ALL NOVEL Volume 3 Chapter 17 (Final)
Yvette felt her heart jump when she saw it off in the distance. With her current sight she could see the way the land had begun to curve up, so she knew they were close. But now she could see where an island rose up and out of the water. Away from the sirens. One of the many in the cluster. She put on one last burst of speed. They were almost there.
One last time she beached herself. She felt Gervas jump off her back and then, slowly, began to revert back to her human form.
Almost instantly she felt the sharp pain from the wounds on her body re-opening when she shifted. She laid there on the ground, shaking her head and trying to keep herself conscious. However, even though she was out of the water now, her body was quickly feeling cold and numbness was flowing through her.
“Damn it, Yvette! What happened to you?” Gervas asked, his voice filled with panic. For a moment she thought that the sirens had sung their song again, but she quickly realized he was panicked about her.
“Siren in the water,” she said softly, blinking blearily up at him. “Got me when I transformed. Can you help me bandage up? It’s in my bag. The stuff. The thingies with the wrap. They go on the bleedy parts.”
Gervas quickly opened her robe and grabbed her bag, tightly bound against her side. He opened it after a moment and reached inside, quickly pulling out the tools necessary. “Can you do any healing magic?” he asked.
“I… maybe?” she asked sheepishly, blinking a few times and trying to clear the fog filling her head. “I-I did just turn into a troll and a dragon turtle though, I’m honestly kind of spent. But hey. I didn’t pass out this time! That’s improvement!”
“Why do you always get like this? Can’t you go one week without getting covered in blood and nearly dying?” he asked before pulling his own bag from within hers. “Keep talking. How do you feel?”
“Cold and tired,” she said before shaking her head. “But not that tired. Just exhausted, I guess.”
He nodded, before less than gently rolling her onto her side. She let out a hiss of pain when she felt something rubbing against the bite wounds on her body. “Serves you right. You’re lucky, though. They aren’t deep. A lot of blood. It looks like you won’t be having a near death experience this time. You know, you really are learning as a mage.”
“Oh? Why?” she asked, feeling another jump in her heart beat.
“You’re really getting a lot better at getting torn up. Considering how many times you’ve nearly died from your excessive desire to get stabbed, shot or eaten, this time it’s borderline scrapes,” he teased.
“Oh, yay,” she said with just a hint of sarcasm. “Obviously all your training is paying off. One of these days, maybe I’ll even be able to not nearly die from… whatever,” she muttered, giving a light yawn.
“We’re not done yet. No sleeping,” he said, laying her back down. He then pulled out the bandages and began to, tightly, bind her wounds. “The sirens might come for us still. Can you walk?”
“Maybe. Grudgingly,” she muttered. She felt as if she was freezing and his rather cold hands weren’t doing much to help.
“We’ll need to go deeper inland and start a fire. Or at least get us both dry and bundled up.”
“I’m dry,” she said, though she knew it was a lie. She didn’t even know why she lied, she just felt like being difficult. He merely chuckled.
“You’re damp, at best,” he said before getting to his feet and hauling her up, roughly. He pulled her bag up, pushing it against her shoulder.
“Damp, then,” she said with yet another light yawn, leaning against him. Her legs felt like they’d bend and send her sprawling to the floor at any time, but she tried to ignore it. Instead, she rested her head against his shoulder and tried to, slowly, walk with him.
He was right, though. He was soaked and while transforming had managed to remove most of the water from her own garments and bag, transforming back had caused them to become slightly damp from the water on her dragon turtle form. They both needed to get dry and warm.
Still, even as they began walking inland, away from the island of the sirens, she began to feel her strength returning. She felt exhausted, but it was nothing like the first time she had turned into a troll. “I’m getting stronger,” she said gently.
“Stronger?”
“I couldn’t move for so long after turning into a troll last time. Even with the blood, this was still so much easier,” she said softly, a small grin forming on her lips.
“You’ve been practicing. That’s why you practice.”
“Can’t you praise me a little bit?”
That brought another chuckle from him. “Does it really mean anything if I praise you? I’m not a mage.”
“You’re the only one who’s opinion matters to me,” she said, unable to stop herself. She regretted the words a moment later when he stumbled.
“Yvette...” he said softly, his tone sending little shocks of fear through her.
“Don’t,” she said gently. “You don’t have to say a word. I know. It was an emotional time, what you said to me wasn’t--” Her words were cut off when he suddenly pulled her close to his chest, his lips pressing against hers. Even in the moonlight his eyes seemed to burn into hers, her body shivering for reasons other than the cold now.
“You are incredible, amazing and an example for mages everywhere. Even if you are a bit too reckless and quick to nearly get yourself killed. And I’m not taking those words back. Not now, not ever,” he said once he pulled his lips from hers.
She stared up at him, her legs weak for an entirely different reason now. She tried to speak, but all she could do was make a weak squeaking sound.
He merely chuckled and gave that far too confident and cocky smirk she found both wonderful and infuriating. “And I am very proud of you. Is that enough praise, or would you like some head pats too?” he teased.
“I-I wouldn’t say no,” she said quickly, her heart pounding. Even if their clothes were wet, she didn’t mind anymore.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said with a light chuckle. “We’re going to get as high on this island as we can, then put that bag of yours to good use.”
“Huh?” she asked, glancing down at it, then back out over the island. It was like many of the small islands this further out, barely more than rocks.
“We need somewhere dry and away from the wind. Like it or not, it’s out best option. It’ll be cramped, but it’s our best option.”
It took her a few moments to realize what he meant. “W-wait, you want us to sleep in my bag? You know how dangerous that is? We--”
“It’s better than freezing to death. Our best chance of staying warm. Our--”
“What if it closes on us? We’ll suffocate!” she said quickly, the panic rising in her voice.
“We won’t let it. We’ll lock it open.”
“But--”
“No buts. Yvette, come on. Let’s go,” he said, pulling her further up through the island. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
She struggled to keep up, but felt her annoyance and worry slowly fading. She really hated the idea of sleeping inside her bag, of taking the risk of it closing in any way.
But if he said it’d be fine, that he knew what he was doing, then she couldn’t stop herself from trusting him. From believing in him. She felt her pace picking up, just a little bit.
All they had to do now was make it to Void Island. They could do it. They would do it. She knew they would. She couldn’t keep the smile off her lips. She felt just a little more strength in each of her steps. They were one more step closer to her goal. And her fingers wrapped tightly around his tunic, gripping it.
For the first time since she had begun her journey, though, she was beginning to feel something else. He was okay with her. He could love her. It not only meant that she could be worthy of love like his. But she now felt something else important. Even if she had so much to work for, she didn’t have to put the rest of her life on hold while she worked towards it. That feeling made her feel so much lighter. She nestled her head against his shoulder once more and gave a content sigh.
Even if it was hard, it was okay for her to live her life, not just survive it.
