The Forest Of Riodhir (BWWM)

Chapter 5: Where Am I?

"Has she awoken?" An older man's voice asked from somewhere distant.

"She's been in and out of consciousness for the past few hours." A different voice replied. This one was a woman. "Her injuries are severe Adoxeor, it's a miracle she's made it this long. Especially in the forest."

"How many passed last night?"

"Sixteen dead. A couple wounded but they won't last another night in Riodhir." The women answered. I kept my eyes closed as I continued to pretend to sleep. My arm slid to my side in search for my dagger.

"I believe our guest is awake." The man spoke, drawing closer. My eyes flew open when I heard his footsteps approach the foot of the bed.

I looked at the two people that stood in front of me. The woman seemed to be in her sixtieth year, yet moved as if she hadn't seem her twenty-eighth. The man, on the other hand, looked ancient. His long, white beard trimmed just above his waist, matching the length and color of his thinning hair. He wore a dark brown cloak that touched the floor and wrapped loosely around his thin body. I began to sit up but quickly regretted that decision as I felt the fresh wounds around my torso reopen.

"Rest please, you haven't fully recovered yet." The women said quietly. She sat up from me, to go grab a bowl that stood at the far side of the table.

I glanced around the room I was held in, searching for any kind of weapon to defend myself with. The women returned to the position by the bed, holding a bowl, before gently placing it on the table beside me.

"You need to eat something." She said, slowly moving her hand towards me as she waited for the okay to help me sit up. I nodded hesitantly, deciding that if these people really wanted to kill me, they wouldn't have tended to my wounds first. The women carefully slid her hand around the back of my neck and gently lifted until I was sitting up against the pillows. She handed me the bowl of what looked like soup.

As I took a whiff, my stomach released a startling growl, reminding me of how hungry I'd been. Immediately, I started drinking the soup from the bowl, disregarding the spoon she had set down besides me, as I downed the liquid. When I finished, I glanced up to find the man and woman staring at me intensely.

"Better?" The man asked, with a pleasant smile playing on his lips. I nodded slowly and set the ceramic bowl back on the table.

"Where am I?" My voice croaked out unevenly.

"Alryne, city of Riodhir. My apprentice found you lying next to a dead member of The Order. Any enemy of The Order is a friend of ours; you are welcome here." The Man spoke, as he sat against the edge of the bed. "My name is Adoxeor, this is our healer, Gweneth. What is your name?"

I paused for a minute to collect my thoughts, as I pulled at the undone thread on the tapestry that was wrapped over me. Sighing, I looked back up at the two, "Arya." Adoxeor's eyes widened a bit as he nodded, stealing a quick glance at Gweneth's paled face, before turning to me.

"Well Arya, please rest, and when you feel up to it, come visit me in my study." Adoxeor announced as he stood from the bed, "and try not to put any strain on your yourself for a while, you're not yet fully healed." He added before letting himself out.

"You're sorcerers." I said quietly as the women removed the tapestry around me to reveal the dressed bandages that covered my abdomen.

"Not all of us, no. Not everyone possesses the ability to bend Magik." The woman explained as she started to undress the bloodied bandages from the reopened wounds that were no doubt my doing. "We are the last few who stood against Lord Darkmore and his exile on Magik... the last days of The Great War. We were welcomed by the Magik benders and sorcerers when they fled to Riodhir and enchanted this forest, since then, we've lived here. I was one of the few who could be taught the art of Magik and I now use it for healing."