Across Time: Book Two

A/N: I'm posting  this in a chunk with eight since there isn't much remaining in this book. Nine and ten are being written and will be on the 'Net soon.

Chapter 7

When they set off early the following morning, the village was in slightly better shape than when they found it. Cartloads of ash had been hauled away from the square blackened areas of charred bricks and wood where buildings once sat and citizens were already rebuilding. The mayor extended his heartfelt thanks and gifted them with free room and board whenever they passed through. Usually the mere thought of a free meal would have sent a bolt of excitement through Sen, but now he didn't care. Kilan was leaving him and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

He'd pleaded, cried, and negotiated the night before. Sen did everything he could think of to get his mate to change his mind and nothing worked. Then, when he was curled into a miserable ball in the center of the bed, Kilan had come to him and explained. Iliza was needed elsewhere and someone had to accompany her since it wasn't safe on the road alone. Due to his injury, Sen wasn't in as good a shape as his soulmate to rejoin the group without aid.

It made sense, damn him.

Their lovemaking had been slow and sweet. Crystalline tears made constant paths down Sen's cheeks as his heart quietly tore itself in half. In the golden moment of peace after the intense session, Kilan had buried his face in his neck and breathed words of love into the soft flesh he found there. Tears of apology soon followed.

Neither obtained sleep that night.

Now, in the dawning, Sen knew that he would see Kilan again. It was an indescribable feeling of surety that did a lot to lift his spirits. He walked over to where Kilan sat with the other trackers and offered his hand in apology. "I was an idiot."

"No," he said as he clasped the proffered hand over his heart. "We have never been apart since our Bonding, ki'chin. To leave you is to tear out my own heart." He swallowed with difficulty. "But  as much as there is an 'us', there is also a 'you' and an 'I'."

"I understand," Sen whispered. "I'm giving you four days, Ki. If you're not at the outpost I'm coming back to get you." They kissed tenderly. The interested trackers averted their gazes with some difficulty to give the couple a semblance of privacy. When they parted, Kilan ruffled Sen's already-messy hair affectionately.

"Okay," he said to Iliza upon his return. "Everything's okay."

***

He wasn't in bad company, but wanted to be somewhere else just the same. His heart was being tugged eastward and his body yearned greatly to transport it there. Well, as soon as the tracks were further investigated, he was free to leave.

"Hey, Mister," a boy said shyly. He loped along beside Kilan with easy grace honed from years of traveling beside his father. "Is it true you're Bonded?"

A myriad of possible explanations for such an unexpected question ran through his mind, many of them bad. "Yes, it is. Sen's my mate."

His little face lit up. "That's cool. No one really bonds anymore; my father says nothing good can come from that. He and my mother are Bonded."

"I knew it was rare, but I didn't know that things weren't always that way."

He nodded. "The Elders tell these great stories a lot, but they look so sad when they do. When I asked Mother about it she told me that it was hard remembering something lost." With curious eyes, he looked up at Kilan. "What do you think? Is that true?"

A stern voice saved him from answering. "Vasi! Come up here, boy, and leave him alone. I'm sure he's tired of your questions." Kilan flashed the man a tiny, grateful smile.

Hard remembering something lost... Yes, it was very hard indeed. While he had not suffered, someone very close to him had. Sen lost confidence, not in himself but in others. The disapproving voice of Kilan's father had ordered him taken and beaten for just being true to himself. For one very long, scary moment as the pain became unceasing, he had even lost faith in Kilandreau. When things were bad a hero was always supposed to rescue him, right? Wasn't that the way things were supposed the work for the innocent?

The night Sen had told him this, Kilan had simply closed his eyes and offered thanks to gods he wasn't sure he believed in. It had been close that day, too close. As he raced through the city there were moments that he thought he would be too late. To see Sen's body lying broken and lifeless somewhere would have utterly destroyed him. Something guided him in the right direction, some gut instinct told him which way to turn. He trusted it like few things before and arrived just in the nick of time.

Even then they'd had a bond and it had probably saved Sen's life.

Low voices jerked him back to the present. The village trackers -- three men and one boy -- were staring and conversing all at once. Kilan's eyes followed the distinctive print to where the four stood between the twin ruts. Then he looked around them and gasped very softly.

"What the hell?"

A large circular imprint marred the grassy plain. The diameter of it was easily wide enough to accommodate six people of average height lying down head-to-foot. Nothing he'd ever seen before could make something remotely similar to both the size and the shape.

"What is it?" he heard Vasi ask as the boy went forward to explore. His father grabbed him firmly.

"It's a sign of evil," he said with obvious distaste. "You're not going near it."

A gut feeling made Kilan look upward to the sky. For a moment he thought that he could detect the movement of a very large object but decided that the sunlight was playing tricks on him. Shrugging, he went over to the others to confer on their next step. He didn't like it here and would rather be back by Sen's side. The teenager tended to have bad dreams when he wasn't around.

***

Neither of them spoke as they started on the long road to the fourth outpost. The atmosphere just wasn't conducive to venting, in Sen's opinion, which was really too bad since he had a lot of things he wanted to get off his chest. The teenager considered the worst that could happen (she could always just ignore him, right?) and decided to take a chance. "Sometimes I wonder if he loves me as much as I love him," he said suddenly, completely startling Iliza. "I know that I'm probably being stupid, but I just can't help thinking about."

