 wolven [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 9:1:3 Chapter 6
A Leap of Faith.
Oriel paced around the tavern. It was small and roughly square in shape, and there were tables all around the room and a fireplace that he liked going to with a drink. On previous visits the Tavern had been lively and filled with the crowd he liked, namely old friends, fair maidens and even the odd brawl to engage in or observe. Since he had arrived it had been very different. The atmosphere was tense, and there were fewer people in it. It became eerily quiet. Now however the Drunken Hunter had been converted into a makeshift healers den. Oriel had broken his right arm in the fighting, and now he held it in a sling. Oriel walked over to Cane, who lay face down on one of the tables, an arrow protruding from his back, and his skin had gone pale.
“In all my life,” a female voice said from behind him, “I have never known a bastard that was made of such damn sturdy stuff.”
Quilva was a middle aged she-elf and was garbed in a fine dress of green, now stained from a mix of blood, dirt and the assorted spillages of mead and other potions. She had light silver hair, which was beginning to grow thin, but lay loose over her shoulders.
“He earned his freedom as I recall.” Oriel said with a slight rasp to his voice, “and I can safely say I have never seen one fight as well as he did what with his ah… condition.”
“Illegitimates seldom manage to prove any kind of worth.”
“I was not referring to that.” Oriel said with an air of finality. Quilva looked at him with unease. “Is there anything you can do for him?”
“Do you care for him?”
“I owe him much... and he is a friend, so yes, I care for him.” Oriel stated. “Please, I have no experience with such a wound and I would consider it a great service.”
Quilva paused, turned on her heel and stalked off before returning moments later with a few small bottles and herbs.
“He was hit with an arrow tipped with a paralysis poison. His armor stopped it from being a deep wound but the point still rendered him unconscious. Be thankful it wasn’t a barbed one, as most of the Wildsmen's arrows are.”
Quilva bent over Cane and carefully drew the arrow out of his back. She then unstopped one of the bottles and let a dark liquid pass onto a piece of cloth. She then began rubbing the wound with the cloth. After a few minutes, she drew herself upright and walked away.
“He’ll be up shortly.” Quilva said before tending to some of the other victims who lay on the tables.
Oriel laid his hand on Cane's forehead as his head was turned to the side despite lying with his torso face-down.
"We should have warned him..." Oriel whispered into the shade, quivering with nerves.
'We warned them all as fast as we could Oriel.' Glaedr said from afar, for he was scouting the region for any more of the Wildsmen.
"I didn't mean about the bandit raid."
'You remember what Queen Arya instructed us to do. We cannot divulge it to anyone.'
"It is not for her to appoint who we tell and who we don't. The boy helped us if you recall."
'And we helped him in return. Let it be Oriel.'
Cane's eyes began to flutter.
"It is his destiny to venture where we could not. He cannot go in there uninformed."
Glaedr landed on the ground outside the tavern. He dipped his head and sighed.
'I'm sorry Oriel. You're right. He needs to know.'
* * *
“How could I let this happen?” Cane punched the ground in a fit of rage, his eyes narrowing and shedding tears as he recalled his failure. The Golden Dragon and Rider were beside him, watching with interest yet sharing his grief.
“There was nothing you could do…” Oriel began, but Cane simply punched the ground harder. Glaedr stopped Cane’s next punch with his tail, pushing him upright, then he lowered his head until he was looking Cane in the eyes.
“Why do you grieve for her, Cane? She may yet be alive.”
“But as good as dead for all I could do! I made a promise to her. I wasn’t going to let any one of us die and now because of me she is either dead or worse!” He spat at the ground.
“Not necessarily. You did what you could at the time she was captured.”
“What do you mean?” Cane asked, looking up at Glaedr, a miniature speck of hope in his eyes. Glaedr raised his head and turned towards Mount Blackreach.
'The wild ones turned and fled after you were shot, I know not why or how. The earth shook beneath us, it was a larger quake than before, as though something in that black beast was enraged… or worse. They fled towards the mountain like a startled herd of goats and took her with them.' He said, his tail flapping behind him.
Cane considered the information carefully and looked towards Blackreach, beyond the Crater. Somehow he felt… drawn to it, as though something was calling to him, beckoning him to delve into the ruins...
wolven [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 9:2:14 Any C&C on this would be great people.
Oh yeah... Today's my 18th Birthday... i near forgot about that... :-] frost_star [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 9:38:48 happy birthday and awesome drawing! love the transparent look of the dragon. docile_dragon [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 9:46:54 Happy Birthday. I love the shading on the dragon the blues, purples, and yellow look nice together. keidarancitygirl [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 10:22:30 Happy birthday! wolven [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 10:32:59 Thanks Ladies! :-] amyd [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 12:59:46 Happy Birthday Wolven.
I love the shading on the dragon, looks really nice.
starwarsdragon [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 15:42:41 Happy birthday! And I absolutely love that dragon. lady_miragon [Profile] 2013/1/5 - 16:39:33 Happy Birthday Wolven! :c) I LOVE reading your stories about Cane. Also, great dragon! I love the colors and just...EVERYTHING! [anon]moo492_not_logged_in 2013/1/6 - 12:1:53 Happy Birthday! I love how you drew Gladr in this picture, the shading and detail on the eye is amazing. :) [anon]lenny_on_her_mobile 2013/1/6 - 13:51:53 Like everyone else, I just have to comment on how amazing that dragon looks. Really, it looks freaking epic. Also, happy birthday! (This is probably a bit late, but oh well!) May you have many more<3 catgirl [Profile] 2013/1/8 - 6:26:40 Oooh, nice one. I like the shading on Glaedr, very pretty.
Hope your birthday was good. dreyacira [Profile] 2013/1/8 - 18:51:50 Very pretty shading on the dragon, it's really cool how you let the blue from the background bleed into the character's coloring. The eye looks awesome. wolven [Profile] 2013/1/11 - 16:9:46 Well I havent gotten a 3DS yet, or Ocarina of time for it... but i did have a few drinks with a friend and my brothers and watched a movie that has set a new standard for badness in movies for me- yes even worse than Twilight and Eragon put together. best not talk about it.
Thanks very much everybody for the birthday wishes, and of course all the delightful comments about this picture! :-] miles [Profile] 2013/1/12 - 22:24:47 i love this. your colours are incredible.
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