almost made her laugh but she realised she must act soon. The inn made one last groan and collapsed as the fire elemental followed her out as she backed up to Kajn. “When I yell ‘now’ dive to the ground,” she screamed at Kajn over the noise of the wind.
She leapt out towards the fire elemental and attacked with such strength and power that it even surprised her, but she was desperate and this was her only chance. This human was ducking, weaving and slicing and it stung when it hit. Nekvar had always been in control and this puny female was hurting him. He, with the power of the gods, had always given fear to humans and yet this slight of a girl was giving pain.
“I must destroy her,” he determined, as his rage overtook him and he became engulfed in flame. Vanor stepped back from the heat and hit again forcing the elemental to fight back. Ducking, rolling and weaving away from those fire-starting hands, she moved with a swiftness caused by desperation. The elemental did not notice that Vanor was moving it closer and closer to Kajn. With a quick thrust to its midriff that evoked a satisfying roar of flame, Vanor was back to back with Kajn.
The fire elemental charged in rage at Vanor, wanting to get rid of this pesky human who could hurt so much. It had never been hurt before and it did not like it one bit. “Now, Kajn, now!” Vanor yelled above the roar of the wind and the crackling of the flames. Nekvar was surprised when the puny human grovelled at his feet but then realised his mistake. His sweeping arm had gone through the wind elemental and then he felt pain so unbearable. And then nothing.
Kajn and Vanor had to cover their ears when the explosion rocked the earth and cracked the air. They both tentatively looked up, let out a whoop of delight and gave each other a gleeful hug. “We did it! We did it!” they cried as they were showered in ash, soot and dust.
“Ow, Ow, Ow,” Vanor whimpered as Kajn let go of her. Her adrenalin had slowed down and now her body was giving a very large protest of pain.
“You’re hurt,” Kajn, looking concerned, stared at Vanor. Her hair was badly singed and her clothes were in tatters, so much so that only her chain mail was intact, although even that was blackened and dented.
She had a very deep burn down one arm and across her shoulder and as Kajn laid her down on the ground she started to shake all over. “This was a good plan wasn’t it?” she laughed. Kajn now knew what to do and asked her to rest. He lay down beside her holding her in his arms and prayed that he could help.
The world turned white and Vanor lay at his feet. He gently picked her up and carried her to the temple. The steps leading up were steeper than he remembered and he stumbled on a step but kept his hold on Vanor. When he reached the top step he was met by the tallest light being and without a word the being guided him to the altar. He was asked to say “goodbye” and with much effort reached out and said, “Goodbye for now, Vanor. I love you.”
He stopped at the top of the temple and looking around to try and stop the tears from falling, he noticed huge different-coloured gems cut into the top of the temple windows. Each gave a different beam of light that started to move towards Vanor and then a giant force pushed him out of the temple and the world turned white again. “Damn, I wanted to watch that,” he mumbled.
Reaching up to the black to get his water flask, Kajn heard Vanor moan. He raced back to the clearing where he had laid her down to rest and found her sitting up holding her head. “Are you okay, Van love?” Vanor turned to him and he stepped back as her eyes had turned into purple flames. She looked confused but replied, “Just on a high, but I’ll settle in a moment. What’s the matter with you?”
“Ummm, your eyes are purple. Oh but they’re returning to normal now, what happened?” he asked, as he stepped back to her.
“You know, that was the first time that has happened. It was very intense, was I that hurt, and how did I get there?”
Kajn paused for a moment and replied, “They let me take you there and yes I didn’t notice but you had a lot of burns that would have killed someone else twice over. You also had a deep gouge in your back that had burnt flesh and bone but by the looks of it, that too was healed. Well done, that’s what I say, and I have no doubt now that this is a very special gift that has been given to you.”
After Vanor had washed off all the residue dirt, dust and ash at the village well, and Kajn had buried the few remaining bodies, they went in search of another horse for Vanor who was riding pillion on the black. After riding a fair distance from the destroyed village without success they decided to take turns riding the black.
“How are you feeling now?”
Vanor looked down from the black and said, “Well I seem to have just added countless scars to the list on my body but other than that I seem to be fine. Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s a bit unnerving when you think you know the colour of your love’s eyes, and then it changes while you watch, that’s all, nothing serious.”
They both laughed, and what little tension was there was lost in the whispering wind.
That night they stayed at another town and it was very comforting for Vanor to have a warm bath, a good hot meal, a change of clothes and a comfortable bed to sleep in. She slept very well snuggled close to Kajn’s warm body. When they awoke the next morning, they had their breakfast; the innkeeper told them that the blacksmith had a spare horse, which they were delighted with. The gelding took a liking to Vanor straightaway and had a huge appetite for apples and seemed to be forever nudging Vanor’s back for a scratch behind the ears. The blacksmith had told them that he’d given up adventuring now, but the horse hadn’t, and was delighted with the price given by Vanor.
“I’ve always called him Greedy Guts because of his apple fetish but I’m sure he won’t mind you calling him something else.”
Vanor and Kajn laughed as Greedy Guts nudged Vanor’s back for the apple that was in her pocket.
The next day they set a good pace, with the black trying to outdo Greedy in the galloping stakes, but Greedy soon tired due to his unhealthy lifestyle and paced himself at a steady trot. At last they reached the castle and it looked more terrifying than it had seemed; when they got close to the “red” outer wall the horses shied away from it, baffling both Kajn and Vanor. Vanor dismounted and nearly threw up when, on closer inspection, she saw the wall was covered in blood.
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