The rest of the evening passed with some slight awkwardness from Zilia that she refused to explain to Aellisia. But as they spoke to one another over dinner she explained a little more about magic from her own minimal and fragmented knowledge. Eventually, she had told Aellisia that when they returned to town if she was genuinely this fascinated then she would introduce her to her friends. For her part, Aellisia was satisfied with the arrangement, although a little frustration crept into her heart that she could not understand how to extend the bond so that Zilia could speak with Eahlswith as she did. Finally, as the fire died down and they both felt the tiredness overcome them, Eahlswith promised to take the first watch for them. Aellisia thanked her friend profusely and took advantage of the offer by curling up beside her and pulling one of her furs over herself, oddly Zilia seemed to want to sleep a little way away from them, and with a slight shrug, Aellisia turned over and fell asleep. The next morning Aellisia finally awoke, to her surprise Eahlswith hadn't woken either of them to take a watch, choosing instead to let her friend and the human sleep through the night.
"Why didn't you wake me?"
The huge wolf simply tilted her head slightly and regarded her with her golden eyes for a long moment before she spoke, her voice gentle.
'You seemed to be very exhausted when I returned yesterday. Do not worry yourself for I slept lightly on and off throughout the night, in this section of the forest the air is not as corrupted, and thus there are fewer things that we need to be wary of throughout the night.'
Aellisia held her gaze for a moment, but she could sense nothing but truth in her friend's words, smiling softly at her Aellisia finally replied.
"That might be true, but don't think that you have to force yourself to do so again on my account."
Sighing as she stretched and popped a few joints as she did so, she finally turned back to meet her friend's gaze, a much softer edge to her eyes as she spoke.
"But thank you for that Eahl, I feel much better this morning."
Eahlswith snorted and her tone took on a slightly more urgent tone as she spoke again.
'Have you discovered anything that may allow you to allow the Human to talk with me?'
Aellisia's face dropped and she shook her head sadly, glancing across to the still-sleeping form of Zilia.
"No, unfortunately, there was little that we discussed last night that might offer a clue to it. But I'm hoping that if I explain what we want to do, then perhaps she might have some insight, even as a non-mage."
When Zilia awoke, the awkwardness of the previous night seemed to have passed, and she was her usual silent, slightly grumpy self in the morning as she sat there staring off into the distance chewing on some cold meat from the night before. Eventually, when she had roused herself enough they packed up their campsite and buried their fire beneath the dirt before they began the day's journey. As usual, Eahlswith roamed ahead of them, to warn of any threats, whilst Aellisia walked beside Zilia to watch over their slowest party member, whilst remaining aware of any threats in their surroundings.
"Zilia, I'm sorry if I made things awkward last night, I meant no offense by my actions but I just wanted to learn whatever I could regarding magic."
Zilia turned to regard the Aelven woman walking beside her, she could see that the woman's face was frowning as she spoke and she looked somewhat troubled. She sighed as it occurred to her that perhaps Aellisia was unaware of the effect she was having on her last night when her gaze and her proximity simply became too overwhelming for her.
"You didn't do anything wrong Aellisia, I was just embarrassed because of how close you were to me, and how intently you were staring at my face, that's all."
Aellisia turned to her, a question written across her face as she did.
"But why were you embarrassed? We've spoken many times before and I apologise for any impropriety on my part, but I was just very interested in what you were saying."
Zilia shook her head slightly as she formulated her words carefully. She was perhaps more careful in her choice of what to say after the revelations that Aellisia had been living in the forest with Eahlswith and that her memories of anything else were nearly non-existent.
"You didn't do anything wrong as I said, but I find you very attractive, and when you were staring at me so much last night it just made me very aware of the fact that you are an exceptionally beautiful woman, hence why I got so embarrassed."
She finished speaking with a wry smile and Aellisia's face became filled with slightly more confusion, whilst she became aware of the fact that after finishing speaking Zilia's face had blossomed into a red that reached the tips of her ears again, and she stared straight ahead refusing to meet her eyes. Aellisia felt her own face heat up as the impact of what Zilia said finally hit her and that strange stuffy sensation in her chest returned again. She still did not know what it was and found herself very confused by the whole situation, resolving to have a proper conversation with Eahlswith when they stopped for the evening to see if she knew what it might be that was affecting her so. And so after their brief conversation, the pair walked side by side with flaming faces in silence, neither one sure of what to say to the other.
