Featherdemon
3rd Level Red Feather
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- Jun 17, 2003
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Good evening,
Please find detailed below the penultimates part of this tale.
For those who I am writing for, I beg thee indulge me. It is almost done 😉
F,
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The kiss.
It was a moment of carefree indulgence. Something I had never done before and will never do again. It was wonderful and terrible all at the same time.
I touched Gedan's lips with mine for a single moment, but it was enough to send shivers down through my body and a sigh of pleasure rising from my throat. Her lips were the softest and the sweetest I'd ever known. Lights flashed before my closed eyes with the giddy feelings of pleasure it gave.
A heart beat later the surge of giddiness passed and I realised what I'd done. I staggered backwards from her but she caught me by gently by the wrists, to stop me stumbling into the Mire. I felt a rush of hot shame sear through me. My face fell. What had I done?!
"Oh Gedan, I'm sorry…" My words tumbled out of me in a crazy jumble of nonsensical utterances. It was as if I'd forgotten how to speak or the shame of what I'd done made me senseless. "I am so sorry…I don't know what…I mean, I've never…"
"Calm yourself."
Gedan put a single finger gently on my lips, on the same spot where I'd kissed hers. I shivered at her touch. The giddy rush of her scent – an impossibly stirring and usually irresistible call to my senses, paled against the strength of the shame I felt. I just wanted to curl up and die.
"Oh God, I wish the ground would just swallow me up!"
"Well you're in one of the few places where that could actually happen," she said with a giggle but her humour was wasted on me.
Gedan looked at me, her face unchanging and the same perfect smile on her lips.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that," I said. "I don't know what happened. I was just so giddy from the piggy back ride and then I was in your eyes and I felt…I don't know what, something wonderful…I…"
Gedan tilted her head very slightly as if she were seeing me anew; her ears pricked and her tail swished twice behind her back. I suddenly heard a purr rise from Gedan's throat, soft and deep, like a contented cat. A smile more beautiful than any other she had given filled her face and her eyes, looking like fathomless emeralds in the shadow of the trees, seemed to glow a little brighter. She lifted her hands to mine and gently brought them from her shoulders to rest at my side.
"I don't know what came over me," I said, burning with shame, unable to look her in the face.
"I know," Gedan said and lifted my head up to look me in the eyes. "You looked into my eyes and I into yours. Wonderful things can happen when I do that. You had a sudden rush of exquisite feeling; of sweet and nice memories, of toe tingling excitement and a yearning for something you can't describe. It grew and grew inside you too quickly and it made you want to do something. And in that single moment you chose to give me a kiss."
I nodded.
"It was very sweet," she said and smiled disarmingly, so my shame burned less. "And it is nothing to worry about."
I frowned. "I am not the kind of person to just do something like that," I said. "Well, not unless I'm around you, anyway."
"I know," she said and leaned closer. "You have done nothing wrong Dan. It was just a brief kiss, and a pleasant one at that. People get…muddled in my company and sometimes their feeling get the better of them. Believe it or not there have been occasions much more awkward than that." She smiled. "Please, don't fret about it. I ask you to think nothing more of it."
Gedan held my gaze for a moment, that wonderful smile on her face and then she turned slowly from me.
"I'm sorry if I offended you!" I said, unable to hold it back. "I'm sorry if I am less in your eyes now."
Gedan took two steps away from me before pausing, as if to consider something. "Why would it offend me?" she asked her voice gentle. "A kiss wouldn't offend me Dan, not when it is meant as yours was…" she turned to look back at me, her face serious. "Except, that's not why you're apologising, is it?"
I shook my head slowly.
"You feel you have acted unforgivably," she said. "You feel like you have taken advantage of me and that I should think less of you – that I should punish you."
I nodded, mute in my shame.
"Oh Dan…" she said, ever so softly.
For a moment I saw Gedan's face soften and then, taking a single step forward, she took hold of my hands once more. I held my breath, wondering and fearing what she was about to do. She held my gaze.
"Close your eyes," she said.
