The Enchanted Glen - Moving Day

[Liitha]

Aslan looked at the pin fastened to the coat on the ground, his mind wandering back a couple hours. He sat alone in the forest outside the Black Tower, he had retired to be for himself and meditate. Asha'man, no one would keep as strict an eye on him now as when he was an initiate, granted he did have Jakar more under control, in fact it had been two months since their last struggle that the other had won.

 

So what now, when he had come here he had eluded himself to think he had chosen to stay, he knew it was an illusion, he wouldn't been allowed to leave. He was now part of this place but as an intiate he had  been restricted to stay here. His small room in the barracks had become sort of a home.

 

Aslan looked to the horison and the dying sun, time had past without his meditating giving his unsetled mind any answers. Slowly raising he walked back to tower grounds, and found his bed, laying dow staring at the walls till sleep overtook him.

 

~*~

 

When the sun beams crept in the window to wake Aslan he felt heavy in his body, and had to force his eyes up. Just as he was sitting up he rescaled yesterday and started laying down again to take advantage of the new rank by sleeping a little longer, only to freeze as he noticed the wall opposite of the window. The wall was filled with paper sheets containing drawings, sketches and writing.

 

Aslan blinked and forced himself back up, sitting he shrugged off the last of his sleepiness while letting his eyes wander the room. Everything was sorted, his coat from yesterday hung on a peg by the door, his books where now placed neatly in a stack on the desk, with a set of vials that showed a lower ink level then it had when he used them last. Could his feeling of tiredness be due to lack of sleep from Jakar being night active, only this wasn't the type of thing he would do.

 

Slowly rising Aslan walked over to the sketches, building plans to what seemed a cottage was the red line of the content on the sheets, the cottage was placed in fertile and lush forest soroundings with a herd garden to the back of it. As he looked at the papers a feeling of familiarity crept up on him, which meant it had to be Jakar, only he couldn't understand why, the other was not the type to care about this sort of things.

[Liitha]

Aslan used the better part of the morning to work out while letting his thoughts wander, he had lunch at the inn and it was during this lunch he got the message. It seemed the wheel was weaving his life in this one direction, and the new task placed on his hands just sat the end to his decision. From all he had heard of the Two Rivers and surrounding area where the Bands citadel was being raised it was a very nice landscape.

 

Within the next few hours Aslan went through his things, it wasn't much, all the furnitures he would leave back they belonged to the room. The rest wasn't more then he could fit on his own horse and an extra one. Some bander's who had been visiting a month or so back had left a lame horse, it was now healed and he would return it, he could have been there this evening with the help of traveling. But the area there was one he hadn't covered in his traveling days, and so he had decided to travel the old fashion way, thus getting to know the area, and so more easily being able to travel around in it when needed.

 

He had an early dinner and then hit the road while there was still many hours of daylight to travel in, seting out for Four Kings.

Darkness crept up on him halfway there just in the roadcross where one way lead back up to Four Kings, and another down to Lugard. Here he camped off the road on an open field surrounded by trees, one thing he wasnt afraid of was thugs, since his last misfortunate meeting with some that he had only guessed at, since it had happened as Jakar, he had learned a lot.

 

Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and opened himself for saidin, the taint was there too, foul as it was he still in an odd way was somewhat geting used to it. He sat up perimeters not to keep anyone out but to be alerted if anyone tried to approach the fire. After tying them off he pushed saidin off and unpacked some crackers, then had a quiet cold meal of crackers and water. The simplicity reminded  him of the time before the Black Tower, and he laid back looking up at the stars.

 

 

[Quibby]

Somber was the best word to describe his attitude.  Since leaving the Citadel, Mehrin had hardly spoken.  The most he'd said had been to a pair of would-be thieves who were trying to weasel their way into his and Drea's good graces.  "Unless you want to spend the rest of your life trying to find the remainder of your nose in your face, I'd recommend getting lost."  Drea was there for him, he knew, and he could forget about the world for a short time while in her arms, but in the end, he'd be on his feet yet again, remembering why he had left the Band and why he was now headed for Caemlyn.  Renalie.  She'd only been there for a few months, but in that time, she'd fully become his daughter, and her loss was...  Closing his eyes, Mehrin fought back the surge of emotion.  It was a daily fight now, one that he generally won, but it always came again the next day.

