Fallen Angel part 5

[amalthia]

Part 5...
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The next morning dawned early, birds chirped loudly outside the window and Xander heard people speaking to each other; another ordinary day. Body aching in a hundred places, Xander moved slowly turning onto his side. The slow rise and fall of Angel's bare chest drew his attention. Immediately, Xander's eyes flew up to Angel's face to see if he had woken him with his movements, he hadn't. Angel continued to sleep.

Anxious to leave the bed before Angel woke, Xander propped himself up on one elbow. The pain from his bruised ribs increased during the dead hours of morning, making it difficult to move. Before he lost his nerve, Xander sat up the rest of the way which caused him to break out in a cold sweat. His stomach ached where Angel forced him onto the bed.

His bare chest fleshed out in goose bumps. Sore muscles protested each new movement. However, if he wanted to get dressed before Angel woke up, he had to move at some point. The metal tube in his hand was sweaty and slick; he gripped it harder for a moment before opening his palm. In the daylight, the symbols stood out more clearly and just as undecipherable as the night before. He clenched his fist again, hiding the symbols from his view. He never wanted to see this cursed piece of metal again.

Already tense, he started to climb over Angel. He made the mistake of looking down, and met Angel's curious eyes, “Oh!” he cried out badly startled. His hand dug into Angel's shoulder, while his cast hit Angel's stomach. He felt incredibly clumsy and he couldn’t get away from Angel fast enough. In his haste, he fell; his elbow hit the floor dead on. "Fucking hell!!!" Xander cursed loudly, his eyes welled with tears. Why did it have to be his one good arm? His fingers went numb and tingly from the pain.

Xander rose to his knees cradling his hurt elbow, in too much pain to feel any embarrassment. Angel sat on the bed holding the torn sheet to his waist, amusement, derision, and lust shinning from his eyes.

Xander flushed at Angel's silent appraisal of his body. He stood up quickly, Angel's borrowed boxers slid down his hips but he managed to grab them before they made it past his hips, they hung too loosely for comfort.

Quickly before Angel could speak, he grabbed his leather pants off the table sat down on the edge of the bed and attempted to stick his legs into the stiff leather.

On his wrist under the fine dark hair, a bluish black bruise stood out. His thigh muscles ached where Angel had forced his legs apart. Shuddering with the memory, Xander braced himself for the pain and quickly jerked his jeans up the rest of the way. It wasn't too bad. The leather was tight, but his blue jeans were in the bottom of Angel’s backpack, muddy and torn from the two week hike through the woods.

"Where are you going so quickly?" Angel spoke, "I was hoping to spend some time in bed together."

Butterflies flooded Xander's stomach as he fought to keep his face expressionless. Showing fear would only make his situation worse. "I have to feed Zeli. Elija can only feed her for so long, you know." Amazingly, the lie rolled straight off his tongue.

With a long sigh Angel flopped back down and crossed his arms behind his head, "Fine, just make sure you bring me something to eat afterwards. I need time to fix some of my clothes. Your brat Zeli caused a lot of damage last night. If I thought you would do a half decent job I would make you repair the damage."

Xander stayed silent, not sure how this new Angel would react to his sarcasm. At the moment Angel appeared non-threatening but he'd seen his friend become ugly real quick. Not questioning his good fortune, he grabbed his backpack and escaped downstairs.


*****

The common room of Elija's tavern was quiet in the early morning, though a few of Lord Blain's guards sat at tables eating bread and drinking out of large beer mugs. He passed by them and entered the kitchen; Zeli looked up from her bowl of water when he entered. Seeing her blue eyes surrounded by the red ridges of her brow, calmed him. She unhooked her claws from the water bowl, stood up, and waddled towards him. He forgot about his search for Elija and food when he scooped her up into his arms. She purred and he felt a faint nudge of contentment that he suspected came from her.

The kitchen workers barely noticed him as they kneaded bread, cut vegetables, and stirred large cauldrons of food, preparing food for the rest of the day. The back door opened and Elija entered, carrying an armload of wood, which he promptly dumped next to the kitchen fireplace.

"Xander, I didn't expect you to wake up this early, are you hungry?"

Everyone turned and stared, "Um a little." He answered when he spied the rack of freshly baked bread.

Elija grabbed a loaf of bread and with a light hand on his shoulder, led him out the kitchen into the common room. The few guests at the tables looked at them briefly before returning to their own conversations. Eyes lingered on Zeli the longest. He hugged her more tightly, all of a sudden feeling very protective of her. Right now, she was so small anyone could steal her.

