Strange Magic(Amber and Night)

It had been two days since the hunt had started. Danir, who lived for the thrill of hunting, no matter what game he was after, had been excited since his small hunting group had left the city. Rumors of a wampus that had been roaming around the south, heading closer to the human territory. Knowing the humans, if the beast made it that far and injured any of their kind, somehow the elves would be blamed. At least, that was the justification given by the Council members when putting together this party. It had been centuries since the war that forced his people into hiding, but for many the scars of that war were still fresh. Skittish as they were, the Council thought it best to prevent giving the humans any reason to think foul play from them.

Of course, he would have preferred different company on this journey, but there was nothing he could do about that. In fact, he was just lucky that he was able to go along on the trip in the first place. Being one of the youngest elves in the city didn't give him a whole lot of high regard. Danir was inexperienced at best to the world in their eyes. It didn't matter if he had a firm grasp on magic, or could fend for himself, he was still but a child. It didn't bother him, really. That just meant he didn't have to be involved with a lot of the more serious and boring matters of business. This, however, was something he wanted to do. Originally, there had only been two people assigned to the task: Aradheleth and Erymen. These two were the most capable hunters that the Council deemed fit for the job. Really, they wouldn't have needed a third member of their party, but Danir had persisted. The only way that they had given in and taken him along was because he had a) begged and b ) pointed out that he would never learn to better his skills if he didn't have a chance to challenge them and improve. It worked, just barely, and now he was making his way through the forest behind them.

There was little to no conversation to be had. Aradheleth and Erymen were long time hunting companions, so the pair didn't need the constant chatter that many might have to past the time. They found serenity from the forest about them. Conversation with Danir was not to be expected either. They mostly wanted him to stay out of the way while they did their thing. For now, he was content with that as they followed the old tracks left behind by the beast. His eyes scanned the area around them, taking in the familiar sights. The blue hue of the atmosphere was due to the sunlight trying to filter through the dense foliage of the trees. And maybe it was a little magical. You never know. The longer they traveled, there was noticeable changes the closer they got to the human territory. It was still wild in its nature, but it was starting to thin out in small degrees.

"The creature has moved quicker than we thought," Aradheleth commented. The elven woman, dark black hair pulled up into a pony tail, made this observation with disdain. She had been hoping to catch up to the beast before it made it too close to the human territory.

Erymen nodded in agreement. "We've got to be sure it hasn't left the forest," he told her, sharing her unhappiness about being so close to enemy lands. The male elf, who was as fir as his companion was dark, glanced back at Danir. "As much as I hate to do this, I believe it's best we split up and check the area. If you find it, do do anything. Send a signal and we'll come to take care of it."

"As you wish," Danir replied, knowing it was best to play along and be polite. He made it this far, and he wasn't going to get on their bad side now.

The two older elves stared at him a moment, as if unsure if he meant what he said. However, they didn't have the time to waste. So they turned and took off in their own directions. Danir, in turn, went to check the portion of the area they had not. For the most part, he saw nothing. There was no sign of wampus. It was a safe assumption that his hunting companions had taken the path that the tracks still led to. He was just there to be some kind of help. His attention soon lifted from the forest floor the look around. He had never been far out of the forest before, and he wanted to commit as much to memory as he could before they left. To be so close to enemy lines, it was just as tranquil as it had been closer to their city. It was a good twenty minutes before the young elf was pulled from his own thoughts by a growl.

Suddenly on alert, Danir stopped and looked around. The sound seemed to have come from somewhere to his right. He watched for a moment before he spotted the movement. It as brief, but it was all he needed. A woman took off running before him several feet ahead, unaware of his presence. She was followed by a large panther like creature. Cursing under his breath, the male cast a quick signaling spell even as he took off after the two. He didn't know who the woman was, but he knew that he couldn't let the creature catch her. Due to his own natural abilities, he was able to keep up enough. It helped that this land wasn't ideal for running. It meant his quarry had to be just a cautious as the human and thus not as fast as it could have been. Yet he knew he would catch up to it before it reached the woman. So he whispered a few words and sent a fire ball, the size of a small stone, towards the creature. It would harm him, nor would it set the rest of the forest on fire, but it would hopefully shift its attention to him.

