Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) Read online

  Tyler grinned. “You don’t want to touch me right now. I feel like I’m covered in raw eggs and I smell like they’d been left to rot before I was doused in them.” He noticed John eyeing the way he was hold his hand to his chest. “I fell into the fire when I tackled the first one.” He looked at his palm and cringed at the blisters that were appearing then glanced at the woods where the woman had disappeared. “Did you know her?”

  “Who?”

  Tyler frowned. “The woman that walked into the clearing.”

  “I didn’t see anyone.” John looked into the woods. “I’ll go have a look. You go get that hand cleaned.”

  Tyler stood slowly, testing all of his limbs to make sure everything was still in working order before walking to his pack. He wiped his good hand on his pants, smirked, and went through the motion again on a patch of grass. He picked up his pack, careful not to get any goo on it, and walked away.

  By the moons, had that just happened? His aching shoulder and throbbing hand along with the slime and smell told him that yes, it had. His eyes stung from the sweat and goop that had leaked into them and he blinked. He grunted. Trent would have loved to have been here for this. He could hear his brother’s laugh and the comment he would have made about all the slime. Of course, he would have been just as goopy and smelly and the two of them would have been walking to the lake together, razzing one another about how they’d taken turns saving each other.

  Tyler blinked again and this time tears streaked down his cheeks. He took a deep breath, wiped his arm over his face and smirked at the goop the motion left on his nose.

  Once on the beach, he knelt and carefully removed the soap from his pack. He glanced down at his clothes and only bothered pulling off his boots before walking into the cold lake. He ducked under the water, scrubbing the bar of soap into his hair, over his tunic and pants, and came up sputtering. He struggled to strip off the clothing and scrubbed it again, making sure to get all of the goo off of them. He ran his hand through his hair to see if he’d gotten all of it out then washed again just to be sure. The pain in his burnt hand dulled slightly in the cool water. The rest of his body, however, was not as keen on the chill and he gathered his clothes and soap before making his way back to shore.

  Tyler spread the wet clothes on a rock and pulled on a clean pair of dark brown pants. He searched in his pack and found the root he was looking for. The bitter taste flooded his mouth as he bit off a piece and chewed as quickly as he could. He spit the mush into his hand, pulled a strip of cloth out of the pack and wrapped his hand so the burnt area was covered then used his teeth and free hand to tie it. Drops of water dripped from his shaggy dark brown hair onto the freshly wrapped hand and he shook his head like a dog. He found a dark green tunic and pulled it over his head.

  “There,” he said to himself. He made his way back to camp. He paused and watched John cleaning the mess the tlarrisons had made.

  He smiled and nodded his friend. “John, my thanks go to you.”

  John frowned. “Me?”

  “If you hadn’t distracted him I never would have had time to get the stick into position to spear it like that. That was a great throw.” He raised an eyebrow at his friend, wondering how a man who couldn’t fight or hunt could throw a dagger with such accuracy.

  John dropped his grey eyes to the ground. “I used to get bored at home. Throwing a dagger is the only thing I can do.”

  Tyler grinned and gave him a friendly slap to the back. “Well, I’m glad.”

  John smiled shyly. “Do you think it will be back?” He glanced around at the woods around them.

  “It knows there’s food here now, so the chances are good. We’ll have to move on.”

  “Are we going to cut up the one you killed like we did with the buck?”

  Tyler grimaced and stared at the slimy beast lying in the middle of their camp. “No likely. Didn’t you smell that thing? I’m not getting any closer to it than I have to. We can hunt tomorrow when we make camp again.”

  John nodded. “I didn’t find the girl, by the way. I didn’t find a trace of anyone.”

  Tyler frowned. “That’s odd. Well, whoever she is, if she wants anything, she’s knows we’re in the area now.” He noticed John giving him a look. “What?”

  “I just… you’re talking as if I’m coming along.”