I gulped and did as she asked. In the seconds that followed I heard every beat of my heart. Then in the next moment I felt her kiss me on the lips – the perfect copy of the kiss I had given her and on the same spot. It was a delicate brush of her lips, softer than silk and infinitely sweeter, but it sent warm tingles through me. I shuddered and sighed, sinking back against the tree.
"There," she said, looking kindly at me when I opened my eyes. "You gifted me a kiss and I have gifted you a kiss in return. There is no harm or impropriety done. There can be no shame if the deed is reciprocated, can there?"
I shook my head.
"And as for you being less in my eyes and punishing you," she said and shook her head. "What a silly thought. Though, you are now obligated to tell me what that second question is when I get you home."
I nodded and laughed, still feeling the tingle from her kiss. "Wow…"
Gedan giggled. "I think you should stay here Dan," she said, sliding out of my hands. "Even my little kiss will leave you a little wobbly in the legs for a while. Mr Eccles isn't far ahead now and I can catch him easily enough. I can do the rest from here."
"What will you do with him?" I asked.
"I must take him back with me."
The thought of missing out of bringing in Eccles sent an angry flash though me. I felt suddenly alarmed at the prospect of being denied what I'd come here to do. "But—"
"No objections," said Gedan, shaking her head. "You gave me your word before I carried you here that you would obey me on this."
I nodded numbly, feeling adrift in the shadow of her kiss, but aware of the anger and its cause – Worzen Eccles and the men he'd killed. The urge to have my revenge on Eccles glowed hot in my gut. "He must face justice," I said.
"He will," said Gedan, seriously. "You have my word."
I frowned. "Do I sense I a 'but' coming?"
Gedan nodded slowly. "But," she said, "This will not be justice done in Brickten or in front of the Brickten populace. Worzen Eccles must return with me."
"What? Why?"
"I'm afraid this is the way it must be, Dan," Gedan said, her voice tender.
"Why?"
Gedan sighed. "He has done terrible things," she said, "to you, to me, and to those I care about. But the cause of his madness and thus the atrocities he's committed lie outside of this place, Dan. He has other crimes to answer for – crimes that you and the good folk of Brickten cannot know about."
I tried to stand but my limbs were still a little shaky. "So you're saying we can't hang him?" I felt a storm of feelings tear at my head. I struggled to contain them. "But he is a killer!"
"That he is," said Gedan.
"He cannot be allowed to keep his liberty!"
"He won't," Gedan said. "You have my most sincere promise on that, but I can't let him hang in Brickten."
I let out a bitter cry and sank back down to a sitting position.
Gedan knelt before me and touched my hand. "Nothing can be done to bring back the lives he has taken," she said. "Nor will hanging him ease your pain Dan or your sense of guilt. I understand what you want and why you want it, but his fate must be for me to decide. Please, trust me on this."
For a moment I felt the urge to argue and demand things to be otherwise. But I just gave a nod of my head. "I trust you Gedan," I said.
She smiled and purred at me. "Thank you, Dan," she said.
"Will you be coming for me once you're done?" I asked.
"Oh yes," she said and flashed me a very telling smile. "I promised to get you home safe and sound, did I not? I also promised you could ride on my shoulders."
"All the way home?" I said, grinning excitedly.
"All the way to your door," she said. "And if there is time, we can talk more and you can tell me what the other question you wanted to ask is."
"How much time do we have?"
"Until you fall asleep," she said.
"Well if I end up sleeping in a chair and waking up with a crick in my neck, it's your fault!"
Gedan giggled. "Maybe, if you're very good, I'll carry you to your room and put you to bed," she said. "But I draw the line at tucking you in…well, maybe, depends on how good you are."
I laughed and blushed. Gedan laughed too.
Suddenly from the darkness behind Gedan, somewhere deep in the Brickten Mire came a terrible shrieking sound. It was followed quickly by the sound of splashing water and sloshing mud. Gedan stood quickly, turning towards the sound. Birds scattered in the night sky, invisible, but their cries were just as disturbing. A second later there was another cry, this time more frantic and desperate.
