Chapter 4: Darkness Comes From All Directions

Amelia was so tired of traveling along the dirt road, sleeping in tents, and foraging for dinner. If she never saw another berry bush again in her life, she would be happy. She had long run out of the food she packed to eat along her journey, and now she was down to scavenging. 

The forest this far north did not have a lot of edible variety, or if it did, Amelia didn't know what was edible apart from a few plants and berries.

It was lucky that she had set out in the middle of summer, there was plenty of food to be found, if not a lot of variety available. If she was to take longer than a month to find her way to the fairies, she would be met with winter. That meant she would have to hunt in wolf form, something she was not very fond of.

The road through Daikon was long, rough, and dark. The mountains kept the path in shadows most of the day and the nights felt long as they seemed to stretch longer in the valley of mountains. She had set out from Daikon, her purpose clear for the first time in a very long time. She had been biding her time, she now knew. The time she spent with Cliff was just an introduction to the story of her life. Now, she was on the path of redemption, ready to take her mate down before he could hurt anyone else. 

The dark trio all needed to be stopped. Amelia hadn't seen the others in a very long time, but she knew what they were after and it wasn't something they could be allowed to have. 

The mare carried her with steady footing, closer to Lumieres Bleue, the city of knowledge on the border of Daikon and Sephathilian. 

"We just have a little further to go," Amelia said, patting her mare on the side. 

She was traveling through the brush, the path was overgrown with weeds and wildflowers, it was almost hard to see where she was supposed to go. She could just make out the path as she traveled, knowing she was heading in the right direction. 

'This path must not be taken often,' she mused as they stepped gingerly through the underbrush. There were landmarks on the map and she pulled the parchment out, looking for the next proof that she was heading in the right direction. 

The map showed a river running along the mountain and a waterfall marked on the edge of the map, near the border to Wisterquiem. Wisterquiem was where the witches lived. The waterfall was the marker between the fairies and witches. If she went west along the path, she would find the land of the witches and all of the mysteries that lived within. 

If she went east along the path, she would find the land of fairies and Lumieres Bleue, the land of knowledge. Knowledge is what she sought. Lumieres Bleue held the largest libraries in this part of the world and within she would find the information she sought. She was sure of it.

She heard a rustling in the undergrowth behind her. Her heart beat erratically as she turned to survey the trail behind her. She saw a squirrel dart through the undergrowth and she breathed a sigh of relief as she turned once again to follow the path north.

The noon sun beat down on her head and she started to hum a tune from her childhood, the song filling the air with a quiet lullaby. Traveling alone was not her favorite method of travel, she would much prefer to travel with others. The solitude was unwelcome.

She once again heard rustling behind her only this time, it was accompanied by hooves. Someone was coming toward her, and quickly. She tried to see behind her but it was too hard to see past the dense undergrowth and the winding path. Someone was moving toward her at a gallop, so she directed her mare into the brush nearby, hoping to hide until they passed.

She dismounted and led the mare through the undergrowth, desperate to know if the traveler was friendly or not. She couldn't take any chances. She hadn't come across any other travelers since she left the castle of Daikon so it seemed unlikely that she would meet friends on this trail.

She wasn't quite out of sight when a man riding a horse came into view. Amelia's heart skipped a beat. He made eye contact with her. His face registered his surprised satisfaction as he reigned his horse and dismounted all within the span of a few seconds.

'How had he found me?' Amelia wondered for a split second before she turned and ran, leaving her horse behind. She sprinted as if her life depended on it. She knew it was futile. She couldn't outrun him but she tried anyway, shifting mid-jump and darting through the forest in her wolf form.

She heard Rikkard behind her, shifting as he, too, darted after her. He was pursuing her, hunting her down relentlessly. 

Her breath quickened as she felt the panic well within her chest. She felt the vials of blood bouncing against her chest, she had managed to keep them with her during her shift. She couldn't afford to lose the blood vials, not now that she had managed to get them. 

Her paws moved quickly, pushing against the ground with force as she tried to outrun Rikkard. He was proving to be much faster than her though and she felt the anticipation of being caught prickle the fur on her back.

It was just a moment later that she felt him nip at her tail and pull her back toward him. She stumbled as he captured her tail between his teeth she went rolling down the hill toward the ravine below.

In her panic, she shifted back to her human form and she felt Rikkard shift as well while they rolled down the hill together. He kept her in his grip as they tumbled and when she finally landed at the bottom of the ravine, he pulled her tightly into his arms, holding her firm as he glared into her eyes.

"We've been looking for you," he said with a dark laugh as he hoisted her in his arms and started walking back the way they had come.

She tried to fight, kicking and scraping at his face. He just laughed and hoisted her over his shoulder, slapping her bare ass as he walked back toward their horses.

