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The Slayer swam up from unconsciousness into agonizing heat. From the sun beating down on her bare, uncovered head, to the burning in her back and shoulder, everything was on fire. She tried to move, to push away from whatever it was that was rubbing against the torn skin on her back, but was too weak.
As she became more aware she noticed that the Morgan had stopped She could feel her pants soaked from the horse?s sweat and that the Morgan was taking great gasps of air.
The buzz of flies around her head was irritating, if expected. She concentrated on trying to ignore the pain, letting the Slayer take more control and the suffering lessened to simply unbearable.
She tried to disregard the flies, the pain, the horse?s gasping, as she extended her extra sense out as far she could. She could still feel the mangy beasts following them. By nearly running her Morgan into the ground Arthur had put a mile, maybe even as much as three miles between them.
It was still hopeless because now the horse was exhausted and every second they weren?t moving was a second in which the wild beasts were gaining on them.
She pried open her dry, dust-filled eyes, only to snap them shut because of the blazing afternoon sun. Her eyes watered as she tried to blink away the afterimage that the sun caused.
The Slayer felt Arthur shift on the horse and noticed that both his arms were wrapped firmly around her middle. She was pulled tightly against his chest, his sweat-soaked shirt rubbing against her tender back with every breath he took. She briefly wondered why he didn?t have the Morgan?s reins in his hand, but dismissed the thought as unimportant. What was important was why they had stopped.
?Belle? Are you awake?? She felt his breath on her ear, her head lying against his shoulder, as he urgently whispered the words.
She opened her dry, cracked lips to answer "yes" but it instead came out as ?Ugh?? She swallowed trying to ease her dry throat. She was so horribly thirsty.
?Why have we stopped?? she was able to ask.
She still had no strength. She had never felt this weak, this helpless, this dependent. If the wolves caught up to them now, she didn?t know if she would have the strength to drive her dagger into her heart. Though it was still a comfort to feel them in her boots.
?Well, you see, your Morgan has . . . well he has . . . ? Arthur's rough voice sounded defeated.
She risked opening her eyes again, squinting against the sun, and peered down into the valley with one, two, three, yes, seven hills rising up around it. Her vision floated in and out focus as she counted. Her fuzzed brain seemed to think that was important for some reason, something about Rome, and Remus? She didn?t know, she couldn?t remember. As a good Christian, she had studied all the languages of the Bible, including Greek and Latin, but the seven hills eluded her at the moment.
?What?? She was proud of herself for actually being able to force the word out through the dryness in her throat. Nothing on her body seemed to work, except for her mouth. She was sure if the times weren?t so dire, Arthur would have some smart remark to say about the fact.
?Your Morgan brought us here. He refused to go in any other direction,? he said in amazement. ?And now he refuses to take a step further,? her Watcher added in frustration.
As her blurry vision cleared she began to make out details of the valley below. She saw there was a large wooden barn painted bright red shimmering in the sunlight. The barn was as big as some of the horse barns she had seen in Kentucky after the War. Wood in this area of the plains was worth more than its weight in gold. So, the settlers down below must have had a lot of money. A sod house was built into the side of a lee hill and a low wall made of sod was around the entire valley. A large wooden barn and a sod house didn?t make sense. Why would anyone waste that much wood for their horse or oxen?
?We can?t stop here,? Arthur said quietly, ?I won?t endanger the family below.? And the Slayer agreed with him. They had to get as far away from the homestead as they could before the beasts caught up to them. Even now, she could feel them closing in.
Arthur nudged the Morgan in his side to try and get him moving again. In reply, the horse violently shook his head, nearly unseating both of them. She could feel the horse's legs trembling with exhaustion, and she knew that he could go no further.
Arthur kicked the horse again and this time, the horse simply stood with his head down taking the abuse without protest.
Tears leaked from her eyes--Arthur, in his refusal to leave her, had now condemned an innocent family to a fate worse than death. Not only would he die when the hordes caught up, now more souls would be lost. It was clear from the leader of the small hunting party that morning that the wolves were forcibly adding to their numbers. She didn?t want to contemplate how many months, or years, it would take the Council to realize the threat in the Great Plains of America and send another Watcher and Slayer. If only he had done his duty and left her! Then he would have been able to lead an army back here to track down these vile creatures before their numbers became unmanageable.
