Chapter 3b
My limbs flailed as I sat upright. Another vision? Why? But, Ellery… My mind stumbled over the vision as I took notice of my surroundings.
“Cricket!” Ellery’s voice called me from my disorientation. I sprinted from the barn, looking around for him wildly. He wasn’t near the barn, like he had been in my vision. I cursed myself as I remembered the fatal flaw of my visions. “Cricket?” Ellery looked worried at my panic. My worry about the more vivid and frequent visions barely phased the terror I was experiencing at the thought of losing Ellery. I couldn’t fathom why.
“Ellery!” I screamed, trying to get him to get
off his horse!
“Are they here? Cricket, what’s wrong?” Ellery was freaked out.
"Get
off Resa!” I yelled, pushing myself to run faster.
"Why?”
“
Now!” I finally got to him. He was staring at me like I was insane. I grabbed his arm and pulled, desperate to keep the arrow from hitting its mark.
“Cricket, what are you –” I yanked on his arm
hard and he fell on top of me. He let out a scream as an arrow buried itself in his thigh.
“No!” I cursed myself and helped Ellery shift off his leg. I was unfamiliar with wounds; usually Memaw took care of everything. She had taught Eaie and Melo everything she knew, but with the gorge blocked, the fastest way back to my family took nearly four days.
“Cricket, you have to…” Ellery groaned, clutching his leg.
“Cricket is going to help Ellery.” I said, drawing my emotional shield around myself. It was helpful during Da’s beatings. I took Resa’s reigns and clicked my tongue gently, urging her to lie down. Luckily, she remembered my training and behaved. I bent down and wrapped my arms around Ellery’s chest, hoisting him to his feet. He instantly collapsed on Resa, shaking and sweating. I got on behind him and clicked my tongue again. Resa stood obediently and Ellery groaned, white with pain.
“Don’t pass out.” I ordered. My fingers tingled and sparks flicked out around my hands. I kept my eye out for any sign of where the arrow came from as I urged Resa to trot as fast as I dared with Ellery the way he was. He was panting and his normally golden skin matched the snow around us. Resa was agitated, but I had trained her, so she obeyed. She was more worried about Ellery and the smell of blood than anything else.
“There are Rogues around, Resa. Be careful. Take care of Ellery.” I murmured to soothe her and to ensure Ellery wouldn’t’ pass out.
“Why are… you… talking to… the horse?” He asked, chest heaving. I had no idea how much pain he was in.
“To keep Ellery from passing out.” I said, urging the horse faster. I felt my senses sharpen as my adrenalin pumped faster. The sparks spread from my fingers up my arms, tingling my tattoos. Ellery left dripping red behind us as his blood created a waterfall down Resa’s coat and flooded a spattered red trail on the glistening snow. I struggled with the panic deep in my chest, wrapping my emotional shield more tightly around me. I knew neither of us would survive if I panicked.
“Not doing well.” He breathed.
“Ellery is awake, isn’t he?”
“Not for long.” I kept one eye on my husband and one looking around for potential threats. A man, who was not nearly as tall or massive but twice as threatening as my family, stood on the porch, watching us approach. I didn’t bother with the thought of taking care of the horses. I walked Resa onto the porch, the man backed away. I clicked my tongue and Resa behaved well and I helped Ellery get off her before clicking my tongue again.
“Go to Xiu.” I ordered her. She clopped off the porch and walked to the barn lazily. The man stared at me, respect and astonishment in his eyes. I didn’t have time to deal with him. My husband was bleeding all over. As I expected, he was heavily tattooed, but a small spiky animal sat on his shoulder. I assumed he had more than a few people hiding in the trees with arrows trained on us.
“Who are you?” He asked voice rich and deep. He wasn’t demanding, merely curious.
“Cricket Serannas.” I answered, my voice was soft and I avoided his green gaze. “This is her husband, Ellery Serannas.” My panic welled up and I fought with my emotional shield. It didn’t stop words from tumbling out of my mouth. “Rogues shot him without reason!” My eyes burned into his and his eyes widened in surprise. I pushed past him, helping Ellery hobble into the house. I slammed the door shut behind us. I locked it and quickly ran from room to room, ensuring all doors and windows were secured tightly.
“Cricket Serannas, where are you from?” He called meekly from the other side of the heavy wood door.
“Not Rogue business!” It was easier to smart-mouth him when I couldn’t see his eyes. “Leave!”
“Your husband will die without my help.”
“Name.” I demanded.
"Chief Loïc Karakochuk, leader of the Flaming River tribe of the clan of Rogues.”
“Chief Loïc is not welcome here.” I said, helping Ellery hobble to the bedroom.
“I can help him!” Once I was sure Ellery wasn’t on his feet anymore, I returned to the door.