 

Money was one resource that he and Drea had, and there had only been a few nights where they'd been forced to sleep off the side of the road or under a hedge.  Between his gold and her knives, they had yet to go hungry, as well.  Bandits weren't a worry, either.  From far off, they'd look like a pair of normal travelers.  From up close, they'd look like seasoned killers.  It helped keep the unwanted attention down to a minimum.

 

As he walked, Mehrin looked up at the figure riding one of the two horses.  Xandrea Raylin of Fal Dara, a former scout of the Band, former Undercommander to Cabroci, former assistant to Commander Deathwatch.  Looking at her, Mehrin couldn't help but admire her beauty, and once again, found himself wondering why she chose to stay with him.  He might have been decent-looking in days long past, but sun, stress, and battle had permanently altered his face.  He was only in his early thirties, but he already looked like a man in his forties, with touches of gray already showing in his hair and faint lines tracing their way through the scars on his face.  How she could love him, Mehrin would never know.

 

The road stretched on...

 

*********

 

"We should think about making camp soon," Mehrin said, the first thing he'd said since they'd set out.  It was unfair to Drea, he knew, but he had to think.  His daughter was out there somewhere, dead or alive, and he was either going to find her, or he was going to make the last hours of some bastard's life an endless torment from which death would be a sweet release.  Ayrik Drayven...

 

Night was nearly upon them, and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky.  In the near-dark, it wasn't hard to see the fire in the distance.  Seasoned military time had taught Mehrin many things, chief amongst them being safety in numbers.  An infantryman alone often found himself quite dead.  Drea looked as if she were thinking the same thing.  "Do you want to talk to them, Drea, or should I?"

[Drea Raylin]

The area traveled was beautiful. The skies were perpetually cloudless and the surrounding trees were like an emerald ocean, similar to those fabled in Seanchan, it’s tides swirling in the wind. The rustling of the leaves was soothing in the silence between Mehrin and herself and once in a while she’d answer a bird’s whistle. Drea was truly at home here, and the scene was almost enough to make her smile.

 

Her dagger sat at the hip of her brown trousers and her sword lying within reach along Renly’s back. Her cloak was draped over it and the sleeves of her dark blue shirt were pushed half way up her arm and it was tied loosely. The nonexistent clouds would have been a welcoming friend this day. She had left her uniforms back at the Band—better to be anonymous at all times, just in case. The only obvious signet of her past was Mateo’s red painted hand print just visible under the laces.

 

Mehrin was walking next to her, but she didn’t mind. She liked riding behind him. First of all Drea lived on horses as a scout. And second of all, she got to look at him. He was silent almost the whole trip thus far, only saying the necessities. In the beginning, Drea didn’t mind that either. She respected him and knew he needed space. But now, her days were spent in stillness, with only the birds to talk to. One more day of this and she might go crazy.

 

“We should think about making camp soon.”  Light! He can talk!

 

Drea looked down at him in surprise. The sudden appearance of his voice had startled her—which was saying something—but she suppressed fear with a gracious smile. Drea liked hearing his voice and considered it a treat when he did talk.

 

Looking around, there wasn’t a farm close to them for leagues and there was no telling when one would pop up, but she knew from experience the farm folk down here were generous enough to open their doors even at late hours. “Maybe just a bit farther? I’ve smelled fire for at least a few miles and there are wisps of smoke just over the next hill. It could be a farm.”

 

She may not be a scout anymore, but old habits die hard. If you look like a wolf and act like a wolf, you can’t be a sheep no matter how hard you try.

 

The next hill was farther than she had realized. Your skills are slipping already, girl. But the night was just getting dark when Drea realized the fire was from no farm house. A quick glance at Mehrin as they reached the top answered her question. He knew it too. Slight disappointment hit and she frowned to herself. A feather bed and pillow was obviously too much a luxury to expect. Are you going soft now too?

 

“Do you want to talk to them, Drea, or should I?”  Mehrin asked. An innocent question, truly, but Drea chuckled regardless.

 

“We can’t have a little girl like me looking dominant, Mehrin. Show ‘em who wears the pants around here.” Her tone was more playful than she expected. Was it the silence that made her this way, or his voice? Both perhaps. “You could use the practice.” She whispered under her breath as Mehrin walked ahead of her.

