As Ripple and Ellaway traveled through the forest, they were both dead quiet. An eerie sing sung whaling filled the air with a thick insufferable sadness, threatening to suffocate both of them. Ripple glanced at Ellaway, gloomy faced. Something in his look told her that he knew the meaning of the morbid sound, but Ellaway dared not ask him what it was. They merely walked through the cool pleasant weather, in drudgery. The sun danced playful light in the trees, and the leaves and branches swung in the same artful dance, but it was hard to find joy in the beautiful day with sadness drowning it out. Ellaway tried to shake off the depressing feeling, but even the blue birds sung of dreariness and sorrow.
The song started to drain on the very soul and it dragged Ellaway down. She couldn’t explain it but some how, the sound wore her down physically too and it only became worse as they moved on. However she did not wish to be a nuisance so said nothing of the growing pain swelling within her chest.
Soon Ellaway’s breath only came in unsteady raged breathing. A lump rested in her throat, and her eyes started to fill with tears. She could take it no longer and slumped to the ground like a sack of flour. The gruesome feeling completely consumed her. It bulged in her chest and spilled out into the rest of her body, making her hands shake from grief and fear. A steadying unstoppable run of tears streamed down her face. She gasped, “Ripple, I-” shamefully she bent her head and sobbed.
With her stammered mutter, Ripple turned towards her with a tear of his own in his eyes. He wiped them out and gasped, “Ellaway! No… no, no you must get up. We have to go on, just a little ways farther.” Ripple gently grasped her elbow, cradling her lolled head on his shoulder and lifted her up. Pointing off to the distance, he said “See that hill,” Ellaway shoulders shook feebly, and Ripple shoved her head off his shoulder so she had to look up and repeated, “Listen to me, see that hill?” Ellaway sniffled and nodded her head. Ahead she saw a sallow slop and a rocky jagged hill, “A friend lives on top of it, so all we have to do is get to the top.”
Ripple put his arms around Ellaway’s waist and pulled her closer, “You’ll be all right. Come on one step at a time.”
Ellaway just wanted to collapse in his arms, but leaned on him instead and tried to keep moving. They seemed to be moving toward the agonizing voice, but Ellaway couldn’t tell. The voice seemed to be coming from every where like a pack of wolfs gnashing at her every side.
The rocks on the hill became larger and larger as climbed and soon barely any grass or undergrowth could be seen, instead the terrain was covered in boulders. The rocks laid close together creating small crevasses, but they were easy enough to navigate over but slowed their work tremendously.
As they drug them selves up the side of the hill, the music suddenly stopped. Ellaway gave a snuffled sigh of relief as the feelings of sorrow slowly left her body. Ripple snapped his head up, looking towards the house. He cursed under his breath, “What has she done.” He stopped and helped Ellaway up beside him, who was catching her breath. Ripple muttered, “Are you alright?” Ellaway nodded.
A blood chilling scream echoed from up the hill. With out hesitation, Ripple automatically started running to the top, leaving Ellaway to rest.
As he ran a house started to come into view, he recognized the big dark wooden doors. He slammed the doors open and stammered in. “Ashin! Ashin where are you?” He heard a weak moan upstairs and darted up a dark stair case. He turned a corner and ran into a bedroom. In the middle of the floor, on a dark red carpet, a women laid unconscious. Ripple crawled to her side and softly lifted her head, and whispered, “Ashin?” but her head merely lolled in his hand. He heard Ellaway follow him into the open house. He hollered to her, “Ellaway! Come help me! Please, do something. She’ll die!”
Ellaway frantically ran up the stairs, and took in the view as she walked into the room. The woman Ripple was holding looked pale and sickly, but she had no marks or obvious wounds. She walked closer and knelt down beside her, remaining calm, “What’s wrong with her?”
Ripple looked at Ellaway tears starting to gather in his eyes, “I am not sure, but you’ll help her wont you.”
Ellaway looked at him confused, “I don’t even know what’s wrong with her, how could I help her.”
Ripple stammered, “You mean you won’t help her.”
Ellaway looked at him helplessly.
Ripple looked at her in frustration, “Well, do something!” he yelled.
She looked bewildered at him, why is he doing this; he knows I can’t really do any thing? “Ripple, what do you want me to do? I don’t know what you want me to do!”
Ripple responded in anger, “Fix her!”
Ellaway calmly said, “Okay, think, what can I do?”
He sat there a moment, trying to clear his thoughts, slowly he said, “I want you to blink yourself to a friends and bring her up here to help her.”
