Sandre was not surprised to hear Dante was bonded. The news about Kynwric and Loraine was a little surprising though. "Dante was much too pretty to not be picked up by an Aes Sedai. She was a green I take it?" He didnt need to hear her answer to know it was. "You shouldnt worry about how you look. I will always see you as I did the first time I saw you."

 

They were only walking around the camp, keeping an eye on the guards. They seemed happy to see Edana and more unsettled when they looked at Sandre. As though looking at a mad man. "Im afraid this little adventure is not going to do well for my reputation as being stark raving mad that started the first day you came to see me." He was smiling though she would know that it bothered him. He had always prided himself on having a cool head. Pouring his heart out for all to see to her like he dead. On his knees begging a peasant girl to take him back. It wasnt how he saw it but it was how others saw it. Now he went alone into the Blight to rescue her. He would have to play the Game of Houses full time before he left Shienar to have any chance at fixing this.

 

"We better get back to let them know they better get some rest. They will need all they can get." It was more like she better get back. His bed roll was laid out next to hers so he turned and went for it. It was her group to lead.

 

 

Edana smiled at his back. It felt strange. She hadn't smiled in... well, nearly three months. Not since she left the Tower. Light knew there'd been precious little to smile about.

 

She returned to the camp, raising her hands until they were all quiet. "You know I hate to break up the revelry, but we've got to get as much ground between us and those trollocs as possible. That will mean getting up long before dawn and getting moving. I suggest we all find our bedrolls and try to get some rest before I come kicking at your ribs to get up." She grinned at them, turning to give the few men with medical training orders on how to handle the wounded men. They'd need special dressings if they were riding mounted for the next few days.

 

She stood, watching, for a few moments before moving towards her bedroll. She sighed as she stretched out, wishing she could see the stars overhead. It reminded her of the nights with the carts, laying next to his brother and staring at the stars. The thought brought a smile to her face and she wondered if mentioning it would stir jealousy in Sandre. She sighed, knowing better than to test it. They weren't past anything they'd been through just yet.

 

"Goodnight," she whispered. "And thank you for coming for me."

 

~Edana

The next couple of days they made good time. Sandre and five others stayed in the back stripped to the waist and moving dirt, turning rocks back over, scattering dead dry leaves that had been stepped on. Their work was checked fives times over and when it was done all five ended the day covered in sweat and dirt, and exhausted. Sandre didnt complain though by the end of the second day it hurt to move. They were found and a half days from the fort, having gained a half a day. Sandre sat trying to figure out how, and if they could squeeze another half day in tomorrow. If they could, he knew of a place with a large source of water surrounded with bushes around it that sat upon a hill just below a mountain. A spot where if needed even these men could hold off and almost defeat the Trollocs they were being pursued by. As they were breaking camp he approached Edana. "We need to get a day and a half march out of this. I know a place where half this number could hold off a superior force than whats pursuing us. We covered our trail but there is still a chance of scouts stumbling on us. If that happens we need to take them out quickly or else travel well into the night tomorrow night and hope our enemies do not catch up."

 

She nodded and went off to meet the other leaders. He waited until they started walking. Everyone was tense today looking for scouts. The half Cavalry they set aside to deal with the Scouts walked their horses ready to mount in a moments notice. A couple men had died the night before of their wounds, but the group as a whole would move faster for it since the men had to be dragged. He woke up even more sore than he went to bed and it was obvious by his walk. The five he had worked with had spoken to him at length as they worked and came to the conclusion he was not insane... at least not in a mad house sense. When they figured out that he was their map they began to walk around him and Edana as personal guards. Though they were as sore as him and he was not sure how effective any of them would be.

 

They were not moving fast enough. As dark began to come and no scouts had been spotted Sandre realized a camp would be a bad idea. Edana too sensed his unease as did the guards around them. Everyone was exhausted from being so wary of scouts that they hoped had not found them yet. "Keep them moving to the water hole." he said and quickly the order was spread. He went to the front to lead them through the dark and gave warning on what to avoid. When they reached the spot he saw why they had not seen any scouts. The scouts too knew of the place and were up there themselves. He quietly had everyone stop. They needed the water. "Archers come forth." he whispered "Keep it down or people will die."

