Disclaimer: I don't own the Southern Vampires. Sole copyright belongs to Charlaine Harris. I'm poor, please don't sue. Most of the characters are Charlaine Harris's... but some are mine! All the mistakes are my own.
Chapter Ten:
The first couple of weeks in Aradia had been hard on me. Dealing with my physical changes were only my first hurdle. Noz had explained to me that I needed my body to become more Fae to support my essential spark, a primarily human body would not support such power. It would run down and eventually give out. The ritual they had preformed had sped up my awakening, but it had also amplified the Fae portion of my genetic makeup, hence the physical changes. I was lucky I didn't inherit any of the weaknesses of the Fae. I could still have lemons and iron did nothing to me.
My appearance hadn't changed that much. I grew about four inches. I was about 5'10" now and was a bit slimmer and more toned. My ears were now delicately pointed, but for the most part I remained the same on the outside, besides the feel of my skin. I guessed I wouldn't be shaking that many hands anymore since people could tell just by touch I was different. Redin pointed out, when I was fretting about it, that the Fae looked human enough even though they did give off an air of otherness, and they often passed as human.
When I really took the time to think about it, he was right. Okay, the ears were a dead giveaway, 'No more ponytails for me...' but as long as I kept them covered, I didn't think that most normal people would notice the minor differences in my physical appearance. The people closest to me and the Supes, would be a whole different story.
As time went on, training was becoming less exhausting and painful. Between my three trainers I was working night and day to get a grip on my powers. Redin explained that in the Otherlands time moved differently than the human world. One day in my world was equal to two days in Aradia. That comforted me some when the weeks turned into months. The longer I stayed in the Otherlands, the more homesick I became.
Even though Noz had insisted that I was not a prisoner but a guest, I was finding out that things are not always what they seem. There were strange rules I was given to follow. I was not allowed to wander alone in Aradia and I was to have Redin or Noz accompany me at all times. I was not to speak to anyone other than the Council or Redin, not that I had seen anyone else since I got here, and that was strange in itself. I was not to use my powers unless I was in the presence of one of my trainers. Noz explained away all of this by telling me it was for my safety and the safety of the people in the Otherlands. I couldn't help but be suspicious.
Noz was a strange creature. Sometimes he seemed so kind and caring, and at others he seemed ruthless and cruel. He often made me feel like a pet he was teaching a new trick. If I performed well he would praise me, when I didn't he would scold me. He often brought up the deaths and injuries of my friends and family, asking me if I wanted to see the remainder of them to end up the same way. I quickly found I didn't like the old ogre very much. He always seemed like he had his own agenda. He was secretive about so many things, avoiding my questions with great expertise. I would ask a question and only later when thinking on the conversation would I realize he completely avoided answering me, directing the conversation elsewhere. If it wasn't for Redin filling in the blanks, I may not have known anything that was going on, but working with Noz had been eye opening.
I had no idea that any of this Two-spirited stuff existed, and then I was knee deep into it. Before I took my first spirit walk, Noz informed me that without a spirit guide, my soul could be attacked by malicious spirits that could potentially take over my body. He assured me that as long as I obeyed my guide, I could learn to walk in the spirit world with ease, as he did, and with minimal threat.
Noz taught me to how to perform the rituals used by Shamans. Most were not very difficult. The use of the ritual was to sort of put myself in a trance. The meditation, specially blended teas, and chants were used to calm my body to such a state as I could separate my soul from it. It's hard to explain how I did it, I just could. Much like my telepathy, it felt natural. Well as natural as pulling your soul out of your body could feel.