His ploy to distract the creature had worked. Danir watched as his spell hit true, burning the panther and making it stop. It wasn't terribly harmed, but at least the woman would be able to get to safety. The male halted in his own running, watching the wampus as it began to stalk towards him. In one swift movement, he had drawn his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming it right for the creature. He wasn't completely sure where all the vital places to hit were, but he knew if he could take out an eye, that'd be something in his favor. Magic might have been a better option, but magic took energy. It was a good idea to save it unless you had to use it, especially hen facing an unknown enemy.

His arrow, however, never got a chance to fly. By the time he felt as if his aim was perfect, the sound of something crashing through the branches could be heard, followed by a rock that landed on top of the wampus's head. He watched in disbelief as the woman shouted at it, trying to get it's attention to her once more. Was she crazy? Did she not see he was trying to help her? Unless she had a plan of her own, Danir couldn't have thought of a worst thing to to. Another curse was let loose as he snapped out of his shock. But by then, the woman and beast were gone again. He could only hope that the others were on there way. Right now he didn't want to waste time to send up another signal. They would have to track him down.

It wasn't easy keeping up with them. The woman had chosen the roughest paths to run through. While it might have offered a chance to slow the creature down, he was sure the woman would have had a more difficult of a time traversing. Even he found the bramble thicket she passed through to be a huge pain and was half tempted to reduce it to ash just to save time. He didn't because that would have just created more problems than he needed. Eventually, he reached the clearing that they had seemed to have stopped in. The woman, he found, was standing by a large stone, sword drawn and ready. The wampus was crouched and ready to attack. Before anyone could move, he fired off an arrow at the beast, not taking the time to aim. The arrow found itself buried in the hind leg of the creature, which earned a snarl of pain.

(Sorry it's short!)

(Sorry for the long wait!)

The nod sent his way did not go unnoticed. Whoever this woman was, Danir had to admit she was brave. She had to be a human. Who else would be out here so close to the border? He certainly didn't recognize her. Granted, there were plenty of elves he didn't know in the city, but that didn't change the fact that her features weren't the same as his own race's. Humans weren't prepared to deal with the creatures that called the forest home, yet here she was, brandishing her sword with all the determination she had. It surprised him, but right now wasn't the time to wonder over it.

Danir took an opportunity to shoot three more arrows at the wampus while the woman had it distracted. He timed the arrows with her own blows to the creature in an attempt to reduce its ability to both attack and defend itself. While he was sure that his arrows were doing damage, it wasn’t doing enough. Where were Aradheleth and Erymen? They should have been here by now. Had they seen the signal to begin with? They would have the weapons to handle to best better. All he had was his bow and arrows and the two hunting daggers on his belt. Every arrow that struck the creature, it got closer and closer to striking the woman. With his last arrow, the creature had sent the woman flying to the ground, a red stain blossoming on her shirt. Panic was setting in. There was no time to wait for the others. He had to act now.

Throwing down his bow, he pulled his daggers from his belt, Danir rushed forward. He rushed the beast. Thanks to his training, his steps were silent, which might be why he was able to get so close to the wampus for his first strike. One of the blades sank in between its shoulders. The creature howled in pain and quickly turned to face him. The elf dodged back, bringing the blade with him. Then sprang forward once more. The battle plan was to keep moving. If he didn’t stand still, then maybe the creature would be at a disadvantage, or at the very least give Aradheleth and Erymen more time to get there. So the man switched to a more defensive approach, jumping out of the way of claws and fangs, taunting it with whoops and shouts to keep its attention. There was a brief moment where the male appeared to be having a little fun with the game. This continued for about five minutes, going back and forth from dodging to taking a swing at the creature. Yet he knew he couldn’t keep this up much longer. Elves might have good endurance, but even they had their limits, especially when they’ve been up before sunrise walking through the forest. Spinning one of his daggers in his hands, he stopped and decided to take a chance. He tossed it, aiming for the creature’s chest. The dagger wasn’t meant to be thrown, but if you do it right it could be done. He did it right, but the wampus was quicker. It moved out of the way and pounced, barreling into the young elf and pinning him to the ground. Suddenly, the game wasn’t fun anymore as he felt its teeth sinking into his shoulder. A cry of pain tore from him as he desperately tried to pierce the beast’s hide with his remaining dagger.

