AFTER FOREVER AND SOME MORE. here is part 5. so much for frequent updates, but i never really said i would. i was just real proud of it on the first parts.

Thumbnail art by Lynxia Here
Chapter 1; Here
Chapter 2; Here
Chapter 3; Here
Chapter 4; Here

this part is longer than usual, it's 9 pages.
more and more intrigue, OMG!

Enjoy.

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The morning is as it was just any other under the endless sea of green above, just as when they woke moments earlier, just as it will be when they have reached their destination after walking slowly, casually, through the village.
Cayden's walk is more like a stride, proud, strong and with calmth across his mauled face, his one icy eye fixed on the way ahead that Mimosa has pointed out, described shortly with her useful knowledge of the human tongue.

Still, the couple have not yet drawn much attention, a raised brow or two while they pass someone out for their morning duties, a few turned heads but no comments so far, no fear and no fuss. Not quite like Mimosa imagined it, not like the nightmare scenario that has passed through her head a few times. She has been to the elders hall plenty of times, everyone has and it is not a foreboding walk to take ones steps towards it, often enough the villagers go to their only manner of rulers for advice or help rather than for doing something they are not supposed to.

In the now, Mimosa walks a bit like a child ready for punishment from a knowing parent, she hides behind the larger human as the huge, gnarled tree rises majestically before them, a look on her face as if the tree itself poses a threat to her. Or him.
Then again, every time she looks at him, a splinter of her shattered courage seems to invigorate her into the next step and the next after that. She will get through this, just as she is telling herself, what is the worst thing that could happen?

Just outside the finely carved, slightly ajar door to the humongous tree stands a lone guard. He does not look like a guard, more like a doorman. He is not armed either, he simply holds on to a long, straight stick, surely, a staff could be deadly in any skilled fighter's hands but this silvacoi does not give the impression he is about to hurt anyone.

This is odd, Mimosa cannot remember any guards anywhere, no one with anything larger than a work-knife wandering or standing anywhere on the street. Peace has reigned here for countless years, war is the game of the outside world, not something that occurs in the middle of the forest. Sure, there is the eventual scuffle about this and that, people remain people and they cannot always get along with each other, this is not paradise however much it would look that way at first glance.
The guard's eyes grow wide and he suddenly seems more awake as he spots the one-eyed man come towards him, soon beginning to look around, almost as if he does not believe his own eyes to show the presence of this scarred human. But however much he stares and blinks, shakes his head and looks off to the side, when he looks back, the man is still there.

It is not until the guard spots Mimosa that he calms down slightly. It is a miracle he did not raise any alarm, that he did not go to get some manner of superior to assess the situation of this mysterious being in the middle of the village. Then again, if someone is suddenly charged with such an unusual task, he will fulfil it to whatever extent he can, no matter what comes up, it is his new-found duty to take care of such a problem, is it not?

“Hold”
He speaks in the silvacoi tongue, loud enough to be heard well at the small distance that is between Mimosa, Cayden and himself.
The one-eyed human does not halt, he simply strides on, Mimosa does not stop him either even though she understands her fellow villager perfectly fine. What is he going to do, wave that stick at them? Winram wanted a report of what was going on, he is going to get such a live report he will be speechless. She has managed to get over her fears, at least enough to simply parade through the half-awake village and with no trouble so far, she isn't going to accept this obstacle.

The staff-armed silvacoi guard tilts his head to the side, of course a human is not going to understand him calling out but what is the matter with the girl at his back. The ink-maker, Winram spoke of her, that she would probably come along. He said nothing about a large, scary-looking human though.

Gripping his staff with both hands and holding out out in front of him, he calls out again.
“Halt!”
This time, the human does stop, a bit too close for comfort, almost touching the tip of the long, straight stick.
Cayden looks to Mimosa with a questioning expression across his face, he cares little for this guard but he is not out to hurt anyone, if she wants him to listen to the male silvacoi's obvious commands, he will.

