#dartan

Sitting up in the bed, she noticed that at some point, she had been redressed. Gone were her hiking boots, cargo pants, and flannel, and she was now in a soft, pastel gown in fabric she wasn’t sure what it was. She hoped that it had been a female who redressed her and not Dartan. Heaven forbid! As she sat contemplating that, there were two little chirps next to her in the bed. Turning her head, she saw the little chinchilla type creatures from the night before that had been on the strange men’s heads. They were looking up at her with big open eyes and…smiles? Oh…and they had such white…teeth. How nice…

When Amaya didn’t move or respond the little beings jumped up and down and chirped again. Her head tipped, she had no clue what they were wanting. Then one came over and bumped her hand, and she understood - they wanted petted. Seeing the size of their teeth, she was a little cautious, but still reached her hand out and petted the one closest anyway. Something akin to a high pitched trill type of purr came from the small being and the other one bounced in what seemed to be excitement, chirping and looking at her.

“So you two are friendly? I get it.” In a way she figured they were, they had been “riding” on the heads of two of the men last night who had been helping her, but those teeth! Amaya was glad they liked her. She wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of those bites! Guard furry softballs, that was something new.

“I see you have met your guardians,” a deep male voice from across the room had her head jerking up and her yanking the covers up almost to her chin; which hid the two small beings that were now on her lap chirping happily. He held up a hand and gave a soft chuckle. “I’m sorry Amaya, I did not mean to scare you.” He then gave a short bow. “I’m Ollandrius, but most just call me Olly.” He gave her a warm smile, which she thought made him look like some kind fo Disney prince. Were men supposed to be that handsome in real life?

Brief flashes of the night before went through Amaya’s mind, and his face was in them. He was kind, warm, and she had a recollection of protection from him. She relaxed and lowered the covers some, nodding and returning his smile. “Sorry, I guess I’m just a little on edge. The last couple of days have been a little weird and…” she shut her mouth and her brows drew together as she tried to figure out how to even put it into words.

“Eventful?” Olly offered as he stepped into the room, drawing out a light chuckle from her this time and a nod. “We kind of got that idea when Dartan summoned a couple of demons when he lost you in the forest. Although, your little friends there, and their friends, did keep you safe until we found you.” His smile had not faltered, and it made Amaya feel more relaxed. He wasn’t a small man, but she could almost feel goodness radiating off of him, safety. For Olly’s part, he was studying her, trying to see if there were any lingering effects of the mushrooms or being out in the forest exposed to the elements.

“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry that I caused you or your friends any trouble. I goofed up a spell.” Her face fell and she looked at her lap where the little beings were snuggling against her and ran her hand through their fur. They even felt as soft as chinchillas. “This is all my fault, everything is is my fault.”

“Or, you were given a bad one by someone that should not have been trusted. We’re looking into all the possibilities now. No more apologies, and no more sadness. You are a guest of the King and Queen, and there is no reason for it. When you are doing better a whole suite is being prepared for you. You’ll be taken care of here.” The poor human. She probably wouldn’t get to stay one. Like Delilah, existing in a world that she knew was full of monsters and demons would be too dangerous if she stayed one. If they couldn’t teleport her, staying in Imperium would most definitely be too dangerous, and it had nothing to do with the inhabitants. The mushrooms had proved that. Olly was worried about her.

“Uh…what about Dartan?” Were they going to make her live with him? He hated her. He blamed her for everything, and after she got lost out in the forest, he probably hated her more. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck living with him. Maybe they could just kill her and let her go wherever it was that her soul was supposed to go? Or because she was bound to Dartan, would she just end up back here?

Olly took a deep breath, this was going to be slightly awkward. “You won’t have to see him anymore.” He saw the confusion on her face, so he continued. “You’re bound, so it’s not like he can go far, but it was the belief of the Queen that you would be happier if he were not in your immediate vicinity, and that there were others here in the Palace who could help you get acclimated to everything much easier. She was quite insistent.” He had to chuckle, he was putting it mildly. He was pretty sure if she’d been confident his head would not have regrown she would have removed it from his shoulders the previous night.

“Oh.” Amaya said simply. She didn’t know how to feel about that. Truthfully she wasn’t sure that she knew how to feel about any of it. How was one supposed to feel in a situation like she was in? Had anyone ever been in her situation? She doubted it.

