Darin managed to keep up with the switches in languages, but only just barely. It was probably because they were already so closely related. Darin wasn’t sure she would be able to keep up if that happened all the time; especially if Ridahne continued to talk as fast as she was currently. Then again, she had never seen the Elf look so excited or happy. Darin supposed that was a good thing. Still it was a little unsettling to see. Darin mentally chided herself for that thought. Ridahne was allowed to be excited for things even if it was for something relatively small. Darin just found so little to be exciting right now.

She continued in the same language, “We can speak solely in Azurein, but you are going to have to speak slower than you are now. I can barely keep up right now. The Tree gave me the knowledge, but not the practice. Hopefully I will get better with practice.” She switched to the dialect she spoke at home, “If not I’m in trouble.”

Okay. That was kind of nice to hear. Maybe that was why Ridahne had gotten so excited when she had started to speak Azurien. It was like a little piece of home. Darin missed home. She gave her head a shake. Enough of that. The homesickness was getting out of hand. If she didn’t get her mental state under control the whole thing could be put at risk. She couldn’t spend her entire time missing home. She didn’t need to spend her time worrying about the past. She needed to focus on the future, everything that was at stake. There were more important things than her homesickness. That was for sure.

Darin look towards the horizon to see if she could figure out where they were headed. She wasn’t sure why she cared. It wasn’t like she would be able to tell where they were. They had been traveling on The Farm towards the other end from where they had entered. It seemed like that there was more forest on the other side. Darin was kind of bored with forests and woods. She had seen all of Astral after a fashion. She wanted to see deserts and oceans with her own eyes. She has seen mountains before. There were a few near her home. She wanted to see the rest of the continent. She was almost eager to see cities and palaces. She already knew she would stick out like a sore thumb. She didn’t care.

Darin asked, “How far do you think we’ll get tonight? How long until we reach Elven lands? The Eluri right? What are their lands like? Do you know? Did you travel though them to get to where you found me? Or did you take a different route? What is Astra like? I want to know it all.” Her brow furrowed, “I suppose that is why I’m traveling Astra. I need to know the country. I need to learn the people. They are who I’m fighting for. As dramatic as that sounds it’s true.”

Ridahne sort of pursed her lips together with an expression that clearly read 'oops'. She didn't think about needing to practice the language, much less needing to hear it slower. She was just so excited to share something of hers with Darin that wasn't ugly, painful, or wrong. On some level she couldn't wait for them to reach Azurei, if only so that she could show Darin what the desert nation really was like. She'd told stories only of eija, of intimidating law keepers with bright swords and fierce dispositions, of death and murder and corruption. Of exile. And though that might be her story, it was not the story of Azurei as a whole. Azurei was often seen as a harsh place, and that was true. Its folk had to be hardened a little to live in such an intense climate. People were blunt, practical, and sometimes grim. But there was such beauty there too! She'd never seen a landscape that was red anywhere else. Not a gentle tan or a dull brown, but red like iron, and when the sun set over it, the dunes were set ablaze like towering rubies. There was the ocean and the joy of its rolling waves, and the colorful fish that lived below it. There was artistry and music and craft, and so much food! She wanted to show that side to Darin, and language was the first step to understanding it all.

"Sorry, I'm just excited. I don't often get to speak in my own tongue with people that are not my kin. It's very rare." She spoke slower this time, and a bit clearer. To me, it's like someone suddenly producing your favorite dish from home when you didn't expect it. You will get better with practice though."

Ridahne absently decided to braid a little section of Tsura's black mane as they walked. "We are heading into Eluri, yes. It is more forests, though I think a different sort than you are used to. For one thing, it will start to get warmer the further south we go. The trees are very close and there are lots of creatures that live in them you might not have seen before. Some parts of Eluri butt up against the Azurei mountains and those parts can get more dry. Their coastline is small and is mostly made of sharp cliff faces, so they do not have marine commerce like we do, not as much anyway. There are a few ports here and there though. Its people are...well sort of like Ravi. Something about them is always a little distant, like a part of them exists on some other plane of being." She laughed--clearly this was some sort of joke among the Azurei. "They are the most prone to visions of all the elf peoples. It's less common in Azurei, and some people get them, some will never, others only have them once. I've had a few. None so clear as the one sent by The Tree, of course. Not all of them make sense--you could see a glimpse into the life of someone you've never met. In both Eluri and Azurei, there are people who's job it is to sort of...collect people's visions. If you have one, and you want help interpreting it, you go see a Sightmaster. They hear the visions of many people and with that information, might know something about yours.

The Orosi do not have visions. Maybe one or two in the last several centuries, but generally they do not. I have been to Eluri and Orosi more than once, though not for an extended period of time. My work sent me there sometimes--occasionally merchants or important people needed safety escorts to protect them on the road and they would 'borrow' an eija for the task. But no, I did not come that way to find you. I went North, far past your town of Lively. Went East for a while, then meandered back Southwest again. I had no idea where to go. I really thought I'd never find you..."

Ridahne got quiet for a moment as she reflected on that thought, that period of despair, but she didn't dwell there long. It didn't matter now anyway--she'd found Darin. "We should reach the border of Eluri by nightfall. You'll know when we've crossed in, because there are creatures that live only there--they look like fireflies only much larger....do you know fireflies? Do they have them where you come from? They do not live in Azurei, but I have heard about them. I have only ever seen their relatives, the uloia in Eluri."

Darin thought about that. It would be nice to see fireflies again even if they were bigger. In fact, that might actually be fun. Though it was almost the end of firefly season. They came out for the growing season and for harvest, but like most things rested during the winter months. The human wondered if that was true for the uloia as well. They would probably still see them though. She wondered if she would see other things that looked familiar but weren’t quite the same. Darin would have to keep a look out for sure. It would be like an adventure within an adventure. That would be fun.

Darin leaned forward to look at Taja. The hawk eyed her distrustfully. That was going to get old quick, and Darin was sick and tired of getting clawed every time she so much as reached a hand out to help the creature. It wasn’t going to stop her from helping though. She knew that. It wasn’t like she could just stop. She had committed to helping the bird, and that wasn’t a job a person could quit halfway though. Once you decided to help someone quitting on them for just rude and almost made things worse. As such Darin reached out to make sure the hawk was safely secured in the traveling basket. To her surprise the creature didn’t lash out at her. Darin would count that as a win.

As she readjusted the basket she asked, “Will we be well received? How do the Eluri take to visitors?” Darin swallowed as she asked a question she didn’t rally want to ask, “How will they look at you?”

It was a fair question. Darin couldn’t deny that it was a fair question. She needed to know if they were immediately going to be a source of contention because of the mark on Ridahne’s face. That didn’t mean Darin wanted to ask it, because Ridahne was more than the mark on her face. Darin knew that. Any person worth their measure knew that. That didn’t mean that everybody would act that way. Darin didn’t even expect them to act that way. For some people such a mark could serve as a true warning. Some people with the mark of the traitor were probably actually traitors. Darin wouldn’t know until she met one of them. Then again, she was trying to not make assumptions about people.

Then there was another question. Had any of them had visions about The Seed-Bearer coming though their lands? That might not be a good thing. Darin was trying to keep a low profile. That hadn’t been the case for the last little while. She wondered if The Farm counted. Back to the point. Darin had no idea how visions worked. She knew that Ridahne’s vision about going to find her came from The Tree. That didn’t mean she thought all visions came from The Tree. Some might come from ancestors or gods. Some might even come from demons. Darin wasn’t sure demons existed, but if gods did it made sense that demons did. Though the young human wasn’t sure that gods were a thing either. Still, The First Tree had to have come from somewhere. It made sense that it came from a higher power of some type. Though if there was a higher power it made sense that they chose her to do this job and why they would do that was completely beyond her. She still didn’t understand why she had been chosen. She just knew that The Gardener and The Tree thought she was the only one capable of doing the job.

