Blood-Lines

Part 4

Lying back against the rough bark of the log that she'd landed against, Daniela Blue relaxed as if she were lying against the soft cushions of a couch with her broken left arm rested along the top of the log.

She'd managed to bring her other hand up from the end of the branch that had impaled her, while she tried to focus on the blood that covered it after having grasped the end which jutted from her breast.

Her vision blurred as it faltered while she looked at blood mixed with bits of other things she really didn't want to know about smeared across her palm.

"Oh goddess ..." she moaned softly in utter despair.

It was odd how she couldn't feel any pain from the branch as she thought she should have; which probably meant that it was bad and would only get worse.

When the coach had appeared carrying her savior as if sent by prayer through the powers of the goddess herself, the Negro woman had simply tossed her down the hill with little effort, where she'd tumbled and fallen hard against the log.

There was an intense sharp pain through her back and then nothing, as she lay there sprawled against the log. She wasn't even upset about having lost her robe along the way which had left her without a stitch of clothing for cover.

It wasn't as if it would keep her warm anyway, she mused tragically.

She knew well beyond doubt that if she wasn't able to move, she'd slowly die as she bled out; which had only served to make her laugh as she considered the absurdity of her situation, while she coughed up some blood.

Something that hadn't boded at all well for as bad as things had appeared to have already become for her, out in the middle of where ever it was that she'd managed to find herself.

She'd begun to feel cold; shivering on what had otherwise been a warm and beautiful day; as blood-loss from the branch slowly draining her body of its sustenance and energy.

The sky above was blue, dark but clear with birds that sounded in the trees just nearby. Their songs had brought such joy when she'd been young.

She caught herself as she recalled her childhood; such were bad signs of the pending end that the goddess had chosen for her, perhaps in retribution for selling herself as she had.

Her breath caught and became short which only made her cough up even more blood that dribbled down across her chin – which also told her that the branch must have taken a lung on its way through.

Sorrow filled her as she realized she'd never see her parents or sister Clementine again; however glad she was that they wouldn't know what had become of her since she'd left them in search of her destiny.

Curiosity of which animal would find her first fluttered through her thoughts as if in subtle distraction, which in turn only served to make her consider that it would as likely be a wolf or fox that went for the soft meat while others would be left to fight it out for what remained of her body.

A flicker of light caught her eye as something fluttered about not entirely unlike a small bird as it moved down the hill toward her, only to settle almost in her lap as it sparkled in the sunlight.

With some surprise, she realized it was a seeker sent by her sister that had found her, even way out here as she was now. They'd appeared more and more often as Clementine apparently had begun to look for her in earnest.

If Clementine had sent a seeker, she'd undoubtedly follow soon enough in person and that was something that Daniela found that she simply could not allow.

As she held her bloody hand beneath the flickering seeker, she focused the last of her energies to send a message that she fervently hoped would not make her sister want to follow.

Not quite the adept student of spell craft as Clementine had proven to be, she could still remember the one spell her mother had managed to teach her in the event of an emergency.

Corporal transference; a spell most often used in battle that was designed to pass on injuries to an enemy that they had found inflicted upon themselves.

It would be Daniela's final gift to her sister if she could make her stop trying to look for her, as painful as it would be to convince her that she didn't want to be found.

The seeker floated as her bloody hand relaxed and fell from beneath it, suddenly blinking out of existence itself as the message had made its way back through the link.

Dying eyes watched while ants flitted across the dirt, as her mouth dropped open while her body began to twitch and then stilled; one knee brought up by cramped muscles while her other lay stretched out and useless before her.

Wounds across her back were no longer visible and her cheeks were smooth again as Daniela's spirit rose and moved on, which left her body relaxed as it was as it lay against the tree where she'd taken her last breath.

As she greeted her with open arms, her goddess comforted her and led her away from the pain and agony that she'd endured.

While her life on earth may have ended, Daniela now realized her new journey had just begun.