 

The archers came in low. "Can you shower them at that distance?" The archer nodded. "Wont do much a good sir... flesh wounds... they will charge." Sandre nodded. "Im counting on it. Two volleys." The archer nodded and everyone readied. The archers loosed and the screams of angry Trollocs could be heard. The second volley went up and slammed into them again and they began to charge. A few arrows and cross bow bolts whizzed by. Only three were charging. There were four that he saw before the second volley covered them. "Where is the fourth!" He shouted. The Trollocs came and Sandre deflected the sword of one as his two bodyguards stabbed into it. Sandre came back and severed its head from his body. Edana had finished just as fast. "Where is the bloody fourth!" He shouted as he went towards the hill. The other two were put down quickly, but the fourth left only a blood trail away from them. "Bloody!" he shouted as he threw his helm to the ground by the side of the mountain. Edana walked up. "We had lost them so they went to the water supplies... they have a Fade with them. They wouldnt be this smart on their own." He stomped around kicking dirt with his hands on his hips. He had not seen a Fade by the cliff face.

Edana shook her head at her new bodyguards, but didn't dissuade them. When the trolloc launched himself at their end of the line, she was glad for them. The trolloc had landed just a breath away from where she was standing. If not for one of the guards, she'd have been very dead. She made short work of the trolloc, though, having pointed her loyal guard to the third a bit further down the line.

 

Sandre was cursing and pacing, which made her a little nervous. She approached him slowly, peering down at what he was looking at. A trail of blood in the dirt moved off, away from the mountain they were clinging to. Her eyes jerked to Sandre's at the mention of the Fade. Trollocs she could outwit, but a Fade?

 

"If they've a Fade with them, we can't afford to get caught." She kept her voice low so she didn't spook the others. "What do you think the chances are that this was a search party? The bigger knot of trollocs must be much slower and further behind us. The Fade would be with them..." She shook her head, staring into the dirt. "No, he'd have died if the Fade wasn't nearby."

 

She lifted her eyes and met his. "How many men does it take to take down a Fade?" she asked, her eyes shifting to the along the line of archers. "We'd never get this many people after it, but we can't afford to let it go, either. Without the Fade, the trollocs will scatter." It could be a bad thing, as well as a good, but they were less likely to get bunched up if they had nothing holding them together. Two or three trollocs was nothing next to a whole fist of them. "We have to take the Fade out of the picture."

 

~Edana

The others came up and started making camp. They wouldnt need as many guards here and Sandre wasnt about to sleep. Three days away from all of them being safe. Food, medicine, they couldnt afford to stay yet that may be the death of them if they dont. They could stay up here only as long as their supplies lasted and the Fade would wait them out. "A lot of arrows and bolts if you want to do it safely. We cant stay here though and we cant spare anyone healthy enough to fight to go out hunting it... we will be in Tarwins Gap by tomorrow night. They will probably be right behind us. If our archers were able to get ahead unnoticed they could set up along the canyon. We can line our cavalry up in the gap and as the enemy comes have the archers pepper them with a volley from the top then have the cavalry charge into the confusion and out the other side. Follow that with a second volley which any Cavalry down had better shield himself from. At that point it will be infantry in the front and cavalry in the back. It all hinges on the archers getting there ahead of everyone else and unnoticed though." He was strapped for ideas on how to do that short of sending them ahead a few hours before the rest of them left.

 

"Its a half ass plan so if you have any ideas spit them. We take care of this and we can walk back the other two days with no further threats we cant handle."

Edana took a deep breath. "I say we go hunting ourselves," she said. "They will strike the minute we leave this place if we wait until morning, but we can't go anywhere by night. This position is a good defense, but leaving it bares us to their will." She shook her head. "I will not willingly cause another man in this company to die." She had enough on her shoulders, as it is.