The fun was definitely over. Danir hadn't thought of what would happen if the creature got the better of him. He had just assumed it wouldn’t happen. Reality really did like to pack punch whenever it hit someone, didn’t it? The young elf snarled in pain and desperation as he tried to get the wampus off of him, but the creature was far too big and heavy for him to accomplish this on his own. Had his mind been clear, he could have cast a spell that would dislodge the beast, but magic was a tricky matter. One needed to focus closely on the spells to ensure nothing went wrong. Right now, he doubted he could pull his thoughts together long enough to even conjure up a simple fire spell.

Then all of the sudden, the beast let go of him. He gasped as the pain decreased, not much but enough to let him catch his breath. Rolling over, he used his uninjured arm to prop himself up on the ground just enough to see what was going on. He caught sight of the beast crashing into the tree and the woman picking herself up off the ground herself. For the moment, the beast was stunned, but he knew it wouldn’t stay that way. Now he was panicking. He was not fit to fight. Sure, he could use magic, but that would drain his energy faster than fighting with weapons. If push came to shove, he would do it, though.

As the woman approached him, Danir pushed himself slowly to a sitting position, groaning softly despite his efforts not to. It hurt to move, signaling the signs of bruised, if not cracked or broken, ribs. He heard the quite comment she breathed, all but confirming that she herself was but a human. No elf would have reacted that way towards another elf. They hardly seemed surprised to find anything. They more saw finding a human or another elf as a slight annoyance or mildly pleasant, depending on the situation. Turning his eyes up to meet hers, he flashed her a small grin. “That could have gone better,” he commented, taking her offered hand and regaining his feet. It was an unpleasant task, but one he managed. He swayed a little, but he stayed upright as he pressed his good hand to try to stop the bleeding of his shoulder. About the same time, an angry growl pierced the air. The wampus had also righting itself and was once more limping towards them.

Or, that had been its intentions. The panther like creature didn’t make it two steps before it became entangled in vines that suddenly, out of nowhere, sprouted from the ground. The plants wrapped themselves around the beast, acting as ropes. Struggling against it wasn’t helping it either. If anything, it only made it worse. Danir could have sank back into the leaf-covered ground in relief if he wasn’t still expecting the creature to break free; Aradheleth and Erymen had finally arrived. Or, at the very least, Aradheleth had. The woman had an affinity for using plant-based magic.

It was that moment Danir decided he liked this woman. She had a sense of humor on her, one that matched his own in a situation such as this. Both had a right to be scared witless, especially her. For him, he grew up, and was still growing up, with these types of creatures. He knew how to handle them, even if it was more so in theory than practice. There were worse creatures than a wampus lurking about in the forest he called home in which he hardly blinked an eye at. Yet the humans had little to no interactions with such beasts. The woman had every right to be terrified, however she had stood her ground, suffered injuries, and yet still stood to share a light-hearted conversation with him in the midst of the fight. That, he respected.

With the danger subsided, Danir allowed himself to lean back against a nearby tree, clutching his wounded shoulder and trying to keep himself upright. Already, the majority of the right side of his tunic was soaked through. He was only slightly worried, though. While neither of them were true healers, he trusted that Aradheleth and Erymen could patch him up enough to get back home. They hadn't even made themselves known yet, but he knew they were close. They had to be in order to cast the spell. Chances were they were waiting to make sure the threat was completely subdued before entering the clearing. For a brief moment, he let his eyes fall closed as he listened to the human walk about to retrieve her weapons. He muttered taunt to the beast almost brought out a chuckle, but he didn’t want it to seem like he was laughing at her. When he had taken a few breaths to steady himself, he opened them once more only to find that the woman too was being covered in vines. “Oh no,” he muttered and stumbled forward toward her. “Stop! She’s harmless!” he shouted in Elvish. His eyes scanned the forest, trying to pinpoint where his companions were.

