Chapter 2 A kiss and a begging
He sat down next to me a stared at me. I just sat there looking at my hand wondering what to say or if he was going to say anything to me. I sat there moving my thumbs around each other. I sighed and looked at him. He gave a little grin and moved him hand up to my face, his thumb lightly caressed my cheek as he looked at me. He moved forward to me for a kiss only soon did I move up from the chair a sat in and spun around to look at him. He looked up then stood to tower over me. I looked up at him and sighed, then looked down at the ground like he did before.
“Is something wrong.” He asked me. I looked up at him and sighed again. “Geese” I though “ I sigh a little to much.” I looked down the around the tent.
“Nothing really is wrong.” He looked at me for a second and thought.
“Then why did you spring up of the chair.” He said and looked at me again with question on his face. “Do you not trust me, before you trusted me.” I looked at him and then back around the room.
“That was before.” I said back to him. “I was young Ardeth, I had been in that form for 10 years and know a year later you still think I don’t understand.” He looked at me for a moment that walked over to me.
“I never said you didn’t understand anything and I don’t think it either.” He looked down at me and said “We need to get to the bottom of this and find the person who did this to you.” He looked at the door when he heard his name from out side “We know you know who did this to you. There is more to this story that I’ve been told.” He saw Rasheed walk in. “And we need to know now.” He whispered and walked passed me to great Rasheed. I stood there not bothering to great Rasheed at any moment. They stood and talked forever. Ardeth was still trying to get to the bottom of the story and at the same time trying to get Rasheed out of the tent. I turned to look at the two talking and they both looked back. Rasheed quickly pushed Ardeth out of the way and was on me. Tackling me to the ground. Ardeth was on his feet in seconds trying to get Rasheed off me. Ardeth didn’t get very far when Rasheeds foot came in contact with Aretha’s ribs. Ardeth flew back and hit the ground with a thud. I looked at the fallen Ardeth then looked up at Rasheed but his eyes had changed and were like a tigers eyes.
I have seen them before. It had happened to me before. I yelped in pain as Rasheed some how scratched my side. I don’t know what he used but he had no weapons on him. I soon became weak so weak I couldn’t defend my self. Then it had happened my curse from a year earlier had awakened. I was soon on alert, moving my feet to his stomach I pushed him off. I laid there on the ground regaining my breath then I looked up and saw him coming toward me again. He took a jump as if to land on me. My feet went into his stomach and I pushed him over my head causing him to flip over me and on to the ground behind me. I flipped up into a croched position and turned he seemed to be out of it, but I wasn’t sure. I looked at Ardeth who was still getting up from when Rasheed kicked him in the ribs. I rose slowly from where I stood.
Rasheed was slowly getting up. He looked up at me and his eyes had changed back from the tiger’s eyes. I slowly walked over careful for it could have been a trick, but then stepped back. I couldn’t take the chance. I ran over to help Ardeth who was in more pain than expected. He put an arm around my neck and helped him up. “Man” I thought, “That had to be one hell of a kick to wipe out Ardeth.” I looked over to find that Rasheed was gone and nowhere to be seen. I started to freak out a little. I looked all over the room in eye distance and found no one.
“Nemisus” I herd a low moan. I looked down at Ardeth who was still hanging on to me for strength. I slowly walked him over to his bed a lied him down. I checked his ribs to find that they felt broken but were not. “Maybe just a scratch” He looked up at me and gave a little grin. I looked at him funny. He started to laugh a little.
“Why would you be laughing at a time like this.”? He looked up and started to sit up on his bed.
“He wiped me out.” He kept laughing. I sighed in disbelief, but that was Ardeth for you. I just stared at him and he stopped his laughing for the moment and reached out to touch my face. I leaned into his hand and smiled at him, and then suddenly he covered his lips with mine. For a moment, I was taken back, then his arms curled around my back and I kissed him back passionately. My hands came up to frame his face. His fingers tugged lightly at my hair, His lips moved, kissing every inch of my face. He brushed my eyes, my nose, my chin, before moving back to my mouth. I moaned against his mouth my hands moved to spread over his chest and pulled back from the kissed. He looked at me with dazed eyes and I looked back into them. As we sat there staring at each other I new that he was thinking of a question that I hadn’t herd yet.