“Are you ok?” Olly was worried about her. “I know it will take some getting used to here, but you won’t be alone. Arch, he’s a mage that helped heal you last night, and I are going to help you. Arch can help you with your magic. He’s kinda good at it.” He gave her a teasing wink that made her smile.

“I just feel kind of lost. The whole bonded or married or whatever…” she kind of waved her hands around a bit as her lips pursed, “was a huge shock, and I know he hates me for it. I can’t blame him. I brought him here and now he’s stuck with me. I’m sure he’s glad that he’s free of me, at least we get to live in a castle.” She smiled a little again and shrugged. She really did feel so very lost.

“He was worried about you. Dartan’s always been an asshole from what I can gather, but he was worried. So, he doesn’t hate you. Hate the situation, that is a possibility, but that’s not the same as hating you.” He tried to reassure her, but he could tell she was still upset. Lost might be the best description for it. She really didn’t know where she was, that was going to come as an even bigger shock to her, and wait till she met some of the residents. Maybe they’d take things VERY slowly.

Deciding that making her feel somewhat at home might be a good start, Olly decided to start with breakfast. Since the kitchens could prepare anything that was made on Earth, the sky was the limit for whatever she wanted. Once he had her order, he promised to be back shortly with food and the all-important coffee. He also let her know that some fae that were the size of six year olds would be in shortly to take her measurements and talk to her about clothing. What she had on was a gift from the Queen, but she would need more than one nightgown for her stay there.

“She doesn’t want to be bound to you or you do not wish to be bound to her?  After all, Dartan, she was not the one who abandoned you to death in the forest.  I do believe that was your doing.” The sarcastic tone in Abriella’s voice and the sardonic smile on her face spoke well of her feelings towards the warlock before her.  “Trust me, warlock, if I had the power to separate you, it would so be done. She does not deserve to be bound to one such of you whose ego creates such a vacuous space around you that I’m surprised that even light can escape its gravitational pull.  While she may have made a mistake in the casting of her spell, I do believe that being saddled with you for eternity is a punishment that far exceeds that crime.  In fact, I’m not sure what crime would befit such a punishment.  So, no, at present no one here can save her from the fate of being your wife. But do trust that wherever such remedy is found, it will be immediately enacted so she can be free of you.”  With that, Brie exited the room before she used her Horseman powers in ways that would not befitting her station as Queen of the Realm.

     Slowly,  her hands reached out around her, trying to determine if she was contained in anything.  They met only air, cool air.  Once more she got to her feet and took a couple of steps in each direction.  Again, there was nothing that impeded her way, only more air and the sounds of dried leaves and twigs crunching under her feet.  So, she was outside somewhere, but she still could not determine where.

     “You have got to be kidding me.”  An exasperated, deep, male voice said off to her left, making her spin in that direction quickly and almost lose her balance.

     “Who’s there?” Amaya called out.  She tried to sound self assured, but failed.  Not that she thought that she would have been too convincing anyway, she was lost, in the dark, in some unknown place, with no weapon, and she was short.  It was not like she was going to intimidate anyone.  Her head whipped from side to side causing her dark hair to fan out around her as she tried to see in the inky darkness that surrounded her.  “Where have you brought me?”

     “You fucking summoned me.  Are you telling me that in addition to landing us here that you didn’t pay enough attention to know who you were even calling on?” Now the voice seemed even more exasperated and anger was seeping in.

     “What do you mean I summoned you?  I cast a protection spell.  Not a summoning and transportation spell. You are mistaken.” Amaya bit back before she even had really thought about whether it was smart to be arguing with an unknown being, of unknown origin, of unknown size, of unknown power, and unknown true disposition.

     “Are you a complete idiot?” There was a heavy sigh after the question.  She could hear heavy footsteps coming nearer to her.  Since she could not tell one thing about her surroundings, she held her ground.  Whether this was a smart move or not would be determined in the next few moments, but for now it was all she could really do.

     “Listen, asshole.  I was trying to protect my crew on our expedition in the Himalayas.  The Shaman of the tribe that we were camped near said that the spirits of the mountains would not recognize my protective spells, so he gave me one that was from his people.  I’m sorry I’m not versed in all languages.  It was supposed to be protection, not whatever…THIS…is…” Amaya spit back at whoever it was that had gotten drug along with her.  Obviously not one of her own teammates, and he spoke too clear of English to be someone from the tribe they had been near.  Which meant he was someone else.  Or something else.  Wonderful.

