OLD
Well first off, I would like to apologize for my late post. I had midterms last week and well, my brain was fried. I regret to inform you all that I still have not painted anything for you yet. However, I do have the next chapter if Nis done. So please enjoy that!
Chapter 7
Nis awoke with a start, cold sweat running down his face and soaking his clothing. It was the same nightmare he had had every night since the attack. He stood in his burning home, his wife headless crawling toward him, his son blocking the doorway, “Its all your fault daddy” he would say, “Because of you we are dead, its all your fault!” And then they would morph into hideous shadow creatures, snarling at him, mocking him. He would look down, only to see Catelins head laying on the floor before him, mouthing the words, “Why?” And then he would wake.
He climbed out of the tent he had been resting in to meet the day, the sun hadn't risen yet and the winters frost nipped at his exposed skin. He had left Loughtown late the night before, to insure that he was not followed. He felt this had been accomplished, and so, he began to build a fire. After about half an hour best he could tell, he had the makings of a decent little blaze going. The lodge master had given him some provisions and a small bit of coin for his journey, but he didn't expect it would go too far and figured he’d better keep it for an absolute emergency. Better to live like a field mouse for a lifetime then live like a king for a day. He thought musingly.
The fire was warming up now, and warming him with it. He did his best not to stare into the flames, as it only brought back that day once again. So instead he busied himself with A small piece of deer jerky, ripping it into small thin strips before eating them one by one. As he worked on the jerky he mused that he would probably eventually have to learn how to hunt it would soon become a necessity too as he was only given enough food to last about two weeks. And that only if he was wise with his rationing and tight with his belt.
He has down on a sizable gray stone, rumpled though it was, it had one spot that was just right for sitting. As he sat there eating his jerky he found himself looking at the fire. He turned around, to warm my back, he lied to himself, knowing full well it was not why he turned. He began to look around at his surroundings. Things seemed plain a dull white covering the land as far as his eyes could see. Here and there tufts of grass rebelled against the snow, showing that life would prevail. There were one or two trees poking up from the flatness. And to his left, east, the mountains that he had been traveling though only a few days before were already fading into the sky, mist covering the bottoms and clouds covering the tops. The air was cool but there was not much of a breeze so it didn’t cut him to deeply. I’ll finish breakfast and then move along. He thought to himself.
As he began to put small fire out with snow he thought he heard a sound in the distance, he waited a moment looking around. When it was apparent that there was nothing there he turned back to his chore. Moments later he heard something again, this time he was sure it was the crunching of snow under someones foot, someone not him. He stood up and looked around, there was noone there. He stood there for a moment contemplating this, while he was thinking he heard it again, closer this time. And then quite suddenly, out of nowhere and right in his face a young lady appeared, a mix of excitement and inquisitiveness on her face. Surprised he jumped back and yelped.
After a moment he regained his composure and after another few quiet moments staring at his guest, he said in a rather confused and bewildered voice, “What... where... Who are you?”
She wore a plain grey robe with a hood that covered her hair, and boots that looked far too pointed at the tow to place her anywhere near here. The strangest piece of garb was her black gloves, or rather black and red, the palms were read. She looked at him with bright grey eyes and said and a voice that seemed more comically high than it should be, “I’m Leana, I’m so happy to make your acquaintance sir! I heard that you were on a journey to find Shathgrim, Is it true, is it!?! And are you really going to Cennired, I’m from there you know, I’ve always wanted to go back. Mell- Um, my master said that you would be happy to have someone along, he seemed to think you could use the help, I’m so excited to be here!!!”
Nis was shocked, how did she know so much about what he was doing and where he was going? And why was she here. He found his voice and said, “I was not under the impression that I would have traveling companions..”
“Oh thats ok, your not technically supposed to, the Lodge master doesn't know about this. Its my masters orders though.”
Nis turned back to his chores, “Well in that case it was nice meeting you, but I’ve got to move on.” He began to break down his tent and pack it. It was upsetting to him that word had already gotten out about his journey, and even more upsetting that someone wanted to accompany him. And he wondered who the blazes wanted to send someone with him without the Lodge masters approval, Nis would have none of this foolery. As he turned to roll up the tent, he was surprised to see the girl still standing there. Then he noticed she had lost her cheery demeanor, and was crying silently. “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude,” He tried to amend, “You just can’t come with me, not the Lodge master says its alright. I still don't-”
His sentence was cut off by her sobbing, “I’m n-not good enough, you think I’ll slow you down. And..” she paused to sob again, “And now I’ll have to go back and... I’ve failed and I didn’t even start yet.” She continued to sob and say incoherent things through her gasps of breath. Nis couldn’t help it, he felt something inside collapse.