“Nemisus.” I looked at him and answered with a “Yes” He looked at me knowing not to talk about the story but had to know.
“Tell me your story.” I looked at him not wanting to tell him. “If not all of it just the begging on how you became of this. I sighed a looked at him and decided it was time to tell someone who it became.
“ All right then.” I move up onto the bed to get more comfy than I was just sitting there on the edge of the bed. I sighed and began the beginning of my story.
“ We had just gone off the seek the commander of our tribe. He had been missing for a few days. Considering my tribe they always sent women to do all the work, but that wasn’t it. They sent Phoenix to protect me. They sent Catalina for directional help. I was to go to make every thing happen right. We had left on a Saturday off to the west. Then came back to the north for more information on it. The north tribe said that they had seen the commander about a week ago asking for food from their chief. We thanked then for the help and went to the direction they said he went. We went east for about two days before running into another problem. A forest. We all looked at each other in the strangest way and asked our self’s “how could a forest be in the middle of the desert.” I looked at Phoenix who was ready to explore like always, but Catalina had her suspicions just as well as I did. Phoenix was ready and started her horse into the forest. I looked at Catalina and we both sighed and started after her. After catching up with her we found the opening. The cross in the middle and treasures all around. Phoenix had already leaped from her horse. We soon followed.
We looked around care full not to fall or trip over something because we knew it would happen. Then I saw him, the commander was laid on the smaller cross behind the large one. We all ran over to attend to him. He was still alive. We started to help him up when we herd it. A laugh I don’t ever want to hear again. Then something came at us like a hawk and knocked us all down. We all looked at each other and drew are scimitars and ready are selves for what ever would happen next. We all knelt down near the commander and watched every thing all around. Then out of nowhere a tiger comes out and tackles me to the ground, clawing and biting. A man appeared laughing as I struggled to get the animal off me.
“Don’t worry.” The man said down to me “He wont bite” He started laughing again. I reached out to grab my scimitar, but it was out of reach. I kept trying to get to it. Then hit the animal in the stomach witch made me move enough to get to my scimitar. The animal was back biting my arm and clawing my side. I screamed in pain as the animal attacked me. I gathered enough strength to swing my scimitar around and slice the tiger’s stomach. I rolled away in pain. The animal sat screaming in pain. The commander had seemed to get enough strength to pull me to him. We looked up at the man who had sent the animal on me. He pulled the commander from me and sliced his stomach in front of us. Catalina started to weep. The man pulled her by her collar and yelled. “Now you know how I feel” I looked up at the man yell at her for no reason. “You see little girl if you friend hadn’t sliced my friends stomach I wouldn’t have had to it to your friends.” He threw her down.
I gathered up my strength to speak. “What did she do to you.”? He looked down at me with disgust at my form. “Maybe if you were cleaner and not covered in blood I would answer.” Phoenix stood.
“She wouldn’t be covered in blood if you had sent that beast on her.” He looked at her with piercing eyes.
“Beast you say” she nodded and called the tiger a beast again. “How would you like to call you and your friend a beast.” She looked at him. Then there was a flash and as the smoke and light dimmed they were no longer there only as a panther and leopard. I screamed and backed up against the cross. The man looked down at me and lent out his hand to me.
“Take my hand and you wont have to suffer the fate as your friends” I looked up and him and gathered more strength to speak.
“What would I get if I accepted your hand.” I looked at him.
“You’ll be mine forever and no one else’s.” I looked up in shock and immediately refused. He just stared down at me with a glare. I looked away.
“Why do you not accept.” He asked in a soft voice.
“Because I rather die than marry a man who kills people for the fun of it and makes them suffer.” He looked at me and there was a flash of light and I felt the most awkward feeling. My eye site became acute and my body smaller. It felt as if I was putt in to a small box. I looked up and saw the man looking down and her spoke. “You will replace my friend you killed then.” He came down to pet my head and a lunged at him only to be flung back by a flash of light.
“You will learn in time who your master is.” He said down to me and walked away.”
I looked at Ardeth who was shocked to hear the begging of the story. I looked at him and he looked back.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know that. .” I cut him off.
“Don’t worry no one knows.”
Chapter 3