"I have never needed to know how long it has been for something. I find this difficult to put into terms that will make sense. It was perhaps..." Krysta performs some quick mental mathematics. "Perhaps, oh 60 years or so ago that the incident to which I was referring to occurred. I can't be sure, but that seems to be close; as far as Amber goes, I have my suspicions that it was during those years that they were fighting Chaos."
"There had been some odd things happening in Shadow. I was journeying far and wide, so did not think much on them. I was, at that time, by myself. Most of that which I saw was minor. The types of things you are likely to encounter if you do not pay close attention to where you are. I have often wondered just how close to Chaos I came in my travels. But that is another tale." She grins at her audience. "I tended to stay in fairly mundane shadows, so the anomalies became fairly noticable as they grew stronger. The first ones tended to be outlandish beasts for the areas. They were relatively easy to dissuade from their plans that seemed to feature me as lunch. I was on the outskirts of a small village, perhaps three to four hundred people. A single steeple rose from the picturesque valley, and it was joined by the smoke of several cook fires. The oddity was in the village green. For all it's peaceful look, the men of the village were preparing for war. I watched for a moment. Long enough to see that they were being drilled by someone who knew what he was doing. The figure on horseback looked familiar. Deciding that I wanted a closer look, and trying to remember where I had seen this person, I headed towards the village.
"Luckily, it wasn't one of those cultures that I had to hide my weapon. Men and women were practicing against each other on the village square. I kept a wide berth, and moved farther down the street. The tavern was right where it should have been, properly tende by a feisty cook, and her patient bartending husband. The scads of children seemed to be their's. I sat in a dark corner, and ordered a good meal. Nothing causes an innkeeper to leave you alone like money. It was only lacking on hour or so until dark, so was no great feat to hold onto my spot. Soon after sundown, the tavern was a busy place. Most of the conversation revolved around the coming battle. It seemed that a neighboring village was intending to expand it's borders by taking this one."
"I had no intention of getting involved, if one village wants to take after the next, it was of no concern to me. I did find it strange that these people should be so surprised. Surely if they had been dealing with this village for any length of time, they would have known of their intentions. That was the first thing that seemed odd to me. The second was that the "General" was the only person to have seen the might of the enemy, and that he seemed to spend his time equally between training this one, and spying on the other."
Krysta seems to change conversation in mid story. "Have you ever become so familiar with a place or room that one thing out of place sets your teeth on edge? You know instantly that someone was where they weren't supposed to be. It works the other way as well, you know immediately when something re-apears that has been missing. That something was Roland. My muscles clenched even as the door started to open. I stepped out the back of the tavern. While I had no companions for him to brutalize, it wsn't worth the chance."
"I headed directly for the next town. My logic was brutally simple. If Roland was on the side of that village, then I wanted nothing to do with it. I wasn't fond of traveling in the dark, so only went a few leagues. Then I found a quiet corner of the woods, and camped for the night. Dawn saw me cleaning up my campsite, no sense in advertising. I was just short of the woods when I heard a rider. The easiest lookout in a forest is a tree. It was no matter no find a quick perch. I was settled in when the rider drew close. It should come as no surprise that Roland was the one headed down the path. I let him get far enough down that he shouldn't hear me. I stuck to the trees. This village was a tad more secure. It actually had a log wall and manned gates. Deciding that I wasn't going to push my luck. I bypassed the town, and made camp past it."
"Another dawn, another clean-up job. This time, I waited until I saw Roland head out. I gave it a couple of hours, whiling my time away fishing. Early afternoon was a bad time for fishing, so I headed into the village. The guards at the town gate wanted to know my business, but hearing my accent decided that I was stranger enough to be safe. How is that for an odd turn of events. Usually it's the stranger that is the feared one. It seemed a bit mundane for Roland, but I was sure that he was behind this."
