But right then, he looked like an eighteen year old boy enjoying himself on a clear winter day. He also, to Sasha's dismay, looked all the more kissable. It made him feel old, wanting David.
"Look!" David said, breaking Sasha's thoughts, and Sasha obediently looked at the hole in the ice.
Perhaps a half dozen little fish had risen to the surface, swimming and playing. They were a beautiful shade of indigo, with long fins and tails that were slightly lighter in color than the body; they moved like trails of silk. David held his fingers out, and the fish pushed eagerly at the tips of the leather gloves until they realized it wasn't food.
After a moment, the little fish vanished again, but then another cluster, these ones more blue than purple, rose up. David beamed at Sasha again as the blue fish were replaced by a cluster so dark a purple they nearly looked black. "They're called winter fish because they only come out when the weather is cold. Everything else goes to sleep, or flees to warmer places, but these little fish come out of the depths and swim around in the cold waters."
"They're pretty," Sasha said. "Shall we stop here for a while? I have no idea how late in the day it is, but it feels as though we have been walking for quite some time and it is getting darker."
David looked up at the sky—well, the trees and the snow and the bits of sky not entirely blocked—and said, "It is getting on toward dark, so we may as well stop. I'll get a fire going."
Sasha waved the offer aside. "Admire your fish. I can start a fire and prepare dinner." That got him another smile, and Sasha hastily stood before he gave into a sudden, burning need to lean forward and steal a kiss.
The fire took only moments, and Sasha was happy for the distraction of putting together a travel stew—calling it stew at all was ridiculous, really—as it kept him from brooding about his lack of memory or pondering how David might taste. It seemed wholly unfair, after taking his memories, for life to then throw him a distraction. Saving the world seemed like a task that did not leave room for distraction, and yet Sasha found himself very thoroughly distracted whenever David entered his sight.
He sighed at himself and added a portion of the dried herb mix he'd packed. The longer he could give his food flavor, the happier he would be.
David wandered over just as he finished setting the stew to simmer, still smiling and happy as he sat down right next to Sasha. "Reimund was the one who showed me the fish, on my first trip to Two Mill. I was only ten, and the men with us were grumbling because they thought I was too young. Even Killian wasn't allowed to go until he turned fourteen last year, and his father has made the trip nearly all his life."
It did not really surprise Sasha at all that Killian had been made to wait until he was much older—that boy acted exactly his age. "Two Mill is where you buy supplies for the village, right? And where you saved Killian from a lashing."
"Yes," David said, flinching.
"You're very brave," Sasha said.
David shrugged. "It would have killed Killian. I just don't understand why sorcerers—" He closed his mouth, looking horrified. "I'm sorry, I should not speak—"
Sasha held up his hands. "Peace, David. I think it is clear that I am nothing like the other sorcerers. I may lack a great many memories, but I am absolutely certain I dislike them as much as everyone else."
"Your whip doesn't have the metal bits," David said. "I noticed when I removed your things. I thought it was strange. They always have metal at the end."
"The sole purpose of such things is to cause pain," Sasha said. "Whips such as these were meant first for herding; it's the noise that matters, not how much pain it can inflict. The idea of using them to hurt came later. Even now, I use it mostly to keep the Sentinels disoriented. Any pain I cause them is secondary. A sword is much more useful. The sorcerers use their modified whips just to be cruel."
David nodded and smiled softly, saying shyly, "I'm glad you're not like them."
"Me, too," Sasha whispered, and he did not even remember moving. David drew a sharp, startled breath, and Sasha started to draw back, horrified by his own behavior—but then David leaned in, chasing his mouth, and after that, Sasha was helpless to do anything but kiss him.
David's lips were soft, unmoving at first against his, but then he seemed to figure out what to do, kissing Sasha back awkwardly, but with true heat. It was not the best kiss Sasha had ever had, but it was by far the sweetest.
"You—" David stared at him wide-eyed. "You kissed me."
Sasha laughed and did it again. David responded faster the second time, hands fluttering before one finally settled on Sasha's shoulder, fingers curling into his shirt as their mouths slid together. Given how easily David was learning, he would be nothing but a delight in bed.