From his right, Aradheleth stepped out of the thicket, her expression hard to read as ever. She didn’t seem to pay him any attention as she stepped ever so confidently towards the wampus. The feline was still thrashing about, struggling to escape. It turned its gaze towards the approaching elf and let loose an angry snarl. That was about all it could do, or would ever do again. For Aradheleth ended its life with one fluid motion of the blade she carried upon her hip. The growls and snarls died away, the creature slumping to the ground. Only then did she turn to face Danir and the woman. “What part of don’t do anything stupid don’t you understand?” she asked the boy, speaking their native language instead of the common language spoken by the humans. When Danir had done it, it was meant to get her attention. However, when Ardheleth done so, it was out of spite. She didn’t think the human woman was important enough to even bother speaking in a language she would understand as well.

“The creature was going to harm the woman,” Danir replied in kind. He was already in enough trouble in the older elf’s mind as it was. Why make it worse by trying to be considerate to the human? “I thought that was what we were trying to avoid?”
“And we told you to not get involved,” Aradheleth responded. At the same time, Erymen entered the clearing.

The fair elf took in the situation in a silent glance. “We need to get going,” he spoke, using Elvish along with the rest of them. “There’s no time to stay and harvest anything from the body. We’ll just have to leave it.” He cast a sidelong look towards the human. “What do we do with this one?”

“Leave her be,” Danir said, stepping closer to them. “She saved my life. She helped to fend the creature off until you arrived. She should be allowed to go home.”

The older elves contemplated this information briefly, both seeming to reach the same conclusion at the same time. “Come, we’re leaving. I’ll let her go when we’re a good distance away,” Aradheleth stated. She turned and began to leave the way she appeared.
Erymen waited and let Danir go next, as if to be sure the younger elf wouldn’t try and hang around the area. He had already disobeyed them in a sense once today, and he wasn’t going to risk sticking around when there was a human involved as well. Friend or not, the hunting pair cared nothing about thanking or making sure the human was okay. They had taken care of the danger, and they were not obligated to do anything more. So, limping as fast as he could, Danir joined his companions on the journey back to their own. Only when they were a good distance away did Aradheleth end the spell on both the woman and the wampus. The vines released their hold and returned to the ground where they sprouted.

For ten minutes the group of elves pushed through the tangle of undergrowth, heading towards the heart of the forest once more. As they went, Danir tried to gauge how badly he was injured. Every step set his chest jarring painfully. He tried to move his right arm and shoulder, which turned out to be a terrible idea. He took a sharp inhale of breath, holding it to keep himself from crying out in pain. Yeah, his shoulder was messed up. Whether by being dislocated or having something important bitten into, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was not moving it any time soon. Then there was still the fact that he was bleeding. The amount of blood he had lost wasn’t worrying at the moment, but the world around him was starting to sway. A headache was forming, and a sense of nausea rose in his stomach from the unsteadiness of his vision. His steps were less graceful, falling loudly onto the leaf covered ground, and he nearly tripped on a couple of occasions. Aradheleth must have grown tired on his condition quickly, for after ten minutes, she stopped.

“At this rate, it’ll take days to return home,” she muttered, turning on the boy. “I think it’s best to leave you here.”

Danir’s eyes widen at the sudden decision. “What?” he asked. “Leave me here? Why? Can’t you heal me enough to stop the bleeding? I’ll be fine after a small rest, I promise.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, Aradheleth?” Erymen asked, coming to a stop behind Danir. “This close to the human territory could be trouble. He’s inexperienced and unable to fend for himself. What if that woman brings others to where the wampus lays?”

“He should have thought about that before undermining our orders,” the female elf responded. “Our task was to kill the creature and return home as quickly as possible to report to the Council. He wasn’t even supposed to be here. I will not risk my reputation because some whelp wanted to play hero. He stays here. When we get home, we’ll send one of his brothers out to collect him. He should be fine until then.”

Danir stared at her in bewilderment. She was just going to leave him here? For trying to help? What would have happened had he let the woman be attacked? Wouldn’t that have caused more problems? Wasn’t that what they had been trying to avoid by coming out here? “But that’ll take days,” he pointed out.