 

"That trolloc will most likely head straight back to that Fade like a wounded puppy. We simply follow the trail. He can't be that far away and he won't be expecting us to go on the offensive here. He also can't have that many trollocs with him, or he'd have been on us with more than four earlier. I say we take a few of these men and we go hunting."

 

She looked back at the ragtag group behind her. They were all as tired as she was. "Then, we walk out of here over the next three days. It leaves less to chance and puts us at a distinct advantage..."

 

~Edana

Sandre nodded. It would go straight back to the Fade. The place was defensible. He was not eager for a direct confrontation though. He borrowed a couple of crossbows from those too wounded to use them anyways and handed one to Edana. "A single bolt to the head will kill them as fast as it will us." Sandre picked three archers while Edana saw to some infantry. They also had one cavalry in case things went badly to warn the others. Sandre passed out three more crossbows to the infantry, each loaded with one shot as that would be likely all they would have a chance to take.

 

With guard rotation set ups and instructions given the nine of them set out after the trail. Sandre tracking as fast as he could. Everyone seemed awake and alert for which he was thankful. It was Dawn by the time the found the Trollocs. They kept their distance and slept though there was undoubtedly scouts out to leave a trail to the men no doubt already heading towards the Gap. Sandre did not see the Fade, but he saw the Fades horse. It felt like an eternity. There were too many large Trollocs laying around for them to see at a crouch,

Edana surveyed the area and lifted her eyes to the rising sun. The trollocs would be moving soon, their time was running out. She shook her head at Sandre, telling him she couldn't see the Fade, either. The last thing they needed was to attack with their primary target not in sight. She blinked a few times, clearing her eyes of debris and then pointed. The shuffling black robes of a Fade were surrounded by trollocs on the other side of the camp.

 

She sighed in relief, even if it meant they had to make it to the other side of the camp undetected. She pointed a few of the men, archers mostly, and flashed hand signals. The others she motioned to follow her. She took the lead as they picked through the brush around the camp, making their way to the other side as quietly as possible.

 

When they were in place, she sighed. "The archers will cause a distraction, buy us a precious few moments to invade the camp from this side. Our primary target is the Fade, but make sure you take out any trollocs that seem to be heading for our friends." She nodded to the other side of the camp where they'd left the others. "The faster we get in and get this done, the sooner we can get ourselves to the Gap."

 

She nodded to each of them, her eyes lingering on Sandre. "That Fade is ours, Kaldun," she said softly. "He's underestimated us for the last time."

 

~Edana

Sandre nodded and readied the crossbow bolt. The archers would have to fire and run and hide or they were dead. He worried for them but his task would be much more difficult. As the five of them rushed in they went in and the Fade turned just in time to see Sandres crossbow bolt miss both the head and the heart and slam just below the neck. It staggered as Edana and the others launched theres into its body, the bolts disappearing in the folds of its cloak. The Crossbows were dropped in favor of blades as the Trollocs now halfway across the camp to pursue the archers turned. The infantry readied themselves to hold off the Trollocs as defensively as possible while they dealt with the Fade.

 

As they approached and it drew its black blade Edana and Sandre spread out to either side of it. It looked at both and stood as though it was no stranger to killing. "Seven Stars... Keller!" it hissed in its voice that sounded like crunching leaves and tearing flesh at the same time. It was trying to unsettle them that it knew them. It failed. Sandre refused to look at its face. Instead he watched its rather deceptive body. He went in first find the Fade to be more than a match even for one as skilled as he was. Edana followed and still it was doing well at fighting both of them. The blade slid down his armor exposing his chest but not cutting the skin. A wound from that weapon would have been fatal but he couldnt afford to hold back either. He cut into the creature though nothing at all serious. It was as though he were cutting only the cloth on the cloak but the black blood on his blade said he was doing otherwise.

Edana breathed a sigh of relief when the trollocs rushed back towards them, away from the archers. It bought them time to make it back to the others and they'd need every minute of it. The rest of them that had come, fanned out to fight off the trollocs and Sandre turned with her to take care of the Fade.

