I yearned to retreat completely into the horse, run from the agony, but the severity of it tore me back and kept me there in my own head. It felt and sounded like metal bands inside my mind, inside my ears, screeching. I hadn’t opened my eyes again and now I couldn’t. I couldn’t find my body; I wanted to bring my hands to my head, cover my ears… something. But I couldn’t feel anything aside from the pain in my mind.
I focused all of my energy on finding some feeling somewhere and finally, though the terror was unrelenting, I felt my body again; knew it was there. It still didn’t respond, but I knew I hadn’t fallen with the horse. Something had caught me. Not the ground… not a rock. Someone was carrying me. The horror must have stretched time, making the few seconds seem like minutes.
I struggled to bring myself back. I could hear nothing but a piercing squall. I willed my eyes open, though only a fraction. I was looking at the back of a horse, slung over someone’s shoulder. My eyes closed once more as the pain doubled and I lost my body for a moment. I concentrated until I got it back and then realized I was bouncing. I worked my eyes again, using every ounce of control I had left. I was on a horse, running. Not my own. Chevelle was holding me in front of him, my body limp and useless. I fought to focus on more but was overtaken by pain. We were running… away?
I could control nothing but my mind and that just barely. As my eyes closed again, I reached out and found my horse as it lay motionless on the ground, my Steed. He wasn’t dead. I asked him to stand and tried to impress upon him to follow. I hoped it had worked as I faded into blackness.
Chapter Fifteen
Fortress
My mind regained consciousness very slowly. I was hit with blurry images first, then they became dreams. Eventually the dreams were clearer, though they didn’t make much sense. After a time, it occurred to me the problem was the images were mixing with the wrong sounds… real sounds. Panicked sounds.
I thought I recognized Chevelle’s voice, I tried to focus on it. It was filled with agony as he spoke. “Frey.” I felt something on my face, a warm, light touch. Lips?
I gasped, shocked at the idea someone might have been kissing me. I felt the air as those surrounding me moved in response. I forced my eyes open and found Ruby, Steed, and Chevelle. They looked for a moment as if they were suffering my pain… and then I realized the pain was gone, the siren was silenced. I breathed deep, relieved. Their faces relaxed, relief washing over them… though not entirely. I noticed their postures then, stiff, alert, almost their training stances. I started to raise my head, find the source of the danger.
Dizziness incapacitated me. They rushed to kneel beside me and I was sure that was how they had been before my gasp had moved them to standing. I opened my mouth to speak but my throat was too dry. Chevelle gave me a drink, I would have taken anything but I was glad it was water, not that foul-tasting elixir.
“What happened?” I was finally able to choke out.
They were tight-lipped. I waited.
“How do you feel?” Chevelle asked. His tone was off, a little shaky. I couldn’t tell if he was cross or something else. My thoughts weren’t working right yet, I tried to clear my head before answering, take stock and see how I did feel.
“I don’t know.” It was the best I could do.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He paused and then finally asked, tentatively, “Do you know who I am?”
Something about that was funny and I laughed a hoarse laugh.
He looked torn as he posed the next question, slow. “Can you tell me your name?”
I wondered how bad I was messed up that he was approaching me with this line of questioning. “Frey.”
“Your full name?”
Ugh. “Elfreda Georgiana Suzetta Glaforia.” Geez.
They all took a deep breath.
“What?”
Chevelle relaxed a bit as he continued, “You don’t have pain?”
“No.” I clarified, “Not anymore.”
He nodded. “What do you remember?”
“I was–” I stopped. I didn’t know why but I felt protective of my secret, I didn’t want to tell anyone I was in my horse’s mind. I started again and I could hear the annoyance in my voice. “I don’t know. I was just following you guys and then wham!” That pretty much summed it up. “Just pain and screeching.”
Ruby and Steed bolted upright as someone came in. It was Grey. Chevelle was still kneeling over me as he turned to him. “What is it?”
He hesitated. “A horse is at the door.”
Chevelle glanced at me, I hoped he didn’t see my smile. I knew it was Steed, he’d followed my direction.
Grey was waiting. “Well, should I let him in?”
Chevelle turned back to him and nodded once. He left as quickly as he’d entered.
And then it hit me. The door. I glanced around, confused about where I was. It felt as though I were laying on cold rock, I could see the sky above. I was careful not to move my head too swiftly as I tested for dizziness. It seemed better.
There were gray stone walls on either side of us. I couldn’t see behind me, but I thought we were in a room. A room with no ceiling? “Where are we?”
“Fort Stone,” Steed answered.