Siren

Siren - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Aedan was just going about his normal daily routine. Clearing the freshly fallen snow, checking for loose rocks, making sure the footpaths were visible...

            And then he heard the screaming. He looked up. His mind reacted, and his arms flew out in front of him.

            She landed in his arms and he instantly curled them inward. She was shaking like a leaf and still screaming. He cleared the wind whipped hair from her face, and grinned at her.

            "Wow, what a catch!" he cried, holding her up and examining her for a moment before placing her on his back. "Truly a gift from the gods!" Aedan began his way back up the mountainside, Clara still in shock. Instinct told her to cling to anything. Her hands jutted out and grabbed the huge horns protruding from his head.

            "The ladies love the horns!" he quipped, bleating a laugh. He knew women didn't just fall from the sky, but it had been the highlight of his day. He couldn't wait to tell his friends. He began jumping up the side of the mountain with his powerful hind legs, and as Clara slowly let reality seep back into her mind she realized she was going to throw up. He reached the point where she had fallen and stopped as he saw Mallach lying, facedown, in the snow. Clara stumbled off Aedan's back and promptly vomited. Aedan poked at Mallach with his hoof, and then decided to roll him over.

            With the wind, and Octavious’ voice being louder than normal, it took Raven a moment to realize that something was wrong. He heard shouting in the distance.

            “Stay with the tents. I will return.” He said, sprinting in the direction of the yells. It took him a minute of carefully avoiding icy patches and loose rocks, but he made it to the ledge where he found Clara wiping her mouth, Mallach on his back, and a very large demimal between the both of them.

            Clara’s throat ached. Her stomach had not been kind to her. She was looking forward to finding her next drink of water, when she realized Raven was standing but a few feet away, cautiously unsheathing his sword.

            “There’s no need for that, Raven,” Clara declared hoarsely, “he saved my life just now.” She moved away from the steaming pile of digested food in the snow she’d left, and stumbled towards Mallach.

            She slapped him on the face a few times.

            “Wake up, you idiot!” she wheezed. She started coughing heavily. Raven still hadn’t put his sword away, despite the fact that Aeden had, in fact, saved her life.

            “Come on now, then.” Aeden started, extending his hand, but Raven wasn’t going to hear any of it.

            “You stay where you are.” Raven went to Clara and gently moved her aside. Mallach, still unconscious, was lifted from the ground and thrown over Raven’s shoulder. Sword still in hand, Raven turned and motioned for Clara to follow suit.

            “Wait,” she said, swallowing a particularly painful bit, “I don’t even know his name. Please Raven, calm down. He saved my life.”

            She walked over to the grinning demimal, and taking a breath, held out her hand.

            “Thank you,” she said quietly, “without you I would have been done for.”

            “T’was nothing, my dear. I was just doing my usual duties, and you made everything much more interesting.”

            “Duties?” she asked, puzzled.