Post 16: Mind Games

They’d left him there. It was like they were saying his was an invalid. Tristan said it was because they needed someone to stay in the safe house and guard Adrian and Arinth while they were gone but he knew the truth. They weren’t sure how he’d ‘let’ Ana tie him down but they weren’t going to take any chances taking him with him where ever they were going. Must be somewhere dangerous, he thought. He knew good and well that Technik was completely capable to guard the women as he usually stayed at home during their missions anyway.


“Whatever,” he spoke aloud. He needed a small break anyway. Maybe he would finally get to know Adrian more instead of loving her from afar. There was no longer any point in avoiding or denying it. It wasn’t that he just waited for a time when he could talk to her but lately it seemed like Tristan gave him every little job to keep him and her away from each other. He knew, maybe they all knew, and he wasn’t going to let her distract Hunter. It wasn’t his call though, Hunter wasn’t the one who’d insisted she become a part of the team so they could get to know her better. Tristan probably hadn’t counted on the fact that Hunter would fall in love but still, he should have known the woman was connected to him somehow. Tristan definitely knows more than he is saying. He’d do good not to think too far in that direction. Of course, Tristan didn’t want any of the guys getting close to her because he’d yet been able to contact the Council. Well, Tristan wasn’t here and he’d left him behind so Chase was going to figure out if this connection he and Adrian had was mutual or if he was only feeling this way because his mate was gone.


No matter what Ana Guile said, she’d been his mate. He trusted Mendax with his life and knew his warrior brother would never betray him. They hadn’t known each other at the time but Dark Warriors never forgot things like that. Mendax would’ve told him long ago that he’d been commissioned to coerce him. He’d felt that connection with Ana since the beginning. The only reason she was denying him now was because she knew she was on the wrong side of the Council now and didn’t want him to think he was her weakness. He knew they’d had a connection but Adrian made that hard to think about. Often times, it still felt like he could feel their connection but it seemed to be fading. He knew one of her abilities was to be able to Transpose her thoughts and will with that of others but he’d never lost his memory being with her. He’d never woken up in a position or place he wasn’t sure of how he’d gotten there when he was with her. If she’d used her ability on him she was good. He trusted her; he’d trusted her; past tense. He couldn’t anymore and he’d also do well to remember that. However, this connection he felt with Adrian was potent and he would at least figure out this distraction.


“When was Ana Guile really ever good to you?” A soft voice spoke from his left. He’d forgotten where he was. He sat sideways, leaning against the wall, in a wooden kitchen chair. Arinth, who had been whipping together lunch for the three of them, sat in the chair just in front of him. His legs, hanging wide from the knee in his slouched position, touched the sides of her chair. She laid a hand on one of his knees and leaned in, looking into his eyes. A concerned look covered her face. “Tell me, Chase, when did you actually go through with the mating ritual? When did you actually go through the process of claiming her as your mate?” Arinth, ever the voice of reason, had a point. They hadn’t.


“Never,” He spoke incredulously. “We never even attempted the ritual. I’d grown up with her around me. It seemed only fitting that the Council would put us together. That day in the courts we just agreed to be mated. The Council had told me, just before, that it was time I searched for my mate. I found it odd that they were willing to help but remembered if they were going to promote me I would need to be mated first. I set out to find one and within days I was back in touch with Ana. It seemed fitting and we were joined less than a month later. We’d never actually preformed the Mauma.” He thought back onto the day of joining. It was a ritual one partook in during intercourse. Those that lived on Jungela called it Mauma, the exchanging of the feral blood, and it’d caught on.


“That is the same as marriage here, on Earth, but it has a much deeper meaning. You have not married this woman, you have not actually preformed the Mauma, and she left you! You in, all actuality, have no bonds with her.” Arinth’s voice cracked at the end. She really cared about the warriors but some of them seemed to be even more pig-headed and emotional than the humans she’d come to know since living on Earth.


“I know, Cook, I know. I also know that she is my mate, she always will be. Regardless of the situation. The struggle is her being my mate and me having to turn her in for a problem I could have easily solved for her had I known. It’s not like we are anywhere near poor. I would have just given her the money had she asked.” At that sentence Arinth didn’t respond. She shook her head and sighed, he’s never going to get it. A soft silence covered the two and was interrupted by a loud crash in the dining hall just on the other side of the wall they sat against.