Mimosa summons her courage yet again, this time to gather her words and speak her own tongue in order to communicate with the rather unnerved guard before the beautifully carved door into the living tree.
“I come to see the elders”
Mimosa steps out from behind Cayden as she speaks, putting her hands on her hips and looking rather self-secure, at least to the person that doesn't know what is going on inside her mind. Fear and doubt, best just go on with a firm stride just like the one-eyed man, although she is not sure he ever feels much fear or doubt, he does not look or seem like the kind.
The guard nods slowly, that is a rather obvious statement, is it not, what other business could there be here?

“And him?”
The armed silvacoi puts on a small smile as he waves his staff to point at Cayden, indeed feeling a bit superior to the smaller female of his own kind, no matter if the large man is right next to her.
The one-eyed man looks to the staff with an uninterested glance and then fixes his attention on Mimosa instead, he does not understand a word that is said but he can easily guess.
“He is the reason why I need to see the elders”
Another rather obvious answer from the ink-maker, the guard nods slowly and fakes a thoughtful look for a bit, debating with himself if it is even worth asking more. He cannot seem to think up more important business to stall them with, so he simply steps aside, leaving them free to go about their business with an almost idle threat.
“Don't go about causing trouble, or else”

Mimosa looks to the guard with a kind, thankful look on her face, hollow threat aside, he wasn't as much an obstacle as she thought he would be and on top of that, she handled herself rather well. She is happy. For the moment.
Now leading on, Mimosa shows Cayden the way into the huge tree, the insides almost like human or any other race's architecture, even though most of it is made by centuries old woodcarving techniques rather than built out of parts put together with nail and tar. The walls bleed in places, sap flowing into containers and being stopped by metal and stone objects. At multiple places there are odd, glowing spheres and growths, many of them looking like fungus and giving off an almost natural light in the gloom of the large halls and rooms.

Cayden looks around wide-eyed like a child in a candy shop, everything is new, odd and interesting. Just like Mimosa. When he isn't busy looking at the odd furnishing and the dusty heirlooms of elders passed, his eye fixes time and time again at the small creature before him. Before he starts drifting off in thought or dream about what has happened the last hours throughout the night and morning, he forces focus back into his mind. Just in time for Mimosa to stop and turn to him, pointing with her whole arm to a curtained passage, just like the one she had at home to her bedroom, vines and leaves, this one larger and with multiple layers, apparently hanging from high above.

“Hall of the elders”
Cayden nods for her as she speaks the words, showing he understands her and can guess what comes next. He has to act civil, he has to be a kind visitor rather than some exotic beast. No that he actually is an exotic beast, but it might be hard to give a different first impression, he is used to that.
Entering the room, or as she put it, hall, he does his best not to look around in awe yet again as they are now deep inside the largest tree he could ever imagine.

Before them stands an array of throne-like chairs, each of them carved with different symbols and ornaments, some of them empty and some of them holding rather busy-looking silvacoi men and women. There are plenty of empty seats and they all have different heights, probably showing who is the head of things. Winram, the elder that came around Mimosa's place earlier is sitting rather high, it is hard to see if he is on the highest position or not. Nearly all elders are engaged in discussion and tasks like counting and looking through old tomes but not Winram, he sits silent with one hand under his chin, still and silent like a statue, his eyes on the two newcomers as Mimosa and Cayden step through the array of curtains.

At the first notice of a sound, the discussion of the elders die off more and more until all of them are looking with more or less calm expressions at the large, menacing-looking being that has accompanied the young female into the hall.
Silence for a moment, the elders begin looking to each other while Winram shifts slowly, taking his hand out from under his chin, then slowly begins to get up, out of his chair.
He may be old, gnarled and his mane of hair and beard look scraggly, but he moves rather swift, proudly if not with a certain stiffness. He does not fear this man, he has seen humans before, not quite as grizzled as this one but both larger and more dangerous-looking.

