Read Dragon's Fall :: Chapter 18

Anders released his arm and started walking, and feeling abashed, Nysid went quietly along with him. It was a relief to discover that his mate apparently wasn’t the type to twist the knife when someone slipped up, the prince wasn’t sure he could have handled it if he was. Then again, if he had been that sort Anders certainly wouldn’t have been Nysid’s mate…

The prince cast the other man a furtive look and found that Anders was, indeed, still very much to his taste at a glance. Broad shoulders, muscular build, and a bright smile that could charm birds out of the sky (or sullen princes from their shells)— he was very nice to look at. It was his kindness that really stood out, however, thoughts of which brought to mind the way Anders had fretted over him after his fall, or listened so patiently when he’d uncharacteristically poured his guts out over the campfire the night previous. Despite his calling the blond a meat-head earlier, there was no small amount of wit rattling around between the man’s ears too, which only made things worse for the prince, really.

Nysid sighed, tired and frustrated, not to mention in pain; the throbbing in his hip hadn’t let up in the slightest and he was struggling to keep up with Anders, though he refused to ask him to slow down.

“You alright?”

Startled, the prince looked over to find Anders watching him with soft brown eyes that were far too keen by half for Nysid’s taste. Never mind that his mate’s ability to tell he was struggling without him having to say anything at all made his heart flutter again. “I’m fine,” he tried to insist, though Anders’ look only turned skeptical in response and he slowed his pace regardless. Luckily, Nysid was spared the effort of trying and failing to cover for the unruly feelings trying very hard to break out of their cage within him by the reappearance of their guide. “Look,” he said and pointed her out in hopes of distracting Anders.

It worked, but only after the man took a moment longer to scrutinize Nysid with a thoroughness that made the prince feel uncomfortably seen; only then did his attention turn to the woman where she waited in the distance. The ground had been on a steady incline for awhile now, and their guide stood at the base of a rocky outcropping, clearly waiting for them.

Nysid started to move towards her, but before he could even take a step, Anders held out his arm and blocked him, then called, “We need a place to camp; he’s hurt— please.”

Simultaneously embarrassed and touched, Nysid tried to interrupt Anders with a hand on his shoulder and said, “I can keep going.” The prince couldn’t remember the last time someone besides Ephinea had worried over his wellbeing so earnestly, and while bothersome in some ways, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like it just a little.

“Maybe, but you shouldn’t,” Anders said without looking around at him, though he did reach up and place his own hand over the prince’s, where it rested on his shoulder. “We should find some place to rest before sunset anyways, there’s no point in us stumbling around on a bare mountain in the dark.”

Nysid couldn’t argue with that, and before his mate could say more, their guide started to move again. Whether or not she was doing as Anders had asked was unknown, but they followed anyways after Anders pointed out that they could always stop of their own accord if they found an acceptable place to camp for the night.

Minds made up, the pair did stop at the stones where their guide had been standing and noted, once again, that there were no foot prints there despite the softness of the earth. Considering that she was still playing their guide and hadn’t left them behind when they caught up to her at the top of the cliff, the purpose of her hiding her tracks so thoroughly was raised once again in both their minds.

“We haven’t seen a single living thing since we arrived here,” Nysid mused aloud, earlier embarrassment forgotten in the face of the larger mystery at hand. “I…” he hesitated a moment, then pressed on when Anders gave him an encouraging look. “What if she isn’t either?”

The other rider’s brows shot up, then snapped right back down again as he gave the suggestion serious consideration. “Like a spirit,” he observed, and Nysid nodded eagerly, relieved to find his mate so ready to go along with his train of thought. “Those are rare; I’ve never even known someone who’s seen one, not really.”

Nysid had to admit he had a point; generally only powerful magic users left behind ghosts or other spiritual phenomena to mark their passing, though it had been known to happen. “She’s wearing rider armor,” the prince pointed out to support his argument. “If she had some sort of unfinished business, or a particularly traumatic death…”

“Then she might have left something of herself behind,” Anders finished, gaze cast speculatively over their surroundings as they walked. “No doubt it would have something to do with… whatever it is that happened here to drive everything away.” He sighed then and offered Nysid a wry smile, “Well, whatever the case, she doesn’t seem particularly chatty. I guess we’ll just have to figure it out when we get where we’re going.”

Where they were going turned out to be a safe place to camp after all, much to Anders’ relief. He’d been trying not to harp on it, seeing as they had little alternative given the circumstances, but he could tell Nysid’s leg was troubling the prince more than he wanted to let on. He had no idea what they would face when they reached the top of the mountain but the captain was certain they’d need every ounce of strength they had left to deal with it and a bad leg wouldn’t help their odds.

Their guide had lead them to a rocky plateau of sorts, set against the base of the last, steep ascent to the mountain top overhead. There were only a few scraggly, determined trees and some low lying scrub for ground cover, but there was also a pond and a shallow cave for shelter, both of which were a welcome sight. The overcast sky had gotten darker as they walked, not just because of the sun’s descent, but as a prelude to rain that neither of them were looking forward to. The pond, on closer examination, proved quite clear, no doubt fed by rain water, kept moving by the fact that it turned into a narrow waterfall at one end of the plateau. It was surprisingly deep, though like every other body of water they’d come across so far, did not seem to harbor any sort of aquatic life.

Dropping his re-purposed saddle-bag in the cave, Anders turned to Nysid and said, “You should try soaking your hip in the water, it’ll probably be cold enough to help with the pain.”

“I can help set up camp,” the prince insisted, tone defensive in that way he had when he seemed to think Anders was saying he wasn’t capable of something.

Well, the captain supposed he was this time, though not due to lack of ability. Still, the way his mate set his shoulders and managed to glare down his nose at Anders despite being almost two inches shorter than him was a surprisingly fetching look on him. Not that the captain would tell him as much— he’d probably just get annoyed. Then again, he was pretty cute when he was annoyed, too...

