Wulfram only felt worse as the day went on, aches and pains forming across his body that he knew couldn’t be caused by horseback riding. His vision slipped, and his grip tightened on his reins as he caught a glimpse of slender, bloody arms. One of the arms was adorned by a familiar bracelet with an amber stone. “Dani.”
“Wulfram, are you alright?” Ben rode up beside him, his face etched with concern. “Do we need to stop?”
“No.” Wulfram growled, looking resolutely at the road ahead. He never should have let her leave the palace! But she was her own woman, she wouldn’t have stayed even if he had ordered her to. Especially if he had ordered her to.
But damnit, what was going on with her?
“You aren’t looking very good.” Ben glanced at Wulfram, concern crossing his face.
“I’m fine. We need to get back to the city.” Wulfram focused his attention on the bracelet, feeling Dani’s sluggish heartbeat, feeling the echo of her pain. “Something’s wrong.”
“What is it?” Alastar rode his large horse up to them, looking down at Wulfram.
Wulfram closed his eyes for a moment, his vision slipping again. Darkness this time, the faintest hint of light from beneath a hood. The back of a horses neck. “Something’s wrong, with Dani. I need to get to her.”
He felt a surge of impatience at himself, irritation at the need to get to Dani, at the inability to do anything right now to help her out of whatever mess she was in. And irritation at her for not staying at the palace where it was safe.
“The bracelet?” Alastar looked down at the bracelet on Wulfram’s arm, an eyebrow raising.
“The bracelet.” What was the point denying it right now? Alastar seemed to know more about it than he did. Wulfram gripped his stomach as the pain doubled, gritting his teeth.
“Drust!” Alastar pulled his horse to a stop, climbing off it as he looked over the fields.
“Yes My King?” The broad older man rode up on his own horse, purple eyes nearly glowing beneath braided locks of hair.
“A soul travel circle.” Alastar studied the ground, giving a nod of satisfaction. “Yes, here should do.” He took in a deep breath, deeper than Wulfram would have thought was possible.
And then he breathed out a great stream of fire, burning the tall grasses next to the road to ash.
Wulfram gripped his horse, putting a soothing hand on its side as it danced away from the flames. “Shhh... there girl, it’s alright.” What the hell was that?! He had seen performers breath short bursts of fire before, but he had never, never seen one breath out such a hot, sustained stream!
Drust climbed off his horse, striding over to the still hot earth. The shaman looked it over in disapproval, but started to trace in the dirt with his staff. “Going to be dirty to lie in you know.”
“It can’t be helped.” Alastar said. He looked at Wulfram, the smile fading off his face. “You need to get to her, we will help you get to her now, instead of in days.”
“That’s not possible!” Harvick called from the back of the line. “High Mage Gregor’s studies proved that nearly a century ago! It is not possible to transport a body from one point to another. At least not in one piece.”
“Which is why we are not transporting his body, but his soul. His body will remain here, but he will be able to at least offer some comfort and aide to Daniella.” Alastar said.
“If you could send a soul to her, why wouldn’t you have done it before now?” Wulfram climbed off his horse, doubling over as pain blossomed again in his body. It was cold, in spite of the heat of the freshly burned earth it was cold.
“Because none of us have a soul bond with her. To send a soul searching for someone is a dangerous prospect, even with the soul bond it isn’t exactly safe. But to just go wandering and hope you’ll find them? No, the bond will be enough for you to follow to her.” Drust said. He looked at Alastar, giving a nod. “It’s ready, it just needs a few drops of blood.”
“Your highness I cannot allow you to do this.” Ben was off his horse, reaching out to steady Wulfram. “This is blood magic! Dangerous and forbidden for damn good reason!”
“She needs help.” Wulfram’s vision slipped again, and he was staring up at a grizzled young man with a predatory smile on his face. Wulfram gasped, and stood up straight. “She needs help now Ben. Whose blood do you need?”
“Wulfram! This is insanity! Havrick, tell him!” Ben looked to their own mage, who was watching with fascination.
“It is perhaps some degree of insanity, but there’s an interesting logic to it. If the prince is truly soul-bonded to this girl he may be able to reach her through that bond and help in some way.”
“A drop of your own blood, it will help anchor you to this circle. Once we destroy the circle the anchor will also be destroyed, so you need not worry about being bound to this field in the middle of nowhere. And then a drop of King Alastar’s blood to strengthen the magic.”
