𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 | 𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐒𝐎𝐍

7 ⋆✶⋆The Mission

Three years later...

"You've got mail." Gilan said as he threw a letter into my lap. He let himself fall back into one of the rocking chairs on our veranda and continued on a report he was writing to Crowley. There were ink stains all over his sheet of parchment and I already pitied the corps commandant who had to decode his messy handwriting.

Our day had been nothing special, just some archery lessons and a tour through the village to get our weekly groceries. It had been like that for weeks and I was questioning my mentor all that time when we would get our next mission. Our last one in Picta had been at the start of the year and also luckily for us, the coldest season in the high north.

I took the paper which had a oak leaf printed on it, the signature of the Ranger's corps. My fingers ached to open it immediately, but I decided to tease the tall Ranger a bit. After all he had said we'd never get a mission again if I 'kept on whining like that'. (His words not mine, I saw it as rightful, persistent questions.)

"Must be from one of my admirers in the village." I looked at him from the corner of my eye as I used it as a fan. I was curious to see if he would get jealous or give any kind of reaction, but it didn't even seem to bother him. The baker's boy had shown some slight interest in me and since then we went all the way to the other bakery on the far end of town. When I asked him about it he simply said that the bread wasn't good and his tone furthered no more questions.

When I got no response from him, or even a look my way, I opened the letter with my sax knife and folded the parchment open. It was very vague. I was ordered to come to the gathering grounds to meet with Crowley. Alone.

"What is it?" The tall Ranger lazily raised one eyebrow as he finally unlocked his gaze from his paper. From afar he tried to see what was in it.

"I'm meeting Crowley?" I asked, a bit dazed. There was a chance it could be a trap, but from who? Nobody knew I was a Ranger but him, Halt and Crowley. Halt would have some motives, but I doubted he'd actually kill me. Right?

Gilan's eyebrows knotted together quickly and he hurried over, leaning on the back of my chair as his eyes flew over the text. "What?"

The tall Ranger started pacing up and down the patio with big steps and constantly ran his hand through his hair. "I know what he wants."

My eyebrows shot up. "Oh?"

"He wants to give you a mission."

I grinned, staring at the piece of paper again and feeling my heart make a little jump.

"But you're not going."

"Oh, I am." With that I lifted myself out of the chair and went inside, to go pack.

Quickly, he shook his brown curls and followed me. "Then I'm going with you!"

I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him. "No you're not, Crowley told me specifically to come alone."

"You're not ready."

Pang. It hit me right in the heart, where it hurt the most. He'd ripped open an old wound that had started to heal when I'd gotten the apprenticeship.

You will never be good enough.

The words rang through my mind, but I pushed everything that came with it down. Now was not the time. My pain turned to anger as I saw in his eyes that it was worry that drove him, not fear.

I hardened my features and stared at him. "That would be your failure, not mine."

Two can play that game.

When I reached my room and grabbed a bag to pack, he followed me still. Buzzing around me like a wasp with my every move. I laid a shirt in my bag, he would put it back. It went on until I got so annoyed, I grabbed his arms and ripped my clothes out of his hands. "Stop it, Gil."

He tried to wiggle out of my grip, by pulling his hands down. The only thing he achieved by it was getting us closer. Our faces were inches apart.

"Not until you let me come with you." His green eyes drilled into mine, normally I would've melted and given in, but this time I was determined.

I held my ground. "I'm going. Without you."

"Why do you want to go without me so badly?" Gilan sat down on the bed staring at the doorpost, "Do you really find me that horrible to be around?"

So that was why he was acting up.

"Of course not!"

Carefully I placed the last essentials in my bag, then closed it.

"You've been acting different since Picta." He remarked, looking me up and down as if he were checking for any signs of illness.

I knew what he was getting at.

"You did what you had to do," with one swing I hung the bag over my shoulder, "it didn't mean anything, I got that."

Maybe my tone had been too bitter, maybe I'd said too much, but I couldn't keep it in any longer. We'd never really talked about it, the only thing he'd said was sorry and that we had to do it. Not because he wanted to.

I walked out, but his voice froze me.

"What if it did," Gilan gulped, rising to his feet, "and I never told you that?"

I could've leaped a hole in the sky and plummeted to my death happily. My lips could not stay in line anymore and curled up massively. If they could, I was sure my eyes would've sparkled. At least that's what it felt like to hear the words I'd dreamed of hearing.

"That would change things," I carefully replied, turning around.

He took a step closer, taking my hand in his. "What things?"

"Us."

Our hearts were drawn to each other like magnets. In that moment all they wanted to be was close. His hands cupped my face and he bridged the little distance still left between us. The kiss was desperate, because he did not want me to leave and was afraid he could lose me, so he tried his best to keep me as near as possible now that he still had me.

When we broke apart, I looked at him and he already knew I'd made up my mind. And even though it pained him, he let me go.

⋆✶⋆

I halted Vacker and looked out over the empty gathering field. Without the fires, the laughing and the green tents it seemed spooky. The trees grew higher and their branches sharper. Even though I had only been here once, because Crowley had decided my apprenticeship was better kept safe, it had felt a bit like home. Almost no one was of nobility and there were no rules, no etiquette, just a good atmosphere.

In the middle of the field, where normally the Commander's large pavilion stood, was a lonely dark green tent and grazed a dark brown furry horse. His ears shot up and he greeted his fellow Ranger horse with a welcoming neigh. Vacker trotted over on her own accord, even though I'd wanted to keep my distance first to sneak up on them. It was a bit of a habit to try and scare the other Rangers whenever you could.

"No surprise attack?" Crowley asked, his eyebrows high as he sat on a foldable chair in front of his make-shift home, "does Gilan even teach you well?"

I smiled, his name sending warmth through my body. "He does, otherwise I wouldn't be here I assume."

"So you've guessed already?" he nodded, sipping from his mug, "then you'll want to know where you're going."

"More than anything."

His sand colored eyes settled on mine and they darkened. "To the mountains of Rain and Night you'll go."