Most of the other elders seem rather upset though, Mimosa does her best to make out something from their hushed chatter. They speak of beings in the forest, encroaching on outlying encampments and attacking hunters and farmers, large creatures, easily compared to this man.
Mimosa almost freezes up with realisation just as Winram comes close to her, looking into her eyes with a stern expression across his face, yet, it does not seem like he is going to say anything about the manner the human was brought here, it is as if he knows, or at least suspected that the outsider was in Mimosa's home-tree the entire time.

The elder strokes his beard slowly as he shifts attention from Mimosa to Cayden, walking around him in silence, still not showing any real emotion what so ever.
Mimosa opens her mouth to speak but no words escape her lips, she gathers her thoughts and courage while Winram starts to poke Cayden in the side with his thick, rough cane, looking up if the man that is now looking back will react in any way.
Mimosa suddenly speaks just as Cayden is about to, making the human fall silent and the elder look back to her.
“I see you have the high-seat today, Winram...”
The youngest elder clasps his hands behind his back and nods slowly as he steps from the side of the human to get in front of Mimosa yet again, nodding slowly as he goes.

“When Raddan's farm suddenly was aflame, the council saw to it that I was appointed head of all things until whatever conflict we have on our hands is resolved”
Mimosa clasps a hand over her mouth while gasping softly, sure, old man Raddan was always on the verge of starting a fight with someone or something, all the way out there in the forest, but somehow, she figures that his farm burning has nothing to do with the old man's ravings, more likely she or at least Cayden will get some blame.
Winram nods some more at Mimosa's reaction while looking back to the nine-fingered human, speaking out into the air, as if expecting him to understand or at least expecting that Mimosa will answer.
“Who are you?”

Cayden tilts his head to the side at the apparent question to him, still not understanding what the elder wants, guessing that the old silvacoi has already assessed what he is but not why he is here.
Truth stings and he already spoke some of it to Mimosa, but hardly all of his reason with being so far away from his own kind.
Mimosa swallows hard and takes tone yet again, feeling her legs almost giving out from under her while attempting to find words with both languages, to answer them both, speaking to the elder first out of respect.
“He's a traveller, he... I met him out in the forest yesterday”
She then turns to Cayden before the elder has a chance to answer or ask more.
“He ask you are”
Swiftly breaking the words down in her mind, she figures that she will be understandable enough without really trying to put a sentence together in the most orderly fashion.

Silence for a very slight moment, Winram casts an eye to Cayden as the human points to himself, loudly speaking his name and nothing more.
“Cayden”
Winram looks to Mimosa with a wondering look on his face, surely, that word could mean many things, but as most of the elders, he knows enough of the human tongue not to recognize it as a word.
Mimosa looks back, nervous just as before.
“His name”
Winram almost looks a bit displeased, the solution of the human's first word was too easy but at the same time, if he introduces himself, he has some manner of respect or at least common sense, he does not seem to have the idea that he stands over the creatures of the forest in anything but physical height. Maybe a bit much to interpret from an introduction, but a benevolent species like the silvacoi likes to keep things in good possibility.

The many-horned man quickly shuffles over to Cayden again, slowly reaching out a gnarled, four-fingered hand, soon rather surprised to get a four-fingered hand that shakes it. Turning his own to examine the human's hand, Winram finds that the large being indeed has five fingers on a hand, only that the hand he shook had one viciously removed at some point in time.
The elder looks into the one eye of the human for a moment, then speaks with a heavy accent.
“My name is Winram, I am elder here”
Cayden simply nods in response to the elder silvacoi's broken human tongue, he does it quite well and the nine-fingered man did not really expect anyone else than Mimosa to speak directly to him for the duration of this visit, so he is rather surprised.

Winram looks rather pleased as the one-eyed man shows understanding to his words, he thinks shortly about more human words before continuing, addressing the stranger and knowing Mimosa will understand as well.
“How come you travel... the forest?”
Cayden takes a deep breath, no real use in lying and he definitely does not want to sound bad to Mimosa, saying something that is different to what he told her. Then again, he will probably not speak as open with this council, or this elder, as he did with her.

