Scarlett's Light

Chapter 2

Reynold gets up just before dawn, he had no hope of seeing the young woman. Surely, she would skip town and just go back to her pack, but he waited just in case. He started back up his fire from the night before and made himself breakfast while he waited, he even made some extra in case the young woman did come by. “Good morning, Revenant.” He hears her sweet voice from his left and to his surprise, she was able to sneak up on him, like the night before. Most monsters were not able to do that, yet she did it so effortlessly, he found it admirable and a bit attractive.

He noticed her lack of eye contact again and she kept her distance. It was obvious she was still on guard; Reynold looks over at his weapons, which were by the rest of his gear. As he promised nothing was on him, as dangerous as that was for him to do, he had a feeling she was not going to try anything. “Don’t worry little one, I’m not going to hurt you or interrogate you either. I genuinely wanted to talk to you and make sure you didn’t get yourself hurt.” He says, keeping his eyes on her. He managed to catch a glimpse of her beautifully colored eyes before she looked away from him again. “You might be here for a while, and I promise your feet won’t get any less tired.” he teased as she had not sat down yet. She smiled a bit and sat down across from him, keeping the fire between them. “Would you like something to eat? It’s just eggs and venison.” He offers the young woman, hoping to see her relax.

“I’m not hungry but thank you for the offer.” She says nervously. She shivers a bit as the chilly autumn breeze kisses her cheek. Reynold gets up and grabs a blanket from his tent, he drapes it over her shoulders giving her a slight smile as she looks up at him. “Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.” He says before sitting back down on the other side of the fire. He continued eating his breakfast and noticed the woman narrow her eyes at him. He sighs as he sets down his plate, knowing what she was thinking. “If I truly wanted to right here, right now I would have done so before giving you a blanket to keep warm.” He says with a smirk. All she did was look away from him with huff before starting to pout. He chuckles quietly before devouring the last few bites of his meal. Just as he takes his last bite, he notices the woman has turned her gaze back in his direction, he watches her eyes dart slightly to his left once again avoiding looking in his eyes. “Now tell me, what are you doing in Skarsguard? As it seems from the bit of investigating I did very few people had seen you here before, so you are most definitely not visiting a family member.” He explains as he looks at her with curiosity.

“No, I’m not, I live farther north. I wanted a vacation and for the last few days I’ve just been travelling.” She responds as she begins to stare at the fire, making her eyes glisten.

“Well, I suggest staying in your human form until you leave, I would be angry with myself if I find out you were shot by a herdsman by mistake.”

“I was planning on leaving this morning, but our interaction last night changed my plans.”

“You still could have left, I had no way to know where you would have gone, though now you have so effortlessly told me you live somewhere in the north.” He says sarcastically, making the woman hold back what seemed to be a hot-headed nature.

“I owed you a favor for my life, it would have been rude of me to not repay it.” She responds lifting her head and bringing back her composure.

“Since I changed your plans, how about I change them a little more. Would you like to the Harvest Festival tonight?” He asks smiling.

“You, a Revenant wants to take me, a werewolf on a date? You’re joking right?”

“Not in the slightest, you are extremely beautiful and I’m still quite curious about you, I’d like to get to know you better.” He says as he stands up, walking over to her and extending his hand for her to take, she hesitates a bit before taking his hand. He pulls her to her feet and gestures toward the town, wanting her to walk forward. She walks up right with her head held high once more, he watches for a moment admiring her smooth and fluid steps.

He catches up to her and once they are strolling down the main road, he notices she has become a bit uneasy. He looks around for anyone that could be suspicious but sees no one acting off, though there are quite a few people with a mix of disappointed and stunned expressions watching them. “You must not get out much.” He says ignoring the looks people would give him. “Not really, but I don’t like people staring at me either.” Reynold stops and chuckles.

“What?”

“I can promise you; they aren’t staring at you though they should be.”

“What do you mean?”

“They are staring at me; I was called here to fix their problem. Yet here I am walking around with a woman, and I can assure you, they are most likely thinking I plan to f**k you since many Revenants will f**k anything that breathes human or monster.” He explains, the young woman looks around slightly and notices the people really are only looking at him. “I see, well I’m not as naïve and desperate as most of the woman you’ve bed.” Her comment makes him laugh.

