HOPE AND LOVE
by Shelly

CHAPTER FOUR


	Unknown to Mushra, Sasuna actually wasn’t very far away. She was out 
there amongst the trees, watching him and the human woman called Yakumo 
with narrowed eyes as they talked quietly with one another, speaking of 
her no doubt. Mushra’s eyes seemed far away as he talked, and she 
couldn’t help but feel the same as she still cared for him very much, 
despite the fact that he had left her for no reason.
	
	She knew that Mushra had been the type that couldn’t be bound, 
especially by an emotion as strange to him as love. But was it love that he 
felt for her or was it just attraction between them?
	
	Either way, it didn’t matter anymore. Seeing them together, it was 
apparent that Yakumo had done what she could not. She had found a way to 
tame the fire that raged within the Enterran warrior, one of the many 
things about him she had fallen in love with.
	
	Mushra. Even thinking of his name made her long to reveal herself to 
him and tell him that everything would be fine between them. That she 
would travel with him wherever they went so long as she was with him and 
would even bear the company of the frail human woman. No matter that 
she had changed him, she knew the fire still burned within him and maybe 
with her help she could bring it back again to what it once was.
	
	No. With Yakumo there, her efforts would always prove futile as Mushra 
was loyal to her, maybe even loved her, and the thought filled her 
heart with jealousy and hatred towards the human. She had to get him away 
from Yakumo at all costs if she was to regain her beloved Mushra.
	
	After deciding on a course of action, she started forth towards the 
camp, but was stopped as a hand grabbed her arm. Looking back, she saw a 
reptilian Enterran standing there. She turned to face him with a sneer. 
“Kharga, what are you doing here?”
	
	His forked tongue snaked out to caress his lips. “I came to see what 
answer you had to my master’s offer now,” he hissed.
	
	Her eyes hardened as the air became cold around them. “I should kill 
you right now for what he did to my village,” she replied. 
	
	He smiled at her, unafraid of the threat she posed to him. “He gave 
you an offer to capture the human girl, an offer you refused. And for 
that he taught you a lesson. No one refuses Kazan without suffering his 
wrath.”
	
	She returned his smile, one without mirth. “As it so happens, I have 
changed my mind. But not because of your master’s exercise of his power. 
He knows I am more powerful than he is and that’s why he seeks to 
enlist my aid. To keep a better eye on me.”
	
	Kharga directed his gaze beyond her to the camp, his tongue tasting 
the air around him. “I see,” he hissed. “You have been reunited with 
Mushra, a mighty Enterran warrior at one time that has fallen under the 
human’s spell. With her out of your way, you could have the Mushra you 
remember back at your side.”
	
	Her eyes flared with a cold inner fire. “My thoughts exactly, Kharga,” 
she replied. “You may return to Kazan and tell him of my decision. Or 
better yet, how about I tell him myself when next I see him?” she added 
with a sly smile.
	
	“What?” the reptile returned, clearly confused at her change of 
decision.
	
	Unsheathing her dagger, she leapt forward with a swipe at him, but he 
dodged it and jumped back a ways, uncoiling from his side a rope which 
he ensnared her with. The rope snaked around her arms and torso, 
binding her arms to her sides. 
	
	“You stupid reptilian,” she sneered. “You know that ropes are of no 
use to you,” she added as she exerted her freezing ability and started to 
freeze it so that it would be brittle enough to break.
	
	He merely laughed in reply. “Yes, if it was the normal kind,” he 
replied, yanking back on his end and causing the rope to burst into flame. 
The flames quickly raced up its length and encircled her, causing her to 
cry out in pain as the heat licked at her skin.
	
	“You’ll pay for this, Kharga--Ahhh!” she screamed as the flames scored 
on her, and not even her icy power could help her as she fell to the 
ground.


	
	At the camp, Mushra leapt to his feet as he had heard the screams and 
knew who they belonged to. “Sasuna!” he cried as he ran into the 
forest, following the direction of her cries. When he finally found her, his 
rage consumed him to see her on the ground with a burning rope 
encircling her and he quickly went into hyper mode to slice the rope, relieved 
to see that the flames dissipated once cut.
	
