A Dark Alliance - The Endless Night - Chapter Four
Four - Flesh Wounds
Allessia barely had time to think about what might lie beyond the door to Jherek’s bedchamber as she charged in. She wasn’t even armed. She kept a a dagger sheathed in her boot but had neglected to draw it before entering the room, so she was relieved to find him alone, sat bolt upright in the bed. Until, that was, she saw the blank look in his eyes and the sweat beading down his face.
“No, please!” Jherek uttered, reaching out into the space before him, his eyes wide, the whites like red hot coals as they reflected the dying embers of the fire. He was so agitated it took a moment for Allessia to realise he was actually sleeping.
She knew from her younger sister’s sleepwalking episodes that she needed to take care not to wake him with a start, so she began to pick her way slowly across the room towards him.
All of a sudden something in him snapped, and he flew at her.
Allessia saw Jherek coming but the space between them was so small she didn’t have a chance to dodge him. She braced herself for the impact; casting a protective spell, but Jherek was a big man, and hitting her at speed he sent the two of them crashing to the floor.
Allessia lay pinned beneath Jherek, his full weight crushed her chest and his arm was pressed against her throat. She was having difficulty catching her breath. Jherek didn’t wake, he just stared right past her as if she wasn’t there. He looked crazed, manic, he barely even drew breath. She managed to free one of her arms from between them and used her hand to prize his arm from her neck.
“Jherek!” she croaked. “Jherek, wake up. You’re choking me!”
She bent her legs up at the knees and using the strength in them she managed to force him off her and over on to his back. Jherek’s reflexes were quick as a cat’s however, and as she stood up he lunged at her again. This time she was ready for him. She parried the attack with her arm and sent him spinning into a wall with a dull thud.
In other circumstances Allessia was a good match for Jherek. She stood almost as tall as him, and while she was undoubtedly much slimmer than him her strength was remarkable. But these were unusual circumstances. She was reluctant to engage him fully as she knew he had no awareness of his actions, and she had no wish to hurt him because he was not her enemy. She would certainly never use an offensive spell against him as she would likely kill him outright. She was just fortunate that the defensive spells she had at her disposal did not affect both of them as they could do with an ally.
“Jherek, please wake up, please.” she begged as she approached him slowly with her hands open in a pacifying gesture she hoped he could understand. It was no use, whatever it was that kept him in his dream state was stopping him seeing her. He was fighting shadows, and she was just one of them.
Letting out out a guttural roar he ran at her again. Once more she managed to deflect the attack, but as he passed her he shoulder barged her. She stepped backwards, her feet became tangled in something on the floor and she tumbled onto the bed. He was on her then, knelt over her, his strong thighs gripping her legs, his rough hands around her neck, his hollow eyes still staring into the middle distance. Allessia’s hands were free this time but trying to push the two of them up off the feather mattress was like sinking in quicksand; the more she fought the deeper she sank into its softness. She pulled at Jherek’s hands, but like a stubborn knot in a fine chain; the more she tried to loosen them the tighter they became.
She could feel herself slipping under; her heart pounded rapidly - too rapidly - as the panic set in. White stars exploded before her eyes, bright against the darkness of the room. There was something else too. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of what appeared to be a skull; shimmering like mercury in the blackness, bound in chains of rolling fire; hovering in the space between them with sickening menace. An hallucination caused by a lack of breath? She screwed her eyes tight shut to obliterate the image and gulped at the air, desperately trying to force it down into her lungs through her constricted windpipe. She couldn’t let this happen to her. To him. She ran her hands down his chest and stomach in a last ditch attempt to push him away but his grip on her was unearthly strong. As they reached his waist her fingers grazed the edge of the bandage and an idea struck her; bringing her hands up around his back she ran her fingers under the bandages until she found the cooled poultice and the wound beneath. Placing her fingers down one edge of the wound she pushed down. Hard.
For one long second, the whole world stopped.