“You have your rations and your magic. You’ll be fine,” was her response. “We have to get going. The Council set a time frame for this mission, and they do not like being kept waiting.”

Erymen was silent for a moment. While he didn’t approve of Danir’s actions any more than Aradheleth did, but he at least could admit that the young elf had helped locate and distract the beast long enough for his companion to finish it. So this descion seemed a little much. Then again, Aradheleth had always been rash whenever she was mad. “At least let me bandage the wounds before we leave. You can go on if you want. I’ll catch up to you.”

The woman huffed. “Very well,” she replied. And with that, she continued on her way.

Erymen, however, helped Danir to the ground so the boy wouldn’t have to stand. “You don’t have to stay put,” he told him as he worked. “Rest a bit, get something to eat, and try to follow. I’ll try an mark the path we take so you won’t get lost. If not, I’ll bring your brothers this way as soon as the business is done.”

“Thank you,” Danir said, even though he wanted to try and convince the older male that he could still travel. He wasn’t one to get scared over stuff, but this close to the human border and injured as he was, he would have been lying had he said he wasn’t a little freaked out. What would he do if someone else stumbled upon him? What if there was more than one wampus? That was a thought he didn’t want to linger on.

Erymen nodded and quickly finished up bandaging his shoulder. Once done, he took out some of the rations from his own pack to give to the boy. He would be needing them more since he would be out here longer. Then, with that taken cared of, he promised the boy to hurry the trip home and send help as soon as he could. Soon enough, he had disappeared too, leaving Danir in the silence of the forest.

There was nothing for him to do. In the growing evening, Danir sat at the base of the tree, watching the sunlight as it cast the bluish hue among the forest. Signs of life were all around him. Birds were singing, cicadas and frogs competed with each other for being the loudest. Squirrels and other small creatures rustled the leaves about him, but nothing seemed to draw to close to where he was sitting. That was normal, but it only made him feel worse about the situation.

Danir was the kind of person who grew up in a closely knitted community. He had a large family, and no matter where he went, there were many people around. He enjoyed that feeling of togetherness, of being close to people. As much as he loved escaping into the woods and hunting from time to time, he never stayed out on his own for very long. A day or two at most, but that was it. Now, with Aradheleth and Erymen completely gone, he felt alone. Sure, he shouldn’t be feeling it so soon, after all he was used to hunting on his own. However, it might have been the fact that he hadn’t chosen to stay alone that made it worse. He hadn’t wanted to stay behind, but rather was forced to. It was also then that he realized that he only had one dagger still on him. His bow had been dropped to the ground and one dagger was possibly still in the wampus’s shoulder. Great. Absolutely great. Not only was he lonely, he was defenseless. The young man took a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself. He was just in pain, that was it. The only reason he was feeling so down and out was that he was injured with nothing to ease the pain. Of course, he could try to cast a basic healing spell, but it would take a lot of his energy. If he planned on trying to follow his companions’ trail, he would need all the energy he could get.

Carefully, he shifted into a more comfortable position and tried to push aside the despair that was settling around him. That would do nothing to help him in the end. Instead, he would take Erymen’s advice. He would eat and rest before trying to make his way home. It would be better than sitting here, jumping at every sound. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes. The elf stayed like that for a good while, listening to the sounds of nature and trying to ignore his pain. After a while, he shifted again, drawing his legs up and turning to try and prop up his injured arm. It was getting harder to do, however. The wound was beginning to ache, more so than when he had acquired it. The air was also becoming more muggy and hot around him. At first he thought it was due to the setting sun, but when he reached up to brush away some sweat from his face, he felt his skin was warmer than normal. Lovely. It wasn’t surprising really. The wound hadn’t been cleaned properly, and cat bites had a tendency to get infected more then anything. So why wouldn’t the bite cause a fever? Had there been anything in his pack that could help ease it? Even though they had magic, they still carried around a small medical kit for cases where they were too spent to cast spells. He should have looked earlier.