Xander followed Elija to the table they sat at just hours before. This morning he felt like one giant bruise so he sat more carefully, Zeli scampered out of his arms and onto the table. She sniffed at the bread Elija placed on the tabletop and licked the crust with her serpent tongue.

"Um, are we supposed to eat that now?" Xander pointed at the wet spot on the bread crust. Zeli tilted her head and stared at him like he were crazy to ask such a silly question.

"It's safe, Xander. She must be feeling some of your hunger if she's willing to eat human food."

Elija tore off a large chunk of the bread and handed it to him, "Thanks." He tore out the soft center of the bread and stuffed a large piece in his mouth. Zeli licked the crumbs that fell on the table, until Xander tore off a piece for her to eat. She nibbled on it cautiously. The warm fragrance of the bread wafted towards him, he ate quickly. A serving girl bought them cups with water, which Xander drank down greedily.

After he finished eating, Xander tore off small pieces of bread and fed them to Zeli, careful not to stick his fingers too close to her mouth. Her teeth looked wickedly sharp.

Elija stood up, dusted the crumbs from the table into his apron. "I'm going to the kitchen; there is a lot of work to finish before Lord Blain is ready to leave this afternoon. I'll find you before you leave today. Just try and take it easy for now."

Xander swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "I'll try." All of a sudden, he didn't want Elija to leave. What would he do when Angel arrived?

Zeli licked his cheek while Xander stared at Elija's retreating back. He tried smiling when he turned his attention back to the baby dragon. He gave up, the effort too much this early in the morning. The food only aided his drowsiness; he wanted to lay his head on the table and fall back asleep. He barely got four hours of sleep, every time Angel shifted on the bed Xander woke.

A door upstairs opened, and he heard the heavy thud of boots on the wooden floorboards. Angel paused at the top of the stairs searching for him. Xander quaked inside; all his instincts screamed at him to run, while his mind tried to remind him that he needed Angel to complete this quest.

He sat frozen with indecision as Angel made his way down the stairs and towards him. Zeli lifted her head off her front feet and Zeli twisted her head towards Angel. Abruptly she stood and leaped off the table, growling low in her throat, she blocked Angel from coming any nearer to Xander.

Angel tried to step around her, but she snapped at his ankles and growled louder. Everyone in the tavern turned to stare at her and Angel.

"Xander, call her off now." Angel stared coldly down at Zeli. Xander suspected all that kept Angel from killing Zeli were the other patrons of the tavern.

"Zeli, calm down it's all right. He's with me." The lie tasted like ashes in his mouth.

She didn't back down until Elija entered the common room again. "Angel, I need to speak with you, please follow me." Angel gave him a hard look before turning and following Elija into the kitchen.

Zeli prowled around the table agitated, her tail swished hitting against the wooden table legs, and the chairs. On her third time around the table, he scooped her up on the belly and placed her onto his lap. Her claws dug into his thighs, but she retracted them before she drew blood.

"Calm down," he said and stroked the scales on her neck. He fought against his own fears; he did not want to traumatize her.

The door to the cavern opened and A'Rin entered, he wore a thick set of clothing and carried a rough sack over his shoulder. Two more teenagers entered after A'Rin, they all carried similar bags to carry their possessions.

A'Rin spotted him easily and walked over to his table. "Good morning, Xander and Zeli." He set his sack down on the floor and took the chair next to Xander. His eyes had dark circles under them and he didn't smile.

"Rough night?"

A'Rin smiled softly, "I said my goodbyes to my mother, and spent the night with Anorak. I think I'll feel homesick within days, but Lord Blain's keep isn't far from here. I'll see my mother and friends again. How about you, it looks like you hardly slept either."

Xander grinned and did what he did best, lied. "Well you know excited about the upcoming journey and all."

The other recruits came by Xander's table to see Zeli. They all looked so young; they belonged in High School like ninth or tenth grade, not joining a militia. The youngest of the group, reached over to pet Zeli and almost had his hand bitten off. The other boys laughed. A'Rin said, "Maybe next time you should keep your hands to yourself."

"Ah come on A'Rin, she looks so harmless." The boy who almost got his hand snapped off said.

"Yeah but look at her teeth."