Taja was safely secured so she sat back down on Talbot. Talbot hadn’t done anything unpredictable, like break out into a random gallop, today. Darin was willing to bet that was because he was also carrying Taja. She softly patted the spot of the horse between her legs in thanks. Darin didn’t mind being thrown of and unsettled if it made her a better rider, but she didn’t want to upset the injured member of their party. That would not be kind or considerate at all. Besides the poor bird was already traumatized. It wouldn’t do to break the fragile trust growing between them. Darin still wondered what had actually happened to the poor creature, but she would probably never know.

Darin asked another question, “Are there towns or something similar in Eluri? It would be nice to get to know some of the people. Plus it would be nice to nit make camp every night. Most nights yes, but I spent three months sleeping on the ground. I rather not repeat that.”

"I believe we'll generally be well received. I mean, the Eluri are sometimes aloof but when people do bother to come into their lands they seem to be interested in what tales they have to tell. They're good people. Probably the most easygoing of the elf nations. And aside from a few differences, I think you'll find them very much like your own people. I think in general as we travel, you will realize how alike we all are in our own ways. We all want to provide for those we love. We all want to feel we are doing the right thing. We all want to love and to be loved, when it comes down to it."

Ridahne sighed, giving the other part of Darin's question some more serious thought. She hadn't given much consideration to how she would be viewed in other countries. She knew exactly how people would look at her in human lands--as a towering, dangerous, and exotic creature that was best kept at a polite distance. That was fine, and not altogether untrue if a bit hyperbolic. Earlier in her travels, she caught a rapist in a small town and made absolutely sure he would never do anything of the sort ever again. The most readily apparent thing she did to him was take his right thumb, but the town surgeon was horrified to learn what else she'd done. They got the hunting bows out after that, and all but the girl and her family wanted to chase her out. They didn't all know the story, and some others knew and didn't seem to think the punishment fit the crime. Ridahne went without a fight, knowing that the girl was safe, and that Ridahne had shown the man fear.

The human folk, unless they were particularly learned in faraway cultures, had no notion of her mark and what it meant and couldn't distinguish it from any other mark she had on her ojih. The Eluri though...

"Some will know what it means. Not all of them make a point to study the Azurian Ojih, as they follow a different religion. Some know them, or at least important ones. Most will know that I am Eija, though few would know I am Eija-alihn. Some might see that and my traitor mark and think me a dangerous person. They would not be wrong. I am dangerous." She said this with conviction, but followed it up with "But not all dangerous things are wicked. Consider Mitaja, or the wolves of the forest. Some may scoff and dismiss it as Azurei politics, of which they take no part. But..." She was thinking this through aloud, so as she spoke it was only a moment after the thought came to her. "Word will have spread about a sudden change in Azurei royalty. People are smart, they will put the pieces together I'm sure." Ridahne shrugged. "I don't know, Darin. Some may not care, others might be very bothered, and others might just be wary of me. We'll see when we get there."

The trees around them began to thicken, or at least, they had been for some time but it felt more noticeable now. The light was more green than sunny yellow as it filtered through the dense canopy, and their pace was only slightly slowed by stray branches that reached out across the road. Every so often, they would come across a clearing here and there, and once they interrupted a stag's grazing. The sight of Mitaja made it bound away into the thicker parts of the forest, though the cat did not follow. She'd been well fed and was content for now.

"Yes, they have towns. They might look different than yours--the capitol is built mostly up in the trees, but the smaller settlements are usually around large clearings where fields could be planted. They will have beds aplenty for us, I'm sure." She was looking forward to beds too, and hot food.

Darin thought about that. It was possible that some of the Eluri would know who she was thanks to a vision of some sort, but they should be able to travel anonymously for a little while. It also seemed that they would be able to travel in relative safety without anyone trying to attack Ridahne for no real reason. That was good. Though Darin had no real stories she could tell. Her life before this trip had been boring and predictable, and if the Eluri had any farmers at all they would already know the tales. Though it sounded like there were a few difeerences in how their little towns were laid out. That was alright. Darin was excited to see the differences even though she knew Ridahne was right; people mostly just wanted to live good lives.

Then something else struck Darin and she found herself asking without realy thinking, “Wait! It’s a religion? That’s why you tattoo your face? Will you explain it too me?” Then her brain caught up with her mouth, “Are you allowed to explain it to me?”

Darin hadn’t even thought the oijh were a religious thing. She thought it was mainly cultural. Then again, Darin hadn’t had much exposure to religion in her life. She had a vague idea of some type of deity or deities existing. She figured that a higher power had to exist in some form or another. Darin just didn’t worship any or claim to be a follower of any of the ones she knew about. She knew other people did. Some of the traders that came to Lively did. She also knew that some of the traders refused to talk to each other because they believed in different gods. Darin didn’t much see the point in that one. Everybody believed in The Tree. Everyone was a person. What did it matter if someone believed in a different god than another? Darin wasn’t sure it did matter. As long as a person did good Darin saw no reason to hate them.

Then again Darin wasn’t sure she really hated anyone. Well, her father, maybe, but she knew that was unfair of her. Though that didn’t stop her from hating him. She had been more afraid of Mark than actually hating him. She might hate the Sols, but she wasn’t sure yet. She knew she actively disliked them, though she was reserving judgment on hating them until she met them for herself. She could at least do that for her Seed-Chained. That much was easy enough. She wasn’t fond of people, but there was no one (except her father) that she really hated. Hate just seemed like a useless emotion. That didn’t change the fact that it could be valid. Darin knew that too.

Darin continued her line of thought, “I would like to know if you can tell me. You don’t have to feel like you have to. I know some people are tight lipped about it. Some of the traders that come to Lively will talk about their religion while others won’t. I’ll admit that I didn’t really pay attention to what I was allowed to hear. I never thought I need it. The Tree helps guide us in choosing good over evil, and nature provides most of what I need. I suppose it makes sense that some higher power is at work. I just never gave it much thought until recently.”

Ridahne laughed first, mostly because she wasn't sure exactly what to say. "Yes, I am allowed to tell you. We don't talk about it often to strangers, but that's usually only because they ask "what's them there tats for eh? Don't that hurtcha?"" Ridahne did her best impression of a very very backcountry human man in a one-horse town, and for being a female with a strong Azurei accent, she did it a little too well. She laughed again, just a little. "They ask because we're some anomaly, some exotic thing on display, not because they really want to know. That, and because if you tell them that they mean things, things about you, they inevitably ask what they mean. And it's...well it's weird. To us, it's very public. But it's also very intimate? And so if someone can't read it, then it really isn't for them. It's different when you know the person--there was a merchant who was a regular customer of mine back when I was a Dust Sea guide. He did ask eventually, but we had a relationship so I didn't mind so much, and I knew it came from a place of genuine interest. The same goes for you."

Ridahne was silent for a while, obviously thinking something over, but the silence stretched on until it seemed like she might not actually say anything more. She did and said, "Sorry, I just realized I...have never had to explain this to someone before. In Azurei it's something you just...know by a certain age. It's as much a part of our culture as the color blue." She sighed. "Alright, let me see...I mean for starters it's not exactly--well it is--but it's not really a religion like you think when you hear that word. I called it that I guess, but we don't worship a deity. No sacrifices, or duties in service of, or prayers or anything like that. The only way I suppose you could really consider it a religion is that it pertains to what happens to us after death, and that it is sacred. So sacred, that when I was sentenced to death and found guilty of treason, before they took me away or did anything else, a servant boy came and brought me a tattoo kit. The finest bone needles, the richest ink, a small stool to set everything on, and he knelt and held the mirror for me the whole time. I was offered a master tattooer, but I declined. No other hand but mine would do it. Not for this one. The room was silent and still. Silent, except for my own choked sobs," she admitted. Ridahne gave a bitter, sad smile. "But I, a murderer and traitor, was shown the utmost respect as I carried out the deed. That is how important it is to us."

Ridahne took a breath, partly to think of what to say next and partly to clear her head of the memories of that day. She didn't need them right now. "You are not required to take an Ojih. It's rare that anyone doesn't, it's something every kid looks forward to, really. But you don't have to. But when you do, there's a huge ceremony. Your community gathers around and confirms that you are old enough and mature enough to take this solemn oath, and in front of everyone you swear to keep it current for your lifetime and to keep it true. A master tattooer lays you down and people surround you with almond blossoms and palm leaves and strings of tiny shells, and they give you your first mark. And you enter adulthood. From then on, you do some training with a tattooer so that you are at least capable of maintaining your own if you should ever have need, though some people have all their marks done by a master tattooer. Hadian and I gave each other many over the years, but most of mine are done by my hand.

