Chapter 3
A strong gale stirred Zandra from her dream. Her hair was whipping into her face so hard that she could not see what was happening at first. Had a hurricane or some other natural disaster brought further death and devastation to the city?
Throwing a hand out, she realized that she was in a forest, and the events of the evening flooded back to her. “Anani! Anani! Wake up!” She crawled over to where he was slightly lifted off of the cushion she had built him. His eyes were open, but it was obvious that he was not seeing the world as he continued to strengthen the winds.
The wards began to shatter around them as Zandra tried to stand up beside him. She pulled him into a hug, begging him to wake up. Still she seemed unable to reach him.
The wounds that had been healing were opening again and new blood began to spring from them. Zandra immediately began to mutter over them, working her hands as fast as she could, trying to close them as fast as they opened. He had lost too much blood to sustain any further injuries. A small part of her realized that the quick healing meant that the deeper wounds were not coming undone, but there was no time to celebrate. If he continued, Anani was going to kill himself with the effort of conjuring a storm. It was something that was usually easy, requiring little more than a few thoughts, but he wasn’t meant to do it while on the ground. It took far more effort as the ground elements fought against him.
One thing was clear – Anani was trapped in some sort of nightmare and he was trying to ward something off.
Desperate for some way to wake him without having to leave his side, Zandra’s eyes tossed around, looking for anything that could wake him. Her lute had been flung too far to reach. Even if she could, the neck was shattered, and the body had several deep cracks running the full length. Choking back a gasp, Zandra turned to look at the shifter. She ran a hand over the elegant dragon tattoo that appeared to be crawling over his shoulder and down his chest. It stirred, but did nothing to wake him. She sent a small jolt down her hand, but the dragon just lazily yawned at Zandra as Anani continued to increase the wind speed around them.
“Gods damn you, shifter!” she screamed at him, but her voice was barely more than a vague noise in the wind.
At a loss for what else to do, she leaned over and kissed him, gently at first, but then much more forcefully when he didn’t relax.
Suddenly his eyes shot open. Zandra watched and as soon as he was aware, she backed away.
“What in the infinite hells do you think you are doing?” His eyes flashed in anger as he registered the kiss.
“Waking you up.” She pointed to his side where a small bit of blood was starting to trickle down his shirtless body.
He growled at her as he pulled one of her blankets from the small pile of belongings now pushed up against the cushion. “You could have just fixed it.”
“I tried, but you wouldn’t wake up. You’ve destroyed the – You know what, never mind. You seem like you are back to normal. Just go.” She turned her back on him and began picking up her stuff.
“I am currently residing in this area. You are the one who needs to leave.”
Zandra was about to respond with a cruel retort, but she swallowed it. He had every reason to hate her, so she wasn’t about to argue with him. “You are right. I will be gone as soon as I finish collecting my things.” She waved her hands and everything except the lute returned into the bag. Picking up the bag, Zandra refused to turn and look at the shifter for fear that the tears would start to flow again. Walking over to her lute, she couldn’t prevent the inevitable. Biting her lip until it bled, she reached down and held back her tears. The taste of metal, mint, and sweetness mixed in her mouth as she tried to pick it up without Anani seeing what had happened.
“What are you doing? Why are you dragging this out?” His voice was like the howling wind before a hurricane.
“I’m trying to...” her voice cracked. Clearing her throat, she tried again, “I’m just a little… tired.” There was nothing she could say that wouldn’t sound accusatory.
“Then all you have to do is–” Anani had moved beside her as quickly as a gale, but as soon as he saw what she was trying to do, he stopped. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She tried to step in front of him so that he wouldn’t see that the instrument was completely destroyed.
“What happened? Did you throw that against the tree?”
“I would never–” She bit back the words. “I said don’t worry about it.” She let the anger boil up to the surface so that the tears would stay at bay.
