Into The Storm

[moony-blues.livejournal.com]

Chapter 1—Breaking the Fall

Jeb Cain was tired. He was tired of the endless days on horseback, tired of riding through broken and burning villages, tired of mopping up the remaining cells of Longcoats. Most of all, he was just tired. Exhaustion can take a heavy toll on even a young man’s body if he pushed himself far enough for long enough.

It had been three months since the Double Eclipse—three long months of tension that often brought the Zone to the brink of civil war. The resistance fighters now found themselves wearing official uniforms, carrying real weapons, and riding well-fed mounts. None of them really knew where the House of Gale had found the money to make those things possible, but they all knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The price the fighters paid for their new equipment was the long hunts for those who persisted in their opposition to the Royal Family. Chief among them were a few of the witch’s remaining lieutenants who were smart enough to go to ground immediately following their defeat at the tower. It was slow work; so far, they’d only managed a handful of arrests.

More disheartening than the low arrest rate was the damage the remaining renegades were causing in the various Guilds. They ransacked small villages, pillaged farmsteads, and left a long trail of collateral damage in their wake. Reports came in from all over the Realms to the House of Gale containing tales of razed fields, beaten families, and stolen livestock.

Jeb rubbed his eyes and the back of his neck as his horse plodded along the uneven ground of the forest. Under his breath, the newly appointed Captain in the Royal Army cursed the Longcoat who was clever enough to suggest a hideout in the thick underbrush. They were going to have to dismount and continue their hunt on foot. Jeb turned in his saddle to address his men, but something caught his eye.
Partially hidden under a bush nearby, he could see a body. His heart sunk to his stomach and he hoped that they hadn’t stumbled upon another hapless victim of Longcoat cruelty. He shouted to his men to halt, then dismounted and approached to get a better look. He was slightly surprised at what he saw.

The body was actually a strangely clad, still breathing girl. Her clothes were torn in a few places, there were small cuts on her cheek and neck, and she had a nasty goose egg forming on her forehead. Jeb bent down and tried to shake her awake, but she didn’t move.

“James, Ben, give me a hand with her,” he said over his shoulder.

Together, the three men lifted the girl and moved her to a clearer spot of ground. Their designated field medic, Andrew, stepped over to check her pulse and examine the wounds he could see. As he was finishing, her eyes fluttered open.

“Well, there’s a good sign!” said Andrew good-naturedly.

Jeb let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Some of the other men also made their relief known. This squad spent their days hunting down Longcoats and their sympathizers, all declared enemies of the crown. It was a welcome day when they saved one of the people for whom they all convinced themselves they were fighting. Although, this particular person didn’t look like anyone from the Zone.

She was wearing the same kind of slacks that DG, the younger daughter of the House of Gale, insisted on wearing. Her blouse was unlike any he’d ever seen on any woman, brightly colored with a loose collar. Her shoes, with their pointed toes and thin, spiked heels, were more than impractical considering her location in the forest. He could tell by her face that she had not seen the horrors of the past ten years of evil in the Realms. There was something very peculiar about this girl.

Andrew helped her sit up and she immediately put a hand to her forehead. She winced as her palm met the developing bruise, the motion causing her light brown hair to fall into her face. The girl tried to stand, but Andrew held her shoulders down.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said quickly. “That’s a really nasty bump you’ve got there. I don’t think you need to be moving around very much for a little while.”

She didn’t argue with him; she was having a hard enough time keeping the world in focus and on its appropriate axle. Blinking several times to try to clear her vision, she put her hand back to her forehead to feel the bump. She winced again at the tenderness she found there.

“What’s your name?” asked Jeb as he crouched in front of her.

“K-kathy,” she responded slowly. “Katherine Dalton.” She moved her other hand to her mouth as she spoke, trying to hold back the nausea brought on by the dizziness.

“You going to be ok?”

“As soon as the world stops spinning,” Kathy answered weakly.

“Sir,” interrupted Ben, “if we’re going to complete our objective today, we need to get moving.”

Jeb sighed heavily as he looked at the sky. The suns were already beginning to set behind the distant mountains. Soon, the forest would be too dark to continue.

“It’s already too late, Ben. The forest will be dark in another hour, and we’ve been at least two hours behind all day long.” Jeb gave Kathy another glace. “Besides, we need to get her out of here. How far back was that village?”

“No more than a few hours’ ride,” answered James.

Jeb looked to Andrew and Kathy.