“I am banished”
The human speaks slow, making his words clear and understandable, searching for a reaction in the elders face with his one eye before adding another word, attempting to deepen the understanding.
“Exiled”
Winram nods slowly, in response, just like Cayden did to him earlier. An exile, could be for many reasons, but by his appearance, it is not hard to guess why. Or at least assume why. Some talking is heard from behind, from the elders in the chairs, they speak of murder and war, things humans are quite experienced with and almost seem fond of.

Mimosa shifts a bit, uncomfortable with the thought of her kind companion as some manner of cold-blooded killer, he said he wasn't, didn't he? He fought and killed those lizard-men, but with good cause, right?
Winram nods slowly, not to himself but to the others, without looking at them. Mimosa feels some manner of rage bubble up inside of her, they are just sitting there, assuming things, letting their prejudice get the better of them!
She is about to speak, but yet again she is silenced by someone else talking, it is Cayden, continuing his explanation of who he is and why he is here.

“I am in your village because I was invited”
Slow, but fast enough to make good meaning with his sentence, Winram simply looks to a deeply blushing Mimosa as she herself has thought through the humans spoken words. She soon stammers a few hushed words to her defence in the silvacoi tongue.
“I was attacked, in the forest... he... he saved me”
Now, finally, there is more of a reaction from Winram, suddenly he is all up in Mimosa's face, looking her straight in the eye while also speaking in their native tongue.
“That is why a broken belt was found, that is why there was unknown blood out there, tell me, what happened to the bodies, who was the attacker, speak now!”

Mimosa just stares at the elder with what seems like sheer panic ridden across her face, all bad things from the very recent past welling up in her mind, very uncomfortable images and feelings brings tears to her eyes.
This is something the one-eyed man will not stand for, elders council or not. Holding an arm out between Winram and Mimosa, he soon steps in to lay his other arm around her, embracing her lightly while looking to the elder, the gnarled old silvacoi looking rather stern in his expression, showing little to no emotion, just like before. If she is crying, she might have done something stupid, if she did something stupid, she has to learn from it. Little does he know.

Cayden gives an icy gaze, grimmer than the elder and with a rather threatening looks across his maimed face. Winram looks back and grits his teeth, soon nodding slightly to himself.
“Who attacked?”
He speaks human, still wanting to know and acting rather fearless under the new-found pressure of the now angry one-eyed man, it seems little or nothing will sway this elder. Then again, he is acting for all the village, he has to be absolute and perhaps step on some toes, or hooves as it is, in the process.
“Lizard-men”
Cayden grunts the words with an annoyed tone. No use in denying anything, no use in hiding it, they are the enemy, simple as that. Does the silvacoi know them, or even understand the words he used?
Winram looks down and takes a step back, then turns to the council.
“Lizard-men”
It sounds rather different in the silvacoi tongue, Cayden can only guess what the elder said but by the reactions of the seated ones, he did speak of something beastly.

Mimosa looks up to Cayden and he gives her a long glance, she looks as if he saved her once again, apparently she is rather torn up over what the elder barked at her, it must have reminded her of what actually happened.
He wraps his other arm around her as well, leaning down to be able to hold her properly.
She blushes more and more, as much as possible in fact, this isn't something she would expect to happen before the council. Yet, it does not feel all wrong. She can hear them chatter, whisper and babble, their point of interest ever changing, from how they are going to protect the village to the fact that one of their own is standing right before them deep in the strong embrace of a grizzled stranger.

Winram is the leading part in the talk about defence and safety, of course, he soon manages to quiet most of the other chatter and begins making plans with the others about what to do with the problem that comes from outside, even in their own forest, it has come too far.
Cayden can feel Mimosa's grip on his shirt, it tightens and tightens and she attempts her best to hide her face away against his chest. She hears things she does not want to hear, she is caught in the middle now whether she would like it or not.