The ojih serves two purposes. First and foremost, it keeps you honest. When someone comes to you, and you do not know them, you can gain some information just by reading their Ojih. Whether or not they are married, if they have or have had some kind of important title like Taja, Sol, or even Captain, whether or not they have killed someone, if they have earned the reputation of a liar, or if they show certain characteristics like bravery, obstinance, or humility. Marks are added to or partially covered over (in a way that shows both what the person was and what they have now become), but never hidden, covered completely, or modified in such a way that the original meaning is untrue or unclear. It's why the Azurei tend to keep to themselves generally, and why you don't often see them abroad--it's very strange and unsettling to us to meet someone and know nothing about them. How do we know if someone is a cheat or is honest? How do we know if they are a dangerous person, or who they might be?

The second purpose is that when we die..." She had to think on this some more. "When we die, there is a deity. In some regions he is referred to as male, in some she is referred to as female. Neither is incorrect, it is understood that the being does not have gender but we pick one for ease of speaking. We call him the Keeper and he guards the passage between our world and the world of spirits. When I die, he will search my ojih and from it, determine where I am to go in the Halls of the Spirits. Some places, you see, are better than others. This is why we must put every mark on our ojih, no matter how ugly, no matter how devastating. Because someday it will matter, and that ugly thing is part of us. Even if we move on and become something new, someone better, that ugliness is still a part of our story and cannot be ignored. This," she pointed to her traitorous mark, "Is as much a part of me as any good mark I have, and though it alone does not define me, the whole picture does. The whole picture is me, and my history. We have a saying, and it is a ritual spoken each time a mark is added. "What's done is done".

You should know, it is simply not done to harm someone else's ojih, or really their face for that matter. The worst I have ever seen someone do is slap or punch a face, but that is a serious thing. Because if it is seriously altered to the point that it cannot be read, intentionally or otherwise, the ojih can no longer reflect its owner, and what is the Keeper to do with them? He cannot send them back to the physical world, and he cannot send them on to the Halls of Spirits, for what if he chooses incorrectly where to send them? So they are cast out of both worlds, stuck somewhere in between. You, I believe, call them ghosts." Ridahne turned and looked sharply, sternly at Darin. "You must swear to me, Darin, that you will never cut an ojih. Never scratch, tear, mar, burn, or destroy in any way. For it is the most deplorable of sins. Our faces are sacred, Darin. This is why it's not a good idea to touch the face of someone you do now know very well. It is a very, very intimate gesture. Not that I think you would do this, but I'm obliged to inform you anyway: to go around pinching cheeks in Azurei is like running around and putting hands on other women's breasts, except not in a sexual kind of way. It's just very...invasive."

Ridahne took a huge breath in and out. "Whew. I think I got the gist of it. Did I do well?"

Darin had to think about that. It wasn’t that the explanation was lacking. If anything, it was more than enough. Darin even thought it was a nice belief. The thought of not having to explain yourself to the judge that waited for you after you died was nice. The thought that anyone could know everything about you just by looking at your face was less pleasant, but the thought of knowing if a new person could be trusted in just a glance was relieving. She just didn’t like the thought of Ridahne going to this Keeper without the whole story of her life.

Darin urged Talbot forward in front of Tsura only to stop suddenly. Her face was earnest, “You told me once that this … adventure wouldn’t become part of your ojih. Yet you also say that The Keeper will judge your life based on what he sees in your ojih.” She sighed, “All it says now is that you are a traitor and an exile. It doesn’t say anything about you being the Guardian of the Seed-Bearer.” Darin paused as she steeled herself to correct herself, “My Guardian. It says nothing about you being Seed-Chained.” She asked a question she knew might not make complete sense. “What happens when you are no longer Seed-Chained and become Seed-Honored? Will that part of your story not become part of the story you tell others?” Darin sighed, “I know you said you don’t have mark for it, but this is something new. Maybe you could think of something new.” She pulled Talbot back around to head back down the road, “I can’t say I understand the Azurein culture as well as either one of us would like, but I do know this. I know that if the purpose of the ojih is to tell a story to people and gods alike, and if honesty is one of the goals, then you need to tell the whole story; not just the parts you want to tell or think need to be told.” She smiled, “Think about it and then tell me why I’m wrong.” She laughed, “Maybe we can talk instead of yell for once.”

It was a joke. It was supposed to be a joke. Hopefully Ridahne would take it as a joke. Well, the last part about not yelling was a joke. Darin didn’t think her observation regarding putting the fact that Ridahne was the Guardian onto the Elf’s ojih was a joke; at least she wasn’t trying to joke. The human would admit that she didn’t completely understand the oijh. She might not ever really understand it. She did know that Ridahne said that important things became part of the oijh, and Darin couldn’t think of anything more important than fighting for the future of Astra. She may have misstepped, but she didn’t think it was too terrible. She wasn’t sure though.

Though she wasn’t going to promise what Ridahne asked her to promise. She wasn’t going to go around touching the ojih randomly or without reason. Darin got why that just wasn’t a thing. She could respect that it was a major invasion. The human just couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t destroy an ojih. She wasn’t planning on doing so, but if she had to choose between her life or a person’s who was trying to kill her face, she would pick her life. Also, there was a belief, a human belief, that some people, some cruel, evil people, did not deserve peace is life or death. It was why the village had burned the rapist that had come from Lively. He hadn’t gotten the peace of being buried to help the crops grow. If an unmarked ojih gave a person a place in the Hall of Spirits, there was a possibility, however slight, that there were people who didn’t deserve that honor. Darin was not going to say that out loud unless Ridahne pressed the issue. Sometimes discretion was best.

Tsura dug his hooves into the packed dirt and reared back a little as Talbot sudddenly appeared to block his path. Ridahne was a very experienced rider and experienced with Tsura as well, so she responded quickly and not only stayed on his back, but soothed him with a quick word and a hand on his neck. Mostly the elf was just surprised Darin had maneuvered Talbot like that—-both in the sense that she’d done it for some reason and that she’d actually managed to do it. A little part of her glowed with pride as she remembered the fumbling that went on when Darin first rode Talbot. She’d come a long way in just a few days, and the next time Darin made some self-deprecating comment about how clumsy she was, Ridahne was going to remind her of that.

The elf listened. Intently. This was serious stuff they were speaking about, and she felt...honored? Grateful? That Darin was taking this as seriously as she was. It meant a lot to Ridahne. The elf eventually allowed a slow, thoughtful smile and a soft laugh. “No,” she said in a tone that was both jovial and serious like iron. “You aren’t wrong. I have thought idly about it since that conversation, but there’s a lot I don’t have answers for. You’re right. This is something entirely new...”

They began walking again, and for a while Ridahne was silent, a slight frown pursing her inked brow together. At last she said, “I do know this, and I hope it is some comfort to you as we figure out this little dilemma, but I am not necessarily doomed to wear this mark as it is now forever. The mark will never go away, just like my deeds. But I am more than a single incident, and we understand that things change. Just as there is a mark for deep treachery, there is a mark for redemption too. It is not so specific as being...” She almost choked on the words as the gravity of them really hit her for the first time, “Seed...Honored. But if you fear that I will die and still be marked a traitor, fear not. But...” she sighed.

“I don’t think that will really be adequate to describe...it. You’re right. THis is something new. I’m not even sure how to go about doing it. I mean, we have a book, a huge ancient tome with an index of every known mark, its variations, and its meaning. It would have to be officially added to the book, and to do that, I would need to speak to the Sols, as they are its keeper. But who decides what the mark is? Do I? Do they? Or would I need to consult a master tattooer? I don’t even think there are any rules on that. So...I guess I would.” She was thinking out loud. “But I want you to have the final approval of it. I could give you some viable options, you know, and you could tell me which one you think is best.”