“Such a daring statement, I might make it a goal to woo you now.”

“You can try.” She responds with a smirk and continues walking with amusement. As they make their way to the town square Reynold begins to silently reminisce in his childhood memories. They come up on a small flower shop with an apartment just above it. He stops as he remembers a time when his mother used to own this shop. He used to help her tend the flowers, watch her make bouquets for the men that wanted to give a simple gift of affection to the one they loved. “My mother used to own this shop.” He says making the woman stop and look toward the building. “We used to live in the apartment just above it too, we moved out and she sold the shop just after my little sister was born.” He adds forming a sweet and subtle smile.

“I hope to have the privilege of meeting your family one day.” The woman responds smiling brightly.

“That will never happen, they passed long ago.” He says with a dead tone.

“I…I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“No need to apologize, I finally came to terms with it yesterday.” The woman gives him a confused look and finally looks him in the eyes. She notices they were no longer purple; they were white. “I see, your eyes have gone back to their normal color.” She says and Reynold is amused by her knowledge of something so subtle. “I knew a Revenant’s eye color changed under different circumstances, but I have no idea why or what the colors mean.” She adds as she walks up to a small pot of purple orchids smiling as she plucks a dead leaf from its stem.

Reynold watches that gesture and sneaks away, quickly locating the florist. “Could I get a single pink orchid please?” He asks and the florist reluctantly nods her head. She quickly looks and find a single stem with two fully bloomed flowers on it and hands it to Reynold. “No need to pay, it’s my thanks to you for protecting our little town.” The florist says with a smile and goes about her business. He takes the flower back to the woman keeping it hidden behind his back. “Where did you run off to?” She asks. Without saying a word, he smiles and presents the delicate flower. The woman is taken aback by the sweet and unexpected gesture. “Thank you, how did you figure out I liked orchids?” She asks taking the flower and taking in its sweet fragrance. “Just a guess.” He says when really, seeing her care for the flowers gave it away. They continue to the town square and happen upon a large statue of a man dressed in extravagant and old clothing. “Who is that?” The woman asks as she stares at the statue.

“That is the first Emperor of Sokireon. He took Sokireon from supernatural beings like you and drove them to Dairos and Dimmor with the help of the Enteral Light, my people.” Reynold explains.

“Is that really what you call yourselves?”

“No, that what the mages called the first one they created.” Reynold chuckles, seeing the young women roll her eyes.

A group of people rush past them to fenced off area. Reynold and young woman follow out of curiosity, as they get closer, they hear the clink of swords. They push through the crowd of people and see two men dueling with outdated weapons and armor. One man overtakes the other making him lose his weapon and fall to the ground. The man still standing acts as though he is about to kill his opponent, putting his foot to the other chest holding him to the ground. He stops himself from driving his sword into the man’s chest.

“I believe we have winner everyone!” Yells a male announcer over a microphone. “I don’t think anyone could stop this man’s winning streak!” He adds and Reynold scuffs, seeing the man in the makeshift arena has started to showboat. “Amateur.” He says, making the woman chuckle. “He’s sloppy and slow, I’d be disrespecting my ancestors if I had watched the whole thing.” He adds.

“If you think your better then prove it.” Says the man as he walks toward the fence keeping everyone back. “No thank you, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you in front of your friends and family.” Reynold says as he turns to walk away, the woman following behind him.

“Look at that everyone, the big and bad Revenant refuses to back up his word. It must be because he doesn’t want to lose in front of his woman.” The man exclaims to the crowd, making them

begin to beg for the fight. Reynold slowly turns his head back as he chuckles, “you clearly have no idea who you are picking a duel with.” He says as he walks back toward the arena hopping over the fence, drawing his iron sword. Another man tries to stop him to give him armor but Reynold waves him away. “I believe The Daemon of Demir has just entered the arena everyone. It’s rumored that his sword is out of the iron from the blood of the monsters that massacred his family.” The announcer says and Reynold watched as the color runs from the other man’s face.

