Shadowblade's Tale 19/19
Nath
SHADOWBLADE’S TALE
(Various parts copyright 1996 by Sara, Aaron, Seanean, Dave)
Part 19 of 19
Summerstorm
Summerstorm felt the tip of the blade slice across his forearm
as
he staggered into a Drunken Archer fall.
Suddenly, he wasn't alone anymore.
//What the..?//
//Shay?!?! What's going on?//
//The slice to your arm. That's how it got me in the first
place.
It's just got to be that. Can't you Feel the sword now?//
Summerstorm suddenly realized that he was not only avoiding
the
sword, he was a part of the sword. He could feel every swipe and the
hand tensing on the hilt just as the body began a forward thrust. He
dodged out of the way.
He was out of practice, and this demon would use her body till
it
failed completely. He couldn't hope to outlast it, and he was no
match for its strength, but he had been trained by the finest
Warrior-Mage in the clan. He stepped straight back, avoiding a cut
to his midsection, then launched himself forward in a Leaping Dragon
that came under-neath her upraised arm. He caught her arm at the
wrist and above the elbow and twisted to avoid the knee she sent
towards his groin. They stood locked like that, and he looked into
those evil eyes. Then the demon began to force him down with pure
strength. He fought every inch, but the sword moved inexorably
closer.
//Shay, I can't defeat this thing.//
//I know. I can feel it. Just.... We have to do this
together.//
Their new connection suddenly enabled him to see what she had
in
mind.
//What? You can't--//
//It's MY body, Summerstorm. And I'll be damned if I'm going
to
stay in here while some Hell spawn misfit runs around in it hurting
*my* friends! I don't want to do this, but we have no choice! If
there was any other way don't you think I'd take it?//
//But to....//
//No buts, Summerstorm. We don't have time. Do it!//
//All right.// He gasped with pain as the creature forced him
to
his knees and even through his shields he could Feel its insidious
laughter.
Oh, no you don't.
He looked up now and Linked with the creature, releasing the
pressure and pulling with both body and soul. He had been trained by
the best, and this creature had not ex-pected to have to face its own
strength. The blade continued in its arc, but Summerstorm was not
there to meet it. For one moment he felt absolutely nothing as he
twisted the blade around for a killing strike: the Dragon's
Retribution. Shay "cringed" as he shot the blade up point first into
her chest. It pierced through a space between her ribs and slid
straight through a lung. Summerstorm cried out in the pain that flowed
from both the creature and Shay--and himself. It echoed between them,
building in force, until Summer-storm took hold of it and forced the
creature out, creating a vacuum in her body. The creature, still young
and injured, found itself ripped from a dying body and flung into the
dark void of the Abyss, with no sustenance and no light.
ShadowBlade
There was only one place she was likely to hurt it enough to
do
more than get it angry, so she aimed straight for its head. It
whipped around to look at her, giving her a clear shot at one eye.
The dagger bit deeply, and with all of the warrior's weight behind it,
the blade was buried up to the hilt. The creature cried out and
lashed out at ShadowBlade, but she moved lightning fast out of its way
and was only struck a glancing blow.
ShadowBlade rolled further out of the creature's reach and
watched
its death throes. It was over faster than she would have thought, as
the body stilled and appeared to fade be-fore her eyes. In short
seconds there was nothing left but a dagger covered in black blood,
the only testimonial that the fight had occurred. She stopped staring
at it in amazement to look for the fight, only to see Shay lying on
the ground and Summerstorm over her, obviously doing some healing.
ShadowBlade shook her head; it was almost as if nothing had happened.
Shay/Summerstorm
The strike had been a deadly one, and the two healers reacted
to
it as one, seeking to mend and fix and Heal, even as the body shut
itself down around them. They worked frantically, throwing out lines
of support to failing systems, joining "hands" as easily as if they'd
been working together for years. Her soul flowed back into her body
slowly, as if though a thick sludge. But every moment was a victory,
and the blade worked itself out one thumb-length at a time as they
knitted up torn tissues, forcing the metal out of her body. It wasn't
enough. Shay held on until it was all she could do to hold on, and
Sum-merstorm Felt her dying, but refused to give up. He would not lose
this battle! He would not...lose...
Then another joined them, feeding them his own life-force like
it
was water. They latched on to Vrana's gift and drank of it like the
god's own nectar. Then another pres-ence, and another. One by one, the
others joined their trance, Healing or simply feeding them the Power
they needed. Faster and faster the energy spread, Healing muscle, bone
and skin.
At last, the blade was out and Shay drew a breath of pure,
clean
air. Summerstorm collapsed and strong hands caught him. He looked up
into DarkFire's face as the warrior laid him down on the grass. He
caught his friend's worried glance and nodded his assur-ance, closing
his eyes, simply Feeling the life around him. There were no more
watchers, save the birds that flew overhead. There was death and pain,
yes, but there would also be time to heal. He had--
It was then that he realized what he had done. He had used his
magic to force the creature out of Shay’s body. He had nearly killed
her in the process. He, a Healer-Mage, had used magic in battle, and
raised a weapon of steel against a friend. He had violated his
vows--again. He rolled over, feeling sick, when a thought entered his
mind.