Ridahne smiled brightly. Come to think of it, she was quite excited by the idea. “I would love if you were involved. I don’t expect you to be the one to tattoo me, but maybe as a ceremonial thing, you could do the first strike. I would show you where to put the needle, and all you’d have to do is dip it in the ink and smack it with a stick.” She smiled and slapped one hand over her fist. “But I’ll need some time to design an appropriate mark.”

Darin’s gaze flicked from Ridahne to the road ahead, “I’ll have to think maybe I can help think of a design.”

There was silence of a little bit as she thought about it. Darin didn’t handle pain well, so she never thought she would ever get a tattoo. As a result, she never gave tattoos much thought until she had meet Ridahne. She would never say this out loud but her first thoughts had been similar to the people the Elf had mocked earlier. Darin had just thought it must have hurt. Now though Darin was wondering a lot more about what the designs meant and why they were gotten. She still wasn’t sure she would ever get a tattoo of her own, but she could at least respect the people who did.

Darin let Talbot do most of the work as they headed down the road. As she spoke, she seemed far away, “Two marks. It should be two.” She didn’t know how she knew that. She just did, “One for being the Guardian and one for being Seed-Chained. I don’t know much about the mark for the Guardian except for the fact that it needs to be one of a kind. You and you alone will bear that symbol. On the other hand, the mark for being Seed-Chained needs to be something anyone in Astra will both recognize and can wear. It also needs to be unfinished. The symbol for being Seed-Chained can only be completed when it is transformed into the mark for being Seed-Honored.” She paused to ask a question, “Do the colors mean anything? Could the same mark mean something different if it was in black compared to blue? If so,” Darin paused, sure she was crossing a line, “If so, maybe, the symbol for Guardian shouldn’t be an Azurein color.” She laughed nervously, “It’s just a thought.”

Darin wasn’t sure where any of these thoughts had come from. She almost wanted to say it was nonsense expect for the fact that The Seed was burning against her thigh. It was a pleasant feeling, so Darin didn’t think that she was on the wrong track. She might not be one hundred percent correct, but she wasn’t wrong either. Beside she was pretty sure she was right about the two different marks and the difference between the two. She wasn’t so sure about the color thing. She would be willing to back off on that one. Then again, she had never designed a tattoo before. What did she really know?

She pointed out, “We should try to get something figured before we reach Azurei. That way you can actually get the tattoo, or start getting it, while we are there.” She furrowed her brow in puzzlement, “I’m not sure how long a tattoo takes to get. I know you’re working on that one on your leg. What is that one supposed to be? How long until it’s done.”

“Two mm?” Ridahne genuinely had to let that idea sink in for a while before she nodded. “Aye, I suppose two would make sense. Though I’m not sure what mark we could use for Seed-Chained that anyone at all would know. I’d say that it’s an Azurei thing to know the marks, but not even they would know it because it’s new. But it could be added to in the future, whatever it is. That’s a very common thing.”

Ridahne gasped and put both hands to her cheeks and looked at her human companion in horror when she suggested a different color. “No!” She breathed, too shocked by the idea to even explain why. There weren’t expressly any laws about it, but everyone knew the ojih were white, black, and blue. The Azurei in general didn’t use tattoo ink of any other colors even for non-ojih tattoos. That was tradition. Ridahne couldn’t even fathom breaking it. “No, I could see maybe an arm tattoo being another color but not the ojih, no no no. Too much tradition there to break that. The colors do have significance but not inherently. Blue does not mean something in general, but for similar looking marks, they are differentiated by color. Like my traitors mark, it’s black ink, and you can’t tattoo over black, so when the deed is done and I am redeemed and forgiven, it will get a white border, and a white dot here on my nose.”

Ridahne absently traced her finger in Tsura’s coat to visualize some ideas she had for a second, shook her head, and dropped her hands to her sides. It would take some time to really come up with a good idea, and she’d have to start drawing them out on a piece of paper or something.

“Oh, that one one my leg?” She shrugged. “It’s not for anything, not like the ojih or this one,” she tapped the band around her right bicep, “that one was just something the eija did, you know, as a tradition but it’s not required like an ojih mark. The one on my leg is just...” she shrugged. “I believe human women paint their lips. We do ink.” She grinned. “But an ojih mark doesn’t necessarily take too long, maybe a few hours depending on the mark and how much ink it really is. There can be a short recovery process—you know, a few hours—afterwards. See, the body does not like pain. The mind can handle it, but the body has its own ideas. It starts to...not work very well after a while. Mostly stuttering, you’re a little foggy sometimes, and you can get the shakes. But it goes away. Realistically I could do the mark on the road if we stayed somewhere where there was a mirror and lots of light. I’ve got a small one but I want to do it proper. I could just do it and the Sols can deal with it when I come.” She laughed. “I will see how I feel. If I come up with something and feel really driven to do it before we get there, I will. If not, I’ll wait. I could ink you too,” Ridahne joked. She would, but she remembered Darin not being especially excited about getting one, so she didn’t really mean it.

“I have the feeling I will have a lot more marks by the time I get to Azurei.” Ridahne smiled. “Those two, and the one that signifies marriage.”

Darin clicked her teeth together that threw that idea out; the idea being that the tattoo for being the Guardian could be a symbol already in use just in a different color. The truth was Darin wasn’t sure she was the one to be designing something like this. She knew nothing about tattoos or symbolism. She had already been more direct than symbols required. Though that did lend itself to an idea. Maybe it didn’t need to be a symbol. Maybe it could be direct. Though Darin wasn’t sure about that either. She did know it had to be small and discreet while still being seen.

She did explain one thing, “You are the first Seed-Chained Ridahne. You will not be the last. At least I do not think you will be the last. So while you are correct that the ojih are an Azurein thing the symbol needs to be something that anyone can wear or tattoo in other places. It needs to be something that anyone in Astra will one day know by sight. Like the outfit the Workers wear.” She was checking on Taja, “At least that’s what I think.”

Darin was also thinking about Ridahne’s belief that she would be married when they got to Azurei. The thought of Ridahne married made the human apprehensive for a reason Darin didn’t quite know. She didn’t know if she was jealous or angry or what it was. She did know that she was worried. Darin was hoping that on day Ridahne would be free to live her own life; free from being marked a traitor and from being Seed-Chained. The problem was that the warrior wasn’t free yet. Even throwing out the fact that Darin had inadvenrtanly Chained her to The Seed Ridahne had still agreed to see this journey through to the end. Darin wasn’t going to stop Ridahne and Ajoran from getting married, but she did have to wonder if it was a good idea. There were some … less than good people that wanted The Seed. Would Ridahne be able to leave Ajoran to finish the job of protecting Darin? If the choice, Tree forbid, between Ajoran and The Seed came up what would Ridahne pick? More importantly, would Darin press her into picking the right choice? What even was the right choice? Darin wasn’t sure.

So instead she asked, “What is the symbol for marriage. Why do people even get married? Is it religious or what?”

People in Lively got married for tax reasons. Darin had a vague idea of what taxes were. It was money the lord collected to pay to repair roads and protect the people. Her village didn’t have taxes. If something needed to be fixed the people came together to fix it. If they needed protecting, they took turns keeping guard. Some of the traders got married for religious reasons; a belief that their deity or deities told them to get married. Her home didn’t really have a god beyond The Tree. So there was no reason to make living their lives with someone official or what not. Maybe an explanation from someone who wanted to get married would help it make sense to Darin. She didn’t think so though. She didn’y really like anybody enough to spend her life with them.

She said the next part out loud, “Expect you Talbot.” He snorted at her in question, “I would spend my life with you.” She flapped a hand at the bird, “And maybe Taja if he stops trying to take my arm off, but so far that doesn’t seem to be happening.”

Ridahne nodded thoughtfully. Just because she was the first did not mean she was the last. There would be others. Something about that made her panic a little, if she was honest with herself. It wasn't so much the fact that either a new Guardian or Seed-Chained would exist that made her panic, but the fact that they, like herself, would be left without someone to guide them. There would be no precedent, no advisor to give them hope or advice or anything. Ridahne would theoretically live a long time, but probably not that long. Then again, what did she know? Maybe in a hundred years this would happen again. Maybe in a thousand. She really had no idea. But she did resolve to at some point, when this was all over, to write some things down. Things she'd already learned, and put it in a sealed envelope that could only be given to the next person.