"It's Worzen!" I said, pushing myself to my feet.
Gedan's ears twitched for a moment before flattening. "He's fallen into the Mire," she said, her voice soft. "That poor fool's luck has finally run out."
I felt a new shiver pass up my spine as I listened to the distant splashing of mud and water. I remembered all anew how terrible it had felt for me to be stuck in that bog hole, the cold weight of the mud against me and the knowledge that without any help I would die.
"Is he close?" I asked.
Gedan moved forward, scanning the horizon and listening with her ears. "Yes," she said, "just a little further over that ridge."
It stunned me to hear such a level of sadness in Gedan's voice over such a creature as Worzen Eccles. "Has he gone under?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Not yet," she said.
For a moment I was conflicted between my own sense of pending closure with the death of Eccles and the very obvious sadness in Gedan's face. It lasted only a moment however, for in the end there was no choice. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder.
"Go and save him," I said.
Gedan's ears pricked and she turned to look at me. "If he dies in the Mire, will that not give you what you desire?" she said.
I shook my head. "Just go and save him," I said.
Gedan's face lit up and she touched my cheeks tenderly with her hands for a moment. Then in the blink of an eye she was gone and I was left alone amidst shadow and silhouette.
"Damn that woman," I muttered, "she's turned me into a softie."
I staggered in the general direction of the sounds, tentatively testing the ground with my foot as I did so. All the while I could hear the shouted conversation between Gedan and Worzen.
"Gedan, Gedan!" Worzen cried. "Save me, save me! I'm sinking!"
"Be calm Worzen," I heard her call back, "I'm coming."
"Oh god, I'm sinking!"
"Stop your thrashing or you will only sink faster."
I tracked their conversation and made my way with infinite caution to where they were. It took me long minutes to make my way safely and when I eventually got there I saw at once just how desperate Worzen's situation was.
In his desperate attempt to flee, he had stumbled through bushes and briar and ran off a small rocky outcrop, landing in the centre of a large bog. I could see him trapped to his waist. He thrashed and clawed at the ground, trying to get free.
"Save me!" Worzen cried.
Gedan stood on the very edge, as close as she dared, looking out to him. He was too far away for her to grab him. At the sound of my approach, she looked at me over her shoulder and smiled. I made my way to stand beside her.
"I can't reach him," she said, unhappy.
I frowned, surprised she cared so much. It also surprised me to find that it gave me no pleasure at all to see Worzen so stuck. I actually felt sorry for him.
"We need some rope," I said.
"There is nothing long enough or strong enough to do the job."
I saw in Gedan's eyes a strong desire to save this man, even though he was a horrid killer. There was something pure about this Gedan, something unchanging and resolute. She wanted to save him as much as she had wanted to save me. While I couldn't even begin to understand such a thought, I felt a grave respect for her.
And in that moment my desire for revenge, for the death of Eccles,wavered and fell away. It just didn't seem that important any more.
"I've an idea."
I took off my jacket and then stripped off my shirt so that I stood bare-chested in the cold, biting Mire air. Shivering, I bit down gently my lip to stop my teeth from chattering. I tied the two garments together and then tied one end to my arm.
"What are you doing?" Gedan asked.
"Whatever I can," I said gloomily. "Take my hand and whatever you do, don't let go!"
Gedan took my arm and pulled me close; she whispered into my ear. "Why are you doing this?"
"To save him," I said.
Gedan smiled and for an instant the cold didn't bother me. "I should be the one to go in after him," she said. "I know what terror this gives you."
I shook my head. "You're the only one strong enough to anchor us to the ground," I said. "I'll need that to stop him from dragging me under."
I felt a sudden fear at the thought of going back into that horrid mud. The feel of Gedan's hand, strong and warm about my wrist helped ease it only a little bit.
"What of your revenge?"
I sighed. I felt odd, emotionally displaced by the sudden and drastic change in my feelings. "My desire for revenge is second to something more important," I said.
"To what?" she asked.
