Saga 17- Revelations

The next morning, Raven wakes before me, and I am woken by a soft stroking of my brow. I open my eyes to find her brushing my fringe from my face.

She doesn’t say anything, nor does she smile, just methodically strokes my forehead. I smile up at her, and she shakes her head, as if coming out of a trance, and smiles back at me.

“Good morning Daie.”
“Morning, Raven” I reply, taking her hand and giving in a squeeze. She sits up, and I follow, reaching for my top. I realise that with the exception of my tunic, we have both slept in our clothes, and obviously a wash is needed. She reads my mind, and hands me a towel from the mess of linen on the ground.

I reluctantly decide that I really have to get up, and stand, as she leaves without a word to fetch her washing kit from her own tent. I wonder whether anyone will notice that she hasn’t slept in her tent, or spot her leaving from mine, but when I meet her outside, all is fine, no-one has spotted us. I wonder how long our luck will last…

I see that dawn has only just broken, and few people are awake. Those few are unusually quiet, and I remember that it is only two days since the mutiny, an event that seems to me to have taken place much longer ago. I feel almost guilty for feeling so happy after such an event, but there is little I can do about it, and I put it from my mind as she steps from her tent, towel over her arm, and a small bag hanging from her other one. We quietly walk down to the river, and undress separately- we’re still visible from the camp.

When we enter the water, she spots a small cove, and waves me over. The moment I swim in, she grabs me and kisses me fiercely. I’m shocked, and as we break apart for air, my confusion shows, as she begins to speak.

“I’ve been thinking, darthiir. I know that you have trouble with the idea of us having sex.”

Her forthright words bring a blush to my cheeks, and she smiles fondly, and strokes my face.

“I understand your problem, and I realise that my attempt yesterday may have scared you. I just want you to know that I love you, understand?”

“I understand, Raven, and I love you too, and…”

My words are cut off as her eyes light up, and she repeats her earlier attempt to kill me through lack of oxygen. This time when we break apart, as I attempt to continue, she silences me with a cool finger. She regards me for a moment, before splashing me, flinging a handful of water into my face, and laughing cheerfully.

I leap at her, trying to wrap my arms around her and drag her under, but she simply catches me and flings me away. I remember that she’s stronger than me, and decide to content myself with splashing her back. After one particularly mighty splash, I take a breath, and duck under the water, swimming below the surface.

Through water-clogged ears, I can hear Raven’s voice, echoing with a hint of uneasiness.
“Daie? Where have you gone?”

I swim behind her, and burst to the surface, grabbing her round the waist, and resting my chin on her shoulder. To her credit, she doesn’t even jump, let alone hit me, but instead ease back into my arms. I hold her for a moment, before she steams backwards, knocking me against the overhanging bank of the river. Caught between the earthen bank and Raven’s soft body, I can feel unyielding ground behind, and very yielding Raven in front, and as she shifts, I feel the blood in my body make an urgent change of direction, and I get a sinking feeling of déjà vu.

“Well, well, darthiir. You obviously do like me” Raven chuckles, and shifts against me again, purposely this time, rubbing herself against me. When she lowers a hand, and begins to stroke my thigh, I can feel myself quickly losing control of the situation here, and am understandably relieved when I hear a familiar voice scream “Incoming!” and see a disrobed, winged figure come crashing down into the pool, soaking us both.

As Minstra lowers herself down after her, I release Raven, and we separate, with her flashing me a look that can only mean this scenario will be continued.

“Good morning Raven, Daie.” Minstra nods to us both, before turning to the spreading ripples that show our wingèd friend hasn’t surfaced yet. When she finally does, I have a splash waiting for her, and she gets a face-full of water as punishment for splashing me. So begins another water fight, which Raven enters only after I send a wave her way.


Not long afterwards, we all lie on the riverbank, drying in the heat of the morning sun. The camp is fully awake now, and various soldiers move past us, going to and coming from the river for their morning wash. Other groups lie across the bank, but ours is an exclusive one, comprising the leaders of the company and myself. Many people cast me envious looks, but whether that is because I hang around with our bosses, or the fact that I’m surrounded by three half-naked beauties, I cannot tell.

I have Raven on one side, Minstra to the other, and Maron on her far side, lying on her belly and fanning us all with a wing. Raven lies furthest from the other mercenaries, and as such is taking advantage of this fact to run a finger up and down my thigh as I lie on my stomach looking into the forest that borders our camp. I stoically endure her caresses for a few minutes, trying to distract myself with thoughts of the forest, and idle desires to explore it further, but always I am forced to return to the present, and in a last ditch attempt to end her torture, I bring up a subject that will attract Minstra and Maron’s attention, ending her exquisite torment.

