Illara Chronicles: Swordplay

The Hand of Fate

The wet morning was blanketed in a heavy mist that the sun would struggle to cut in the afternoon. The only folk that moved about Havenhill in the cold were hunched but otherwise obscure shadows in the fog; drawn from the warmth of their blankets by some business that could not wait. Kelith stood outside the blacksmiths shop, ready for days of travel, with his heart in a familiar flutter. 

He took a deep breath as he approached, trading the cool hay scented air for the heat of the forge. It smelled like fire and tasted like iron, a combination he'd come to associate with the most beautiful person he'd ever know.

Aelandra had her back to him, in a sleeveless tunic that displayed her muscled back, as her shoulders hunched over a metal bench away from the anvil. Her thick Auburn hair was pulled back out of her face, there was a packed bag of her own by her booted feet.

"What are you working?" Kelith blurted. She had a way of sensing him nearby and he had already lingered too long in silence.

"I was hoping you'd come." Aelandra set aside a thin chisel, and blew off the rounded piece of metal in her hand before going back to work on it.

"I wanted to stop and say goodbye, on my way, and to wish you well. I know the road to Caldine is cold and treacherous this late in the year."

"Are you worried for me Kelith Kettlesbee?" She flashed the edge of a grin over her shoulder, but it slipped away as she turned back to her work - eyebrows low. "There isn't a place in the Wild Glade that isn't treacherous, anymore, maybe your journey is the one we should stress about."

"Well, Taldren has worked himself into a mood. I'd hate to be the pack of bandits that try to muscle him out of his purse...Sprig will be with us too, and besides, we're going to meet a friend."

"The Goblin."

"Grellion."

Aelandra set down her tools and turned fully then. Her eyes said that the difference was not enough to be comforting. 

 "We will be together again in a dozen days, maybe less if you ride hard." Kelith fished for a smile and he found it in her eyes.

 Aelandra took a large step towards him, and took his hand, placing the piece of still warm metal in it. It was the face of a wolf, teeth bared and snarling. "It is a talisman, for my mother. A predator poised to strike, means a warriors honor." She ran a finger over the fangs and flashed her own teeth with a scowl that immediately softened into...fondness or, some concern. "The wolf means family." 

Kelith turned it over in his hands, before offering it back to her. "She will love it."

"You may be surprised." Aelandra said to the floor. She closed Keliths hand around the talisman. "Keep it, and see for yourself how she receives it."

Kelith didn't understand, and from her face, she could tell. She went on with a small laugh, "My mother lives high on Spirecrest Mountain. Keep this token as a promise, that we will take it to her together someday. It is a promise that this separating today doesn't change our...travel plans, for the future." Aelandra had never taken her hands away from his, and she held them now unabashedly. It made him curse the heat he felt spilling across his cheeks.

She kissed him on the nose, and tucked the token into his chest pocket."Come back to me, Snow Bear."

"Okay." Kelith managed simply, despite his hammering heart.

// // //

Okay!?

Kelith let his flushed face fall into his hands as he waited for Taldren by the gate. The sun was higher than it should have been, and Tal' was nowhere to be seen. It would be nice if he'd simply been careless, lost track of the day, overslept or agreed to some favor that took longer to fulfill than anticipated, but Kelith had a feeling he knew where to find his friend.