((check it out! I'm back! A'right. I wrote this chapter ages ago and spent today editting it. I hope you like it! R/R please))
Soriana's eyes danced as she piped out a simple tune on her flute. Te six year old elfling sat on the roof of the Morgan family home and watched as the sun set over the horizon. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up.
"Its nearly bedtime, Sori, you should come in."
"Just a moment, Papa, it's almost done," she said, pointing at the fading light with her flute.
Stormsiege smiled and sat beside her. She yawned and leaned against him, trying in vain to keep her eyes open. When darkness had covered the city, and the stars were twinkling softly, the paladin turned to his daughter and found her to be asleep. A loving smiled crossed his face and he gently lifted her into his arms to carry her into the house.
Larah crept along the forest floor, searching for footprints or any sign of where her teacher was.
"Master Ailur?" she whispered, "Master Ailur?"
Only the wind in the trees answered her query. She pulled her cloak tighter around her lithe form and continued walking. Suddenly, she whirled about, hearing something stumbling through the brush. A young elven lad fell at her feet. Both his hands were bleeding freely and there was a deep gash across his back. He looked up at her weakly, his eyes begging her for help. She bent down beside him and examined his wounds. He needed a healer…now. She looked around her quickly, still no signs of Master Ailur. She bit her lower lip and rolled up her sleeves.
Ailur trotted along the forest floor in his wolf-form. He stopped and smelled the air, carefully tracking his student during this test. A rusty smell reached his sensitive nose suddenly. Elven blood.
"Tunare…I should have stayed closer to her."
He ran towards the smell and then came to a stop a few feet away from where she knelt by the fallen elf. He laughed inwardly at his irrational panic. Far from being in danger, Larah was struggling to help the poor lad. He watched her intently, hoping she would be one of those graced with Tunare's light.
Larah touched the boy's forehead. He was burning up. A fever…that would mean an infection. She ripped off one of her sleeves, ripping it into strips to bring the wounds on his hands. She felt something strange surging through her. She clasped his calloused hands with her own smooth ones and watched in shock as they began to glow steadily, the light increasing in size until it encompassed both elves. Within moments, the young elven lad lay sleeping, his wounds healed over. A wolf trotted over to Larah's side and then morphed effortlessly into Master Ailur.
"You've done well, Larah. You've done very well indeed. Let us take him back to Kelethin and find him a place for the night."
"Master Ailur, I would feel a lot better if he stayed with me…so I can make sure he's alright. He had a fever and…"
Ailur chuckled and hefted the lad into his arms.
"Then to House Cloudwhisper, my student, and I'll show you some herbs you can use if he needs further healing."
Klarias awoke slowly, sunlight dancing across his face. He opened his eyes slowly and beheld an amazing sight. An elven lass stood by him, examining him closely. Her eyes were gentle and the same green as the forest. Her auburn hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and wisps hung down over her eyes. Her smile was soft and kind as she realized he was waking up.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?"
He gaped at her in shock. Her speech wrang with education and her words showed her to be a noblewoman. Why would a noble care about him?
"Uh…G'mornin' to you, m'lady. I'm f-fine, really I am."
She giggled when he said "m'lady" and blushed softly.
"My name is Larah. And so far as being a lady, I'm only a student druid. But I am quite glad to see that you are indeed much better off than when I found you last night."
A memory flashed before his eyes, a woman ablaze with light. He had thought it was Tunare and that he was dying when he had seen it.
"I'm Klarias, Lady Larah, jest Klarias the…er…scout."
"A pleasure to meet you, Klarias." A pensive look crossed her face for a moment and then she smiled at Klarias, "Your parents are probably worried about you. Should I tell them where you are?"
Klarias looked away, trying to keep the tears from coming.
"Don' bother. My ma 'n da been…with Tunare fer years now…"
Larah looked down.
"I'm sorry…I didn't know…"
"S'a'right."
Ailur leaned against a tree staring up at the morning sky. Larah Cloudwhisper had more than passed his test. She walked with Tunare in her heart more than most elves did. If the Mother of them all had granted Larah with druidic powers, then it was Ailur's responsibility and joy to train her. He closed his eyes and smiled. That lad had healed up well, no traces of whatever had happened to him remained. Perhaps Tunare had led Larah to him that night, perhaps there was a reason that Klarias Leafrunner now lived in the halls of House Cloudwhisper.