Skah and I had escaped from the castle under the cloak of night. We made it past the gates and by some miracle we were out on the planes. Keale was supposed to meet us. I glanced around and the grass plains rustled in the zephyrs. Then under the pale, frail light of the moons, she came running. Gracefully striding towards us; her body was almost dancing. Her whole face lit up when she saw Skah. The wind in her hair, the joy in her eyes, she ran into his arms. The two shared but only a moment. I smiled when I saw their reunion. Maybe some joy will come of this. Something glinted in the distance. A shimmer of sliver, the twang of a bow, the whistle of an arrow, I threw up a barrier. To my utter shock and horror the arrow pierced the barrier. The arrow met its target. Keale fell limp in Skah’s arms. Her aura faded and her life was gone. The mighty Nerelic man, who endured scourging without even flinching, shattered in front of me. The color drained from his face and eyes became round, blank orbs. His head reared back and his mouth open wide let loud a lament that even the gods could hear, far up in their realms. A silence followed, my blood curdled, something was going to happen. Skah rose, Keale dangling in his arms. He towered over me in his massive form. Energy surged out of him. The earth beneath me trembled with life. He summoned forth a storm, the mightiest and most thunderous I had ever seen. Black clouds thick with rain poured down with torrential force. The winds were so strong the trees behind us cracked into splinters. Ear shattering thunder rolled and lightning forks speared the ground. Chunks of earth rose with the white hammers and then plummeted, smashing to pieces. I braced myself as the rubble splayed out. Another stoke of lightning flashed and the sound of thunder bounced off the mountains. And yet, in the misery of the needle-like rain, sat Skah. His stiff hair was flat against his head and his was back bare to the merciless rain. All this anguish born, to protect the body of Keale, the woman he loved. He wept bitterly and openly. To see such a respectable person in such a decimated state, such as this, brought pain to my bitter heart.
Lightning pieced the ground again and ripped asunder the spot that it struck. The trees nearby the strike ignited. Smoke filled the air as the flames were snuffed out under the power of the rain. We had to move. I staggered over to the broken man, fighting the virulent winds as I did so. I knelt across from Skah, so that Keale was between us. She was beautiful, even in death. Her precious blood ran in crimson trails across the arms that held her. This was not the time for mourning or grief.
“Skah we must.” I cut short as pain exploded from my left shoulder. I grimaced and buckled forward, another arrow. “Go,” I breathed.
The old shaman rose and pried me off the ground like he would a little child. I in one arm and Keale the other, Skah sprinted into the thicket of trees.
