Chasing Dare (23 page)

In soft, gentle strokes, he cleaned the dirt and smoky soot from Dare’s face and arms, looking for any signs of injury under the grime that would account for her continued lack of consciousness.

Finally, at the side of her head, slightly behind her ear, he found a very large swollen lump. Parting her hair to get a better look, he saw that there was no break in the skin, but it was obvious she’d taken a very hard hit from something.

Cleaning out the piece of shirt, he continued to re-wet it until he’d cleaned all the dirt and soot off of her body. Running his hands over her again, the only injuries he noted were some tiny burn marks on her skin that were rapidly healing. They were most likely from flying debris from the explosions.

Cupping his hands, he took a small amount of water and allowed it to wet Dare’s lips, a little trickling down her throat. He watched to make sure she swallowed on reflex before trying several more times to get some water into her.

Once he had Dare cleaned up and was satisfied that she was in no immediate danger, he cupped his hands and drank as much water as he could, and taking short breaks in between. Not knowing when he’d find water next, he wanted to make sure he grabbed what he could while he had the chance.

Satisfied that they were both doing as well as could be expected, he stood and pulled Dare back into his arms. Placing a gentle kiss on her temple, he set off at another grueling pace.

“I am coming, my friend. You must get her somewhere safe until we can get to you.”
Balduen was so shocked he almost dropped Dare, when he heard Dreadhawk’s voice in his head. He’d been so caught up in trying to get Dare as far away as he could, he’d completely forgotten about Dread. Following the path of the voice in his head, he responded quickly.

“She is unconscious. I do not know how great her injuries are, but it has been hours. You must hurry. There is one more that may be following us. But, others will be on their way, if not already on our trail.”
Balduen replied, looking at the darkening sky and hoping he could find somewhere safe for them to wait out the coming night.

The silence stretched out again until Balduen was sure that Dread had retreated from their conversation. So, when Dread spoke again he was a little surprised.

“What happened? I cannot speak to Thorn or the young ones. It’s as if they are no longer connected. To anyone.”
Balduen didn’t miss the edge of concern in Dread’s voice, and it scared the hell out of him. If someone as powerful and talented as Dread couldn’t reach them, then her injuries must be much greater than he thought.

“I do not know what happened. When I came into the lab to get her, the female was there with her. There was a pressure in the air. You could feel it building around you. The things she was doing to the female… I can’t imagine Dare capable of such cruelty…”
He couldn’t stop his mind from replaying the scenes of Lucretia’s skin being peeled from her body, her eyes wide in terror and pain.

He had done the only humane thing he could think of, and he’d snapped the woman’s neck out of mercy. There had been no saving her, only ending her suffering.

Balduen wasn’t sure what to think of the long string of curses that Dread uttered in his head before finally speaking to him again.

“I will be on the planet with a Valendran team and my brother Viper within an hour. I have no idea how long it will take to get to you once we are there. I have shared your mind path with Viper to make it easier for both of us to sense you. Find somewhere to hide until we can get there, my friend.”

“Dare… could you tell if she was alright? She’s been out since the explosions, and Ibix couldn’t get through to Thorn.”
Balduen was getting frightened that she hadn’t awakened yet and was hoping Dread could sense something that he, and Ibix couldn’t.

“I can’t explain everything right now, but trust me that she is well and will most likely awaken soon. Be safe, Balduen.”
He knew that Dread had ended communication that time by the feel of the ‘snap’ in his mind. It was as if the connection had been intentionally severed quickly. Damn, he really needed to figure out how to do that, Balduen thought, heading down what seemed to be another endless hill.

He loved this planet and its varied beauty, including the landscapes. It reminded him a lot of Valendra. But, the mountains, they were much more beautiful to look at than to try to jog down with Dare in his arms.

“Whoa there Sonny! I want you to put the woman down and tell me who the hell, you are and what you’re doing on my land!” Balduen turned very slowly towards the angry, masculine voice coming from his right.

