Chapter 4
When she awoke, the first thing Karis did was stretch her arms over her head. She instantly regretted it. Pain shot through her left shoulder, causing her to let out a cry of pain.
"Try not to move your arm too much" came the soft voice of Tylira. Opening her eyes, Karis spotted Tylira sitting at the end of the bed she was on, a cover wrapped around her. Karis looked at her shoulder, noticing the dark finger shaped bruises, as well as slight cuts that seemed even more apparent against her light purple skin.
"My uncle…" Karis whispered quietly as the memories of what had happened came flooding back to her. Tylira reached out and gently placed a hand on top of Karis', trying to reassure her.
"He isn't here now. The guards and I have sent him on his way. You don't need to worry about him anymore" Tylira said with a warm smile. A wave of relief washed over Karis as she heard the news and she relaxed slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her pet raven, perched on top of her clothes.
It took a few moments for her brain to realise what she was looking at before she let out a startled cry, pulling the covers up tight against herself. Following her gaze, Tylira caught on quick why Karis was now hiding whilst her cheeks turned a deep violet colour.
"Sorry" she said, offering an apologetic smile. "You were quite injured. I was able to deal with your initial injuries, but your shoulder was severely damaged. We did put something on you to cover you up." Tylira motioned slightly for Karis to look at herself, which she did so by putting her head under the cover.
Wrapped tight around her chest appeared to be some cloth, leaving only her shoulders, arms and stomach bare. In replacement of her trousers was a loose fitting skirt that reached down to her feet and seemed to be shimmering slightly. Carefully and cautiously, Karis pulled the covers back and stood up, wincing slightly as she put her feet down.
"You injured one of your ankles as well" Tylira said as way of explanation as Karis tried to balance herself before moving to a floor mirror. She looked at herself, feeling herself flinch at the sight of the markings on her shoulder. On the flip side, however, she found herself quite liking the look of the skirt, giving a little twirl in the mirror to admire the deep purple item, its little sequins glittering in the light.
"I know how important it is for a young woman to have her privacy" Tylira said, walking up behind Karis and placing her hand on her good shoulder. "I wasn't about to leave you without some kind of clothing. Plus, the bandages will help some of the wounds that will require time to heal."
Karis looked in the mirror and smiled at what she saw, Tylira standing behind her and smiling softly, her hand on her shoulder. Reaching up with one of her own hands, Karis took hold of Tylira's hand and squeezed it slightly. A knock on the door to their little room made Karis jump.
"Excuse me" said one of the sentinel guards as she walked into the room. "May I have a moment to speak with you?" Karis vaguely recognised the woman as the guard who had been present when she awoke just prior to waking up in the bed. That meant she was still in Raynewood Retreat.
"Of course, what is it?" Tylira said, turning to look at the other guard. Deciding it was best not to interfere, Karis walked over to her raven, petting it gently. The raven let out a squawk before moving out of the way at Karis' insistence. She wanted to put her top back on as she still felt a little exposed. Tylira certainly didn't seem to mind not having anything on, but it wasn't something Karis was used to.
Pulling the top over her head, wincing slightly in the process, Karis returned back to Tylira with her raven on her good shoulder. As she approached, she listened in to the conversation between Tylira and the guard.
"I just wanted to let you know that…." The guard said quietly and slowly, as if not sure how best to word her sentence. "That is, we, the sentinels here, we won't in form anyone that…well, that you are a druid."
Tylira offered the guard a thankful smile and nodded slightly.
"I am pleased to hear that" she said with a smile.
"We are sorry that we didn't act sooner against that coward" the guard continued, seeming to now be addressing Karis. "We were not aware of the type of person he is, but even when we were, we were conflicted about going against a superior officer. If we see him come back here, we will not tell him of where you have gone."
Tylira smiled and thanked the woman again before she left the room so that once more Karis and Tylira were alone. Karis moved over to the bed and sat down on it, her legs dangling over the edge. She looked at Tylira quietly as the older woman looked out of a window, one hand placed on her hip.
