argen, the man who promptly proceeded to yank on Ellersbine’s hair and lift her head.

“What’ll you pay for a royal pass?” the brutal ringleader asked as he kicked her.

She screamed, and then fainted.

And then Marco willed his left hand to act.

The hand glowed for just a fraction of a second, before a wispy, glowing stream of fog left the body of the laughing torturer by the captives.  The man instantly collapsed, while the glowing life-force he surrendered flowed directly towards Marco and flew into his left hand.

The men in the surrounding semicircle were absolutely silent, and for a half second, the only sound Marco could hear was the crackling sound of the wood in the fire.

He sensed that the heads of the men around the scene were turning towards him, but before anyone could say anything he raised his right hand, and caused a bolt of energy to fly at the man closest to him.

  The crowd began to shout in fear, but Marco gave them no time to react; he pointed his left hand at one and pulled his life-force away, and immediately raised his right hand to aim the deadly energy at another man.

Men were rising and either fleeing into the darkness, or pulling weapons and starting to rush at him.  Marco responded by holding both hands before him, and using them both indiscriminately to target everyone who tried to approach him.  Within a minute over a dozen bodies littered the ring of savannah turf that was illuminated by the fire, and Marco stood alone.  His blood was pounding in his ears and he felt an exultant joy of battle, yet as he realized there were no more foes left to kill, the wild, rampaging, berserk energy drained away.  His knees started to collapse, but he looked over at the bodies of Ellersbine and Argen, and willed himself to stumble over to where they were huddled on the ground.

Marco fell to his knees next to the princess and looked at her.  “I’ve come to save you dear,” he said gently as he placed his hand beneath her head.  Her face was frighteningly pale, he realized, even seen by the red light of the dying fire.

“Ellersbine, wake up,” he spoke to her, bending lower over her.

She did not respond.  Without any sense of delicacy, he rolled her onto her back, and placed his ear against her bare chest, listening carefully for her heartbeat.  It was present, but faint, and irregular.  The princess was dying.

After his long chase, she had been unable to survive any further mistreatment and torture.  Her body was shutting down, and Marco felt intense emotion overwhelm him.

He raised his head.  “You will not die!” he said loudly.  “After all of this, you will not die while I have the ability to save you,” he spoke to the unconscious woman.

He did not know what he could do, but he knew there was something.

He raised his head and stared up at the skies momentarily, just in time to see a shooting star blaze across the heavens.  His eyes widened, and his head rocked back atop his neck, as he felt a window in his mind snap open, and he saw a vision of Theophilus standing over him saying, “Now remember this one trick.”

He remembered it as the light of the shooting star faded into the darkness of the sky, and he knew he had an opportunity to bring the princess back to full life.

He shifted his position, then paused to take a sip of the water from his finger, before he placed his right hand on the side of her rib cage near her heart, and placed his left hand on her rib cage on the opposite side; he could feel her shallow breathing.  He leaned down and gently kissed her, and as he did, he released the power of both his hands against her flesh while he began to release the drops of water from Diotima’s spring into her mouth.

Ellersbine reflexively swallowed.  The water traveled down her gullet, and when it interacted with his powerful energy, within her body, he felt a powerful tug on his own body and soul, as though a part of him were being diverted to rescue her; at that moment, the unconscious girl began to glow.  He felt his own heart skip a beat, then beat wildly for several seconds, before it seemed to settle into a rhythm and the world seemed to spin wildly.

Marco abruptly raised his head, shocked, and he stared down at the princess below him.  The wounds and abrasions upon her body miraculously healed, her skin’s glow dissipating as the cuts and scrapes momentarily sported new, pink skin, which quickly faded to match the unharmed parts of her flesh.  And he felt a strange protectiveness, a connection to and concern for her.

He removed his hands and stared at the girl’s body, then blushed as he realized he was staring at her in her state of virtual nudity.  He rose and stepped back, then stopped and stared again in astonishment.

There was a tenuous cable of insubstantial fog that stretched from his chest to hers.  He reached his hand and cautiously poked a finger into the misty rope, but felt nothing, encountered no resistance.  He waved his hand up and down completely through it next, but it remained in place when his hand finished passing through.

Marco took a step back, and the connection only grew longer.  It didn’t thin, or fade – it only lengthened.  He stepped further back, back to where a dead traveler lay, and watched as the cable remained a stable, constant force that quietly floated in the air.  He knelt and removed the uncut, unbloodied jacket from the man, then went to the next body that had undamaged pants, and took those off that corpse.  The long, glowing line between himself and the princess moved easily as he moved among the scattered bodies and returned to where Ellersbine lay peacefully.

Her breathing was regular and strong, and did not alter as he gently manipulated her to clothe her in the items he had taken.  And the line between them glowed on the whole time.  When he was done he stepped back several paces and looked at the two unconscious people.  Argen was still nearly as unclothed as Ellersbine had been, and since both of them were lying still, Marco went and found clothes for Argen as well.

The fire was dying down, turning into a pile of glowing red coals that gave off much less light than the roaring fire of before.  Marco dropped the clothes for Argen next to the nobleman’s body, then started dragging the dead kidnappers together in a pile of bodies out of sight behind some brush.