“Ok! Ok, you can come along, I’m going to regret this I know, but you better keep up.”
“You mean it?” she sniffled.
“Yes, but only until Cennired, and only if you keep out of trouble and don't slow me down.”
Never had he seen someone get so excited as fast as she did at those words. “You won’t regret having me along, you really won’t!”
The next half an hour was spent packing up camp and listening to Leana ramble about such things as how exciting it was to be going back to Cennired, what life was like growing up away from her family, and other such things. Nis felt guilty though, he had tuned her out within the first 5 minutes. After he had finished packing he turned to her and interrupted, “Leana right?”
“Yup! Thats my name!” she giggled.
“Do you think that maybe you could talk a little less, and maybe a little quieter? I’m pretty sure every creature within a league of here is now quite aware we are here.”
Leana looked at her feet and absently kicked at the snow, “Um, ya I guess. I didn't think I was so loud and stuff.”
“Come on, time to go.” Nis said, and with that he started walking, south, toward Cennired. Leana followed, she seemed to do her best to honor his request for silence, but here and there she couldn’t help it.
At one point they came to a wide river, the surface glazed over with a thin layer of ice. The trees had started to thicken, and here and there they spotted animal tracks. Though there was a bridge at some point along this river, they had not come to it. The price we pay for avoiding the roads, Nis thought. They began to head west along the river, the vegetation growing more and more crowded and thick as they went.
“I think this is the Millwind river.” Leana began, “It’s the main supply of water to the western lands. I mean, theres others of course, but this is the main one.” She put a finger to her chin in thought, “I remember it being a lot larger though.”
They continued west, straying from the bank finally, when the vegetation grew too thick. Here the trees were thick enough to keep much of the snow from the ground, revealing the undergrowth and damp earth. The greens and browns blended together in a deep pool of color, looking up presented another picture all together. The trees here were a mix of winter trees, and autumn trees. The reds, and oranges, and yellows, mixed with the greens, and the few shafts of light that managed to cut through the canopy, to create the illusion of a constant sunset. A few bits of sun managed to make it to the ground, bright splotches of brown earth cried out in the light. There didn't seem to be any real path here, but the two of them kept as close to the sound of water as possible. Winding around a tight cluster of trees here, pushing past a bush or fearn there. As they moved through the thick forest, the sound of water grew louder, until it sounded as though a roaring torrent was flowing just beyond the trees. Here and there insects buzzed quietly, and the song of birds could be heard faintly. Every once and awhile the trees would part just enough to see the Millwind, teasingly, as though they wanted to keep Nis from the water.
At length, the day began to wane, and the light began to dim. Nis started looking for a good patch of ground to stay the night on. There were small patches of grass everywhere, but none large enough for the tent; And many were rather lumpy and filled with large stones. “We can just sleep on the ground tonight, its not too cold in the trees.” suggested Leana
“I think you're right, we will have to, although I don’t know about it being warm.” Nis could feel the cold pulling at his flesh. He also didn’t fancy the situation, it felt improper somehow; this strange woman, not even a woman more of a girl really; Following him around in the middle of nowhere.
“Well I didn’t exactly say it was warm did I, just that is wasn’t too cold.” Now that she mentioned it, he did feel the winter chill a bit less in these trees than he had that morning out in the open. Without another word Leana found a spot next to a gnarled old birch, like an old man embracing his granddaughter, Nis mused. He looked for a spot opposite to leana and found a snug looking root to lean on for the night. Setting his things down there, he began to look for firewood, some small twigs, dried leaves, and maybe a dead branch or two. He found less than he had hoped; but it was enough, he felt, to keep them from freezing. He brought the small fire to life rather quickly and began to lay out his bedding.
It had become dark much quicker here in the woods and with the light, the small amount of warmth from the shelter of the trees was quickly following. Nis settled into his bedding where he would be safer from the sharp teeth of the icy cold. As he began to let himself relax for sleep he remembered his new companion and looked to see how she was handing the cold. Across the flames he could see she was already asleep, the only thing poking out of her blankets was the top half of her head, and most of that was covered in a light brown mess of hair that was so unkempt that at first glance it might look like she had a wild animal on her head. What a strange girl.
Again the flames caught his attention, and again the dark thoughts, flickerings of a Hell, shadows of heartbreak. He closed his eyes and tried hard to forget...
As those of you who frequent my blog are aware, I haven't been posting paintings for several months now. I think that may continue for a while, school has picked up quite a bit I'll post paintings when I can, but for a while its probably just going to be writing.