"I guess you're going to take me to Darnassus then" Karis said quietly, watching Tylira. "To take me back to my parents?" There was silence for a moment before Tylira turned around slowly and looked at Karis.
"Do you want me to take you back?" Tylira asked quietly, returning Karis' gaze. Karis opened her mouth to respond but stopped for a moment, thinking about what she was going to say. After all, wouldn't Tylira just turn around and tell her she couldn't stay with her?
"After seeing you're…uncle…" Tylira suddenly said, a hint of anger present in her voice, "I do not think that your family would be best for you. They surely knew the kind of man your uncle was, yet still they sent you to him…no child should have to go through that."
Karis didn't say anything for a few moments, as she ran what Tylira had just said through her head over and over. She slowly slid herself off the bed, trying to be careful on her bad foot, before moving closer to the druid.
"Does that mean I can go with you?" Karis asked quietly, trying not to get her hopes up to much. She would much rather go with Tylira over any other course of action, especially one that involved going back to her own parents.
"If you still want to, then yes, I would like it if you came with me" Tylira said slowly and quietly. The moment Tylira had finished her sentence, Karis came bounding over and wrapped her arms tight around Tylira's waist. Her shoulder was complaining immensely from the pain but she didn't care, she was so happy! Even her raven let out a squawk of joy at the sight.
"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" Karis said, over and over as she held tightly onto Tylira. Tylira smiled and lifted Karis up into her arms, holding her gently.
"Once you are more recovered, we will move on" Tylira said, taking Karis over to her bed and laying the now excited girl upon it. "I know a place that you would just love to see, especially if you meant it about becoming a druid." Karis was now practically bouncing on the spot as Tylira sat down beside her.
"Yes, I would love to become a druid!" Karis said, resting against Tylira who put her arm around the young girl. "Where will you take me?"
"There is a place to the north of here, a place where many a druid goes" Tylira said quietly, looking out of the window at the sun started to descend on the day. "A place called Moonglade. That is where I will take you, and if you want to, train you to be a druid."
Karis nodded her head and smiled a great, beaming smile. She couldn't wait! Not only was she going to be with Tylira, but she would get to learn to be a druid as well! She hoped that her wounds would help up quickly so that they could get going as soon as possible! With those thoughts in mind, Karis felt her eyelids getting heavy before she fell into a blissful sleep.
It had only taken a few days for Karis' wounds to fully heal, which the young girl was overjoyed about. Regular healing seasons with Tylira had greatly sped up a process that should have apparently taken a lot longer. And the guards at the Retreat had been very friendly towards her. It was with a slight sadness that Karis was packing to leave.
"Do you think we will come back here?" she asked as she rolled her trousers up before putting them into a new bag that had been provided by one of the guards. She had grown quite attached to the skirt that Tylira had provided for her, and would wear it at every opportunity, such as at that moment.
"If you would like to, then I do not see why not" Tylira said with a smile from her position by the window. Karis looked over to her and smiled. Although she was sad to be leaving the Retreat, she was still very excited about going to Moonglade.
Slinging the bag over her shoulder, that now held a small collection of clothes and some food, Karis walked over to Tylira to join her and her pet raven. As she walked across the hard wood floor, she tried not to put to much pressure on her still slightly aching foot.
"How long will it take to get to Moonglade?" Karis asked, putting her bag down on the floor and looking up to Tylira. Tylira pushed off the wall with her hands and stretched her arms over her head for a moment before letting them drop to her sides once more.
"Normally, I would be able to get there instantly, but we can't use that method, so we shall be flying" Tylira said, turning to look out of the window. In the distance, the town of Astranaar was just about visible. "By flying, it should take a couple of hours, weather depending."
Karis nodded slightly, standing on tiptoes to look out of the window, wincing as she did so, a mixture of cramp and pain shooting through her foot.