The thought was cold water to Sasha, and he drew back, disgusted with his own behavior. He was the lowest of the low to take advantage of David—
Whatever would have happened next was prevented by the sound of horses. Sasha stood up as a group of five men rode into the clearing. All but one of them had a diamond on their forehead. Fire and ash. Beside him, David drew a sharp breath, and Sasha swore he heard the word 'Seer'.
And yes, one of the men had a circle on his forehead rather than a diamond. He and the man beside him both radiated impressive power. They were not as powerful as Sasha, but combined they might prove problematic.
The man beside the Seer, clearly the sorcerer in charge, looked between Sasha and David, then eyed Sasha coldly. "What is going on here?"
"I was badly injured by a Sentinel two weeks ago," Sasha said. "This young man nursed me back to health. He needs to journey to Unheilvol to hear his fate, and I am escorting him." When the man narrowed his eyes, Sasha realized he was missing something. Instinct made him tack on, "My lord. I am sorry, the injury has left my wits quite addled."
David tensed beside him, but to Sasha's relief, said nothing. It would be far too easy for David to give away the truth, and Sasha really should have thought of that sooner. If he had learned anything over the years, it was that men most often died when they were distracted.
"You have better things to do with your time than play escort a single peasant," the man snapped. "Where have you been that you've heard nothing—" He broke off, narrowing his eyes. "What is your name?"
Sasha wondered what exactly had given him way. "My name is Sasha."
"That is not a Schatten name," the priest said sharply
"No, it's not," Sasha agreed, and in one smooth motion grabbed his whip, flicked his wrist to uncoil it and sent it snapping through the air. The sharp
crack
echoed through the dark forest, startling the horses. Sasha cracked it again, again.
The men threw themselves off their horses, landing haphazardly in the snow. Sasha coiled his whip and put it away before drawing his sword as the men approached. "David, get out of the way," he ordered without looking.
As the men rushed him, the tang of their magic sharp on the air, Sasha held a hand out toward the fire, then threw his arm forward. The fire followed his movements, and flames burst into furious life as they flew toward the men barreling at him.
The nearest one screamed, more in panic than in pain, and faltered enough two others crashed into him and the whole trio went falling. Sasha left them and focused on the main sorcerer, barely getting his sword up in time to meet the hard swing that came at his head. The man's violet eyes flashed, all the warning Sasha had before blinding, painful light burst around him, driving him to his knees.
Light of Truth, he knew it to be called. A painful, paralyzing light that was a unique trick of the shadow sorcerers of Schatten. Sasha heard the sorcerer laugh, felt more than saw the man loom over him. Rough hands grabbed him and hauled him back to his feet.
"Here I thought taking care of you would be more difficult," the man said. "However did someone like you kill the High Sorcerer?"
Sasha grabbed the hands holding on to him, and the man screamed in agony and dropped him, stumbling back. The painful light went out as though snuffed. Sasha stared at the man, who clutched his left hand and glared furiously at him.
"How did I kill your High Sorcerer? I am better trained and more powerful, that's how," Sasha replied, and held his right hand out toward them, as though beckoning them to take it, and said,
"Gods of sleep, of respite, of solace, grant peace to my enemies."
"What—" the priest never finished his question as the scent of roses filled the clearing along with a fine, dark gray mist. Within seconds of breathing it in, the priest and sorcerers all dropped to the ground, out cold.
A soft, hissing sound resonated through the clearing, and then all was normal again.
Sasha checked them over, removed anything useful they had that could be easily carried, then went to the horses. Three of them, he stripped down and sent running back in the direction of Black Hill. The remaining two, he emptied the saddlebags and began to repack his own belongings.
"You can't steal their horses!" David said.
"I think horse theft is the least of my crimes," Sasha replied, mouth quirking in amusement. He turned, and the amusement faded when he saw the look on David's face. "David …"
"You're the one—you killed the adult Sentinels. You're the reason everyone's fate is going wrong."
"What makes you think their fates were right to begin with?" Sasha asked, even as a heavy weight settled in his chest.