Reaching over, he pulled his pack to him, opening it to dig around in the contents. It was his luck that the kit was buried in the very bottom of the bag. Sighing, he started to dig out his stuff as best as he could with one hand, not bothering to keep an ear out for everything around him nor bothering to be quiet. If he was to be found, there was nothing he could do about it. Which was probably why when something jumped out of the bushes in front of him, he nearly jumped out of his skin. The man noticed the blade first, ducking as best as he could out of its way. It missed, thankfully. When he looked up at his attacker, mainly to plea for mercy (no, he was not above doing so, especially in this situation), he saw a familiar face.

“Yeah, me,” Danir echoed in his own language, heart racing from the scare. Only after he spoke did he realize what he did. Currently, it was easier for his brain to process and use a language that he was most fluent in rather than translating it into the common language. As he calmed down, he was able to do the language gymnastics to carry on a conversation with the woman. “It’s you,” he commented in turn. It was all he managed to say before she continued talking, scanning the area and ground beneath her cautiously.

“Don’t worry, you’re not going to get trapped again,” he assured her. “I’m sorry about that, by the way. It wasn’t my doing. My companions are heading back to our city. Apparently, I’m too slow at the moment and got left here. You can put the sword away if you like. I doubt I have the ability to do anything to you right now.”

“I don’t even think I could bite your ankles,” Danir replied, chuckling lightly. “I value my teeth inside my mouth, thank you very much. I don’t want you to kick them out.” He would rather not suffer any more injuries for one day. With the sword no longer pointing in his direction, he found a small bundle oiled paper and started to open it. Inside was supply of dried leaves. Normally, these leaves would be brewed into a tea of sorts. However, he didn’t have anything to boil any water in. Aradheleth had all of the camping gear, and she hadn’t thought it necessary to leave him with anything he hadn’t packed for himself. Sadly, that only included his cloak, a blanket, and regular utensils such as plate, cup, and a fork/spoon thing. Ardheleth carried all of the extra supplies for the camp. Tents were rarely used unless the weather appeared to be bad before heading out of the city. Otherwise, they just made shelter wherever they could find/craft it.

While the woman looked about at the trees, Danir put a couple of the leaves into his mouth. Then he chewed the bitter leaves, making sure that was all he did. The leaves themselves weren’t dangerous to eat, but he wasn’t interested in actually eating them. He only wanted to get the properties of them that would help the fever. The pulp would be spat out to the ground as soon as he was done, but that wouldn’t be for a few minutes at the most. While he did this, he watched the woman as she set to climbing a tree. It wasn’t strange. If anything, it was impressive that she was doing it even though she had been injured as well. It wasn’t long before she was climbing back down. All was well until she reached the last few branches. There, her feet slipped out from under her. Danir flinched at her impact with the ground. He had many a times experienced the same feeling. “Are you alright?” he asked. Sure, she had only fallen a couple of feet, but that still was enough to knock the wind out of a person or crack a bone if they weren’t careful. Not to mention, the wound on her side could have been made worse.

The woman must have been fine enough, for she got to her feet once more. She looked about how he felt: bloody, tired, and overall a mess. At her questions, his lips tugged upward in a smile. “My name is Danir Taleth, but Danir will be fine,” the young elf answered her, figuring an introduction was well needed at the moment. Briefly, he turned his head and spat out the leaves that had thoroughly been chewed to a pulp, freeing him of the bitter substance. “Yes, my companions left me here. It takes two days to reach our city. Two days there, and two days back with whoever they send to come find me. I was hoping to try and follow them, but I haven’t gathered the motivation to actually get up and move yet.”

"A smith, huh? That explains some things," Danir mused. Blacksmiths, even in the elves, held a certain position in the social structure. Even the elves, with all their magic, still liked to do a lot of things the old fashioned, manual way. So the smiths of his city were skilled and intimidating, and ones that commanded any situation their in. If there's an argument between people, a smith can usually come in and break it up in that way they do. If there's trouble, usually a smith will be one of the people in the front line making sure that, if there's a fight to be had, things are taken care of. If this woman was a blacksmith, it explained why she hadn't ran for safety, but rather stayed and helped him fight the wampus. Now, whether or not she was actually like the general blacksmiths he had known and fit the stereotypes that came with the occupation, that was for her to confirm or deny. It did, however, fill in some pieces of the puzzle that was the woman before him.