 

"Seven Stars, Kellar," it's voice ground out. She was already far too deep in the stream to let that get to her, though. She simply smiled, then laid in from the opposite side of Sandre. When his blade sank into the Fade's body, it paused. It turned out to be the last mistake it made. Edana stepped back and swung her blade flat, the edges cutting cleanly through the Fade's neck and severing it from its head. She checked the swing just short of hitting Sandre and pulled it back, stepping out of the way of the corpse as it flailed, hitting the ground. "At least you know who sent you back to hell," she said, a cruel smile lingering on her lips.

 

The trollocs around them began to panic and attack, so she had little time to do more than give Sandre a once over to make sure he was well enough to continue. She turned and dispatched a few trollocs that made it past the defenders and sighed in relief again as the rest seemed to scatter into the woods. She turned hurriedly back to Sandre, her hands pulling at his armor to make sure the blade hadn't marred the skin. She closed her eyes, thanking the Creator he was unscratched by the Fade's blade. It was all she could do not to kiss him right then and there.

 

"Are you well enough?" She asked. They had to make it to Tarwin's Gap before the sun set and it was a good distance away.

 

~Edana

"I am fine." he said as he wiped his blade clean on the fades cloak. Edana did the same as he walked over towards where the Trollocs had been sleeping. There was a banner. Removing it from the staff that held it he rolled it up and shoved it in Edana's belt pouch. After finding the archers they set off towards the Gap. Sandre gripped Edana's hand the whole way, a smile on his lips for the first time in the whole trip. They were home free all the way to the fort.

 

***

 

Upon arriving Edana was granted some well deserved rest. One of the soldiers agreed to lend them a cabin some distance away. The two didnt talk on the trip to it. They had bathed and ate and had clean clothes since they didnt know how long the talk would last. When they arrived it seemed both just wanted to get right to it. He smiled at her wondering how many of those letters she had read while he recovered from the trip.

 

"Where do we begin?"

Edana couldn't resist the curiosity, anymore. While she was soaking in the tub, she pulled her pack closer and started reading letters. She stayed in the tub until the water was cold, only leaving after it had been heated again to clean her hair. That took a while.

 

She read more as she waited for clothes and then more while she dressed. It wasn't very easy, but she couldn't tear her eyes from the paper. She caressed each little trinket he'd enclosed with the letters and sighed. Not once did he say how he felt about her. She could guess, based on the sheer number of letters and the little odds and ends that went along with them.

 

By the time she and Sandre were sitting in the cabin, she nearly couldn't hold it, any longer. "Do you love me, Sandre?" Sure, it was a no brainer, but she so desperately needed to hear the words from his lips.

 

~Edana

It wasnt the start he expected. He smiled anyways though. It was a better start than he expected for sure. "I love you more than life. From this life through every life after for as long as the creator allows us to be reborn and beyond. Every moment without your touch has been torture and every moment without your love my hell. I love you very much Edana, and I always will."

 

He wasnt sure if she was looking for the details but he meant every word. Especially the parts about hell and torture. He had lived those moments. For far too long. He probably seemed rather apathetic now. He wasnt nearly wild and impassioned as when they first met. He had settled. Not wanting to cause any more pain to anyone else. There was enough of that in the world.

 

"Do you love me?" he figured he may as well ask back. Perhaps she understood his words more than he knew.

Edana's heart shifted and it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She hadn't even realized it was there. She fought off the urge to launch herself at him, her reserve tempered by the exhaustion in her body.

 

When he asked if she loved him, she smiled. "I don't think so," she said softly. "Love is far too pallid a word for this." She reached for his hand and her smile deepened. "I was so afraid of you, that you'd hurt me again. Then I saw you appear in the Blight and couldn't believe my eyes. In that silly, girlish part of my mind, I'd been dreaming of you rescuing me, you see. It didn't quite happen the way I'd hoped, but..."

 

She blushed and dropped her eyes. "And then there you were, as if my mind had conjured you up out of thin air. You stayed by me and I still thought you a dream. And when that Fade's blade cut through your armor, I was livid. The Fates wouldn't dare take you away from me, not so soon after bringing you back to me."