  Tyler groaned to himself. He was, wasn’t he? “I suppose that’s if you want to tag along.” He couldn’t very well just leave John to his own devises, now could he? It was a miracle the man hadn’t starved to death yet and now with tlarrisons in the area…

  John smiled and nodded.

  Chapter Three

  “Is something wrong?” Mirah sat beside him and looked into the fire. Tyler glanced at her and turned his attention back to the fire. He shook his head. She shifted her position so that her arm touched his. “You can tell me if there is.”

  “Nothing’s wrong, Mirah.”

  “Is it me? Did I do something?”

  He frowned. “No. What makes you ask that?”

  “I just… I thought at first you might…” She blushed.

  Tyler took a deep breath. He’d gone out of his way the past three days to make sure Mirah wouldn’t think he might be interested in taking her on as a mate. She was beautiful, he couldn’t say she wasn’t, but he couldn’t bring himself to try and be interested. It wasn’t the fact that he might still love Jenna; after four years away he wasn’t daft enough to think there would be anything between them should he return to Sageden, if she was even still there. It was his need to be alone that kept him from trying to feel anything other than friendship for the women he met on his travels. Of course, he’d be lying if he told her he’d never had the company of one at some time.

  “Mirah, any man would be dense not to want you as a mate.” He took a deep breath. “And at this time in my life, I’m one of those dense men.” He looked over at her and remembered the feel of her fingers as she’d let them trail along his arms whenever she would walk by, or the way she’d sit next to him, just as she was now. “I’m sorry, Mirah.”

  Her big blue eyes blazed with anger and met his deep brown ones. She clenched her jaw. “Well, then, what’s wrong with me?”

  “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You’re beautiful, you can hunt… you’re exactly what I’d be looking for in a woman if I was looking.” He put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “Trust me, Mirah. You don’t want me as a mate.”

  She looked up at him, a frown wrinkling her brow. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” Her head cocked to the side as he burst out laughing.

  “There’s plenty wrong with me.” He got himself under control. “I’m just very good at hiding it.”

  Tyler groaned and the dream blurred as he pushed himself out of it, though the memory of Mirah stayed with him. It had been a year since he’d met her. He’d been working at a yoll farm near her father’s. What was it that made women want to turn him into their mate? He wasn’t interested in settling down. No woman was going to change that fact.

  John yawned and stretched under his blankets. He lifted his head to glance at Tyler then promptly lay back down.

  “By the moons, Tyler, do you ever sleep?”

  Tyler grinned. “Not as much as you, it seems.” He sat up and started to get breakfast put together.

  “Do we have any big plans for today?” inquired John.

  “No. I think we should be safe to stay here another day. Maybe we can find ourselves a few rabbits later on.”

  John nodded and passed him a piece of bread. They ate in silence and watched as the fire started to eat at the log Tyler had tossed into it. Tyler smiled. It wasn’t so bad having John around. With Bird gone, he was good company. Not to mention he was in no hurry to get anywhere, much like himself.

  Tyler stood, pulled his dagger, and turned it in his hand. “Alright, John. Let’s see if you can disarm me this morning.”

  John grinned. “I almost did last night.”<
br />
  Tyler laughed. “And that right there is the word that makes all the difference. Almost.”

  John grinned, pulled his own dagger and crouched low like Tyler had shown him. In the past three days he had practiced long and hard every time they had stopped to eat or sleep. The practice was paying off.

  Tyler stepped toward him and slashed with his dagger. John countered and the blades clashed together, the ring sounding through the quiet of the sleeping forest.

  “You know, I thought I heard something last night.” John’s comment cut through Tyler’s concentration and he paused.

  “What?”

  John’s leg swept under his and he fell onto his back, his arm trapped under his friend’s foot. John increased the pressure until Tyler was forced to let go of his dagger.

  “What was the first thing you told me?” John was grinning from ear to ear.

  “I believe it was ‘never let anything break your concentration’.” Tyler laughed. “Well done.”

  John helped him up off the ground.