As she commented on his current state, he had to tilt his head in acknowledgement. She was right, of course. He might have been able to travel a bit today if he pulled himself off the forest floor, but what of tomorrow? Already, he could feel the grip of exhaustion tugging at him. That exhaustion that refused to let you get up once you gave into it. Even if he was able to shake the fever, without his bow, he wouldn't be able to hunt well. In fact, without the use of his right arm, he wouldn't be able to hunt any kind of way. Snares, maybe, but then there was the issue of trying to skin and cook the game he might be able to catch. Survival was possible for him, but it wouldn't be a pleasant experience, that was for sure.

When she offered her own home as a refuge, his eyes widened in surprise. Now, granted, he had been hoping the woman, Edlyn, would help him. If nothing else to help make sure his wound was clean and to help stop the fever before it got too bad. But that was it. He was an elf, after all. Even if he had helped to save her, she had immediately returned the favor by saving him. She owed him nothing. Yet here she was, offering to take him to her home for him to recover, or at the very least stay here with him. Last time he checked, elves were still killed on sight if they were found on human lands. If he was found in her home, not only would he be killed, but so would she. If not killed, than she would be arrested or something. The same for if anyone were to come looking for her and find her here aiding him. “Are you sure that’s something you wish to do?” he asked.

“As I would imagine. Most of these creatures wandering about normally don’t like to hang around the edge of the forest too much,” Danir commented. “The thing we faced is what’s known as a wampus. I know, it’s a strange name, but it was a strange animal. I’m told that it has the ability to take the shape of a woman, but I’ve never heard of anyone ever seeing it happen to confirm it. Mostly, they’re just huge cats that are a whole lot meaner.”

Well, it look like she wasn’t changing her mind. Edlyn seemed that she was dead set on helping him out, and there was nothing, literally, that he could do about that. However, he still had a dilemma. He had no idea who exactly would be sent to fetch him, nor how long it would take for the to reach his location. Four days was a safe bet, but if his brothers came for him, then they might be traveling faster. Then there was the issue of which brother would be sent to retrieve him. If he knew when they would be here, he could chance it. He could leave her house or tell her to hide when he expected them to be in the area. He didn’t really know what might happen if they caught the human with him. If Baltore or Lorin found them, then he wouldn’t have to worry. However, if it one or both of the Twins, then things would get ugly. At the same time, he had to think of what would be better for both of them. They were both injured and needed medical care. Staying here in the forest wouldn’t help them at all, especially since his medicine supply was limited at best.

With a sigh, he made his decision. “If you don’t live far away, then I think it’d be best in the long run to head there,” Danir said. “We might want to get going now while I have the strength to do so.” And with that, he began to set his pack to rights, making sure that everything he had was back in its place before closing it. Then he glanced up at the woman once more. “Mind helping me to my feet?”

Taking her hand, Danir prepared himself for the effort to stand. His sides hated him for it. Groaning, he didn’t even try to keep his pain to himself. He had sat and allowed his muscles to stiffen, so not only did his cracked ribs shift painfully, his other bruises and scrapes were made worse. It was going to be a while before the soreness was worked out. Wonderful. On his feet, he took a moment to get his balance before nodding thanks to Edlyn. “I think I’m good,” he muttered, not sounding too confident, but it would have to do. Carefully, and releasing more groans as he did, he leaned down and picked up his bag. The man settled it over his shoulders before gripping his injured arm close to his body, trying to support it and ease some of the discomfort.

“How long did you say your home is exactly?” Danir asked. She had said a couple of hours, but he wanted to know how long a journey they were looking at. If it wouldn’t be long, then they would have nothing to worry about. However, if it wouldn’t make it by night fall, they would need to think about finding areas to make camp.


(Eh, sorry it's so short. >.> I had some writer's block at the moment.)

(If you want to time skip, go for it. I can't get a reply up right now, but if you want me to start the skip, I can whenever I get home from work.)