“Better go check that out!” Arinth jumped up from the table and headed over to the pantry before he could protest. Chase swore he saw a smirk on her face but ignored it, turning to leave the room.


Standing on a chair, balancing half way against the wall and the chair top, Adrian stood holding one of the Abasha Shields in her hands. Chase stepped forward, watching as she somehow balanced on the chair a little more dangerously than he liked. It looked like she might’ve knocked the shield down while…he looked around at her feet…while dusting? Ah! So Arinth had her doing chores! He didn’t speak as not to scare her and send both her and the precious gift crashing down. He admired her though, up there balancing on the edge of the back of the tilted chair. He leaned his head slightly to the side as he gazed at her legs. The soft tone to her calves could only be attributed to her countless years of walking through New York. Her rounded backside wiggled as she moved atop the chair. Oddly enough, it was arousing and adorable in the same instance. Just as he saw she had the shield hooked and began leaning back he spoke softly.


“I can see that you saved the shield but sad things could be said for the dusting equipment.” A shriek sounded throughout the hall as Adrian jumped, startled. Losing her balance, she began falling backwards towards him. Not wanting to miss the chance to be her savior, Chase darted forward on light feet. He caught the edge of the chair with his foot and her in his arms. Turning swiftly, Chase perched on the chair with a trembling Adrian in his arms. She looked up at him, redness spreading just so over her cheeks. He couldn’t tell if she was angry or embarrassed but in that moment he didn’t care.


“You know, that shield was given by the Light Warriors to the first Dark Warriors that had lived in this house to remind them they were all partners and allies of the same war. Very few teams of Dark Warriors receive the Abasha Shield, they had to be quite special to receive it and us quite special to be chosen to live in the house that received it.” The moment their eyes met a strong pull darted between them, it was almost trance like. Chase opened his eyes wide as the room began to change around them. The world became anew right before their eyes. He blinked down at her but she still lay in his arms with her eyes open staring at him. It was like she was frozen in place. He scrunched his brow just as her eyes widened. She blinked a few times, clearing the fog, just before looking around.


“Wow,” Adrian looked back up at him, surprise and wonder covered her face. “Where are we and how did we get here?” She looked down at his chest and laughed. His clothing had changed. Instead of the black jeans and fitted black t-shirt he normally wore, a black and red kilt covered his lap and his chest was bare. The swords he usually carried hidden on his person hung from straps that covered his chest. “What, on Earth, do you have on?” She giggled in his lap.


“Adrian, we aren’t on Earth.” Chase’s voice grew serious as his sandaled feet tapped against the grass at his feet. Lifting a hand but making sure to keep her secured in his lap, Chase touched fingers to the log beside him. He smoothed the spongy grass between his fingers before lifting her and rising. “We aren’t on Earth, Adrian. We are on Arinth.” He breathed in deeply, the air seeming to surround them and push at them slightly, bringing them closer together. The grass at their feet swayed towards them like a magnetic pull. One thing stood out to him, a bloody hand just to their left. He turned Adrian so she didn’t see it but he stared at it closer. A ring, insignia of a serpent and a tree, covered the front and side of the large golden jewelry. It was the symbol of a Deceiver. He knew that well. “Sit here and do not move.” He spoke to her sternly, walking over to the hand. He remembered this symbol. He knew what it meant. Grasping the ring from its finger, Chase put it in the pouch he knew would be hanging from his hip and touched the blood just at the base of the hand. It was still warm, which meant whoever had lost it was either close or dead. “We are in my memories, come, let’s go.”


“We’re in your what? Is that a hand? Did you just touch that? This is Arinth?” Adrian’s eyes had widened when he spoke but opened even further as she looked down and noticed what she had on. A roughly textured top covered her breast and stopped just above her belly button. Around her hips hung small knives on a loose belt, it was attached to a pair of shorts the same material as the top, that were so tight she was surprised they actually felt comfortable. They showed off every curve and complemented her thighs well. The boots on her feet came up just to the calf and were laced tight. She felt sexy and yet confused.


