Eila drove a sharp rock down into the hard clay that was common along the Ramr River. A large chunk fell and she caught it before it could land completely in the water.
" What are you doing?" Eylörís asked as she waded through the deeper parts of the river. The water here was calmer than in most areas, which was nice.
"I'm attempting to make malleable clay for pottery. My hands are restless and my marks itch." Her voice quieted as she finished her sentence. "Besides, I think Arya needs something to do as well. She's too focused on serious things all the time. She won't get any better that way." Eila shrugged and lifted the large chunk to take it back to their campfire. The sun was setting, but there was some light left in the day.
" I believe you have a fine idea. Let me know if I can help." Eylörís said happily as images of snapping up fish danced in Eila's mind. She smiled.
" Of course." She nodded as she sat down on a log. A few feet from her sat Arya, a heavy cloak was wrapped around her shoulders and she held a mug of tea with both hands to warm her fingers. The temperature was dropping as night crept in, and Eila was beginning to feel it too.
"What do you have?" The Elf asked, looking over from their large fire. The earth was littered with arrows and debris left from war, which they used for firewood.
"I did a lot of learning about the outside world when Galbatorix was still alive, and the one thing I've always wanted to try is to make pottery. Right now, I don't have the proper equipment for making entirely clean pottery, as I'd need a set of sifts to help me remove the impurities." She looked over and smiled. "Do you want to help? I've brought enough for both of us." She raised the chunk of reddish brown colored clay and dropped it onto a flat stone she found earlier which would serve as her work surface. It cracked into three separate pieces, so she grabbed her sharp stone and struck each chunk until it was broken into much smaller pieces. She then ground those pieces into a fine powder. Luckily, there weren't too many impurities.
"Thank you, but I think I'll watch. I'm starting to get tired." She smiled. "I don't mean to be rude or offensive."
Eila's eyes widened. "Oh no, I'm not offended, truly. It's important that you get the rest you need. For me, the exhaustion felt soul-shaking. All of my limbs seemed to be made of lead." She offered a kind smile as she brushed the clay powder into a big pile. Faint sadness lit the quiet undertones of her gaze when she turned away, though. Into the clay pile, she poured a little bit of water from a second water skin she found on the ground next to a skeleton still dressed in a suit of half-buried steel armor. It was for pottery use, she decided. The first was for drinking.
Arya chuckled lightly at the phrase. "I think 'soul-shaking' is a rather accurate interpretation. No sleep is enough, and I feel the need to eat far more than I'm used to." And she hated to admit it. Beside her, Fírnen shifted with a small chuckle.
Eila looked over again and frowned. "You should let yourself eat, then. There's plenty of towns where we can find food and more rations."
Arya shook her head. "The amount of rations we have now is fine. I'm okay, really. I think it's just false hunger where I feel hungry even though I'm not."
The fire popped and Eila jumped, her hand absentmindedly flying to the dagger she now kept at her waist. The large weapon was also found on this battlefield. It had a Damascus steel blade and a handle made of what she thought might be orange amber, cleaned and polished to a clear shine. Whomever it used to belong to must have been either incredibly wealthy or a thief, she guessed. Or maybe it was given as a gift. It belonged to her now, and she's glad to have found it. The blade hadn't even rusted. She wondered if it was enchanted.
Relaxing, Eila sank back and resumed kneading the clay powder into the water so it formed a thick dough.
"Are you okay?" Arya asked.
"What? Oh, yes, I'm okay. I'm just…" she paused. "I'm beginning to feel uneasy in nature's darkness." She looked over sheepishly. "All I've known is the confines of the castle. I feel so exposed, especially at night, even with Eylörís by my side. Are you alright?"
The Elf smiled and nodded, then took a sip of her tea. "I felt the same way when I was a girl. My mother told me that the forest is only harmful to those who wish to do harm to it. If you keep care of the forest, it'll always give back to you, and you'll have nothing to worry about." Her smile brightened. "I know it's easier said than done to get over the fear of something, but the efforts you put in do not go unappreciated by your mind and body."
While she listened, Eila kneaded the soft clay until it had no lumps. Once the mixture was consistent, she began sculpting a small pendant. Her hands paused after a moment, then her eyes flicked to the fire. "I know that I have a lot to work on and I'm willing to do everything within my power to… heal." She said as she reached for the poker stick beside her. It was clear she was referring to more than just her fear of the dark. "Thank you for giving me that." She said softly as she reached into the fire with the stick and began sifting through the charred coals as they burned and glowed red. They made a fragile tinkling sound when she pushed them around. It reminded her of glass, except, it was of something more brittle and yet harder than glass. She pushed a few arrowheads around, gathering them into a pile. She picked up another stick and used it to lift one out of the fire. She dropped it, however, and it landed on the grass, burning the small leaves. She needed to wait for it to cool.
"I'm here to help and teach you. That's my job." She smiled as she watched her cousin. "May I ask what you're doing?"