Zeli took that moment to jump off Xander's lap and onto the table. The small group took a step back, but Zeli only hunched down on her back feet and stared back at the boys. She yawned, showing off her pearly white teeth.

"Attention hog," Xander said and ran his hand down her side.

The kitchen doors opened again, and Elija came out with Angel trailing behind him, his face ashen. Zeli turned her attention to Angel. She moved to all fours again in what Xander now realized was her attack stance. However, this time she didn't growl, but her eyes watched Angel warily.

"Jacob, A'Rin, Simon, can you boys please leave us a few minutes of privacy. I have to discuss something with Xander and Angel."

"Of course," A'Rin stood, grabbed his bag off the floor, and hurried to the other side of tavern and grabbed the empty table by the window. Simon and Jacob followed A'Rin.

Elija offered the chair furthest from Xander and motioned for Angel to sit, he took the chair between them. Zeli backed away from Angel, low growls humming in her throat.

"Will she ever stop that?" Angel spoke. His eyes stared at Xander, no longer chilling, as they were earlier.

"Probably not," Elija spoke quietly. "You're a threat to Xander's safety. She is not going to forgive you for last night either. When you hurt him you also hurt her, remember that because when she grows bigger, and she will. She will not forget your actions, regardless if you are possessed by an evil spell."

Angel's anguished eyes turned towards Xander, "I'm sorry." He twisted his hands on the desktop. Xander felt for the Soul Eater hanging against his chest. It hung safely; he felt it through the thick material of his shirt. Angel's eyes grew cold as they followed his hand movement.

"You need to tell Xander what you told me. I'm afraid by the time we reach our destination I'll no longer be myself." Angel stared at the tabletop. "I won't want my soul back if it comes to that."

Elija patted Angel's tightly clenched fist before he turned to Xander and said, "I told Angel the information he needs to know about what's happened. Remember last night I told you only a powerful mage can break this curse, well this morning I sent a message to a friend who knows one such mage with the power to help you. Lady Ashley, is a fine woman and once she hears of your plight I know she'll come as fast as possible. There are few bonded Dragons; we can't afford to lose Zeli if Angel kills you. She'll come as fast as possible." Elija took a large drink out of the mug he brought to the table with him.

"Both of you need to work at patience and stay away from each other, as much as possible. Though I fear each day, the Soul Eater will draw Angel to it to feed off him. Xander, in a few weeks, Zeli will grow as large as a horse; she'll protect you until Lady Ashley arrives."

A door upstairs banged open, startled Xander stopped staring at Elija and looked towards the stairs. Lord Blain, resplendent in his fur clock and velvet clothing, paused at the top before descending into the now silent tavern. His guards cleared the way for him, while two more guarded his back. He came straight towards Xander.

"Xander, are you ready to travel today? My men are preparing the horses, and I believe Master Elija is having his kitchen workers fix food for the road. Do not worry, as long as you are with me, I'll take care of you." Lord Blain placed his manicured hand on Xander's shoulder.

Xander struggled to hide his revulsion as he gently pulled away from Lord Blain's touch. "I appreciate your gesture; there is no need to work harder on my behalf. Between Zeli and Angel, I have enough 'protection.' Thanks all the same."

Lord Blain's handsome smile never faltered, though his eyes promised retribution. "You're quite right." He stepped away from Xander, turned, and walked out of the tavern.

"A dangerous man you just pissed off Xander." Elija said before he also stood, "I have to finish the food preparations." He left Angel and Xander sitting at the table with only Zeli to stand between them.

With Elija gone, all of Xander's anxieties came back. Of course, it did not help that his ass still hurt from Angel's rough treatment, and that his one good wrist ached with every movement, reminding him of his helplessness against Angel last night. Angel's haunted eyes stared at him, probably tracing the line of bruises on his throat, Xander thought nastily.

"What can I say to make this up to you, Xan?" Angel spoke softly. "I never meant to hurt you. I love..."

"Stop. Just stop." Xander let his anger protect him. "There is nothing you can say to make this better. As long as I wear this," Xander cupped the Soul Eater through his shirt, "I'll never be safe with you. I'm not going to trust you until I can throw this away. Just stay away from me, if you really loved me, you'll stay away."

Xander pushed away from the table too fast and almost fell backwards. He managed to catch his balance in time and rocked the chair forward again. He stood up on shaky legs and picked Zeli up off the table, she clung to his shirt with her sharp claws. He joined A'Rin, Simon, and Jacob by the window, while Angel sat alone at the table with his head in his hands.

