Obsidian

Chapter 4

The heavy afternoon sun was high in the sky as Amalia and the man stepped out of the forest. The sight of their horses was a welcome sight to Amalia. After escaping the Ilele, they both had walked tiredly out of the forest, the silence between them filled with the sound of crunching leaves underneath their feet and the sound of birds, yet no tinkling bells.

The man bowed deeply when they reached the forest's edge. "Thank you," he said. "I don't know if there's anything I could possibly do to thank for saving my life. Hell, I think you saved not just my life but my soul as well."

Amalia gave the man a weary smile. "You're welcome. Honestly, though, I wasn't even sure how to defeat it, it was mostly lucky intuition that we survived."

She untied her horse and prepared for travel once again.

The man got down on one knee and took her hand in his. "If you will have me, I will be at your service until you feel that my life debt to you is repaid. It is my honor and duty to do so for such a brave woman such as yourself"

For a moment Amalia thought the man was joking until she saw the complete seriousness in his eyes and realized that this young man was absolutely serious about binding himself into her service.

She laughed a little. "You don't have to do that. I admire your adherence to honor, but I'm not royalty. I'm just a woman and your thanks are enough for me." She turned to get on her horse. "You and I can go our separate ways now." With a joking smile, she told him, "just be careful next time. And if you see a woman dancing and singing in the middle of the forest, maybe you should assume that she probably just wants to eat you."

"At least let me escort you to the next town over. That is, if you wouldn't mind the company for such a short while" the man said.

With the reins in her hands, she looked at him with a slight half-smile. "I suppose not. I've been traveling alone for a while now. I wouldn't mind a little company." She extended her hand to him "My name is Amalia."

He shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Amalia. My name is Nathaniel Sewell. But you can call me Nate."

They set out on their horses and onto the winding road before them. The rays of sunlight shining in between the trees have the woodlands around her a feeling of ethereal beauty.

Amalia thought back to the Trisgol she saw earlier. Was this what it was warning her about? The Ilele? No, that didn't feel right. The impression she was left with was of something even more terrible, something that ran chills up her spine in uneasiness. She had hoped that everything was going to be okay now, but she still felt like something was.... off. She felt as if something else, something worse was waiting for her, and she had no other choice than to keep going and face it. She glanced at Nate. Was it him? She didn't think so either. However, she felt curious to know more about Nate. He certainly wasn't a normal man, she felt sure he had some magic inside of him also.

"So, Nate tell me where you're heading. You seem like a seasoned traveler to me. Like someone who's seen a thing or two" Amalia asked.

"Yeah, you're right. I've spent quite a few years of my life traveling and exploring. Done some things. Met some interesting people I suppose. I've realized that the world I grew up in is so much more... interesting.... then I thought it was, but in the end, I suppose I'm just trying to find myself and maybe get some answers"

"Have you got any stories? Any tales of daring adventures" she asked.

He chuckled. "Maybe a few. Perhaps more than a few."

" I used to sail in my younger years. And it was really amazing. Amazing and terrifying. The ocean's this endless expanse of unknown territory. One time, my crewmates and I were just doing some regulatory work patrolling the sea and we this shimmer in the water far off. It was coming towards us and we were all kind of hoped it'd be some sort of mermaid, the ones in the stories. " The man's face looked forward wistfully. "Alas, I couldn't have been more wrong"