Finding a Wolf In the Trees

Chapter 14~

Nydia was standing at the tree line of the forest by her village. On the hill top in front of her a wooden platform was standing, with a wooden pole running up the center. A few people from her village were approaching the platform and Nydia tried to take a step back, to keep herself hidden, but she felt like she was rooted to the spot. The people threw large bundles of dry hay and sticks under the platform, filling spa spandernder it, and then they turned toward the village, but they did not go back to their houses.

The people seemed to be waiting for something, and soon it wapareparent what they were waiting for. Guthrie Hawking walked up the hill, followed by two men who were dragging something between them. It only took seconds for Nydia to see what it was, it was the body of a woman. The woman was barely recognizable because of the bruises that seemed to cover her body, but Nydia recognized her at once.

‘Mother.’

She watched in horror as the two men shoved her mother onto the platform and chained her to the wooden post. Another man came to the top of the hill, he was carrying a lit torch.

‘No, no, no!’

“You have one more chance Maya.” Guthrie told Nydia’s mother, “Tell me where you’re daughter is and I will let you come down from there.”

“I don’t know where she is!”Maya screamed at him, “I already told you, I don’t know! Oh Nydia, where ever you are, I’m so sorry I was going to force you to marry this monster. Stay away from here Nydia, stay away.”

‘I forgive you mother, but oh, will you ever be able to forgive me?’

“Shut up you little bitch. I gave you so many chances, but you never gave me the informatioat Iat I wanted.” Guthrirnedrned toward the man with the torch, “Light the platform.” The man nodded and stepped toward Maya. He held the torch to the hay and twigs, and the fire grew. Flames leapt up around Nydia’s mother, burning her already bruised skin.

