A Right Hand Woman

Live, laugh, love.

Elray turned out to be a good travel partner. He kept up with my pace and did not complain when I pushed on later at night, instead of making camp early. He helped set up, and ended up being a fairly good cook. He had all his own blankets and cooking gear. It was a relief to not have to think for him. There was very little talk for most of the first and second day. Elray asked once why I did not ride a horse and chose to walk everywhere instead, to which I responded 'Horses may be fast, but my feet are quiet. I prefer the contact between the road and the soles of my shoes. And if I need to hide quickly, I have no horse to hide as well'. He saw the sense of it and left the subject alone.

On the second night, we had travelled well past dark and were looking for a good camp for the night. I stopped walking, stood dead still and listened. Elray opened his mouth to speak but I help up my hand to silence him. Letting out a quick shrill whistle, I waited. 'Right, this way' I said while walking off the road and into the trees. Elray gave me an odd look but followed anyway. After a very short walk, we came out of the trees at the entrance of a small cave. 'How the hell did you do that!' Elray exclaimed in surprise. I threw him a smile and shrugged. 'Just lucky I guess'. I walked in and could smell the disuse of the cave. No animal scents. No unhappy beast returning in the night.

'No really, how did you do that? I never seen anything like it' Elray pressed at me. I did not answer, instead, I walked back into the trees and collected some wood for a fire. Returning, I built a small pyre and got the wood burning. Only after I had retrieved my cooking pan, some dried beef and some water, did I tell him. 'My ears can hear things you would never know were there. By letting out the whistle, I heard the very faint echo of it on the walls of this cave and it gave me an idea of the direction' I looked up at him. He was smiling at me with his lop sided grin. 'A whistle' His grin grew wider. 'Now why did I not think of that?' he said and burst out laughing.

'Why is that so funny?' I could not understand. In my mind, it all made perfect sense. 'Think of it from my point of view. Someone lets out a whistle and from that whistle, can find a cave by listening for the echo? It is great! I can not do it, and from what I know, no one else can either. And I am guessing that this is something I can not learn to do?' I did not know. I knew that one year ago, I would not have been able to do it. So it must have been from the increased hearing. I sat quietly and thought it over.  'I did not mean to offend you. I only thought it amazing you were able to do that' Elray said quietly,the smile having left his face and his eyes boring into me.

'I am not offended. I was thinking about the changes in me since I met the Weaver. It is not just my hearing. I can see things that are so far away, you would not know they were there. And I can feel things in the air. When we are walking, I can feel the animals around us and know exactly where they are' I continued to think through the changes. 'So if you can feel the animals around us, why are we eating dried beef?' Elray asked me, the grin returning to his face. I leaned forward and signalled he should as well and with our faces almost touching, I checked over each shoulder and said 'I like dried Beef' Elray lost it. He was rolling in the dirt, laughing a great hacking laugh, sounding like he would choke on his own tongue. At that I burst out laughing as well.

After sitting and eating our small supper, we continued to talk quietly into the night. He told me of his life as a child and his parents, and then of joining the nobles and fighting in battles, knowing fear and also knowing strength and power when the enemy had been beat. I had little to say so I told him only of my home and family. The talk died off and we pulled out our sleeping packs. Within moments of laying there, I heard Elray start snoring and dozed off to sleep myself.

I awoke to a twig snapping. Elray was still in his blankets and snoring. I rose without a sound, took up my sword and crept towards the cave mouth. There was nothing there but I could feel something outside my line of vision. I stalked into the trees, listening. Another snap and a brush of movement. I moved around until I was behind the presence. We stalked together. I watched as a shape left the tree line and ventured into the cleared area in front of the cave. I slowly and gently walked towards the shadow.

'Shhhhhh girl, I mean you no harm' I held both my hands up. The doe stopped still and looked at me. I carefully walked closer, making sure I trod on no branches or sticks, in case I scared her away. Finally, I stood beside her, both hands held up in front of me. She scented the air and stepped towards me. Pressing her nose into my hand, she smelled me, then moved her head against my hand. I lowered my other hand onto her back and started to rub her hide. I had never felt so alive in all my life.

A peace settled over me and a feeling of love and adoration spread though out. I scratched behind her ears, quietly talking to her all the while. She was enjoying the feel of the scratches and placed her head on my shoulder as I continued to work the muscles of her neck. She had a slightly dirty smell to her, but to me it smelt like life. I pushed my face back into the side of her head, enjoying the course feel of her hide. A slight cough came from behind us, and the doe, alerted at the intrusion, darted away.

'Nice Elray. Really Nice' I grumbled as I turned and looked at him. He grinned sheepishly at me and shrugged. 'I woke and saw you gone. Thought you might need my help. But yet again, you never cease to amaze me' And with that, he turned and walked back into the cave. I started back to my bed when I heard another snap of a stick. Louder this time. And heavier. I drew my sword and stood still, waiting. The sounds of shuffled steps came closer, until they stopped right behind me. I spun, aiming my sword at the neck of my combatant, stopping just before slicing his neck open. Smiling I looked into his face 'Hello Weaver'.