Jherek blinked suddenly and the light in his eyes returned. He looked down at Allessia lying beneath him and to his hands at her throat. Then he let out an agonised cry and released his grip, allowing the air to rush back into Allessia’s lungs. With the last of her strength she gave an almighty shove and sent him sprawling onto the floor just as Karne and the others burst into the room.
“What in the nine hells?” Borador yelled.
Allessia heaved as she tried to catch her breath. “You took your time didn’t you?”
“Are you all right, lady?” Ysuran enquired.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” Allessia replied, coughing and getting shakily to her feet.
“What has gone on here?” Vhaidra asked in a dubious tone.
“Jherek... I think he may have been hallucinating, perhaps caused by a fever.” Allessia answered.
“What did you give him?” Karne asked.
“Nothing I wouldn’t give to any of you.”
“Lady, you would likely give me poison if you felt you could get away with it.”
“Stitch your lips, Karne.” Ysuran snapped, stepping in to defend Allessia from the slur. “The lady would never do such a thing, but I might if you continue to speak as you do.”
Jherek remained on the floor where he landed, shaking violently and staring at his hands.
Allessia looked down awkwardly at her feet. “Perhaps you might leave us for a while?”
“O’ course.” Dorn nodded, “if you need anything?”
“I shall ask.” Allessia replied.
As they filed out of the room Allessia spoke again. “Oh, there was something...”
“Name it.”
“That whisky you found, would you bring me a bottle?”
“A whole bottle? I’m not sure we could spare a whole bottle, Lady.” Dorn replied, pulling a horrified face.
“You may have whatever is left with my pleasure, and if you could bring Jherek’s share of our meal too...” Allessia answered. For all his coarse ways, Dorn was a good man and she really did appreciate his efforts to lighten the mood.
“Done! I’ll be back with it in a minute.” He tramped back down the stairs, whistling softly to himself.
Allessia turned her attentions back to Jherek, who was still sat on the floor in a state of shock. She knelt down beside him rather than directly in front of him and glanced sidelong at his face, her head bowed slightly.
“I need to take a look at that wound now.” she told him softly.
“I- I...” he started to reply, but unable to make sense of the jumble of words in his head he fell silent. Allessia took his lack of a protest as a sign that she could proceed and began untying the bandages with nimble fingers. Once the bandaging was removed she cautiously peeled back the poultice stuck to his back, terrified that in her frantic efforts to wake him she had pushed the bolt and the scrap of his shirt deeper into the wound. Luckily however, the poultice appeared to have worked and the object was much nearer the surface of his skin.
Just then Dorn appeared in the doorway. “Your firewater, lady.” the great barbarian announced in the manner of Amnian manservant, bowing deeply and almost cracking his head on the door frame as he rose.
Allessia chuckled. “Thank you, good sir.” she replied.
“Will that be all?” he asked somberly as he placed the bottle and a plate of food on the table.
“Yes, thank you.” Allessia replied as she stood up. Dorn gave Jherek a worried look. “He will be fine. Honestly.” she reassured him.
“In your hands, Allessia, I don’t doubt it.” Dorn said as he turned and walked from the chamber, closing the door behind him.
Allessia bustled about the room, lighting more candles to lift the gloom and gathering together the things she would need for the next stage of Jherek’s treatment. She threw the used bandages and poultice on the embers of the fire as kindling and added more logs when they caught. Then she cleared the tabletop of everything save for the bottle of whisky, and a small and very sharp knife she took from her backpack. When all her preparations were complete she sat down on the floor in front of Jherek once again.
Allessia reached out and cupped Jherek’s chin with her hand, lifting his head so that she could look into his eyes, which were downcast and shone like silver in the fire light. “It’s time to take that bolt out,” she told him, “do you need me to help you stand?”
“No.” Jherek replied hoarsely as he forced the word out over the lump in his throat. “I can manage.” He clambered to his feet and crossed shakily to the table where Allessia stood waiting for him.