 

[Quibby]

Arching an eyebrow at his companion, Mehrin allowed a small grin to cross his lips as he joked, "You?  Dominant?  I seem to recall a time not too long ago when that was the case.  Hell, I believe that was true for the first several years I was in the Band."  The joking tone seemed almost foreign to his mouth; so long thinking about painful memories was likely to do that to a person.  Giving her another smile, Mehrin turned and set out slowly to the glow of the fire, making noise as he progressed.  Coming up on a person unknown in the middle of nowhere was unwise.  It was almost as unwise to make a lot of noise when approaching a fire, but Mehrin wasn't bothered by the potential risk.  There was little that frightened him anymore.

 

There was still a fair distance between himself and the fire when Mehrin called out, "Hallo, the camp!"  From the slight stir, there seemed to be only one person occupying the fire.  A man, judging by the size of him.  Instinct made him reach for the oversized claymore on his back before he could think.  Relax, man!  A man alone out here is not an enemy on principle.  Kill him if he tries to kill you, not before.

 

It was apparent that the man knew the direction from which he was coming; he was facing Mehrin when he stepped into the light of the fire.  There was something about him, about the way he carried himself, that struck Mehrin as familiar, but he couldn't quite remember where he'd seen the look before.  "Hail, friend," he said, not sitting yet.  To do such would be presumptuous.  "My name is Mehrin Mahrvon, and I was wondering if my companion and I could share your fire tonight.  We have some game with us, so food will not be necessary."

[Liitha]

Aslan felt the guard beeing breached and saidin was flowing into him even before the sound of someone aproaching came to his ears. He was standing by the time the man called out before entering the camp, quietly listening after a short corteous greeting to what the man had to say, then tilting his head in acceptance. "You may stay.." it hadnt passed him that the man had reached for the sword, his gutt feeling was good, but there was never such a thing as beeing to carefull, "..if you feel like. But you wont need a weapon for protection this night, nothing will aproatch without my knowing, and any danger will be in cinders before you may even think of registrering it." His voice was friendly, but his eyes serious, turning his back and looking at the glows, "why dont you call your friend in and i'll light up the fire for you again if your cooking."

 

A near invisible motion with his hand and the fire rose as if he was calling on it, then he reached down for a log and tossed it on so he wouldnt have to maintain it. Company was welcome though the question was if they would stay knowing what he was, or their reaction, he didnt like the thougth of hurting anyone if it could be avoided, but he knew if he stood to take a beating without reacting then Jakar would press forth and he didnt stop till destruction was sertaint, Jakar had killed before and Aslan still strugled with that in lone dark long nights when in dreams he dimly became aware of the another life in sort, or rather the other persons actions.

[Quibby]

Of course, Mehrin thought as he watched the man relight the fire.  Out of all the possible people he had to meet on the side of the road, he ran into a bloody Asha'man.  He knew that their Black Tower was somewhere near Four Kings and Caemlyn, but Mehrin had not expected one to be walking down the road; they normally channeled their way wherever they were going.  Nonetheless, there was likely no safer place to stay than with a man who could reduce any would-be threats to a confused pile of ash before they could even sneeze.  "That shouldn't cause too much trouble, friend, as we're used to being in the company of such as yourself.  I'll explain more in a moment," Mehrin said, turning away from the fire and waving to Drea, who would more than likely be watching him from a relatively short distance.  Bloody scouts never really gave up the profession, even when they were promoted beyond the need to do such things themselves.

 

Look who's talking, Master I-Will-Lead-The-Charge...  One of these days, Mehrin was going to find a way to silence that little voice; it was getting on his nerves, particularly since it was almost always right.  Confident that she was on her way in, Mehrin returned to the fire, sitting across from the man.  "There are a few men like you stationed at the Citadel in the Two Rivers, and part of my former job there involved a lot of discussion with them.  Led by a man named Dashiva Somtaaw when they first arrived, if that name is familiar."

[Liitha]

Aslan sighed inwardly, typical, at least they where safe camping company. "I know of the name, I'm on my way there myself in fact to help out.." so these people where from the very citadel he was traveling towards himself. Well on the upside they might have news or information for him.

 

He registrered the other person entering camp, but only looked up as she setled down by the fire. "So what is the news then as you are just coming from the Citadel?"

[Drea Raylin]

Drea sat down by the fire. The sun had set and the breeze was chilly, so the warmth was invting for at least a little while. She watched the flames as Mehrin and the Ashaman talked. She didn't want to be rude, but the Ashaman still made her feel uncomfortable. Anyone who could channel made her uneasy. It wasn't until Mehrin cleared his throat that she realized the man was looking at her.