Noz showed me how to heal a soul and also how to harm it. Healing a soul was a beautiful thing. Having experienced it myself, I really was excited to learn and use my healing powers. Noz taught me to reach out with my soul to touch another soul around me. He was right it was much like what an empath could do, except the emotions were much deeper rooted. Empaths dealt with the surface emotions, while Shamans dealt with the emotional scars that affect the soul. I could use my soul to encase the other person's soul, filling up the little fissures that had been left over time, effectively making the soul whole again. The same was true as of harming a soul. I could inflict little fissures on the soul, using my own emotional scars to inflict my pain on others. This was not something I hoped I would never have to do, no matter who I would have to fight in the future. It was a deeper pain than any cut, wound, or a battered body could ever be. Both healing and harming were quite draining on me, and it was not something to be done lightly.
Noz also taught me about protecting my body while I spirit walked. The Shamans were considered Two-spirited because of their ability to keep their body alive while their soul walked the spirit world. He explained that even though the body was alive, it would be totally unprotected. If my body died while I spirit walked I would be stuck in the spirit world. He also warned me that if I stayed in the spirit world for too long my body would most likely die of lack of nourishment, even if I was more Fae genetically, I was still part human.
My first visit to the spirit world was frightening. The Ethereals appeared in the form they had in our world but they looked fluid like tinted water walking and shimmering with the light their spirit bodies held, not unlike the way my cousin Hadley or Maria Starr looked when I had witnessed their ectoplasmic reconstructions. I wondered now, that when I had watched the reconstructions, if what I was really seeing was the spirits magicked into replaying their final demise. When I asked Noz later, he explained that the stronger the magic the clearer the spirit became when manifested. As a Shaman I had no use for those magics since I could clearly see the spirits and interact with them at any time.
The first time I spirit walked, I noticed several Ethereals lingering around. Noz said that it was common and to expect to see a spirit here and there on my journey. I was walking in the area of the spirit world mirroring the clearing around Noz's house. The spirit world is like another layer to our universe. In the spirit world everything looks the same, but different, much like the difference between a photograph and its negative. Everything is more shadowed and dulled in comparison to our world. The only bright spots were the spirits of the people, supernaturals, and animals that glowed with the power of their ambiance.
Walking through the clearing I started into the dense woods surrounding it. I was trying to be mindful of what was around me. Noz warned me of malevolent spirits and I didn't want to meet up with one of those, especially since I had not found my spirit guide yet. Almost as soon as I had that thought, a bull elk shot through the trees and stopped just twenty feet in front of me. He was magnificent. His spirit was a bright red and he stood about nine feet tall from the tip of his enormous antlers to his bottom of his hooves. His deep brown fur was long and shaggy. He cocked his head in my direction and examined me for a moment before proceeding to walk slowly towards me.
I wasn't sure if this was my spirit guide but he had yet to say anything. One might be wondering how an elk might say anything to me, well spirits speak telepathically. I couldn't read the minds of spirits the same way as I could corporeal people, I could only hear their thoughts if they choose to share them with me.
I began to get nervous as he approached and I slowly backed up away from him. He bowed his head forward putting his four-foot long antlers between him and myself. He stopped for a second scraping his right hoof on the ground, a gesture I had seen bulls do before charging a matador. I knew what this meant, and I had no idea what would happen if he rammed his spirit body into mine. I had never thought to ask, and I didn't want to find out.
My fight or flight instincts kicked in and my body wanted flight. Just as I was about to run, a jaguar leaped from a nearby tree and ambushed the bull elk. Gold and red sparks flew in a cloud around them as they battled. She was about 6 feet long and about 250 pounds. Her coat was orange and tan and adorned with black spotted rosettes. Her spectral color was a yellow glow that reminded me of sunshine. The jaguar's jaws clamped around the elk's neck and bit down hard while whipping her head back and forth tearing the glowing flesh away as the elk struggled with no effect. When there was no fight left in the elk, the jaguar released him and left him in a heap on the ground, only to stalk towards me.
"Stay back!" I screamed at the jaguar as she made her way towards me. I knew I couldn't outrun a jaguar, but she stopped about a foot from me and raised her head to look at me.