“You will need to lie face down on the table. It’s a little short but the bed is much to soft to give you any support,” she told him with a wry smile to herself.
Jherek did as she instructed and lay on the table on his stomach, with his head and legs hanging over at either end. The reason for the bottle of whisky soon became clear to him. Allessia tipped a good measure over the hole in his back to sterilise it and he had to grit his teeth to keep from screaming in agony. Next, Allessia took the small blade, tipped more of the whisky over it and thrust it into the fire. The strong liquour ignited in a flash and blue flames danced like marsh sprites along the blade as it burned away.
Nothing could have prepared Jherek for the pain he felt as she prized the bolt from his back with the red hot knife blade. It was so acute it made every last nerve in his body scream. Instinctively he tried to wriggle away from her, but she placed a forceful hand in the small of his back so he couldn’t move.
“There!” Allessia exclaimed as the tip came free. She cleaned the blade and placed both the tip and the knife down before cleansing Jherek’s back with some more of the torn fabric and water from the bucket.
She rounded the table and lowered herself on her haunches before Jherek so that they were face to face. “It’s almost over now.” she promised, “drink some of this, it might help.” she suggested, handing the bottle of firewhisky to him. He took the bottle from her and sat up slowly, then gulped down a slug of the potent liquid inside, grateful for the heat it spread through his body, warming his chilled flesh and muting the pain.
“How do you feel?” Allessia asked as she stood up before him.
Jherek wished she had asked him anything but that. It was one thing to tell her of the physical hurt. But the truth of it was that he couldn’t even begin to put into words the depth of the confusion and shame he felt, and he understood by the way she phrased the question she wasn’t just enquiring after his physical health. He took another mouthful of the molten liquour from the bottle in his hand and looked away, terrified that he would look into her face and see only fear, or hatred, or both. Though he wouldn’t blame her, he couldn’t bear it if she looked at him that way.
Sensing his discomfort Allessia perched herself on the edge of the table beside Jherek, eased the whisky bottle from his hand and took a swig. The vicious burn of it made her cough. “Urgh, I have no idea how Dorn drinks this stuff in the vast quantities he does. It’s revolting! I’d take a cup of tea over that, any day.” she wheezed, looking down at the bottle in her hands, “he must have the stomach of a shark!” she added. “Here, keep it.” Allessia handed the bottle back to Jherek. He took it from her and put it down beside him. He wasn’t really one for hard drink - seeing what it did to the sailors he was surrounded by when he was younger was enough to temper any habit - so he had no desire to drink any more than he had already imbibed.
Jherek gathered his thoughts. “You saved my life today, twice over.” he said, finally.
“I’m not quite finished yet. The hot knife cauterised the wound but I still need to heal it properly. Will you let me?”
“Are you sure you still want to help me?” he asked sadly.
“What in Helm’s name would make you think that I wouldn’t?”
Jherek gathered up his courage and turned to face Allessia properly. “I could have killed you!” he exclaimed.
“I don’t doubt that. Still, you didn’t.”
The sight of his fingerprints outlined on Allessia’s neck made Jherek feel physically sick. He lifted his hand and tentatively reached out to touch the marks, tenderly running his toil roughened fingers over the reddened skin. After what he did to her, Jherek fully expected her to back away, instead she tilted her head back so that her neck was fully exposed, and closed her eyes. The gesture drew tears like pin pricks to his eyes.
“Allessia, lady, I’m sorry.” The words hitched in his throat as he spoke.
“You have no reason to apologise to me.”
“I damned near kill you and you tell me I have no need to apologise. I believe I have every need.” Jherek replied, irritated that she wouldn’t accept.
“Jherek, you have no need to apologise to me because I know I wasn’t your intended target.” The look she gave him was one of impassioned sincerity, “I know you would never hurt me intentionally.”
