Chapter 380: A Brief Rest

The Mothers and the chieftain stayed at the gate and watched as Stryg and his companions left the village behind. The others had gone back into their homes to avoid the rain, but First Mother and Jahn opted to stay until Stryg finally passed the village’s outer clearing and disappeared into the tree line.

“Are you alright, sister?” Jahn asked quietly.

“Obviously,” she said curtly, though her eyes stayed on the tree line.

Jahn smiled sympathetically. “I know it wasn’t easy, letting your son go once more.”

“...I’m fine.”

“He’ll be back, you know. In a few months, perhaps.”

“I said I’m fine,” she snapped, but her eyes still did not leave the tree line.

“...Alright, I’ll leave you be.” Jahn turned to leave, “Still,” he stopped, “I can’t believe you gave Stryg our grandmother’s ring.”

“Is that so?” First sighed deeply and pulled the scarlet-ebon wreath off her brow. She tilted her head up towards the storm clouds and closed her eyes. Her hood slipped down and her hair was exposed to the elements. The rainwater slowly washed away the black dye and left her hair as pale as the moon.

“You think it was the wrong choice?” she whispered.

“It isn’t my place to say. The ring was given to you.”

“Yes…” First closed her eyes in reminiscence, “Mom gave it to me when I was his age. It seemed only right that he carries the family’s signet now. More importantly, he’ll need all the help he can get from the family if he is to survive to be an Ebon Lord.”

“You think he’s ready for that kind of responsibility? Out there in the world? In Hollow Shade?”

“Not a chance.” First’s lips curled in a faint smile, “But he’s a Veres. He’ll adapt.”

~~~

The thick scarlet canopy did little to stop the water from dripping down on them. The storm had only become worse as night fell. The small campfire made of stray twigs and fresh branches grown from Stryg’s green flora magic, struggled to stay alight amidst the harsh winds.

Nonetheless, Plum and Tauri huddled around the campfire, trying to absorb what little heat they could.

“I told you we should have left after the storm,” Plum grumbled between chattering teeth.

“Why are you complaining? I thought drows were well suited to the cold.” Tauri did her best to smirk, but she wasn’t sure if she was. Her face was too cold, she couldn’t feel anything.

“It’s hard to stay warm when the rain saps the heat from you all day long,” Plum glared at her.

Stryg threw Blossom over Plum’s shoulders without a word. The white flower cloak wrapped around her snugly by itself.

“What the…?” Plum was taken aback, it was as if the cloak was sapping away her cold and filling her body with warmth.

“Better?” Stryg smiled.

“Much, thank you. But are you going to be okay?” Plum asked.

“I’ll be fine. The rain doesn’t bother me,” he said.

“Ah, yes, another unexplained wonder of our resident Ebon Aspirant. Or is there some kind of Sylvan trick that allows goblins to stay warm in freezing and soaking-wet clothes?” Tauri grumbled.

“Ah, knock it off. You’re just angry Stryg gave me the magic cloak and not you,” Plum stuck out her tongue teasingly.

Tauri frowned, “I’m angry the rain hasn’t let up yet.”

“It will, a little before dawn,” Stryg said off-handedly.

“And how do you know that?” Tauri asked.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Can’t you feel it in the air?” Stryg said.

Plum and Tauri shared a glance of uncertainty.

“And yet another unexplained wonder…” Tauri shook her head.

Stryg scratched his cheek, “You think so?”

Tauri noticed his finger and leaned over with narrowed eyes. “Hey, that ring… where did you get it?”

Stryg glanced at the orichalcum ring on his left index finger. The red gemstone shined in the flickering firelight. “First Mother gave it to me. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just, I’ve seen that ring before… but I can’t remember where,” Tauri muttered in consternation.

“Are you sure? First Mother said it belonged to my birth mother. I really doubt you’ve seen it before.”

“What was a Sylvan goblin doing with an orichalcum ring?” Tauri asked.

“How should I know? I never met my birth mother,” Stryg huffed.

“Hm…” Tauri leaned back and clicked her tongue, “Damn it, this is going to annoy me for days! I know I’ve seen that ring before!”

“Another unexplained wonder,” Plum teased.

“So it would seem,” Tauri frowned. She pulled out her sleeping cot from her travel pack and laid it on the ground near the campfire.

“You’re going to sleep?” Stryg asked.

Tauri cocked her eyebrow, “What else am I supposed to do? Listen to you two idiots discuss the ideal shape of a woman’s butt? No thanks.”

“That was one time,” Plum groaned.

Tauri snuggled into her cot and turned her back to them. “I’ll take the second watch. Now let me sleep.”

“I’ll take first watch then.” Stryg leaned back on an ashen tree and sat cross-legged in front of their small camp.

“I won’t argue with that,” Plum yawned. “I’m exhausted.”

“Get some rest while you can. It’ll be a couple of days before we reach the forest’s border. We should be fine until then, but after that…”

“After that…” Plum muttered forebodingly.

They were each keenly aware of what lay beyond Vulture Woods. The warring lands of Dusk Valley. The war between the valley tribes and the lords of Hollow Shade had only grown worse in the last few months. Now, with Lady Thorn’s declaration of war, they could only guess at how much more dangerous the rolling hills of the valley had become.

“We’ll be fine,” Stryg said as if to reassure himself.

“Yeah, of course, we have a Katag scion and an Ebon Aspirant with us. What could possibly go wrong?” Plum smiled forcefully.

Stryg grinned half-heartedly, “Get some rest.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Good night.”

“Good night.”

