Two Is Company (The Ancient Magus Bride)

Chapter 2: The Dragon Aerie

Lindel's P.O.V

Since I had already put the girl down on my bed, and didn't really want to move her, I slept on the floor with a blanket on the opposite side. She looked impossibly pale, and her skin had an icy shine. She had no meat on her bones at all, like she hadn't eaten in weeks. I was worried she might not wake up, but I had to hope for the best. There wasn't much my healing hands could do for cold.
She stayed in that bed for three days before I received any sign of improvement. Her skin finally started to warm up. I wondered why it took that long for anything to happen, under normal circumstances, she should have begun to heal her physical body immediately. Unless there was something else it needed to take care of first?
When she finally did wake up nearly a week later, I was sitting on my side of the tent, observing her. She was so tiny, she looked to be maybe twelve years old, but her face seemed a little more mature. When I checked her for injuries, I could see her ribs clearly. She was not healthy, she was either at sea for a very long time, or she had been through a struggle for survival somewhere nearby for years. I gazed at her closed eyelids, lost in my own world and not even noticing when they opened to reveal dull blue eyes.
I blinked a few times, realizing she was awake. Her eyes widened, and she threw off the blanket which landed on my head, falling backwards. She must have been scared.
"It's alright!" I told her, taking the blanket off my head and looking her in the eye.
"Who... who are you?" She asked cautiously.
"My name is Lindel, what's yours?" I was hoping to calm her down and give her something to eat, she clearly needed it. However I wasn't sure she'd accept under these conditions.
"Akise." Her voice was quiet, and she coughed sharply.
I reached for the cup of water I had sitting next to me for her and offered it. She looked at it skeptically before gently reaching her hand out and approaching me. I felt like I was taming a reindeer, but it was a person instead. She was so timid and the look on her face was fear-stricken. She grabbed the cup, eyeing it as she slowly brought it to her lips and gulped down the water.
"Akise, what happened to you? I found you on the beach of Iceland, and that's not a usual place for humans to dwell." I questioned.
"If that's the case, then what are you doing here?" She countered, clearly not trusting me.
"I'm a traveler who needed a place to stay the night and ended up on this island, then I found you when I was looking for food." I lied. I wasn't sure how I'd get her out of here without her seeing the dragons.
"Now, would you mind telling me what happened?" I asked, trying a different approach and handing her a bowl of soup I made earlier. She looked at it hungrily and nodded, taking it without a second thought. I could tell she was careful, so for her to accept food from a stranger that quickly, she must have been very hungry.
"I got chased to the docks of Germany by a group of people that owed me something, but they never gave it to me so I fought back. There were a lot more of them than me, so I hid on a cargo ship and it left, I heard someone say it was bound for Greenland. The crew was doing a check of the supplies mid-voyage and found me, so I jumped off the ship and I suppose the current dragged me here."
I listened to her intently. The moment she finished, she scooped up the soup into the spoon and downed it in a few seconds.
"Would you like more? I have a whole pot of it on the fire." She nodded vigorously, shoving the bowl into my hands.
"Please."
I took it and left the tent, quickly making my way to the fire. I filled the bowl as much as I could without worrying about spilling it and headed back over the the tent. Something was off though, I heard her talking to someone. I waited outside the tent for a moment and listened.
"What are you?" She asked, sounding nervous.
"Me? I'm what you would call a neighbour!" She's talking to a fae? She can see them? That means...
I opened the flap of the tent with a look of surprise on my face, and she jumped slightly.
"You're a... sleigh beggy, really?" She gave me an odd look.
"What? You mean you can see these things too?" She asked, surprised. "No one's ever been able to see what I see before, does this mean this thing is actually here?"
"Yes, that's an aerial." I told her.
"This changes everything, I can't just send her back to wherever she came from, she needs to be protected. I should send for Elias." I muttered to myself, trying to process things and make a plan. How likely was it that a sleigh beggy of all creatures would be the one to end up here?
"Here, eat this. I need to send a message, I have a friend who can help you."
"Help me?" She asked curiously and she reached a hand down to her arm. Her face went pale as she pulled her sleeve up, growing even paler when it was clean.
"What... but, how did?" Did she think I meant a therapist? Heh, far from it, he can barely understand his own feelings let alone someone else's.
"I'll return shortly." I said, exiting the tent once again where I was faced with my familiar.
"Did you know she was a sleigh beggy?" I asked them, and the silkie nodded with a dorky grin.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I scolded.
"I got an odd feeling from her, I don't really know why. I'm sorry master Lindel." I nodded with a sigh.
"Anyway, I need you to send a message to Elias. Tell him and Chise to get here as soon as possible, make the urgency clear but don't say anything about why. I'd like to keep this as private as possible until they arrive."
My familiar nodded, splashing and disappearing in the water.