By the time they reached the edge of the forest, night had fallen upon the land. The nearly full moon gleamed above, offering a little bit of light to the human. Edlyn was grateful for that. The land was mostly flat with a few rocks, trees, and small hills dotting the area. In the distance slightly illuminated by the silvery moonlight was the blacksmith's home. Her house was rather small, though there would be enough space for the both of them to do their own thing. It was a bit eerie in the darkness, but was oddly comforting. The blacksmith couldn't help but smile. She contiuned to lead the way to the simple house, occasionally looking around the area. Few would be out at that time of night and Edlyn lived far from anyone else. However she was still cautious. Towards the north in the far distance, little lights could just barely be seen. It was the small town of Willow Creek. Residents would either be at the tavern after a long day of work.

Silently, Edlyn led the rest of the way to her house. It didn't take much longer and they were there quickly, or at least it had felt that way. As she reached towards the porch, Edlyn glanced to the nearby pasture where her horses were lazily standing around. She would check on them later. The young woman proceeded to pull out her keys. After a moment, she found the one for her house before facing her next challenge; opening the door. Edlyn tried to squint to find the keyhole, but she was having no luck. Eventually she blindly felt around before finding what she was looking for. She finally managed to unlock the door and quickly opened it. "Welcome in," she simply said. While keeping the door ajar, the woman walked in to find something to light up the house. As she blindly stumbled around, she ran into a table then immediately into a wall. She huffed in annoyance and contiuned to feel around, beginning to get desperate. Eventually she managed to find her way to the kitchen and tried to search through the cabinets. After what felt like forever, Edlyn managed to track down some matches and a candle. She quickly light the wick and was finally able to see some.

"Yes!" She whispered proudly. She made her way to the main room with the newly lit candle to light up more. She worked quickly and eventually lit up most of the candles in the room. There was enough light to care for their wounds and walk around without running into anything. Before she closed the door, Edlyn took a glanced outside to check for any notes. People tended to leave orders if she wasn't around. Sure enough there was a small stack on the other side of the door. She quickly collected the papers and closed the door behind her. In the soft light, she began to flip through the writings. She paused for a moment and glanced towards Danir. "Sorry about that. I probably should've checked on your wounds. Speaking of which, how do you feel?"

Edlyn watched as Danir collapsed on the couch, clearly exhausted. "Sorry to keep you waiting," she apologized as she drew in the curtians. If the elf was going to stay on the couch for the night, she wanted to be sure no one would have the chance to see him. Although it was highly unlikely anyone would catch sight of him, she preferred to be cautious. The couch faced the fireplace in the main room. A small table was next to it with some candles to light up the room. To the wall, there was a large bookcase stuffed full with books. Many had cracked spines, indicating they were well-read. As Edlyn briefly looked around, she softly smiled. She was glad to be home. The young blacksmith's attention turned to Danir as he spoke. The young woman nodded in reply. "Alright. Can I get you anything?" She paused for a moment to take a look around. Her eyes wandered to the pot over wood for a fire before drifting back to the man. He didn't seem to be doing that well.

"I'm going to get something to help with our wounds." The young woman got up to light the a fire then proceeded to get water into the pot. As the water began to heat up, the blacksmith left temporarily to grab two bowls, some cloth, and bandages. She had very limited knowledge of healing and medicine, but knew enough to scrape by. She would probably have to ask the doctor about ways to care for their wounds the next day. Before she went back into the other room, she paused for a moment and pulled up her sleeves to wash her hands. It was something her brother drilled into, cleanliness is always key when it came to healing people. Once her hands were cleaned, she rummaged through a cabinet to find something to add to the water. She finally pulled out some dried lavender stalks and walked back to the pot with all the supplies in hand. She added the lavender into the water. According to her brother, it would help with the soreness.

It took a little while before the water warmed up. Once it began to simmer, Edlyn grabbed a metal ladle and began to add it into a bowl. She placed the bandages and a piece of cloth into the the water mixture to let them soak. After a few minutes had passed, she grabbed the cloth and wringed it out until it was damp. "Alright this may sting a little, but this should help your wounds. It's just a simple mix of warm water and lavender. Anyway, what exactly are your injuries?" Edlyn knew his shoulder was in poor condition and his ribs were broken or cracked. She didn't know what else hurt, but wanted to at least try and help in the way she could. The fragrant scent of warm lavender filled the room, creating an almost calming effect. The young woman breathed in deeply. She loved the scent.