     Dartan took in a deep breath through his nose and tried to quell the rising desire to snap the neck of the witch in front of him.  Mouthy bitch had invoked a binding spell that had them stuck together and had somehow also managed to damn them both to fucking Hell.  Well, now he thought it was called Imperium where they were, but fuck all if that meant any different.  Hell is Hell.  Modern witches could be dumb as fuck and think they knew far more than they did.  This one was about to end up on her ass if she didn’t watch that big ass mouth of hers.

     “Well, smartass, you have managed to bind yourself to a spectre and damn us both to Hell.  Congratulations, dumb fuck!”  Dartan slowly clapped in the darkness.  Being dead and immortal, he could see in the dark which amused him since the witch couldn’t and she was stumbling around like a new foal.  “And you did  it in the middle of the night on a new moon. Sucks for you that you don’t have night vision.”  There was so much sarcasm in his voice that his disdain for Amaya could not be missed.  Nor could his building intolerance for her ignorance that put them in their current situation.

     “I’m sorry, did you say BIND?” Amaya had to have heard him wrong.  There was no way that a protection spell could end up as a binding spell with an incorporeal spirit, let alone teleport them to another realm or reality.

     “Are you partially deaf as well as ignorant as fuck?” He had no reason to be polite at this point.  Not with the trouble that she was going to cause him.  How this fuck up of hers could be fixed was something that he was going to have to figure out and it wasn’t something that he thought was going to be easy.  Cleaning up others’ fuck ups normally wasn’t.

     “No.”  Her answer dripped with venom as she’d finally triangulated approximately where he was based on his voice and was facing in that direction.  Obviously whoever was there wasn’t going to do her imminent harm, so Amaya was still being confrontational.  Self preservation would kick in if anything changed.  “It was a fucking protection spell you smug ass.  I did it perfectly.  I practiced for hours.  I should not be bound to anything and have not ended up anywhere other than in my tent unless I was lied to.  And how would I have known that was going to happen?” 

     “Have a brain.”  Dartan’s response was flat and he sounded bored.  He wasn’t, he was just trying to keep from summoning the power to affect the physical world and strangling her.  Then they’d both be spectres and that meant that neither of them would have a corporeal body.  Sometimes it was better for at least one of you to be living, and for the time being that was the dumb ass witch in front of him.  “You were on the land of people you didn’t know, and couldn’t speak their language, yet you didn’t think you might be offending them, little witch?  It never occurred to you that they might use the first opportunity to get rid of you?  Or did you just think that they’d be so grateful that modern people were around that they’d worship you?” He was going to enjoy pushing her buttons since she had damned him to this existence of being tied to her.  At least she wasn’t too bad to look at till they figured out how to fix this shit.

     Amaya was so mad and frustrated she wanted to cry, but she also didn’t want to look weak in front of whoever it was that was being the asshole.  “No, and we weren’t the first to visit the tribe.  There was a research group before us that had to leave due to weather.  They told us that the tribe was friendly and helpful.  We were advised what the tribe wanted and needed so we could take it with us as gifts for their help.”  She sighed as her head pivoted in the pitch blackness, wishing she could see anything.  She’d gotten into some messes before, but nothing like this. Never like this.

     “Maybe they didn’t think you were as friendly, or like what you were doing.  Someone really should have had a long talk with them, especially before you went taking spells from them.”  Dartan sounded like a reproachful parent, chuckling a little as he moved closer.  “Now you have both of us in quite a predicament.  This isn’t going to have an easy solution, little witch.”

     “My name is Amaya, so you know who you degrading.” She stated flatly, tired of fighting.  “And how do you know what the situation is?  You’ve been stuck in it as long as I have and I have no clue what it is.”

     “Because I’ve been dead longer than you’ve been alive, this isn’t the first time I’ve been bound to someone, I’ve been to this realm before, and being dead has some advantages when it comes to knowing what is going on, little witch.” Dartan heavily enunciated the last two words to dig them in harder.  “You can call me Dartan, and I suggest ONLY calling me that.” There was a menacing undertone to his voice.  The more he was finding out about how clueless this female was, the more he was sure that he was going to be stuck here and with her till her death.  Given the current location, it shouldn’t be long.