She heard the faint whicker from a horse below. She searched the valley for the horse--if they could steal it, maybe they could lead the pack away from this unsuspecting family?s door. Just like the men in Southside tried to lead the invading Yankees away from their farm.
The Morgan let out a long, loud answering whinny. It sounded like no horse she had ever heard before. The invisible horse in the valley answered him and she thought that it must be in the barn. Maybe the family had more than one horse? If they could send the family one way while they went in the opposite, there was a chance they could survive.
She was startled when the Morgan started forward, down the steep hill on a trail that only he could see, to an opening in the low sod wall that she had missed. It wasn?t surprising she didn?t see the open gate, considering her eyesight was fading in and out of focus because the cold blackness was trying to rise up over her again.
She struggled against the darkness. She didn?t want to be unconscious when they met the family they had sentenced to Hell. Yet when they passed through the gate, she knew she must have succumbed to the delirium caused by the poison again because the sight before her stole her breath away. For there was not just one sod house built into the hillside but many built into the sides of each hill. Bringing the total to more than fifty families they had endangered. And now the huge wooden barn made sense.
The Slayer and the Watcher, whose duty it was to protect these people, had led the horde of beasts directly to them.
?No!? She tried to shout and push against Arthur?s arms. ?We must . . . if we can go back to the last hill there will still be hope!? Again she wanted to shout but the words came out as barely a whisper. She cursed her weakened body and her obdurate Watcher! He had always drilled into her the ideal of duty before self, just like the code of the South--Duty and Honor in death. It was the only way in which she could live this kind of life. To know that he had cheated her out of her honorable death was a horrible blow. Damn him!
?I agree.? She could hear the grief in his voice. It was as if he just now recognized his error from this morning. ?When your Morgan stops, I will leave you here and . . . ?
?No, they must find my body. You heard the beast this morning.? She made sure the words were spoken loudly enough for him to hear.
?Greetings, travelers.? A tall man shouted as he ducked low to come out of his dirt house. And now people were spilling out of their homes. Most of them had light hair and fair skin, though some had the shining black hair and brown skin that the Indians had.
The Morgan came to a plodding stop in the middle of the dusty street. His sides heaving and the foam from his sweat dripping off of him.
?I am the Mayor of this fair town,? he said, walking up to them as the crowd of people closed around. It was hardly a town, the Slayer thought, sluggishly, fighting the blackness, worried that Arthur might do something stupid if she did not remain conscious.
She reached out again to feel how close the wolves were ?and couldn?t feel them. It was as if something was blocking them from her. She could faintly feel another strong presence close by but she hadn?t the strength to figure out what was wrong. All that mattered was she knew that time was short. They needed a horse and they needed to backtrack if these people were to have a chance.
?We must get a horse and leave you quickly,? Arthur's shout rasped out of his dry throat. She could tell that he was as thirsty as she was but they didn't have time to stop. He leaned her against the neck of the Morgan and then slid off his back. A few seconds later, she was carefully pulled down to be cradled in his arms. Despite his gentleness pain ripped through her causing the darkness to overtake her. She didn't think she had been out for long because when her vision swam back into focus they were still standing in front of the surprised Mayor.
?Please we have ? beasts chasing us. As long as ?? Arthur tried to choke out. He had to stop and swallow every few words to get enough moisture to speak clearly. She could hear Arthur?s pounding heart with her head leaning against his chest and as he took a step forward, towards the Mayor, it sped up.
?Hold up travelers,? the Mayor started to say raising his hand to stop Arthur's flow of words. The Slayer could detect a faint Germanic accent
?No, you don?t understand, you could never understand!? Her normally calm and collected Watcher nearly screamed at the man. The people that had gathered around them backed away a step from this obviously insane person. ?We need a horse, we?ll leave in trade this fine Morgan ? please??
The Mayor looked them over, taking in everything about them. The blood-soaked clothes, the dirty matted hair, and the lack of a saddle on the exhausted horse. The Slayer could see the pieces clicking into place in the tall man?s mind.
Wasting time.
