Private Tales Long Days of Rest

[Cassidy Ackerson]

Cassidy was only vaguely aware of what was happening; Neith had obviously been granted Mar's magic, but he had no idea how or why it had happened. He didn't know that could happen! Regardless, he wasn't about to look that gift horse in the mouth, not when it enabled her to speed through a surging crowd that could well have crushed her otherwise.

Cassidy, too, was blessed. Not by magic, but by being branded a killer. As he tailed Neith from a short ways behind, the crowd around him parted without the need for any barrier. They thought him a bloodthirsty criminal, and wanted to steer as clear of him as they possibly could.

Just this once, Cass paid a silent whisper of gratitude his rotten parents for the title.

The Guard was hot on his tail, angry shouts calling out behind him, dozens of boots against the road, the gnashing steel of blades being unsheathed a ringing death knell under any other circumstances. Through heavy breaths, an aching side, and numbing legs, Ackerson briefly felt a pang of true fear as he realized the possibility of being stuck in the back with an arrow.

A quick, panicked look over his shoulder assuaged that worry, and spurred him to make that final push to freedom as another blessing dawned on him.

The guards were helpless! They couldn't attack Cassidy with ranged weapons for fear of civilian casualties, nor could they use vehicles to catch up with him without plowing through innocents. It really wasn't Cass's style to use human shields, but this had been a day of firsts, hadn't it?

Gritting his teeth, Cassidy reached out and pushed his way past the final wall of flesh blocking his way. The wagon in front of him was like salvation on wheels, and Nee might as well have been the Seraphim herself, welcoming him home with an outstretched hand.

With a final leap, he grasped her hand, clambering up into the driver's seat of the wagon and delivering the hardest crack of the reins he'd ever managed in his life. Those poor horses reared back and took off as if their life depended on it, thundering away from the crowd, the parade, the guards, and toward the gates of the city.

Neith

 

[Neith]

"What in the name of fucking fuck were you fucking thinking?!" Neith screamed at him above the thundering of hooves and chaos of the crowds, thumping her fist against his bicep the moment she'd let go of his hand. Her heart was stumbling over itself, her entire body thrumming with adrenaline and magic and brimming with so much emotion that she tried her best to contain right now.

She peered around the side of the wagon, seeing that guards were mounting up. "Shit... Shit shit sh-"

"CLOSE THE GATES!!"

The order carried from guard to guard, reaching the gatemen faster than they could ride, and already she could see the gate starting to close. Her racing heart felt like it'd stopped. If they got trapped in here..

"Please.. hurry Cass.." she quietly begged, her nails splintering wood as she held on for dear life.

They weren't going to make it - the gate closing too fast, and Neith's eyes closed.. "Keep going." she told him, and she focused on whatever power she had used to keep those guards from Cassidy.

Stay open.
Let us out.
Stay...open.

Neith felt the power she'd been granted pulse and radiate, she felt it grasp on to the iron bars of the gate and hold them open. She felt it weaken her body as though she herself were physically holding it on her own. It was slipping, and she grit her teeth at the sound of iron grinding and scraping against her mind. Her breath caught and she groaned against it, hands covering her ears as she begged Cassidy to hurry, her eyes still squeezed shut.

She had no idea how close they were, no idea if they'd made it or not by the time the weight crushed down on her and she had to let go, her body slumping against Cassidy's. She only prayed they were on the other side, and that the guards were not.

 

[Cassidy Ackerson]

"I don't know."

His reply to her was like a whisper-- too weak to be heard over the commotion surrounding them. Even if every Guard in the city wasn't chasing them it would have been difficult to hear. Cassidy kept a stone face, eyes of steel pointed straight ahead to the closing gate. They'd make it. They had to make it. He hadn't come this far to fail now, to be thrown away in some cell and ripped from the only person who loved him unconditionally.

Even if he deserved it.

But the gate was moving quickly, and the poor horses carrying them were going as hard as they could. But they were scared, wary of the weapons and loud shouts that came from all sides, and it was spooking them to the point where they hesitated. It was that small hesitation that was going to cost him. Ackerson bit down on his lower lip as they neared the dimming light at the end of the tunnel. Closer. Closer. He could taste the copper of his own blood on his tongue.

"Fuck! Come on... Come on!"

Then, a familiar presence beside him. One he hadn't felt in years.

Cassidy knew her scent, knew the taste of her magic, knew the presence she exuded just by being. He whipped his head to his passenger, eyes going wide as he bore witness to his lover holding open the gates, her body brimming with Mar's magical energy. No, not Mar's energy.

"Ariella..."

If he'd had the time to cry, he'd have wept. Later, when they were safe and clear of danger, he would. Even in the midst of absolute calamity, he knew what he was witnessing. It was the last gift of his former lover, reaching through the curtain of death and acting through Mar, through Neith, to save him. Again.

He wouldn't waste it. Cass tore his gaze away from Neith and cracked the reins again, setting them forward as fast as he could muster. The gates held, shaking in place, struggling against the magical grip restraining them. Behind their wagon no less than twenty mounted guards made pursuit. It was still so close, the exit still narrow...

As they crossed, the sound of their wagon scraping against the sides of the gate filled his ears, causing him to wince. It wasn't pretty, but they'd squeezed through. The moment they did, Neith expended the last of her strength, and the gates slammed shut on their pursuers with a mighty crash.

Freedom.

Neith