'You have no need to fear me Shaman. I am Kama your spirit guide.' The jaguar told me with her mind, 'I have been chosen to guide you in this world. I will keep you safe.' Her mind's voice was gruff and husky.
"You killed that elk!" I blurted, I was still shocked from the animalistic display.
'I did not kill him, he is spirit. I only incapacitated him for a time. I ripped apart his spiritual being and it will take time for him to recover.' Kama replied, her minds voice having a slightly affronted tone.
"So you are my guide." I said this more as a question than a statement. I never imagined a jaguar would be my guide. Noz told me that most spirit guides were animals, but I thought I would get a doe or maybe a bunny rabbit, like Alice in Wonderland, 'Down the rabbit hole I go.'
'Let me show you. I have been with you from the beginning.' Kama said.
"Show me? How?" I couldn't imagine what a jaguar would be able to show me.
'Relax I will not harm you. This is my gift to you Shaman. I will share my knowledge with you. I will show you. Place your hand on my head.' Kama dropped her head slightly and looked down.
I nodded and reluctantly placed my hand on her head. I was almost bowled over by what I saw. An onslaught of images flooded my mind. Visions of people living their lives; the good and bad, the happy and sad, their birth and their death, the love and hate, the peace and the war... all of it, and all of it was me. They didn't all look like me, but I knew, deep down in my very being, that they were all me. I could remember everything. "What...?" was all I could say when Kama backed away.
I stumbled back and sank to the ground.
'Those are your past lives. You have been reborn forty-seven times. I have stood by you since the beginning, I will stand with you till the end. This knowledge is my gift to you. Use it wisely Shaman, your life depends on it. Do not share what I have imparted on you with others, there are people in your midst that you should be wary of. I will do what I can to help you. When you come to the spirit world in the future, just call my name and I will be there. If you find the need to seek out a spirit, I will locate and guide you to that spirit. I can not affect the mortal world, but if you find yourself under spiritual attack you should call on me.' Kama said with compassion in her voice.
"Kama, who is it I should be wary of? Why can't you just tell me?" I know I must have sounded a little exasperated but I was really tired of all the riddles. 'Can't anyone just tell me anything straight out?' I thought completely forgetting that Kama could hear my thoughts just as I could hear hers.
'I am merely a guide. I have already given you much more than I should have. You must go through your journey of life making your own choices. I have given you the tools to survive and it is up to you to use them. I will reveal what I can, when I can, without interfering with your destiny. Close your eyes dear Shaman.' Kama said as I felt her warm body rub against my legs and it was then I realized she was there at my awakening, before my spirit was rejoined with my body.
When I returned, I told Noz about the experience with the elk and of Kama. I left out the part about my past lives though, as Kama instructed. He was impressed that I would have such a formidable spirit guide. Maybe he thought that I would get a spirit rabbit for a guide too.
It ended up being a huge advantage. I had been many things in my past lives besides existing as a normal human. Some of my lives I lived simple and quiet, some were filled with death and war. But what I really found advantageous were the lives I lived as other types of beings.
The memories I had of my past lives were like any memory I had made in this life, but there were too many to sort through at one time. It would take years or even decades to review all the information, but situations or ideas would trigger them just as I could trigger my own memories in this life. When I needed to remember how to do one thing or another, just as I would do normally with my memories, these past life memories would also come to the fore.
I wasn't always happy with all the images triggered. I had done some pretty horrible things in some of my past lives. Although I had not seen all the memories yet, I had seen enough to know there was probably more that I would see and not like. It took me a while to come to terms with some of the things I did and saw, but there was nothing I could do to change them. I knew Kama had given me quite the gift.
My training came much easier with the knowledge Kama had bestowed on me. I had been so many things in my many lives. Each one was different, but there was so much information there. Hand to hand combat was present in several of my lives so I inherently knew how to use a multitude of weapons in a variety of styles. I couldn't just put them to use without training this body to learn the moves. Sure I had the formula in my head, but I needed to practice just the same. It made the training go much faster. Knowing the steps was half the battle, but I couldn't say it was easy.