"To not…disappointing you," I said. "Now please…let me do this before I change my mind or before I freeze!"
Gedan purred and took my wrist in both hands. "I won't let you go under," she said, resolute. "No matter what else happens, I'll save you. I promise."
I nodded, feeling a rush of relief to hear her say that, but still I fought against the fear the touch of the mud gave me. Step by step I stared to slowly wade into the edge of the mud. My first couple of steps brought me knee deep and I had to stop to get the better of myself.
"It's all right Dan," said Gedan. "You're doing fine."
"Save me you idiot!" Worzen shrieked.
"Worzen shut up and keep still."
I edged a couple of steps further until the mud was pressing against my upper thighs. It was cold and clutching, like corpse hands wrestling with my legs. At that point I tossed the line of my two garments towards Worzen who clutched instantly at them. I felt the line go tight as he took hold.
"Worzen, pull yourself towards me!" I said.
The first few tugs on the line caused me to sink a little deeper and I cried out in shock. The instant I did so Gedan pulled on my arm and lifted me back. The touch of the mud and even the slight splash of water made me want to scream. I took a few breaths and braced myself once more, allowing Worzen to drag himself onto the top of the mud and claw his way towards me.
"Almost," said Gedan.
Soon he was close enough to grab at my wrist and I felt a sudden rising panic. I feared his struggles would break my grip with Gedan and I would sink below the surface.
"I've got him!" I yelled, biting back my fear.
"Worzen," called Gedan. "Lie still and I will pull you both in. Do not fight and don't try to drag Daniel down or I will leave you here for the mud. Am I clear?"
I doubted Gedan would leave anyone behind in such a place, but the tone of her voice was so serious and her threat so terrifying that it stilled Worzen.
Smiling, Gedan pulled on my arm and inch by inch drew us both out of the mud. The moment I felt solid ground beneath my feet, I wanted to cry out in relief but I kept control of my emotions and made sure that I dragged the animal Worzen onto solid ground. He lay flat, panting and gasping but safely out of the mud. I let go of the shirt and thanked to whatever was listening for not letting me die.
Please find detailed below the penultimates part of this tale.
For those who I am writing for, I beg thee indulge me. It is almost done 😉
F,
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The kiss.
It was a moment of carefree indulgence. Something I had never done before and will never do again. It was wonderful and terrible all at the same time.
I touched Gedan's lips with mine for a single moment, but it was enough to send shivers down through my body and a sigh of pleasure rising from my throat. Her lips were the softest and the sweetest I'd ever known. Lights flashed before my closed eyes with the giddy feelings of pleasure it gave.
A heart beat later the surge of giddiness passed and I realised what I'd done. I staggered backwards from her but she caught me by gently by the wrists, to stop me stumbling into the Mire. I felt a rush of hot shame sear through me. My face fell. What had I done?!
"Oh Gedan, I'm sorry…" My words tumbled out of me in a crazy jumble of nonsensical utterances. It was as if I'd forgotten how to speak or the shame of what I'd done made me senseless. "I am so sorry…I don't know what…I mean, I've never…"
"Calm yourself."
Gedan put a single finger gently on my lips, on the same spot where I'd kissed hers. I shivered at her touch. The giddy rush of her scent – an impossibly stirring and usually irresistible call to my senses, paled against the strength of the shame I felt. I just wanted to curl up and die.
"Oh God, I wish the ground would just swallow me up!"
"Well you're in one of the few places where that could actually happen," she said with a giggle but her humour was wasted on me.
Gedan looked at me, her face unchanging and the same perfect smile on her lips.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that," I said. "I don't know what happened. I was just so giddy from the piggy back ride and then I was in your eyes and I felt…I don't know what, something wonderful…I…"
Gedan tilted her head very slightly as if she were seeing me anew; her ears pricked and her tail swished twice behind her back. I suddenly heard a purr rise from Gedan's throat, soft and deep, like a contented cat. A smile more beautiful than any other she had given filled her face and her eyes, looking like fathomless emeralds in the shadow of the trees, seemed to glow a little brighter. She lifted her hands to mine and gently brought them from her shoulders to rest at my side.