 

~Edana

Sandre smiled. He wasnt trying to do the knight in shining armor act but he could see how that would appear to be what it was. "I was only thinking about you... I didnt know what happened to you. I couldnt have rested not knowing. The compulsion to find you was stronger than my own need to breathe... it kind of scared me to be honest." he said with a smile.

 

He wanted her. That was not what they were here for though and he was not sure if she felt the same. His thumb began to rub her hand. Something to distract him.

 

"I am sorry for... everything... nothing we ever argued about was ever worth losing each other over... I was stubborn with you and cold. I didnt want to be.. it was just that I was afraid of what you could do to me too. Im not afraid anymore. I will make whatever sacrifice I need to to make it work if you will have me... and I wont leave you... even lost in the Blight." he said with a smile

Edana smiled and looked down at their hands. "Good, because I'm not letting you walk away from me again. By the Light, I will cut your legs off if you try it again." She laughed as she said it. She wondered briefly if she were kidding, though...

 

***Wayne's World Time Warp***

*******One Week Later*******

 

Edana closed her eyes as tightly as possible to hold on to the last breath of the "rest time" she'd been given after that miserable trip to the Blight. Sandre had tried feeding her to put meat back on her bones, but she'd taken that over after the first night. She should've known better. She smiled at him, though, as she gave him little duties around the kitchen. He seemed perfectly happy to clean up after her while she cooked, which put him always near at hand. In fact, he was always near at hand these days. She sort of liked it, too.

 

Those days were ending, though. She'd cried last night, knowing she'd be kissing him goodbye today to return to her post. He had duties elsewhere, as well. The chances of them meeting between now and the day she returned to the Tower were very slim. It was a daunting prospect, especially after the last few days.

 

He shifted behind her and she remembered the sweet way he'd kissed her tears away. It was something to keep her warm, she supposed, but the loss would only bring more tears, later. She turned her head and smiled slightly. "If we pretend to be asleep, can we stay here a bit longer?"

 

They did stay a bit longer, but sleep wasn't what kept them. She was still reluctant as they stepped out of the cabin and into the weak sunlight outside. She sighed, her reality weighing down on her shoulders again. She'd go back and have more responsibilities. That's what happened when Captains died and someone stepped up to fill their shoes. By now, the men who'd returned from that fateful trip had been filling their superior's ears with drivel, making her out to be some sort of hero. She was sure it wouldn't go unpunished. No good deed ever did.

 

She stopped and turned to him, her arms snaking around his shoulders. "You'll be extremely careful," she told him. It wasn't a question. "I have six months left of this post and I'll be assigned back to the Tower. Promise you'll write every day?"

 

~Edana

feeling girlie... wow, I need to go back to killing stuff... *laughs*

 

 

Sandre had to quirk an eyebrow at her for telling him to be careful. "You dont be going and getting yourself lost again. I have some training to complete before I leave here but yes I will write every day." He mounted up with her and they set off at a slow pace towards the fort. She would go in and he would follow the road. His conscience began to nag at him. He didnt want to let her go. He would have stayed and made sure she survived this if he could. He rode closer to her and took her hand. He marveled as his replacement horse which he had not named yet nuzzled Edana's. When they reached the fort without warning he pulled her off her horse and into his lap and kissed her deeply. "Take care of yourself... or I will be back."

Edana cried out in surprise, but it was lost in his kiss. She gave herself that one luxury. She'd earned that, at least. She smiled at him, tilting her head. "Do you really think that's a deterrant for me? It makes me want to go pick a fight with the biggest, burliest solider inside this post!" She kissed him quickly and slid off his lap. "If you don't go now, I'll drag you in there with me and damn the consequences. I'll be waiting for your letter."

 

She snagged the reigns of her horse without looking at him. Her eyes were pinned on Sandre. "I love you, Kaldun. For that reason alone, you'd best take care of your skin."

 

~Edana