"So we are going back to Astranaar first then?" Karis asked, giving up on trying to get a good view out of the window. "To get a gryphon and the such?"
Tylira paused for a moment and looked down at Karis before shaking her head slightly with a smile. She crouched down and gently ran her fingers across Karis' cheek, causing the young girl to smile.
"No, not by gryphon this time" Tylira said, expertly balancing on the balls of her feet as she remained crouched down in front of Karis.
Karis looked at Tylira with a slightly confused expression. If not by gryphon, then how? She wondered to herself. Tylira noticed the confused expression and let out a slight chuckle.
"You are going to fly on me" she said before standing upright. Karis remained quiet for a moment as her brain worked out what Tylira meant. When she figured it out, her eyes went wide.
She had yet to be shown Tylira's bird form, something that she had wanted to see since Tylira had first mentioned it. And now, not only was she going to be able to see it, she was going to be flying on it! She was now even more excited by the prospect.
"Wait…" Karis suddenly said as her more rational brain kicked in. "What if people see you? Won't they try to arrest you or something?" Karis didn't actually know what would happen if a female druid was spotted. It wasn't exactly something that happened often.
"The people in Moonglade know that I am a druid" Tylira said calmly, smiling softly as she did so. "It is where I was trained as a druid. Or at least part trained. To them, it matters not if you are male or female. If the spirits think you are worthy enough to take on their form, then that is all that matters."
Karis let out a slight noise of agreement, nodding her head at the same time. The view of the people in Moonglade made sense to her. What did it matter if people were male or female? Surely anyone could be a druid if they were skilled enough to?
"Come, let us go and say our farewells to the guards" Tylira said, holding out a hand to Karis. Karis smiled and gladly took the offered hand, giving it a light squeeze as she did. She looked at their two hands for a moment, giggling slightly at the size difference between the two of them.
Before they left the small room, Karis motioned for her raven to follow, who gladly did so with a squawk before landing on Karis' exposed shoulder. The marks that her uncle had left her were still present, even with all the healing that Tylira had done to try and remove them.
Even though they made the young night elf shudder every time she saw them, she was slowly getting used to having them there. There was little she could do to get rid of them now, so she may as well get used to them whilst she waited for them to fade.
Outside the retreat, most of the guards were on duty. They had kept to their word and not told anyone about Tylira being a druid. Not even the people inside the Retreat knew, save for the other guards. All they knew was that Tylira and Karis were travellers who got into a fight and needed somewhere to stay. It was a miracle that no one had dared look out of their window when Karis' uncle was present.
Upon seeing Karis and Tylira approach, the guards all moved over to them, smiles on each of their faces. All of them wished the two of them well and hoped that they would have a safe journey, not that there was any reason to doubt that they would.
Karis had noticed how all of them had been impressed with Tylira's formidable druidic powers, and some even seemed to be slightly jealous of it.
With the farewells and goodbyes done, the two of them walked away from the Retreat, heading down the hill. Karis tried her best not to jump around in excitement.
"When are we going to fly?" she asked Tylira, looking up at the older night elf. Tylira looked down and smiled gently at her as she led her down towards the clearing they had been in a few days ago.
"I just need to find us some cover" she responded, leading Karis through the trees into the clearing. "We don't want to get spotted just yet."
Karis nodded and watched Tylira with a smile as the druid moved into the middle of the clearing. Taking a few steps away from Karis, and with her back towards the girl, Tylira removed her clothes and left them on a pile.
Karis knew what was coming next. She watched with amazement as Tylira crouched down and rapidly changed into the form of a majestic looking raven, stretching out her wings either side of her, feathers seeming to glow slightly as the light reflected off of them.
It was really happening. Karis couldn't believe it. In a few hours, she would be in Moonglade with Tylira, the woman who was starting to become like a mother to her. Her old life was over, and her new life was about to begin.