“Why? Rogues shot him in the first place.” There was silence on the other side of the door.
“I could have you two killed, you know.”
“Why hasn’t Chief Loïc done that yet?”
“Why do you speak that way?” I cursed under my breath. I needed him to
leave because Ellery was
bleeding and I needed to take care of him…
“Chief Loïc needs to leave.” I knocked the door with my knuckles before walking away. I still didn’t miss his next words.
“I will leave you alone. For now.” I walked in the kitchen and grabbed a basin of water before stopping at the closet and pulling out several sheets. I hurried into the bedroom, worried Ellery had passed out.
“Who… was that?” He gasped. He was losing blood. His golden skin was a sickly, ashen grey.
“Chief Loïc Karakochuk, leader of the Flaming River tribe of the clan of Rogues.” I replied, gingerly looking at the arrow that pierced his leg.
“Heck… of a name.” Ellery chuckled. “Why… hasn’t he… killed us yet?”
“Dunno.” I sighed. I needed a knife. I ran back to the kitchen to pick one up. Luckily, the arrow had gone all the way through. Unfortunately, it was going to hurt Ellery. A lot. Why was there so much blood? I knelt next to the bed and began cutting away his pants with the knife.
“Ellery will be unconscious soon.” I promised.
“Why?” He breathed.
“The pain will be exceptional.”
“Joy.” He shut his eyes. I felt a hysterical giggle bubble past my lips. I shoved my hysteria down, tightening my grasp on my shield.
“Ellery will need to hold onto something.” I suggested. “Perhaps bite it.”
“Okay.” Ellery grabbed the pillow next to him and screwed his eyes up, looking away and clutching the pillow tightly. I put both my hands on the shaft of the arrow and Ellery bit back a curse. I snapped the wood and he cursed through his teeth. I apologized profusely, all the while reaching under his leg and grabbing the head of the arrow in my bloody fingers. I pulled it out quickly and I heard Ellery scream and a loud ripping sound followed. I didn’t dare look up, but his breathing was labored. I ripped up the sheets, dipping several strips in the water and cleaning the blood from his body. He flinched, but he was exhausted and couldn’t response as fully. Finally, I wrapped the wound tightly in the dry strips of cloth before looking at his face. Lines of pain were etched on all his features and the pillow he held was ripped in half. Feathers were everywhere.
“Cricket…” His voice was hoarse. He looked at me, body shaking. “Are you okay?” I nodded and began cleaning up. I bundled up all the bloody clothes and took the basin and the bloody knife and depositing them in the kitchen. I was too shaken to deal with them. I washed the blood off my body and changed into clean clothes before returning to the bedroom. I swept all the feathers into the pillowcase and deposited the bag in the corner. I helped Ellery take his sweat-covered shirt off and helped him put on a pair of loose trousers. I changed the sheets without having Ellery stand up.
“Cricket?” He was staring at me. “You need to sleep.” It was then that I realized that I was crying and my hands were shaking and my knees were wobbling and why was there so much
blood everywhere? I collapsed next to the bed, struggling with the urge to throw up as my emotional shield broke down, allowing all my panic to destroy my nerves. I was sobbing, hysterical, and shaking violently.
“Cricket.” Ellery’s voice was soft; he was nearly asleep. “Rest.” His hand touched mine and I felt all my energy drain away. The adrenalin was gone, replaced by sheer exhaustion. I pulled myself onto the bed and Ellery grabbed me, pulling me flush against his side. He buried his face into my shoulder as he drifted off. I sniffled as silent sobs wracked my body, but Ellery was unmoving. He snuggled closer to me in his sleep and I slowly calmed down. The pain lines dulled slightly, I noticed, as sleep took me.
The following morning found me all too soon. It had been late afternoon when we passed out, but I was still exhausted in the early morning sunlight. Ellery’s grip on me hadn’t lessened, though now we were tangled up. It seemed to happen to us every night. No matter how separate we slept, we ended up on top of each other. His skin was still grey, but it was closer to its golden glow than the night before. His golden eyes were on me as I woke.
“Thank you.” He whispered. “You saved me.” I opened my mouth to speak, but his finger on my lips shushed me. “Don’t speak. You saved my life and I haven’t been kind to you. I owe you a life debt.
Another one.”
“Cricket doesn’t want it.” I mumbled around his finger.
