Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) Read online

  “So you have a mate, then.”

  She nodded. “I guess so. Do you?”

  “No.”

  She glanced sideways at him. “Why not?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t want one at this point in my life.”

  Heidi looked at him curiously but left the issue alone. “How did you get the scar over your right eye?”

  He grinned. “I’d love to say there’s a fantastic story behind that one, but there isn’t. I was trying to sneak some jerky out of the jar when I was younger. The jar fell off of the shelf and got me over the eye.” He frowned at the memory of how Trent had seen the cut and told him that just wouldn’t do before taking his dagger and giving himself a small cut over his own right eye. They’d stared at each other and laughed until their mother had come storming into the room, demanding to know what had happened. After hearing Trent’s explanation that now they were identical again, she’d shaken her head in disbelief and walked away.

  “What’s wrong?” Heidi’s voice broke through the memory.

  He smiled down at her. “Nothing. I thought we were supposed to be talking about you.” He lifted a branch and let her walk under his arm. “What’s your mate’s name?”

  “Blake.”

  “Do you watch many movies?”

  Heidi stopped short and Tyler narrowly missed running into her.

  “What?”

  “I asked if you liked to watch movies.”

  “I heard the question.”

  Tyler watched her, confused. “I don’t understand.”

  “Is this a joke? Did Blake put you up to this?” She clenched her jaw and balled her hands into fists.

  Tyler’s eyes widened and he held his hands out. “Heidi, this isn’t a joke. I don’t understand what I said to upset you.”

  A branch snapped to their left and Tyler pulled her to his chest then spun so they were hidden behind a tree. He bent his lips to her ear and kept her mouth covered with his hand.

  “Shhh.”

  He let go of her mouth but kept a hold around her waist. Heidi pressed herself back against him, trying to stay as small as possible. Her heart jumped at the sight of his dagger as he pulled it loose of its scabbard. She looked back quickly to see him. His dark eyes met hers briefly before refocusing on their surroundings. He smiled and motioned for her to look to the right. The doe looked at them curiously before starting and bounding away.

  He could feel her shaking against him. “Are you cold?” His voice was still just a whisper.

  She shook her head and leaned back into him, not sure her legs would carry her weight.

  “You got mad when I mentioned movies. You’re wondering how I know of them?”

  She nodded and closed her eyes. Part of her wished he’d say this had all been a bad joke; that she was still home. The other part of her wanted him to have some strange explanation and that he wasn't doing this to her on purpose.

  “My aunt is from your world. She’s told me of them.” He felt her relax. “Look, Heidi, I’m not sure what kind of man your mate is, but I’m not in the habit of playing devastating tricks on people.”

  She turned and glared at him. “He’s not mean like that; he just has a different sense of humour.”

  “And you think he could pull off a completely different world and make it look like you’d just walked into it?”

  “No. He’s good at setting up scenarios, but not this good. He’s into special effects…” She touched the bandana around her neck.

  “Heidi.” Tyler waited until she was looking up at him. “You can trust me.” He turned and led her down to the creek. She knelt by the water and washed her face and hands. She looked back to where he was sitting on a log, shaving the bark from a stick with his dagger.

  “What did you think it was back there?”

  “I wasn’t sure, but I was going to have the upper hand if it was going to try to kill us.”

  “Do a lot of things try to kill you?”

  Tyler grinned. “Lately, yes.” He stood. “Ready? There isn’t much of a path to the camp.” He held his hand out to her and started leading her over fallen logs and through dense brush.

  John looked up as they entered the firelight. He smiled and gave a small wave.

  “Hello. I’m John.”

  “Heidi.” She smiled her thanks as he handed her a piece of bread and some cheese.

  Tyler watched her sit by the fire. “Here,” he said as he reached for his pack. “You can use my blankets.”

  “But what will you use?”

  “No worries. I’ll just shift for the night.” He dug out a tunic and handed it to her. He remembered how his aunt was always cold and assumed that this was typical of all human women. She pulled the dark brown tunic over her head and rolled the sleeves up.

