“Who are you?” I ask quietly. She does not respond, though I was not expecting a reply. “Where did you come from?” No response.
“How did you get there? Why?”
She does nothing.
I rest my head against the tree and think for a moment. Then I look back to her and say, “I am your friend. You need not be scared of me.” Then she stirs. It’s the first time she moves since I’ve first seen her.
She shifts underneath the blanket and her head rolls from her left cheek to her right. Still her eyes continue to move beneath her eyelids.
The corner of my lip turns up. It goes back down when she takes a deep breath and I realize she is not yet awake.
Percival watches me pick her up the next day and shakes his head. “There are not many men that can do that,” he says. “Carry someone from Kera to Terrace.”
I shake my head. “I am not like many men.”
“Agreed,” he says. “For the better. If every man were as strong as you this war would be won as fast as we could march.”
I do not reply, made slightly uncomfortable by the praise.
“But they are not,” he says wistfully. “We are normal men.” He leaves it at that.
The road continues upward slightly, forging its own path through the trees and up the mountains. We are nearing Terrace and will reach it in another day or two.
That night, just after we finish setting up our camp, she stirs.
I’m sitting next to her. I feel an odd sense of protection over her, like I am her guardian of some sort or another. As she stirs, I look sharply, but say nothing. She continues and emits a groan, and then her eyes force themselves open.
She starts and looks around abruptly. When her eyes make contact with mine, she freezes.
Her eyes are as beautiful as the rest of her. They are bright and perceptive, seeing and analyzing everything about the surroundings and me. They appear bright blue, with a little bit of a misty effect. Only by looking into her eyes, I can tell that she is scared.
I give her a very small smile and say, “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
She shakes her head, but does not break eye contact.
I nod. “Do you know who I am?”
She sizes me up glances at my left hand. Her eyes narrow and then she spots the hammer leaning against a log right next to me. Her eyes widen and she nods.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me,” I say quietly. Percival has noticed, but is observing from afar rather than approaching the situation. “I- we- are your friends. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
She glances to the four other men in the camp, and then back to me. There’s a moment where nothing happens. Then she nods slowly.
“We have all of your things,” I say, gesturing to the pack lying close by. “We only took out the bedroll for you to use.” She looks and nods slightly when she sees the bow and quiver lying next to her pack.
“What is your name?” I ask.
Her brow furrows, like she’s trying hard to remember. “Aela,” she finally says. Her voice is music. “My name is Aela.”
“I am Kadmus,” I introduce. “These are Percival, James, Jericho, and Nathaniel.” I point to each of them as I say their name. I wait a moment and then ask, “Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” she says immediately.
I get up and get a bowl of stew and some bread. I bring it back and say, “Help yourself.”
She struggles to get off of her back and sit up, but has incredible difficulty. I make to help her, but she refuses with a wave of her hand. I back off and let her struggle. After a minute, she is sitting up leaning against a log. She is breathing hard, but still accepts the food with ravenous hunger.
I let her eat in silence. When she finishes, I offer my waterskin. She grasps it and messes with the cap, but once she gets it off, she looks at the waterskin warily. Then she looks with the same expression at me.
Saying nothing, I take it and take a swig. Then I offer it back to her.
She drains it and hands it back empty. I smile slightly and she asks, wiping her mouth, “Where are we?”
“We’re a few days north of Dragongate Bridge on the road to Terrace,” I respond. “We’ll be there in another two days.”