“Done.” Wulfram cut a shallow line in his arm without hesitation, letting blood drip onto the hastily drawn diagram. Alastar followed suit, his own blood seeming to take on a faint shimmer of magic.
“Wulfram! You can’t risk your life for this girl!” Ben pleaded.
But Wulfram stepped into the circle, sitting down cross-legged and closing his eyes. “She’s a damsel in distress,” Wulfram smirked slightly, opening his eyes to look at Ben. “I can’t just leave her to her fate, I’m sworn to protect those in need.”
He had to trust this would work, that this would somehow let him help Dani. His vision shifted again, but it was different this time. It wasn’t as if he was just getting glimpses through her eyes, but like he was being sucked through the underground river again, spiraling towards the sea. He could see the man looming over her now, hunger in his eyes.
“Now it’s time for our fun street rat.” The man grinned.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Wulfram could taste bile as the man began loosening his belt. That type of person was no man at all, but a monster. Wulfram stared hard at him, committing his appearance to memory. There were some crimes worth the gibbet.
“Dani! You have to run!” He wished he could grab her by the shoulders and shake her, but while his soul was there, his body was frustratingly still in a field gods only knew how many days away.
He felt Dani’s attention stir though, his vision blurring. A wave of helplessness washed over him, and then anger at the feeling. But even the anger seemed tired, resigned.
“Damnit Dani don’t you dare just give up! Fight!” He pulled on his own energy and anger, fumbling as he forced it through the link to her. She was tired, beaten and broken, but he wasn’t going to let her just give up. He knew the fire of her spirit. The fact that someone had doused it only served to fuel his own anger. “FIGHT!” He shouted with all the force of will he could.
Dani’s knee drove up into the man’s groin, and Wulfram took a grim pleasure at the shock and pain that crossed his face. He had been on the receiving end of that treatment, for much less offense. But in this case when she was weak and fighting someone with obvious ill intentions, the cheap shot was acceptable. As was the fingers shoved into his eyes, temporarily blinding the monster.
“Run Dani!” He urged her to her feet, the pain nearly bringing her back down again. But she stumbled down the alley, using the crumbling wall to keep herself up. Wulfram frowned as she left a smear of blood behind. Whatever had happened, she was in a bad way.
“You crazy bitch, you’re going to pay for that!” The monster shouted from behind them. Dani looked back, and Wulfram felt her jolt of fear when the light caught the glint of a knife. She slipped in a pile of trash and who knew what else, nearly falling as she rounded a corner.
“Find people, guards, anyone!” Wulfram urged. “Head towards the market!”
“Great, I’m hearing things now.” Dani whispered, and for a moment Wulfram’s vision slipped and he was back in the field out by the border.
“No, I’m not done yet.” Wulfram growled, and forced himself back through the link. “Dani, sweetheart you have to keep moving.”
She could hear him, he knew she could hear him. If only she would listen for a change. She had to get to a healers hall, to some guards, to anyone that she would be safe with! He felt her starting to flag though, and heard the man getting closer behind her. Where the hell were all the people? If this was the Tangle there were hundreds of people down there! “Dani, you need to get somewhere safe.”
“No shit.” He heard her voice, hoarse and dripping with sarcasm, and he nearly laughed. There she was, there was the spirited thief who had stolen his crown and his heart. A fan was formulating in her, a new sense of purpose, a new goal. He sent as much strength as he could to her, hoping that it was actually working.
It had to be working. She was still moving.
The man crashed around the corner behind her, and Wulfram felt the sick lurch of fear. She grabbed some crates as she passed by them, shoving them down across the alley way to slow him down.
“Where are you going?” Wulfram could feel the purpose in her. She had a destination in mind, but if he was right, she was headed away from the Trade Road, not towards it. “You need to go towards where people are!”
“Won’t make it.” She mumbled, stumbling against the wall, her breath burning in her lungs. “Left, right, down. He’s too big, he can’t get in.”
Another crash came from behind her as she rounded another corner. Panic pushed her further than the energy he tried to feed her, adrenaline masking the pain for now. It would catch up to her later. She needed a healer! Not- wait, down? “The underground? Dani, you need a healer!”
