Forgotten Embers

Chapter 42: The Raven

He felt a pain pierce through his back and deep into his chest, nearly knocking him from the blue roan horse he rode. He grunted as he fell forward, one arm grabbing at his aching body and the other at the horse's muscular neck. 

'Mm... that should have been me, shouldn't it?' He steadied himself, centering back on the borrowed saddle. 'Well, Marcus, I would have liked to have more appropriately thanked you, but I will do my best to satisfy your request.'

On he rode through the scattered trees of the eastern wood until he reached the sight of a familiar face. 

'Dorcus.' 

He let out a relieved sigh. 

She stood beside a tree with her horse, a dapple gray, looking on at him as he approached. He slowed the horse and called it to a halt. 

She watched him through soulful eyes. "You're late," she said as he dismounted, her hands on her hips.

His face wore a soft smile. "Oh, am I now? My apologies," he said humbly, coming around his horse to meet her. "I was detained," he jokingly reminded her.

Dorcus grinned. "Eliezer," she chuckled politely with a slight shake of her head. Her eyes were alight with the bright sun of the afternoon.

"I spoke with your brother," he told her.

"Which? Marcus?" she quickly asked with utmost interest. 

He nodded. 

She took a breath. "How was he?" she asked hopefully.

"Remorseful," he told her. His voice was soft and gentle, brimming with kindness. "He's very proud of you."

"Is that so?" her eyes began to water. "Well... I'm glad to hear it," she muttered quietly.

"It was Marcus who released me," he added with a comforting smile. "He helped me to escape and provided me with a horse." 

He reached his hand back to pet the able bodied stallion. 

She smiled, offering a quick nod as tears began to roll down her cheeks. 

'I know she has been concerned for him. That's why I know this is a joy to her, a blessed release... no matter how tearful. When Adrien wrote us of Marucs and his advancement in the military, it was the first we knew of him working for Ramus and his government. She was heartbroken. Ever since that day, she has cried for him. Perhaps this can be the last time.' 

"Is that all, then?" she inquired of him softly. 

"He sends his love, and..." he stopped himself from speaking. 

'No, I won't mention that. Not now.'

"And?" she looked at him with heartfelt curiosity.

He sighed. "He made a request of me, also, but it's... bad... timing," his words fell away as he spoke. 

"Heh!" She smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Well, if it's bad timing, then... I'm sure it is nothing so urgent that it cannot wait."

"And it shall," he said with a smile. 

"Mm..." she tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Benjamin and the others arrived some minutes ago. They came by way of the tunnels. They would have waited, but I sent them on ahead of us with the horses I had kept for them. I thought it best that they return to the library in peace without any threat of further complications."

"Yes, I think that's best," he agreed.

"I was glad to see you come," she told him. "I had begun to become concerned."

"Were you concerned for me?" he frowned, furrowing his brow. 

'Dorcus...'

"Please, forgive me," he said, lowering his head. "Dorcus, my dear, you are forever my heart and forever my heart is towards you, as you know." He smiled. "I am both well loved and well cared for. You should know that I should never truly perish, sweet lady."

Dorcus closed her eyes with a smile, on her face a distinct look of fondness. "Eliezer," she muttered quietly, "you're hopeless." 

She opened her eyes and looked back at him. He wore on his face a look of satisfaction. 

"Please, don't do that again," she softly entreated.

"Don't worry," he said with a grin. "I'm not planning another vacation for a while. Now, then, shall we ride before further complications find us?" 

Dorcus chortled, raising an eyebrow. "Good then, and yes, I think so." 

Eliezer helped her mount her horse, though it was entirely unnecessary for him to do so. "Dorcus," he said, looking up at her.

"Yes, Eliezer?" 

'I...' 

"I am glad to see you," he said simply, letting go of the thought. "Thank you for waiting for me."

She smiled with a slight bow of the head. "Likewise," she told him.