  “Thank you.”

  Once she was done eating she lay under the blankets and looked up at him.

  “Tyler?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  “Do you think the mammoth thing will be back?”

  “It might, but don’t worry. Get some sleep, Heidi. Tomorrow, we’ll start for Growlen and we’ll find you a cross stone.”

  John stood and made his way to their side. “I’ll take first watch.”

  Tyler nodded. “Wake me in a few hours.” He pulled his pack to his side and used it as a pillow.

  “Are you sure you don’t want your blankets?” Heidi was watching him.

  “I’m fine.” He waited until he was sure she was sleeping before he let himself drift off.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Heidi stretched and took a deep breath. Maybe today she would open her eyes and find herself in her bed. She tried to ignore the fact that there was a rock digging into her ribs, a sure sign that she wasn’t on her mattress. She swallowed hard, trying to keep the sobs from forcing their way up her throat. She heard someone sit by her and felt a hand on her arm.

  “Heidi, wake up.” Tyler’s voice was barely a whisper. “You’re having a nightmare.”

  She shook her head under the blankets.

  “I suppose it’s when you’re awake that you feel as though you’re in a bad dream.” He squeezed her arm gently.

  The truth in his words and the kindness in his voice set off the stream of tears she’d been keeping back.

  “Hey, now. I know this must be a lot to wrap your head around, but I’ll get you home.” He rubbed her arm through the blanket. “I promise.”

  Heidi sniffed and tried to get herself under control. God, what was wrong with her? She wasn’t the kind of girl that had breakdowns and cried all the time. Of course, not many girls she knew had ever found themselves in a completely different world. She thought of Blake and wondered what he was thinking this moment.

  “What if they think I just ran off?”

  Tyler frowned and looked at the lump under the blanket. “Are you the type they’d expect it from?”

  She shook her head.

  He pulled the blanket down so he could see her face. “Then I’m sure they don’t think that and are doing everything in their power to find you.” He tucked some stray bangs behind her ear.

  She looked up into his deep brown eyes and watched as the usual hard look in them softened.

  “I’ll get you home, Heidi.”

  John stretched and made more noise than necessary to let them know he was awake without intruding on their conversation.

  Heidi wiped her tears from her cheeks and sat up.

  “Great.” John grunted and smiled. “Another one that doesn’t sleep in.”

  She grinned. “I hate sleeping in. I always feel as though I’ve wasted so much time sleeping when I could have been doing something else.”

  Tyler smiled. “Exactly.”

  John rolled his eyes. “Do we have a plan for today?”

  Tyler nodded. “We’ll start for Growlen. We need to top up our supplies.”

  “How far is Growle
n?” inquired Heidi.

  “A week; maybe a few days more.” Tyler grinned. “It depends in what kind of shape you’re in.”

  “Well, I don’t run marathons or anything, but I’m always hiking in the woods when I have a free minute…” Heidi shrugged. “I guess we’ll see what you think qualifies as in shape.”

  John passed the bread and cheese to the others. “I’m sure you’re in better shape than I am.”

  Tyler smiled. “You’ve put on a bit of weight this past week, if it makes you feel better. There’s that and the fact that you can actually use your dagger.” He looked at Heidi. “Do you have a belt on?”

  Her eyes widened and he waved off her concern, dug into his pack, and pulled out his extra dagger. The sight of the dark brown leather scabbard caused her to shake her head almost violently.

  “Heidi, it’s fine.” Tyler stood and helped her up. He motioned for her to undo her belt then slipped the scabbard onto it and watched as she did it back up.

  “I don’t… I mean, do you think I really need one?” Heidi looked at him with wide eyes.

  He nodded. “I know the world you come from is relatively safe, Heidi, but Quelondain is far from it. While you’re here, you’ll need to learn how to protect yourself.” He smiled to ease her worries. “Don’t worry. If John can learn how to fight, you should have no issues.”