"A few hours in the matching tavern made this a surety rather than a suspicion. An odd way to spy, spending your time training the enemy. I couldn't see what was pushing him though. There seemed to be no reason to pit these two against each other. I am not sure that I ever learned his real reasons. Perhaps it was merely for the entertainment. He has done odder things. I tried for several days to find out what he was up to. I may have if things hadn't gone poorly. Not for him, he's too clever for that, but in general. Shadow storms started sweeping the area. Normally something the locals don't notice, these began to make that impossible. Odd creatures gave the locals a chance to practice their new skills. For some reason they seemed to think that I was part of the problem, and tried to hold me for Roland. It only took a few minutes to work my way free, however, the only way to freedom was back towards the first village. Even with my recent familiarity, they were far more knowledgable than I was. I decided that twitting Roland simply wasn't worth it, and decided that a certain path I knew was actually just behind that tree. You can only imagine the surprise when that path, along with several others that I knew failed to make their scheduled appearances. By this time I was close to the first village."
Krysta stopped her tale for a moment. She smiled coldly. "Sometimes luck can be a wonderful thing. I had figured that it was pretty much over. I was going to be at his mercy. Depending on his mood, I could be in for an ugly time. The villagers had just about caught up to me when we encountered Roland along with a good sized group of armed people. There was one of those wonderful pauses as everyone tries to figure out what just happend. I was halfway between two groups of people preparing to fight each other, a stranger, and thought to be the bringer of the recent demons. Both groups saw their supposed leader. From where I was, I screamed at him,"Roland, my love, save me!" I don't think that he was expecting that, followed as it was by my throwing myself headlong towards him. "They think we have brought these accursed demons." I was almost hoarse, shouting loud enough to be heard by all. There was a moment of silence, and then a very nasty growl started. I really couldn't tell you which group it came from. Both sides started advancing on the two of us. Roland had a very odd expression on his face, in all accuality it seemed to be a cross between hysterical laughter and murderous rage. Rage was on the side of winning, when luck turned in our direction. I do mean Roland and I, as there was a large group of villagers armed with some of the nastiest weapons I have seem in quite some time about to rip us both to shreds."
Krysta seems to relish her tale, slowly becoming more animated as it progresses. "From the forest came one of the ugliest creatures I have ever seen. I would call it a scorpion, but it stood fully 7 feet tall. The tail, another 7 feet curled over it's back, you could see the poison glistening. Several more joined the first. That was the bit of luck I spoke of. A large number of the visitors were distracted, and forced to defend themselves. There were still enough coming towards us that I was not entirely thrilled to be where I was. Roland and I both drew, Promise and his blade came quickly, almost eagerly to hand. His sarcastic comments helped me keep track of him just over my left shoulder. We were beset on all sides. It was butchery in it's plainest sense. At some point we both became aware that we had fought far more people than had been there originally. Only one of the beasts was remaining. I don't know what happened to the other, but watching it move towards us, the answer appeared before me. A dark cloud filled the view south of us. A few stray flashes of lightning, and lighter purple clouds drifted in the seething wall. It surged and more abominations appeared. These seemed more interested in the remaining scorpion. They quickly engaged each other while Roland and I took stock. The cloud seemed to be moving in our direction. Turning, the way to the north seemed clear. We didn't need to discuss it, just set a quick jog, swords in hand out of there. It was extremely frustrating. We seemed to move through shadow at an extremely slow rate. That wall of shadow seemed to follow us. Occasionally for variety, it would circle to the side, and entering a new shadow it was sometimes the only thing in front of us. More than once we were forced to stop and defend ourselves. Most of the time, it was at swordpoint, although occasionally he would use more arcane methods. That was generally only when we had the time, or perversely when we were hideously overmatched. I couldn't keep track of time had I wanted to. I know that at least 24 hours passed. I was forced to marvel at his skill and strength. During the next several days we saved each other's lives so many times as to not matter any more. Once of us was on guard constantly. At one point we both drifted off around a rather meager fire. In moments the wall had closed in on us again. After that, we took turns sitting awake. It seemed that we could keep it away by concentrating on where we were." She stops and looks to see if everyone understood that last bit.
"As long as we knew that we were on solid ground, it seemed to stay that way. It wasn't a theory that we cared to test. All manner of people and creatures swarmed around us. Most of them were frightened and were fighting anything that happened by. We tried to avoid those, but at times we simply weren't able to. It seemed like forever before things calmed down. Once they did, the animosity between us started to grow again. In only a few hours of calm, we were trading insults. After a day or two of this, we separated company. He made a comment that he would see me again, and strode away. To the best that I can see, he is quite comfortable in his ability to move through shadow. I know that I wasn't the only one leading us through. It took the combined wits and skills of both of us to survive that. Someday, when there is time, I would like to find out what happened at that time.
