Storm Raiders 5

"Sysilee! That's the last of them!" I called to the archer that had been watching my back for me as  I wiped out scavengers. I turned to head back over to her and my heart stopped as she collapsed. "Sysilee!" I screamed, rushing to where she'd fall and dropped to my knees. "Sysilee... Sysilee, please... You have to be alright..." I whispered as I ran my hands over her to check for any injuries.

"Trint..." she murmured, her eyes fluttering a bit. "I'm 'kay... Just got a li'l dizzy s'all..." I frowned and picked her and her bow up to take her back to the farmer watching her daughter.

"I shouldn't have let you come out here," I muttered. She'd just given birth the day before and manipulating elements was not nearly as easy on the body as we acted like it was. It was my job to protect Sysilee and her child. That was why I had left my brother behind.

"Couldn't have stopped me," she whispered. "Have to watch your back... can't let you be hurt..." I blinked a little bit and slowed my pace.

"Sysilee... I..." I frowned again as the words escaped me. I knew what I felt for her and her daughter, even knowing the young female wasn't mine. I just didn't have the words for how I felt. She gave me a weak smile as her eyes finally opened enough for me to see the gorgeous yellow orbs.

"I love you, too, Trint," she murmured. "So relax... I'm just a little low on fluids. Giving birth will do that to you." I nodded, leaning down to kiss her forehead lightly as her eyes closed again. I guess I should have realized that she was falling for me or at the very least, that she knew about my feelings. She was really perceptive most of the time.

"I told you that she wasn't in any shape to be fighting today," Koker, the farmer who had sheltered us chastised me as I came down into the bunker with Sysilee cradled in my arms.

"She wouldn't have listened," I said, smiling faintly. Sysilee really could be a hard headed mool sometimes, especially when she felt strongly on the subject. "She said it was simple dehydration, if it helps any."

"Nothing 'simple' about dehydration," he muttered as I laid her down. "That baby would starve if she let this go one too long. A mother has to feed a baby for the first full moon cycle or the baby will die. No substitutes can be used before then." I frowned deeply at that information. We hadn't known.

"We apologize, but... neither of us know much of anything about a baby," I confessed as I watched him start a fluid drip directly into her blood system.

"I can tell by how you both shy away from that little baby," he said, looking over to where his daughter Shawnee was gently rocking a cradle. "Was she forced? Is that why she'd risk doing something that could mean her baby's death?" I flinched a bit at the questions. From how much she hated Aamon now, I could probably get away with saying he had forced her. But the truth was more that she just didn't know that putting herself at risk would risk her daughter's life.

"No," I said finally with a deep sigh. "She loved the baby's father. That was why it broke her heart when she found out he had sought permission to become bonded to someone else. The baby is special though, so if Sysilee or I had known that she would die if something happened to her, we would not have taken such a risk."

"What do you mean by 'special'?" he asked. "You say it like she is different from other babies."

"She is different," I agreed. "She... is an elemental user that is known as a 'shield bearer'. They are so very special and so very different. Even from Sysilee and me. Where we were before... there were two shield bearers there and they were able to communicate with the baby even before she knew she was pregnant. They're all connected to each other. But depending on the level of the baby's gift, she could one day protect entire cities from the storms and scavengers too."

"Shield bearers are... greatly needed, aren't they?" he asked. I nodded in agreement.

"But it takes a lot of training for them to create large and strong barriers," I explained. "Sysilee's baby... she'd probably reach that strength while still a child because we know what she is at this point."

"Would you be able to create shield bearers if you were Sysilee's bonded?" he asked and I blinked even as a blush rushed to my cheeks.

"It's... It's certainly possible..." I conceded. "My little brother is a shield bearer and Sysilee has already produced one... But, why do you ask?"

"Shawnee wants to learn to use her gifts," he said slowly and the girl started to bubble over with excitement. "Sysilee and the baby need some time to heal and grow. I was thinking that maybe... you two would stay here a while and train Shawnee." I frowned a little and looked at the sleeping face of the female I had fallen in love with over the last several moon cycles.

"I think I will leave it up to Sysilee," I finally told him. "However, I do think your offer would be good for her and the baby."

"Syon... Her name... is Syon," Sysilee said and the groaned as she struggled to push herself up. "She should be hungry... My chest aches..." Shawnee nodded and picked up the baby to bring to her mother. My cheeks burned a bit more as the female Terran bared her breast to let her daughter feed. "We will... stay for a while... Help where we can and teach Shawnee what we can..."

"Come, Shawnee, let's leave the new parents to rest," Koker said, taking his daughter and leaving Sysilee and I alone.

"You gave her a beautiful name," I said softly as I sat down on the bed beside her cautiously.

"I'd been thinking about it for a while now," she said, her fingers gently brushing back the light green hair. "As much as Aamon hurt me... I felt the child's name should reflect him somehow. I never want her to believe that she was unwanted." I sighed a little and leaned close to kiss his cheek softly.

"If you are willing to be my bonded, I will look at Syon as though she were mine," I whispered. "I will give you my everything, Sysilee..." She turned to look at me and I felt my chest tighten as her fingers came up to cradle my cheek.

"There's no one I would rather be bonded to, Trint," she murmured before I felt her lips on mine. I couldn't count the number of times I had dreamed about kissing her since I had met her so many moons ago, but none of my fantasies could compare to how soft her lips actually were. My eyes drifted closed most of the way as I let this kiss linger in this soft, almost innocent place.

"You make me happy," I whispered as I broke the kiss and rested my forehead against hers. I knew Syon would realize pretty quickly that I wasn't her father when any children Sysilee might give me would have orange hair, spots, and eyes where she had green. But my goal was for her to see me as her father even knowing that I hadn't been the one to help create her. She would certainly be my daughter. I'd been beside Sysilee all through the pregnancy and the birth and I knew I would be there to help raise her.

"I'm glad," she said. "I was surprised when you came after me and surprised when you stayed with me even though I wouldn't stay in any village we got to. You went with me on the notion of hunting scavengers and comforted me every time I broke down in tears. As much as I should have hated you... you made me love you. Perhaps even more than what I felt for Aamon..."

"And I will be a better mate than him," I said instantly. "I will protect you and our children with every fiber of my being. I will do all that I can so that you are never lonely or sad again." She chuckled a little and gave me a peck of a kiss.

"I know you will and that is why I fell in love with you," she assured me. "But right this moment, we should rest and recuperate. I need it and I want to feel you beside me." I nodded and removed our more uncomfortable clothing before laying Syon down in her cradle once more. Once the baby was safe, I crawled into the bed with Sysilee and wrapped my arms around her for the first time.

"Sleep well," I whispered, my lips moving lightly over the edge of one her perfect pointed ears.

"You as well," she whispered back as her hands gripped my arms and she settled against my body. I smiled as I fell asleep, the happiest I had been since before the storm destroyed the village I was born in.