She suddenly had a lot of questions, questions she wished she would have asked Ravi when they were with him. Too late now.

"It will have to be something...more simple then. Not as complex and contextual as the rest of the marks in an Ojih. And I think the one for Seed-Chained will have to be white. White, because it is neither the color of the sky, or the sea, or of the earth. And because in a tattooing sense, white is often used for things that are meant to be added to, or partially covered over. You can't cover over black, see. But both other colors will go over white. The addition for Seed-Honored should be black, not blue, for it does not belong to Azurei. The Guardian mark would also have to be black. Black is a very strong color, it is very final. Like an oath." Ridahne nodded, satisfied with these conclusions. Now she only had to figure out a shape...

Darin asked about marriage, about the mark for it and what it meant, and why people even did it in the first place. That's right--Ridahne forgot her village didn't really practice marriage in a traditional sense. "Well the mark for marriage is actually quite small. It goes along the left jawline and begins with ah..." she gesticulated with her hands helplessly for a moment before drawing it in the air. The shape was almost triangular, except with two points sporting 'tails' that crossed one another. "It's blue. And if you were to outlive your spouse, or if you were to decide to separate--a very rare thing--the little space where the ends cross over is tattooed white. There's another mark that's sort of a 'shorter' version of the first you would get if you remarried. I don't know, it's hard to explain. As for why people do it..." Ridahne shrugged. "A lot of it is tradition, I think. It is not religious for us, though I'm sure for some out there it might be. It's not much different than what your village does, except we just sort of...do it...publicly? It is something we celebrate. Particularly for us, it's important because when you marry, you either give yourself to your spouse's family, or they give themself to yours. And family origin is shown in the Ku'o, this earring thing we wear." She tugged on her bone one. "That's its own thing to explain. But honestly, on a practical level, if you have things to show you are married, like not just committed to a person but sort of publicly declaring it, then people know you're no longer available for courting." She smiled at that. "It eliminates a lot of confusion."

They began to enter into slightly thicker forest instead of spread out trees and grasses. "Ah, we must be getting close to the border, the land is changing. We'll be there by end of day."

Darin looked around the forest as Ridahne mentioned that the landscape was changing. It looked more and more like the forest near the mountains. Darin had never gone too deep into the forest back home. She didn’t need to be warned that it was a completely bad idea. She was clumsy and had no sense of direction with no real skills to protect herself with. She mostly stayed to the forest directly near the village in order to pick herbs and escape the elders from time to time. Even then she never went far enough to lose track of where she was in relation to home.

That was why she was glad that the Azurei warrior was here now. It was basically what Ridahne had done earlier in her life; guiding people through the Dust Sea. Only this time the people was carrying The Seed and it was all of Astra. That didn’t seem to bother Ridahne though. Darin had seen the map and the Elf seemed to have a much better sense of direction than the human did. Right now, Darin really needed a sense of direction even if she was borrowing it from someone else. Darin already knew that this trip was going to take a long time. She didn’t want to imagine how long it would take if she just traveled without knowing where she was going like she had been doing.

Darin looked forward as she responded to Ridahne’s comments about marriage, “That makes sense. And I suppose in a nation of many more people than in my village it would help keep strangers from trying to woo you. Back home I could go around and talk to everybody in the span of two days or so. Gossip was prevalent as well. It was easy to let people know that you had committed to someone. Then they start a new family.”

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. People usually stayed with their parents in their home until they had built their own home. Some stayed until their parents were gone. It depended on what you and your partner were after and what your goals were. Darin had planed on spending the rest of her life in her farmhouse with her mother. She hadn’t given much thought to inviting another person into her life. There was no one back in her village that she was interested in and they weren’t interested in her either. There was that one boy from Lively, but that would never work out. He wanted a girl who could help him run his parents’ fabric store. If Darin ever did pick someone, they would have to help farm. So, they were incompatible. At least that was the way it was then. Darin had no idea how it would work out now that she was carrying The Seed.

Darin asked another question. “Will we reach a village or a town or will we need to stop to make camp? Either is fine. I don’t really care which. I was just wondering which it was so I would know.”

Ridahne grinned. "Oh we have our fair share of gossip as well. And in case you want to know someday, a classic way to insult someone back home is to question the precision of the artwork in their ink." She laughed. "We spent a lot of time as kids whispering about others' ojih. "Did you see Teluun has a new mark? I heard his brother did it for him while drunk.." That sort of thing." She laughed again. "Silly really. And petty. Perfect for children but some adults find it just as upsetting. But there's also lots of talk about the marks themselves. Especially when someone goes away, perhaps to the capital, and comes back with a marriage mark. Oh my do people talk!" And with slightly less mirth but not quite so much pain as before she added, "they will speak of me that way. Word has already spread, and there will be more to tell when we show ourselves, even if they don't know who you are." Ridahne shrugged. She had done the crime, after all. No one knew the circumstances, but the mark was not false.

Ridahne yawned, looking around to gain her bearings a bit before answering, "I think there's a town sort of close. It's not a short distance exactly, but we could make it if we push. Never been to it, but by the map it seems sort of mid sized. I'm sure they'll have plenty of good food and real beds we could rent out."

They rode on for a few more hours, and as they did, the forest deepened. Darkness deepened too, though whether that was solely because of the approach of evening, or because the foliage was much denser as they went on, was up for debate. Perhaps both. Mitaja, who had been happily trotting off into the brush for hours had come back to them, though instead of padding ahead or looming some distance behind like a benevolent shadow, she stuck close to the two riders. Ridahne didn't notice this at first--she was accustomed to having Mitja around her all the time. But an uncomfortable feeling in her chest made her suddenly pay attention to things that might seem off, and this was the first thing she noticed. Mitaja was too close. The cat liked to range and then to snuggle up close at night. It was uncommon for her to be nearly under Tsura's feet.

She didn't want to say anything at first. It was probably nothing and she didn't want to spook her companion for no good reason. Besides, they hadn't come across anything that would give her worry. No signs of bandits, no suspiciously hewn trees across the road or overturned carts, no sets of glowing eyes in the growing gloom or any sign of other creatures, or--

"Wait." All day, her tone of voice had been amicable, casual, friendly and relaxed, if not a bit tired. But though this was spoken softly, it was a command. She halted Tsura and Mitaja stopped as well, all perfectly still. Ridahne listened but she heard nothing and yet...that was the problem. She heard nothing. No rustle of leaf, no chirp of insect and no twitter of bird. Silence. That uncomfortable feeling inside her seemed to be rioting. "Something's wrong. Do you feel it?" And as she said this, her hand reached back and checked the movement of her sword in its leather sheath. As always it came easily to her call, but she did not draw it yet. Not yet.

Darin nodded as she accepted Ridahne’s answer. To be honest she wasn’t sure she wanted to find a village. If the Eluri really did receive vision it was possible that one or more of them already knew who and what she was. That would be the very opposite of the discretion she was trying to maintain. The young human was almost half tempted to tell her companion that maybe they should avoid towns until they finished being in the Eluri land and crossed over to Azurei land, but the goal was to make friends. She wasn’t going to be able to do that if she avoided people. She needed to talk to as many people as she could. She needed to learn as much about the cultures as possible. Darin was going to have to step out of her comfort zone. She just hoped that was never obvious. She had a feeling it would be.

Darin was about to speak when she noticed the silence. It was instant; every creature in the forest stopping making noise all at once. It was odd for a forest this size. It was odd for any forest. There was something out there, and she was willing to bet that it didn’t belong there. As soon as she had that thought The Seed began to burn against her leg. It was sharp and sudden. It was vaguely familiar, and it took a moment for Darin to recognize it. When she did, she knew her eyes had to have grown impossibly wide. It was the same feeling she had when she had first met Ridahne right outside of Greyrock. It was someone like Mark. They might even be connected to the same group of people like Mark. Her grip on Talbot’s reins became impossibly tight. She didn’t know what to do. She knew Talbot had sensed the strangeness. She could only hope Ridahne had as well. Then, if there was a fight, she could only hope to stay out of the way and trust that the two of them could handle it.

