Obstacles (31)

Caeli and her companions stood silent and in shock as they took in the sight before them.

They were significantly closer to the mountains now, a fact that had been concealed by the thick and tall forests they had traveled through. Perhaps only a week or two away. That is, if they were flying.

Ahead of them was the largest body of water Caeli had ever seen in her life. In the center was the luminous mountains that was their destination.

"Goddesses above…", Caeli whispered to herself, scanning the expansive lake.

The island with the mountains upon it resembled something she had seen in a book called an "iceberg" only made of stone. Perhaps island was the wrong word as the entirety of perimeter was sharp rocks and jagged peaks. From where the companions stood, only two or three spots harbored a channel with small portions of flat land that could be used if a boat were to reach the island. The vast majority of it was jagged rocks that developed into steep peeks that grew larger as they went "inland" and became the vast ledges that made up the mountains themselves.

Towards the top, Caeli could see a large area that seemed flat but it was many hundreds of feet into the air. Where the land plateaued, it could be seen that it was thickly covered in large trees. Above that was another peak, it was oddly shaped but that was all that she could discern.

She wondered frantically how the hell they would get up there.

The map in the almanac had said nothing about the lake-sized mote that now stood before them. 

Not that any of this mattered. They had no way to reach the island, let alone finding a way to enter it without mountain climbing directly off of the boat. They had no where to anchor themselves even if they were able to secure a vessel to take them across and once across they had no where to walk and begin their journey, they would likely need to anchor as close as they could, swim to the edge, and climb from there.

Impossible.

"Well, what now?", Brego asked sardonically.

Caeli slowly shook her head, unsure of what to say, what to do.

"I suppose we try to do a perimeter around the island, see if there is anyway to get into it. Perhaps there is a portion of land on the other side that connects the island to the mainland. Or perhaps there is someone out here that will ferry us across.", she responded rubbing the back of her head, speaking with a little more than a touch of doubt.

Even as she said it, she knew that these things were very unlikely.

She let her hand drop to her side and heaved a sigh.

Aurum looked at her from atop Brego. She was developing dark circles under her eyes, she had lost quite a bit of weight as well. Despite this her skin still glowed and her hair continued to shimmer. It made her look like a Folk more than ever. Her loss of weight made her cheekbones cut a sharp ledge across her face, making her eyes seem even larger than before. She looked more beast than human since they had left the valley.

Aurum felt a pang of heartache at the changes he noticed in her.

They were surely traveling, and traveling hard. Often moving across changing landscape that taxed the body greatly. He would need to make sure she was eating well enough. They would also start eating small game again, despite her reluctance.

He couldn't help but wonder if some of her struggle was due to her lack of restful sleep. Had this Raven made such an impression upon her?

Brego bounced his head in agreement and without further delay he turned and began following the edge of the lake heading west.

Caeli stood for a moment longer staring at the isolated mountains. On the Old World map it had not shown that the mountains were on an island. Had something happened? A natural event? Erosion over time? A catastrophe?

She knew that the dragon was alive, only months ago he had been burning her village to the ground. Had he purposefully isolated himself?

She was sure she'd find out.

Turning on her heel she followed after her friends.

——————————————————————————

It took everything in Raven not to keep watch over Caeli as time went on. He knew that she would loathe him even more if she found out that he had been using the Eye, a gift given to him by his very good friend, the King of Earth, after Raven had isolated himself.

"A way to keep an eye on things.", his friend had said and winked at him. Raven had rolled his eyes. His friends love of cheap humor was as consistent as Ravens quiet and reclusive demeanor.

The Eye gave him the capability to focus his magic on a place, or person, and would transport itself there to observe first hand whatever Raven chose, the images of what it saw projected back to him.

The minute he had stepped back into his dominion he had the urge to use it and see where Caeli was. Was she safe? Was she well? Was she still hurting like she was the night she left him in that valley lost in time?

He knew better than to do such a thing. Not only would Caeli despise the idea if she were aware, he could not promise himself that he would not fly to her side in an instant should she still be hurting because of his lies.

How would he explain his presence then?

He closed his eyes and her image rushed to him instantly, as it always did. Her auburn hair with its white streak gleaming in the firelight, her broad smile opening into a full throated laughter that stirred him to no end. The way she looked in the water with her voluptuous body painted in silver light as the moon shone down on her. The silhouette of her body alone able to express the fact that her body was both hard and soft at the same time and in all the right places.

Suddenly she was lifting her hands out of the water, droplets shining like falling stars, her face turned from him as she pulled her wet hair to the side and exposed her back. She was wringing out the water when she turned to look at him. Facing away from the moon her face was in darkness but he could feel the gentle smile she gave him.

Then he was standing beside her in the water, slowly moving closer to her. She stood still but continued to smile at him.

Reaching her hands out invitingly Raven felt his heart, as though it was physically being pulled in her direction. Never in his life had he felt this yearning to be close to someone.

She began to step back as he followed her, the water waist line deep for him, and stopping just under her breasts for her.

She stopped moving backwards and he reached for her once more, wrapping her in his-

"My Lord", Einar said softly from behind Raven as he came onto the balcony that his master stood upon.

Raven slowly opened his eyes, his revere shattered. He felt a flash of anger before acknowledging that it was probably for the best. His skin had become red iron hot and his breathe had sped up. He couldn't recall a single time in his life anyone had been able to sneak up on him. Even the galaxian woman in the valley, he had known that he had brought her by accident the moment he and Caeli had arrived in that place in the past, he was simply more concerned with other things and had decided he would take what time he could with Caeli before addressing the issue that was the creatures presence there. He had wanted to shield Caeli from the galaxian and what she might reveal.

*You meant to hide, not shield.*, he thought to himself, ashamed and angry with himself.

Best that he try to avoid…. Closing his eyes.

Raven heaved a heavy sigh and dropped his head in defeat before lifting it again.

"Yes Einar?", he said, recognizing the exhaustion in his own voice.

"Your requests to the council for a meeting have been sent to the members. I should expect a response in the following fortnight.", Einar said still just as softly. He couldn't figure out why but he felt as though his master would shatter any moment if they were careless.

Einar moved forward to stand beside his master and look upon his kingdom. It was the same view that he had been admiring when the King of Midnight had made his return.

Yes, he had returned, but surely changed forever.

In the time since his coming home, his master had been more proficient than ever, tasks completed in hours versus days. Visits to the surrounding villages weekly versus monthly. Orders for development composed, signed, and put into place within a days time. Despite this increase in efficiency his master was almost always elsewhere in his mind. He barely slept, if at all, disappearing for hours when most others were abed.

Was it the woman? Was it his focus on correcting the wrong doing against him and his people 20 years ago?

Einar could not be sure. He hesitated to believe it was the "fairy child" he had spoken of due to this being entirely out of character for his master.

But something told Einar that she was the culprit.