Coated in a film of blood, sweat, and dirt, Anastasia, Dakota, and the Jaitu stepped through the portal and into Terrenia. Night had fallen, and the few people who were still awake rushed out to help carry the wounded.
Nix was among them. “What happened?” he asked, his voice carrying slightly more emotion than normal.
“Vincent attacked.”
Nix muttered something angrily and then growled. “He will burn for this,” he said as he saw the bodies of the wounded.
“Yes he will,” Nallia said as she approached them. “I am Nallia, queen of the Jaitu.”
Anastasia noted how her voice broke slightly at the end, and if Nix noticed, he chose to ignore it.
“I am Nix. General to the Guisnows. I am terribly sorry for the loss you and your people have suffered this night.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded slightly. “What can I do to help?”
“We are trying to get those that are hurt the worst in to see Elizabeth and Tilly first. I will be joining them shortly.”
“Very well.” Nix jogged off towards the group of newcomers and Anastasia turned back to Nallia.
“We have some cottages available, and we are more than happy to put up tents for you.”
“We do not sleep on the ground,” Nallia stated. Anastasia started to ask why the houses had been built on the ground in her village, but stopped herself. “These trees will do nicely.” She nodded. “We can build in them.”
“Your village was on the ground?” Dakota asked, obviously not as concerned with offending their new guest as Anastasia was.
“Yes, but we slept in the trees. The buildings that were built on the ground were simply communal areas. Where we traded or entertained. The others had been burned up by the fires so you couldn’t see them anymore.”
Dakota nodded silently.
“I am going to see if I can help in the medical cottage,” Anastasia said simply.
“I will bring you and the others up to speed, Nallia,” Dakota offered.
“Up to speed?” she asked curiously.
“I will tell you about what is going on, and what we plan to do about it.”
Nallia nodded in understanding.
“What did you mean, you expected her?” Dakota asked as they walked towards the part of the village that had the largest trees.
“I had a vision about a year ago. I saw a large fire bird coming down from the sky. With it came light that beat back the darkness our world was facing.”
“Do you typically have visions?”
Nallia shook her head. “My mother and father believed it to be a premonition, although no one in my people had ever been known to possess the gift of sight. I was told to keep it to myself, that it had been nothing but a nightmare.”
“That doesn’t seem very nice.”
Nallia glared at him. “They were trying to protect me.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any offense.”
Her face softened. “I understand how it may look from the outside, and throughout the year I had tried to convince myself it had been a nightmare as well, only I could never quite get to where I fully believed it was.”
Dakota nodded and they continued walking in silence. Twice now people had told them of visions that depicted Anastasia’s arrival. One had been having premonitions before, the other never had them. It made Dakota wonder who was sending these messages, and why.
* * *
Anastasia pushed into the medical cottage and immediately made a beeline for Elizabeth, who was working desperately to stop the bleeding on a young Jaitu girl.
Anastasia reached down for her magic and laid a hand on the girl’s forehead. She poured her healing energy into her and willed the girl’s body to heal.
Elizabeth stepped back in awe as the young girl’s body healed before her eyes. When Anastasia sensed the bleeding had stopped, she opened her eyes and removed her hand. A pair of golden eyes were staring at her, a mixture of fear and awe in their depths.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Anastasia nodded and moved onto the next patient. She repeated the procedure until one by one, she healed those who were nearest to death. By the time she finished with the last and was about to move on to those less injured, Elizabeth stopped her.
“You’re going to kill yourself if you keep going, Anastasia. Go get some rest.”
“I can help a few more.”
“No you can’t.” Carmen, who had just entered the cottage, stepped over. “Let me take over for a bit.”
“But—”
“No buts about it. I may not be able to heal as you can, but I can certainly lend a hand.”
“Don’t make me get Dakota,” Elizabeth warned, and Anastasia smiled.
She threw her hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, I’m going.”
She stepped outside and took a deep breath. The sun was still hours away, but Anastasia couldn’t help but feel that with each new day they took one step closer to victory. She just wasn’t sure at what cost that victory would come.
She started her walk towards home when the dizziness she had been fighting against took over and she sunk to the ground. Her body felt completely drained of all energy, and her limbs were like jelly. She was utterly and completely exhausted.
Dakota came around the corner and ran the rest of the way when he saw her. She tried her best to offer him a smile.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine Dakota, just tired.” She reached up for him. “Help?”
He pulled her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She wrapped hers around his waist for support, and together they made their way home.
“How’s everyone?” he asked.
“Better. I was able to heal those that were severely injured.”
“So that’s why you were sitting on the ground. Ana, you have to be careful.”
“I am, Dakota. I promise. I just couldn’t let any more of them die.”
He nodded in understanding. “I updated everyone on what happened,” he said, changing the subject.
“Good. We need to hurry, Dakota.”
“You need to rest. You won’t be any good to anyone if you aren’t strong enough to fight.”
This time she nodded, knowing he was right.
They walked back to the cottage and Dakota sat Anastasia on the couch. “I’m going to heat up some water and before you say anything, I’m doing it the old-fashioned way. You need to relax.”
Anastasia smiled at him as he left and then came back carrying two large buckets of water. “I can manage to heat up the water, Dakota. It uses practically nothing. Besides, don’t you think I will get more rest the sooner I can get in the bath?”
He eyed her and then began pouring the water into the large tub. She warmed it as she had the other night and then let him help her get undressed.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he said with a laugh.
“Like what?” she asked innocently.
“Like you want to eat me alive.”
“I do, though, so it’s going to make ‘not looking at you like that’ more difficult.” She eyed him as he sat back and looked at her nude body. “Are you going to join me?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“Are you going to actually relax if I get in there?”
“Maybe.” She stood and as gracefully as she could since she was exhausted, sauntered over to the tub. She bent over and felt the water and grinned when she heard him groan behind her. “Like what you see?”
“You are insatiable. Bath first,” he said, and began stripping his clothes off. He climbed in and she climbed in after him. Once she was settled in between his legs, she leaned back against him.
“I feel like we are making good headway,” Anastasia offered. “At least in the sense of keeping him from slaughtering innocents.”
“I do too. We’ll get there, Ana.” He began to rub her shoulders and Anastasia moaned.
“You believe we’ll win?”
“Absolutely.” He kissed her neck softly and continued to knead the sore muscles in her shoulders and back.
“That feels sooooo good,” she groaned.
He continued to massage her until she fell asleep against him. He lifted her carefully and carried her to bed so they could both get some sleep.