  “Hey, now!” John objected to the comment and everybody laughed. He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head to try and tame his hair

  “First things first.” Tyler pulled his dagger from its scabbard and flipped it in his hand then gestured to Heidi to do the same. She did as she was told and stood facing Tyler, her heart pounding in her chest.

  “Two simple moves, Heidi; that’s all you need to learn.” He smiled and showed her. “The first one is if something has grabbed you from behind.”

  John moved behind him and put an arm around his neck to help him demonstrate.

  “When you pull your dagger keep it in your hand just as you have it. Pull it forward and thrust back as hard as you can while you twist to the side. Even if you don’t kill whatever has you, it will give you enough time to get away.” He stabbed backwards, narrowly missing John who twisted out of the way just in time.

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “And the second?”

  “If someone comes at you from the front, get down on one knee, act scared. Wait until they’re too close to react, pull your dagger loose, stand and step forward and thrust it as hard as you can. Aim for the belly. If you hit a rib it will do minimal damage and you’ll most likely drop your blade.” He stuck his dagger back in its place and moved so he was standing behind her. She stiffened as his arm snaked around her neck and he pulled her against him.

  Heidi swallowed hard and thrust her dagger back like she’d just seen him do. He smiled at her surprised cry as he reached down quickly and caught her arm by the wrist, trapping her.

  “Faster, Heidi; if I can see it coming I can stop it.” He released her arm but kept a hold of her neck. On the seventh try, Heidi stumbled as Tyler twisted sideways, away from the dagger he hadn’t been able to stop. He steadied her and smiled. “Good job.”

  They practiced the frontal defense a dozen times before Tyler was satisfied she’d gotten the hang of it.

  John grinned. “Remind me never to take you on in a real fight.”

  Heidi blushed and Tyler laughed.

  “We’ll practice every time we stop.”

  “He’s not joking.” John faked a groan. “The man is a slave driver.”

  “Oh, stop complaining. You’ll thank me one day when you need the skills. You can’t spend the rest of you days just throwing the dagger at whatever is coming at you.” Tyler laughed. “One of these days, you’ll miss.”

  John put his hand on the hilt of his dagger. “Name it.”

  Tyler grinned and looked around. “Alright, then…” He pointed to a tree that stood a good thirty to forty feet away and the small red lizard that clung part ways up its trunk. “The yoll.”

  John smiled. “It’s a bit small for breakfast, don’t you think?”

  “Not if you just cut the head off.”

  Heidi watched, amazed. “There’s no way you can just cut the head off. It’s too far away.”

  John tilted his head and judged the distance before nodding. “Off with its head, then.” He pulled his dagger and threw it in on smooth motion from over his shoulder.

  The three of them watched as the yoll’s head stayed pinned to the tree while its body fell to the ground.

  “Oh my god! That was amazing! That’s unbelievable!”

  It was John’s turn to blush at the attention. He shrugged and went to pull his dagger from the tree trunk. He bent to pick up the dead lizard and grinned. “Here, catch!”

  Tyler cushioned the eggs as John tossed them lightly to him.

  “Put your bread away, Heidi.” Tyler gave John a slap on the back. “It looks like yoll egg omelettes are on the menu.”

  She watched as John skinned and gutted the lizard while Tyler prepared the fire to cook breakfast over.

  “How long have you guys known each other?”

  Tyler chuckled. “Well, if you count the time John tried to steal my pack, it would be in the neighborhood of three weeks.”

  John blushed. “I don’t count that day.” He looked up at Heidi. “I prefer to remember our first meeting as the one when he saved my life.”

  “What happened?”

  John’s hazel eyes saddened though his smile stayed firmly on his face. “Let’s just say that two weeks ago I was not in a good place in my life. Truth be told, the past five years have been pure hell and had that buck managed to kill me, I don’t think I would have minded.” He handed Tyler the cut up lizard meat. Tyler took it and put it in the scrambled eggs.

