Sapphire
"Who is she?" Nate thought to himself as he watched over the unconscious girl as she remained asleep by the fire in his camp that he had shielded from prying eyes with a strong protection spell. "She is strong and tall and fierce but she is still quite young, too young to be alone in the forest." "One thing I am sure of," he thought to himself, "She is definitely a young elf and a very beautiful one at that!" He looked wonderingly over at the sleeping girl child, "She has the appearance of an elf so I am guessing she also has very acute senses and fast reflexes as well, how else would she be able to hold off that many Raiders on her own for as long as she did." He muttered to himself, "Of course I am assuming that she needed help but who did the howls belong to and why the whistle, who was she responding to? How did she become surrounded by so many Raiders?" Nate pondered the strange situation until Rain began to stir, and when she awoke it was to the sight of him watching her with a worried and slightly confused expression on his face. "Where am I?" Rain asked, partly to herself and partly to the young man who was sat watching her with a strange thoughtfulness. Nate who at first was captivated by the mystery of the unknown girl was now captivated by the woman herself, "Wow, she is exquisite, her sapphire eyes are so compelling and her features are beautiful even for an elf" he thought to himself.
"We are in my camp." Nate answered. "It is not far from the clearing where you fought the Raiders."
"Thank you," Rain said softly as she looked around to take in her surroundings and smiled when she felt Silver pacing anxiously, hidden in the shadows. With a soft bark howl, she called him to her and with a silent graceful movement she stood as the large predator appeared and then placed his front paws on her shoulders and stared with wisdom into her eyes. After a solemn moment while neither moved, the wolf seemingly having made his point, gave a happy yip and licked Rain on the cheek before placing his paws on the ground and curling up on the grass at her feet.
Nate watched the whole interaction with a mixture of fear and awe and was still sitting rooted to the spot as Rain gracefully lowered herself to the ground and placed an arm protectively around the wolf.
"So," he said clearing his throat, "I take it this wolf is your friend?" Nate looked with a hint of disbelief at the huge wolf.
Rain replied, "Yes, Silver is my friend and companion, and is almost like a brother to me." She paused for a moment as if listening to something that he could not hear, "He would like to thank you for not trying to harm him as most would if they saw him prowling around their camp." Sighing, she blushed and added, "Silver would also like me to have better manners and said I should say thank you for saving us from the Raiders." After listening for a moment she said, "He also wants me to thank you for taking such good care of me," this she finished saying with a glare at the wolf who was lying in the grass looking infuriatingly innocent.
Nate, who was finally realizing that this girl had more powerful magic than he had originally believed, thought with surprise, "She is talking to the wolf she calls Silver," he exclaimed to himself, "and I think that it understands her!" "So, my lady, I never did hear your name?" Nate queried the still blushing girl.
"It is Rain," she answered softly. "Yours is Nate, is it not?" she asked, trying not to laugh at the surprised expression on his face as she said his name.
"How does she know my name?" he thought, "I never told her, does she read minds?"
"Oh, don't worry I cannot read your mind, I simply asked your beautiful stallion, Shadow is his name, right?" Rain replied to the unspoken question.
"Yes, his name is Shadow and mine is Nate," he answered slowly, still a bit wary about the strength of her magic and how it seemed so uncontrolled and leaked out in everything she did.
He thought to himself, "It is as if she has never been told to, or even tried to control it. I wonder if she even knows that it is there." "I wonder what else she has never been told and what she does not know," Nate muttered softly to himself curious about this young woman, Rain, who had him caught in the mystery of her past.
"Rain, how much about yourself, do you know?" he asked carefully, "Do you know within yourself you possess incredible magic?"
"No!" Rain answered vehemently, "I have no magic! I am just good with animals," she added forcefully.
"But you do have magic, Rain, it is very powerful but untamed, I can help you," Nate softly replied. "Tell me about yourself first, how old are you and where is your family?"
Rain flinched, she couldn't help it, "I am fifteen and I have no family, except for Silver."
Nate seeing the thinly veiled pain in her eyes, decided not to push the matter of her family. "After all," he thought to himself, "It is not uncommon for a young elf to run away or be banished for being opposed to the old ways."
Suddenly, a startling thought hit him, "What if she does not know she is an elf?" he gasped at the possibility. "That would certainly explain a lot, including the nonexistent knowledge of her magic, and her having no family. Perhaps she was kidnapped, or got lost, or left for dead, I wonder?" With these thoughts fresh in his mind he asked one simple statement with which he changed her world forever, "Rain, do you know you are an elf just like me?"
Rain gasped and hunched over as if to protect herself, unexplainable emotions rushed through her, disbelief, surprise, awe, confusion, excitement, and most of all, fear. "What, no it can not be, I am human, my mom was human, and so was the village where we lived, and I don't look like you do!" Rain yelled, even though the last part was just a guess as she had never actually seen what she looked like.
"Oh really!" Nate said with a hint of a smile on his face. Using his own tremendous elf magic he produced a full length antique gold mirror that he leaned against a tree a few steps away from Rain. "So, care to take a look?" he questioned, now out and out grinning.
Taking a few deep breaths and holding on to Silver's fur for support, Rain slowly walked to the mirror and gasped in wonder. She was beautiful! Tall and willowy, with graceful but lean hard muscles, and under her baggy cutoffs and soft vest she radiated soft undeniable strength. She had long straight black hair just like Nate, which she pushed aside to reveal the pointed ears of an elf. Focusing on her face she noticed her smooth pale skin, sculpted features and lastly her piercing sapphire eyes. "Wow!" she was frozen in awe, staring at the mirror trying to take it all in.
"So, do you believe me now?" Nate said with laughter in his voice.
"Yes, I think I believe you now," Rain answered, in a soft voice, followed by an unbelievable musical laugh.
