Tempered by Love

Chapter 10 Never Piss Off A Madman

Bouncing up and down with a headache was not how N'bar intended to spend this night. Consciousness returned with the distinct impression someone had mistaken him for a sack of flour. The person carrying him was crashing down the hillside, making it more than a little difficult to ignore the ache in his head or the extreme need to heave. The groan was involuntary, but nonetheless, loud.

 "Fais chier, he's coming to," a voice said. 

A string of French profanity from others preceded N'Bar unceremoniously landing with a thud on the ground. He blinked, adjusting his eyes to the dark whilst trying to suss where he'd landed. He was definitely on an incline with a good sized rock pressing into his back.

 "He's got purple eyes," a girl said, her voice filled with awe. "He's kind of pretty up close."

 "Can he walk? We need to get to the car before they pick up the trail."

 "Um." N'bar swallowed bile down. "What are you doing?" he asked, hoping to kill time.

 "No offence, but you're gonna make us rich," Francois answered.

 "Glad I can help," N'bar answered, struggling to sit up. 

He ignored the dizziness and dots in his vision. Odd, he thought, in the dark the dots are white. He studied his three captors trying not to burst out laughing. He had travelled two universes only to find himself kidnapped by children. 'Captain, I'm on the east side of the hill heading toward the access road. They have a car,' he said silently.

 'Stall them, N'bar, we'll block the car' Tomašis' answered, his relief flooding N'bar.

 'Yes, sir,' N'bar responded as he swooned into the girl's arms.

 "Fuck," Francois said, looking up the hill at the line of torches coming in their direction. "Come on, we need to get to the car," he said, pointing to their prize. "Get him on his feet. You better walk, Ghost, otherwise we'll knock you out again," Francois threatened.

 N'bar struggled to his feet, swaying with dizziness. Now he knew how Daniel felt when he had a headache. He didn't like it; it made thinking fuzzy, and at the moment, that was bad. In addition to a headache, he had to battle the torrent of emotions bombarding him. From the fear in these three idiot kids to the outright fury of his friends. Through it all, he felt the red line of energy focused in his direction coming from N'tiri. He sent back his reassurances to his beloved and focused on occupying the attention of these kids, avoiding getting slugged, and sending images of his location to the captain. As long as he was conscious, they would find him. By now, the men would be on the way to find the car, so he chatted up the girl walking next to him. 

"Em, can I just ask," he said, forcing his feet forward. "Why ghost?" he asked.

 "Because you're all blue and shimmery. What are you, anyway?" Marie asked, reaching to steady him.

 "Ah, well," he said, swallowing then nearly falling when the idiot behind him gave him a push. "You should know what you have got, then. I am a Vshak, I can shift my shape anytime I want for any reason I want."

 "Try it now, and I will blow you away like the other one," Francois said.

 N'bar stopped short, forcing René to bump into him. "You shot Georg?" 

 "It was an accident," Marie murmured. "He didn't mean to."

 'Captain, did they kill Georg?' he asked mentally.

 'No,' the message came back.

 N'bar snorted then drew a deep breath. "You must be properly scared," he said to Francois.