Catriona used her magic some more, allowing the ground to gape even broader and deeper so it could swallow the remains of the building and all of its contents deep under the ground, before filling in the hole and smoothing over the top layer. Walking over to some nearby plants, Cat used her love of nature to ask them to give up their seeds. They responded to her gentle druid magic and dropped their seeds into her hand. When she decided she had collected enough, she spent an hour painstakingly planting them by hand, before calling for gentle rain and sunshine to assist her in accelerating their growth. By the time she was finished, in the place where Daelen’s training centre once stood, there was now a beautiful meadow. Amid the lush, green grass, stood bright, colourful flowers, dozens of varieties of non-flowering plants and herbs. Butterflies fluttered, bees buzzed, and birds sang their joy of this wondrous new creation. There was just one thing missing, Cat decided, and taking off in her falcon form again, she flew away to find what she needed.
A few moments later, she returned with an acorn in her beak. She spotted Mandalee on the ground – she had come from her bedside vigil to see what her friend was up to. Sending out a sympathic greeting, the falcon circled over the meadow – scaring some of the smaller birds away – and landed in the centre. Without returning to her natural form, Cat gently planted the acorn in the earth and covered the hole. She even chose to use her druid powers, still in her bird form, flying up as a mighty oak tree grew tall and strong. The growth stopped, and the falcon perched on a branch. Mandalee did not disturb her, but simply sat down and waited, closing her eyes to better enjoy the smells and sounds of nature. After a while, she felt a touch on her shoulder and opened her eyes to see a small brown mouse perched there. Mandalee smiled and lifted the mouse gently onto her hand, where she stroked the little creature, which she knew to be her friend Catriona.
It was dark before Cat could bring herself to return to her half-Faery form, but when she did, she told her friend, “This isn’t just any old garden. It’s a recreation of my childhood home. It’s amazing how similar the wildlife is here, compared to Tempestria. At first, I couldn’t cope because this world was so alien, and yet now I’ve managed to create a small slice of the Faery lands of Quarthonia here on another world. This oak tree reminds me of the one back home, the one my parents were married under all those years ago. A girl could get quite homesick here. In a good way.”
Cat was understating her achievement, in Mandalee’s opinion. She’d been to Quarthonia herself and seen a view of which this, as far as the Cleric of Nature could tell, was an absolutely faithful recreation, down to the smallest detail. She would never cease to be amazed at what her friend could do when she put her mind to it. Mandalee was also quietly envious – though not in any negative way – of how Catriona’s powers could have such creative possibilities. Sometimes it seemed to Mandalee that everything she did was about killing. She didn’t regret her kills – those who died at her hands sought to take away the lives of innocent people who had not the power to protect themselves. She took lives to save lives, and she never lost sight of that. Still, she would give much to be able to create beauty, but since she didn’t have that gift, she would do the only thing she could: protect the life of someone who did.
“Now, if Daelen wants to rebuild his training centre,” Cat continued, “he will have to chop down my childhood home to do it. If he really does care for me and not just this girl from his past, then he won’t do that. Maybe from now on, instead of coming here to work himself into the cold grave, he will come to relax and enjoy the beauty of life. This is ‘Catriona’s Meadow’ now; my gift to him. Hopefully, it will serve as a reminder to him that even though I don’t love him in the way he would wish, I do still love him, and before you say anything, Mandalee, yes, I am willing to admit that now.”
“So, you admit you love him, you know he loves you, and yet you’re not going to do anything about those feelings?” Mandalee wondered, puzzled.
“An excellent summation,” Cat agreed.
“Why not?”
“Mandalee, you know I don’t like keeping things from you, but this is one thing I can’t tell you.”
“You mean you won’t,” the assassin countered.
“No, I mean I can’t,” Cat insisted. “I am prevented by a promise – a magically backed promise. When I was cut off from Tempestria, I could feel the magic slipping away, but now that I’m connected again, it’s strengthened anew.”
She explained, as best she could, that her promise could be partially removed via a sympathic agreement that the time was right, but only physical contact could eliminate it entirely.
“So, I meant what I said, Mandalee. I physically cannot tell you why I choose not to have a relationship with him. And please keep any speculation to yourself, OK?”
To Catriona’s surprise, Mandalee assured her that she understood.