*****

An hour later, Xander stood outside in the sun. The crisp morning air had a bite. A line of horses stamped and snorted tethered to wooden posts. Lord Blain's guardsmen loaded supplies onto the pack animals, and secured their own gear. Angel stood next to A'rin, helping the other boy, tie his gear to the back of the horse Lord Blain had given him. Xander's own horse, a rather ugly brown and short horse was busy sniffing at another horse's ass.

He would have left his tied on the line but Lord Blain had personally placed the horse's reigns into his hands. Zeli sat on her haunches next to his feet, the horses' stupid animals that they were, snorted with fear when they scented her. After a few calming words and pats on their necks, most of them settled down. Ugly Brown Horse, stopped sniffing the grey horse and sniffed at Zeli, she backed up quickly and hissed. Not that he could blame her, he didn't want Ugly Brown's nose anywhere near him either after where he'd last seen it.

Xander hated waiting for help, the pack on his back grew heavier by the moment, but there was no way he could tie it on with one hand in a cast and the other holding his horse's reigns. A guardsman with a large nose, acne scars, and more than a few age lines, came to him.

"Lord Blain, asked me to help you with your gear." He pointed at the pack straining Xander's shoulder.

Xander let the pack slip from his shoulder and handed it to the guardsman. He watched to see who the guardsman tied his gear to the saddle. The information might come in handy someday.

The guardsman finished settling Xander's gear, before he turned and introduced himself. "My name is Alan. Lord Blain ordered me to help you on this trip. Now if you need anything, let me know ahead of time if possible. We are almost ready to leave, if you need to piss I'd recommend going before we start."

Wow, this guard was a treasure trove of information. "Thanks, I'll do that." He gently tugged at the reign in his hand and led Ugly Brown to a post and wrapped the reigns around it, like he'd seen people do in the Westerns.

Zeli followed him to the nearest outhouse, just outside Elija's tavern. It stunk and if he hadn't wanted to drop his pants with Angel so near, he might have avoided the place and gone against the side of the building. Zeli wisely waited five feet away from the outhouse.

He did his business quickly and left, by that time A'Rin already sat on top his horse. Angel mounted his, a large grey one. He looked like he belonged on a horse. Xander went back to his horse and stared at his and the stirrups. Everyone else looked busy mounting their own horses. A'Rin's mother and Anorak stood on the sidelines and watched them prepare to depart.

With his good hand, Xander unwrapped the reigns from Ugly Brown and tossed the loop over Ugly Brown's head until they rested on the saddle. Zeli stood a few feet away when he stuck his foot in the stirrup and tried to mount the horse. His free hand held onto the saddle, and that was all that kept him from falling on his ass when Ugly Brown decided to dance away with his foot stuck in the stirrup. "Damn it, hold still." Xander ordered as he tried to extract his foot from the stirrup.

He heard some laughter, but he tried not to let it bother him, he pulled his foot free and staggered backwards. He almost stepped on Zeli. Her quick reflexes saved her tail from a stomping. This time Xander tried to figure out what he did wrong, and could not figure it out, he was sure he'd get on if the horse didn't move on him.

Lord Blain mounted his horse with practiced grace. Determined, Xander tried again, he grabbed some of Ugly Brown's hair as well as the saddle and decided this time he'd move quicker. He stuck his foot in the stirrup and boosted off the ground, the saddle shifted under his weight but he managed to throw one leg over the saddle until he straddled the horse, however he managed to lose track of the reigns. They trailed on the ground near Zeli. She looked far away down there. He sat up straight wondered what to do next.

Alan saved him; the other man appeared from nowhere, "First time riding a horse?" He picked the reigns up on the ground and put them in Xander's hands the correct way.

"Can't you tell?" Xander shifted uncomfortably, were his balls supposed to be there?

"Here I'll hold Swift so you can get comfortable." Alan petted Ugly Brown's nose, while Xander fixed his pants so they didn't ride up the wrong way. He plopped back down more comfortable this time.

"So her name is Swift?" Xander adjusted his feet in the stirrups. Hard to believe such a short horse could actually move swiftly.

"His name is Swift and you need to hold those reigns better or you'll end up going north while we are going south." Xander tightened his hands on the reigns and pulled back a little. Swift snorted and danced sideways. "Oh!" Xander tightened his knees and dropped the reigns to cling to Swift's mane of hair instead.