"I'm going to make a necklace with an arrowhead. This is terracotta clay. It'll be able to withstand the abuse." She said, then frowned. "I think it's terracotta clay."
"No, you're right." Arya said with a smile. "You can enchant this as well to prevent it from breaking once it's done, or you could sing enchantments while it's being created. Have you had any education on enchanting things?"
Eila nodded. "It consists of angry shouting and transferring energy from somewhere to here." She gestured down at the pile of clay that sat on top of the stone slab.
Arya smiled sadly. "Try singing instead of shouting. That usually yields better results."
A heated blush spread across Eila's features. "I… don't sing."
"Why not?" Arya cocked her head and her eyes softened when her cousin looked sadly at her.
"Bad experiences." She said gently. "I have my sword to aid in this, though. Give me a moment." She said as she brushed her hands off and stood, then walked off to retrieve her sword.
Arya looked over to Fírnen, who sat behind her, and he reached over and touched the tip of his nose to her belly. Her left hand joined him and she gave him a soft smile. "Is everything alright?" She asked and he hummed.
" Yes." He said, then closed his eyes. " Please be careful with what you're about to do."
Arya frowned. "Always, but I'm also not the one performing the enchantment. I'm only here to lend guidance if she needs it."
He hummed again, then pulled away, but not before lightly rubbing his head against her shoulder.
She looked down at herself and ran her hand along the curve of her belly. It's been almost fourteen weeks and the baby has grown so much. Sometimes when his kicks are strong, her senses make her believe she felt it with her hand if she was at the right place and at the right time to experience it. She couldn't be sure though.
The baby moved a little bit and she tensed. It just… felt so strange.
"You okay?" Eila asked with a lightly concerned look.
Arya looked up with slight confusion, then gave a slightly nervous smile. "Oh, yes. Thank you. The baby is… I think he's waking up. He's starting to move around and I felt him move. That's all."
Eila nodded. "And that's good." A delightful grin spread across her lips as she situated herself and drew her sword.
"I think it is too." Arya's smile faded. She wanted to change the subject. "How much practice have you had with enchantments?" She asked.
"I have… a good amount." The half-Elf sighed, then rubbed her thumb over the Carnelian pommel of Istalrí. "I used to enchant armor and weapons and… people." Her voice quieted and she closed her eyes for a moment, lifting the wards she kept around the sword.
Eylörís returned to sit with her by the fire, and curled herself up next to Eila to warm her scales. She brushed her tail along Eila's back to greet her in a casual, nonverbal way. The half-Elf reached over and let her hand slide along Eylöris' tail as it slithered away to return the greeting.
"People?" Arya frowned and watched as Eila returned to sculpting her pendant.
She nodded. "Unfortunately."
The Elf waited for a moment longer to see if her cousin would elaborate on her statement, but gave up after a time. Silence drifted between them for what felt like a long while, and within that span, the sky had darkened significantly.
Eila was nearly finished with her pendant when she began to recite the long, twisting lines of her enchantment as though it were a poem instead. She rolled up her sleeve and set the small clay object into the flames without flinching as the fire licked her skin.
"Eila!" Arya said loudly and began to move, but it was Fírnen's tail that stopped her because by then, her cousin had already pulled away.
The half-Elf's other hand- her left hand- was still pressed to the pommel of her sword, and she closed her eyes to focus on allowing the power to drift through her and into the pendant. The magic caused the heat to intensify around it and the clay seemed to change as the flames danced on all sides.
Eylörís stared at her Rider with concern, then moved closer to aid her in her task, deciding it meant more to Eila to finish this than to stop. The best she could do was assist her Rider, so she touched her tail against Eila's back and channeled some of her own power through the enchantment.
The words slowly faded and Eila reached out again once her pendant was finished and removed it from the fire. She set it on the ground and covered it in the warm soil to help it cool slowly.
Arya straightened at the scent of burnt flesh as nausea began to roil in her stomach. She held her mug close to her nose, hoping the strong scent of ginger would help, but unfortunately, it did not.
The lyrics to Eila's enchantment changed to the words spoken for healing, and a relieved look crossed her features when the pain in her hand stopped. Her fingers started to shake as the skin crawled back into place because it itched, but she focused all of her concentration on perfecting the skin.
When she finished, she let go of the spell and let herself breathe. The typical exhaustion didn't grip her as severely as usual because all she was doing was moving power. Very little of it was coming from herself.
She took a deep breath and let it out, then looked down at her hand and smiled. The majority of her skin was completely blemishless from where it was healed, and yet her Gedwëy Ignasia mark had reformed over the new skin. The parts that had remained intact were still scarred, but everything that was healed had turned out fresh and new and smooth.
Tears welled in her eyes as she opened and closed her hand, moving each finger and feeling the freedom of unscathed skin. Her smile faded when her eyes drifted back to the fire.
