Push On Part 2 (25)

Caeli and the troop spent the rest of the day collecting as much food and water as they could carry.

Caeli decided to keep one of the old blankets, a box of matches, and a small length of rope that she had found upon arrival at the cabin.

Just before leaving, she stood in the doorway for a moment. She had felt so at home here, she realized she would really miss this place. She looked around the small dwelling and observed all the things within it. She had taken sometime to clean up and she wondered absentmindedly if this had been Ventus's home at one point. It seemed too coincidental that the cottage in her dream had resembled this one immensely, but she still hadn't decided how much of the dream had been a construct of her own subconscious. She only knew that this place, although abandoned, had been well taken care of at some point in its existence, and likely had been a wonderful home for whoever had been there last.

As she stood thinking these things she was unaware of the fact that she had been caressing the Seeing Stone she had found, placed carefully in one of the numerous pockets of her mother's cloak.

She figured perhaps once her great journey to find herself was done, she could come back and find this place and settle here. It was fairly secluded and quite a distance from her home town. She was sure they wouldn't find her here and she would hopefully be left alone until the end of her days.

"Thank you for everything, thank you for allowing us to stay here comfortably in the short time that we have been here.", she said aloud to the inside of the cabin. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to do so, it just felt right.

With a sad smile she turned and closed the door behind her.

She stood for a moment on the doorstep and watched her companions as they readied themselves for the trip ahead.

She felt a sudden pain in her heart, remembering the time she had spent with Raven. Although the place she had been with him was a different part of time, she couldn't help but think of him at the sight of the valley with its large pond.

Perhaps this would not be a great place to settle. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to look out on this all too familiar valley and not think of Raven.

At her age, it was often assumed she had had many love interests but this was far from the truth. She had never cared for anyone the way she had cared for Raven.

She had always though that Adair had been kind to her, although slightly older than she was, he had remained unmarried and without children. She would see glimpses of attraction in his face when they interacted but it was often followed by embarrassment or shame as the villagers would slow and observe them speaking to one another.

Aside from an occasional hug or closely held conversation, he had always pulled away from her quickly.

His upbringing would never allow him to truly care for her. She was strange and mingled with the Folk, this also meant she was dangerous to many of the villagers, this fact had not been lost on Adair.

Although he seemed to care for Caeli in some capacity, his desire and instinct to please the villagers and be one of them was strong. His father before him taught from childhood that his future was to lead, provide, and protect the small municipality. Adair was a born and raised politician. A relatively honest and caring one, his ambitions and intentions mostly born from the right place, but a politician no less.

And so Caeli had resigned to the tenuous and frail friendship that he enforced and realized later on that she was quite happy with the arrangement. She had a tentative friend in Adair, arguably one of her very, very few human allies, and she had no desire to change that fact.

So she had never loved Adair, no.

Had she loved Raven? Truly, and earnestly, loved him?

She was unsure. She knew that she had love for him in her heart, but she fought the idea of being in love with him.

*Damn him.*, she thought to herself. She was a murky puddle of messy emotions and as if she hadn't been confused enough, he had told her the truth. Or at least what he said was the truth. How could she trust anything that he said? How could she not believe him when he seemed so vulnerable?

Like tangled roots of a willow tree, this fact intertwining with that fact. More facts entangled in three times as many questions. Some truths, absolutely, but also, some lies.

Just as she had been processing her time and feelings for Raven, along with everything else that had happened, he had told her that he brought her to that place, no, KIDNAPPED her, just to get close to her.

She felt a growing pit in her stomach that made her nauseous.

She figured it didn't matter much anymore. She would likely never see him again. For all the things she didn't know about Raven, it was clear that he was a powerful Folk, and with the loss of his memory, there was surely someone out there searching for him. A place for him to return to.

Or perhaps the lost memory was a lie to. There were things he recalled and mentioned that made her wonder. Perhaps he did know who he was and where he was from and would simply return to the life he had led before.

The idea of never seeing him again struck a chord in her heart. How could she miss someone she was so deeply disappointed in?

What a mess.

She took a steadying breath and stepped away from the cottage she had briefly inhabited. She shouldered her pack and the few other loose items she carried and headed over to her companions.

She smiled broadly at them hoping it sufficiently concealed the tumultuous thoughts that swirled in her mind relentlessly, and they turned north in the direction they had been heading since before they came upon the cottage.

Towards the Ausia mountains, home to Coruscare the great dragon of the continent.