For long moment he thought she wouldn't respond. That was okay; he'd gotten what he'd wanted out in the open. Then, she began to speak slowly and distinctly so that she wasn't misunderstood.

"You're not being stupid, Sen, just insecure." Iliza smiled at him. "There are so many good things about you that I have seen, and more that I have not. You are kind and sweet, caring and gentle, intelligent and wise... Being friends with you is a privilege, but being in love with you is an honor."

Unnaturally bright eyes blinked back tears. "You have a way with words," he murmured, overwhelmed by her sentiment. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"I hope that you do because I was being one-hundred percent honest." She patted his shoulder. As she shifted her pack to continue onward, her body suddenly stiffened in alarm as her still-sharp senses alerted her to the presence of something... or someone.

"Bandits," she cursed. "A small raiding party; only about four of them."

Sen stared, fascinated at her. "How can you tell?" Iliza glared at him, irritated at being distracted, and he cringed. "Nevermind."

"Can you fight?"

"Of course I can," he responded, feeling more than a little insulted. "I don't know how my leg'll hold up, but I can help you."

She cursed more vehemently than before when he reminded her of his injury. "We'll have to try and talk our way out of this first. Follow my lead."

The shrouded figures came up over a small rise that bled the brief grassland into the greenery of a nearby forest, their hands lightly gripping the hilts of the swords at their waists. Nothing was said, but the eyes of the leading bandit focused briefly on them before moving to the knapsacks just visible over the tops of their heads. Thin brows rose questioningly.

"Excuse me, but what do you want?" Iliza asked as calmly as she could. Her voice was nonchalant, but her body sang with tension like a wild animal poised to pounce. "I'm having a hard time discerning your meaning."

The figure just behind and to the right of the leader spoke. "Is this meaning clear? Give us your bags or give us your lives."

"Really now! There's no need to be rude. I'm sure we can come to some sort of understanding." Four short swords were drawn almost in unison. "Perhaps not," she muttered.

They slowly approached them, weighing the skill of their adversaries. The leader spoke once more. "You heard him. Your bags or your lives; which is it gonna be?"

Iliza's hand grabbed the hilt of the dagger sheathed at the small of her back beneath her lightweight cloak. It would be an awkward draw at best with the knapsack partially blocking it, but there was no other way. "Get ready," she mouthed to Sen as she gripped her weapon tightly in her hand. Then she crouched, coiling energy into her legs like a frog, and launched into action.

Sen watched her lighting-fast movement as she got within one bandit's weak guard and stabbed him in the side of the neck. Wrenching her blade free along with a copious flow of crimson blood, she aimed the gore-coated weapon in the direction of another enemy and left the previous one for dead.

The teenager shook free of his surprised awe and brought out his own weapon. The eight-inch shining dagger with it's oddly beautiful hilt had been given to him by Kilan (who felt that his beloved's abduction and subsequent assault could have been prevented had Sen been able to properly defend himself). Hours had been spent in the Underground with Olia (the weapons master) on proper defense and offense... and on how to draw it without accidentally injuring himself. Kilan had been relieved at his competence and even Sen himself had privately admitted that carrying it around did make him feel somewhat safer.

He hesitated. Training was a far different matter than a real battle. People could die -- and had. Nervously, he shifted the dagger's position in his hand and searched for a reasonably easy opponent.

'Wow,' he thought, inhaling sharply. The smell of freshly-spilled blood tickled his nose. Two were already down, but the remaining two had teamed up against Iliza. Her chest was heaving as she struggled to draw air into her lungs and calm her pounding heart. He felt the very blood in his veins freeze as she went down. He raised his arm high as he quickly considered the available options. There was only one chance to save her and, as an extension, himself.

A prayer swept through his mind. 'Aim, be true!' He heaved the dagger with all of the strength within his wiry frame, clenching his eyes shut the moment it left his hand. A loud gurgle was heard scant seconds later after, apparently, the weapon found a mark. It was equally likely that he'd harmed his ally with his wild shot.

"Iliza?" he said, voice no more than a whisper. The teenager opened his eyes apprehensively, really not sure what sort of sight would greet him. To his disbelief, his aim had been good and the hilt of his dagger was the only part of it visible -- the entire blade had become embedded in another bandit's chest.

The doctor made short work of the remaining man, slitting his throat from ear-to-ear with quick precision. "Too close," she sighed while tugging free Sen's dagger. Dark crimson, almost black blood poured forth from the wound. "That's heart blood."

"Hail, travelers!" came a call. Another group of people were approaching, this time on the narrow road. "Is everything all right?"

"We're fine -- now." Iliza called back. She squinted in the sunlight and muttered to herself, "Is that...? Why yes, it is!"

The group transformed into the faces of two men and a woman. " 'liza? So you've heard?" The huge man with the full beard on the right side of the small female asked.

"I haven't really heard anything, I'm afraid." She shook her head. "Yori, Marci, and Kelen meet Sen. He and his Bondmate have offered their services."

There was a moment of silence then, "BONDMATE?!" Marci was the one responsible for the outburst. Her freckled face comically slackened in shock.

She smiled very slightly and motioned the silent boy forward. "We have a lot to exchange, I wager. On the way, you can tell me about the situation."