The Brave One

Chapter 4

Chapter 3

The mist of the foggy day cooled the summer heat as the two travelers headed out of the forest. The grey day had lightened but had not let up its threat of rainfall. Showers poured sporadically but in short trickles. Curls fell out of the brown braid and the fair-haired man cursed himself for swimming. His clothing stuck to him as he walked, rubbing uncomfortably on his legs.

The young woman made no complaint however, even as her bare feet became soiled brown with mud. Her unusual dress became stained with grime yet she walked on uncaring.

William had been walking with the strange beauty for half of the day without finding a clue of whom she was. He had not even learned her name. Casually, he began a conversation, hoping it would ease the tension he felt rising between them.

“What is a woman doing out in the middle of the wood with no food nor supplies, but a bow and arrows?” William saw a trace of worry cross the woman’s face for a mere second, then quickly vanish into a trickster’s smirk.

“I was… hunting.”

“Hunting? A woman who hunts?”

“Do not be so surprised.” Evera scoffed. “Many a women of my people are great huntresses.”

“And which people are they?”

“People you should not concern yourself with.”

The young man felt he should be offended by the way a mere woman spoke to him. He felt as if he should command the inferior female to silence herself, but he could not bring himself to do it. Something about her grace had stopped him from even dancing in the waters of detestation.

“Why have you not gone back?” William stared at the young lady’s face. Evera turned her head.

“It is shameful to come back with empty hands.”

“I believe it might be better than starving out in the woods.”

Evera lifted the hem of her dress to climb over a fallen tree. She smiled thinking of the young man’s ignorance. It amused her that this boy is talking to a creature he has never known existed, and he dare thinks he knows best.

“I believe, if I held the power to choose, I would stay a traveler, for the freedom. Seeing new places with new adventures. No doubt you find it to be so too.”

William shifted his belongings on his back and thought about it. Though his travels were to find another home, he found it to be quite relaxing compared to the commotion of the marketplaces that used to surround him. The quiet of the forest suited him more than the haggling talk of the bargainers and merchants. He looked at his companion. She was right; he did like the travel more than the actual search for a destination.

“I figure I would be lying if I said it was just the people I travel with,” he replied with a gruff voice. “You are the first fellow traveler I have had.”

“Have you not a spouse?”

“I uh… I am not married.” William glanced at his red-cheeked friend. “It is alright. I’ve never been one for family anyway. My father died when I was a boy and my mother shortly after joined him. Not a pretty story but it is life. Death is a part of life as well as the other way around. No one can live forever.” The last of his words trailed off, as if he felt it disturbing to talk about death so easily.

Evera cast her gaze down. She felt guilt-ridden not only for having the poor man talk a sore conversation, nor for the fact she had withheld all knowledge of her true self. The fact that made Evera feel uncomfortable was her knowledge of immortality. It shamed her to know, Fae were almost immortal beings, never dying of age but only of pain and illness.

“You must have some sort of family left? Brother? Sister? Grandparents of an elderly nature?” William chuckled at Evera again.

“You seem very bent on the idea life is kind to all.”

“I know it is not,” replied Evera curtly. “I just hope in better lives than mine. That way I know there is something better.”

Evera hid her glistening eyes by once more turning to the trees. How they have it so glorious, she thought. They stand tall against the wind yet allow themselves to sway. They meet the sun everyday and enjoy the falling of the rain. Life is beautiful for them. Evera made a weak smile before returning to the one-sided conversation William was making.

“…Once I make a proper amount of money I want to buy myself a home.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Evera chimed.

“You know, I feel quite bad that I am telling you a life story and you to me and I don’t even know your name.”

“Why should you need to know it?” Evera forgot of Human customs. Sharing names started conversations for Humans while her people hid their names out of their beliefs. Names were a part of their being and their beings were not to be shared lightly with this man’s kind.

“Well, Mistress Mysterious, my name is William. William Anderson.”

Evera’s head turned sharply. It was as much of a chance that she would find her adoptive mother living in her old house as seeing her childhood friend in the middle of the forest, yet here he was standing as clear as the waters they met by. She stopped her footsteps and leaned on a nearby tree. Her head began to reel and spin and in an instant, she was consumed by darkness.

The first noise she heard was the crackling of a fire. Its burning wood smoke filled her nostrils, giving her a sense of peace that only her room’s never-extinguishing fire pit could provide. She pulled the blanket to her chin, shivering from the night’s chilly wind. The caves did not usually feel this cold. Her brows furrowed as she began to realize she was not in her underground bedchamber, but in the forest above.

“Wake up, miss. Please, wake up.” William gently rocked her shoulder. “Please, it is not good for you to lie still for so long during the day.”

The green eyes adjusted to the forest light as she began to realize someone was speaking. “Are you alright?”

“What?” The shadows in front of her melted together.

“Are you alright? You took a horrible fall. Did you trip over a root or something?”

William…

“Is it truly you, William?” Evera slurred the words together. Her eyes, still out of focus, tried to find the source of the voice.

“Yes. I’m right here.” He placed a damp rag, made from ripped material of his shirt, on her tender forehead. She winced at the sudden pain but soon relaxed under to coolness of the cloth.

William helped the young woman sit up against the tree. Evera’s body felt as limp as a cloth doll in William’s sturdy arms. Her head rolled to the side, causing her body to lean too far. The man caught her before she fell, and held her close to his chest. The woman, in a hazy state of delirium, nuzzled closer to her aid.

“You are remarkably warm, William.” Evera breathed the words rather than speak them. Her hair tickled the gruff man’s chin as he hesitantly stroked the female’s hair.

“As much as I enjoy this,” William mumbled, more to himself than his hazy companion. “You must stay awake for your own benefit. We cannot have you awake all tomorrow’s evening hours.”

“Always the pragmatist.” Evera pulled away from her red faced friend. She began to gain control of her senses once more but longed to be back within the man’s heated arms.

The two sat in both comfortable and uneasy silences for the rest of the night. William, being the newfound gentleman, offered what little food he had in his rucksack. He pulled out a bit of bread he had stolen from the baker before he left the village for good. He ripped an edge for the slightly less dumbstruck girl and saved the rest for the days ahead. She hadn’t noticed he packed the food away without eating. Evera would fast if she knew she had to eat alone. It was almost required back in Morag.

The sun faded into the west as the pair grew heavy-eyed. Finally, the two found themselves within their own fantasies and imagination, leaving real life, with pain and sensibility, behind.