     “Fine, Dartan, since you’ve been here before, how do we get out of here?”  Even though she was standing in what seemed to be absolute blackness to her, she crossed her arms over her chest, having a feeling that he could see her since he was moving around easily enough. 

     “Since I don’t know how you got us both cursed here, it’s hard to tell.” He was circling her.  It was clear she had no night vision at all and didn’t know how to cast it from the way that she was acting.  She was human, at least she looked human.  For her to have so fallen prey to a trick that damned them both there, most likely a mortal human as well.  “You said that you have the spell memorized?”  A thought occurred to Dartan as he watched her.

     “I told you I practiced it for hours.  Of course I have it memorized.”  Amaya sighed and shifted position, clearly frustrated and annoyed.  This was not her fault.  She hadn’t planned this, she’d been tricked.

     “Then show me your movements and recite the words without invocation.”  Dartan made himself visible to her and moved towards her slowly.  “Do you think you can do that without fucking it up?”

     Seeing him appear startled Amaya and she took a step back.  He wasn’t a small man, and he was certainly intimidating looking.  At least a foot taller than her, broad shoulders, Persian features, his eyes and hair were dark, but complexion was hard to ascertain the way he was visible in the complete blackness of the night.   “I’ll do my best.” Her reply was curt, but not overly hostile as he continued to come closer.  Since he might be the best shot that either of them had of getting out of the situation anytime soon, she might as well try not antagonizing him.

     “That would be helpful.  Show me whenever you’re ready.”  Dartan stopped a few feet from her and waited.  He hoped that whatever language she used that he would recognize it and have some clue how they were bound and cursed.  At least then he might have some idea how to undo it and get back to where he’d been rather enjoying his afterlife before it was so rudely interrupted.

     Amaya took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  Concentrating on everything she had studied and practiced, she began the recitation again with the enunciation that she had perfected and the movements of hands and body that were supposed to have granted safety and security, but had instead landed her in this foreign realm with the hostile stranger.  During the entire process she did not rush and was fully focussed on making sure she did it perfectly, save for the invocation.  Doing that again might have consequences that she didn’t even want to consider.  Once she was done, she stood still and opened her eyes to look to where Dartan was still visible.  “Any idea how whatever spell that was delivered us here, bound to one another?”

     At first, she hadn’t thought he was going to answer.  He had just stood there with one arm across his broad chest, hand holding the elbow of the other as he propped his chin up thinking.  “I know exactly what you’ve done.  It’s undoing it that I have no idea how to do.”

     “And that means?”

Amaya’s eyes fluttered open and when she saw the strange trees around her, her mind didn’t bring forth the memory of what had transpired the previous night.  In a panic, she jumped up off of the log; but the way she had been positioned had cut off circulation slightly to her legs, the lack of circulation leading to weakness and numbness which caused her to stumble. She started to fall as she almost hyperventilated; fear quickly blooming in her breast as she came more awake. Her arms windmilled as she tried to catch her balance, but her knees buckled which had her falling forward.  Panic coursed through her as her mind raced to find a spell to keep her from faceplanting on the ground and bring her memories back.

Dartan watched the little witch wake up, and it was clear that it was not a peaceful process.  Before she injured herself by falling on her face, he wrapped an arm around her waist and caught her.  The last thing either of them needed was an injury; not in a place where the scent of blood could bring any number of vicious creatures hunting for them.  He was glad when it worked in stopping her from falling and she didn’t fight against him; since he wasn’t corporeal, there was a chance she might just slip through his arms regardless of his attempt. Leading her the night before and stopping her momentum when falling were two completely different things.   “Calm down, little witch.  You are going to get yourself hurt.” He kept his voice calm, even, and low as not to scare or spook her.  He also didn’t want to find out what would happen if she lashed out at him.

It was Dartan’s voice so close to her ear that brought everything rushing back into Amaya’s brain and she froze.  Not only was it his voice right there, but also the fact that she could feel him holding her.  There was a vibration to it, a soothing warmth, even though there was no physical form to go with it.  For some reason it calmed her and reassured her in a way that she did not quite understand.  Even that phrase he used to refer to her “little witch” did not offend her, that he did not have the same derision in his voice as he had the night before did help. Because of this, she relaxed in his arms and let him take the lead once more, as she had the previous night.