“Damn, you’re a big fella ain’t you! Put her down now!” Balduen stared in humor at the small man a few feet from him pointing a shotgun at him. He recognized it as one similar to the one Randor had shown him after Cari had been rescued.

Honestly, he wasn’t the least bit concerned; the man presented no danger to them, even with the weapon. Once he did as the man requested and put Dare down gently on the ground, taking a moment to brush her hair out of her face, he stood to his full height.

The man visibly paled at his true size and took a step back. Balduen had no reason to scare the very older man and rushed to try to reassure him. He didn’t want the man’s shaking hands to discharge the weapon in Dare’s direction. Raising his hands above his head to look less threatening he made up an excuse to try to calm the man.

“I am glad you found us! My wife and I had been hiking all day when she tripped at the stream a few miles back and hit her head. She’s been out ever since. Do you have any medical supplies? A phone? She has a large lump on the side of her head, and I’m afraid she’s badly injured. Can you please help?”

The older man’s heavily wrinkled face creased even more as he looked between Balduen and Dare curiously. Balduen assumed he was sizing up whether he was telling the truth or not. He did note that the man’s hands stopped shaking as much, and his posture was a little more relaxed. So he pushed his advantage.

“Sir, I will step back three steps so you can take two steps closer to her and feel the lump on her head. Maybe you can see what’s wrong with her. I’ll keep my hands in the air; I promise. Just please help her?”

The man looked at Balduen through narrowed brown eyes before quickly nodding his head. Balduen took that as a sign of agreement and took three large steps backward, keeping his hands in the air. He knew that with his added strength and speed, he could lunge at the man and kill him before he could lay a harmful hand on Dare, if necessary, so he wasn’t concerned.

“It’s behind her right ear.” Balduen offered helpfully.

He and Ibix looked on alertly as the stooped man shuffled forward a few steps until he could squat down close enough to feel Dare’s head. He rubbed gently for a few moments before whistling low between his teeth.

Putting his knees on the ground the old man gently turned her head and sifted gently through her hair until he could clearly see the bruised and swollen skin around the lump. Sharp brown eyes traveled the length of her body, and Balduen sighed when he realized how terrible they must look and how easily even a fool could see through his lie. And this old man was no fool.

Balduen and Ibix stayed on edge as the older man stared him up and down for long moments before placing his hands on his knees and grunting as he tried to stand again. Balduen had to stop himself from trying to assist him.

“Boy, I don’t know what you got yourself into, but that girl needs help and my Rose would never forgive me if I left her out here injured. Pick her back up, and don’t you try nothing! I’ll take you home and see if Rose can help your woman. She was a nurse back in World War Two. That’s how we met.”

“I’m Tom. Let’s get moving before it gets much darker.” The older man didn’t wait for Balduen to listen; he just turned back around and headed off into the woods to the right of where Balduen had been going.

Feeling like he’d passed some kind of test, Balduen quickly picked Dare back up and followed a few feet behind the man. They’d only gone a few hundred feet when the man spoke again.

“Can you at least tell me your names?”

Balduen saw no harm in that, since they wouldn’t be there long.

“I am Balduen and my wife is Dare. Short for Darennia.”

“Yeah you guys sure ain’t from around these parts. You look too clean to be those damn drug addicts who keep building their labs in the woods around here. You talk too fine too. So what kind of trouble are you mixed up in? You running from those assholes up the mountain?” The man stopped suddenly and turned sharply towards Balduen much faster than Balduen thought he was capable of, causing him to jump back.

“We are certainly not doing anything with drugs or anything illegal.” The disgust in Balduen’s voice must have satisfied the man because he turned back around and started walking again.

“Balduen… that’s a mouthful of a name. What kind of name is it?” Balduen almost chuckled at how obvious the man was at digging for information and couldn’t help but like the man’s persistence. He sure as hell hoped the man didn’t do anything to harm Dare; he really didn’t want to have to kill him.