"There are other ways of healing your scars. Please don't burn yourself anymore." Arya said gently and Eila looked over at her.
"There are?"
Arya smiled and nodded. "Yes. I could give myself gills if I wanted to, or maybe a tail if I felt so inclined. I actually did give myself gills to aid in protecting Saphira's egg. There have been times where I needed to hide in the water to escape danger. I will teach you to manipulate your physical presence, but that lesson is later down the road."
Eila's happy smile sobered. She couldn't be fixed now. She'd have to wait. "Thank you." She said honestly, considering if she'd really want to change the only body she's ever known.
She looked down at her hand again, feeling the smooth flesh and appreciating what had become of it. When she was still recovering from Seithr Oil burns, Shruikan had removed the oaths that lingered even after her father died. She wasn't able to heal herself until those oaths were lifted.
"You're welcome." Arya offered kindly. "How did your work turn out?"
"Oh, right." Eila shook her head a little bit and reached over to the pile of dirt that covered the pendant. She brushed the top layer away to reveal the recently enchanted item. It was still hot, so she didn't pick it up, but her eyes widened at what it had become.
The steel arrowhead had remained the way it was, but the twisted, swirling design she had created around it using the clay had turned into the pale blue of frozen ice. It had become translucent and it caught the light of the fire even as it remained in the dirt.
Eila looked to the remaining ball of clay and frowned. She used the same two sticks as before to lay the ball into the fire, and left it there. "Give me a moment." She said into the silence, then stood and made her way back to Eylörís' saddle.
Retrieving a small scrap of cloth, the half-Elf brought it back and used it to pick the pendant up. It was warm to the touch. She rubbed the dirt away, revealing more of the blue substance until it was mostly cleaned off. She used a little bit of water to finish cleaning it.
Even as the cool water spilled over her creation, it never grew cold. Her eyebrows raised in surprise and she stood, walked over to Arya, and sat down next to her on the log.
"It's… I don't know what happened." Eila whispered and handed the pendant over. Arya sat her mug down on the ground and accepted the piece with both hands.
A faint smile touched Arya's lips as she inspected the newly created item. "You used a lot to create this." Her eyes flicked to her sword. "You have a lot saved. May I ask where that came from?"
Eila's features fell. "Me. My father taught me how to… take life and obtain as much from it as possible. He forced that upon me whenever someone had broken his rules or disobeyed him. All of those people… were stored in the pommel of Istalrí." Tears welled and her gaze lingered on the fire, unable to look Arya in the eye. "I didn't want to. I never did want to."
Arya softened and leaned over, shifting closer to bring Eila into a one-armed embrace. The half-Elf accepted and rested her head on Arya's shoulder, then closed her eyes to fight back against the memories.
"You'll have a permanent home when we reach Ellesméra, and you'll never be forced to do anything like that again. I promise."
Warmth spread through Eila's chest, and she couldn't stop herself from smiling softly; sadly. "Thank you, Arya. You… that means more to me than you know."
"Family sticks together. Those ties should never die. You're my responsibility, in a sense. I am to take care of you now because you're my student, but you're also my cousin and I do care about you." She pressed a kiss to the top of Eila's head.
"I care about you too." The half-Elf said gently. "And the baby." She reached over and brushed her knuckles against Arya's abdomen, and the Elf did her best not to tense up. Eila's hand fell back to her lap and she shifted and sighed heavily. "It's getting late. I think we should get some rest." She said as she pulled away.
"I agree with you on that." Arya handed the pendant back. "You did well with your enchantment."
Eila smiled. "Eylörís helped."
Arya chuckled lightly. "You both did well, then."
"Thank you. I'll see you when morning gets here." She stood and straightened her trousers.
"See you when morning gets here. Goodnight Eila."
"Nighty night, sleep tight, don't let the Burrow Grubs bite." The half-Elf chucked, then began preparing herself for sleep.
Arya frowned at the strange reference, but shrugged to herself and did the same with the hope of a peaceful night's rest in mind.
A/N: Mwah hahahahaaaaaa! I am currently sitting on (almost) four chapters just for you, and I'm much happier with them this time around.
Also, I am posting this from my tablet, which I've never done before, so I'm really hoping this works. Fingers crossed. My computer is all the way on the other side of my room and it's cold in here. It's also in the middle of the night and my computer has a really loud 'turning on' sound that I can't turn off, so... we're not trying to alert the whole household that I'm updating my secret fanfiction...
On a more serious note, I think I'll release these chapters one day at a time as I already have them written. It'll give me time to keep up. It seems better when I write on my own without the drive to post something. Again, this is my first time posting fanfiction to begin with so... I'm learning.
THANK YOU for keeping up with me on this fantastic adventure! See you next chapter!
P.s. An extra 'thank you' to those who left comments. I love you guys. It makes me feel all warm inside, but not in a weird way.
-Lady Arlo