She stayed silent until Ridahne spoke up. Then she nodded as she whispered her answer, “Yes. I feel it. It’s like Greyrock. Do you remember?”

Darin didn’t want to go into details. She didn’t know who was listening and who wasn’t. She didn’t want them to know that she knew what they were. It was another monster. She still didn’t know what they wanted. She just knew that they wanted her from completing her mission. Of course, that was only true if this was the same group of people connected to Mark. There were other evils. She did have to wonder if people would be looking to stop her if they knew the truth the same way she and Ravi knew. They might even encourage her. It depended on what their true goals were. Darin had to wonder if they would be open to starting a dialogue. Somehow, she didn’t think that would be the case. Besides, she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what the true goal was. She hadn’t even told Ridahne.

Darin continued, “I don’t want to be caught of guard.” Talbot nodded in agreement, “We should find someplace to make a stand.” There was another nod, “Maybe even find a place to make camp. The sun does look like it’s about to go down.”

The truth was Darin didn’t trust her abilities to defend herself while standing firmly on the ground. Trying to do it while Talbot was battling and Ridahne was fighting next to her would be downright impossible. It would be wiser if they got somewhere where Darin could get out of the way; either by hiding in a cave or climbing up a tree. Darin knew that one day she would be expected to fight her own battles, but she didn’t see that day happening today. Right now, her arm was torn practically to pieces, she had an injured hawk to look after, and she was tired. It was not a good combination at all. She could only hope that Ridahne could see the sense in getting the human out of the way. Though Darin wouldn’t be surprised if the warrior decided that battle would be the perfect place to hone her skills. That seemed like something the Elf would do.

Ridahne had a fierce gleam in her eyes as she looked around them, searching for any sign, any movement, any new noise. Nothing. When they had encountered Mark, she had been rather cavalier about him. At least, until he approached them and then she was downright sour. But he had not seemed so much of a monster then as Darin had said he was. Besides, there were few humans that could match her skill with a blade, as the fact was that anyone who'd held a blade for as long as she had could no longer lift one. But this was different. For one, she had seen and touched the Tree. She was Seed Chained and therefore bound to it, and that sharpened a sense in her she didn't even know she had until now. But she had it. What was more, these were possibly Eluri, and that shifted the odds a bit. While the Eluri as a whole were never known for their skills in combat, that did not mean that no individuals studied the craft.

"Yes. I remember." Her words were so soft, barely audible and yet they were harder and sharper than broken glass. "I feel it too." Differently of course, but she did feel it. There was a wrongness she could not ignore, something that made her teeth itch. "I don't think we'll get to camp tonight. We will make a stand one way or another." Ridahne sidled Tsura directly beside Darin so she could lean in close. "You may command me, Seed Bearer, but this is my territory here. If I tell you to run, you run. No questions asked. No matter what. If you can, you will take Talbot with you." It was beginning to darken in earnest, even more so under the leaves. "If that happens, and we're separated, meet back here, but be sure they've gone first. For now we--"

Something tightened in her stomach as the feeling of unease intensified. "We make our stand right here. They're coming."

It was not an immediate thing. They did not burst out of the gloom as soon as she'd spoken. Instead, the two had time to prepare themselves a little. Ridahne dismounted and removed one knife from its sheath with her left hand. The right, her sword-arm, she kept empty...for now. Timing was everything. Mitaja sat with her back facing her handler, yellow eyes shining in the darkness, tail twitching. And there was at once a breath of unbearable tension, immediately broken by the sound of approaching feet.

There were four. They were all tall and slim and light on their feet, but none had the dark skin of the Orosi or the tattoos of the Azurei. Eluri. There were three men and a woman, though the woman was taller and broader than any of the men. She had a very large broadsword across her back. One man had a strung bow in his hands; he hung near the back. The other two had curved, naked swords. Aside from their weapons, they did not look like a malevolent bunch at first glance. Like Mark and his gang, they looked relatively inconspicuous, but they were unmistakably unwholesome. One of the sword bearing men held a lantern; he held it high.

"Is this the one they call Torzinei?" The woman lifted her chin, inspecting Ridahne, then nodded. Clearly, she knew something of Azurian customs. "Ah, the Azurei traitor. We've heard news of you, murderer, but we have waited a long time to meet you. Very long. It's a pleasure to see you in the flesh."
Ridahne felt a chill. They hadn't just heard of her, they'd seen her. "You sound disappointed," she sneered. "Do I not live up to the rumors?"
The elf's eyes drifted to Darin knowingly. "No. You don't. And neither does your....friend. But I'm far from disappointed, Torzinei. You've done just as I hoped you would. Just as I saw you would."

Mitaja, who had once been by her master's side, was gone. She had slunk away out of the light and had melted into the nearby shadows. Ridahne gave her knife a twirl in her hand, letting the light catch on its surface and glint menacingly.

The man grinned. "Come now, are we savages?" He laughed, but there was no joy in it. "We have not introduced ourselves!"
"No need. You already know me."
"Yes, we do. Let me introduce myself, I am Hrendi of the Red Hand, and these are my associates. But tell me, who is this friend of yours, Torzinei?" It was a rhetorical question; by his tone, he already knew, but he just wanted to squeeze it out of them.
Ridahne sneered, showing teeth. And with disdain she said, "my associate."
Hrendi laughed mirthlessly. "How ungracious to your host. You are a a guest here, both of you, and you ought to have better manners. Though I'm not sure what I expected from the sand rat who killed her own Sol." He really was disappointed then when he didn't get a rise out of Ridahne. So he turned his attention to Darin again and smiled cloyingly. "I'm not sure what I expected from the Seed Bearer, either, but I did expect...more."

"Enough!" Ridahne's voice was a clap of thunder in the silence. "You already know how this is going to end, so why don't we finish it? Come here, if any of you are brave enough to face me. I will show you Azurei steel." Ridahne reached behind her and drew her falchion with slow relish, letting the soft whisper of the leather against the steel fill the air between them. Ridahne spared only a second to look at Darin, and to throw them off, she spoke in poorly accented Siren. "Go! NOW." Ridahne took a breath, adjusted her grip on both her blades, and dropped into a fighting stance. But as she did, a sleek arrow came forth from the darkness and struck her in the right thigh with a wet thump. Ridahne howled, but it was more a war cry than a shout of pain, and with a heavy swipe of her knife she cut the remaining shaft, leaving only a broken, bloodied nub. Furious, she charged Hrendi but he stepped back and let the other swordsman engage her first, along with the broadsword-bearing woman. His prize was not the elf.

The wood, once quiet with the emptiness of unnatural silence, was now filled with grunts and growls and the ring of steel on steel in the darkness.

Darin nodded at Ridahne’s instructions. She could understand the logic behind getting her out of the way. She just hoped that Talbot agreed to it. Darin bent down over the horse’s neck to rub as far down as she could reach. Talbot nodded, and she hopped that meant he agreed with the Elf. Well, she didn’t have time to wonder if the plan was something that everyone agreed on because they were soon surrounded. Darin looked at the Eluri members of the so-called Red Hand. Had Mark been part of the Red Hand? Darin didn’t know, and that bothered her. Still, there was nothing for it now. The only thing that worried Darin was that there was no telling how many people across Astra actually knew who she was. She was starting to wonder if there was actually a point to trying to keep her identity a secret.

She didn’t have time to think about that, because at Ridahne’s barked order Talbot took off in a full gallop. Darin hadn’t even needed to react. The human just wrapped her hands and arms in the reins and did her best to not fall off. That was not something she could afford to do right now. They practically flew by the rest of the group surrounding them. Soon there were off the path and the trees started growing closer together. An arrow whizzed by her ear. Darin turned to see that the archer was following them on a horse Darin hadn’t spotted before. She guessed it had been hidden away. The horse looked like it was built for speed and not endurance like Talbot. Talbot flicked his ears at her. This wasn’t good. The enemy would soon catch up. Without really thinking about what she was doing, or home much it would hurt if she failed, Darin found herself moving to stand on top of Talbot’s back. It was a good thing he was so big, or she might have lost her balance. Then with a grunt she reached out to grab a branch and pulled herself into the canopy.