"I don't know what came over me," I said, burning with shame, unable to look her in the face.
"I know," Gedan said and lifted my head up to look me in the eyes. "You looked into my eyes and I into yours. Wonderful things can happen when I do that. You had a sudden rush of exquisite feeling; of sweet and nice memories, of toe tingling excitement and a yearning for something you can't describe. It grew and grew inside you too quickly and it made you want to do something. And in that single moment you chose to give me a kiss."
I nodded.
"It was very sweet," she said and smiled disarmingly, so my shame burned less. "And it is nothing to worry about."
I frowned. "I am not the kind of person to just do something like that," I said. "Well, not unless I'm around you, anyway."
"I know," she said and leaned closer. "You have done nothing wrong Dan. It was just a brief kiss, and a pleasant one at that. People get…muddled in my company and sometimes their feeling get the better of them. Believe it or not there have been occasions much more awkward than that." She smiled. "Please, don't fret about it. I ask you to think nothing more of it."
Gedan held my gaze for a moment, that wonderful smile on her face and then she turned slowly from me.
"I'm sorry if I offended you!" I said, unable to hold it back. "I'm sorry if I am less in your eyes now."
Gedan took two steps away from me before pausing, as if to consider something. "Why would it offend me?" she asked her voice gentle. "A kiss wouldn't offend me Dan, not when it is meant as yours was…" she turned to look back at me, her face serious. "Except, that's not why you're apologising, is it?"
I shook my head slowly.
"You feel you have acted unforgivably," she said. "You feel like you have taken advantage of me and that I should think less of you – that I should punish you."
I nodded, mute in my shame.
"Oh Dan…" she said, ever so softly.
For a moment I saw Gedan's face soften and then, taking a single step forward, she took hold of my hands once more. I held my breath, wondering and fearing what she was about to do. She held my gaze.
"Close your eyes," she said.
I gulped and did as she asked. In the seconds that followed I heard every beat of my heart. Then in the next moment I felt her kiss me on the lips – the perfect copy of the kiss I had given her and on the same spot. It was a delicate brush of her lips, softer than silk and infinitely sweeter, but it sent warm tingles through me. I shuddered and sighed, sinking back against the tree.
"There," she said, looking kindly at me when I opened my eyes. "You gifted me a kiss and I have gifted you a kiss in return. There is no harm or impropriety done. There can be no shame if the deed is reciprocated, can there?"
I shook my head.
"And as for you being less in my eyes and punishing you," she said and shook her head. "What a silly thought. Though, you are now obligated to tell me what that second question is when I get you home."
I nodded and laughed, still feeling the tingle from her kiss. "Wow…"
Gedan giggled. "I think you should stay here Dan," she said, sliding out of my hands. "Even my little kiss will leave you a little wobbly in the legs for a while. Mr Eccles isn't far ahead now and I can catch him easily enough. I can do the rest from here."
"What will you do with him?" I asked.
"I must take him back with me."
The thought of missing out of bringing in Eccles sent an angry flash though me. I felt suddenly alarmed at the prospect of being denied what I'd come here to do. "But—"
"No objections," said Gedan, shaking her head. "You gave me your word before I carried you here that you would obey me on this."
I nodded numbly, feeling adrift in the shadow of her kiss, but aware of the anger and its cause – Worzen Eccles and the men he'd killed. The urge to have my revenge on Eccles glowed hot in my gut. "He must face justice," I said.
"He will," said Gedan, seriously. "You have my word."
I frowned. "Do I sense I a 'but' coming?"
Gedan nodded slowly. "But," she said, "This will not be justice done in Brickten or in front of the Brickten populace. Worzen Eccles must return with me."
"What? Why?"
"I'm afraid this is the way it must be, Dan," Gedan said, her voice tender.
"Why?"
Gedan sighed. "He has done terrible things," she said, "to you, to me, and to those I care about. But the cause of his madness and thus the atrocities he's committed lie outside of this place, Dan. He has other crimes to answer for – crimes that you and the good folk of Brickten cannot know about."