Eliezer bowed himself, and a raven alighted itself on the branch of a tree behind him. The creature cawed as its talons gripped the branch, and the noise captured the pair's attention. He turned, staring up at it. 

The feathers of the large black bird were tinged with a dark blue coloration and the air around it was shimmering. Its eyes were like gaping voids which captured and dissolved any and all light from around them. 

'Magic. That creature is either conjured or spellbound.' 

Beginning to feel uneasy, he rushed to his horse and mounted it quickly. 

"We were going, weren't we?" he said, watching his companion's eyes.

"That we were," she said, still watching the raven. "It is a bit unsettling," she told him.

"Sorcery, isn't it?" he asked her, looking back to the tree.

"Yes," she confirmed, "but I couldn't say of what sort. Sebastian always was better with that than I am."

"It's much more your specialty than it is mine," Eliezer reminded her. 

She shook her head. "Regardless, someone sent it."

"Kallida, more than likely," he surmised. "We ought to watch the way as we travel back."

"Agreed," she said, circling her horse around and guiding it next to his. "Eliezer..." she began again.

"Hm?" he turned his head curiously to face her.

"Mm... never mind," she said, tipping her head and turning her eyes, her cheeks turned rose. "It can wait," she murmured. 

He sighed, considering things. 

'Dorcus...' his heart turned to water and a familiar warmth filled his chest. 'Yes, I know. I know I said that, but I wish so much I hadn't. For everyone's sake, but none more than yours. I know these years... have not been kind. A little more insistence on my part might have spared us much hurt.' 

They rode together deep into the forest, and they heard the sound of the raven as it lifted from the branch with an eerie call. Still, they continued on through trees of scattered woods. 

All the while, Eliezer watched the dark shadow as it followed them, passing over from time to time and never far behind them. There was an occasional caw which rang out from the sky above them, a cause of his ever increasing concern. 

'It seems that Ramus and Kallida have taken a particular interest in our location, and that is something which I would very much prefer to keep between us. Whether they intend to set a trap before or behind us, it's surely not to our advantage to have this bird broadcasting our whereabouts. And Dorcus...’ He turned his eyes, looking on her fondly, and a small smile crossed his lips. ‘My life is mine, but I could not bear to see any harm come to her.’

He began muttering to himself some unfamiliar phrases, and Dorcus looked curiously at him. 

“I would like very much to be rid of that wretched fowl," he told her straightly. 

She nodded and began to follow suit. 

After a short while, he turned up his palm and watched in deep appreciation and awe as a small flame appeared and began to grow. At the start, it was no larger than a coin, but the flame began to dance and move until it became alive. The fire circled and spun in his hand until it came to resemble a small turtle dove, its wings and body fashioned of burning light. 

He cupped his hand around it, and the bird rested peacefully in his palm, offering a sweet melody of soft coos. 

"One bird for another?" he whispered in humble consideration, and he smiled. "Thank you.” He breathed the words as he moved his hand upward towards his mouth and blew. 

The gentle wind of his breath lifted the little turtle dove upwards, and they watched in wonder as it went, the light from the fire of its wings creating the sparks which flew and fell around them, the light of the fire reflecting in their eyes. 

The dove ascended to the place of the raven, and Eliezer watched the shadows as he rode. The raven was easily overtaken by the tender dove and stricken by it, the darkness descending as it fell again to Caldör. He let out a relieved sigh as he watched the raven fall from its place in the sky above them while the dove ascended to its home in the realm of the heavenlies, and he considered the matter thankfully. 

‘There is such endless sky above us. What a fantastic and immeasurable privilege to have the consideration of so great a King, and what great peace surrounds us.’

He looked again to Dorcus and smiled, his eyes filled with the affection of his heart. 

‘Oh, my King, you know my heart: my intentions and my desires, and how my heart is ever towards her. Therefore, I will ask, my Lord, this one thing more: to preserve our lives and lead us home.’