  “Did you really hear something?”

  John chuckled. “No.”

  Tyler grunted.

  John opened his mouth to say something smart then stopped. “But I do hear that. Do you?” The two of them shifted to better hear.

  Tyler shifted back. “That’s crying.” They started walking in the direction the noise was coming from. They’d been walking slowly for ten minutes, taking turns shifting so they could hear the sound, before they stopped.

  “It was coming from somewhere around here.” John gazed around the woods. Tyler closed his eyes and concentrated on their surroundings. A branch snapped overhead and he looked up into the trees.

  His dark brown eyes locked with tear filled grey green ones.

  “Hello. I’m Tyler.”

  John looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of the woman holding on to the tree trunk for dear life. Her dark brown hair fell just past her shoulders, her petite frame shook with fear or cold, or maybe both.

  “Are you alright?” He took a step toward the tree and stopped short when she let out a small cry and tried to climb higher into the tree.

  Tyler noticed her clothing and things fell into place. The short sleeved black tunic was what Aunt Hayden would have called a T-shirt and the blue pants were jeans.

  “John, back off. She just crossed over.”

  “What?”

  “You know… she’s one of the humans who comes from the other world and gets stuck here.” He looked up at the woman and back to John.

  John gazed at the woman and back to Tyler. “Why don’t I head back to camp and make something to eat? You’ll have a better chance getting this girl to come down.”

  Tyler frowned. “What makes you say that?”

  John grinned. “Look at me and look at you. I’d feel much safer listening to a man who’s in shape and has obviously eaten a regular meal. If I was her savior, you know damn well she’d be better off on her own.” He laughed and jogged away in the direction of the camp.

  Tyler leaned against a tree and looked up at the woman. His head cocked to the side. “I’m not sure if you know this, but you’re not where you’re from anymore.”

  The woman wiped an arm over her face. “Really. I’m not sure what was my first clue; the little blue person with wings or the miniature mammoth with teeth.”

  Tyler looked around. “You saw a tlarrison? When?”

  “Which one is that?”

  “The tiny meat eating mammoth.”

  “About an hour ago.”

  “Look, I don’t want to frighten you, but I’m coming up your tree.” Tyler took three running steps toward the tree and two more up the tree where he grabbed on to the lowest branch on the trunk. He hauled himself up and climbed the rest of the way so he was at the same level as the woman.

  He frowned at the shocked look on her face. “What?”

  “It’s just…” She grunted. “You made that look easy.”

  “It’s amazing how much motivation a tlarrison can give you, especially after you’ve just fought two of them.” He gazed at her curiously. “How did you get up here?”

  “I… I guess it was the same way you did, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t look that graceful.” She wiped her hands over her face and Tyler looked curiously at the black streaks that ran from her eyes.

  “Are your eyes alright?”

  She looked at her hands. “Oh. Yeah, their fine. It’s my mascara that’s smeared.” She used the bottom of her shirt to wipe away at it. “Makeup. It’s supposed to make you look prettier.” She shook her head. “I picked one hell of a day to put some on.”

  Tyler cocked his head to the side. By the moons, why would black eyes make a woman look more attractive?

  “Is your hand alright?”

  Tyler hadn’t realized he’d pressed his burnt hand to his chest in an attempt to ease the pain that climbing the tree had caused him.

  “It’s fine.”

  She looked at him cautiously. “So if the mini mammoth is a tlarr… um, what was it again?”

  “A tlarrison.”

  “Tlarrison. So what was the little blue person with wings?”

  “A Burrie.” He smiled.

  “And you are?”

  “Tyler.”

  “Tyler. That sounds normal enough.” She took a deep breath. “I’m Heidi.”

  “Hello, Heidi.” He watched her for a moment. “Are you alright?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded then shook her head. “I don’t know.” Her voice was just a whisper. “What happened? You’re the one who yelled at me to run the other day, right?”