“Life will be easier for both of us if you’re not limping when we head up the mountain tomorrow,” Anders countered, deciding to go the straightforward route despite the temptation to do otherwise; mostly because genuine concern for his mate overruled any other options. Nysid grimaced, but Anders was familiar enough with his mannerisms by now that he recognized the expression for the look of defeat it was. For all the prince could be stubborn as a mule, he wasn’t beyond reason, after all. He still hesitated for a moment, though, and unable to resist, the captain offered, “Worried there might be something in the water? I could come with you, if you like.”

Nysid bristled at the suggestion and Anders had to fight down a grin. It was subtle, thanks to the prince’s dark skin, but he blushed at the drop of a hat and the captain loved it. Certainly it lead to him pushing the man’s buttons more than he might have otherwise, particularly when it came to any sort of little impropriety. Granted, he’d come to realize that Nysid could turn the technique around on him quite easily, though he rarely seemed to notice. Or if he had, he was better behaved than Anders was and didn’t weaponize the tactic.

Then again, it was possible Nysid simply didn’t find him attractive in the same way, or maybe their being mates wasn’t enough to overcome their past for the other man.

The thought stung, and to cover his sudden uncertainty, Anders flashed the prince a grin and said, “I’ll get a fire started.” As he turned, he cautioned, “I don’t recommend trying to wash your clothes, though, they’ll never dry by morning,” as he glanced skyward at the heavy clouds, then retreated to find wood and tinder. When he looked back Nysid was gone, obscured from view by the few scattered trees on the plateau, and while the captain suspected he could probably spot him if he tried, he didn’t.

Anders found the things he needed fairly easily and placed them beneath the overhang of the cave mouth to save them getting wet if the sky opened up suddenly, then started for his pack. He’d brought along his fire-starting device, though more tired than ever, he wasn’t looking forward to using it. As he crouched down to fetch it out, a familiar sort of stone caught his eye, and with some elation, Anders recognized it as flint. It was too small to be useful in starting a fire but if there was a small piece about there was a good chance he might find larger somewhere there on the plateau.

Setting off to hunt while there was still light, Anders wandered slowly, eyes on the ground for any sign of the prize he sought. Just as he was about to give up and go back to making a fire the hard way, he found a decent sized piece of flint, which spurred him on to find another, though he paid little heed to the direction in which he wandered in the process. Anders discovered another shortly after and snatched it up with a sound of triumph as he straightened. “Aha! Found you,” he proclaimed, very pleased with his find as he turned it over in his hands, then shoved it down into his pocket with the other.

“What are you doing!” Nysid snapped, startling Anders so badly he jumped, at which point he realized, rather belatedly, that his search had taken him right up to the water’s edge.

Anders lost his footing and tumbled off the rocky rise he’d wandered up and into the water with a yelp. Luckily, he’d fallen into the deepest section of the pond, though that meant he plunged down some ways, disoriented and weighed down by his boots and sword when he sought his way back to the surface. A pair of hands grabbed him under the arms and dragged him upwards, holding tight to him until he broke surface and sucked in a grateful breath of air.

“Stop flailing, you’ll drown both of us!” Nysid chided him sharply and Anders forced himself to go still, allowing his mate to guide them as he caught his bearings again and was able to swim the last few yards to a depth where his feet could find the bottom again.

The captain stood, embarrassed, and wiped water from his face and hair with the sweep of a calloused hand. “Thanks,” he said, blinking droplets from his lashes before giving himself a good shake. “Though I do,” he said, holding up a finger to defend himself, “know how to swim, I swear. You just surprised me, is all.”

Nysid snorted, arms crossed over his chest as he gave Anders a narrow look. “Surprised you? Doing what? Spying?”

“I wasn’t spying!” the captain objected, then dug around in his pocket and fetched out the two pieces of flint he’d found. “I was looking for these!”

The prince’s expression went flat. “You were looking for rocks?”

Realizing how things looked, Anders said, “Not just any rocks, it’s flint, look─” and here he struck them against one another in an attempt to make sparks, only to fail. Even flint couldn’t start a fire when wet. “Er, hang on,” the captain said and looked down at himself and started to wipe them off on his shirt, only to find that was wet as well, thanks to his dunking. Before he could dig the hole he’d gotten himself into any deeper, though, his eye caught the huge bruise discoloring Nysid’s hip where it broke the surface of the water. “That looks bad,” he said, expression immediately turning to a frown as he reached out automatically towards the mark. He stopped just short of touching it, then redirected his hand to Nysid’s arm, which he grasped lightly by the elbow so he could turn the other man and get a better look at that as well. The bruise there wasn’t quite as bad as his hip, but it was still a riot of dark and sickly colors after the fall the prince had taken earlier that day.

Nysid pulled away gently and said, “It’ll be fine, the water’s helping,” seeming just as distracted from his initial outrage as Anders was.

“I think I have some balm in my pack with the emergency med kit,” Anders said, still frowning as he met the prince’s gaze. “Come back to the cave, I’ll fix you up.”

The other man was quiet for a moment, expression hard to read, then he heaved a sigh and said, “I’ll meet you there.”

“Let me help you-” Anders began, reaching for him again, only for Nysid to pull out of reach before he could.

“I need to dry off and get dressed. Go start your fire with your magic rocks,” the prince retorted as he withdrew deeper into the water.

Anders rolled his eyes, though his smile started to return as he replied, “They’re not magic, they’re─” but stopped as the sky overhead opened up and finally released the rain it had been threatening all afternoon. “-flint,” he finished lamely as Nysid swore and rushed out of the water, modesty forgotten in favor of saving his clothes from getting as soaked as he was.