  “You don’t mean that,” the younger of the two men said. “There’s a reason you lived for five years in the conditions you did. Any other being would have been killed or would have starved long ago.”

  John shrugged. “Well, either way, that day was a close call for me and Tyler happened to pull me out of a jam.” He pulled the coffee out and put some water on to boil.

  They all watched as the eggs cooked.

  “Hello, camp!”

  John and Tyler stood, Tyler’s arm pushing Heidi behind them. He felt her hand on the small of his back.

  Five men walked towards them.

  “Good day,” stated Tyler.

  The blond man in the lead nodded. “Indeed it is.”

  “Is there something we can help you with?” John frowned as the man nodded again.

  “We heard a woman. Where is she?”

  Tyler stiffened. “Why do you want to know?”

  “We’re rogue hunters. Our job is to find the humans and bring them to our captain.”

  Heidi’s hand tightened around a handful of his tunic.

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about her. She’s with us.”

  “But she’s human?”

  There was no point in lying, really. All they had to do was look. “She is.”

  “Then she comes with us.”

  Tyler growled. “No. She doesn’t.”

  “She won’t be harmed.”

  “Like hell she won’t.” Tyler’s hand moved to the hilt of his dagger. “She just crossed over. She had nothing to do with Braw or his idiotic plan.”

  “But if she gets caught up with a pack of rogues…”

  “She’s with us.”

  The blond man opened his mouth and Tyler growled.

  “You’re not listening to me. She’s with me. I found her; she’s mine.”

  Heidi caught a glimpse of the blond man from between her protectors’ shoulders. She was shocked at how pale he looked. His eyes never left Tyler’s. Even the few of his comrades she could see looked uneasy.

  “You’re not taking her.” Though Tyler’s voice didn’t sound any louder than it had previously, the tone of it mad
e it very obvious that he meant every word he had just uttered.

  “You’d fight a pack of your own kind to keep a human girl?” One of the men at the back shook his head incredulously.

  “I don’t care what she is. She hasn’t done anything wrong.” Tyler’s hand was still over his dagger. John’s pose was almost identical to his.

  The blond man’s hand moved his blade as well. “Orders are orders.”

  “Try not to kill any of them.” Tyler’s voice was only loud enough for John and Heidi to hear. “We don’t need the whole pack after us after this.” John nodded.

  Tyler’s free hand moved back so that it touched Heidi’s arm. “Heidi, I’m going to boost you up a tree. Get up high. If anyone tries to reach you, cut them.” He felt her shaking behind him.

  John glanced at Heidi then gestured to her with his head before returning his gaze toward the small pack in front of them. Tyler turned, trusting John to warn him if any of the men came forward while he wasn’t looking. His eyes met Heidi’s and he smiled reassuringly. Her grey green eyes were saucers in her head, her skin a strange pale shade of green as she shook with fear. He cupped her face in his hands.

  “Heidi.” He bent and kissed her forehead softly. “Just get up in the tree. I won’t let them take you.”

  She took a long shuddering breath and gazed into his deep brown eyes. The hard look in them softened slightly and Tyler ran his thumb over her cheek. Could she trust this man? She’d only known him a day. Of course, he’d never shown any indication that he might be a danger to her.

  “Heidi, trust me.”

  She inhaled once more and nodded. Her heart jumped into her chest at the growl that exploded from John’s throat. Tyler grabbed her by the waist, threw her toward the lowest branch on the tree and ducked under her so she was standing on his shoulders. She lost her balance as he moved sideways. His left hand caught her ankle to steady her. She looked down and caught a glimpse of one of the other men stabbing his dagger toward Tyler’s chest. He managed to deflect the blow with his own dagger but hissed as the other’s blade slid across his side. Without letting go of her leg, he kicked forward and she heard the dark haired man’s breath leave his body in a huff. Tyler turned and placed his hands under her feet, pushing her into the branches.