//You did what you had to do. What I told you to do. Thank
you.//
He started, then relaxed, letting her forgiveness, gratitude and love
soothe him. It didn't lessen the pain, but this was a pain they shared
for they had shared the experience. They were bonded in a profound
way now. Stronger than friendship and more meaningful than love,
their new link to each other would be the foundation of the Healing
that both so desperately needed.
In time, the pain would pass.
It just had to.
ShadowBlade
She stood up slowly, careful of the welt on her leg and side
that
the creature had caused. Pacing carefully to where Shay and
Summerstorm were, she saw DarkFire also coming closer.
DarkFire
The victors gathered in the aftermath of battle, those who had
fought and those who had borne the burden of waiting.
DarkFire’s eyes sought those of ShadowBlade, and when he had
her
attention he bowed respectfully, as a commander of warriors bows to
one who has fought and fought well. In her solitary life, she had not
often received the recognition she had been due, and this recognition,
here and now, kindled a warm fire within her that she knew could never
be extinguished.
Dropping the warrior persona as dirty clothes were dropped to
a
basket, DarkFire hugged Summerstorm close. With a hesitation almost
imperceptible, yet still discernible, Summerstorm melted into his
*friend’s* embrace, knowing suddenly and with a certainty he could not
explain that he had found a close and lifelong friend. Tears
glilttered in his eyes and with one hand he started to brush them
away, but instead let them fall. He stood quietly in the circle of
DarkFire’s arm as DarkFire turned his head to look at Shay, and open
his arm to her.
They had known each other too long, and too well, for her to
feel
slighted that she was the last. First or last were irrelevant to the
bonds that linked their lives, and like Summerstorm she felt no shame
in the tears of joy streaming from her eyes as she was enfolded in
DarkFire’s arm, for the same tears shimmered in his eyes, though he
did not shed them. ShadowBlade watched the three uncomfortably, until
she realized that the circle they made was not complete, that it was
waiting only for her to let go, even for a while, of her solitude, and
join them. She did. Hesitantly, but she did, and the glow within her
soared.
There was a moment of silence, finally broken by an
ascerbically
broadcast, //Well? What am I? Chopped mice?//
The four laughed as the circle broke apart, and Shay bent to
pick
up Cyree, who graciously allowed it and then began to purr loudly.
DarkFire looked around at his companions. "Kind ladies," he
bowed
to Shay and ShadowBlade, "gentle sir," he bowed to Summerstorm,
"creatures of the Lady’s Light and Love," and he bowed generally to
WindRacer, Vrana, Cyree, Lightstorm, and the Serenite warhorses, "will
you join me in Illoraen-the-City? The Summer Festival will be
starting by the time we get there, and whether you desire rest in a
quiet cool room in the White Palace, with servants to wait upon you,
or the splendors of all the worlds of the Kingdom and Empire gathered
in Festival, you shall have them."
Summerstorm looked at his friend with multiple personae that
he
changed more often than he changed clothes. "And how do you plan to
smuggle this group past the King-Emperor’s guards? Or is this more of
your father’s influence?
DarkFire just smiled. "Father won’t mind. I haven’t been
home in
so long, that he will be eternally grateful to whoever accompanies me,
or occasions my coming back."
"Father?" said Summerstorm, as the last piece fell into place.
"As in the King-Emperor?"
DarkFire shrugged. "I *do* have to have a father, after all.
So
why not pick a good one?"
Soft laughter rippled through the group as they separated and
mounted their steeds. WindRacer led the way at an easy canter. The
nearest Star Gate was several days’ ride away, and they would be days
more on and off the Star Roads, but eventually, and in time for
Festival, they would arrive. For all Roads lead to Aldoran.
---------------------------------------------------------------
'
s~-^,--* . Nathalie Hébert
_ _~/ /\| , mailto:tyl...@hotmail.com
,:`( )__, ) ~ http://www.total.net/~werewolf
// // '--;
~' \ | ' aka Ariel, Runemaster and Tara, Vampire.
------^----'---------------------------------------------------
aaron douglas bilodeau
Boy, It's good to see Dave's prose again, even if it is by proxy. ;)
I'd forgotten how much he edited! Well, it probably came out better for
it. Besides, he never rambled on to excess. <smothering a giggle> Right?
Starsong-who-was-Summerstorm
C_Farq...@bc.sympatico.ca
On 26 May 1997 22:47:43 GMT, abil...@indiana.edu (aaron douglas
bilodeau) wrote:
Oh Dave? Of course he never rambled! He was always very
succinct.....<mmmphh> (Yeah, sure, right. And we all believe it,
don't we? ;) But then again, I always make sense too......<g>
Zha'hai'allav'a,
))
@====|%} ShadowBlade
))