Moongrace

Part 25

On a sunny morning, she wished Evan and the others goodbye as they took the cart to the market. Zoe was inside and they were looking forward to a day of quiet just among the two of them. Slowly and with a lot of pauses for Zoe they cleaned the house including kitchen and stables. They fed the animals and did all kinds of tasks which had become Eleeza's daily work.

In the afternoon Zoe finally went to take a nap. Eleeza had impatiently waited for this moment because she longed to walk freely in the forest. She knew from experience that Zoe slept for at least one hour, since she needed to take more rest with the progressing pregnancy. Planning to be back before Zoe woke up, she walked outside taking her stick along and called for Rola. Rola seemed to always hear her, so they had concluded that the spell must work for humans only.

Anyway, Rola came running immediately and after a bit of petting, they walked together to the forest. One hand on the dogs back, she didn't need her stick and could walk faster than with it. Their usual route wound up a soft hill in the dark of the forests. Sometimes Eleeza took a rest on Evans meadow to smell the flowers and hear the bees humming. But today she walked on and stood still from time to time to take in the surrounding with her senses. The pure nature excited and calmed her at the same time. Being focused on the world around her and not being distracted by talking, she didn't shrink once when a wild animal passed by in front of her or some bird flew over her head.

The animals were never afraid of her, coming close and sometimes even touching her. With her hand she then had to calm Rola who liked to bark at the other animals. The dog was as protective as Evans family and wouldn't let anything get close to her, if she did not calm her in advance.

Eleeza got so lost in the sounds and smells that she didn't care where they were walking. And even if she would get lost, Rola would certainly know the way back. So Eleeza walked further and further, not caring about the way. Suddenly she heard voices, still far off but unmistakable. Even Rola tensed.

Eleeza had to decide whether she should she go on or hide somewhere. Hiding was quite difficult because she didn't see whether she was fully covered. But on the other hand, she had forgotten her blindfold and she knew she shouldn't be seen with her silver eyes. So, she pushed Rola softly towards the right and lowered her stick to the ground. Carefully she walked forward.

With her stick she could sense a tree in front of her and bushes to its left. She walked behind Rola around the tree from the right side. Slowly and carefully and to her discontent with a lot of noise she walked further forward. Plants and spikes teared on her dress and she bumped into low hanging branches quite a few times. It frustrated her being so helpless and clumsy. With every scratch and bump she got angrier with herself.

Finally, the dog went down as a sign that it thought them safe. So Eleeza sat down as well, exhausted. After calming her breath, she focused on her hearing. To her concern, the voices came closer. But for running away it was too late now, she had to wait until they walked by, hoping they wouldn't notice her. After a while the voices got louder. Quickly she searched with a hand for the dog and when she had found her muzzle put her hand onto it, to keep it from making noises. Finally, she could distinguish the voices.

To very immense surprise the two voices were not talking in Lecish, the common language of Pacen, but in Acuandela. Her heartbeat rose. Could this be somebody she knew, searching for her? Maybe her brother?

Hearing her mother tongue made her long for a past she had forgotten, made her long for finally fitting in again, made her long for her home. She had almost shown herself immediately, but then decided to first listen a bit to what they were talking about.