“What's the matter?”
Cayden whispers in Mimosa's ear, he cannot understand the elders, but obviously, she can and he would like to know, for better or for worse. He does not even know if the elders are discussing himself and her or the actual enemy out in the forest.
“They say... that I have to go...”
She starts but soon falls silent with a sob, taking comfort in his gentle grip before continuing.
“Go and seek out someone... bring someone that can fight the monsters”
The nine-fingered man looks up as Mimosa finishes and slowly rubs a hand over her shoulder as he looks to the entire council with an equally icy gaze he gave Winram earlier, making most of them stop in the middle of a motion or fall silent. They understand that she heard them well enough and that she told him.

“So with a stroke of ill fate, you expel her into the endless world? She is not the cause of these problems, I-”
Even with his angry tone, he is stopped and silenced by Winram as the elder holds up a hand and comes closer again, he understands the words, enough of them to grasp the situation in any case, for they were spoken fast and with a burst of rage.
“She is not the cause of problems but perhaps you are, so you better protect her with strength”
Cayden is speechless, they are so fast with casting her out, just because she has him to look after her? What manner of justice is that?
Mimosa breathes in deep, taking in the scent of the large man she holds on to. She knows there will be no change of heart or mind from Winram or from the council, they are not unjust and cruel, their actions as of now sounds more like desperation.

Another deep breath, she tries to mend things in her own head, setting her mind on things, adapting, surviving. She always wanted to see the world, she has no problems with wandering and direction, she tells herself that she fears nothing out there, at least for as long as this man is with her.
“If we do not return, what becomes of you then, will you lay your fate on sending a lone girl into the world?”
Not caring to simplify his words much any more, the one-eyed man speaks long sentences, but Winram keeps his mask up, answering well enough.
“We will defend ourselves, we will send more when we have to”
Cayden looks down, this is the second time he is forced to walk out on something like this, well, more or less. This time his company is more pleasant but he doubts that this will have any manner of a positive impact on her or on anything for that matter.

Mimosa finally looks up, turns her head to look at Winram, still a sad expression on her face, but tears dried. She speaks, with a sudden power in her voice, loud and clear in the silvacoi tongue.
“We will need supplies and tools and we are going to have a discreet leave”
Cayden looks to Mimosa with a surprised look across his face, especially as she spoke the words in the human tongue, she is grasping the situation and rather well at that, it confuses him slightly but at the same time makes him glad, she could be taking this in so many ways and this is probably the better for all of them. He will be there for her later when she cannot put up the facade any more anyway. It will happen, he knows what is going through her head, he has experienced it himself.
The nine-fingered man rubs his hand over the small silvacoi's shoulder, keeping silent for the moment to see any manner of reaction from the council of elders but there seems to be little more than nods and short, agreeing words in rather emotionless tones.

They have to be strict and unflinching with trouble like this, just like humans, but without the greater experience of the weight of the world, all the darkness they have not seen within a lifetime.
Winram nods a bit more obvious than the others, he has the first and final word here, he is the one they will look to, he is the one responsible.
“I will summon travel supplies, I advice you to return to you tree and gather whatever personal affects you feel necessary to bring with you, I will meet up with you, bringing a few helping hands with the supplies... may sun and moon guide your path”

Mimosa looks to the elder, there is no hate, anger or despise in her gaze, but there is sadness. She doe not answer him, she just looks at him for a bit in silence, then looks to Cayden with a weak smile before she starts moving. Stepping out of the room in a daze, Mimosa soon almost rushes through the hallways of the enormous tree, it does not seem quite as pleasant and beautiful any more. A quick stride through and out, the guard at the door gets up from a lazy sitting as they pass out into the village again but does not even speak as they just ignore him. Something happened in there all right. Something bad, surely.

Cayden follows Mimosa like a shadow, silent but close, easily keeping up with her hurried steps, now knowing the way back home to her place even though he lets her lead the way. She starts off with her fast steps, then suddenly stops, turns completely around and instantly leans against the one-eyed man, powerless, defeated in all senses of the word.
“I always wanted to see the world... I always wanted to travel...”
Tears well up in her large, beautiful eyes, the scarred human hushes her softly while wrapping his arms around her once again, careful but with a firm grip, his very presence soothing for her mind. Would this happen if he was not here? No, probably not, but then, if he was not here, she would probably not be either. They are twined in fate now, whether they like it or not. Mimosa attempts to speak further, but all that escapes from her is a soft whine as her tears begin to roll. Cayden hushes her softly yet again and runs one hand through her hair, as much as her braid allows.