"Can't handle letting the truth get out, is that it?" Amelia asked with contempt. "Can't handle the world knowing what a monster you are? All of you?"

Rikkard let out a small growl as he made his way back toward the horses. He slapped her ass again, only harder.

"You would do well to listen to your mate," Rikkard spoke with venom. "Your life is tied to his. Or did you forget that part of the bond?"

He chuckled darkly and Amelia let the information sink in. She had forgotten that part of the bond. She had been so determined to be free of Cliff, to kill Cliff, she forgot that if her mate died she would likely die too. 

That was how the mate bond worked, after all.

She slumped against Rikkard in defeat, letting his words tear through her soul, ripping her heart into shreds as she realized her fate had been sealed that dreadful night when Cliff had forced himself on Izzy. 

The night he had taken something that wasn't his to take, his life had been forfeit. And now, so was hers.

---

A hundred miles south, Cliff raced ahead with Izzy held tightly in his grip. Zephyr and Mikael raced along with them.

"We need to split up," Cliff said, yelling at his two friends over the sound of their racing hooves.

"Why?" Zephyr asked. "We finally have her with us, why stop now?"

"We've been waiting for this for years, Cliff," Mikael replied with frustration. "You would make us wait longer?"

Cliff shook his head in frustration. "We're being followed."

Zephyr looked at Cliff with surprise then ducked his head under his arm to look behind him as they galloped ahead. 

Nate was in hot pursuit, following close enough that to stop and rest would mean being caught. The only way to avoid him was to try to trick him into following a different path.

"How do we get him to follow one of us instead?" Mikael said. "They're mated now."

Cliff looked at the mark on Izzy's neck and he shook his head darkly. "We don't need him to follow one of us. One of us can lie in wait and ambush him on the trail."

"You would kill your tribesman?" Zephyr asked with a frown.

"Whatever stands in our way," Cliff replied darkly.

"Who's going to wait?" Mikael asked, glancing between the three.

"I will do it," Cliff said with a fiery voice.

"You can't," Zephyr said in exasperation. "You're the only one that has ties with the witches and the fairies. If he was to kill you, we would have nowhere to go."

"He's right. I"ll do it," Mikael said, his voice dark.

"Do you want me to stay with you? Two on one is better than one on one," Zephyr said, glancing at Mikael with understanding. They had to be the ones to take out the threat.

Mikael nodded. "We'll keep him away, you keep going. We'll meet you at the inn in Northemberton."

Cliff nodded and kept riding, holding the petite blond in his arms, her body slumped over his shoulder as he held her tightly to his chest. The two of them galloped awkwardly but the feel of Izzy's dead weight against him was enough to push him forward.

Mikael and Zephyr stopped riding and came to a standstill, turning their horses to wait for the man in pursuit.

"You ready for this?" Zephyr asked, glancing uneasily at Mikael.

"I've been ready for fourteen years," Mikael said. 

Zephyr nodded in understanding. "It has been a long wait."

"I can't believe we actually found one and we have her in our grasp," Mikael whispered as he stared intently at the man racing toward them at full speed, his horse a monster of a beast compared to their stallions.

"I know," Zephyr agreed, his eyes darkening as he remembered what was waiting for him as soon as he was done with her mate.

Mikael pulled out his sword, wielding it high and wide. Zephyr pulled his out from the sheath on the side of his horse as well. Both men sat on their horses, facing Nate. They watched as Nate came closer and closer, knowing this could be the end of their trouble. One dead mate was all they needed to keep the rest of the kingdoms from following them.

No one would care about one missing shifter if her mate was dead. 

"We can't kill him," Mikael said suddenly.

"Why not?" Zephyr asked.

"As soon as he dies, she will die, too," Mikael said. "Shit, shit, shit. They're mated now. They're tied together for eternity."

"She might not die," Zephyr added. "There have been cases where one mate lives after the other dies."

"After all this time, do you really want to take that chance?" Mikael asked, glancing at Zephyr. He was frustrated. "Just wound him enough that he can't follow."

Zephyr nodded in agreement. "There are two of us. We can stop him."

Nate was still half a mile away but he could see the two men sitting on their horses in the path, facing him. His heart beat erratically. This was it. This was his chance at retribution. It wouldn't get Izzy back yet, but it was a start.

He could still see a third figure riding far ahead. He was sure that's where Izzy was, with the man ahead. The other two were obviously trying to make sure they got away with her. His mate. HIS mate.

His blood boiled and he looked around the path, searching desperately for a weapon he could use. He had no saddle, no weapon, no means of attack. That wouldn't stop him. He would just have to improvise. Surely there was something he could use as a weapon. A shiny piece of black wood gleamed on the side of the trail. It was a branch from a dragonwood tree. He reached down as he rode past and grasped the dragonwood in his hand, pulling it up as he would a sword. It would have to do.