Jherek wondered how she could know such a thing when he didn’t even know it himself. Despite everything that had happened to prove to him he was his father’s son in name only, he still feared that one day the veneer of decency would crack and his true nature would be revealed to him, and to the rest of the world. It was as though he couldn’t be just a normal man; occasionally given over to fits of anger, jealousy, greed, callousness; emotions his father revelled in. Jherek viewed allowing himself to succumb to such emotions as the start of the slow slide towards becoming like his father, and believed the only way he could distance himself from his father’s legacy was to be his polar opposite. Everything he did was undertaken with a sense of integrity, honour and innate goodness, and when his actions fell short of the mark he punished himself.
The sensation of Allessia’s fingers tangling with his own pulled him back into the moment and made his heart lurch. She was stood so close to him he could almost feel two hearts beating in his chest. She skimmed his hip with her free hand and slid it around his back to rest it over the hole left by the bolt. She closed her eyes and began to chant a low prayer to Helm.
Allessia’s face took on a mask of concentrated serenity and the two of them became bathed in a light the colour of sun through shallow water, which caused the woman’s pale blonde hair to take on an elfin sheen. Jherek felt the hand at his back and then his back itself grow cold, then completely numb. It was like no healing he had ever experienced, or given. Through the numbness he felt an oddly detached sensation of skin and sinew stretching to knit together. Then the light slowly faded and the numbness that filled Jherek’s body with it. When Allessia opened her eyes again he realised for the first time why he found them so beautiful. They were just a little too big for her face; their colour a little too intense - perhaps an indication of elven blood somewhere in her lineage - but they held the inviting azure depth of the oceans he had once called home.
Allessia stooped to check out her handiwork. “Barely even a mark. I worried it might scar as it was left so long.” she commented with a note of relief in her voice. “Twice over, you said.” she added, without pausing for breath.
“Mmm?” Jherek responded, unsure if he heard her correctly.
She regarded him intently, taking in every feature of his strong face, relieved to see that the colour had returned. “Before, you said twice over. What did you mean by that?” Allessia asked.
“I meant I was fortunate it was you who found me and not one of the others. They would have surely killed me.”
“I believe that Karne may have done, yes, not the others. Though you may not have come away unscathed as you did.”
“Not counting my wounded pride.” he admitted.
“What do you remember of it?”
Jherek sighed. “Very little. Flashes, that is all. I wish I was able to remember more. It’s as though the details are there, but they are behind a locked door I cannot open.”
“Tell me what you remember.” she urged him.
“I was alone in a tower, trapped. The enchantments I tried had no effect. I called for help but no one came. All of a sudden I felt the ground give way beneath my feet and I began to fall. When I stopped falling I found myself on the plane of shadow, surrounded by nightshades. I could see a shadow gate before me. A way out. But there was no safe passage to it and as I battled my way through the portal faded away. The creatures descended on me and I continued to fight them off. That’s when I woke.” Jherek concluded. hanging his head.
“Don’t hide your face. Why are you so unable to look at me?” Allessia asked softly, placing her hand over his as he gripped the table top.
“Because it was a nightmare and I allowed myself to be controlled by it, and I nearly killed you as a result.”
“Jherek, you were in the grip of a fever caused by your injury. You were hallucinating. If anything, the fault was mine for leaving you alone for so long. May Helm forgive me I should have kept a better watch over you. I failed you.” Allessia told him in a vehement manner as much for her own benefit as his. Knowing what they might have to face before this hell was over, some of the details of Jherek’s dream were veering too close to being visionary for comfort.
“No! Please don’t do that.”
“Do what?” Allessia asked innocently.
“Please don’t try to absolve me of any responsibility, for this.” Jherek said, his voice dropping to a low whisper as he placed a hand on the back of her neck and brushed his thumb over the bruises down one side. He didn’t stop at her neck, his calloused thumb caressed her cheek as he slid his hand up into her hair, which was cut short for practicality’s sake. Allessia’s breath hitched in her chest and bit her lip, letting her eyes fall to his lips...