“Even without the magical element, I wouldn’t ask you to break a promise. Just one question: Have you ever regretted it?”
“Never for one fraction of a second.”
As far as her friend was concerned, that was all she needed to know.
They stayed there together and chatted for a while until Jessica came to find them.
“Heya, loves! There you are. Wow, love what you’ve done with the place, Cat. Daelen should be up and ready to go again in a minute or two if you want to go and see him.”
Cat thanked her and jumped up, ready to go again, herself, holding out a hand to her friend, who grabbed it and pulled herself onto her feet.
Jessica turned to walk away, but Mandalee called out to her, “Hey, Jessica? You OK, now?”
“Tickety-boo, love,” she replied with a beaming smile.
*****
“Where am I? What happened?” Daelen groaned, rubbing his head as Cat and Mandalee walked in. “Oh no, I’m doing the clichés again, aren’t I? Man, I feel like my body’s been put in a blender.”
“Short version: you nearly killed yourself. We rescued you,” Cat told him.
“And,” Mandalee added in a low voice, checking that the two Chetsuan girls weren’t around, “you upset Jessica, which is practically a criminal offence as far as I’m concerned.”
Cat nodded. “She was so worried about you, she even yelled at her sister.”
Daelen looked suitably ashamed of that, at least.
“Don’t worry, they’re fine again now,” Mandalee assured him. “Nothing’s getting between those two for long, and I’d fight anything that tried.”
Daelen promised to have a word with her, but Cat admonished him, “Don’t you dare. She’d be mortified that we’ve told you. Besides, she wasn’t the only one who was worried about you. Just don’t do anything like it again.”
“Try talking about your feelings, rather than blasting chunks out of the Earth,” Mandalee advised, “or whatever world you happen to be on, OK?”
Daelen smiled grimly. “I’ll do my best.”
At that point, the assassin left the two of them alone to do exactly as she had suggested.
“Before we do that,” Cat began, “there’s something you should know about your training centre.”
“What about it?”
“You don’t have one anymore.”
Daelen went to the window, through which he used to be able to see his training centre. He was quite startled to see in its place, a garden, sitting in the shade of a hundred-year-old oak tree that hadn’t been there a few hours ago.
“Spending time in that garden will do you much more good than your training centre would,” Cat said, by way of explanation.
Daelen just smiled and told her it was the most beautiful gift he’d ever received, and it was at that moment that he tried to kiss her. Catriona turned her head, though, so he only got her cheek, not her lips.
“Please don’t do that again,” Catriona told him.
Daelen stammered an apology. “I—I—didn’t mean…I’m sorry.”
“I know. It’s OK. There’s all kinds of chemistry going on between us, and things just got a little confused, no harm done. But I do think we need to ‘put our cards on the table’ – is that the right expression?”
Daelen agreed that it was.
“In that case, why don’t you start by telling me what you think you were doing, trying to kill yourself like that?”
“Well I wasn’t trying to kill myself, for a start,” he insisted.
“Then why did you push yourself to such extremes? There are a few theories flying around, such as pining over your long-lost love, but I’d like to hear your version.”
Daelen shook his head. “It wasn’t about Rose.”
“Are you sure?” Cat pressed. “I mean, are you sure I didn’t just open an old wound when my research led me to her?”
“No,” Daelen stated, emphatically. “On the contrary, that just made me realise that thinking about Rose doesn’t bring me pain anymore. She’s just a memory, now. A good memory. Rose will always belong to my past, but memories of the past should not prevent us from living in the present.”
“Then, again, we come back to ‘Why’?”
“Because my present is you.”
“OK,” Cat replied, “I know we’re on another world, but I’m pretty sure that, even here, that line makes no sense.”
Daelen breathed, deeply, trying to find the right words. “This is the eve of my final confrontation with Kullos. Our previous battles were part of what I thought was an endless cycle, but that cycle is now broken. Outside interference or not, Time manipulation or not, it doesn’t matter why. It only matters that it is, and I have to be ready. There is one chance to save your world. One. I have to be stronger, faster, more powerful than I have ever been. Heaven’s Surrender will be used. The only question is whose finger will be on the trigger. But saving your world isn’t an abstract concept, anymore, or some obligation for past actions. It’s about the present. It’s about you. I will push myself to my limits and then go still further, because that is the only way I know to keep you alive.”