“Wow…battle attire looks great on you.” Chase stopped and looked at her, really looked at her almost as if for the first time, tilting his head sideways. She was beautiful, standing their dressed as the warriors of old Arinth; he almost couldn’t take his eyes off her. But he had too. Turning from her, but pushing out a hand in her direction, Chase waited silently until she placed her hand in his before stepping in the direction the body of the hand went. A soft trace of a yellow aura touched the tree just to the left of them. Leading the way, Chase ignored the questions Adrian shot at him. He knew he should give her some explanation but he was clueless himself as to why they were there and until he found out which battle he’d landed in, he wouldn’t let her know he had reservations.


“A Deceiver is a warrior on an opposing team that has the ability to mask who and what he is. It is almost like Mendax’s ability except this warrior can also mask his aura, making the charade more believable. It is their only ability but depending on how powerful they are, they can also change voices and even sometimes glean memories of the host they are portraying. To do this ability, they need to come in contact with the blood of the host from a wound the hands of the Deceiver had previously inflicted. It’s all very complicated but simple at the same time. It was one of the reasons I chopped off their hands, so they couldn’t gain anymore disguises.” He finally explained.


“Chase stop, please, I’m not inhuman like you and I feel like we’ve been walking for hours. Actually, now that I think about it. We have been walking for hours!” Adrian finally released Chase’s hand as she swatted at the largest mosquito she’d ever seen, even since Texas. It was probably the size of her thumbnail, wings not included. It buzzed past her face once before landing on a tree nearby. She tried to ignore but it as it seemed to sit there staring at her. Unconsciously, she unhooked one of the knives from her belt and threw it. The knife whizzed by Chase’s face and impaled the mosquito to the tree. Shock covered Chase’s features as he looked back at Adrian.


“Ah! Oh, but you’re not inhuman? That was amazing!” he laughed as he launched himself towards her and grabbed her up to him. She laughed up into his eyes and sighed. It seemed almost an eternity that they stood there, just basking in each other’s presence. Adrian leaned back against the arm that held her.


“I…uh…actually don’t know how I did that. Do you want to kiss me?” She said softly, shyly the words running together as she took a quick look at his lips.


“Do you need to ask?” Chase leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. The kiss deepened and Adrian brought her arms up around his neck, just as the air changed. It seemed to settle around them, softly caressing them, pushing them closer together.


“I thought you guys would never get hungry, let’s go.” Arinth came walking backwards into the dining hall with two plates in her arms. “By the way, what was that loud crash a few moments ago? I sent Chase in here to check it out but…” She came to a slow as she noticed the way they sat together in the chair, lips locked. Tilting her head to the side, Arinth tried to hide her smile. “I will just come back later.” She then turned and trotted out of the room humming softly.


“What…just…happened?” Adrian drew back and looked up at Chase, her arms were around his neck and her lips were red from their passionate kiss. They sat perched on the chair he’d lowered them to just after she’d almost fallen, which seemed like an eternity ago. They were back in their own clothes and in the safe house.


“I…honestly, have no idea. It was just a kiss, probably because you were falling and I saved you. That's all.” Chase looked down at her and shook his head. “Let’s eat?” It was the only suggestion he could muster under the current pressure and he smirked as a soft laugh sounded from Adrian. He must have just imagined that they’d been on Arinth. It must be the close proximity to Adrian and her being a conduit. Surely she didn’t have the same experience as he. He’d better not mention it les she try it on purpose and go walking around into the memories of the other warriors without their permission. Something in him growled as he thought of Adrian being that close with another man.


Adrian laughed softly as she rose from Chase’s lap. He seemed to draw away from her. Maybe it hadn’t really happened. Maybe she’d just kissed him and they hadn’t really traveled to a different world. After all, he’d most likely say something if they did. No, it must have been only in her mind. But there is no way she just entered Chase’s memories without him knowing. No way. Maybe it was a new ability, like reading thoughts and sensing danger. What did it all mean?
 


"The only way to be a writer is to write, write and write. The only way...is to write." -Jade Elyzabeth