  He nodded. “John looked for you afterwards but he couldn’t find you.” He took a deep breath and gave her a small smile. “There’s no easy way to tell you this. You crossed from your world to ours. You’re in Quelondain now. No one here is exactly sure how it works, but for some reason there are some humans from your world who possess enough magic to cross over. Once they do, the magic leaves them and they can’t leave.” He reached over and touched her arm as the tears streaked down her face.

  “You mean I’m stuck here?”

  “Yes, no… it depends. If we could find you a cross stone you could get back.”

  She touched the dark green bandana tied around her neck. “Where do I find one of these crossing stones?”

  Tyler shook his head. “I’m not sure. But!” He kept going rapidly to beat the rush of tears that threatened to break through, “we could go to Growlen and I can see if anyone there knows.”

  “You’re willing to help me?”

  “I am.”

  “Why?”

  Tyler frowned. Why indeed. He shrugged. “You know, my aunt has a habit of picking up strays.” He smiled. “It seems it’s a contagious trait.”

  She finally smiled and his grin widened.

  “Come. Let’s get out of this tree and back to camp. John went to make you something to eat assuming you’d be hungry.”

  “I’m starving.”

  Tyler dropped down to the ground and helped her ease down. “How long have you been here?”

  “Five days.” She paused. “Humans. You specifically said humans.”

  “That’s right. Why?”

  “Does that mean you’re not one?”

  He shook his head, all the while watching her reaction. Heidi took a deep breath, her eyes closed.

  “What are you?”

  “I’m a Maj. We shift into dogs. You know… wolves, coyotes, foxes, bears…” When she didn’t run screaming he continued. “John, you’ll meet him in a few minutes, is a Maj as well. He shifts into a coyote. Namaels are cat shifters. Tigers, lions, panthers, cheetahs, that sort of thing.”

  She opened her eyes and searched his face, looking for some indication he was lying. Not seeing any sign that he was, she took another deep breath. “What do you turn into?”

  “A wolf.”

  “Can I… I mean, can you do it? Just so I can see
and I don’t freak out when it happens later?”

  He nodded.

  “Wait!”

  “What?”

  “Is it… Am I going to be grossed out? Do you bust out of your skin?”

  He shook his head and smiled. “No. It’s magic, see? I just think of it and it happens.” His head tilted to the side. “Ready?”

  Heidi looked up at him and took a deep breath. She should have been terrified of this strange man, but his deep brown eyes gazed into her grey green ones and she felt a strange calm. She nodded. “Ok.”

  Her heart jumped in her chest and her eyes widened as Tyler’s form blurred, shrank, and became a large grey wolf.

  Tyler looked up at her, trying to judge her reaction. She bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath before kneeling in front of him.

  “Oh, god, you just turned into a wolf.” She reached a hand forward and stopped short of touching the top of his head. “Your eyes are the same.”

  Tyler’s nose touched her hand and she ran it over his face and behind his ear.

  “Oh! I can’t believe I just pet you!” She blushed and sat back on her heels, her face in her hands.

  Tyler licked her hand and shifted back, laughing. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lick you. When we’re in our animal forms, we have a lot of our animal instincts. We’re still us and we can think like humans, but the animal traits are strong.”

  Heidi let out a nervous giggle. “I pet you and you licked me. You weren’t tasting me, were you?”

  Tyler burst out laughing. “By the moons, no!”

  She visibly relaxed.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, no… No. Absolutely nothing about this is remotely alright.” Tears welled in her eyes and Tyler put a hand on her arm.

  “It will be. I promise.” He frowned and brushed some of the stray hairs that stuck to the tears on her cheeks. “Look, let’s go to the creek and you can clean up then we’ll go to camp and you can have something to eat. Everything will seem much less dismal once you’ve gotten some food into you.” He stood and pulled her up.

  “Now, Heidi from the other world. Tell me a little about yourself.”

  She shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. I’m twenty, I work as a waitress at a bar, and I live with my boyfriend.”