“So, it’s all about me?”
“Of course,” the shadow warrior insisted. “It’s true that I needed time to sort out my feelings, separate what I feel for you from the pictures in my mind, pictures from the past. But now, I swear, all I see is you. I know our timing is terrible, but I think that just makes it even more important to embrace the short time we have together. You’re amazing, Cat: strong and independent. You speak your mind, you’re beautiful, and you have such a good heart. I know I rub you up the wrong way, sometimes, but every time that happens, I understand you a little better. So why can’t we seize this moment and be together while we can?”
Catriona took his hands in hers and gazed up at him, eyes pleading for understanding.
“Daelen,” she began, “the truth is, I do care about you…”
“I don’t want to push you, Cat, but you did say ‘cards on the table,’ remember?” Daelen said, pointedly.
Cat nodded. “You’re right. I set the rules, and I have to follow them.” Starting afresh, she confessed, “The real truth is, I don’t just care; I love you. You trusted me with a part of your essence, allowed me to see and touch a part of your true self, and I will always cherish that. I am truly flattered, deeply touched by your feelings for me, and that you chose to share them with me, but that doesn’t mean I’m looking to get into any kind of relationship with you. It’s more complicated than that. The time will come when I can explain more, but right now, this is all I can say. I hope you can respect that because I still think it’s important that we keep working together to fight Kullos. I’m sorry, Daelen.”
There were tears in his eyes, but he made an effort to smile. “It’s OK, I understand. Kisses are off-limits. Are hugs still acceptable?”
Cat smiled and embraced him. “Always,” she promised. Breaking the hug, she asked, “Do you want me to leave you alone for a while?”
“No,” Daelen shook his head. “I still want to spend as much time with you as possible, even if it’s just as friends. Shall we go and see what the others are up to?”
Cat agreed and took his arm. As they walked out of the medical wing, she suggested that later on, they could go for some lighter training in his new meadow; something a bit more magic-focused.
“There’s something I’d like to try out. Something I’ve been working on in theory for a few years and I think I’ve figured out the practical side of actually doing it. This world has a better understanding of how energy works, and I’ve applied that same knowledge to magic.”
“Alright, but first, how about dinner? Don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“Me, too,” she affirmed. “I used a lot of energy, demolishing your training centre like that.”
*****
A few moments later, they found Mandalee enjoying some friendly, three-way sparring with Jessica and Sara. Forgoing any fancy tricks or magic, they were each just armed with a pair of knives. Currently, they were sheathed for safety, but when Mandalee saw Cat and Daelen, she ran over to show them off.
The retractable blades were small, even cute, no more than an inch long, but Cat knew that in her friend’s hands, they would be deadly. Mandalee now kept them strapped to her wrists. They were attached with a leather thong that would allow her to flick them into her hands so she could open them with the tiniest movement. The knives themselves were not made of metal, she explained. Instead, they were fashioned from grizzly souvenirs that Jessica had brought with her from their homeworld: dragon claws. According to the Chetsuans, their people had learned to their cost that they could cut through any armour.
“That’s what you’ve been doing while we were talking?” Daelen wondered.
“Yeah,” Cat agreed, with a mischievous smile. “I thought you’d be braiding each other’s hair.”
Mandalee matched the smile with one of her own. “We’re doing that later. Didn’t want to leave you out.”
“Aww, thanks. You’re the best.”
“I know,” the assassin nodded. “Anyway, finished with your little heart to heart?”
“Oh, I think we’re good now, yes?” Catriona looked up at Daelen for confirmation.
From his weak smile and nod, she could tell he was still disappointed, which was understandable, but he was putting a brave face on it.
“We’ve mutually agreed that we’re hungry,” he told the others. “You guys want to join us?”
After sharing a look between the three of them, Sara spoke up. “OK, but after that stunt of yours this morning, Jess and I have decided we’re having the rest of the day off.”
“Which means we’re not setting foot in your kitchen, dearie,” Jessica added.
“Come on then, Daelen,” Mandalee grinned, sprinting away, “First one to your kitchen cooks dinner!”
“Don’t you mean ‘last one’?” Daelen called out.
“No, believe me, you don’t want her to cook,” Cat explained with a mischievous smile. “If you like your dinner edible, I suggest you get moving.”
Daelen took off instantly.