Paths of Green and Gold

Bodyguard - care

He was woken up by the crackling of the fire and a wet touch on his face. He felt dryness in his mouth and under his eyelids, and gentle fingers brushing his hair away from his forehead. 

[Her fingers?]

He focused on trying to open his eyes, putting all the energy of his sore body in this one simple action.      

"Thank Gods!" a moved voice exclaimed somewhere above his head.

 [Not Her voice...]

 “I was worried that if your wounds didn’t kill you, you’ll die of starvation! Don’t get up - you’ll make things worse. I did what I could, but in these conditions, it wasn't much." The girly voice was familiar and pleasant. 

Slowly opening his eyes he saw the worried face of his cousin above him. He didn't know where he was or how much time has passed...

His muscles tensed instinctively, but the wave of pain almost pushed him back into darkness. He was lying motionless, trying to understand the condition his body was in and waiting for the black spots to disappear from his vision.  

He survived another day - another fight. Another offering was accepted. Memories started flooding back in a bloody wave... He closed his eyes.

* * *  

[The two blades gleamed, when the stillness erupted in sudden movement.

When the elf jumped to attack, Thorn clearly saw the intended path of the two blades. He could almost feel the sword hitting his chest and the dagger cutting the side of his neck.

He immediately understood that dodging or parrying was not the answer - one blade against two was not enough and prolonging the fight would only increase his opponent's advantage.

All he had was one breath. And a chance - one in a million.

He tightened his grip on his weapon, waiting.

One breath - an eternity. 

Aethen, please accept this offering... A sacrifice of a life... Or two lives, if that is Your wish. 

He closed his eyes and surrendered to his instinct. Or maybe it was not instinct guiding him? He felt his blade delve into the bandit's flesh, and the wave of sharp pain overwhelming his own. Without stopping he cut once more and then his weakened body failed him.

His sword stuck between his opponent's bones, he fell heavily to the ground.

One more breath.

He was alive.

May this offering be worthy...]

* * *

He opened his eyes. The moon was shining between the trees. Selena was sitting by his side. His mouth moved but he failed to make any sound. He licked his lips and tried again.

"My... sword?" whispering those two words required all his willpower. He felt completely defenseless, but, aware of the beast stirring inside him, he could only hope Selena won't notice anything in his eyes.

The girl watched his companion as if she didn't understand his words. Apparently she couldn't wrap her mind around him worrying about his equipment. He didn't blame her though. She was much too young to remember anything about his heritage. She was only 4 years old when he was exiled. It turned out, however, that despite her young age, Selena knew when to refrain from asking unnecessary questions.

"Everything is here," she said calmly gesturing to the right. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing is lost." 

Satisfied with her answer, Thorn calmed down. He knew all he could do in his current state was to trust his cousin and try not to hinder her efforts to put him back on his feet.

Selena disappeared from his field of vision, and soon came back with a wooden bowl of a steaming liquid. She knelt by his side and smiled apologetically.

"I know I'm not much of a cook, but at least I didn't burn it. It's high time you ate something, cousin. You were blacked out for three days. Now that you regained consciousness, you should regain your strength too," she offered him a spoonful of the stew.

The meat was floating in thick soup with some leaves and roots. The smell that reached his nostrils was strong and not especially appetizing. In his current circumstances, however, he couldn't afford to be fussy. Not to mention among many details coming back to him, hunger was one of the strongest feelings. For the next few days, he was either trying to hold on to reality or losing himself in dreams. Thanks to his cousin's nutritious meals and advanced herb knowledge, he could feel his strength gradually coming back, but his state still didn't allow him to do almost anything. He appreciated the fact he was still alive, but being useless and defenseless like this weighed heavily on him. The bitter realization that he completely failed both his uncle, who asked him to take care of the girl, and Selena herself, didn't help matters either. The only thing he could do, however, was to endure and not make matters worse, so he armed himself with all the patience and humility he had and obediently followed his young cousin's orders.     How many times before, some caring but firm female hands brought him back to the land of the living, when he was already one leg on the other side?

Every time he closed his eyes, Her face came back to him.

[May your paths always be green and golden...]   

He knew first they would have to stop flowing with the rivers of crimson and ending in darkness...   