	He faced the reptile that still held the remaining end piece and 
charged him, burying the blade of his staff deep within him and slicing 
upwards in a move he had done before, only this time it wouldn’t end nearly 
so bad as he picked up the reptile’s encard. Then he rushed over to 
Sasuna to see how she was, his heart aching to see her curled on her side 
and obviously in pain as tears escaped from the corners of her eyes.
	
	“’Suna,” he whispered as he turned her on her back, and she cried out 
as the movement caused the ropes to dig in further. “’Suna, please, are 
you all right?” he asked. “I’m going to cut these ropes off of you so 
hold still.”
	
	“I don’t think I could move, Mushra, if I wanted to,” she managed out 
between gritted teeth.
	
	A ghost of a smile appeared before he cut the ropes gently so as not 
to hurt her, and as they fell away from her they left behind angry red 
burns on her arms and midsection, burns that he knew would leave scars. 
“’Suna,” he breathed as he gathered her to him and held her carefully. 
	
	She welcomed the support of his strong arms, trembling from the 
intense pain of her wounds which was made much worse from the fact that she 
controlled ice. The only thing that kept her from screaming from it was 
her anger that had settled into a cold lump deep within her soul. How 
dare they hurt her. They were weaklings, all of them were, when compared 
to her, and she would make them pay.
	
	But for now she merely enjoyed being held close against his body, his 
hair brushing her cheek, and she looked up at him as she reached up to 
remove his helmet that kept her from seeing him as she remembered him. 
It was to her good fortune that he looked even better now than in her 
memories with his handsome face and blue eyes framed by his unusual 
color of hair; it wasn’t pink nor coral, but a color in between that she 
was fascinated by. “Mushra,” she whispered as she entwined her fingers 
into his hair to feel the silky strands brush across her hand.
	
	The warrior surpressed a tortured groan as it was happening again. 
When he had been talking with Yakumo, this was what he had wanted more 
than anything. But now that she was here in his arms with her mouth so 
close to his he could feel her breath against his cheek, why was he 
fighting his feelings for her? Why was it when they were apart he missed her 
so much and needed her so badly, but when they were together all he 
wanted to do was run?
	
	Was he that afraid to give in to his emotions? To let everything go 
and let their love take its course?
	
	He brushed his thumb across her soft cheek, wishing he still didn’t 
have his armor on, but perhaps it was a blessing as if he felt any more 
of her he feared he would succumb to his desires and never look back. 
	
	“Mushra!” 
	
	He looked up when he heard a different voice call his name and saw 
Yakumo, Kutal, and Sago running towards them, a sigh of relief mixed with 
disappointment emerging. Sago reached them first and knelt down beside 
them. “What happened?” he asked.
	
	“She was attacked by an Enterran,” he replied, holding up the card and 
tossing it towards Yakumo. “He’s been dealt with.”
	
	Yakumo caught it, her eyes never leaving Mushra as she looked upon his 
face for the first time without his helmet to cover it, and it was a 
pity he kept it covered. He really was quite handsome, and it was no 
wonder Sasuna had fallen in love with him after looking upon it. Then she 
saw her burns and rushed over to her. “She’s hurt!” she cried.
	
	“Thanks for stating the obvious,” she muttered and thankfully only 
Mushra heard it. “Mushra, it burns!” she hissed as the pain worsened for a 
second.
	
	His lips tightened, he picked her up in his arms. “Hold on, Sasuna. 
I’m taking you back to camp.”
	
	“I’ll go look for something to treat the burns with,” Kutal offered.
	
	Sago eyed him warily. “I think I’ll come along with you,” he added. 
“You never know what may be hiding out there.” 
	
	Yakumo watched as they both disappeared into the woods and she 
followed Mushra as he took Sasuna back to camp, hoping that she would be okay, 
for her sake if not for his.

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