On The Run - Chapter IV

cHAPTERiv

As we walked back inside the warmth of the cabin the old man was once again out of his room. Sitting at the table with ale in his pewter mug he slightly glanced up at us walking through the door. “I see we’ve made amends.”

At that moment I realized she was still holding my hand and begun to wonder exactly how strange it was she could be so frightened of me. The warmth of her hand was strange to me, but a welcomed expression. I wasn’t used to the touch from a female and was enjoying this new sensation. Looking up at the old man as we walked towards the table I explained, “I really need to know the trouble with the name I have chosen. And Trael has agreed to tell me.”

He chuckled, “Of course she has, and you always had a way of getting strangers to trust you, haven’t you?”

At that moment she seemed to notice for the first time that she had even began to trust me, let alone shown such caring towards someone she believed to be her enemy. Immediately she dropped my hand and seated herself at the table next to her father as she indicated for me to join adjacent to them. “I am going to guess that you don’t know much about Zordith.

She believes herself to be a spiritual sage. She said that she has visions that foretell certain parts of the future of those she comes in contact with. One big reason she decided to trust you was because of this. The only problem, from what my father tells me, is that one of her visions was that a man by the name of Jerrod would come here and destroy my father.” Here she stopped and allowed the fact to soak in. No one spoke or moved.

It seemed they were all waiting for a reaction from me. I didn’t know what to say, or do. I knew I did not come there to harm anyone. I knew that if they believed that it wouldn’t make sense that she would have fled without her father. Then it really did hit me….that is why she had shown up a few days after Zordith had left. That is what she was arguing with her father about. He had sent Zordith to fetch his daughter, but stayed here with me, the person who was supposed to destroy him.

“So, where is she now?” I inquired without a thought. My acquaintance with her has been brief for sure. But the feelings I had already begun to allow myself to have for her were unmistakable.

They both slightly grinned at me, but the old man was the one who spoke, “Why would you need to know?”

I wasn’t sure exactly what the difficulty in the question was but was already beginning to realize total honesty was the best leverage to obtaining information. “I am worried about her. She left to fetch Trael but hasn’t yet returned. Is she ok?”

Speaking those words must have stirred something in both of them that they may have blocked from allowing themselves to acknowledge. Again simultaneously their expressions changed, but this time rather than a grin it was a grimace. They were both worried now as well.

This time Trael spoke, “We are not sure. She doesn’t always fill us in on all of the details. We both just assumed that she was after something besides just fetching me. Otherwise she would have just returned with me. But she didn’t, she headed out in the opposite direction. I was in too much of a hurry to make sure my father was safe. I didn’t even ask where she was going.” At this point she actually looked a bit ashamed, “I in fact didn’t even give it a second thought. That was just selfish of me.”

Her father reached his hand to comfort his daughter, “Really it is ok dear. She didn’t tell me and probably wouldn’t have told you either. It isn’t anything to be concerned about.”

At that moment the door, slammed open, almost throwing it off of its hinge, causing each of us to jump. Trael stood with her sword drawn, while the old man and I stood in complete shock. It seemed her eyes grew darker with rage, and every muscle in her body increased in size, while pulsating in rage. It seemed as though she was going to fly to the door and kill whatever it was that threatened us. Standing in the doorway, apparently ready for certain death, stood Zordith. Her clothes were torn, her hair clung to her head and face, and traces of dried blood stained her from head to foot. The left arm hung limply from her side, while the right still held the broken dagger from my pouch. Empty eyes stood evaluating the images that seemed to haunt them. Fear seemed to flow away from her face and was replaced by confusion. Exhaustion at that very moment overtook her as she started to shake in uncontrollable fits.

Instantly Trael dropped her sword to the ground, ran to embrace Zordith as she fell into a heap. Tears started to flow from her eyes, the dagger dropped, and the two sobbed freely together.

After a few minutes Zordith’s sobs turned to whimpers until the trials of whatever she had been through finally caught up with her and she was asleep. Trael picked her up and brought her to her room.

The old man and I sat speechless at the table, staring at the door. It seemed hours had passed since they went into the room. When finally Trael came back out, with her arms full of the bloodied clothes, then gathered a few things and went back into the room. We watched and waited, as she came and went carrying stuff in and out. None of us said anything.

When finally she was done with everything she softly spoke, “She will be ok. She just needs a lot of rest.” Then disappeared back into the room and didn’t return again. The old man and I realized the day was gone and night was turning to early morning when we finally decided to rest. We both stood without speaking and each of us went to bed.

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