After their first meeting Rafa came to Isabella's place every other day; He watched over Isabella and even helped her by hunting for her. His knowledge of the forest made it easy to find the prey. It was also easy for him to take aim with his bow as he kept pace with the deer that he hunted; his long horse legs covered the same long strides. As Rafa spent more time with Isabella he started to wonder about her. There seemed to be an aurora around her, it felt as if there was magic in the air around her. He could feel it in the air the same way he had felt it when the Elves had placed the protective stones around the village. That thought brought the elves to mind; he had avoided them every time they came to the village. His tribe had been allies with the elves since before Rafa's grandfather was even born but the thin elegant grace that they moved with made him uneasy especially since he had seen them in battle. They had come and helped his tribe the last time the Werewolves attacked. He had made it one of his life missions to never cross an elf. But he still noticed them when they came to visit his king.
Rafa and Isabella had made a small lean-to against a large boulder with some branches and vines so they could be together without having to be in the house which made Rafa feel boxed in. Rafa had covered it with vines so that it blended in with the surrounding forest. Rafa had noticed that Isabella had made a crude mark on the rock that made one of the inside walls. Rafa also had the feeling that he had seen the mark somewhere before, but couldn't remember where. As they went inside for their supper Rafa held aside the vines letting Isabella slip inside first. She showed her appreciation by running her hand over the long hair that hung down between his front legs to hide his genitals. He smiled and followed her inside the lean-to. He turned and laid down so he could hold her to him as they ate and watched the sunset. Rafa had gotten use to the peace and quiet that always surrounded Isabella. Isabella had raised her hand to fill his mind with another of her wonderful visions.
Then Rafa straightened up and gently held her by the wrists. Isabella knew from his body language that he had heard something that was out of the ordinary. So she moved out of his arms quietly and moved to the side letting him have a clearer view through the vines. Soon ten men on horseback came into view. Rafa had his hand on the hilt of his sword ready to draw it, if he needed to. The uniforms the men were wearing were faded and in rags. The stench of stale sweat and beer coming off of them was over powering and made Isabella nauseas. They stopped as the leader turned his mount to speak to his men. Isabella saw his face and moved farther into the shadows causing Rafa to give her a questionable look. He was taken aback by the pure fear that showed on her face. He looked back at the men.
A man as wide as he was tall was the first to speak out. "How much farther?" he whined.
"Just a few more minutes and we'll be there." Their leader snapped at him
"Then why are we stopping now? Especially if this girl is as special as you say she is." Said a thin man from the back; this man had the look of someone calculating his chances.
"I just wanted to remind you all, she is a treasure and like any other treasure she is well protected. She can't speak but she has been given many other talents. She is the daughter of a king and the king will make us all rich when we return her from her kidnappers. Also remember that two of the best warriors of our time took her 15 years ago, they will not just hand her over. They might have aged but I doubt that they have forgotten how to fight."
"I just hope she's worth all the trouble we've had so far and are supposedly going to have getting her out of there."
"Why are you grumbling? I've paid you each a small fortune to get her and the king will give you more. That's all there is to say, so it's time to move out."
The men continued on, Rafa looked back at Isabella. She quickly touched his temple. She showed a picture of the older couple.
"You want to go and help them?"
She nodded her head and started to walk out of the lean-to. Rafa got up and grabbed her by the waist.
"I'll go, and you stay here and wait where it is safe. I know it will make you sad, but I could move on if they died, if I lost you I'd die too."
She smiled, leaned up and kissed him goodbye, her eyes were a dark brown with worry. Rafa looked behind him once, just to make sure she was well hidden. He then raced though the forest and up the hill. By the time he got to the cottage the attack was well underway. Rafa charged though the door that had been ripped off of its leather hinges. Rafa was momentarily amazed at the old couple. He had thought them frail but now he could see that, while yes they had aged and obviously had been sick lately, they were strong and their fighting was so fast they almost looked like two blurs of light. It was as if Rafa had seen their fighting style before but he wasn't able to think about that as he cut down three of the men before they even knew he was there. The man that Isabella had taken care of took notice of Rafa but was too busy fighting two of the men to take any action against him. When a third tried to attack the old man from behind, Rafa took action. Rafa quickly threw his dagger at the man. The old man turned just in time to see the man fall to the floor with the dagger sticking out of his chest. He looked over at Rafa and nodded acknowledging that he understood that Rafa was on his side.