“Nydia forgive me!” Maya cried as the flames around her grew taller and taller.

~~~

Nydia woke up screaming. Her whole body was shaking, and she panicked even more when her legs got tangled in something. She tried to push it away but only got more tangled as she struggled. Tears were streaming down her face and choked sobs escaped her throat as she struggled more.

Then, she felt gentle hands on her shoulders and she looked up into Saxen’s eyehe whe wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and huggim, im, sobbing into his shoulder. He rocked her gently back and forth and awkwardly stroked her hair while she sobbed for what seemed to be hours to Nydia. After a few minutes Saxen pulled back and cupped her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.

When her eyes cleared Nydia remembered where they were. They had entered a town early that morning, and had rented a smalom aom at the town inn. The ‘something’ that her legs had been tangled in was the bed sheet, which was now laying in a heap on the floor.

The dream had seemed so real. She hadn’t been able to move, her body had seemed like it was rooted to the ground, but she had been able to smell the smoke. She had felt the wind on her body during the dream, everything had been so real...

“It really happened didn’t it?” She asked in a soft voice, but she already knew the answer, “it wasn’t dream, it was a memory, but it wasn’t my memory.”

Saxen only nodded, her head still cupped in his hands. He was so close to her she could smell his scent. It was a mix of grass, spice, and something that was just uniquely him. His hands on her skin, even innocently holding her, were sending little shock waves through her body. She had never been kissed before, had never wanted to be kissed before, but now... A flood of warmth rushed to her private place in between her legs, and she squirmed at this unfamiliar feeling.

She saw the change in his eyes. The expression of indifference left them, and was replaced by a look that she didn’t recognize. She saw his nostrils flare like the they sometimes didn hen he was sniffing the air, and she saw his jaw clench. His fingers tensed on her face and Nydia waited breathlessly to see what he would do. She didn’t have to wait long.

Saxen’s lips brushed over her own, sending thrills thr her her. Then he pressed his lips to hers, pulling her to him. Nydia’s hands grabbed fistfuls of his long black hair and tugged, pulling him down to the bed with her. Nydia didn’t understand the fire that Saxen ignited inside of her, it seemed to consume her, making her forget everything except him. He was lying half on top of her now, supporting himself with one hand while the other followed the curves of her body.

She gasped for air as hoke oke the kiss, then gasped for an entirely different reason as he began to kiss and suck at her neck. She moved her head to the side to give him better access and gave a small cry as he grazed his teeth along her collar bone. She didn’t understand why she began to ache in between her thighs, and she didn’t understand why that ache grew when Saxen soothed her skinh hih his tongue. One of his hands moved up her stomach and cupped her breast through the fabric of her slip and Nydia moaned loudly, moving restlessly beneath him.

Saxen brought his head back up, teasing Nydia’s lips with his tongue and teeth, and then... There was a loud knock on the door, making both Saxen and Nydia jump. Saxen was the first to recover and he stood up just as there was another loud knock. He opened the door and revealed a short, thin, middle aged woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. “Yes?”

“I should have known this was your room.” The woman spat, her brown eyes blazing with fury, “Someone heard screaming and came to get me, I own this inn you hear? It was given to me by my father, but that doesn’t matter, someone heard screaming and came and woke me up, saying that it sounded like murder was being done.” The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a large kitchen knife, and she pointed it at Saxen. “You came into our town with the eyes of Hell in your head, dragging that girl behind you, I know she was the one doing the screaming.”

“Don’t you dare bring harm to the girl while you stay in my inn. I can’t make you leave, you’ve already paid and it goes against the rules of hospitality and the like. But you hear me, if you harm the girl or anyone else I’ll stick you with this here knife. You won’t be able to stop me, even with all the creatures of Hell behind you, because I won’t stand for it.”

“He wasn’t hurting me.” Nydia said softly, her voice cutting the violent tension between Saxen and the female innkeeper. “I was having a nightmare, my mothas das dying”

The innkeeper’s face softened instantly and she pushed past Saxen and into the room. The kitchen knife that she had been holding was set on the bedside table as the woman sat down beside Nydia. She pulled Nydia into a hug and patted her back. “There, there, little duckling, it’s all right, it’s not you’re fault.” But it was Nydia’s fault, her mother had been killed because of her, and that thought brought a fresh wave of tears with it.

Nydia felt helpless. She had powers, or at least Saxen said she did, but she couldn’t help her family when they needed her. Her tears stoped falling and she pulled away from the innkeeper. “Thank you Miss...” Nydia trailed off as she wiped her eyes.

“Enya, cal call me Enya, no Miss required.” She said, patting Nydia on the shoulder. “Now little duckling, what is your name?”

“Nydia.” she replied. She looked over at Saxen for a moment before continuing. “And his name is Saxen. We’re... We’re traveling together.”

“Traveling, hmm?” Enya said quietly. “You two come see me tomorrow. We’ll talk and have some tea, or something stronger if you like.” And with that she stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Sge wge woman.” Saxen muttered, and then her looked over at Nydia and gifted her with a rare smile. “Wouldn’t you say, little duckling?”

Nydia giggled for a moment before calming herself again. She lay down on the bed and then opened her arms. “Stay with me?” She looked nervous and when he didn’t answer right away she shifted in embarrassment. “Please?”

Saxen looked from her to the wall he had been sleeping against. There was only one narrow bed in the room, and he had been sitting against the wall. He looked at her again and then stepped towards her until he was standing directly above her. She moved over to give him more room and he lay down on his side. She snuggled against him and he rolled so she was laying on top of Nyd Nydia looked surprised and she paused for a moment before relaxing against him again.

They slept that way. Free of nightmares as they held each other.

AN: Sorry for the wait. My muse went on vacation onlyonly recently came back. I\'m considering changing the rating from R to NC-17 because there will be some more Nydia/Saxen stuff coming up. Yeah I know, you\'re all jumping for joy now. I\'ve got the ending of the story all planned out, but I\'m kinda having trouble building up to the ending point. *sigh* Depending on my mood there could be another ten or so chapters to this story plus an epilogue, but who really knows, I know I don\'t.


Reviews:

Hello Betty- yeah, Guthrie is turniut eut exactly how I wanted him to. You just love to hate him.

ichigo- Glad you like *I have a new reader, dance dance dance*