When they stopped for a break at around noon as usual, Eahlswith slunk back to where they sat so she could nap for a short while as they prepared for the next push of walking. They were still about four days away from her former pack territory, and after that a week til the edge of the forest and the town beyond. The unspoken words between them all were of Mathio. The man would arrive there ahead of them, of that there was no doubt, he was injured, true, but he was also not slowed down anymore by Zilia and her injured leg. What worried Zilia at least was what would happen when they arrived back at town, she was concerned about what Mathio would say to the guild about the circumstances of their seperation, and about what had happened to their expedition. Eahlswith's primary concern was what might happen when Mathio returned to the humans and what he might get them to do to her friend like the humans had once done to her pack. Whereas Aellisia was concerned that he could have planted a trap or some other way to hinder them as he made his way out of the forest. Ultimately there was every possibility of him doing none or all or all of these things, and the mood was sombre as they sat eating a few of the berries that Aellisia had gathered as they walked, each caught in their own private concerns. Eventually, it was Aellisia who broke the silence.
"Zilia, a question for you if I may?"
The human woman started slightly at the sudden words before nodding to indicate that she should speak. Clearing her throat slightly Aellisia pushed onwards.
"I know that you've said that you aren't well versed in Magic, that it has little use for you as a Herbalist. But I- I mean Eahlswith and I wondered if you could help us understand something about the Bond that we share?"
Zilia felt the edge of her lips curl slightly as Aellisia corrected herself, and gave it a moment of thought before she responded.
"Of course, I'll help if I can, but as I said to you before I can only help so much, my knowledge of magic just isn't that good."
Aellisia gave a little nod with a slight frown, but after glancing across at Eahlswith's sleeping form she turned her attention back to Zilia.
"Well, the thing is that Eahlswith would like for you to be part of our Bond. She wants to talk to you herself rather than just through me. Now she's explained to me what she recalls of how we formed the bond, and she says that since I uncovered my mark the power I used to form it is much stronger now, so she thinks that it might be possible to try and expand our bond to you as well."
Zilia was taken aback at the suggestion, slightly flattered and flustered at the same time. On the one hand, she could understand Eahlswith's desire for understanding and conversation, even if the wolf did still scare her slightly on occasion. But on the other, she was somewhat worried about letting Aellisia feel or hear what she was thinking all the time, let alone knowing where she always was. For a long time, there was silence across their rest stop as Aellisia could see that Zilia was thinking hard about what had been offered. Personally, she didn't mind if Zilia joined the bond with her friend, she trusted the woman and had grown quite close to her over the many weeks of travel. Truth be told she even dared to consider her a friend as well, something that at the start of their journey together was something she would never have thought, and something in the back of her mind told her was something that in the past she would never have thought either given the fact that Zilia was a human. As always the errant thought drifted through her mind without explanation and disappeared as soon as she tried to focus on it, it was something that she had gotten used to but it was still frustrating for her. She wondered briefly if others ever had that issue, a thought or a memory that seemed to just be in reach only to disappear like snow under the sun. She was brought out of her brief reverie when Zilia spoke again.
"I'm interested in it, but I have my concerns."
Aellisia nodded understandingly, it had been a lot when she finally formed a bond with Eahlswith, and it took some time for her to be used to her friend being able to feel what she was feeling.
"How much privacy can I keep for myself? Is the bond permanent or is there a way to undo it? Is there any way for me to form it just with Eahlswith or do I need to also form it with you for it to work?"
Aellisia tilted her head to one side, the way she always did when she was confused and her face took on a serious expression as she thought about the questions that Zilia had put to her. She sat there staring off into space until finally speaking again.
"Honestly I understand little about our bond, it's something that seems instinctual and at the same time controlled. As far as privacy I would say there is a degree of it, unless Eahlswith or I reach out to one another our emotions aren't sent to one another constantly, and to send images and thoughts we have to concentrate on one another and do so purposefully, although the greater the distance the more difficult it becomes. As far as permanency? I can't answer that, I would assume that it could be broken, but as neither I nor Eahlswith have ever wanted to do so I'm not sure how to do so."
Aellisia paused for a moment before meeting the woman's gaze, her words as low and measured as always.
"And in answer to your third question? I don't know, but something tells me no. I don't understand how I know but I do. The bond comes from Eahlswith, yes, but I believe that it forms some kind of a connection between all of us, and whatever is telling me that seems sure that the bond was designed to do that innately."
Zilia nodded a slight frown on her face as she glanced away for a moment.
"I'm not sure Aellisia, I need some time to think about this properly. It's a big ask to open my mind up to other people, even when it seems safe to do so."
Aellisia nodded and leaned back slightly adjusting her hide jacket.
"I understand, just please think about it for Eahlswith's sake if nothing else."
Zilia nodded at her once more, and as she sat there drinking from a waterskin seriously considered the option that had been laid before her.
