By the time she returned to the cabin, Astrid's vision was hazy, a side effect of using so much magic. She was also dead tired, but determined not to let it show as she lightly rapped her knuckles on the door. A moment later, it swung inward on squealing hinges, revealing the short, bearded man the others had called Halt. Gesturing for her to come inside and make herself at home, he returned to the table and the steaming mug that sat upon it. Astrid's nose twitched. What is it with these Rangers and coffee?
She was so serious about this question that she decided to ask. "Why, may I ask, are you Rangers so attached to coffee?"
After taking a long swig from his mug, Halt looked up at her. "It is," he began, a philosophical look to his features, "the juice of life, nature's pick-me-up, the elixir of alertness." Studying her tired features and clouded ice blue eyes he said, "You look like you could use a mug."
"No!" Astrid replied too quickly. She dropped her bag down from her shoulders and, taking a seat at the table, withdrew a small looking glass from a side pocket. Her eyes had started regaining their color since she stopped using magic, but until the energy fatigue wore off, they would still be hazy. "Merde," she swore under her breath, closing her eyes and dropping her head into her hand. "Tres, tres fatigué," she whispered to herself again.
"You speak Gaelic?" There was a note of surprise in his voice as he studied her again.
"A little," she nodded, mystified as to how he had heard her speak- she was sure she hadn't said anything at any great volume. "So," she continued, sitting up straight, "let's get to the meat of the matter, as you humans say." The words stuck slightly in her mouth like too much honey, only not as sweet.
Halt raised a thick, dark eyebrow and motioned for her to continue.
"I am assuming the Ranger Gilan has informed you of me and my people and the situation we face."
He nodded curtly, "That would be correct. He also told me why you are here in Araluen and here in my house."
"Good. Then I would like to formally plead with you to do what ever you can to get me an audience with His Royal Majesty, King Duncan. It is of the utmost urgency."
Halt sat thoughtfully sipping his coffee for a few minutes before speaking. "How are your injuries?"
Astrid knew what he was doing and decided to just go along with it. "They should be fully healed within the week, though there will be a few nasty scars."
"Within the week?" he said, raising an eyebrow once again. Astrid merely nodded in response and he continued. "Is it safe to assume this has something to do with your exhaustion and your eyes?"
This Halt is quite observant, I'm going to have to watch myself around him, she thought before replying. "Yes. The cloudiness and pallor of my eyes is the unfortunate result of energy fatigue. The exhaustion is just because healing is so difficult."
Halt sipped at his coffee. "Difficult how?"
Observant and curious. "First, I am not trained as a healer. Second, healing wounds like mine would be incredibly taxing for even the most experienced healer because it requires so much energy."
"Alright," Halt began, downing the last of his coffee, "I will bring you to the king and see to it that you get your audience. When will you be fit to travel?"
Astrid released the air she'd been holding hostage in her lungs since he had started speaking and allowed herself a little smile. "Thank you so much. I believe tomorrow morning will be sufficient time for me to heal enough to travel."
"We leave tomorrow morning then." He stood to refill his mug with the repulsive liquid.
"Thank you," she said again as she stood and once more called the healing shadows to her. Halt studied Astrid intently as she whispered the summoning words and the air around her darkened with her eyes. He was sure she was speaking, but in the kind of whisper that is more felt than heard, like the shadows gathering about her slight body. Shoulders noticeably hunched, she turned on her heel and glided out of the cabin.
It echoed in my ears, freezing me in place. My vision grew hazy and my palms moist, the din of the other elves faded as blood roared through my ears. Breath caught in my throat and lungs and it was a long while before I remembered to breathe. With a feeling of apprehension, I pushed my way through my horror-stricken people, trying following the sound to its source.
I broke through to the center, but was pushed roughly back by a guard. I froze. On the floor were two elfin women, one smaller, with trailing multi-faceted hair, the other tall and willowy with thick snow white hair. My mother. In the center with them were three warriors, crimson plates glimmering, leaning threateningly over them and smiling cruelly.
The women sobbed hysterically and my heart, already frozen, shattered. I desperately tried to claw my way to my mother, screaming at the top of my lungs, but to no avail. The guards, truly heartless beings as they were, beat me back until I was bloody, but my mother had already seen me. She rushed to me and was slammed with the hilt of a sword. She sprawled onto the white marble, staining it red as her unconscious body slide along its slick surface.
The guards turned their attention back to me, I was still trying to reach my senseless mother. One of them grabbed me by my hair and tugged me behind him to one of the great marble pillars. He flung me forward, my head collided with the dense stone. I slid down the smooth plane, no longer able to feel myself. All I felt was cold, all I saw was white. Then red. Then nothing.
All afternoon, Astrid had slept in the cover of the trees near the cabin as she drew strength from the shadows around her. She would wake periodically and cocoon herself in an intense swirl of dark energy, greatly expediting the healing of her wounds until she passed out again. About the third time she had done this, the gouge in her lower back had healed completely, leaving a line of smooth, indented skin and the bite on her arm and puncture in her back were little more than crusted over scabs. After the fourth time, she no longer felt the pull of the fibers of her body as she twisted to the side and the familiar itch that meant healing was almost finished surrounded her wounds. Still, even close to the end as she was, she didn't want to exhaust herself completely, so she decided to just rest.
The last of the sun had disappeared over the horizon when she woke to see tiny flickers of movement headed her way through the forest. A moment later, a green-gray clad figure materialized before her and threw the cowl of the cloak back to reveal the Ranger Will.
"Yes?" she said, remaining in her seat on the ground.
"I- I wanted to tell you how truly sorry I am and how badly I feel about," he wouldn't meet her eyes; she could feel the self-loathing coming off of him in waves, "you know, shooting you. I wanted to apologize."
"Your apology has been accepted." Astrid allowed a small smile and seeing that Will wanted to say more, she said, "Is that all you came here to tell me?"
Relief was evident in his features as he finally met her eyes; their cobalt stillness unsettling yet reassuring at the same time. "I wanted to ask you…" he trailed off unsure how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Halt told me we were leaving tomorrow, so I was going to have dinner with a few friends. I wanted to ask you if you would like to come with me. The cook, an old friend of mine, is the master of food and her meals are absolutely to die for."
She smiled again and tilted her head a little to the right. "I take it that means the food is good," her puzzled tone prompted Will to nod vigorously. "I would very much like to come then."
Will grinned widely and held out a hand to help her to her feet. Astrid took it and he felt like he was pulling a feather off of the ground as he pulled her to stand and she gracefully stretched and yawned. She did look rather catlike tugging the kinks from her muscles and when she yawned, he thought her incisors looked abnormally large for such a slight girl.