“If you didn’t do it, tell me what happened.” He stood so close to her that she could feel the currents coming from him. The way his presence radiated small jolts of electricity caused her pain, but she fought back the urge to say anything about it.
It had the desired effect. She knew that he wouldn’t leave her alone if she didn’t talk. “There was a storm, and it blew my lute against the tree before I could stop it.”
“How could a storm possibly get through the–” His eyes were flashing until he realized what had happened. “I did this. Oh gods, Zandra, I’m so sorry.” The currents radiating from him subsided and he stepped away from her. “I was – I’m sure Akeno can fix it for you. He would do anything for you, so I’m sure–”
“No. It’s my fault, I’ll deal with it. I should have…” Her voice trailed off because she had no idea what she could have done to prevent the incident.
There was something like smugness in Anani’s voice as he replied, “Ah, has he finally gotten sick of you, too?”
Zandra’s eyes flashed as she looked at the shifter, but it left her nearly as fast as it had flared. Unwilling to go any further in the discussion, knowing how Anani would feel after learning the truth, she couldn't do that to him, especially not in reaction to her own anger. Turning her attention to the lute, she gently wrapped it in an ethereal blanket, and tucked it into a small void where she could retrieve it later. The lute would never play the same, but she could slowly fix it over time so that it was at least whole.
“Good luck, Anani. I hope you finish recovering.” She did not look at him as she turned and moved at an impossible speed away from him.
“Running away again? At what point are you going to learn that doesn’t work? How many decades? You do realize that you don’t have centuries like Akeno, right?” He appeared beside her, easily moving backwards at a speed that matched hers. He swerved and veered around trees and other obstacles without being able to see them. It was one of the useful things about currents – Anani never really had to look at his surroundings.
“You know, Anani, I am really trying to make this easy on you by getting away. Why don’t you let me?”
“Oh, but I would much rather hear how things ended between you and Akeno. I always knew he was smart, but when it came to you, he was a complete moron. I want to revel in how he finally figured you out.”
Zandra bit her lip again, and immediately regretted it as a few flecks of blood dripped into her mouth again. “He left me. End of story.”
“Oh, all stories are longer than that. Now that I’ve had a chance to recover, I could use a good story.”
“You recovered because I helped. Why the hell didn’t you go to one of your many friends? They could have done a lot more for you a lot faster.”
There was a long pause. Zandra turned to look at him for a second until a small branch whipped her face. The blood began to trickle out of a small scratch.
“Woah, careful.” Anani stopped her and ran his hand near the side of her face, removing all traces of the blood. The scratch was nearly gone when he pulled his hand back. He frowned after realizing what he had done almost instinctively.
Zandra took a step back from him, uncertain what to say. Finally, she stuttered out, “Thank you.” Again she began moving at a quick pace away from him.
Again he appeared beside her. “I still want to hear the story.”
“No, you really don’t.”
Something about the way she said it caused Anani to stop and pause while she continued on. His attention went to her clothing and her movements. Without any effort, he caught up with her. “Why haven’t you changed your clothes? You hate being covered in blood or looking like you’ve done an honest day’s work.”
“I haven’t had time.” For a moment, she considered running a split of herself and trying to get away from Anani, but the thought left nearly as quickly as it arrived. Anani was incredibly smart. She had tried it on him once, so he would be expecting that as well. He had been right – Zandra had always run away when things got too difficult. Melzi had been the first time where she had not been able to run away, and she had not wanted to run.
“Well, you have time now, and we are in the woods. Why do I have to point this out?”
“Well, you are here, and with your delicate sensibilities, I didn’t think you would want to watch me change.”
“Is that the real reason? Or,” he grabbed her arm, stopping both of them, “are you planning on trying to use it for something?”
Zandra pulled her arm out of his grip. Without a word, she tore her top off and threw it to the ground. She didn’t look at him as she quickly ripped of her pants, using a little magic to make the seams weaker. “There. All yours.” She took off in a slightly different direction, her attention focused on getting as far from him as possible. He would be a little too embarrassed of her nakedness to come after her immediately, and that might be enough time to get far enough away to hide herself.