I tried to stand but my limbs were still a little shaky. "So you're saying we can't hang him?" I felt a storm of feelings tear at my head. I struggled to contain them. "But he is a killer!"
"That he is," said Gedan.
"He cannot be allowed to keep his liberty!"
"He won't," Gedan said. "You have my most sincere promise on that, but I can't let him hang in Brickten."
I let out a bitter cry and sank back down to a sitting position.
Gedan knelt before me and touched my hand. "Nothing can be done to bring back the lives he has taken," she said. "Nor will hanging him ease your pain Dan or your sense of guilt. I understand what you want and why you want it, but his fate must be for me to decide. Please, trust me on this."
For a moment I felt the urge to argue and demand things to be otherwise. But I just gave a nod of my head. "I trust you Gedan," I said.
She smiled and purred at me. "Thank you, Dan," she said.
"Will you be coming for me once you're done?" I asked.
"Oh yes," she said and flashed me a very telling smile. "I promised to get you home safe and sound, did I not? I also promised you could ride on my shoulders."
"All the way home?" I said, grinning excitedly.
"All the way to your door," she said. "And if there is time, we can talk more and you can tell me what the other question you wanted to ask is."
"How much time do we have?"
"Until you fall asleep," she said.
"Well if I end up sleeping in a chair and waking up with a crick in my neck, it's your fault!"
Gedan giggled. "Maybe, if you're very good, I'll carry you to your room and put you to bed," she said. "But I draw the line at tucking you in…well, maybe, depends on how good you are."
I laughed and blushed. Gedan laughed too.
Suddenly from the darkness behind Gedan, somewhere deep in the Brickten Mire came a terrible shrieking sound. It was followed quickly by the sound of splashing water and sloshing mud. Gedan stood quickly, turning towards the sound. Birds scattered in the night sky, invisible, but their cries were just as disturbing. A second later there was another cry, this time more frantic and desperate.
"It's Worzen!" I said, pushing myself to my feet.
Gedan's ears twitched for a moment before flattening. "He's fallen into the Mire," she said, her voice soft. "That poor fool's luck has finally run out."
I felt a new shiver pass up my spine as I listened to the distant splashing of mud and water. I remembered all anew how terrible it had felt for me to be stuck in that bog hole, the cold weight of the mud against me and the knowledge that without any help I would die.
"Is he close?" I asked.
Gedan moved forward, scanning the horizon and listening with her ears. "Yes," she said, "just a little further over that ridge."
It stunned me to hear such a level of sadness in Gedan's voice over such a creature as Worzen Eccles. "Has he gone under?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Not yet," she said.
For a moment I was conflicted between my own sense of pending closure with the death of Eccles and the very obvious sadness in Gedan's face. It lasted only a moment however, for in the end there was no choice. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder.
"Go and save him," I said.
Gedan's ears pricked and she turned to look at me. "If he dies in the Mire, will that not give you what you desire?" she said.
I shook my head. "Just go and save him," I said.
Gedan's face lit up and she touched my cheeks tenderly with her hands for a moment. Then in the blink of an eye she was gone and I was left alone amidst shadow and silhouette.
"Damn that woman," I muttered, "she's turned me into a softie."
I staggered in the general direction of the sounds, tentatively testing the ground with my foot as I did so. All the while I could hear the shouted conversation between Gedan and Worzen.
"Gedan, Gedan!" Worzen cried. "Save me, save me! I'm sinking!"
"Be calm Worzen," I heard her call back, "I'm coming."
"Oh god, I'm sinking!"
"Stop your thrashing or you will only sink faster."
I tracked their conversation and made my way with infinite caution to where they were. It took me long minutes to make my way safely and when I eventually got there I saw at once just how desperate Worzen's situation was.
In his desperate attempt to flee, he had stumbled through bushes and briar and ran off a small rocky outcrop, landing in the centre of a large bog. I could see him trapped to his waist. He thrashed and clawed at the ground, trying to get free.