“It is a family name. We hail from… Scandinavia.” Balduen almost forgot the name that Randor had told him to tell people if they asked.

“You’re a pretty good liar, but not that good boy. I been around way too long to fall for that. Yeah, you sure do look like one of the Swedish people I seen in Europe during the war with your blonde hair and blue eyes. But, your size tells me you’re more like the animals at the top of the mountain over yonder.” Balduen followed the man’s sharp gaze to the opposite mountain where he could clearly see smoke still billowing from the burning pieces of the lab and house.

“And the small burn marks on both of your clothes tell me you were a lot closer to that burning mess up there than you’re telling.” The man’s sharp gaze caught Balduen’s body tensing and rushed on.

“Now if’n you were a part of getting those bastards off that mountain; I'd be offering you my wife Rose’s pot roast for dinner a glass of my finest shine.”

Balduen did chuckle that time. The man may seem ancient, but he also had the wits and mind of an ancient one as well.

“I can tell you truthfully, that I don’t think those particular people will be bothering you again. The problem is that when the others find out what we did up there… we’re going to need to be gone from here really soon. We have friends coming to help. We just need to hide until they can get to us.” Balduen stood still and unthreateningly while the old man’s sharp eyes took in his every movement while he had spoken. Several minutes later, he nodded to himself before heading back out again.

“I’ll tell you, there was something really bad off about those guys. Especially that Broke guy. There’s an old saying that’s kind of applicable here. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ But our friendship ends if you try to lay a hand on my Rose. You behave yourself, and we’ll help you as much as we can. You violate that trust, and I’ll have no problem shooting you. Understand?” The man’s sharp gaze bore into Balduen, and he had no problem thinking that at one point in his life this was probably a very dangerous man. More than that, Balduen respected his blunt honesty enough to show him the same.

“I promise you that I would never harm you or yours so long as Dare is not harmed.” Balduen was surprised when old Tom broke out into cackling laughter interrupted only by coughing and wheezing.

Balduen became concerned when Tom bent over, hands-on knees and continued to cough and wheeze. Shifting Dare to one arm, he used the other to gently pat the man’s back until he was able to get himself under control.

It didn’t escape Tom’s sharp gaze that Balduen could easily have disarmed him while he was having his lung fit. He gave a smile and nod of thanks to the big guy and headed back towards his house.

Balduen shook his head at the old man and looked at him more closely as he followed him. Very thin wisps of hair didn’t hope to cover the expanse of his scalp, his brown eyes, although now dull still held a spark of life that told Balduen that in his youth, the man was probably quite a tough handful.

His frame was very thin, and his stooped shoulders made him appear shorter than he was, but he was at least as tall as Dare. His worn clothes hung loosely, but were clean and obviously well-tended. More importantly he carried himself like a warrior, his eyes constantly roving the area, his shotgun at the ready. Balduen could definitely appreciate the man’s wariness and was grateful for another set of eyes to keep Dare safe.

“So where are you from?” Tom didn’t even turn around when he asked, he just continued forward and a little to the left now.

“A lot farther than you think. But, more recently of Knoxville. Where are we?” Balduen hoped it was pretty close to where they kept a presence in the area. Feeling Dare begin to waken in his arms, he squeezed her a little roughly as a caution and hoped she would understand. The last thing he needed was for her to waken and harm the old man thinking he was an enemy. After what he’d seen her doing to the female in the lab, he wanted to take no chances.

“We’re near Stockton, TN. About Eighty-nine miles north west of Knoxville. It’s a good thing your friends are close, cause it looks like their friends aren’t happy with you.” Balduen turned when Tom gestured behind them.

Looking up at the mountains that they’d come from, smoke still lightly billowing on the wind, he could clearly see lights twinkling in and out of sight from the top of the mountain to halfway down. Balduen let out a string of soft curses, making Tom laugh.