There were two men and he wouldn't be able to get them both at the same time so he made a quick assessment as he raced toward them. When he was a hundred yards away, his foes raised their swords and kicked their horses into a gallop.

They would meet head-on.

Nate watched as the two men raced toward him. There was a small section of the path that was slightly wider than the rest. Nate would use that. He pushed his horse faster. It was as if the horse could read his mind and his body better than he could himself. The horse darted forward even faster, moving to the left at the last minute where the path widened while Nate slashed his dragonwood fiercely to the right, meeting the sword of Zephyr and knocking him from his saddle. 

It was true, then, Nate thought absently. Dragonwood is as strong as steel.

Zephyr stood as Mikael turned to meet Nate once more. Nate turned and looked at Mikael. He wanted to turn and follow Izzy but he couldn't be sandwiched between the three men. He turned just in time to meet Mikael's sword as they swung, matching each swing with a clash. 

"Why do you want her?" Nate roared in anger.

"The same reason you do," Mikael taunted as he slashed his sword to the left. Nate felt Zephyr coming up behind him and he turned, ducking to avoid Mikael's sword as he slashed the branch toward Zephyr while kicking him in the chest. Zephyr fell to the ground and Nate directed his horse toward Zephyr. The horse stepped on his chest and Zephyr let out a cry of pain.

Nate turned to look at Mikael. Mikael's eyes widened with fright at the pain of his friend and his face turned fiery with anger.

"She's my mate," Nate said with fury.

"She's our savior," Mikael replied. "She was meant for us."

Nate swung toward Mikael but as his dragonwood met the sword of Mikael, he felt a sword pierce his thigh and he looked down to see Zephyr holding his chest with one hand, and his sword with the other.

Nate let out a roar and grasped the sword from Zephyr's hands, swinging it into his hand with ease as he swiped it down toward the man on the ground, slicing through Zephyr's neck. Zephyr looked up at Nate with a surprised gasp. Then, in a rush of wind, his face went peacefully calm as he looked past Nate at Mikael.

Mikael was staring in horror as he watched Zephyr succumb to the neck wound. The wounded man fell back in slow motion. 

Nate could barely hear the words escaping Mikael's lips but as they permeated the air, Nate felt a rush of a breeze as the life was lifted from Zephyr and he whispered his dying words.

"I'm free."

Peace fell on Zephyr's face as his eyes stared ahead blankly. His body lay on the ground, at an odd angle, and Nate felt an odd pang of remorse as he looked briefly at the dead man. He felt grim satisfaction when he remembered that the man had taken Izzy from him.

And now he was dead.

Mikael let out a roar of despair, his voice permeating the air with desperate sorrow.

It only took a moment. Nate was distracted long enough that as Mikael let out a loud roar, he thrust his sword toward Nate, slicing the sharp blade into Nate's abdomen. The blood seeped onto Nate's shirt and left a streak across the blade of Mikael's sword.

Nate let out a grunt as he felt the metal leave his side and Mikael look at him with satisfaction.

"You will not die today, Nate," Mikael said with soft fury. He whispered the words into Nate's ear as the sword fell to the ground from Nate's hand. "You will be alive and you will remember that every day you're alive, your mate is with us, fulfilling our every need while you have failed her."

Mikael spit in Nate's face and turned to gallop away from Nate and Zephyr. Nate felt the sharp sting through his side and the piercing pain from his thigh. He was losing a lot of blood. He needed to stop the bleeding. He wouldn't be able to heal completely but he would be able to heal enough to not die. These were not mortal wounds.

He looked at the face of the dead man lying on the ground of the trail. Nate's eyes blurred from the pain. He shook his head. He would not fail Izzy. He tightened his grip on the reins and pulled his shirt off, ripping it into two to use as a tourniquet around his thigh and his abdomen.

It took some effort to wrap his abdomen with enough cloth to staunch the bleeding. It would scab over and removing the cloth would be painful, but he pushed that thought aside, his mind focused on getting Izzy. There were black dots blurring his vision but he willed himself awake and kicked his horse into motion.

"We can't fail her," he whispered as he leaned down to hold tight to the horse's mane, hoping the horse knew where to go as he grunted against the pain racking his body.

With a whiney and a jump, the horse took off once more with Nate holding on with the only energy he had left. He would purse Cliff to the ends of the earth. As he galloped ahead, he thought about the trail they were following. He would meet the witches, he would find those willing to help him. As he rode on, he thought with satisfaction of the dead man lying on the trail behind him.

Now, there were only two to defeat.