The light grew a bit stronger, as if for her, Dimitri made a valiant effort.
Skyler must have sensed Fen's presence. He felt her suddenly go still, studying him. Assessing him. She didn't feel like a child to him, she felt like a woman. A warrior. One prepared to do battle should it be necessary. She clearly weighed him, friend? Foe? He actually felt her ready herself to do battle, and her strength was enormous and unexpected.
I will bring him back from this dark place. I am Fenris Dalka, Dimitri's eldest brother. I will not leave him in this place of darkness. I have fought long and hard for him. He will not die this night.
She was silent a moment, assessing not his words, but the feel of him. She was indeed, strong. He liked her. She was a fitting lifemate to a warrior who had survived centuries hunting the undead and keeping darkness at bay.
Thank you, Skyler said simply.
He felt her move through Dimitri's mind, brushing up against that fading light, stroking caresses, giving strength to him. She faded away, the distance too far to maintain for long.
"I lift my brother's soul in the hollow of my hand," he whispered, holding Dimitri's life close to him. "I lift him onto my spirit bird. Following up the Great Tree, we return to the land of the living."
Fen came back into his own body, swaying with weariness. He looked around him. Time had passed and he hadn't known. He shivered. The ice of that place, even for a Carpathian, got into one's bones and stayed. Tatijana had held the mist. He could hear Zev calling out to her. His voice sounded stronger.
"Give me another minute. We're trying to save Dimitri," Tatijana said. "The rogues have not returned. I'm aiding Fen in closing these wounds."
She waited for Fen to turn his head and look at her. Immediately she knelt beside him and put her hands on his shoulder, leaning in close to expose the beautiful line of her throat to him. His heart clenched. Even there, under such dire circumstances, Tatijana was calm, thought ahead, and provided for him.
Fen didn't hesitate. He enfolded her close to him, stroked his tongue once over that pulse calling so strongly to him and then he sank his teeth deep and drank. He had used up precious energy in his fight to save Dimitri, to bring him back from the brink of death. He needed to give Dimitri more blood and continue to heal his wounds before putting him in the welcoming earth.
Tatijana cradled his head as he drank. Stroked his hair. Her fingers caressed his temples. She tasted like heaven. Like a miracle. He had never considered taste before. She lingered on his tongue and filled every vein with a rush. He felt her spreading through his body claiming every part of him, organs, bone, tissue. All of him. Strength burst through him at the influx of ancient Carpathian blood. She was from a strong linage and she gave to him freely. He was careful to close the small wound on her throat, to heal it so that Zev's sharp eyes wouldn't discover his secret.
"You have many wounds of your own, Fen," she said, kneeling beside Dimitri. She closed her eyes and put her hands over the lesser lacerations while Fen concentrated once again on his brother's open belly.
"As do you, my lady," Fen said, looking her over with sharp eyes.
"I healed most of them while I was in the air," she said. "Have no worries about me. Keep Dimitri alive."
Fen leaned over Dimitri, one hand hovering over the open gashes while he fed his brother more blood from his other wrist. Drink freely, my brother. And then you can rest.
Warmth burst from Tatijana's hands. She spread it over Dimitri's body while Fen concentrated healing light over his belly. When Dimitri had taken enough blood from him to satisfy Fen, Fen took his time packing each separate wound on his brother's body with Lycan blood-stained soil and his own saliva.
Keep Zev occupied while I find a resting place for my brother, he instructed Tatijana and lifted Dimitri's body into his arms.
Tatijana nodded. She looked a little tired and very pale. She hadn't fed and yet she'd fought a battle, was wounded as well and she'd worked to save Zev.
I will return swiftly to see to you, my lady. Forgive me for not putting you first.
I would have liked you less had you done so, she replied. She raised her voice. "Zev, I'll be right there. I'm sorry this has taken so long."
Mist swirled thickly around them. He felt Tatijana's feminine hand in the renewed veil of fog.
Fen took to the air. It had been long since he had used his Carpathian abilities. Staying in Lycan form, thinking like a Lycan, living as one had allowed him to keep the ever-present darkness at bay. Now he needed his Carpathian skills. He searched for a safe resting place where his brother could remain. He would return and give him blood when needed, but it could not be a place another might rest. No cave.
He found a field rich with life and knew the soil was extraordinary. A dog barked near the small dilapidated house and he silenced it automatically. Fen opened the earth for his brother. He went deep, weaving safeguard upon safeguard. Dimitri would be vulnerable should any enemy find him. He floated down with his brother in his arms, placing him carefully in the rich soil. Almost at once, he felt her presence again, that young-old soul that was Dimitri's lifemate. He waited while she moved through Dimitri's mind, assuring herself he was still alive, although still so close to death.
He won't die, she declared. Will you, Dimitri?
When Dimitri stirred as if he might answer, she painted brushstrokes, small caresses over the cracks and fissures where the darkness had seeped into his mind. Be still. I will come to you soon, when you are healed and strong again. For now, rest. Take my love with you and wrap yourself in it while you sleep, just as I did yours for so many troubling nights.
There was such a simplistic honesty in her voice. A directness. And love. He heard it. She felt the emotion deeply for his brother. The connection between Dimitri and Skyler was strong. They were already intertwined although so far apart.
Mother Earth, I call to you. Skyler's voice once more slipped into his mind through her connection to Dimitri. This is Dimitri, my lifemate. The other half of my soul. I ask a favor for your daughter. Hold him close in your arms. Heal him of every wound. He is a great warrior and has served his people well. Protect him from all things evil while you hold him close. I ask this humbly.
Fen actually felt the small shift of the earth around them. Richer soil pushed up from beneath him, to form a bed for Dimitri to lie in. Sleep well, my brother. I thank you for your aid this night. Without your intervention, I might not have gotten to Bardolf in time to save Tatijana.
He waited until the earth was filled in and the field was exactly back as it had been before he returned to the battlefield in the forest.