If you were to ask them who kissed who first neither Allessia nor Jherek would be able tell you.
Jherek stood up as they kissed - slow, feather-light, curious - narrowing the gap between them to a hairsbreadth. He dipped his head to accommodate his slight height advantage, deepening the kiss. He opened his eyes momentarily to see her looking back at him, her eyes sparkling like aquamarine. Allessia’s lips curved into a smile beneath his and she slid her hands up his back, from the hollow at the base, her fingers either side of his spine. Like a miner following a seam in the hopes of finding precious metal she explored every scar with the softest touch until she reached his shoulders. She curled her hands over them and gripping their breadth she pulled him closer still.
Jherek felt the curve of her warm body pressed tightly against his naked chest through the smooth fabric of her tunic, and his hands shook lightly with nerves as he threaded his fingers through her hair. He had spent so long keeping people at arm’s length he had almost convinced himself that he no longer needed the simple intimacy of another’s touch, but as they kissed he realised that, unconsciously, he had been reaching out for her affections for some time. A quiet word here, an offer of supplies there, details of the best routes to use, of Harper friendly inns and safe-houses. He could have given such things to any of the five adventurers, yet each time he chose her, hoping that the assistance he offered would bring them back safely; would bring her back safely to him. Of course, he never allowed himself to imagine anything beyond, let alone that she might feel the same way.
He broke the kiss, breathing deeply and resting his forehead against hers; feeling rhythmical the rise and fall of her ribcage like the roll of a wave breaking against him. He dropped his arms around her waist and laced his fingers together into the small of her back.
Allessia smiled at him shyly and glanced down at the strong arms that encircled her. “So I didn’t imagine it, this what I saw.” she thought, sliding her hand up Jherek’s arm and skimming her fingers over a tattoo that adorned the inside of his left bicep. There was no mistaking its design as the same image she witnessed in the midst Jherek’s nightmare, and it still possessed a certain luminescent quality; though it was nowhere near as vivid, or held the same menacing potency.
“So, this is...?” She asked, circling the brand with a tapered finger.
Jherek looked down and let go of Allessia as if he had been scolded. He clapped his right hand defensively over the mark on his arm and turned his back on her. Not before she had a chance to register the horrified look on his face. “No.” he said thickly.
Allessia spoke gently “What is it?”
Jherek hugged himself more tightly and stared into the dwindling fire. “Go, leave me be.”
Utterly bewildered by his reaction, Allessia reached out to touch his arm. “Jherek?” she said in a worried tone.
“I said go.” he replied darkly.
“If that is what you wish then I shall go. I still have my armour to attend to and I must pray.” Allessia told him, trying to keep a neutral tone as she began to gather her belongings together. Anything to distract her from the sting of his sudden rejection. “It is no business of mine what that mark is on your arm,” she continued, “though if you think I believe it’s just a tattoo then you are very much mistaken. I saw that look on your face just now. I know what I saw when-” She stopped short of saying “when you had your hands about my throat.”
“When what?” he asked, his back still to her. What did she see?
“It is of no matter.” She told him, failing to keep the wounded tone from her voice. Another lie; one that would earn her a penance from Helm she was sure, but the words left her lips before she could stop them. It mattered greatly, and if she had told him he might have opened up, but she was reeling from the notion that he didn’t seem to trust her enough to offer an explanation unprompted. “I think you ought to know, as you are so reticent to speak of the mark I can only draw my own conclusions regarding its nature. As such I can only assume it may pose some sort of danger to us. It is my responsibility to make the others aware of such a threat. If nothing comes of it then so be it, but I would be failing in my duty to them and to my Lord Helm if I did not share my suspicions. I could not forgive myself if one of them came to harm because I didn’t pass on the information, such as it is.”