He was becoming restless. Time seemed to slow down more and more every day. How much longer until he would go insane? The lack of his everyday training routine made it difficult to keep his mind in check.   He did appreciate Selena's company. He already came to like and respect her. Still, her caring attention to him was rather embarrassing. No matter all that, however, he felt that their paths crossed only briefly, at least for now...

After four nights passed he finally managed to sit up unassisted without sharp pain or his vision getting blurry.

The sunrise about to start, darkness was withdrawing reluctantly, and the dying fire created more shadows than light. Thorn was very familiar with the "grey hours" – both morning and evening; the time when many things were not what they seemed, when people could pretend to be someone else, when mists and shadows concealed or deformed thoughts, intentions, and desires.

Right now they also masked the source of the stench which was becoming more and more suffocating each passing day. The sun generously graced the area with its rays, accelerating the decay of the bodies which, he guessed, lay exactly where they fell. He suspected Selena was too disgusted to drag the mutilated corpses away by herself, and the giant man, who probably stank the most, would be too heavy for her anyway.

He wondered how she managed to defend their camp from scavengers - he remembered seeing a shadow of a large animal at the edge of the camp the previous night. The smell of blood and corpses must have reached many hungry inhabitants of the forest.

It was high time to leave this place. He was already sufficiently reconciled with death - he didn't need to breathe in its foul stench. But was he well enough to continue traveling, even if only at a short distance? 

Using his modest medical knowledge he examined each of his injuries. He was not ready to resume the journey full time, not to mention fight, but he was getting there.

The sudden return of Selena ended his musings. She came out of the forest carrying some leaves and a wild rabbit – most probably ingredients for yet another stew. Noticing Thorn she beamed, and then suddenly got serious – the worried expression he came to know so well during the last few days appeared on her face.    

"Are you sure you're well enough to get up?" She jumped to his side. "Before I let you do anything, I have to check the wounds, although I really don't understand why you're in such a hurry... Unless it's my cooking you want to get away from... then I can't really blame you... " She smiled amused, shaking her head.

 Thorn raised his arms in a gesture of surrender. His eyes were smiling. Should he explain to her how precious every day was for someone whose relationship with death was as familiar as his? Or maybe he should tell her how staying idle made his mind wander in dangerous places?  

He stayed silent, however, and just let the girl check his injuries. When she finished, he looked at her seriously.

"I..." he took a deep breath. "Thank you." His voice came out raspy, but confident.

Selena just shook her head smiling. Then she quickly turned away from him and started preparing breakfast.

Did he embarrass her?

He knew someday he would repay her for all she was doing for him. For now, however, there still wasn't much he could do, and that was gradually becoming unbearable. 

He had to regain peace of mind. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again after a while, he glanced at his possessions. Slowly he reached for his sword, but then suddenly changed his mind and grabbed his backpack instead. He took out a small package wrapped in green fabric. He needed to remind himself what was important to him now, ground himself again after the last days spent drifting in dreams. He gently removed the fabric revealing dark green velvet box delicately embroidered with a silver pattern - the same one that adorned his tattooed body. He stared at it for a while lost in thoughts...

[However, if you wanted to, you could surely find me...]

But could he really? Would he have enough time?

He carefully put the box back and took out a smaller bundle instead. He unwrapped it and took out a thin long pipe and a packet of sweet-smelling herbs. For a while he watched Selena prepare the rabbit, although his mind was elsewhere. 

"Can we leave this place?" he asked suddenly. "Spend the next night somewhere with... less death?" 

Selena stopped what she was doing and looked at him surprised.

"Are you sure you're strong enough?" she said worried, but then shook her head and smiled. "Let's think about it after breakfast."  

Thorn sighed, lighting his pipe. He took a long puff and exhaled slowly. The cloud of sweet-smelling smoke embraced him for a moment before dispersing in the morning breeze.  

"Can I help you somehow?" He took another puff. "I probably won't be able to hunt a boar, but maybe I can be of service in a different way...?" He was gradually becoming more relaxed, his mind calming down as the beast inside fell asleep.

Selena's melodic laughter echoed among the trees.

"If you're starting to think about hunting, cousin, it really does seem we can get going from this stinky place," she said cheerfully without looking at him.    

Suddenly she froze sniffing the air and glanced at her companion frowning.