The man shook off his fear and did not wait for the cue to start. He took the first swing, Reynold barely dodging it. The man did not let up, forcing Reynold to constantly be on the defensive but he was still slow and stumbled every other swing. “Just a word of advice…” Reynold pauses to dodge another swing of the man’s sword. “Don’t swing so hard with a sword that’s too heavy for you.” He finishes with a smirk before moving behind the man at the blink of an eye, he sees the man is very off balance and hits him in the back making him fall to the ground, losing his sword. Reynold watches for a moment as the man hastily crawls toward his sword, once he has his sword in hand Reynold immediately kicks it out of the man’s grip and everyone in the crowd could hear the bones in his hand break. The man yells out in pain, but quickly cut off as Reynold forced him down on the ground with his foot. Reynold puts tip of his sword to the man’s throat and stares him expressionless. “Get to your feet before grabbing your weapon, you’ll have a millisecond to run before a pack of werewolves rips you to pieces.” He says before sheathing his sword and walking back toward the young woman who was now staring at him slack jawed. He smirks as he sees the stunned expression on the young women’s face. “What? This can’t be the first time you’ve watched a Revenant fight.” He says as he places a finger under her chin and closes her mouth for her.

“No… it’s the first time I’ve seen a Revenant fight and wasn’t trying to run for my life.” She answers with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

“Yet here you are enjoying a festival with one.”

“Oh, shut up, can we get something to eat? I’m starving.” She says, putting her hand to her rumbling stomach.

As dusk fell, they entered the same tavern from the night before. The same smell of beer and cooking meat filled the air, though the only scent the young women was focused on was Reynold’s. This time the woman wasn’t feeling dread and fear when entering like the night before. No, this time it was joy and amusement, something she hadn’t felt in years. As they sat down at a table, she noticed Reynold was staring at her. “What?” She asks.

“You aren’t afraid of me anymore; you haven’t been radiating fear since this morning.” He points out.

“I was never afraid of you to begin with.” The women lies, “I could have taken you down easily last night I was… Just too tired from traveling.” She continues, crossing her arms over her chest and breaking her eye contact with him to look away and pout. Reynold chuckles, clearly not believing her. “You know it is okay to be afraid sometimes, I have feared many things.” Reynold says getting the woman’s attention back.

“What do you fear now?” She asks, curiously leaning forward. Reynold hesitates for a moment to answer, “You don’t—”

“Falling in love…” He answers quickly, cutting her off. “And dying of course, but I don’t have to worry about that with my skills.” He adds, hoping she wouldn’t ask about the subject further. The woman could clearly see it was an uncomfortable subject for him and left it at that.

They spent hours laughing and Reynold shared a few of his adventures with her to which she seemed to enjoy. “So, how did you become one?” He asks just as the waitress brought a refill of her drink, causing her to look away.

“What do you mean?” She asks.

“I was trying to be a little more discreet while the waitress was here, how did you become a werewolf?”

“I didn’t become one, I was born one, do you just assume all wondering werewolves were turned?”

“Well, you haven’t about your pack much, so I assumed you resented them.”

“No, I resent them for a whole different reason.” She says, her face forming a sullen expression and looked away for a moment. When she looked back, she noticed Reynold was staring at her again. “What now?” She asks.

“Your eyes they are… mesmerizing to look at. I feel like I’m looking into a winter sky every time you meet my gaze.” He says, making her blush. “I have another question for you.” He adds.

“Okay, what is it?”

“I read somewhere that some werewolves can feel the emotions of other, is that true?”

“Yes and no.” She answers.

“Elaborate?”

“Just depends on the wolf and the person in front of them.” She says and takes a sip of wine. Reynold smiles and leans forward. “Well, what am I feeling?” He asks curiously.

“Lust.” She answers without a second thought. Reynold is a bit taken back by this and looks away from her now feeling embarrassed as she begins to laugh.

“It’s hard not to be when I have you sitting in front of me.” He says looking back at her and the woman notices that his eye color has shifted to a deep pink.

“You’re eyes, they’re pink now, what does that mean?” She says curiously. Reynold’s smile quickly fades, and he looks away from her. “Nothing important, we should get going…” He answers, waving down their waitress to get the check. The women knew she hit a nerve and didn’t push the subject. She could feel the air around them had gotten cold, even the waitress noticed when she gave them their bill. Reynold quickly pulls out money and sets it on the table. “Keep the change.” He says as he gets up and walks away. The women quickly follows him out of the tavern.

