Tales From Caffiado's Mane: Into the bleak forest. (a start)
The mist rolled in on silent steps across the valley below us. From the saddle I can barely make out the tops of a few great trees, dark green and gray from the thick fog. Something stirrs in my gut - this is no normal mist, its too fast, too immense, and too convienently blocking our way. Caffiado digs at the ground, shaking his head. He doesn't like the looks of the fog either. I lean forward to put my head beside his neck and see if the different vantage point allows me to see if the way is more clear below the fog, but this proves just as useless. The sun was still very low in the sky and cast weak dull light at a long angle from the East as it rose slowly above the fog.
"It is like a dream." I whispered to Caffiado before I straightened in the saddle. My companion, the reason why Caffiado and I were sitting on this grassy ridge looking at obscured views - the man raised by elves - walked up to join us at the edge. His horse followed obediently, head bowed as tho still trying to maintain the last feeling of sleep. I didn't bother to look at him, he would answer the questions I had in time. Besides, I wasn't in the mood to really talk to anyone without getting something to eat. A prospect that was likely impossible given the fog. Even a great hunter would have thier work cut out for them to catch a small bit of food there. Aeowrath took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, then he heaved himself into the saddle.
"We are almost there." He said, and I could hear the tint of relief in his voice. It had been a long journey for both of us. Him to get away from his captors in this world and back to his home in the elfen lands. For me it was a journey to survive in a land of enemies where people like me were becoming more and more hunted because of what we are. I looked over my travel companion and thought a moment. There was no way in knowing if he would still treat me as a friend or trust me even if he knew the truth about my family. It was possible that he would, though. Afterall, the King that had held him captive and forced him to perform magic for entertainment and evil purposes is the same King that had my family slaughtered, and hunts me still. Maybe there was a bond somewhere in our linked past. Then again. My family, my type of being, is so rare, and to the elves considered evil and barbaric - it was just possible that he would react as though he had been betrayed. Months ago, when I first met him in the flooded plains just inside the kingdom, and those first few weeks we traveled hopelessly throughout the land to seek out what finally lie below us - hte path to his home- I didn't care what he thought. I had been content with the idea that I might have to kill him and go on alone again. Now, I was not so confident. When we met I had still been struggling with the fact that I was alone in the world. That the other families like mine had either been slaughtered or had seen the advantage to siding with the King and putting thier power toward His ends. Aeowrath, Sysco his horse, and Caffiado were all I had in the world right now. A chill ran through me and I shook myself away from those thoughts. Aeowrath was looking back at me, a question in his face. I looked down at the valley again, absently patting Caffiado's neck. Caffiado bayed, and the sound vibrated through his body, through me, and echoed in the valley below.
"The fog is part of the defenses. One of many. We have to travel through it, and through the darkness, survive the bridge, and go through the doorway. I understand if you don't want to come along, you've already seen good to your promise to escort me this far."
"The taste for this adventure is already in me. It's bad luck to quit now." I commented smartly, flashing a genuine smile at him. He grinned back happily.
"Race you to the edge then." He said, and before I could laugh he kicked Sysco to life. Caffiado didn't need any encouragement. He took off before I had time to realize what had happened. My laugh was a deep and real one - I hadn't laughed like that since the day my family was taken from me. I may have been riding quickly toward my doom with someone that I still didn't know everything about, but at least I was happy about it.
"It is like a dream." I whispered to Caffiado before I straightened in the saddle. My companion, the reason why Caffiado and I were sitting on this grassy ridge looking at obscured views - the man raised by elves - walked up to join us at the edge. His horse followed obediently, head bowed as tho still trying to maintain the last feeling of sleep. I didn't bother to look at him, he would answer the questions I had in time. Besides, I wasn't in the mood to really talk to anyone without getting something to eat. A prospect that was likely impossible given the fog. Even a great hunter would have thier work cut out for them to catch a small bit of food there. Aeowrath took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, then he heaved himself into the saddle.
"We are almost there." He said, and I could hear the tint of relief in his voice. It had been a long journey for both of us. Him to get away from his captors in this world and back to his home in the elfen lands. For me it was a journey to survive in a land of enemies where people like me were becoming more and more hunted because of what we are. I looked over my travel companion and thought a moment. There was no way in knowing if he would still treat me as a friend or trust me even if he knew the truth about my family. It was possible that he would, though. Afterall, the King that had held him captive and forced him to perform magic for entertainment and evil purposes is the same King that had my family slaughtered, and hunts me still. Maybe there was a bond somewhere in our linked past. Then again. My family, my type of being, is so rare, and to the elves considered evil and barbaric - it was just possible that he would react as though he had been betrayed. Months ago, when I first met him in the flooded plains just inside the kingdom, and those first few weeks we traveled hopelessly throughout the land to seek out what finally lie below us - hte path to his home- I didn't care what he thought. I had been content with the idea that I might have to kill him and go on alone again. Now, I was not so confident. When we met I had still been struggling with the fact that I was alone in the world. That the other families like mine had either been slaughtered or had seen the advantage to siding with the King and putting thier power toward His ends. Aeowrath, Sysco his horse, and Caffiado were all I had in the world right now. A chill ran through me and I shook myself away from those thoughts. Aeowrath was looking back at me, a question in his face. I looked down at the valley again, absently patting Caffiado's neck. Caffiado bayed, and the sound vibrated through his body, through me, and echoed in the valley below.
"The fog is part of the defenses. One of many. We have to travel through it, and through the darkness, survive the bridge, and go through the doorway. I understand if you don't want to come along, you've already seen good to your promise to escort me this far."
"The taste for this adventure is already in me. It's bad luck to quit now." I commented smartly, flashing a genuine smile at him. He grinned back happily.
"Race you to the edge then." He said, and before I could laugh he kicked Sysco to life. Caffiado didn't need any encouragement. He took off before I had time to realize what had happened. My laugh was a deep and real one - I hadn't laughed like that since the day my family was taken from me. I may have been riding quickly toward my doom with someone that I still didn't know everything about, but at least I was happy about it.