Rykka (Beastborne: Book 1)

Part 5: The Eye Of The Storm

Song: House Of The Rising Sun - Five Finger Death Punch

The man who healed Lithias was also the first person she saw when she opened her eyes after she regained consciousness. In fact he was the only person in the tent with her. It was dark aside from the light of his lanterns so she could only assume it was night. She instantly felt bad for not unloading her boys. They had been sleeping in their gear for days now and travelling while carrying her. They more than deserved to enjoy this break, as short as it may be. That in mind, she almost forgot about her wound until she tried to sit.

Her face contorted in a grimace as she started to sit. The shirt she had been given had been closed and someone had also put her in a pair of thick fur pants from one of her bags. She was impressed that someone had dared approach either of the Kilthra, let alone Othanis who she was sure carried these. She managed a few deep breaths and pulled herself into an upright position the best she could. She turned to face the man who had been watching her with an expression as if he were studying her intensely. His eyes searched her entire body before landing on her face. He almost seemed surprised that he had her full attention.

"How do you feel?" He asked, his tone even and diplomatic. Nothing about him gave any impression as to his thoughts. "Better." Was all Lithias was able to rasp. Her throat was incredibly dry and she had a linger taste of salt on her tongue, it wasn't over bearing. It was what she imagined her aunt described when she talked of her travels to the western peaks that bordered the Pliopactis Sea. She had spoken of how the air around the crashing waves tasted of salty mist. It was interesting and she knew the source of it was the residual essence from the man who had broken her fever magically.

Said man, nodded along with her statement as if it were exactly as he expected. "Othanis...he allowed you to approach." It was a guess but given the distrust the rest of the camp had garnered from the two yesterday there was only one who they might have allowed to retrieve her clothing. "The Kilthra?" He asked, an sort of warmth filled his eyes, she almost missed it for it was gone in an instant. "Yes. After you had been healed, Mereth stayed with you for a while and I took it upon myself to unburden the beasts." Lithias noted she should just give up on her idea of how the world worked now. First she lost everything, almost died, ran into some random party of foreigners, and her Kilthra were becoming fast friends with one of them.

She almost just laid back down and went to sleep upon this information but she knew it was imperative she learn more about the people who had undoubtedly saved her life. So she allowed herself to sink back into her blankets a bit but she didn't lay back down. "What is your name?" She was a bit surprised he had been the first to get a question in, with the thousands swarming in her mind. She debated lying but her name wasn't known. There was nothing that could tie her existence back to her father once she left this range. That was the sole purpose for the destruciton of her home. Her actual name included in the things that would now stay unknown to her enemies. "Lithias." She had only ever gone by her given name any way. It was tradition among her mothers people.

He seemed to mull that over, as if her name was the key to some great question he had been trying to answer his entire life. As she watched, his shoulders tensed and then relaxed all together. In fact almost every muscle in his body had, even his jaw. His expression was no longer neutral as it had been before. As his eyebrows furrowed and his eyelashes fluttered slightly in a daze she couldn't help but feel as if she were intruding on a private moment. His stone features were sharp and prominent as if they had been shaped by the mountain itself, and his calm emotionless exterior made a combination that almost seemed unnatural when paired with his current expression.

She had thought he was older when she first saw him but the more she looked now, she could tell he couldn't be more than a decade her senior. In fact, with his current emotion she wondered if he was even half that. He could've been as young as twenty five years as she looked at him now. Yet the skill it had required to heal her as he had. His magic was not the type often welded by healers and it had only taken her a few seconds to notice. If it were he also likely would've healed her entire wound at least to a degree instead of relying on the healer. "My name is Lynsias." He finally said, his mask slipping back into place although his dark eyes now shone with unspoken emotion.

Lithias took that in. She knew that came from the language of the earth, it was a name she had only heard once when her aunt had told her stories of the tribes of the western peaks. It meant 'from the highest sea'. "They call me Lynn here." There was a tone to that statement that made her wonder if she had just been given a name many didn't know. "Why are you here?" It might have sounded rude but Lithias's throat was too dry to form a more polite phrasing. Lynsias seemed unbothered though he did hand her a water skin from a nearby melting rock as he answered. "The group is here as a training exercise for the paladins. The four traveling are going to be squires next year and their parents have paid knights to escort them on this endeavor."

She noted that he had not said why he was here. She was going to ask but he cut her off. "We ran into enemy forces in the valley north of here. They weren't far from an abandoned trade post we had camped at for the night. They had not seen us yet and we were able to break down our camp and head out before they arrived at our position. We kept moving through the last few nights and arrived in the valley with the storm just starting. We were hunting when Mereth and the others found you and the beast." That was a lot of information to take in at one time for her foggy mind. So these were the men who she'd found traces of days ago in her fathers trading post. It wasn't uncommon for the occassional group to stop by for a night so she hadn't thought it to be of signifcance before. 

She lingered on the parts pertaining to their enemies. Which in this instance were actually her enemies.She wanted to ask more about this encounter but she didn't want to tie herself to the groups enemies in any way. Not yet. She was more trouble than she was worth and they'd saved her without knowing she was the source of their danger. Well, at least the others had...Lynsias knew more about her than he had addressed so far. She was sure of it based on his reaction to her magic. "Thank you, for healing me." She said after a few moments, bowing her head in a show of respect. He accepted this with a bow of his own head. "It will be morning soon." She also noted he was quick to change the subject.

"Mereth and Daebrn will have many questions for you. I find myself sharing the sentiment." He said, his eyes flickering to her side and the tent wall behind her. Now that she was focused she could hear that Aakine was snoring softly on the other side. If it was Othanis she would've woken up hours ago. "Would you like to dress? No matter the outcome of the discussion we need to move now that the storm has broken. The soldiers may be pursuing us for all we know, the storm would've covered our tracks but that wouldn't buy us a lot of time."

A pit rose in her stomach as she nodded. He leaned over and retrieved her bag of clothing. As she dressed she felt dread fill her stomach. The coming conversation was not one she was looking forward too.