For his part Arthur seemed to realize how he sounded, because he just stood still for a few seconds, taking deep breaths. She could feel his chest moving with each one. As he calmed down she was able to ground herself.
?Hope!? the Mayor shouted, startling her. ?Are these the people you told us to expect?? the tall man asked as a woman pushed her way through to the crowd to stand in front of Arthur and Belle. The woman was beautiful, with long red hair and porcelain skin.
?Aye, they be,? the woman said looking them over with a critical eye.
?No, it can?t be true,? her Watcher mumbled. She glanced up at him--what color he had left after the exhausting ride fled his face. She actually thought she could hear his heart skip a beat as his breath caught in his throat. He started to sink to his knees and that seemed to pull the people out of whatever stasis they were frozen in because three men came forward. One to take the Morgan's reins, one to take her out Arthur's arms, and the other wrapped a supporting arm around his waist.
She vaguely thought that Arthur's reaction to the seer knowing they were coming had been extreme. There had been other people that could see through veils of time.
Then nothing mattered to the Slayer as the man jostled her injured shoulder at the same time as he scraped the wounds in her back. The fire screamed through her once more, her ears filled with the roaring of the Atlantic, and her sight narrowed down to just a small pinprick of light.
When she came back to herself this time it seemed she had been unaware for just a few moments, because no one had moved. She looked up into the weathered face of the man that held her. She could see none of the gentle kindness that her Watcher had displayed. Then again, the Slayer hated, hated, being carried like those weak girls at the formal who would always get the vapors. She hated needing to be passed from the gentle arms of her Watcher to a stranger . . . she hated that the unconsciousness that she had been able to hold at bay was overwhelming her right when she needed to stay clear-headed.
?We need a horse . . . we need . . . to . . . ? She forced the words out even as her eyes closed. The man holding her lifted her up to get a better grip, causing her injured shoulder to rub roughly against his chest, sending a raging inferno of pain shooting through her body. She was able to cut the scream short, but some of it still leaked out to hang in the air.
The woman looked down at the injured Slayer and all the girl could think of was that her eyes were the same color as Arthur?s. The difference being that she had gold flecks around the irises. The woman reached out to touch the Slayer's torn shoulder, carefully lifting her ragged cotton shirt away from the wound.
?Don?t touch her you she-witch!? Arthur demanded, staggering out of the arms of the man supporting him. ?We just need a horse; we only need a horse ?? he cried pushing the woman away from the Slayer. And while earlier in the day the Slayer thought she had seen tears leaking out from under his wire-rimmed spectacles; this time she was sure of it. The tears slid down his dusty, sunburned face leaving muddy tracks.
The Mayor grabbed Arthur?s arms, stilling him. ?You are safe here. We have protected this valley,? the big man told the Watcher. Arthur just shook his head in desperation.
?No, we must leave. We must leave now!? The Watcher screamed at the larger man and tried to pull out of his grasp.
The Slayer was taken aback. She had never seen her Watcher display strong emotion. He had never panicked in battle, he had always been a calm, steadying force, and now he was falling apart at the most dire time. Right when she needed him to talk sense into these people. To make them realize the doom that even now should be coming down the hills after them.
The Mayor shook the hysterical man. ?Hope has had dreams of you coming for 10 and 7 days. We know about the beasts and our land is protected from them. She has had dreams of a rescuer coming and needing mending and rest.? Even as the Mayor was talking to her Watcher, the woman was back examining the Slayer's shoulder as she lay limp in the man?s arms.
The Slayer?s view of the Mayor and her Watcher was cut off when the woman turned on her heel and motioned the man carrying Belle to follow.
She couldn?t see Arthur?s reaction to her being carried away. She could still hear the Mayor?s clear voice as he continued talking to Arthur. ?The poison the two-hearts, the werefolk, use will kill her agonizingly slowly if you do not let Hope care for her. Do you want her to die that kind of death out in the open or would you let the beasts turn her into one of their own?? The words echoing in her ears, she tried to force herself to focus.
The woman looked down at the Slayer again and she thought the woman looked familiar; in her confused state she just couldn?t remember from where.
-- Michael Moore
Click to feed a rescue Critter:
-- Michael Moore
Click to feed a rescue Critter:
Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy: "I kinda love you."
--'Choices'
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