"Xander calm down. Riding a horse is not difficult. Swift is gentle and he'll take care of you. However, you must remember, never let go of the reigns. Here, pull this way if you want to go left, and gently pull this way if you want to go right. If you want to stop, pull back softly, he'll listen. To go forward you tap your feet against his sides. Can you remember all that?"

Xander gulped but nodded his head...realizing he'd already forgotten some of what he'd heard.

"What about Zeli?" he suddenly remembered to ask, "She's not fast enough to follow us if we are on horses?"

"See that cart over there?" Alan pointed through a group of riders to a horse drawn cart that carried what looked like food supplies and extra weapons. Now that he sat on Ugly Brown, Swift, he saw it.

"Yes."

"Well I made a spot for the red dragon while you were taking care of business. You can ride next to the cart so you can stay close."

"Her name is Zeli." Xander said.

Alan smiled and nodded, "Zeli will be fine. Everyone will die to defend her if the need arises. I'll take her to the cart now. Everyone is almost ready to leave."

He turned to go and as a sign of the red dragon's true intelligence, she followed him to the cart, having understood every word he had said.

A'Rin guided his horse to Xander; he looked more at ease on top of his black horse than Xander did on Swift. And why was his horse so much taller? Xander felt a pang of jealousy but tried to squash it. Lord Blain handed out the horses not A'Rin.

"Ready to go?" A'Rin smiled, showing off a set of nice teeth. Did they have dentists in fairytale land?

"As ready as ever." Xander gently tried to maneuver Swift towards the cart, where Alan helped lift Zeli onto the wooden boards.

Swift turned in circles. "This is impossible!" Xander stopped tugging on the reigns and Swift stopped moving, though he did turn his head and gave Xander a nasty look.

This time, more people saw Xander's ineptitude and laughed at him. Mortified, Xander sat straighter and reshuffled the reigns in his hand. His mind painfully blank, in front of everyone's stares. "It's okay Xander, you'll figure out how to ride by the end of the day. I'm positive."

A'Rin's comforting words helped. He took a deep breath, and ignoring everyone's stares, tried again. This time he didn't pull the reigns for so long and with a few adjustments, he convinced Swift to go toward the cart.

When he reached the cart, Alan finished making last minute adjustments to Zeli's riding accommodations. Old brown patched blankets pilled at the back of the cart, formed a nest that would cushion her to some extent from the bumpiness of the road.

She curled into the nest; the blanket nest almost reached the rim of the cart, but was low enough so she would not "bounce" out if they hit any real rough patches. "I hope this meets your approval, Lord Xander." Alan said, stepping back so Xander could see what he had done.

"This is great." Xander smiled, "She should be comfortable traveling on all those blankets. Thanks."

Alan smiled, "Glad I could help, sir."

"You can call me Xander." He did not feel comfortable with anyone calling him sir; he was only sixteen for Christ sakes.

Alan didn't answer; instead, he turned and went to his own horse, and mounted it with practiced ease.

A'Rin followed Xander, and pulled his horse up next to him. "She looks so harmless like that." He commented with a grin.

"Yeah I can't wait to see if you say the same in 4 months." Xander teased.

Before A'Rin could answer, the cart jerked forward and Xander's horse followed without any guidance from Xander. A'Rin had to kick his horse into moving with the rest of the guard.

Angel rode next to Lord Blain in the lead. The cart with Zeli, ended up somewhere in the middle as they followed the dirt road out of town.

*****

They rode for hours, at first Xander thought this isn't so bad. Once they left town the road narrowed, and the open sky greeted them, tufts of clouds floated high above them, too wispy to form shapes. The temperature verged somewhere in the mid-seventies. On horseback, they plodded down the road, slowed by the supply carts. The hard packed road saw so much travel, they horses hooves barely threw up clods of dirt. In the middle of the procession of fifteen riders, and two supply carts, Xander felt safe from Angel.

However, as one hour passed into two and then three, the aches from the night before, first minor annoyances grew into pain with each step of the horse. His ass never hurt this much before in his life, he fought hard to hide his pain. Occasionally he stood in the stirrups to take the weight from his bruised backside. With each bounce on the horse, Xander's hate for Angel grew.

When Lord Blain announced a break for lunch, Xander almost forgave him for tricking him into coming on the trip. Most of all Xander blamed Angel for his agony. Xander stopped Swift next to the cart. Zeli curled in a ball trembled.