Into the Inferno

2 - The Stranger

Lilja was barely able to lift his body. With his muscle, and the fact that he was at least six foot five, he had to weigh at least 250lbs.
So, instead of lifting him, she decided to drag him.
She lifted him over the tree stump that had blocked her vision of him, and dragged him the rest of the way through the silent forest, wincing every time her foot broke a twig or leaves crunched too loudly, breaking the sharp silence.
The stranger stayed silent as Lilja dragged him, never once indicating that he was waking up. By the amount of blood on his clothing, and how disoriented he had been when he had briefly spoken to her, she knew that he was probably worse than she had previously thought.
When she breached the beginning of her land, and the end of the forest, the heat hit her. Within seconds, she was sweating as the sun beat down harshly on her cloth-covered back. Her feet sparked with pain as she took each step, and her arms became weary from dragging the unconscious man.
Exhausted, she gently dropped him to the ground, and turned to face where her mother would be. Instead, she saw her father  unloading the cart, and her mother was probably inside their small cottage. She began to run over to him.
"Papa!"
He looked up, and smiled at Lilja. Gabhail Blom had salt and pepper hair, with a beard and kind, but slightly-cloudy, amber eyes. He was just under six feet, and he had a slight frame, with strong arms, which were perfect for farming  and protecting his family. Otherwise, he was physically weak. The years hadn't been the kindest to him.
"How is my Lil' Lilja?"
Lilja stopped before the cart, panting slightly with her limp from her shoes more pronounced. Her father gazed at her in worry, "are your shoes hurting again, Lilja? I think I have enough to go buy a new pair for you now." Lilja smiled, "No, Papa. These shoes are fine. Don't waste your money on me."
He smiled again and kissed her forehead from his perch on the cart, "what do you need, Lilja?"
Lilja's face dropped with concern, "Papa, I found a man in the forest. He's unconcious and bleeding badly, and I can't carry him."
Gabhail jumped off the cart and started walking in the direction his daughter had come from. He had to make sure it was safe to bring the man into his home- there were rumors of strange, non-human things that roamed the forests surrounding his farm. He needed to be cautious.
"Lilja," he cautioned, turning towards her,"go help your mother inside."
She opened her mouth to protest, but snapped it shut when her father gave her a warning look. With that, she turned back towards home, and left her father to decide what to do with the mysterious man.
Walking into the cool air of the house, she sat down in a chair and painstakingly removed her shoes, which had stuck to her feet because if the dried blood from her exposed blisters. Her mother, Anhala, sat at their small table, fixing a tear in a tablecloth.
Her mother looked up, her green eyes swamped with concern,"Lilja, do you need some medicine? You know you'll get an infection if you refrain from getting new shoes! I've patched them up so many times, the patches have patches!"
Lilja rolled her eyes at her ever-dramatic mother. Before Anhala married her father, she had been a traveling actress. Sadly, on the road, she caught a fever, and with fear that she would spread the disease with the other, more important actors, she had been left on the side of the road-alone. When Gabhail came upon her, he helped her because she had no where else to go. Soon, they feel in love, and two months later, they married, and a year later, Lilja had been born.
Lilja knew her mother missed her somewhat-lavish lifestyle from before she was married. She had originally been a blacksmiths daughter- a much richer trade- and had been the only daughter of a man with 5 children, and thus, she was dotted on by her mother and father. She travelled as an actress because she wanted to; not because she had to.
However, when Lilja was just two years old, her grandparents were killed, along with three of her mothers brothers, in an town raid, which resulted in a large fire afterwards. Her two remaining brothers lived far away, in a different kingdom. Her mother hadn't seen either of them in over 15 years.
Lilja knew that her mother was  lonely, with only her father who was usually gone, and a daughter who was too preoccupied with helping him, she didn't have much human interaction. Because she never went to town, where the local people dwelled, they were the only two people that she ever talked to.
"No, mama. I am fine. Have Papa use the money to buy some nails to fix up the barn- I'm sacred it will fall on me when I walk into it."
Her mother smiled, her calloused hands resting on her lap, "Lilja, it can wait. Your feet, however, can not."
Lilja smiled, ignoring her persistent mother. With her feet finally free from their stifling cell, and her body tired from lugging the man, and large piles of wood and hay, she decided to eat and take a nap, before working again.
As she stood up, her father walked in, his face cautious and strained.
"Papa- the man?" Lilja questioned, while her mother looked confused.
Her father's amber eyes looked at her- they glowed with an ethereal light. Yet, when he spoke, his voice was deep with warning, "he's awake, and he brings troubling news."