Darkness carved in bone

Chapter 9

Ten

Ten was still puzzled by the fact that Helen was born in darkness. That she was like him, born on the wrong side of the day. They hadn't spoken another word to each other that night. Once the fire had died out, they had ridden until the sun started making a feint slip of light gleam in the horizon. Ten had localized another pine they could use as cover for the day, and they had fallen asleep without even looking at each other.

Ten had laid in his cloak, letting her sleep in the sleeping roll this night. At first, he hadn't recognized the smell, only thought that the cloak smelled fascinatingly good, but then he had realized with a pang to his heart, that it smelled of her. That is smelled of sunshine, snow and pinecones. He turned, his back to her and tried to ignore everything about her. It became impossible after a while, and he decided that if he was to get any sleep this night, he would just have to accept that a part of him was fascinated by the light-girl he had kidnapped. He fell asleep listening to her breaths, and their soothing rhythm.

They left their small snow hut at the beginning of the setting dusk. He had seen the disappointment in Helen's face when she had realized that the light she saw breaking through the dense treetops were coming from a setting sun, not a rising one as he saddled the horse, readying them for the night's journey.

She was gently patting the horse as the sun slightly breached through the clouds, the light falling down on them both. This light was thankfully not too uncomfortable to him as he was shielded by his cloak and the hood he had put on before walking into the dusk. But he could feel how every muscle inside him tensed as the warmth from the sun seemed to almost burn through the cloak and nearly started to simmer his skin. He watched her do that strange and unfamiliar gesture to the sun where she stretched her face and throat towards the sky while closing her eyes to let the skin on her face absorb the light falling from the sky above them. After a short moment the clouds had encased the sun again, leaving them in comfortable darkness. He looked at her, the disappointment evident on her face again, as she spoke reassuring and comforting words to the horse, almost as if she were comforting herself. In the darkness he could see that a thin shimmering film of light had stuck to her skin, where the sun had touched her face, making her face glow and shimmer in the faintest manner.

He found the shimmering glow to be strangely beautiful, and it brought back memories to that golden creature she had been when she had come skiing through the dark forest, the first time he had seen her. She had not glowed as strong since.

He shook the thoughts of her out of his head and focused on saddling his horse instead. If someone had heard his thought's right now, he would have been branded a heretic for thinking that a child of the sun was beautiful, if not whipped. As soon as he was done saddling the horse, he grabbed Helen by the waist and placed her atop the horse before he climbed atop the horse himself, settling himself behind her.

He was shocked to think about how this thin little girl had managed to fend off a pack of wolves by herself. That was a sight he would not likely forget. He had woken abruptly, feeling as if something inside him had pulled him from his sleep. Which was very unusually and unlike him, he normally slept through nearly anything. He had turned immediately to where she should have been sleeping, as if he had already known she was gone. And that was when he had started acting, not thinking. His heart had pounded in his chest as he had run after her without a thought of putting on decent clothes to venture into the night. He had followed her tracks with ease, ignoring the biting cold that had seeped through his clothes. When he had finally seen her in the distance, a wolf had leaped after her as she jumped after a branch and fought the wolf off herself. His heart had pumped frantically in panic as he realized he was too far away to save her. But to his surprise, she had tried to ward the wolfs off, keeping them at a distance with her branch, giving him the time and chance to save her. Adrenaline had started pumping in his veins and he had run as fast as his legs could push him forward, seeing how the wolves came closer and closer to her. When he had finally reached her a wolf had leaped towards her, and all he had been able to think to do was to put himself between her and the wolf.