“Raven, what of this mission?”

She sighs, and ends her caresses with a poke, and sits up, casting a shadow over my back. Maron looks over, but doesn’t otherwise move, continuing her fanning, while Minstra sits up also, interested at the prospect of adventure.

“A simple fetch and carry. Enter a forest, fight off a few creatures, find an artefact, and return it to it’s owner. Simple.”
Minstra thinks about this for a moment or two. “Leader?”
“Me.”
She raises an eyebrow, but continues. “You’ll need a healer.”
“Maron.”
Maron raises her head for a moment, before laying it back down. She looks at me, smiles, and pokes her tongue out.
“Ranger?”
“Daie.”
I poke my tongue back at Maron, and she mouths a word at me. Touché.
“You may need someone else who knows the woodlands, someone who can help you navigate. A druid, in fact” Minstra continues.
“You” Raven answers “Is that everything?”
Meanwhile, as they continue to decide the fine details of the excursion, the avariel has decided to start tickling me with the end of her wing. I am almost resolved to the fact that these women delight in teasing me, but I decide enough is enough, and I pounce at Maron, wrestling her in the dirt, and pin her to the ground.
“Surrender?”
She laughs, and adopts a mock-serious face. “Never!” She cries.
I take the part of a merciless enemy, and begin to tickle. Somewhere amidst the shrieks I hear the word surrender, but I continue anyway, until she eventually throws me off, and lies panting, defeated anyway.
As Minstra and Raven watch, bemused, I stand and bow.
“And that, dear ladies, is how you finish off a wounded enemy.”

Minstra snorts with laughter, and Raven’s bemused expression breaks into a smile. My victorious pose is only broken when Maron trips me from the floor, and ends my struggle with a peck on the cheek.
“That is how you finish an overconfident enemy” she retorts, and with that, the morning ends, and the serious business begins.

By late afternoon, we are in full battle dress, deep within the forest which we have been contracted to search, armed and ready for trouble.

For my part, I wear a dark green tunic, muddy brown britches, leather boots and a long green cloak. With my longsword at my hip, and the longbow complete with nocked arrow in my hands, I certainly look the part of a ranger, and the arsenal of clerical spells in the back of my mind makes me feel ready for anything, but my companions look and are much more dangerous than I.

Minstra wears her usual dress, similar to mine, but without the cloak. In her hands, a simple staff, but a deadly weapon nonetheless. Her long dark curls hang down over her tanned face, and she offers me a nod as I look to her.
“Remind you of home, kinsman?”
“Aye Minstra, but the Forest was always brighter.”
“True enough. This place isn’t right.”

I agree with her. This woodland is much darker than it should be in mid-summer, but I cast it from my mind, and look to Maron.

She wears her usual dress also, white breeches, clinging tightly to her toned legs, soft faun boots, a pink tunic and a backpack full of potions, showing her status as our healer. With all of us having some form of magic, you would think a healer unnecessary, but we all specialise in different things: Raven holds offensive spells, as do I, Minstra uses natural spells, influencing animals, affecting nature, and Maron has the largest repertoire of healing spells. All of us have the odd one, and Maron and Minstra obviously have attack spells, but we specialise.
To continue my description, her wings are clasped behind her, and her glass-headed mace is clutched tightly in her fist as she looks about, wide-eyed. The trees loom overhead, offering no escape to the skies, and I reason that she must be feeling claustrophobic in the woods, and as I look to her, she turns, and I shiver slightly.
“Cold, no?”
She gives me a brave smile that fills me with joy, before narrowing her eyes in a sultry manner, and purring “Perhaps I should come over there and warm you up?”

She’s definitely fine, I decide, and laughingly refuse.

Finally, my Raven. She wears the darkest clothing of us all, almost symbolically. Her trousers are of a dark navy, along with her tunic with it’s gold braiding and crimson shoulders. Her long white hair hangs down past her shoulders, her ebony ears poking out delicately from the mass of white. Her eyes dart from side to side, as she keeps her longsword held in a guard position.

“Daie, up ahead. Scout. Minstra, the rear. Maron behind me.” Her orders are customarily short, and effective. As I move past her, she flips her eyes to me, and her features soften from the look of wariness I imagine was her customary face in the Underdark. She pats me on the shoulder, and then I’m past her, moving quickly to get ahead. Finally, I slow, twenty paces before her, and I feel my breathing slow, hear the silence of the forest. While Raven and Maron make little noise, Minstra and I are truly silent, and I know for a fact that both of us as practically invisible also. I look over my shoulder, and see Raven cast her head from side to side, probably looking for me. I shrug my shoulders, and concentrate on the task, scouting.