Finally, with nothing else to do, Marco sat down, looking at Ellersbine and looking at the light that remained between her and himself.  The princess was alive, and rescued and safe and healed of her wounds.  He had made the promise – to himself – that he would rescue her, and despite the unfathomable obstacles and challenges of the pursuit, he had reached her and carried out his promise.  With that last thought he fell asleep.

Chapter 21

When Marco awoke he saw a bright horizon in the east, as the sun began to start the day.  The band of light between the princess and he remained in place, though it was less visible in the growing sunlight.  Both Ellersbine and Argen continued to sleep, Marco saw as he walked over and knelt by them.  Ellersbine looked peaceful, he was pleased to see.

She was not as stunningly beautiful as Mirra, but the girl was attractive, he thought as he considered her.  But like Mirra, she had come through trying circumstances, and needed his help.  He was determined to help her, through any challenge, and danger.  He rose and walked away; the day was beginning, and they were going to have to begin their journey south towards Foulata – the two of them, plus Argen.  He needed to plunder the camp to find food and supplies the three of them could rely on as they traveled.

The rim of the sun breached the savannah’s horizon, and light seemed to leap out over the world.  Marco saw that a pile of packs rested near where he had pulled his victims the night before.  He began to root through the packs, pulling out three that looked strong and sturdy, and then removed their contents and refilled them with the food he found distributed among all the packs.

He looked over at the dead men, and noted that one man had a pair of leather gloves tucked into his belt.  He looked down at his pair of golden hands, looking ruddy and shiny in the light of the swiftly rising sun.  He looked over his shoulder, and saw that Ellersbine was sitting up, awake, looking fetching in a tousled manner; she was studying the cable of ether connected to her chest.  Marco watched as she cautiously waved a hand through the wispiness, then her eyes tracked it away from her body, and she was suddenly looking at Marco.

Their eyes met.  He watched hers widen, then soften with joy at the sight of him, and he felt himself grinning with happiness to see her happiness.  Without breaking his gaze at her, he slipped over to the man with the gloves, and tugged them loose.  He pulled them on his hands as he strode over to Ellersbine, then he crouched down beside her and enveloped her in a protective hug, pressing her head against his chest.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to find you,” he whispered.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she answered.  “I feel safe.”

There was a moment of silence as they held each other.

“What is this, this line that connects us?” she asked after the pause.

They pulled slightly apart, and both saw the short segment of the energy that spanned the inches between their chests.

“What is it?” the princess repeated.

“You were dying,” he said simply.  “I wanted to save you, and whatever I did, it brought you back to life.

“And now we have this,” he said.

“Is it keeping me alive?  Are you keeping me alive?  Are you a sorcerer?” she looked at him, then her eyes dropped, and she looked at the gloves on his hands.

“What’s happening?” Argen spoke for the first time.

Both Ellersbine and Marco turned to look at the nobleman, who was sitting up, bruised and dirty, without the benefit of any of Marco’s ministrations.

“Marco?  By the name of the king, what in the blazes are you doing here?” he looked around.

“What’s happened?” he asked as he stared at the deserted camp.

“I came to rescue the princess,” Marco answered.

“And it looks like I’ve rescued you too,” he added in a flat tone.

Argen stared at him, then at Ellersbine, then looked around the camp.

“Where are the criminals who held us?  Do you have men holding them somewhere?  I want them all flayed alive!” he demanded.

“A dozen or so of them are dead over there,” Marco motioned, “behind those bushes.  The rest of them fled.”

“Where are the men who saved us?  Where’s the officer in charge?  Why is he allowing you – a criminal – to sit here with us unattended?” Argen nearly sneered.

“There is no officer,” Marco said.  He hated Argen, and he suddenly knew that Ellersbine hated the man too.  “There are no other men.  There’s just me.  I came and did this on my own.”  Marco stood up, then offered his hand to Ellersbine and helped her to her feet.

“I came to rescue Ellersbine.  Now we’re going to start walking towards Foulata.  You can come with us, or not,” Marco said in an equally unfriendly tone.  “It’s your decision.  I’ve got packs almost packed, so if you plan to join us, you better get some clothes on, and get ready.”

And with that he led Ellersbine over to where the packs of food and supplies sat on the savannah soil.

Chapter 22

An hour later the trio was walking along the dusty path that stretched south across the savannah.  Marco was in the lead, Argen was second, and Ellersbine was in the rear.  Marco looked back from time to time to check on the princess, and to look in fascination at the insubstantial cable he shared with her.  While it generally was a straight line that automatically adjusted to every move either of them made, when Argen was between them it diverted its course to avoid him, with a sharp loop in its path.

Argen had said nothing about the band of energy, though Marco waited for him to mention it, plain and provocative as it was.

“We’ll need to stop,” Argen told Marco at that moment.  “These boots are giving me blisters.”

“You should have stuffed rags in them like I told you,” Marco said without sympathy.  He had helped Ellersbine find a pair of boots that came close to fitting her feet, and then he had wrapped her feet in cloth cut from pieces at the campsite.  Argen had refused to make the same adjustment.

“We’ll stop at that tree,” Marco pointed a hundred yards ahead, when a single tree’s shade offered some relief from the growing heat of the rising sun.  They trudged ahead as Argen grumbled, then stopped at the base of the tree, where Argen dropped to the ground and pulled his boots off.  His heel was already looking red and raw.