Having gone a ways from the shifter, Zandra decided it was best to try a split. All five of her would be naked, making his finding her a little more difficult. If he was flustered enough, Anani just might miss the real her until she could get far enough away. It would be incredibly difficult, but the woods were the best place to be to lose him. Creating a four-way split, she sent other versions of herself in several different directions, including the one she had been going in. The real version of her changed direction and headed toward the thickest part of the forest where daylight could not get through.
“Do you really think that I would fall for that?” The sound of his voice was just behind her as Zandra tried to get away.
Zandra suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked into those stormy blue eyes. “It was worth a shot. I'm trying to make this easier on both of us. For whatever reason, you seem intent on hurting both of us.” Snapping her fingers, she dismissed the splits, then turned to leave.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Anani appeared by her side again, but this time she wasn’t going to bother trying to run. The amount of magic she had used over the last 24 hours was almost the full extent of what she could do. If she kept using her talent, her body would age. Given how old she was, it would likely kill her. If he wanted to follow her, she would just have to deal with it as best she could because she still had a purpose to fulfill.
“I admit that there were plenty of times when I would have been overjoyed to hear silence from you, but right now, I want answers. Your silence is actually unwelcome at this point. There is something you aren’t telling me, and until I hear it, I am going to be the tempest in your life that makes sure you know no rest.”
“There was a time when it would have pleased me to have you at my heels.” She cast a quick look at him and saw that he was blushing a little. “But can we just say that I helped you last night, and I need some time to recover from that? I’ve reached my limit now and–”
“Hey, I didn’t make you do any of that stuff this morning. That’s all on you.”
Zandra almost bit her lip again. Taking a deep breath she stopped and turned toward her tormentor. “Anani, please. I know that you no longer care what happens to me, but out of gratitude for what I did yesterday, if you would please just leave me in peace for a few days? If you still want answers when I reach…” Her voice trailed off. She couldn’t say where she was actually going because he would know what it meant. Running a hand over her eyes, she muttered, “Just let me get to Naucratis, and then I will tell you.” She looked into his eyes. “Please.”
His face was a shade of pink. “I am having a hard time taking you seriously with you running around naked. Why don’t you put some clothes on?”
“Because if it gets you to leave faster, I will try virtually anything at this point.”
Frowning at her, Anani took a step closer. “There is something wrong with you.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips. “That would be everything, right? Everything is wrong with me, so please just go.” There was pleading in her voice as she felt her knees get weak.
“No, your aura, it’s shifted. I didn’t notice it until just now, but your aura is as dark as I imagine your heart is. Did he really break your heart? Did he finally realize that someone else would be better for him? And it affected you this much?”
“Yes, he absolutely broke my heart, and two years later I still can’t get over it. Are you happy now? Can I be allowed to go and grieve in peace?”
“No.” His eyes were going over her figure, and it made her shiver to be fully exposed. Anani was not looking at her body, he was trying to read her past emotions to determine what had happened. “No, this is something else.” His eyes went to hers, and for the first time in more than 20 years, she could see concern in them.
A small sob escaped before she could stop it. Not caring about what it did to her, Zandra turned and tried to move as fast as she could away from him.
She hadn’t gotten more than a few feet from where they had been when arms wrapped around her. Anani was pressed up against her, and she could feel his concern in the way the air around them moved. As he spoke, she could feel his voice vibrating through his body. “What happened?”
“Let me go.” She wanted to yell at him, to push him away and tell him that it was none of his business, but that would only expose the truth faster and more cruelly. Anani would be able to tell that she was lying, and then he would be able to figure out the rest. That was not how she wanted him to learn about what had happened to his best friend. Instead, she tried to push whatever anger she could muster to the surface, but it was nearly impossible when Anani was being kind.
