81st Autumn 512 Morning. Eilea woke with a start, her horse nuzzling her. The young Vantha got to her feet and began to pack her things up. Sleep was getting more difficult every night. The travels were getting colder. Being a Vantha, Eilea didn't mind because she preferred the cold, but she had to take note of it. Her stomach began to grumble. She needed to get food. Badly. The poor girl hadn't eaten a full meal in a season and it was starting to wear on her. Wine, her Windrunner, luckily was able to eat the over-grown grass in the area, but it was getting more difficult to find food. The night previous, there had been a heavy frost that had killed a lot of the growth in the nearby area. After dawn, she began her journey heading towards Wind Reach once again. But in truth, she had gotten lost. The Vantha had expected to have gotten there early in the season. Her willpower was beginning to fade. Once she got the saddle and bags adjusted on her Windrunner, they were off. As the Windrunner galloped as fast as she could, Eilea contemplated heading back to Avanthal. 'Oh how easy it would be to just return...' But she knew there was nothing waiting for her back there. Her family was broken. She was on her own. She was doing what her mother would have wanted. Once the Sun was high in the sky, Eilea led her horse towards a large rock formation. Nearby there were some weeds that the horse could chew on if it felt like it. The formation was large enough to hide the area of the horse to stay. Eilea set a couple traps around the area, made sure Wine was aware of their presence and then snatched up her quiver and shortbow. Dressed in dark pants and a green, long sleeve shirt, Eilea moved through the trees and shrubs with a cotton scarf around her head, covering her colorful hair and most of her face. She had run into previous racial issues in the past. With bright yellow, excited eyes, she spotted tracks on the ground. Immediately she began to follow them. Suddenly there was movement in a nearby bush. A shaggy dog ran right in front of her. As much as Eilea didn't want to hurt a dog, she needed her food, so she ran after it, trying to keep to higher ground. "Come here puppy! Here boy!" She called, in a friendly manner, hoping to coax the creature towards her. Finally the dog stopped and looked back at her. Eilea held her bow out, grabbed an arrow and began to take aim... But there was a noise. She lowered her bow and looked to the side. Between two trees was a small field. In the field, she saw four men, with a small camp set up. It had been days since she had seen anyone. The girl moved closer, staying behind one of the trees and watched. Her mind completely forgot about the dog. The four men were talking about something in Common, but she couldn't place it. Their accents were heavy. She leaned further out and continued staring, trying to see what one was holding. The light from the Sun hit it just a right. there was a flash of red light and Eilea immediately took an involuntary step forward, being attracted to the object. She tok a few steps, making out the necklace. The pendant was shaped as a bird and had a red glow to it. It seemed to be pulsating. The Vantha had heard of something like this, but couldn't think of the word. Either way, she knew this sort of trickery was powerful. And dangerous. But the bird. The fiery bird. She wanted to examine it. "Hey!" The yell startled her, one of them men called to her. All four looked towards her. One stepped forward, and as she did, she noticed there was another man, tied up, with dried blood on his face. Panic struck her. Gray eyes. She took a step back. No magical firey bird necklace was worth getting beat up. She glanced at the tied up man for a second, before making up her mind completely/ 'I wish I could help him. I'm sorry.' She didn't want to get hurt, or worse. Eilea turned on her heels and began to run. |