Redin worked me hard during our training sessions and I had become quite skilled, at least that's what he told me. He was surprised by my aptitude, but he didn't know of the knowledge that was bestowed on me. I guess the real test of my abilities would come in real battle, and I prayed that I wouldn't have the opportunity to test it, although I knew that was unrealistic. Danger seemed to follow close behind me.
Redin and I worked with all kinds of weapons. We trained with many different swords, knives, and various blunt weapons. We didn't train in long range weapons much though. Redin was more about the up close fight, which was fine with me. Who needed to know how to shoot a bow and arrow when you could shot a gun, and I could learn that back in the human world. Hell, I even had some experience in that department both in this life and some of my last lives.
My choice of weapons turned out to be wielding two scimitars. They were lightweight which helped when trying to slash an enemy with speed. The blades had a mild curve and a disk shaped pommel which provided a very secure grip. Redin had given me a pair of my own when I began showing them favor during our sparring matches. He thought it was better to concentrate on training with the weapons I felt most comfortable with, due to the time constraint. I was touched at his gesture but almost refused. I wasn't good with gifts, but when he told me they once belonged to his mother, I couldn't refuse.
"Sookie you must take them. I have no use for them. It will be best if you train with the weapons you will be using in combat." Redin tried to reason with me.
"I know but Redin...they were your mother's." I protested.
"Yes, but she can no longer use them and you remind me of her. She was a soft person, not a trait common among my people, yet a fierce warrior. She would be proud that one such as yourself was wielding her weapons." Redin said softly. His eyes were so full of genuine affection I could not say no. The scimitars were beautiful. He explained that weapons of this finery were very rare and much sought after. The long blades gleamed and were made of a special alloy mix his people used, made of a mixture of silver and iron. Each sword had a big red jewel on its pummel. Redin told me they were rubies...priceless to be sure.
I had found out during my training that Redin was also a master of stealth as well as a master of hand to hand combat. It was part of who he was as a Twilight Elf. Twilight Elves are very secretive. They live underground and their red eyes gave them the ability to shift between the normal spectrum of light and that of infravision at will, letting them see in the dark. They were once much larger in number, but wars between themselves had diminished that number greatly. They were a warrior race and often attacked one another for power and wealth. They rarely came to the surface. When they did, they came cloaked, allowing them to stay off the radar of the humans and other supernaturals.
Redin and his kin used a cloak that made them invisible, not just to the eyes but also scent. When he pulled the hood up over his head, he simply disappeared. His cloak had been passed down from generation to generation and had been in his family for hundreds of years. It had once belonged to his father and was one of the few things Redin had left of his. The cloak was long, black, and double sided. The inside was velvet and covered in the golden embroidered symbols that enchanted the cloak. The outside was a plain black wool. It made him very hard to locate, which I learned thoroughly during our training sessions.
Our friendship grew as we spent time together and we had become close friends. I often got the feeling he wanted more, but I brushed it off. This was not the time for such things, not to mention the unresolved relationship I had with Eric. Redin was the only one of the Others I trusted. He always made me feel he genuinely cared about me and wanted to help me. Redin had never made me feel as Noz did, like a pet. He would always answer any questions I had that he was able, but of course there were some he was bound not to tell, like how to open the portal back to my world. I was still looking for a way out, I trusted Redin, but he still would not disobey Noz and take me home.
"Redin can't you just take me home for a little while? I promise I will come back with you." I had already begged Noz and he would not even entertain the thought.
"Sookie, I would if I could...but Noz is my master. I owe him fealty. If he were to find out that I took you back against orders it would be...let's just say...bad." Redin said with a frown.
"How would he know? I won't tell him if you won't." I continued my begging.