Slowly Dartan righted them both, keeping his hold gentle yet firm on her so she wouldn’t fall.  She was a good foot shorter than him, slight of build, but he could tell she had muscle built from work not just from the gym.  He was surprised, and impressed, at this.  She had spoken of an expedition, something he would remember to inquire more of as they traversed the realm to get to the Palace.  “Are you alright?” He finally asked once he was sure she was steady once more on her feet. He then moved around her to ensure she was unharmed. 

“Yes, thank you.  I’m sorry for the upset. I just didn’t remember what happened or where I was when I woke up. I was disoriented.”  Amaya felt her cheeks flush hot and could only imagine how red they were as her blue eyes dropped to the ground.  Her skin was towards the fair side and she tended to blush rather easily.  That she was still dealing with the fact that being in this strange place bound together was her fault to begin with did not help the matter. “I guess I’m causing you more problems again.” There was a resignation creeping in the edges of her voice, coloring it darker and causing it to sound more defeated.  

“Aye, but I am getting used to that.” There was no longer chastisement or resentment present in his voice as he responded.  “So, we shall not speak on it more. There is no reason to keep going over things.  It solves nothing.” While sitting in the dark while she slept, he had decided that if they were to be stuck together then he had to try at least to get along with her. It wasn’t like fighting with her was going to do either of them any good or make either of them any happier. The best they could hope for now was to work together to get to the Palace and talk to Abriella and Cruz, or at least one of their advisors who might have a clue.  

"I believe I know the direction of the Capital City.  There are no roads or paths where we are, so I'm glad that you're dressed for hiking. If we haven't reached a road by nightfall, I'll see if one of us can summon a demon I know that might help."  Dartan looked around the clearing a bi, then back to Amaya.   

Unlike the night before, she no longer looked defiant and bold, the spirited glint was gone from her eyes.  Her shoulders were slumped, head down, and she overall looked defeated.  He was sure he had a part in that. Putting fingers under her chin he tipped her head back to look at him. "This is not the time for regrets. When we get to the castle, okay?" She nodded weakly. For a reason he didn't know, he gently tucked a lock of her dark brown hair behind her ear. "Let's get started.  There is hopefully a road near so we can get you some food."  While he still did not hunger, it had been at least twelve hours since they arrived in Imperium, he estimated, and she would need food and hydration.  If you added in the walking that they were going to have to do to get anywhere, it added onto the need to make sure that he found a way for her to be able to eat.  He might not be happy to be stuck with her, but starvation seemed a rather sever punishment for that.

Amaya nodded and walked behind him when Dartan turned to walk into the forest.  She had decided that saying nothing might be the better option at the moment.  He was being nice, and she didn't want to ruin that.  She was tired and her body ached in several places from the way she had been positioned the night before.  There was not enough energy left in her to argue, plus staying on the good side of the person who knew the land they were in seamed smartest.

It was quickly apparent that Amaya's height was going to be a serious disadvantage to her.  Besides taking longer strides, Dartan was able to clear obstacles on the forest floor easier.  This often left her struggling to keep up with him.  A few times he barked at her for it, but later inextricably apologized. She was trying, and maybe he was realizing that somewhere along the way.

By the time that the sun was at the midway point, they had to take two breaks.  Amaya hadn't eaten since the previous day's lunch and her energy stores were low, but she didn’t say anything to him about it.  He already hated her, she didn’t want to add whining to the list of reasons for him to. Sheer willpower and stubbornness, and a healthy fear of whatever beasts lurked out of sight in the underbrush kept her moving behind him and trying to go over and/or around anything that was in their path.  It always seemed to take her longer and whe was mentally berating herself for it. 

Dartan, for his part, was trying to go slow enough for her to keep up but not lose his patience with Amaya.  It was not her fault she was short or that he had the unexplained ability to go without food or rest.  Then there was the fact that although she was dressed for hiking, he was in a suit; yet he was faring far better than she.  Making mention of having to make accommodations for her would do nothing.  She already knew how he felt, he had not held back the night before and little had changed since then.  Although, during the darkness, he had come to realize that blaming her was a fruitless endeavor and would just frustrate him more and make things more hostile.  He had made many mistakes as a young warlock and it was hard to blame her too much as a mere human for having made one.

