Until Forever (1st draft)

Part the Seventeenth

Geneva rolled onto her back, drawing her legs back so that they were poised to kick away whoever it was that had intercepted her flight for freedom. Kneeling beside her was Wee Therry.

"You fool!" the young creature shouted as she waved a hand wildly toward the barrier of vegetation. "You cannot pass through the darkfireweed! You would burn to ash!" As if on cue, a section suddenly burst into dark red flames. It flared up quickly, explosively, then immediately began to dwindle. A ball of thick smoke expanded from the spot, and then Sir Nellaf Wark emerged. Wee Therry screamed immediately.

"No! He circled around! Kraw attacks this side now!"

Sir Nellaf Wark strode quickly toward her, raised his sword and prepared to strike the young creature. Wee Therry closed her eyes and cowered.

"No!" shouted Geneva as she scrambled to her feet. She ran in front of the looming swordsman and held out both hands. "What are you doing? She's helpless!"

Sir Nellaf stood motionless. His singed clothes still smoldered as small clusters of dark red flames danced on the fabric. Even the sword, still held high, steamed from the heat of the burning darkfireweed. But the young man himself seemed completely unharmed. There wasn't much left of his shirt, but the exposed muscular body was unmarred, not even reddened. His beautiful skin, though sweaty and streaked with soot, showed no signs of having been in the middle of a spontaneous combustion.

"Please," Geneva said softly, "don't hurt her." She noticed now that his sword was wet with blood, and streaks of it stained the remains of his burned clothing. He lowered his blade and looked beyond her as loud voices and a rumbling of footsteps grew close. She turned to see the crowd of Swithe hurrying towards them, led by stern-faced males bearing whips.

"Enough!" Nellaf roared at them. The crowd slowed to a stop and went silent. He pointed the deadly tip of his sword at Geneva. "I have come for the girl. You have no claim to her."

He reached out a hand to Geneva. She took it and he pulled her to his side.

"She is the outside spirit," said Wee Therry from her seated position at the feet of Nellaf. "It is her destiny–"

"I know what her destiny is," Nellaf interrupted with a sharp gaze. "And it cannot be fulfilled if she is imprisoned by the Swithe. You know that." He looked up again at the gathered crowd. "All of you know that."

One of the male Swithe stepped closer and said something in its yelping language with a stern tone. It caused Nellaf's brow to furrow and his mouth to sneer.

"No!" was his sharp response. "I am leaving now with Geneva Maxwell. There is no negotiation. You know that you cannot stop me. The only way for you to avoid further injuries to your people, and to prevent any harm to the outside spirit, is to allow our peaceful departure."

There was a long, tense period of silence. Wee Therry rose to her feet ever so slowly, watching Nellaf's sword intently while she cautiously joined the males at the front of the crowd. They had a conversation in hushed tones which momentarily rose to an agitated level before returning to calm agreement. Then the crowd began to part, opening a path toward the city's entrance.

"Come," Nellaf said to Geneva, taking her hand and holding it as they walked out the same way that she had walked in. Geneva looked back at Wee Therry, whose face wore the same worried expression as the rest of the Swithe, and gave her a reassuring smile. Geneva touched her own forehead with one of her fingertips, then reached out and touched the forehead of Wee Therry.

Sir Nellaf Wark was just one young man amid an angry mob of tall creatures, armed with only a single sword, yet Geneva felt completely safe in his presence. His grip on her hand was tight, almost too tight, but it felt protective, as if he would never let go. He walked confidently forward, a man with a purpose, showing no sign of fear or apprehension.

"My hero shows up at the right time again," Geneva said with a smile.

"The Swithe are simple-minded thieves but very dangerous," he replied without looking at her.

"I don't know," she countered, "I don't think they would've harmed me. They don't like to kill."

"They would not harm you as long as you remained their possession," he said, this time looking directly at her. The silvery eyes were still mesmerizing, but cold this time. "They only negotiate when it is favorable to their interests. Otherwise they are not so harmless."

As they walked over the lowered bridge to cross the trench, Geneva was again transfixed by the amount of bloodstains on Nellaf.

"When you came through the darkfireweed and approached Wee Therry..." she started, but couldn't find a way to finish. Nellaf looked over at her as they continued walking.

"Would you..." she started again. "Would you actually have hurt her?"

The silvery eyes locked into hers, still cold and a little frightening, then they warmed again and her heart stirred. He looked away.

"Of course not," he said.

They made their way over the final protective barrier of the Swithe city where yet another strange creature awaited, this one causing Geneva to freeze in her tracks and pull away from Nellaf. Squatting in the plains right next to the long arrangement of rocks was a gigantic black beetle. It was freakishly large, bigger than an elephant, and its antennae twitched while it rubbed its two front legs together.

She wanted to scream, but nothing came out. She wanted to sprint away, but her legs were locked in place. It was almost as if her mind and body had agreed to temporarily cease to function out of complete terror. Nellaf stopped and turned back to look at her, then began laughing.

"You do not like my mount?" he asked, but her only reaction was her wide eyes growing even bigger.

"Ssshhhh," she hushed him. "It might hear you." Her voice was barely audible. Nellaf's words had awoken her survival instincts and she began to back away very slowly.

"There is nothing to fear," he reassured her, walking towards the giant bug.

"Oh God..." she gasped with a hand to her mouth.

Nellaf used one of the beetle's bent legs as a step and climbed up onto its flat back. He settled into a saddle-like seat held in place by a series of straps that wrapped around the creature in an interlocking pattern. He turned to face Geneva and offered an outstretched hand.

"Come join me, this is the swiftest and safest method to travel across the Treeless Expanse."

"You...are crazy if you think I'm getting on a giant bug!" she said quite adamantly.

"Well, it is either that or you walk," he answered. He pointed to the horizon. "And that is a very long walk."

"I'm not getting on a giant beetle," she insisted.

"So be it," he said. He reached to a lever attached to the seat and squeezed it. Geneva heard a series of five loud clicking noises, then the beetle straightened its legs and rose a little higher off the ground. It began walking away in the direction that Nellaf had pointed. Geneva waited until it was a safe distance away before starting to follow.

She walked for hours, ignoring the smiles of her charming hero every time he glanced back at her. Eventually she began to stumble from exhaustion. Her legs were a throbbing mess, her feet were sore and blistered from the countless number of miles she had hiked in her Converse hightops since arriving in Daysheen. She hit a point where she couldn't go on, when her legs literally stopped cooperating. She stood, swaying upright, too tired to bend and sit, before collapsing onto the tall grass. Nellaf stopped his beetle, which crouched down to allow him to dismount. Then the hero in tattered clothes scooped Geneva up and carried her up into the seat. She was far too tired to protest any longer.

Nellaf grabbed the lever and clicked five times to get them on their way. He put a muscular arm around Geneva's sore shoulders and she let herself sink into him. The consistent rocking from the beetle's movement lulled her into a sleepy daze.

"You knew I would give in, didn't you?" she mumbled. He looked down at her and smiled. Then he softly caressed her cheek with his hand, moving the tousled bangs from her face and running his fingers through her hair. She practically purred.