"He would know...trust me. Noz has his ways. I would be punished severely. The Council does not give second chances. I would be executed when I returned. I would have to run forever, never to return." Redin looked into my eyes pleadingly. I could tell he wanted to help, but he would lose everything in the process, including his life.
Redin was young when Noz found him and he had raised Redin in the Otherlands. He had been orphaned in the human world when his father was killed. Redin didn't expand further on the subject and I didn't feel it was right to ask about something as personal as his fathers death. I could see the hurt in his eyes when he spoke of it. I figured if he wanted to tell me he would.
He was accepted into Aradia because of the rarity of his kind, and the ability to be trained to defend the Otherlands in a way the Council saw fit. He had been trained by some of the best fighters in existence, and in the process, had become one of them. Much to my dismay, I learned that Redin was often used as an assassin for the Others. He was one of the people they sent to take care of any threats to Aradia. I had a hard time uniting the idea of the friend and teacher Redin, to the stealthy killer assassin Redin. It seemed to me that we were both being used to achieve the ends of the Council.
I had told him I thought that it was terrible for the council to dictate his fate and force him to kill for them. He just said that he was grateful to Noz for taking him in and that if he had stayed with his people he would have had to kill many more to stay alive. Redin felt that knowing the peace and sanctuary of Aradia verses knowing the war and death of his own people was a tradeoff he was more than willing to make. I didn't see the difference. Killing is killing either way, but who was I to judge. He made the best out of his circumstances.
I was surprised at the fairy gifts I had manifested. I was extraordinarily stronger, my senses were more acute, I could teleport from place to place, and I could mask my scent as my great grandfather did. I was also gifted with a long life span. Tania estimated I could live as long as my grandfather, Fintan, would have lived as he was over seven-hundred years old when he was killed. I had a hard time dealing with the fact that I would outlive most of my friends and family, but there was nothing to be done about it. I often tried to keep that little fact out of my mind. If I was going to go against this Dark Soul, I might not make it through the year, so it wouldn't matter how long I was capable of living, right?
My Fae training turned out to be extremely challenging. I did end up working with Tania. She was feisty and had a short temper that shot off like a cannon. Noz wasn't exactly accurate when he said she was tolerant, she was a strict teacher and very serious...all the time.
She came to Noz's cottage every other afternoon to work on using my Fae gifts. Teleporting was one of the easiest of my abilities to master. At first it took a lot of focus, if I let my mind wander even a bit I would end up in a totally different place than I intended. My Shaman training came in handy in this instance with all the meditating and mind focusing I was learning. I found that if I had been to a place before, it was much easier to picture where I wanted to be or if I focused on a person, I could pop to them. Over time I was becoming adept at that as well. Once I even tried to get myself home, unfortunately, this didn't work. I ended up on the crossroads in Aradia, I couldn't teleport out of one dimension into another. Noz was none to happy with me for trying and kept an even more watchful eye on me after that.
Masking my scent was also easy, a few magic words and "poof" no more Fairy smell. I learned that I was not really getting rid of the smell so much as masking the magic inside me. I knew this would come in handy. Tania was wise and she taught me many spells. My Fae magic was strong. This was the real gift of the Fae. Tania worked with me on memorizing the spells and putting them to use. I had even practiced some of the less lethal ones on Redin and found it came quite naturally. Maybe it was the Fay in my blood or my essential spark, I don't know, but this, I thought, would prove to be one of my more beneficial powers.
I could do so many things using Fae magic. There were spells for all sorts of things. Each of the Fae types, fire, water, sky and earth had their own magics. Tania didn't know all the magics of all the Fae. She mainly knew the ones of the Fire Fae, but all Faries used a basic set of magics and she taught me these. Apparently the Faries guard their magics and do not share with one another. Luckily Tania had been through the Fairy Wars the fae had with the vampires. She had picked up a bit of the Sky magics and was able to teach me. I guessed that this was why Noz choose her to train me. Since I was of the Sky Fae I was able to use the elements in the atmosphere such as wind, lighting, moisture and water in my magics.
