The Song of Roland Ch. 15

The air was cold, this high up in the Auroch Mountains, but the chill in Roland's heart was something completely different. Seeing that his services were no longer needed, Carl shouldered his bow and turned around, pulling his knife out and moving to robotically cut away the offending fabric around the wound. "You come near me..." Roland growled with stabbing needles in his chest, "And so help me... the knife's goin' in yer throat." Carl Hale stepped back, moving like an automaton as he slowly holstered his weapon.

The Harpy bent her head over the side of the cliff, watching something unfold as the distant shouting of desperate men carried up into the high altitudes of their location. Roland looked around, seeing only the press of thin, black pine trees all around and the heavy layer of permafrost coating the earth. He closed his eyes for what felt like a moment, but started awake as he realized that the Harpy was suddenly gone. He laid there, staring up at the blue sky, breathing through the vice in his chest, till the sound of beating wings caused him to turn his head weakly. He watched, enraptured, as Kelsea and the Harpy rose up to view. The bird lightly dropped Kelsea to the ground before coming to a landing herself. No sooner were the Succubus's feet firmly upon the ground then she ran straight to him. Her tail curled and twisted in the air as her purple skin flushed with the heat of concern. She was no longer human; the thought made him want to weep.

"Thank the Gods!" She exclaimed, taking another kneeling position as Carl stood stoically a short ways away from them. Her hands touched the wound, feeling the wetness of his body from the excess blood that had seeped beneath his leather armor. She leaned up and put a hand against his cheek, warm like hellfire. "You're going to be all right, Roland."

"What... have you done...?" He breathed, his voice barely a whisper as the last fading bits of consciousness failed him. The red maned mercenary's eyes shut as Kelsea planted her lips upon his wound, licking and slurping, doing her best to quickly heal the deadly hole within him. Roland's breathing steadied, his body going slack as he collapsed into a deep, pained slumber. Kelsea continued to lap slowly at his wound.

She did her best to remove the mark of injury upon him, but soon something strange happened. No matter how much she tried, she could not infuse him with more of her essence. With a start she jolted to a sitting position again. "I-I'm out of fluid, Roland!" She said, looking over at his unconscious and peaceful face. A look of frightened desperation crossed her face. "I used it all on... on the fire!" She began to frantically tear at his shirt, trying to remove his clothing so that he could be administered more traditional first aid, at least till she got her strength back. She supposed she'd have to lay with her other companions, but if she could manage to get the bleeding to stop, she knew that-

There was a low, amused chuckle from behind Kelsea's back. The shocked Succubus turned, her eyes wide as she saw Carl Hale, standing with a cocky smile plastered to his lips. Kelsea's red-rimmed eyes matched with the green of the formerly enthralled companion, the light of intelligence bright and burning on his face. His body language had completely changed, his face pulling in a distinctly independent-minded fashion. His bow was in his hand, his body tensed and ready. "Ey, is this not a silly sight, eh?" As he spoke Carl carefully drew an arrow from his quiver, calmly nocking it and drawing the bowstring back, pointing it squarely at Roland's face.

"Step out of the way, Succubus." He said, calmly.