“You think it’s wise for her to ride, Andrew?”

“I can take her if someone will help me get her on the horse,” said Andrew.

“Horse?” asked Kathy, pressing her hand more firmly to her mouth. “I can barely keep my lunch down just sitting here. You expect me to ride?”

Andrew chuckled a bit before nodding to Ben and James. The three men gently lifted her from the ground and gingerly helped her approach the horse. Kathy pressed her eyes tightly shut in an effort to tame the dizziness. Ben and James put her on the horse first and kept her steady as Andrew took his place in the saddle.

“I’ve got her,” said Andrew before the other two returned to their horses.

As Jeb mounted his horse, Andrew shared a dark look with him.

“Is she going to be ok?” he asked quietly

Andrew’s eyes only darkened further as he barely shook his head. He wasn’t certain, but he suspected she had a very bad concussion, at the least. A Healer would have to make sure that there weren’t any other worries.

“She needs a Doc, badly.”

“Then let’s get moving,” said Jeb.

---

The ride to the village was a nightmare for Kathy. The dizziness didn’t get any better, therefore the nausea only got worse, and, to top it all off, by the time she found herself lowered into the strong arms of James and Ben again, she had a splitting headache. She didn’t bother opening her eyes at all until they mercifully lowered her onto a very thin mattress. By that point, she didn’t care that there was straw poking at the thin material or that there was no pillow. Her neck was simply grateful that it didn’t have to bear the weight of her head any longer. She made her relief known with a miserable groan.

“You stay with her,” Jeb told Andrew. “There’s a Healer here with the relief force. I’ll have him come take a look.”

“Tell him it won’t hurt for him to hurry. I’ll try to keep her awake until he gets here.”

“Right,” said Jeb as he walked out the door.

Andrew pulled a stool over next to the small bed where Kathy lay. He nudged her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep now,” he said.

“My head hurts enough that you won’t have to worry about that. You wouldn’t happen to have any aspirin, would you?”

“Any what?”

Kathy opened one eye. “Aspirin—you know, pop a few and the pain goes away?”

“Sorry, no,” said Andrew. He gave her a measured glance. “How did you end up in the middle of the forest in those shoes, if that’s what they even are?”

Kathy smiled wryly. “I was hoping you could tell me. One minute, I’m driving down the highway on my way to my mom’s house for a weekly dinner date, and a twister decides it wants to play and comes heading straight for me. The next thing I know, I hit my head on a rock in the middle of nowhere.”

Andrew considered her words carefully. “So, you’re not from around here?”

“I don’t even know where ‘here’ is, so no, I’m not a native. Since we’re on the subject, where exactly is ‘here?’”

“You’re kidding, right?” Andrew asked incredulously.

“No, I’m not,” she answered plainly. “I’m not even going to try to comprehend how I got ‘here,’ but this place sure as hell doesn’t look like Oklahoma, and there’s no way that storm threw me as far as Kansas, Missouri, or Arkansas. So, until I get some answers, I’m going to assume that I’m still lying in that damn ditch having one of the most vivid dreams of my life.”

Andrew chuckled again as the door swung open and Jeb returned with the Healer. The little man put his bag on the ground before he gave Kathy a more thorough examination than Andrew had been able to perform. Kathy kept her eyes shut as much as possible, still fighting dizziness. Once he finished, the Healer stood up and turned to Jeb and Andrew.

“She’ll be fine,” he said curtly as he began to pack his things. “Just a mild concussion, with no other internal injuries. Let her sleep and she’ll feel better in the morning.”

“Hey,” she protested, “don’t I get something to help with the pain?”

“I don’t have the supplies to spare,” he said matter-of-factly. “Laudanum is scarce and there are people who need it for far worse injuries. I’m afraid you’ll have a headache for a few days, but it will subside eventually.”

“Eventually?” Kathy’s eyes flew open. “Have you ever heard of a little thing called bed-side manner? Because yours sucks!”

“Nevertheless, there are other patients who require my attention.” The Healer nodded smartly to Jeb. “If you need nothing further, I’ll be on my way.”

Jeb nodded back as the man left the tiny room.

“Well, is there anything we can get for you, Kathy?” asked Andrew.

At least he knows something about courtesy, she thought.

“Water would be nice.”

“There’s already a glass on the table to your right.”

“Thanks.”

Kathy heard the door swing open again as the two men left, and, despite the headache, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

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