I used the wind to do quite a few things. I could encase my body with it and use it as sort of a shield, like a whirlwind that would help me to fend off attacking blows or ranged attacks. I could use the wind to carry messages, like a whisper that I could direct to a person from great distances. Also I could pull the air out of an enclosed area suffocating anything breathing in the room. This one I didn't particularity care for, but I could do it just the same.
The lightening I could use as a weapon. I pulled the electricity from the air and it ran across my skin in a blue glowing charge. I could shoot it from my fingertips or surround my scimitars with it causing each blow of my sword to also give off an electric jolt. This was much harder to master, controlling the force of electricity was difficult to direct. When I first started practicing this in the woods with Tania, I was trying to target a single tree but ended up hitting the foliage near by setting it ablaze. I was able to put the fire out quite quickly by pulling the moisture from the air and causing it to rain.
Using the moisture in the air was extremely cool, literally cool. I could cool the air around an object or person freezing them in place. I liked this much better than using lightening. I could put a person or object in a suspended animation for a time. I am sure there was more I could learn to do with the Sky magics, but I was working with Tania's limited knowledge of those magics.
The power within me was great and had made me smell more Fae, at least that's what Redin and Noz told me. I don't think I would last long around the vamps if they couldn't keep their hands off me, but I couldn't test out how much more I smelled like a Fairy until I got home. Vampires weren't allowed in the Otherlands, they couldn't have them running around Aradia drinking the blood of the powerful creatures that lived here.
I found I really missed Eric. I knew he could be a giant pain in my ass, and he always acted all high handed when it came to me, lets face it, when it came to everyone else too, but I still missed him all the same. Being here made me realize it was Eric who invoked those feelings, not the bond. Since being out of the human realm I have not been able to feel the bond at all. I really did care for Eric and I knew now that those feelings were my own. I knew I had feelings for him since the time he spent at my house, but I wasn't sure how he would react to my changes, and the fact I just might be able to kick his ass. He just might want to drain me, but I didn't want to think about that.
One afternoon, I stood in the field behind Noz's Cottage I took in the scene around me. The sun was bright and the breeze light. Flowers in a multitude of colors adorned the ground around me. In the distance the deep woods surrounded the clearing. I was wearing the leather armor I usually wore when I trained and my weapons were sheathed on my back. Noz had the outfit enchanted by a witch that lived here in the Otherlands. It was strong as chainmail, but as lightweight as leather. When I first started training I had tried to wear chainmail armor, but it was bulky and heavy. Yeah, I was stronger now, but I found it a hindrance when sparring with weapons. At first I was a little reluctant to wear the leather ensemble, but after struggling with the chainmail, I quickly changed my mind.
The light brown leather hugged my form "like a caterpillar embraces a butterfly," as Eric would have said. The halter style top was cut in a low v-neck and showed off my assets. The pants laced up the sides and were embroidered with a marking, a small symbol of a horse sat on the side of my right hip. It looked much like the crude, cave drawing depictions of horses made by Neanderthals.
Noz told me it was the symbol of a Goddess that once lived here; her name was Epona. Epona and her horses were escorts of the souls in the afterlife, they would lead the lost souls that were left in our world, to the safely of the spirit world. Noz told me that in the old times she was often mistaken for a Valkyrie by the spirits she would help cross over. He said Epona would protect my soul when I Spirit Walked, since she was the patron Goddess of the Shamans, and I honored her by wearing her symbolic representation.
As I was waiting for Redin to show up, I was staring off into space thinking about the time I had spent here, the friends I had gained, and all my transformations. A genuine smile crossed my face, as I realized that I had truly come to accept who I am. I know I didn't want to change at first, but I came to realize that even though it had been the most difficult few months of my life, this would ultimately give me back my freedom. I could now defend myself and my friends. That was the most precious endowment I could have ever received. I had come to really believe that this was a gift and not a curse.