Ripple gently put Ashin back down and walked with Ellaway downstairs and outside. He pointed down the hill and a little ways off, “See that little wood cabin.”
Ellaway could barely see a dark cabin, through a gap in the trees, but nodded. Ripple continued, “I need you to blink yourself right in front of that house and ask for Penial. Tell her that Ashin needs help. If she refuses, tell me.”
Hesitantly Ellaway looked at him, “Ripple…”
“Just Go!”
Ellaway took a deep breath and tried to clear her thoughts, concentrating on the spot he had pointed to. She stared intently at the cabin, letting the image over come her. Grasping on to every speck she could see, she imaged the cabin up close, almost feeling it’s tender bark and smelling the smoke from the chimney. With the sharp picture in mind she willed her body toward it, making her hole being depend on that spot. Her eyes blurred and in a moment, she fell roughly to the ground in a little flower garden in front of the cabin. Hastily, Ellaway got up and ran to the door hardly taking in her surroundings. Fists clenched she banged on the dark wood and hollered, “Penial! Come quick!”
Foot steps sounded in the house and the door swung open. A women with slightly pointed ears and stark green eyes stood in front of a man with the same ears and dark purple eyes. Ellaway gasped, “Please, I am with Ripple, he says that Ashin needs your help.”
Ellaway never knew purple eyes could give such a cold piercing glare, “Why should she help her?”
Ellaway was lost for words, but she faced his sharp eyes and breathlessly replied, “She is in danger. I am not sure what kind. We found her collapsed, unconscious. Surly if you can help her-”
But Penail cut her off, “This is her own undoing. I can not make up for her mistakes.”
Ellaway felt panic rise to her head, flushing her cheeks, “Ripple is cradled over her limb body in a panic! You must help her!” Her voice rose in a shrill scream, “I have never seen him like this! If you can do something to save her, you must!”
Penail green eyes wore a soft compassionate glow, they darted around her trying to make up her mind. Turning to the stern man behind her, she whispered, “I must go. She is right. She does not deserve to die for love. Not like this.”
His cold stare never softened and he muttered, “Go if you must, I will have nothing to do with this.”
Penail jerked her head forward in shock, “I can not do this on my own. You might be male but I still need your help.”
He looked down and did not respond.
As cold as his stare, she snipped, “Fine.”
She turned and lead Ellaway out towards the hill. Penail examined the area around her and started to cautiously climb up the hill.
With out turning, Penail whispered, “You must understand, if I am caught coming up this hill, I will surely be put to death as a traitor. We must not be seen.”
Ellaway nodded and they climbed the hill in tense silence. Every passing moment felt like an hour. The knot in Ellaway’s stomach twisted at the thought of Ripple huddled over the women draped lifelessly of the floor. Finally the roof of the house started to peek into view. They ran the last stretch over large flat stone.
Pointedly, Penial asked, “Where is she?”
“Upstairs.” Ellaway lead them into the house and up the stairs to the bedroom where Ashin laid on the floor. Nothing much had change expect for the figure of Ripple sitting on the floor with his knees curled up to his chest, rocking back and forth.
Ellaway automatically went to his side, but did nothing to comfort him, she had never seen him cry and it terrified her.
Penial went to work as soon as she came in and Ellaway for the first time got a good look at her. Penial was dressed in a dark, red skill dress that laid smoothing against her attractive figure. Her face had sharp features but, like her eyes, were tender and soft. Ashin wore a similar dress, but of pale blue, making the carpet even redder. Her features were more rounded, but stern.
Penail went about checking Ashin she press two figures against her throat feeling her heart rate. But most of the other things she did Ellaway did not understand. She would gently slid her finger down the
With the most genuine concern Ellaway had ever seen emulating in a person’s eyes, Penial said, “You should not be here for this, I am surprised you have survived so far. I have seen stronger men die from a mourning song.”
Ripple’s tear stained face smirked and he sniffled, “I have Ellaway with me, I will be fine do what you must.”
Penail’s eye brows raised in shock, “A wizard? Even still you are not but ten feet a way. I do not want to see you hurt.”
Ripple glanced at Ellaway, “She is no ordinary wizard I will be fine.”
Penial cocked her head suspiciously, “Well if you insist, but even so you should be wise to hold on to her.”
Ellaway was taken aback when Ripple nodded and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her waist. In her ear he mutter, “Sorry.”
Ellaway responded, “What is she going to do?”
Ripple’s voice cracked from crying. “I will explain later not now.”
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