As they were making their way through the forest, Dartan was beginning to plan who he would talk to once they reached the Palace of Imperium.  He did have a few contacts in Imperium that he was on a rather friendly basis with, and he hoped they could get him in with the Queen or someone else that had the power to help fix things.  Two of them were both close with her, and he had a human with him, so hopefully they could be swayed to set any previous grievances that he was unaware of aside and at least help the human, which would in turn help him..

It was because of the distraction of his thoughts that Dartan made a serious mistake.  He stopped paying attention to how far behind him Amaya was or even how difficult some of the obstacles might be for her to get around or over.  Instead he was going over conversations he would have in his head and trying to decide the best way to explain their situation. How long it was in the day was even escaping him as played things over within his mind and corrected things he didn’t want to say or thought he could put better.

“Dartan, my legs are short, can you wait up?” Amaya called while trying to climb over two fallen logs that Dartan had hopped over like someone skilled at parkour.  She was at least a foot shorter than him and although her Palladium boots had good traction, she was having such a harder time that more thna once she’d almost broken down in tears.  The fact that there were fat bright purple mushrooms growing off of the wood did not help.  They kept breaking off and making the bark slick.  More than once she’d almost fallen because of it.

By the time she had cleared the logs, she could no longer see the tall spectre anywhere around her.  “Dartan?  Dartan!” Her calls were now more urgent as she was lost completely.  She knew the general direction he’d been headed so continued to go in that way, calling for him and fighting back a rising terror that she was now alone and possibly would be from now on.  Maybe he head lost her on purpose?  Maybe this was his plan going through the dense forest?  

No matter how tired her legs or arms grew from walking and clearing obstacles, she continued moving.  She was starting to feel disoriented and her vision seemed to swim, but hadn’t stopped calling for Dartan, hoping that he would hear her or had noticed she was missing and was looking for her.  Several obstacles with those damned mushrooms had left her arms scratched and bleeding, smears of purple mushroom covering her arms and most of her clothing as well.  Her head throbbed and her eyes blurred, but she kept pushing on, now openly crying.  

Then at the top of one more stack of fallen logs, she punctured the palm of her hand on a small piece of bark that had been sticking up which was hidden by those same purple mushrooms she’d been dealing with all day.  As she pulled her hand up to look at it, she noticed it was fuzzy and out of focus.  The world seemed to be moving around her, but she was sitting still. Whether it was exhaustion, low blood sugar, or something else affecting her, she wasn’t sure.  However, the ground seemed a lot farther from her than it had been as she was climbing up. Fear began to grip her but she was so disoriented and her body was ceasing to respond.  

A moment later, her limp body slid off of the logs and slammed into the ground, her head bouncing off of the dirt with a soft thud.  She didn’t move.  She didn’t make a sound.  Once might have thought her dead had it not been for the flight rising and falling of her chest.  Nothing else on her moved.

It was nearing dark when Dartan finally reached another clearing where they could rest once more.  Thankfully the human he was bound to had been quiet and chosen not to annoy him further.  It wasn’t like he had tried to talk to her, he was no longer sure what to say that wouldn't start a fight.   Even with all the walking they had done, he wasn’t sure how far it was to the castle nor how long it would be till they got food.  There was an idea forming in his mind to try and summon one of the demons he knew and see if they could at least bring her food and maybe a coat for comfort if it was cold again.  If she became ill or too fatigued, it would only make things worse and take longer.  Since they could not trace, they would still have to walk to the Palace and he needed her to be able to keep up and also to run if needed to escape something.

When he turned around to see how Amaya was feeling, his heart sank.  The human female was nowhere to be seen.  He was sure that she was too timid to have wandered off on her own or to be playing some kind of joke on him.  “Amaya!” He called as he started walking back into the forest. “Little Witch!”  He looked around, but the darkness was quickly setting in and if he didn’t get back into the clearing himself, he’d be lost in the woods overnight.  Why could the stupid human not just follow him and keep up?  This was now even more of a disaster!

Breaking off some dead branches as quickly as he could, he built a small fire using his magic near the edge of the clearing. He lit another branch on fire and walked into the forest calling Amaya’s name loudly.  He kept walking until he could just barely see his fire, then turned back and almost ran to it.  There were the sounds of creatures awakening in the forest.  This was not where they were the night before and there seemed to be more sounds of wildlife than there had been before.  Wherever Amaya was, he could bet that she was not safe and would not last until morning.