She looked down to see the archer stare up at her in shock. She made eye contact, but after that brief pause, she was moving again. She moved from tree to tree with an ease that surprised even herself. She leapt from branch and soon came to a tree that seemed bigger than the others. Darin climbed a few branched before pressing herself next to the trunk. She kept her eyes darting around to keep an eye out for the archer or any other enemies. She didn’t want to be caught off guard. That would not be a good thing. She didn’t want to let Talbot, or worse, Ridahne, down. She had to survive this. There was no other option at this point.

A voice called out in a language Darin knew to be a branch of Elurian, “Well, that was certainly impressive Seed-Bearer. I didn’t expect that from someone who looked at you.”

Darin called out, clumsily matching the language, “What did you expect?”

The other speaker seemed surprised, “You speak Elurian? Very impressive for a someone that looks like a farm boy.”

Darin laughed, “That’s basically all I am. That’s all I’ll ever be. I don’t know what else you expected from someone called The Seed-Bearer.”

He didn’t hesitate, “A warrior.”

He didn’t get a chance to continued as Darin burst out laughing, “Me! A warrior! What next? A ruler? A noble? Farmers and gardeners deal with seeds. That is all I will ever be.”

As Darin spoke, she removed her sickle from its sheath. Then she started moving towards the sound of her enemy. She was careful to move slow, so she didn’t rustle any leaves. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself. The Eluri was still speaking, and Darin used that to try and find them. Other than that she ignored them. Soon she had the Elf in her sights. Darin couldn’t believe that she was planning this. That didn’t mean she could back down. She needed answers. She wasn’t sure she had another way to get them. Darin carefully lowered herself behind the horse. It was just bad timing that the Eluri looked down right that moment. Darin’s eyes went wide as she lashed out with her sickle. She managed to get the archer’s leg. At that moment something crashed into the man’s horse. Darin let out a screech as she quickly scurried backwards. It was Talbot. The other horse spooked and tossed their rider. Darin was quickly on top of the enemy. Her sickle made contact with their arm. There was blood everywhere and most of it was the Elf’s, but Darin was certain she had ripped at least one set of stiches. The archer reached for their bow, but Darin was faster. She grabbed the bow and tossed it away. Talbot was on top of it in a moment to break it. Darin let out another scream as she attacked the other shoulder. The Elf managed to push her off, but, as he moved to grab his knife Talbot stepped in between the Elf and the human. Then the horse threw the Elf into the nearest tree. Darin was only shock for a moment before she scurried up. She hurried to grab the rope from her pack on Talbot’s saddle. She stumbled a little bit, but soon the enemy was tied to the tree.

The Elf spat at her, “Do you think this will hold me for long, you pathetic farm boy?”

Darin was sure, “It doesn’t have to hold you for long.” She probably over tied the Elf with the strongest knots she knew, “It just has to hold you long enough for my associate to get here.”

There was a lot of blood on Ridahne's leg. It did not slow her down. In fact, it only served to fuel her battle-rage and in the moment, she could hardly register the pain of it. She felt heat only, a dull burning sensation that buzzed somewhere at the back of her mind. She was relieved to hear Talbot gallop away, knowing that his rider would be far safer on the run than standing firm like she was doing. There was never any shame in playing to one's strengths, and Ridahne knew that hers were best used right here, absorbing the attention of these people long enough for Darin to get away. But the archer had fled with her. She inwardly cursed but had no choice but to continue the fight with the other two.

Hrendi kept back and watched with a smug grin on his face, but his two mates came at Ridahne relentlessly. They lacked the hesitation of Mark and his human companions and had far more skill and strength than any of them too. It had actually been a while since she'd encountered an opponent as skilled as they were, and in any other circumstance she would have congratulated them on their hard work and praised their skill. But not now. Now, they were dead men. Two against one was a hard fight, but Ridahne had been trained for this. Not only was she precise and quick, but she was calm enough to really think through the situation, read their body language, and exploit any faults she found. She saw an opening and delivered a swift kick between the legs to the man, though before she could follow up the crippling blow with a more fatal one of her own, the woman with the broadsword brought down a heavy swing and Ridahne was forced to dance out of the way.

The man was down for a few moments so she had space to focus on the woman. She was well armored and strong, and her sword had far better reach. But she was slow. Her moves, by nature, had to be sort of 'heralded' by her body language and so if Ridahne paid attention, she could predict what she was going to do. The woman made another heavy swing, Ridahne slapped away the blade with her knife and while the woman was recovering, Ridahne's sword swept down to cut off one of the woman's hands. It came away cleanly. The woman screamed; she could not wield the broadsword with one hand, so as a last resort she hurled it at Ridahne. The blade spun around in a dangerous arc like the hand of a compass and was too large to avoid. Ridahne tried to block it, but there was only so much of the massive blade she could block and part of it swung around to clip her in the side. The blade bit deep into her, but not fatally, as it had lost a lot of momentum due to Ridahne's efforts to block it. The Azurei howled as her side burned, but she leapt at the woman fiercely. The Eluri had picked up a stone and thrown that at her too, and it struck Ridahne in her ribs with a painful crack. However, the woman was soon impaled by Ridahne's knife and could not gloat over her hit for long.

The man was back up again. Disoriented by the low-blow, he was not as formidable as he once was. Ridahne was breathing hard but snarled at him and spat. He circled her for a moment, and just when he tensed up to charge and strike at her, Ridahne was bowled to the ground by Hrendi, who had decided finally to join the fight. The force knocked her sword out of her hand, but the left still clutched her knife. She managed to turn over but then both men were on top of her, pinning her down with their combined weight. She screamed, a sound like a feral animal, and struggled with every ounce of energy she had left. Hrendi was on her chest, on her broken rib with his hands around her neck, squeezing with both hands. The other man had her hands, one of which was still squeezing her knife like it was a lifeline. For a moment, she was completely stuck, and she might have been bested had it not been for Mitaja. The cat leaped out of the shadows and went straight for the man's throat. He had not seen her and had no defense against her, so the cat viciously and easily bit into and tore out the throat of the still screaming elf, leaving Ridahne free to deal with Hrendi.

Her vision was already growing black and fuzzy. She barely had the strength left to lift her blade even once to plunge it into Hrendi, and he retaliated by bashing her head into the ground with stunning force once, twice, three times. She stabbed him again and he faltered a little, his grip on her throat loosening enough that she could draw in a painful, raspy breath. She bucked, kicking him off of her, and as he struggled to right himself she leaped on top of him and stabbed him six times in the chest. The last five were not necessary; he was already dead. But it didn't matter to her.

He lay still. The once tumultuous patch of road was now eerily silent except for the painful rasps of Ridahne's labored breaths. Absolutely spent, starved of air and rapidly losing blood, Ridahne collapsed in the brush beside the road. She was so, so dizzy. But she had to get to Darin. She HAD to. By nothing except sheer force of will, she made one arm reach out and claw into the soil and drag her broken body along as one leg feebly pushed. Once only she managed this, and then for a moment lost consciousness. When she came to again, it was only a few minutes later. Mitaja was licking her face fervently between distressed yowls. Ridahne just felt numb. This was it, she was sure. She would die here on the road, but Darin now only had to contend with the archer. If she'd protected her from anything, anything at all, then she'd done the best she could.

"Mitaja..." her voice was a hoarse, wispy croak. "Darin...protect...Darin..." The cat hesitated but did eventually disappear into the gloom. Ridahne sighed. Mitaja would find her. They'd be okay. And as much as she wanted to get up, mount Tsura and follow, she knew she was spent. Ridahne thought of her mother. She thought of the warm days spent on the beach as a girl, combing the sands with her mother for pretty shells. She thought of the song that her mother would always sing to her at night under the stars by the fire. And as the numbness began to set in, Ridahne spent her little remaining strength rasping out the song in a gasping whisper. The last thought she had before unconsciousness took her was that she'd seen this before. With Ravi at the Farm, she'd seen her own death after all, and only realized it about halfway through the song. The only anxiety she held was wondering about Darin. She needed to just get up, and if she could do that then she could find the Seed Bearer....but she was...just...so...t i r e d....

