Part Four: Man Eaters
Chapter Ten
ELENA
One breath, then another. Adarian taught me that. '
When you're in the shit, and the world's falling apart around you, just take one breath, then another. The first breath keeps you in the present, and the next brings you to the future. You're still alive; you took the second breath. Congratulations. Now, take another.
' Of course, Adarian taught everyone that lesson. Only for most other rangers, it was meant to keep them centered in combat situations. For me, it was social. I didn't realize until my first day of ranger training how much I'd used Yavara as a crutch, and that's when I realized the crutch had crippled me. I sat by myself in the mess hall, isolated myself in the barracks, and went to the library during rest hours. When I was assigned to a squad, I couldn't hide myself anymore. After three panic attacks, Adarian pulled me out. '
One breath, then another.
' He told me as I clutched my chest, eyes bulging, my heart pounding. '
Shit, Elena.
' He said, '
I've seen you operate under fire without so much as breaking a sweat, but Brian cracks a gay joke and you shatter. No, don't give me that; it's not your fault. It's mine. Most rangers are like wolves, you see; they operate in packs, and the lone wolf dies. But you're not a wolf. Wolves bark and growl and harry herds until they can pick off the weak prey, but the tiger... the tiger stalks the dangerous game in dead silence. Now breathe, tiger, breathe. One breath, then another. I've got some dangerous game for you to chase.
'
One breath, then another. The green canopy overhead was broken with beams of sun, giving light to pollen that floated listlessly through the air. I was on my back with an arrow in my shoulder. A Nadi arrow. Adarian's arrow, for only one ranger in the corps had access to Nadi arrows. I didn't think he knew who he was shooting at, for my identity had been concealed. Still, he'd find out eventually, if he was still alive. I glanced at the haft sticking in my shoulder. That certainly was one way to get a dishonorable discharge. I knew I deserved worse. I'd killed one of my brethren; I'd shot him down in the streets. I felt guilty, but not nearly as guilty as I thought I should. For as much as I'd made the rangers a part of my identity, Yavara had defined me for much longer, and of her fate, I did not know. My worry encompassed my guilt, and compelled me to action.
The wound in my shoulder was bloodless, and the petrified flesh it left would be useless. I flexed my hand, or tried to. I couldn't feel my fingers. Shit, I couldn't feel my whole left arm. I glanced at the proximity of the haft to my left breast, where my heart thrummed alive. It could've worse, I guessed. With gritted teeth I reached across my body, and tore the arrow free. No pain, for the nerves were dead. It left a yawning puncture that showed cleanly through the milky fat and pink muscle, bloodless all the way to the bone. If I'd eaten breakfast, I would've lost it there. I rolled to my right, my left arm flopping uselessly after me, and I pushed myself to shaking feet. Across the clearing, Brock had managed to get to a sitting position. He was porcupined with ten arrows, two of them Nadi, but his thick hide kept the arrowheads from doing mechanical damage. Still, the regular arrows had done their work, and black blood dripped down his back in thick rivulets.
"Ranger, you need to show me your secret path to the Gorge. Can you walk?" He asked with a rasping voice.
"We should wait for the others." I murmured.
Brock shook his head. "They won't come. The portal was destroyed on the other side."
"Do you think..."
"Do you still have your powder?"
I reached into my belt and handed Brock the satchel. He took a pinch of the substance and threw it across the ruins. They glowed neon green with magic.
"Zander's still alive," Brock grunted, "and he would die before he let the elves take Yavara, so she's still alive too."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and took one stumbling step. I was hit with a wave of dizziness, the world seeming to rotate about the axis of my heels. I closed my eyes, and took one breath, then another. Centering myself, I opened my eyes, took one step forward, and collapsed on my face. My head beat like a drum, my body ached, the world spun around me. Distantly, I heard Brock saying something. Then his blurred visage thundered next to me, his black eyes unfocused, the pupils dilated. He mouthed something, but I couldn't discern what his tusked lips said. Suck you bitch?
Fuck off, Brock. You sack of orc shit.
Oh, the grass felt so good against my cheek. And that hand running through my hair, the delicate fingers caressing the roots like a whisper. I turned on my back. She had big violet eyes set in a beautiful face, her purple lips creasing in a hungry smile. Her horns curved demonically from her amber hair, and shined black in the midmorning sun.
I woke up to the night sky greeting me from the mouth of a cave. I reached for my shoulder and felt for the wound. It was gone. I looked at my skin just to make sure. There wasn't even a scratch where an arrow had been buried just a few hours ago. I flexed my hand, and realized with a start that I could move it. Had everything been a dream? Yavara, Brock, Zander, Prestira... no; no, my flesh was bronze, and I felt the piece of man pressing between my thighs. I looked around the cave. It was oddly decorated for a wild dwelling, with pillows everywhere, silk drapes adoring the walls, and velvet rugs laying across the floor. My hand flashed for my dagger in realization, and met my naked hip. My eyes flitted frantically, finding my weapons and clothes resting in the corner, but I knew I'd never get to them in time. I could feel her behind me, feel the enticing warmth of her radiating onto my flesh. Two soft hands descended upon my shoulders. They leaked tenderness into my tired body, relaxing and unwinding the tensed muscles in my back. I fought the sensation for only a moment before I collapsed into blissful lassitude, a stupid smile creasing my lips. The hands lowered me slowly until my naked back pressed into the supple bosom of the succubus. Her arms came around me like a cage door shutting, and I surrendered easily to the imprisonment.
"What's your name?" She had a girlish voice, full of curiosity and desire. It dripped like honey into my ear, and seeped its sweet poison into the annals of my mind.