“Cricket has it anyway.” He smiled. His lips halted any further protest as they pressed against mine. My body felt like a live wire and I felt my skin tingle with sparks. Ellery gasped and pulled away. He stared at the red sparks that skirted along my skin. His fingers touched my bare shoulder and a small smile graced his lips. His touch was electrifying and heat pooled in my lower stomach. I stared into the molten gold eyes before me and he kissed me again. I was suddenly very aware of the circumstances we were in. The Rogues probably had us surrounded. Ellery had been shot. We were cut off from the rest of the world. We probably weren’t going to survive this day. And yet…
Ellery pulled a moan from my throat as his fingers continued their exploration of my skin. Could it be any hotter? His body was hard, rock solid against my shaking frame. He was everywhere, pinning me down and giving me these
wants and desires and it was so terrifying yet so utterly satisfying and the tingle of sparks on my skin had erupted into a volcano of desperation…
His lips pulled away from mine and turned to my neck and
gods he was
licking my neck! My legs wrapped around his waist as my mind not so subtly reminded me of the night before when I helped him change clothes. It was the closest I had ever been to such a foreign area. Except for now because his hips were grinding against mine and his hands were
touching me and his lips and tongue were
everywhere…
“Cricket Serannas?”
We froze and the knock repeated itself. Ellery looked at me and I shrugged. Chief Loïc was back. Why was he back? Ellery got off me and I walked to the door.
“What does Chief Loïc want?” I called through the wood.
“I want to talk to you.” He replied.
“Why?”
“Because I’m curious about you.”
“Chief Loïc can be as curious as he likes.”
“Cricket?” Ellery limped into the room. I hurried to his side.
“Ellery!” I inserted myself under his arm as a human crutch. “He shouldn’t be moving yet.”
“It’ll stiffen up and ache worse if I don’t.” Ellery shrugged with a grunt. “Why is Chief Loïc here?”
“Cricket, how are you able to produce sparks from your skin?” Loïc called through the door.
"Go away!” I snapped.
"You are a Seer, aren’t you?” We looked at each other.
“Leave us alone!” Ellery snapped.
“That’s why you speak oddly. You are an untrained Seer.” Loïc was trying to coax me out. I knew that was what he was doing, but it still worked.
“Cricket could be normal?” I didn’t
want to say anything, but I had to know. Ellery held me tightly, moving to stand between me and the door.
“With training, yes.” Loïc sounded triumphant.
“So, Cricket can’t speak properly because she’s a Seer?” Ellery asked. There was suspicion in his voice, but also hope.
“That’s correct.” Loïc’s accent was odd, more trilling, caressing the words more than speaking them.
“Go away! Ellery was hurt by Rogues!” I snapped. I wanted to be normal. I
needed to be normal. But the man had nearly killed my husband. I couldn’t trust him with my life, much less my speech.
“I will be back.” Loïc promised. We waited for a few minutes, making sure he had truly left. Then, Ellery looked at me in surprise.
“He cannot be trusted.” I said, helping Ellery into the kitchen. I rolled up my sleeves and began cooking: frying bacon, brewing coffee, and scrambling eggs. I browned toast before serving Ellery. He began eating and instantly his color returned. His golden skin flushed as his body replenished the energy and blood lost the night before.
“How the hell are we going to get out of this?” Ellery murmured to himself. “Cricket, you might have saved my life last night for nothing.”
“Ellery shouldn’t be so negative.” I said. “They want the village. They won’t stay much longer.”
“And then the whole village is in danger.” Ellery sighed. “This is a no-win situation.”
“What is Ellery going to do?” I asked.
“I dunno. Maybe they’ll wait until spring when we’re not so isolated and easier to draw out. Either way, we don’t have enough food to last more than a fortnight.”
“We need to get in contact with the village.” I said.
“Cricket!” My body spasmed as I came to. Ellery held me in his arms on the floor of the kitchen. There was someone banging on the front door. My plate of breakfast was smashed on the ground, probably in my fit. Sparks flickered over my skin and my sleeves were wrapped over my fingers.
“They’re not attacking the village until spring.” I gasped, clutching Ellery’s shirt.
“Cricket Serannas!” Loïc banged on the door again. “What did you See?”
“None of your damn business!” Ellery snapped. “Go
away!”
“I cannot.” Loïc replied.
“The village did something.” I didn’t know where my voice was coming from, but my gut was telling me the words it spoke were right. “Something terrible. They…” The knowledge was flooding my mind. “They stole lives.”
“The village killed Rogues? Why?” Ellery asked me, eyeing me warily. His arms tightened around me slightly as my skin tingled.
“Sixteen years ago. Murder and thievery. Janjua.” I wasn’t controlling my voice. My vision swam and why I couldn’t I move?
“Cricket!” Ellery shook me as my body slipped from my control. I heard a crash as my body spasmed again. Loïc ran into the room, a small spiky thing curled about his neck, mouth open. He was probably yelling at me, but I couldn’t hear anything. My vision turned black.
Here's the second part for chapter three since no one is telling me they want more. I'm just going to assume everyone likes everything I've written!
BLAH! ~LP