The old man then quickly pointed behind Rafa before he was attacked again. One of the men had gotten behind Rafa and was about to put a blade through his chest, but before Rafa could even move the man was knocked to the side as Isabella charged into him. It caused his sword to go off mark and just cut along Rafa's side. Rafa quickly sliced the man's chest open. As his body fell he knocked over a stand of candles into the curtains, setting the dried logs of the house ablaze. Rafa looked to make sure Isabella was ok but was startled as his eyes meet hers; they were a cold burning black fury that scared him. With the fire climbing the wall behind her she looked like an avenging angel. The old man was instantly next to Rafa, throwing a blanket over Isabella.
"Here take her," the old man said kissing her on the forehead, "Keep her safe from them. Since you're hurt you'll have to be careful not to come in contact with her skin until you are in a safe place. You'll understand later. Now get out of here. We'll keep them occupied."
Rafa quickly and carefully picked Isabella up as he ran full speed out of the cottage. He was going to take her back to his tribe then he'd bring others to help once she was safe. He had just passed into the woods when an arrow whistled past him. Unfortunately, the next arrow, shot by the leader as he raced his horse alongside Rafa, found its mark in Rafa's side causing him to slowdown. The leader jumped off his horse in front of Rafa. Rafa set Isabella to the side, and as he did the leader slashed at him with a dagger. It cut across his chest but it wasn't deep. Rafa tried to draw his sword only to have a fiery feeling explode in his chest from the cut.
"Feeling that burn horse boy? That's poison; I have the antidote and it's all yours if you hand her over. After all she's nothing to you." "Never!" Rafa groaned as he tried to clear his head of the pain.
"Then die."
The man lunged at Rafa only to be brought short as Isabella shoved Rafa's sword into his chest. She pulled it back out and with both hands on the hilt swung it, sending the man's head rolling into the woods. She then readjusted the blanket over her head and shoulders, leaning into Rafa as he leaned on her for support, they slowly moved farther into the forest. They finally stopped when Isabella found a place between the stream and a boulder where Rafa could rest. Rafa fell to the ground with none of his usual grace. His breathing was ragged and had a rattling that worried Isabella. Even in the weak moonlight she could see that he had a pale and fevered look to him. His veins were starting to show like rivers in a delta, but they were an unnatural black color. She knew there was little she could do but she knew she needed to slow the poison. She started to look for plants to help him when she heard hooves moving thought the forest. In her fear she grabbed Rafa's sword again and placed herself between the sound and Rafa. She just about sighed with relief when seven Centaurs came through the forest. The moonlight showed that three of them had similar features as Rafa, although they were all older than him.
Toni, one of the newly arrived centaurs, looked past Isabella to Rafa then back to her as he let out a roar that scared her. He then charged at her thinking that she had hurt Rafa. When she sidestepped him she brought the sword up. It cut his arm as he ran by. She quickly dropped the sword and grabbed onto his arm. Toni immediately tried to pull away from the burning of her hand that was on his arm, but he found that it was as if her hand was fussed to him. Soon the burning cooled and a clam came over him. She removed her hand and stepped back once again putting herself between Him and Rafa. She bent her one knee slightly and held her hands slightly away from her sides with her palms up. Trying to show them that she meant no harm, but that she wasn't going to leave Rafa either. Toni looked for the cut on his arm, but it wasn't there. He looked at her again and saw the cut forming on her arm. She very slowly and hesitantly reached up to a branch above her, as soon as she touched it there was a loud snap as it broke away from the tree. Toni reached over and picked it up. The break was so clean it was as if it was made by a sword. He looked back to her in wonder.
He noticed that her breathing was slightly faster and that her eyes had a tired look about them. She locked eyes with him and reached out to him with her palm up. He stepped closer; she reached up to his temple. She quickly showed him the events of the night. When she broke the connection he clearly saw how tired she had become.
"She was trying to defend him. She means us no harm."
"She is a sorcerer, she can't be trusted. I say we kill her for what she has obviously done to Rafa," said a centaur who was staring at Rafa as if he was the only thing in the world.
"No we'll tie her up. We'll take her with us." A centaur that was standing slightly in front of the others said.
When Toni started to say something his objections were cut off.
"Once Rafa is awake we will ask him. If he doesn't awaken then there is no need for her and she will be executed as guilty. You two tie Rafa up between you so we can get him back, perhaps Nat will know how to save him. You run ahead so Nat will know that we are coming. Sebastián you stay by my side so we may talk."
"Yes Juan Carlos."