I can hear the sound of the forest, trees creaking in the breeze, but there are no animals, no birds sing. I can hear things moving in the darkness, but these are no creatures I’ve ever seen or heard before. Despite myself, with thousands of years of elven men screaming at me to uphold the ideal before these women, I begin to feel afraid.

I stop, and look around, loosening the tension of the bowstring. I step from the path, and crouch, inspecting it for signs of use. There are no signs of any creatures passing along this trail, something I am increasingly concerned about, as this trail leads from a water source. Looking up, I see Raven approaching, and I say my name, announcing my presence before she gets close enough to shock.
She stops beside me, and crouches next to me.
“Anything?”
“Nothing.”
“We should camp soon, the day wears on, and predators hunt this place at night.”
When Minstra and Maron catch up, she tells them of her decision, and we continue, searching for somewhere reasonably safe in this dark place.

It takes a while, but I find a place we all agree on, and between three clerics and a druidess, we light a fire. Tonight, there are no tents, only blankets spread alongside the fire. I am chosen to take the first watch by an impassive Raven, and I bid goodnight to a worried Minstra, and a frankly terrified Maron. I wonder how either of them will sleep tonight, and I soon find out- they can’t.

As I lean closer to the fire, warming my hands, wondering how the summer night has become so cold, I am joined by Maron, shivering with a mixture of cold and fear. I pull her close, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She leans into me for support, but in truth, I draw as much strength from her warmth as she does from me. We are soon joined by Minstra who leans on Maron, and eventually by Raven, who sits on my other side, not touching, but certainly close. All four of us are effectively huddling together, when we hear not the clichéd wolf howl, but the roar of something large, and hungry.

It causes us all (except, of course, Raven) to jump, and I let out a relieved giggle that no-one else joins in with.

That was when the spider fell from the branch above us to the ground before the fire.

Maron and Minstra jumped, and Raven gave it a steady gaze, but my own reaction was the most animated. I let out a shriek, and leap behind Raven, clutching her shoulders, and peering over her. The spider is the size of my fist, with fangs that dripped with venom. Well, perhaps not, but I don’t like spiders. It is still the size of my fist though. Raven carefully regards it for a good few seconds, before drawing her sword, and viciously slicing it in two. She then kicks the pieces into the fire, and spits at them. Nodding to herself, she turns to see me palely crouching where she had been sat, a petrified grimace marring my features.

She sits, and surprisingly, puts an arm around me, in a move that shocks the other two, and even me. I hadn’t expected her to behave like this in public. She strokes my hair, and whispers to me until I calm down. Releasing me, she looks to my eyes, and covertly takes my hand, and squeezes it. She leans close, and says
“Afraid of spiders? You are perfect, darthiir.”

Aloud, she says “So, we have found our young friend’s fear. Anyone care to confess their own?”
Maron smiles nervously, and raises a hand. “Small spaces. Enclosed areas, like this forest.”
Minstra leans forward, and adds her own fear to the topic. “I’m afraid of heights” She looks to Maron and smiles “Don’t try your flight spell on me, okay?”

Finally, we all turn to Raven. She leans back, unwilling to tell her secret, but looks at each of us, and evidently decides she can trust us all. “Abandonment. Being alone,” She whispers her confession, not even being able to say it out loud. She shocks me even further by seizing hold of me, and burying her head in my chest. I wrap my arms around her, and gently stroke her back. When she’s finished, she kisses my jaw, and Maron and Minstra’s jaws drop. I smile at them, and Raven turns to see what I’m grinning at. When she catches sight of their incredulous faces, she smiles too, removing all trace of depression from her features as she grins at them, and pulls me close for another kiss.

I wonder where this extreme mood swing has come from, but she lets me go again, as Maron asks:
“When?”
“After the mutiny, that night.”
Maron smiled widely, and held out her hand. Grumbling, Minstra felt in her pouch, and dropped a handful of coins into the outstretched hand. Maron crowed triumphantly, and pocketed the gold pieces. I couldn’t help but laugh as Maron explained their bet to Raven and I.

Our courage restored, and a secret revealed, we finally retire for the night, at least we attempt to, before Raven reminds me that I have first watch, so, sighing to myself, I turn my back and look out to the woodland, alone until she sits behind me, and holds me tight, sitting up with me for my watch, something I am immensely grateful for - her gentle touch does much to restore my courage, as the cold night and alien sounds do their best to sap it.

Her watch is next, and of course I stay with her, more to keep her awake than calmed. She may be particularly fragile at the moment, as fragile as our fledgling relationship, but her courage is never in doubt.