“Sometimes you gotta pick your dangers.” She stumbled and fell against a crumbling wall, the bricks slipping beneath her hands as she crawled over them.
“What are you talking about? You need a healer!”
She found what she was looking for, a narrow entrance between the crumbling walls of the building, barely big enough for her to squeeze through. Her vision blurred in the darkness, and she slid down a short slope into narrow tunnels.
Behind her the man let out a roar of rage. “You stupid street rat! Get out of there! You think you can escape?”
“He can’t get in.” She slumped against the wall, forcing herself to move just a bit deeper. But she fell, sliding down an even steeper incline with a yelp. Rocks and debris tore at her clothes, the sound of it rolling down the incline after her nearly drowning out the monsters shouts.
“I’ll find your family! Then I’ll take from them what I could have gotten from you!” The monster’s voice was further away now, but Dani froze, panic jolting her mind back into momentary clarity. But she was fading fast, she had lost blood, the pain was too much and even with the energy Wulfram tried to send to her, she was dangerously close to passing out.
“He’s bluffing.” Wulfram said, hoping she wouldn’t sense the uncertainty in him. That type of monster, who could predict what he’d do?
“Azra, Therija... I have to get to them.” She started moving in the darkness, groping along damp walls. But it was getting harder for her to stand. She slid to the ground, just lying against the wall as she fought to hold on to consciousness.
“You need to get to a healer.” Wulfram wished he could take her by the shoulders and shake sense into her.
“Down, down, twist and turn.” She nearly sang the words, her voice a hoarse whisper. “The secret place, Therija can find it. She’ll find it and she’ll be safe.”
He was losing her. There was too much blood, too much trauma. He could feel the pain, the soul-deep exhaustion that permeated her. He could still hear the man at the entrance, the sound echoed down through the tunnel. “Dani, you have to move, you have to get to a healer!”
Desperately, he pulled energy from his own body, channeling it into her to keep her moving, to get her back on her feet. She had to get back on her feet!
She felt her stir, looking blurrily down the tunnel. Using the wall, Dani clawed herself up onto her feet, and stumbled further into the darkness around corners and through narrow gaps in the stone. The sounds of the monster trying to get to her faded in the darkness, and Wulfram felt panic clawing at his own heart. The healers would never be able to find her down here! But there had to be a way, there had to be!
Eventually he realized that he could see the shape of the rocks again, meticulously shaped to fit together into a solid arched hallway. The sound of running water came from up ahead, and he felt relief surge through Dani.
She stumbled, falling to her knees as she reached a small room covered in lichen and mushrooms. A tiny, steaming waterfall ran down one side of the room into a manmade pool. She collapsed next to the pool, staring up at the little ray of light that came from far overhead.
“Dani? Dani we have to get you to a healer!” Where the hell even was this place? He had lost track of the twists and turns in the darkness, and could only hope that the monster who attacked her wouldn’t be able to find his way in here.
“I just need, to rest a little.” She mumbled, closing her eyes as the warmth engulfed her. Safe, she felt safe here. He could feel her consciousness slipping away, the pain fading to the background.
Wulfram let out a growl of frustration, his mind working fast. He had to do something! But what? All it seemed like he could do was talk and send her energy. That wasn’t going to get help to her, and even a messenger bird may not get to the city in time. If he even knew where she was! The only way they had found them in the caves last time was his magic.
Wait, that was it.
Magic was energy, if he could channel enough of it into her then it would act like a beacon, guiding them to her. He just had no idea what that would do to her.
But what choice did he have? She would die if she didn’t get to a healer, he was sure of it. She was already drifting away. “I’m sorry Dani.” He whispered, praying that the magic wouldn’t hurt her.
He focused on channeling the magic into her, picturing her filling up with a warm golden glow from the inside out. He could feel the heat of it pouring through her body, burning through her like fire.
It was too much for her body, but he hoped it was enough to get her help. He felt her pass out as the golden glow filled her, a magical distress beacon for the palace to follow.
And then he was back in his own body, drenched with sweat and breathing heavily, laying flat on his back in the soot. He clenched his fists, slamming one against the ground beneath him. He was exhausted, more than he had been since his time as a page.
“Did it work?” Alastar asked, looming over him.
“I don’t know.” Wulfram sat up, wincing as pain pulsed through his whole body. “She escaped, but I don’t know if the healers will find her in time. We have to get back to the city.”