I had been there for four months and it seemed, to me, to be much longer. I had learned so much in my time here. I was by no means a master of all my gifts but I had pretty good hold on them now. I would always remember my strange yet exciting experiences in Aradia.
Redin finally showed up. I discovered even though he had a ruff exterior, he was really a kind person, even if he was a bit infuriating at times. We got along deliciously. "Hello Sookie! Have you been waiting long?" Redin's voice boomed through the clearing and he was looking as beautifully blue and deadly as ever. He was wearing his full combat armor, like the armor he wore when we meet, and his special cloak. Redin was holding a bundle in his hands I noticed.
"No. Not too long. I was just thinking about everything that has happened." I couldn't help myself from sounding a little forlorn. "I miss my friends and family. I have a life waiting for me back in Bon Temps. Well, I hope its still waiting." Aradia was a nice place sure, but I never felt comfortable here. I felt like I was under constant surveillance.
"You could have a life here you know..." Redin didn't finish his thought after he took in the sad look on my face. "I will miss you when you leave Sookie. I will be looking out for you when you go back." Redin strode over to me and pulled me into his arms. They were strong, warm, and comforting.
"Are you getting soft on me Red?" I asked teasingly with a smirk on my lips.
"Naw...just copping a feel is all. I won't have your warm body this close to me for a while." Redin deadpaned and then burst into laughter.
"You jerk!" I giggled like a schoolgirl. Just then, it registered what he had said as he released me.
"I am going home? When? Tell me!" I couldn't help the excitement from bubbling up. I might have jumped up and down.
"I have been hearing whispers of your departure. Noz has not said anything to me yet, but I think it will be soon. I brought you something." Redin said with a gleam in his eyes. He knew I was no good at the whole gift thing.
"Oh Redin...no." I objected.
"Yes. This will help you when you return." Redin handed me the bundle. It was a cloak like his own, only the interior velvet was a dark burgundy in color, while the outside was the same black wool.
"Oh my God! Redin how?" I shook out the cloak and pulled it around my neck fastening it. It fit perfectly. When I pulled the hood over my head I disappeared. I couldn't help but giggle as I pulled it back down.
"It was also my mother's. I have no use for it. It is a woman's cloak, after all." He waved it off like it was nothing, but I knew better.
"Redin, I can't. You have given me so much! You won't have anything to remember her by." The guilt was plainly on my face as my eyebrows drew together.
Redin reached out to me using his thumb to smooth the crease between my eyes. "Sookie, I have you, you remind me more of her than any object could ever do. Besides, if you wear it on your body while you spirit walk, it will keep your body invisible. It could be handy." He smiled at me.
The ever logical Redin. He always tried to use logic to get me to do or take things I normally wouldn't. It was part of what made him both infuriating and charming. I launched myself at him gripping his body in a tight bear hug. His arms eased around me when he said, "Sookie please your crushing me." I couldn't help but laugh. I was stronger, but I didn't think for one second I could crush his muscular body.
The moment was perfect. I would treasure my time with Redin forever. He was a talented fighter and an exceptional teacher. I would be thankful for the rest of my life for all that he shared with me, but I was excited none the less to be going home. After the last grueling few months learning and dealing with all the unbelievable changes I have gone through in this strange and enchanting place, I was ready to be someplace familiar.
I should have know things were not going to stay that idyllic because the moment soon passed as Noz rushed over to where Redin and I were standing. He looked at our embrace with a pensive look on his face. Redin released his hold on me and stepped away and asked, "Master? What is it?"
Noz was fully dressed in his ritual garb, it was similar to the one he wore when we met, except the shirt was adorned with small metal shaped disks with symbols on them instead of beads. He ignored Redin's question and his hands were clasping each other as he was rubbing them together in a nervous motion. I had never seen Noz nervous before, and I was disconcerted. "Sookie...it's time. You will return to the human world now."