"Save me!" Worzen cried.
Gedan stood on the very edge, as close as she dared, looking out to him. He was too far away for her to grab him. At the sound of my approach, she looked at me over her shoulder and smiled. I made my way to stand beside her.
"I can't reach him," she said, unhappy.
I frowned, surprised she cared so much. It also surprised me to find that it gave me no pleasure at all to see Worzen so stuck. I actually felt sorry for him.
"We need some rope," I said.
"There is nothing long enough or strong enough to do the job."
I saw in Gedan's eyes a strong desire to save this man, even though he was a horrid killer. There was something pure about this Gedan, something unchanging and resolute. She wanted to save him as much as she had wanted to save me. While I couldn't even begin to understand such a thought, I felt a grave respect for her.
And in that moment my desire for revenge, for the death of Eccles,wavered and fell away. It just didn't seem that important any more.
"I've an idea."
I took off my jacket and then stripped off my shirt so that I stood bare-chested in the cold, biting Mire air. Shivering, I bit down gently my lip to stop my teeth from chattering. I tied the two garments together and then tied one end to my arm.
"What are you doing?" Gedan asked.
"Whatever I can," I said gloomily. "Take my hand and whatever you do, don't let go!"
Gedan took my arm and pulled me close; she whispered into my ear. "Why are you doing this?"
"To save him," I said.
Gedan smiled and for an instant the cold didn't bother me. "I should be the one to go in after him," she said. "I know what terror this gives you."
I shook my head. "You're the only one strong enough to anchor us to the ground," I said. "I'll need that to stop him from dragging me under."
I felt a sudden fear at the thought of going back into that horrid mud. The feel of Gedan's hand, strong and warm about my wrist helped ease it only a little bit.
"What of your revenge?"
I sighed. I felt odd, emotionally displaced by the sudden and drastic change in my feelings. "My desire for revenge is second to something more important," I said.
"To what?" she asked.
"To not…disappointing you," I said. "Now please…let me do this before I change my mind or before I freeze!"
Gedan purred and took my wrist in both hands. "I won't let you go under," she said, resolute. "No matter what else happens, I'll save you. I promise."
I nodded, feeling a rush of relief to hear her say that, but still I fought against the fear the touch of the mud gave me. Step by step I stared to slowly wade into the edge of the mud. My first couple of steps brought me knee deep and I had to stop to get the better of myself.
"It's all right Dan," said Gedan. "You're doing fine."
"Save me you idiot!" Worzen shrieked.
"Worzen shut up and keep still."
I edged a couple of steps further until the mud was pressing against my upper thighs. It was cold and clutching, like corpse hands wrestling with my legs. At that point I tossed the line of my two garments towards Worzen who clutched instantly at them. I felt the line go tight as he took hold.
"Worzen, pull yourself towards me!" I said.
The first few tugs on the line caused me to sink a little deeper and I cried out in shock. The instant I did so Gedan pulled on my arm and lifted me back. The touch of the mud and even the slight splash of water made me want to scream. I took a few breaths and braced myself once more, allowing Worzen to drag himself onto the top of the mud and claw his way towards me.
"Almost," said Gedan.
Soon he was close enough to grab at my wrist and I felt a sudden rising panic. I feared his struggles would break my grip with Gedan and I would sink below the surface.
"I've got him!" I yelled, biting back my fear.
"Worzen," called Gedan. "Lie still and I will pull you both in. Do not fight and don't try to drag Daniel down or I will leave you here for the mud. Am I clear?"
I doubted Gedan would leave anyone behind in such a place, but the tone of her voice was so serious and her threat so terrifying that it stilled Worzen.
Smiling, Gedan pulled on my arm and inch by inch drew us both out of the mud. The moment I felt solid ground beneath my feet, I wanted to cry out in relief but I kept control of my emotions and made sure that I dragged the animal Worzen onto solid ground. He lay flat, panting and gasping but safely out of the mud. I let go of the shirt and thanked to whatever was listening for not letting me die.
