TORTURE. It had felt like torture to follow after Tavis and the Princess, and it took an eternity. An eternity that Kyden was left lying in the burrows at the mercy of the olm. He'd been so consumed by worry and pain that he couldn't remember much of the journey. Nor had he noted the change in landscape until they stopped. After the harshness of the White Wood, the lush colours of the fringes of the Wilds were a comfort.
Leif collapsed in the rushes at the edge of a ravine he'd apparently crossed; atop the steep hill he had no desire to climb, he could see their horses. Smoke pluming upwards let him know that Tavis and the Princess would have been well settled by the time Killi reached the top. He watched, eyes drooping, as Killi greeted the horses.
"Leif." Tavis stood over him, worry etched deeply on his face.
"Tave?"
"Killi sent me to see to your wound." He indicated the lower section of Leif's shirt that was now black with dried blood.
Leif sat with some effort and waved Tavis off. "It's not as bad as it looks. Most of this isn't mine."
Tavis fixed a sardonic look on him before examining Leif's knee. "It's a bit swollen."
"As I'm sure yours is, Tave, you shouldn't have come back dow—"
"Leif, we both know I'm not much use the rest of the time; this is the only way I can help." Tavis applied a stinking salve to Leif's knee and firmly wrapped a bandage around it.
The almost instant relief made Leif mutter a thanks to Gwree and Bwillok who'd pointed out all sorts of helpful leaves to Tavis.
With a triumphant smile, Tavis squeezed Leif's knee and stood. "Goodnight."
It was a slow walk up the hill for Tavis and, as he reached the top, he turned back to Leif with brotherly concern on his face. "If some of that blood is yours, those leaves I left will help the wound from festering."
The thought of opening the cincher again and looking at the flesh made Leif feel sick. But the thought of morning bringing with it a festering burning fever to stop him from going after Kyden made the feeling worse. With a sigh, he carefully undid the hooks and felt an immediate comfort as his flesh breathed. Under the thick boning, the layers of fabric that Kyden had wrapped him with were soaked through. Sucking in a hard breath along with his stomach, he gingerly worked the leaves under the makeshift bandages.
Leaving the cincher open for some time would have been a heavenly chance to breathe freely, but he eyed the top of the hill once more; the pull of exhaustion and pain could have him asleep in an eye's blink. He didn't think he could bear seeing that same look on Tavis or Killi's faces. It had nearly broken him with Kyden; that heart-wrenching look of betrayal.
Leif hoped Kyden knew he hadn't wanted to leave him there. That he had every intention of going back for him, even if, as Killi had been careful not to say, there was nothing to go back for. Because Kyden had been very wrong about one thing—his heart was currently lying in the olm burrows, not in the Princess' hands.
"I really don't think we should be going back there."
Leif didn't bother looking behind him, gritting his teeth at Killi's repeatedly uttered words. He wanted to turn him away but could appreciate that he followed even against his better judgement. The sun was still climbing in the sky as they began their descent into the gorge. They could be thankful at least for the lack of stifling heat, and the fact that they would not be slippery with sweat as they climbed.
"We found the Princess there." Leif eyed the caves, looking for an entrance point that would put them closer to Kyden.
"This way then. I hope you know how stupid this is, Leif. We should return the Princess to Aradanas. We should not be walking into oblivion to die beside our friend."
Nails biting into his palm, Leif swallowed down the anger and pain that surged at those words. The cave in front of him wavered behind a glassy sheen of tears. Sucking in a few breaths to steady himself, he stepped into the cavernous entrance to the burrows.
"Killi, you have always been a most loved and respected friend. If that were you, I would not let Kyden or Tavis stop me from bringing you out of there. You are right, I'm sure, so I will not ask you to follow me to your death. Promise me, if I do not return, you will see the Princess home."
"You are an ox, Leif of Leressea! I will not lea—What in flames are you doing?"
Leif rubbed himself with dirt from the cave floor, some of it so foul smelling he was turning green. "Eldri said they are lured by smell. They will not smell me this way."
"A valid solution, that," Killi said, surprised, and rubbed himself with plain dirt. "But don't expect me to use it."
"So, you're coming in with me, then?"
The light in the tunnel had been a beacon, and Leif had run without a thought of safety toward it. He stumbled breathless into a cavern, lit by torches in the walls. The magnitude of the light ricocheting off the white walls blinded him. When his sight readjusted, his heart just about stopped. Chained between two posts, hanging dead or simply beaten to exhaustion, was Kyden.
"Kyden!"
Too tired to show relief or happiness, Kyden tracked his movement through the cavern with one eye. "You're not real. Go away."
There had been more Loricai, of course, and Leif had expected to be chased, but this seemed extreme. What had they hoped to gain from Kyden being beaten? Leif ignored Kyden's delirium and moved nearer still.
It was curious that Kyden shook violently, his expression angry. "You're not Leif. Leif's not here. You're not real."
Not real? He was certainly real and standing there.
Kyden flinched back as he reached for him. "Don't touch me! I won't fall for it! You're not Leif. He would never say those thi—" His eyes darted over Leif's shoulder and he laughed derisively. "Your first ruse didn't work, so now you're trying with the others! You'll get no results with Killi, you monsters!"
"Monsters? What is he talking about, Leif?"
"We have no time to wonder as to his meaning, Killi—cut him down."
Kyden lashed out at Killi with savage anger. Leif cupped his face gently and locked their eyes together. "Shh, Kyden. I'm here, it's really me. You're ok."
For a moment, only a moment, Kyden looked like he wanted to believe it, but then he closed his eyes harshly and continued his muttering.
Leif buckled as Kyden was finally released, only just managing to keep him upright till Killi took his other side. Together they dragged him back through the burrows, as he murmured in defeat and begged someone that wasn't them to leave him be.
His mind was a million miles from where they were, but he still moved at pace with Killi, Leif sorted through things he knew of magic. Kyden's behaviour spoke to a situation much more grave than they might have fathomed at the start of this. Things that weren't there. Things he'd believed were them.
"We do not face only Loricai," Leif said with worry. "Think. Does this sound like anything you've ever heard of? What was he seeing? What could become us..." He stopped, an icy vein of fear slicing through his body. "Grimlings."