---

The night deepened. Time passed, but then it seemed like an eternity had gone by since Darin had fled with Talbot. Ridahne did not come. The animals began timidly speaking again, little insects made hesitant chirping sounds and every so often there was a gentle rustle of leaves made by a creature that would rather remain unseen. But still, Ridahne did not come. Mitaja did. Her glowing green eyes shone first, and the cat bounded towards Darin with both grace and speed. But something about the way the cat's black-ringed tail twitched and swished gave her a rather harried look. The cat yowled loudly, once, twice, circling around Darin's legs a few times before actively leaning on her as if pushing her forward. The cat would take a few steps back in the direction she'd come, stop, look back at Darin, circle her once, and do it again. The message was abundantly clear: Darin was to follow. And it was urgent.

--

At a distance, the only evidence that Mitaja had come to the right spot was Tsura, standing restlessly just beside the road. On closer inspection, there were bodies that littered the area. The lantern that Hrendi had once held reflected off glinting dark blood on leaves, grass, and bodies from where it lay discarded. One body had a torn open throat, and from the blood on Mitaja's face it was easy to guess his fate. But one form lay just beside where Tsura stood guard over it; there was a knife still clutched in her hand while the other was still motionlessly clawing at the dirt in the direction Darin and Talbot had fled. Her dark wavy hair was matted with blood at the back, and around her right leg and the left side of her abdomen was a pool of blood. Everything in this clearing seemed to be stained with red, but even so, her clothes were still obviously blue.

Ridahne.

The elf was unconscious and her labored breath was shallow, but she was alive. Barely. Purplish marks were already blossoming around her neck where she'd been choked, her left side was wet and red, and the broken-off arrow was still in her thigh. Even her inked face was smeared with blood, though whether it had come from her or one of her fallen enemies was unclear. The scene was solemn and gruesome.

Darin paced back and forth in front of her captive as she furiously gnawed at the hangnail on her thumb. Ridahne hadn’t come to find her yet. That wasn’t a good sign. IT had been a while, and her captive was slowly bleeding out. Could the battle have not gone the way she had hoped. Darin wasn’t sure she wanted to know. If Ridahne hadn’t been the victor Darin needed to get back on Talbot and leave now. However, if the battle hadn’t been decided she needed to be patient. Darin wasn’t sure she could stand this waiting any longer. That was when sound finally returned to the forest.

Well that was not a good sign. The battle was over and had been for some time. Darin could hear it. The animals felt safe enough to resume their life. The night would continue unhindered. Now the question was simple: who would come after her. If Ridahne had won that was a good thing. If she hadn’t Darin needed to run. She cast another glance towards her captive. He was smirking at her. It was clear that he thought his allies were the one who had won. Darin wasn’t sure that she could fathom that possibility. She didn’t know what she would do without Ridahne. It had been less than a week and The Seed-Bearer knew that this journey would be impossible without the Azurein.

She asked Talbot, “Who do you think won?” Taja let out a shriek as Talbot let out a whinny of concern. Darin nodded, “You both have good points, very good points.”

The archer scoffed, “You talk to your animals? Why? They no nothing useful. Maybe you are just a very lucky idiot.”

Darin let out a small laugh, “Now you’ve got it. The question is simple. Is it good luck or bad luck?”

Darin whipped her head around at another screech from Taja. What she saw made her blood run cold. It was Mitaja. The hunting cat seemed distressed, and it didn’t take long for the human to figure out what was wrong. Ridahne had to have been hurt and sent her cat to Darin. Darin figured she should probably run. Darin didn’t care. Without even thinking about it she ran in the direction Mitaja was leading her. Talbot didn’t follow. Darin looked over her shoulder for only a minute. It appeared the plow horse was going to stand guard. The human was fine with that though there might not be much point. The Elrui was still bleeding out. It wouldn’t be long before he was dead. If Ridahne wasn’t capable of questioning him there wasn’t much point in keeping him alive. She supposed that meant she killed him. She would deal with that fact after she determined if Ridahne was okay.

That was not the case at all. Mitaja stopped at a point. Darin took a moment to glance at Tsura before falling to her knees next to Ridahne. The Azurei looked terrible. Purple bruises covered her neck. There was an arrow in her thigh. The Elf was practically covered in blood. Darin’s hands fluttered uselessly. The human wasn’t even sure how to start. Should she take out the arrow or would that make the bleeding worse. Darin didn’t know much about treating people. She had only done birds before. The only real chance she had was finding another person to help her. She just didn’t want to leave Ridahne. She wondered if she could get Ridahne on to Tsura. Then where would she go? Darin was sure to get lost. If they followed the road, they might make it somewhere. Were they close enough to The Farm to get there before Ridahne died, or should they try to make it to the town Ridahne had mentioned earlier? Would the people there help them, or were they connected to this Red Hand? Darin had no idea what she should do, and for a moment was paralyzed by fear.

Then she gave her head a shake. She couldn’t do nothing. With that decided Darin figured the best she could do was at least try to find help. She knew she couldn’t leave Ridahne alone so the Elf would have to come with her. The only way to make that happen was to get her on a horse. There was no way that Darin was carrying Ridhane anywhere by herself for long. Still the first step was to get Ridahne up off the ground. That raised another question; would Darin be reconziged or would Ridahne think she was another enemy. There was only one way to find out. Darin was just going to have to try. At this point anything was better than nothing.

With that in mind Darin knelt down next to the Elf, “Come on Ridahne.” The human took one of Ridahne’s arms to place around her shoulders, “Let’s get you up.”

Ridahne was lost. Lost in a swimming abyss of mismatched sounds and shapes that flowed outside the passage of time. She was outside the passage of time. Did that make her dead? If she was, she knew someone at least would be there to receive her. Keeper? She wondered, though she could not speak the word, as her lips felt heavy and numb, like things that did not belong to her. Of course they didn't. She was dead.

Dead.

The gravity of that really hit home. Darin would be alone now. She had done her duty insofar as she had protected the Seed Bearer from the Red Hand...or most of it. She couldn't speak for the lone archer who disappeared after her. But though she had won that small battle, there was so much ahead of Darin that Ridahne should have been there for. Hadn't Ravi told her not to throw her life away? She was not disposable, she had a job to do. Idiot. She should have done that differently but....how? What could she have done differently? She really didn't know.

Darin, if you're out there...I'm sorry. I tried....please forgive me...

And then she was aware of new sounds. Muffled, distorted things but they were new. Her awareness sharpened a little. Could that be the Keeper? She felt hands on her very physical, very alive body and realized with a shock she'd been wrong. Not dead. Dreaming. Her mind spun. She knew the four she fought were dead, which meant only one Red Hand was unaccounted for. The archer. A spike of fear rose up within her, and she pictured for a moment that he had captured Darin--or worse--and had now come back for her to finish the job and be free to do whatever wicked things he wanted. Whether Darin was alive or not, Ridahne knew that she would absolutely not stand for that, and no one but Darin would ever touch the Seed of Astra. Not on her watch.

Ridahne, who had been slack as Darin started to hoist her up, suddenly took in a breath, gave a strangled howl of rage that with her swollen throat was terrible to hear. The elf's legs came to life suddenly and she lurched to the side away from Darin, and one empty hand swung hard like it still had a knife in it. Thankfully she neither was holding a weapon, nor did her hand connect with anything but air. Her wounded leg gave out immediately but by sheer force she stayed up and swaying on the one leg like a drunkard, both fists clenched for a fight.

"NO. Not on my watch you son of a--" Her breath caught. That was not the archer. Ridahne's heart leapt in her chest and tears immediately sprang from her eyes. "Darin!" Whatever rage commanding her body to stand melted away immediately, and so did she. Ridahne dropped again, and her teary eyes went distant and blurry for a moment as she nearly lost consciousness again. And though she held onto consciousness like a drowning rat, her eyes did not sharpen again. "You're alive!" Her voice was a raspy squeak like she'd lost her voice due to illness. "The town...just south of here. Get help. You'll have to tie me to the saddle. Get my blades." Her eyes had drifted shut, but they snapped open suddenly. "The archer! What happened?"