"Nothing fancy, but it will give warning." he gave a lopsided smile to Krysta. "I would kill for a few nights of quiet." He watched the bent figure of the woman at the fire. There was almost a sense of pride in how she had turned out.
The last streaks of light were fading even as they sat waiting for dinner to finish. Out of habit, their blades lay open, and at hand. Promise's blade dripped blood in the sunset. "That's quite the weapon you have."
Krysta's hand moved instinctively towards the pommel. "We're old friends."
"Rest easy, I have no intention of touching it" laughter, so hated normally, was in his voice.
Unsure why she didn't hate it as much this time, Krysta stirred uncomfortably. "He," she muttered sullenly.
"Pardon..."
"He's a he, not an it." Krysta moved to the fire, quickly handing Roland a chunk of meat.
"Unusual" was his only comment, before tearing into dinner.
They sat next to each other, making very little conversation, when the last of the rabbit had been consumed, Roland threw a few more logs on the fire. Working with the ease of practice, they cleaned their weapons and oiled them before putting them in sheathes. Together they watched the stars come out. Tired though they were, neither one suggested bed. "Tonight is the last one." the comment was quiet. Silently Krysta gathered the bed rolls and rearranged them closer to the fire. She handed him some pillows that had been found with the bedrolls. He set them up against a rock slab that protected their campsight. Roland quickly settled himself, resting against the cliff face. Krysta cautiously sat next to him and they turned their faces to the sky.
"There must be millions of them tonight," Krysta spoke in a hushed voice. "Do you ever wonder why they are?"
A non-committal rumble was her only answer. Slowly Roland's arms pulled her back against his chest. Tense in every muscle, she lay stiffly against him. Thoughts of Dacell, and Sloane, and others fled in the simple relief of being alive. Never mind that it was in the presence of one that she had hated for years. "It's simple really, they are here for our enjoyment."
A small laugh escaped Krysta. "It doesn't occur to you that they may have some other purpose."
"There is no need for another purpose when they fill that one so well." His fingers moved to her neck, gently kneading away the tension. "We shouldn't look for hidden meaning, when the obvious one fits." He firmly turned her head back to the stars when she would have looked at him. "No, not tonight. Tonight we are simply a man and woman who have battled death and won for the moment."
Krysta thoguht for a moment, then exhaled slowly and thoroughly. Several long deep breaths and the constant pressure of his fingers helped her relax.
"I wouldn't think that the prospect of an evening with me would be that awful to bear." his voice was smooth in the dark, and the heat from his body warmed her even more than the fire tha twas slowly dying. "After all we have just spent days constantly in each other's company, surely we deserve a small moment of quiet."
A small part of Krysta that was holding back acknowledged wryly that he was a master. Had he mentioned the years they had known each other thoughts of what had been between them would have intruded on this time. Firmly she pushed those thoughts away. Roland was correct, this time was needed to heal from the past few weeks.
For the most part they sat quietly, words merely an accent to the time they sat. Slowly Krysta relaxed back into the circle of Roland's arms. It ocurred to her that she should be attempting to learn more about him, somehow tonight, it just didn't seem important. Eventually she put her head on his shoulder, and turned so that she was more comfortable in his arms. Closing her eyes she inhaled deeply, she knew that she would forever remember Roland's scent. It mingled with the smoke, and the fresh air to become a part of her. She spent a long time merely enjoying the feel of his arms and scent. After a long time she looked up to see him watching her. Almost imperceptibly he drew closer, slowly blotting out the stars one by one. He paused just short, his breath reaching out to caress her face. Slowly she parted her own lips, shaking she breathed his name, "Roland"
With a deep breath, he began to move again, this time claiming her lips with his. Patiently he explored her mouth, licking the edges of her lips, before skimming his tongue along the edges of her teeth. It took very little urging for her to open her mouth to him fully, slippin gher own hands into his thick hair. She moaned in pleasure as his hair slid through her fingers, thick and silky it caressed her palms. He drew her closer cradling her shoulders with one arm, the other pulling her closer. His lips burned a path down her neck, moving the edge of her blouse aside. His tongue traced the v of her shirt, moving up the other side of her neck. Slowly they slid down, Roland pulled her on top of him. Cradling her face in his hands, he pulled her close for another soul wrenching kiss.