Tears filled David's eyes. "Reimund was supposed to die an old man. He said so. Then everything started going wrong because of you and now he's dead early. The barriers are gone. Everything—everything is wrong because of you. And I think maybe I knew that, but you were so … so different," he finished on a whisper, though it was clear from his hesitation that was not the word he'd initially planned to say. "Who are you, really?"
"I don't know," Sasha said. "I never lied about the curse on my chest; it really has taken most of my memories and left what remains in pieces. I only know I am here to save Schatten."
"Schatten doesn't need saving. Lord Teufel sealed us away to protect us."
Sasha tried to tamp down on his anger because it wasn't David who sparked it. He hated Teufel for so subjugating Licht's people that they believed he was doing the right thing. "Do you really believe that? Does your life really make you happy? Locked in your village, unable to travel without permission lest you be hunted down by beasts? Whipped and left for dead because you accidently knocked into a man in a crowded street? Tell me what about your life you love, David."
David opened his mouth, then closed it again. But Sasha knew that look on his face: fear, anger born of fear, and a resistance to change. What had he expected? It was going to take more than a couple of weeks and a few stolen kisses to convince someone that he had a right to hate what Teufel was doing to him—to all of Schatten.
"You're not from here," David said at last.
"No," Sasha said. "I am from Pozhar, on the other side of the Haunted Mountains—what we have always called the Jagged Mountains. I came here to save Schatten."
"But—chaos will destroy us. It destroyed everything before. Reimund would still be alive if chaos hadn't changed his fate!"
"I am sorry about your father," Sasha said and finally moved toward David, something inside him breaking at the way David took a hasty step back. "I would never hurt you, David. You saved my life."
"Maja saved your life."
Sasha shook his head and said softly, "No, it was definitely you, David." He stepped close, and when David held still that time, pressed his right hand to David's forehead and silently willed him to sleep. Catching the unconscious David in his arms, Sasha walked back to his horse and secured David over the saddle.
Next, he went about cleaning up the campsite and securing the men he had put into a much deeper sleep. When they were arranged around the fire, he murmured, "Fire warm and protect you." The campfire flared higher, a ring of flames bursting out and spreading to encompass the group then vanishing, leaving a shield of warmth and protection.
Looking back toward the horse, Sasha sighed and remembered the warmth and taste of innocent kisses. He sighed again as he walked to his horse and mounted, keeping David firmly in place as he rode off toward Oak Hill.
Sasha would deposit David there, make arrangements to ensure he reached Unheilvol, then be on his way. He let go of David to run his fingers across his stomach, where his wounds were mostly healed, but still sore. Before them, he had been content to travel alone. Had been fairly certain that, at the end of the journey, he would die alone.
Two weeks with David had reminded him what it was like not to be alone, and Sasha had the sense that alone was all he had felt for a long time. But better to have two weeks and those brief kisses than nothing at all.
Gods willing, he would accomplish his goal and someday, David might not hate for it.
In the meantime, he would ensure David's safety before continuing on his solitary journey.
Friedrich tossed and turned in his bed, unable to settle. A day of people flooding Raven Knoll in search of protection and food had left Unheilvol scattered, the priests unable to fulfill their regular duties because they were pulled away to help the city residents handle the flood of people. He had listened to report after report of Sentinel attacks all over the country. Coupled with the relentless snowfall, it added up to nothing but misery and far too many deaths.
And it would not stop until they located the child of chaos and took him to Sonnenstrahl.
I don't even know how to get into Sonnenstrahl. I assume Teufel will give me a key?
Key? Not so much. But I'm sure the Great Sentinels will let you pass.
No one has seen Sonnenstrahl in over nine hundred years. I don't think anyone has approached the Great Wall in nearly as long.
Even he shuddered when thinking about it. The Great Sentinels guarded the gates of the Great Wall, and they did not hesitate to kill any who drew too close. Legend said there was a thirteenth Great Sentinel that wandered the land, but Friedrich had never seen him nor heard of sightings from better than a third hand source.
I wonder if they are truly as big as rumor holds.