Garthalan: Mother of the Wood

Providing Refuge

Garen pov

I sat at the gate awaiting Adayas return, I decided that it was time I gave her the necklace I had bought in case she needed a bribe to allow us to protect her. I fiddled with the piece running my finger over the engravings surrounding the pale blue gem in the middle, it was warm to the touch.

Adaya emerged from the trees I stood waiting to greet her and see how she liked the gift. Then another woman followed behind her, who could that be? She wore a a knee length dress covered by leather armour, she was armed as well, though only the blades, no bow.

"Garen, where is Gretha? I need to speak with him." I pocketed the necklace it would have to wait untill later.

"Follow me. Who is this?" I began to lead her to the tunnels where the commander was helping to reinforce the escape route.

"This is Laila, she's a wood elf as well."

"truly?" The surprise was clear on my face, perhaps I should ask her if she thinks Adaya would even like the necklace. I turned to the woman, Laila. " It is a pleasure to have you with us m'lady."

She looked a little surprised at my words. "It is a pleasure to be welcomed so warmly, I must admit it is not something I was expecting."

"We welcome all who are not trying to kill us. Is there a caravan with you?"

She laughed. " No, but if things go how I want them to then then there will be." Did she come seeking refuge?

We stopped by multiple stalls for Laila to peruse the wares before we moved on she traded a small dagger of hers for a ring that she said should help boost her powers it was made of iron but had a whitewood inlay she said the whitewood is what holds the abilities.

As soon as we arrived Gretha emerged from the tunnels toting a load of wood. He seen us and lay it down on a table by the entrance.

"Hello there. You seem like your on a mission friend." Adaya smacked lailas side looking at her with a mix between disbelief, humor, and question. Before I began to decipher it Gretha continued speaking. " Who might this be?"

Laila started before I could introduce her. "I am Laila, I am assuming you are Gretha, I have heard a bit about you from my new friend here. However she did not tell me the looker you were." I think the commander just blushed. "That's not what I came for though. I would like your permission to bring my caravan behind your walls. We have lost most of our hunters and if we are attacked again we will not be able to protect the people left."

The commander surprised me when he said without hesitation. "bring them. We will start preparations immediately."

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I'm really sorry about the single pov but my mind is everywhere and I just couldn't find a good spot to swap it up at. Thank you all again for your votes and support, it really does help me keep going. (1.8k reads, this story is going better than I had intended for it to.)