Pulling back slightly, Krysta began her own journey of exploration across his face, swirling her tongue in his ear, she delighted in his own sounds of pleasure. Nibbling lightly she tasted the sides of his neck, sliding her body down his to kiss the exposed areas of his chest. She paused to lay her head on his chest, legs entwined listening to the the beating of his heart. Roland slid his hands along her body, then wrapped around her, holding her close. "mmm, this is nice." his voice was gravelly. He turned sideways, spilling her off from him. Krysta made a small noise of protest. "shh, this is enough for now." He continued to hold her close, pulling covers over both of them.
Frustrated Krysta attempted to move away. "Lay still Krysta, it's going to be a long enough night without you being stubborn."
"Stubborn," she began. Quickly he covered her lips, long moments went by. "Yes, stubborn, now be quiet and enjoy the night."
How she was supposed to relax after those intense moments she had no idea. Roland didn't make it easier, constantly running his hands down her sides, not letting her get more than an inch away. Sliding his lips along hers, inflaming her as soon as she felt the fires dampening. With the blankets over them, and the heat of their own bodies, it quickly grew very warm. It was then that Roland slid his hands under her shirt. Krysta gasped as he moved his hands upwards. The roughness of his skin only increased her own pleasure. She could feel her nipples, hard and aching to be touched. Restlessly she moved against him. The desire in her breasts was echoed by the warmth between her thighs. She let out her breath in a pant as Rolands fingers finally moved to cup her breast. He reclined next to her, one hand under his head, the other teasing her nipples to even tighter peaks.
Krysta looked up into his eyes, seeing only the reflection of the last embers of the fire. Deliberately he moved his hand to the buttons of her shirt, slipping them free with ease. One arm all but trapped between their bodies, she had to be content with trailing her fingers along his thighs. It took only a few minutes for his breathing to quicken once again. Smiling gently Krysta arhed her back, as Roland parted her shirt, thrusting her breasts towards him. He lowered his head to her, gently lipping the nipples one then the other until Krysta was moaning her frustration. She closed her fingers about the length of him, caressing him through the material of his pants. He rewarded her by opening his mouth and suckling at her breast. Passion quickly spiraled, and in moments they were enjoying the feel of flesh on flesh. Clothing bunched about the end of the blankets.
Roland drew back to look at her, smiling at the glazed look in her eyes, and the swollen look to her lips. "This is your last chance to regret. I won't be held responsible for this one by myself. You'll have to find someone else to hate for this."
Krysta was perplexed by his comments. She ran her hands across his chest. "You were the one who said to shut up and enjoy the night."
"I don't beleive that I said to shut up." This time the laughter was barely under the surface. "I think it was more along the lines of stubborn."
Krysta slid her arms around him, pulling him closer. "I think I am about to get stubborn about you finishing what you started." Her fingers trailed down his back, nails scratching lightly across his buttocks and down the sides of his thighs. She gave a purely female murmer of satisfaction as she felt him press against her. Roland moved between her thighs and slowly entered her. They stayed in that position for long moments, before Krysta began to move against him. Pushing her hips against him it only took moment to persuade him to join her. Straining against each other yet towards a common goal, it seemed to lst forever. Then rapidly Krysta felt small shudders building deep in her. She arched up into Roland's embrace, and he covered her mouth, drinking in the sounds of passion. He waited until the tremors in her body slowed, then surged to his own release. Dropping back into the bedrolls, he moved onto his back, holding her next to him, legs entwined.
Quickly she dropped off to sleep, held securely in Roland's arms. She was awakened by the feel of his tongue swirling about her nipple. This time it was a quicker, more familiar thing. He pulled her on top of him as he sank deep inside her. Hands on her hips, they moved quickly to release, and this time she fell asleep on his chest. Just before morning, she felt a kiss on her forehead, but it didn't wake her completely.
The sun in her eyes was what finally woke her. Even before she left the warmth of the empty blankets, she knew she was alone. She refused to allow herself to think about what had just happened. She picked up Promise, and heading out she left everything where it was.