Dullahan

3 - Journey - 3

The rest of the evening passed in silence. Ness lit a fire, something that Eldred started to appreciate as the night went on and the heat started to seep from the air. He huddled around it as the rabbit cooked, and Ness turned to care for her horse.

It hadn't tasted bad, but he found himself homesick for his mother's cooking as he gnawed at the bones, staring into the flames as his mind drifted through the events of the past few days for the umpteenth time.

When the bones were picked clean, he sat back a little further and lay down in the pine needles, pulling his coat closer around himself and shutting his eyes, hoping he'd at least be able to sleep. It took some fidgeting to find a position that did not make his face hurt- sleeping on any part of the right side of his body was out of the question- but once he did, he dropped off almost immediately, falling into a fitful sleep as his increasing weariness caught up to him once again.

Bright sunlight woke him, fingers of light finding their way through the tree trunks. Groggily, he opened his eyes, taking in the quiet forest around him. The fire was nothing but embers, ash drifting lazily into the air, charred sticks dotted with the occasional white of bone where it had not been blackened. The small stock of wood that had been piled only a short distance from it had been depleted, leaving only a few twigs that wouldn't have made much of a difference anyway.

On the other side of the fire he could see the sitting shape of Ness- still clad in her armour- leaned against one of the trees on the raised edge of the bowl, facing away from him. He wondered if she'd slept, and if she had taken off her armour to do so.

Slowly, he sat up, wincing at the stiffness in his limbs. A blanket fell from his shoulders, and it took him a moment to recall that there had not been one when he had fallen asleep. He was glad of it- even through the thin layer he was cold, but he suspected it had helped considerably in keeping him at least this warm.

At the sound of movement, Ness stood, walking down to where he sat and starting to kick dirt over the fire.

"How do you feel?" she asked as she worked, kneeling down as she continued to dismantle the small fire pit.

He watched her, taking stock of himself. "Cold," he decided, moving a little closer in hopes of gleaning a little more heat from the now smouldering pile. He had no such luck, and instead just bundled himself up further in the blanket.

"With any luck, you won't be sleeping out again tonight," she assured him, straightening and walking over to Ardghal, starting to put the saddle and bridle back on the horse.

Eldred nodded to himself, and huddled in closer, staring at where the fire had been.

They set off only a short while later, Eldred begrudgingly letting Ness lift up onto the horse. He sat in the front again, with Ness behind to make sure he didn't fall off.

They left the copse the way they had entered, following a narrow path back out onto the lane and then continuing in the direction Ness had pointed out the night before.

Conversation was more sparse this time around, with Eldred mostly keeping his thoughts to himself. Occasionally, he would comment on some feature on the road- a mile marker, a herd of cows, or a stream that they passed. Ness, for the most part, would respond with only a few words, and after a while Eldred went quiet, keeping his observations to himself. It didn't take very long for the previous day's aches and pains to return, and Eldred couldn't help but fidget in an attempt to find a more comfortable position to sit. Ness, on her part, seemed impervious to this, remaining still in her seat, attention seemingly fixed on the road ahead of them.