Using the light of the fire, Dartan inscribed two sigils into the earth. They were for two demons that he hoped, HOPED, would answer his call and help him find the damned human who had gotten herself lost in the forest.  At one time they had been friendly acquaintances and with a human involved, he hoped they would still be.   If anything happened to her, he would be held responsible and the punishment would be brutal, excruciatingly painful, and swift.  Placing his branch back on the fire, he performed the rituals to summon the demons. They were his only hope to get Amaya to safety, and possibly keep the rest of his afterlife from being one of abject torture.

“Why are you here?  Why am I here? And what the fuck do you want?” Mithos, the Co-Captain of The Queen’s Royal Guard asked as he stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the fire, sighing deeply with a bad feeling developing in the pit of his stomach.  Standing close to seven feet tall with broad shoulders and dark hair, he was an imposing figure on a good day; this was most certainly NOT a good day at the Palace and the glowing green of his eyes meant that there had better be a quick and acceptable explanation forthcoming.

“I’ll second those questions.  This is not your normal haunt, Dartan, and you must be in a lot of trouble to be calling in favors this old.”  Arioch stepped up next to Mithos, his expression just as nonplussed from having been summoned after the long day the two had experienced thanks to Damien.  The two demons looked at each other with brows raised.  Both were curious what had caused them to be summoned, but also had a bad feeling that they were not going to like the answer.  After Kaylin and Asher’s state when they appeared at the Palace, there was a great likelihood that the bad luck of the day wasn’t over.

“There is a human female lost in that forest, and I don’t know where.  But I fear that she is in dire trouble.”  Dartan saw the expressions of the demons change to something akin to a mixture of annoyance, incredulence, and fear. “And, we are bound, as in somehow married, ish.” 

“FUCK!” Arioch exclaimed and disappeared, tracing back to the Palace to gain assistance.

“The Queen is going to have your fucking head, we’ll be back.” Mithos was no less pissed, but at least gave him some hope before disappearing as well.  

It was mere moments until both the demons returned but they were not alone.  Dartan could guess that the double of Arioch without the scar was Raguel.  He wasn’t sure who the other two were or why Mithos had two corgi puppies on leashes.  This hardly seemed the place for small animals of any kind, least of all ones from Earth. 

"Raguel, take this idiot back to the Palace.  My sister will show you where we will be housing he and his human….wife…whatever.  Arch should be joining her shortly, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.  Maybe he can curse him." The one Dartan instantly deduced was Cruz said, his voice and demeanor clearly indicating he was no more pleased than Arioch and Mithos, although he was far more frightening in countenance.  Dartan feared meeting the Queen.

Before Raguel could reply, Mithos gave a command to the puppies in a language foreign to Dartan and they instantly transformed into massive snarling Cerebus. Dartan took a step back as Mithos gave them another command and then handed one of the leashes to Arioch.  Bringing the pups to the forest suddenly made far more sense.

"Come on, Olly, we might need an extra set of hands…" Arioch said before he and Mithos headed into the woods.

"Big guy, dumb fuck here can't trace or be traced.  Neither can his human…." Raguel started to explain to Cruz, before being interrupted. 

"Did your wings fall off?"

"No, I was just letting YOU know so you could figure out who was the best to take his human back." Cruz nodded while pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes squinting shut, as Raguel finished with brows raised and lips thinned. 

"Amaya." Dartan said, which had both males' heads snapping to look at him. "Her name is Amaya."

Cruz took a menacing step towards him, blue and purple energy beginning to snap around the Horseman as he did. "I don't care what the fuck her name is right now. We need to find her before something makes her a snack because of your utter incompetence.  I would suggest silence until someone speaks to you again. If anything happens to this human because of you I will personally drag your soul down into the depths of Caligo and see to it that you are eternally flayed." Cruz turned to Raguel, who seemed leary at that moment of his old friend.  "Get him out of my sight before I do it just to improve my mood." The blue of his eyes and gone an almost icy white, the King’s patience had apparently completely expired.

"Ya got it, boss." Cruz inclined his head to Raguel at that answer, and then stalked off into the forest following the others. "I'll try not to drop your dumb ass. Although if Abriella has to go all Necromancer to bring your chick back, a fall from the treetops will seem like a love tap." A sarcastic smile formed on Raguel's face before his wings flared behind him, raising him slightly off of the ground.  Beautiful white iridescent feather tipped in gold caught the light from the fire and seemed to sparkle.