 

"News?" Her scout ears still heard everything that was said, even when she was concentrating on something else. "Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose. The Ogier are nearly finished with most of the Citadel, and new recruits are coming weekly. It's pretty exciting to see the growth since we've settled in one spot." Drea took a look at Mehrin, unsure what details to give out. "They're in search of a new Commander, you know, with an army that size there's no guarentee you'll live through the night, no matter your position."

 

She hoped that was enough information for the man to keep his mouth shut. That's the problem with men, they don't bloody know when to stop asking questions. Well, it's Mehrin's choice now.

 

[Liitha]

Aslan nodded, well then at least he somewhat knew what avaited upon his arival. Satisfied with this he would have been happy to withdraw but for feeling he should play the host, some of his maners from an upbringig in a noblehouse still intact.

 

Want as he migth he couldnt come up with a subject though, and so the silence draged on.

[Quibby]

Mehrin allowed the silence to drag out before speaking his answer.  It gave him time to think.  On one hand, it would not hurt him to let the Band know that he survived.  However, there was always the chance that he'd try to convince him to come back, and if the man decided to press the point, there was no way that Mehrin would be able to fight him off.  "She exaggerates," he finally said, breaking the silence.  "The previous commander retired for personal reasons, same as I.  However, I don't think he gave up the command lightly.  I think he'd have been grateful to anybody who would help one of his own, though."  Hopefully he hadn't said too much.  The man would know soon enough who Mehrin really was.  All there was to do now was sleep and wait for the morning.

 

A sudden thought struck him as he settled back, trying to get comfortable.  "I am seeking a man who calls himself Ayrik Drayven.  Judging by the letter he left me, he's a male channeler who's sworn to the Shadow, and he's kidnapped my daughter.  Does the name mean anything to you?  Do you know where I could find him?"

[Drea Raylin]

A sudden coughing fit errupted as Drea's head turned quickly from the fire to Mehrin. Her eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed at him, confused and irritated. She tried so hard to be as broad as possible with this stranger and Mehrin lays everything out just like that!

 

The coughing continued and she managed to motion Mehrin to follow her. "Excuse us" She said politely though a cough to the man in black, and walked a few paces outside of the fire's light. Should be far enough out of earshot, but the creator only knew what sort of weaves this man had up.

 

She stopped abruptly and turned on Merhin, the coughs miraculously gone and the color coming back to her face in a nice shade of red. "What the bloody- Are you crazy, Mehrin? We don't even know this man and you dare speak his name. What if he works for Ayrik? What if Ayrik is out there, waiting for us? If you get us in trouble or hurt or killed because of this, Mehrin, so help me..."

[Liitha]

Aslan was taken aback by the females reaction, and sat back waiting while they spoke, untill they rejoined him so he could answer. "I am afraid the name is unknown to me, if he is of the shadow, or even not so, as a channeler, he is dangerous." he shook his head, "You should go to the black tower and report this, they are more capable of dealing with this sort of danger, your sword there wont do you or your friend much good if both is tied up in tick  bonds of air."

 

Really if they where of the band, having worked with asha'men as allied, they should know as much about what a channeler was capable of.

[Quibby]

Mehrin tried to be calm as he listened to Drea railing against him.  He could not help thinking with his emotions; someone had taken his daughter, and Mehrin had no intention of allowing the man to simply be free of him that easily.  There was nothing for it.  "Ayrik would not use a proxy to do his dirty work; he came himself, if Aldar... if Aldar was right in his description.  Besides, I don't think he thinks like that.  You read the letter; this is almost like a game to him.  Like it or not, Drea, we're going to have to take risks.  Think of it this way," Mehrin added with a humorless chuckle.  "If I'm wrong, we probably won't live long enough for it to matter anyway."

 

Mehrin could almost feel Drea's rage as he turned to return to the fire.  There would be no warm words from her for quite some time.  Seating himself again, Mehrin listened to the man's reply.  No surprise there; Mehrin had expected the answer he'd gotten, and learning that he was right could not bring disappointment.  It only brought them back to where they'd started: clueless.  "Thank you for your advice, friend," Mehrin said, consciously not pointing out that he'd asked the Asha'man at the Citadel about how a channeler could have come and gone without them noticing.

 

One thing that Mehrin had avoided addressing was the comment about the sword.  It was insane to challenge a channeler with nothing but forged steel, muscle, and wits.  Channelers had a knack for tearing people like that apart.  However, the man was his, and Mehrin refused to let anybody else strike the killing blow.  That was his to claim.