Their walk back to Reynold’s camp was silent, neither of them spoke a word to each other during the twenty-minute walk from the tavern to the outskirts of town. Reynold throws a couple of logs on the ashes of what was his morning fire and touches one igniting it, before sitting down in front of it. The woman sits down next to him, “thank you for the wonderful time today. It’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun.” She says trying to lighten the mood.

“I’m glad you had a nice time.” Reynold says still monotone, still watching the flames of the fire dance. Since she didn’t succeed in getting rid of the cold feeling in the air, she gets up and kisses Reynold on the cheek before walking away. She feels something catch her hand, stopping her. She looks back and sees Reynold looking at her with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry for being cold to you, please stay one more night, here with me.” He says sounding slightly heartbroken. She smiles as he stands, never letting go of her hand.

“I never learned your name.” She says staring into his eyes.

“Nor I yours, I’m Reynold.” He responds as he slowly closes the gap between their lips.

“Scarlett.” She says just before feeling Reynold’s lips connect with hers. Slowly Reynold led Scarlett back to his tent. As they undressed each other the light that poured into the tent from the campfire illuminated quite a few of Reynold’s battle scars. You could tell the difference in monster from each. Several were from werewolf claws, gashes from vampire fangs ripping flesh off his arms and near his neck. He also had stab wounds from orc made blades. Reynold notices Scarlett’s own very old and lengthy scar that crossed her left hip, “she has felt the scorching touch of a silver blade, it looks like it’s from her childhood.” He thinks to himself, and he places his hand on her hip.

“You can’t heal scars from silver.” Scarlett says, almost reading his mind.

“I know but I can make you forget about them, even if it’s only for tonight.” He responds as they lay down on the ground atop a few blankets. Scarlett began to become uneasy and started to rethink her decision. “What’s wrong?” Reynold asks.

“I’ve never been with anyone before, I was saving myself for my mate.” Scarlett answers as Reynold sits up. She pulls a blanket around her to cover herself, she started to assume she ruined the moment. “If I remember correctly, your goddess chooses your mate for you.” Reynold states and Scarlett nods her head in return. “Do you think I’m your mate?” He asks, trying not to smile in hope she says yes, and he doesn’t understand why he’d want that.

“No but at this point I believe I’m mateless.” She answers taking Reynold’s hand in hers and pull him back on top of her.

“I promise, you won’t regret tonight.”

The next morning Scarlett carefully escaped Reynold’s arms and got dressed. She takes a small journal and a pen out the backpack she had been carrying for days. She writes a note to Reynold, quietly ripping it out of the little leather book and leaving it on top of his weapons. She stops just before exiting the tent and looks down at the sleeping Revenant that gave her the best day and night of her life in a long time. “Thank you, Reynold.” She whispers, holding back tears, exiting the tent. She begins to head north and makes more of an effort to hurry back before her father realizes she’s been gone for almost a week. As she exits the town, she makes sure to keep her head down and avoid anyone as a precaution. If her father has found out she is gone, he’d send an army to find her.

Reynold finds himself alone and the only things left of Scarlett were her scent and a claw mark on his right shoulder. He smiled to himself knowing she got to enjoy herself before going back to her pack. He thinks for a moment and a saddening thought comes to his mind making him sigh, he felt stupid for expecting a werewolf to stick around a little longer in a town that’s so close to a city filled with what she feared. He gets up to get dressed, pulling his shirt from underneath his weapons. He sees a little note fall off the top of his sword, he grabs it quickly.

Dear Reynold,

I wish things could have been different, I’m sorry.

~ Scarlett

He sets the small piece of paper back on top of his sword. “Me too, Scarlett, me too.” He thinks to himself. He realized then he felt more than lust for a beautiful woman last night. While he packed up his things to go home all he could think about was Scarlett. He beats himself up for not telling her the truth last night and for not waking up early to try to convince her to stay with him, but he also beats himself up for becoming attached to Scarlett as quickly as he did, and he searched within himself to figure out why he feels the way he feels even though he’s only known her for barely two days. Even with his mind telling him to forget about Scarlett, his heart couldn’t help but feel he lost not a lover, but his soulmate and a companion. He didn’t bother healing the claw mark Scarlett left, he needed some evidence that he solved this town’s ‘monster problem.’ Without thinking he put the note she left into his pocket before getting onto his Terracorsa and making the two-hour ride back to Demir for his next assignment.