A knot of anger born of frustration began to tighten in Jherek’s stomach as he listened to Allessia speak. Her words sounded so callous. He couldn’t understand how, in the space of a few short breaths, he had slipped from the position of a lover to an enemy in her eyes. Why can’t she just leave me? Why does she always have to have the last word?
Common sense would have told him she was simply assessing the situation the same way she did with every potential risk Rational thought was beyond him, though. The shock of seeing the hateful brand he thought long gone etched upon on his arm once more saw to that. He spotted the bolt Allessia had pulled from his back lying discarded on the table, he snatched it up between his thumb and forefinger and scrutinised it closely. A ferocious scowl formed upon on his face.
Behind him he heard the creak of chamber door opening as Allessia went to leave and he turned on the balls of his feet to march from the room.
“Where are you going?” she asked as he stormed towards her.
“I’m going to tell that half blind idiot, Borador to watch where he’s firing that crossbow of his in future. If he’s the best bowman we have then we are in trouble. And once I’ve done that I thought perhaps you could tell our comrades just what sort of a danger I pose to them.” He spat, knowing full well she wouldn’t go straight to them with her suspicions. She would consider the position carefully first, weighing up all the evidence, and when she did speak to them she would select her words with equal care so as not to cause alarm; or a bloodbath.
Allessia was shocked by the depth of the rage she saw in his eyes, he was usually so even tempered. Even in the heat of battle he possessed a level of controlled aggression she could only aspire to. She felt her heartbeat quicken as she placed a hand firmly on the door frame, barring his path. Something was definitely amiss, she didn’t need a spell to divine that. Casting her cool eyes over his arm she noted that the mark glowed ominously just as before.
“So I am to be held captive in this room whilst you decide if I am about to kill you all in your beds am I? What happened to None of this is your fault?” he said in a sneering tone more befitting Karne.
“Think about what you’re saying,” she told him calmly. “Firstly, you have no proof it was Borador who shot you. Many of our enemies were wielding crossbows.”
“Yes I do, this is one of his. It has Durbem’s stamp on it!” Jherek interrupted, waving the bolt angrily in her face.
“That’s as maybe, but he didn’t hit you intentionally and there is no lasting damage. And secondly, the Jherek I know would not behave in this manner, he would never say such vicious things.”
Jherek glared at her but made no attempt to force his way past her out into the hallway. “You don’t know me at all.”
She took a deep breath before she spoke again. She needed to regain control of the situation, quickly. Why couldn’t I have just kept quiet?
“You are right. I don’t,” she sighed, “all the more reason for you to talk to me. I meant no offense with the things I said. You must understand, I rushed in here before without thinking of anything beyond my concern for you, and both of us nearly paid the price for my recklessness. I cannot allow something like that to happen again. If my cautious attitude towards this has pained you then I apologise. Now, are you are still determined to confront Borador?” she concluded, meeting his hard stare with a sympathetic gaze and then raking her eyes pointedly down his naked torso.
Jherek looked down and his stony face crumbled.
Any relief Allessia felt was tempered by the look of defeat in Jherek’s eyes. She reached out and took his hand in hers, led him back into the room, closed the door behind them and turned to face him once more.
“I have never seen you look so scared before. Whatever that thing represents and however, um, wary, it makes me, you must know that what worries me more is the fear it engenders in you. Please, let me help you. Please tell me what it is.”
“I- I can’t.” Jherek told her, sinking down onto the bed and burying his head in his hands.
Allessia looked down at him, at a loss for a way to comfort him. “You can’t, or you won’t?” she asked. The question wasn’t meant as an attack, and she hoped he didn’t see it as such, she was just desperate to understand. Before the events of that evening unfolded his countenance had always been one of complete composure and control. It was an unnerving thing to watch that semblance of composure disappear before her eyes.
“I can’t. Once I could have told you exactly what it was and what it represented, but that was before... before it was removed. Now, I just don’t know. All I can tell you is that if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it was possible. I know of very little that could undo the work of a god.”
~x~