“Please tell me what happened.” He placed his head against the top of hers. “He didn’t leave you, did he?”
“He did. He left me and I can never get him back.” She moved a little, trying to get out of Anani’s grasp. “Please, Anani. I have things that I need to do, and I can’t do it by standing here.” As hard as she tried, her voice wavered and began to crack as she implored him to let go.
Anani’s arms wrapped more firmly around her. “Something is wrong with you, but I cannot tell what. Please. I need to know what happened. I–” His voice was gentle as his arms shifted. His hands moved down to her hips so that he was leaning over her a little. To her surprise, Anani buried his face in her neck. “I need someone to talk to now, and I’m afraid you are the only person I have left.”
Zandra froze at the words and a sense of fear rose in her. “What did you do?” She closed her eyes and began to search around her to feel the history of the last few days. Suddenly the fact that Anani had been seriously injured took on a more sinister twist. “How did you get hurt? What happened?”
She felt something trickle down her chest, and she knew that Anani was crying. Zandra tried to turn around to look at him, to tell him it would be alright, but she knew that there was nothing she could say or do. All of the comfort that she would instinctively give would be a lie. His arms held her firm, so she put her hands over his. “Anani, you are scaring me. What happened?”
He shook his head but said nothing.
Over two years, it had become like second nature to her. Zandra focused on the warmth and began to draw the pain from Anani. It wasn’t like the pain of the plague victims, it was much more emotionally intense and by the time she finished, the witch felt a deep sense of loss. It was nearly overpowering.
His arms relaxed a little, and Zandra turned to face him. “You don’t have to tell me, my little Anani. Just rest until you are ready–”
Before she could finish, he was pressing his mouth to hers, the feel of his bare skin like a warm breeze on a beautiful spring day. She wanted to fight it, but Zandra found she couldn’t. For the first time in more than two years, she felt something beyond pain and loss.
Anani picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his hips. He pulled her to him before one of his hands moved up her back and rested on her neck. Zandra squeezed her legs and felt Anani remove his hand from her lower back. A moment later he slowly lowered her down onto a small cushion of air. He continued to kiss her as he removed the rest of his clothing, then he removed her boots. He pressed his body against hers, running his hands down her sides and resting them against her hips. Pulling back for a second, he shifted a little, then began to kiss her neck. Zandra arched up, her body acting on the gentle sensations that his body caused wherever he touched her. She could feel the little spurts of electricity from him as he placed his mouth over one of her nipples and she moaned. Gently, he began to press inside of her, never taking his mouth off of her breast. His hand moved up and down her back, gently massaging her as he worked further into her. Before he was completely inside of her, Zandra let out a small shudder and climaxed. In response, he slowed down and pulled out a little. He gave her a few seconds to catch her breath, then pressed fully into her, causing her to orgasm again.
She had no idea how long it lasted; shifters like Anani could last for several days when they were really aroused, although after his injury, she knew that was unlikely. When he finally stopped, her body was fatigued. He remained on top of her, one hand moving around her hip, the other gently playing with one of her breasts. Anani’s face was buried in her neck, and he was still inside of her. Zandra ran her hands through his soft hair, gently kissing his forehead and humming a lullaby. His breathing slowed and she could tell that he had finally drifted off to sleep.
When he woke, there would be hell to pay, but for the moment, Zandra didn’t care. Wrapping her legs around him, she felt him shift a little, becoming a little harder as he did so. She gave her muscles a little squeeze, and his body responded automatically. Running her hand down his back, Zandra released the tension in his body. She was a little sad when he went soft, but she wasn't about to wake him again – she doubted that her body would be able to handle any more anyway. As tempted as she was to delve into the pain that was now so obvious, Zandra did not want to wake him.
Shifting ever so slightly, she kissed the top of his head and closed her eyes. Just a few moments of peace. That’s all I need, then I will finish the rest without regrets. Please, her mind begged the world at large, just a little bit of comfort.