~~~

As the hours passed by and the raindrops pattered over the canopy Stryg kept a silent watch, content to stay awake all night if needed. He could manage without sleep for a few days if he didn’t push himself, his friends could not. He would rather let them sleep for a few more hours.

Every half hour or so Stryg would pour flame magic over the small sputtering fire to keep it alive. The cold damp air didn’t bother him, but he didn’t want his companions to get sick. Tauri in particular kept shivering throughout the night.

She turned over in her sleep and Stryg noticed her red lips had grown pale. A pang of worry shot through him. He walked over to her and crouched down.

“What are you doing?” Tauri mumbled with one eye open.

“You’re awake?” he asked, mildly surprised.

“Kind of hard to sleep in this damn cold,” she muttered tiredly.

“You’re wet clothes don’t help.”

“Are you seriously implying I take them off? In front of you two?”

“Plum’s asleep. So it’d just be me.”

“Why does that sound somehow worse? Hey, what are you doi–!?”

Stryg ignored the panic rising in her voice and slipped into the sleeping cot with her. “If you refuse to take off your clothes then I’ll have to warm you up myself.”

“If anyone back home saw this it would cause a scandal. You’re engaged to my sister,” Tauri hissed angrily.

“I don’t really care,” Stryg wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. “I don’t particularly like your sister.”

Tauri tried her best to squirm out of his embrace, but his arms may as well have been bars of steel. She debated on using brown magic to break away, but some part of her didn’t want to. He was surprisingly warm.

No, this is bad. He’s starting to make a habit of this, Tauri thought.

Before she could break free Stryg closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair. “You smell like vanilla. It’s sweet.”

“It’s my perfume… Some of the red mages make it back in Hollow Shade,” Tauri admitted, though she wasn’t quite sure why.

“I like it.”

“I don’t know how to feel about that…”

“What do you mean?” he asked softly.

“What are we even doing here? Where does this go? You’re marrying my sister.”

“I don’t even know your sister. She won’t mind if I break off the engagement.”

“Maybe she won’t but my parents will. You struck a bargain with my House, you can’t just run away from that.”

“What if we marry instead?”

“That’s… I don’t know if I want that.” She knew she had some feelings for the strange blue goblin, though she’d never admit it, but marriage? Marriage wasn’t something she could simply awake from.

“So what you’re saying is, I just have to convince you?” Stryg asked.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” she said dryly.

“Hm. Then this is problematic.”

“What is?”

“You’re an orc, Tauri. My people hate orcs. I thought I hated you, but I don’t. …What you said, back at the village, that I was worthy… Did you mean it?”

She tilted her head up and looked him in the eyes, their faces mere inches from each other. “Yes.”

Stryg sighed, “Then this really is problematic.”

She frowned, “I don’t understand.”

“I find it increasingly harder to imagine you with someone else. I don’t want that. I think it would hurt a lot.”

“You’re an idiot.” She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Now go to sleep.”

Stryg blinked, half shocked. “...You do realize I’m still on watch, right?”

“Shut up.” Tauri turned around in the cot so that her back was to him, “...What would you do, if you did see me with someone else?”

“I’d find out if he was worthy of you. And if he was, I’d wish you both the best.”

“Really?”

“No, I’d kill him.”

Tauri couldn’t help but crack a smile at that. Then she suddenly stiffened in horror as her eyes met Plum’s who was watching them from her own sleeping cot across the campfire.

“And that’s why you don’t fuck crazy,” Plum winked.

“How long have you been watching!?” Tauri shouted.

“How long have you been into sleeping with crazy possessive goblins?”

“This isn’t what it looks like!” Tauri said panickedly.

“Hey, I’m not judging, I mean I totally am, but that's beside the point. Just do me a favor, if you two are going to be fucking each other throughout the trip, try to be quiet. Some of us actually need to sleep.”

“Plum, you little shit!” Tauri screamed.