“... Not like this...”
Mimosa wheezes the words through a sniffling, whimpering crying before she buries her face in the one-eyed man's chest once again but does not remain there for long, not where she stands anyway, as the large man's grip shifts, soon lifting her into his arms, he has done it before, she does not protest for a second. His arms around her in a different manner, she can feel him start moving, she does not even look around, she does not want to meet anyone, talk to anyone. The human tongue will do fine for now, she will use it a lot in the coming future. She is not completely displeased with that, it is new and exciting and it makes her feel closer to this man she wants to be closer to. Part of her is excited but the overwhelming sadness of the moment keeps her floored, she would not even be able to move if he was not there to carry her. Yet again he saves her, so to speak.

Mimosa sulks quietly against the nine-fingered man as he walks, not noticing how fast he is going, how quick it goes for him to cover ground and simply ignore whoever and whatever is around them. A few more glances now, it will be hard to make a discreet exit unless they lay low for a while, good thing she lives rather close to the edge of the village. The foliage above whispers softly as the day carries on, the forest speaking nothing of whatever horrors apparently await out in the usually serene, peaceful lands. A bright day but as of now, it seems that the few rays of sun that manages to find their way down through the leaves give no warmth to Mimosa, but the strong arms around her, the scarred man that is carrying her gives her warmth. She can feel it coursing throughout her body, it does not come from any outside source, it comes from within, she can feel a light fluttering in her stomach and a strong, almost uncomfortable grip of her heart. Her head is heavy but parts of her feels like she could just fly, jump, run...

“We are here”
She looks up as Cayden suddenly speaks, snaps her head back in place, making her focus on the task ahead rather than the tragedy of it all. She takes a deep breath as he sets her down, cracking a smile for him, a real smile this time, vibrant and lovely while her eyes are still sad.
She unlocks and opens her door with a lightly shaking hand, stepping into the room and then looking around in silence while the one-eyed man steps in after her, closing the door behind them.
“Take your time, don't stress... pack light but take enough things, if you cannot carry something, I will carry it for you”

Mimosa turns around with a wild motion as he speaks of packing, of carrying, it all just reminds her over and over what is at hand, that she needs to move, that she needs to take off from this place and not return. Not return for how long? Until they have found something, someone. She nods slowly for him, smiling yet again, he sure knows how to lighten her troubles, if only with little gestures. Soon walking back and forth in the room, she bottles a few open mixtures, looks through cabinets and makes her cartography-set ready, just like when she went out the last time, that time when things all got strange, that time she met the one-eyed man. She busies herself with packing, choosing and calculating in her head how much of her things she can, want and should bring. How much she will use the ink and paper, how long it will last. The world is a big place for one small forest creature to map all by herself. The world is one big place to begin with. Yet, she does not really fear the world, every time she looks to the scarred human, she feels as if whatever happens, he will be there to protect her from it, if he did not mean to do that, he would have left already. He surely would not have carried her home just now.

Finishing her packing, rather fast, but she carries lightly, knowing that she will have to carry food supplies as well. She soon steps over to Cayden who has taken a sit on one of the rough wooden chairs over by the wall, next to the counter of the store part of her home. She creeps up close to him and before he can react much, she is sitting in his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck. He looks into her large eyes in the gloom of the inside while the glow from outside lights the room fairly well, not enough to make her eyes sparkle, but near enough. Is he feeling the same as her now, does he also have that fluttering, or that hard, dark grip of his heart? She cannot tell, but with a soft lick against his cheek, she can feel his hands creep up her back while his arms slip around her like they have done so much lately. Comfort, safety, this time she is after something more as well.

She leans forth to press her lips against his, a little feeble, but a good enough move for him to understand what she means. He kisses her back, softly, careful, but long, wanting. She presses herself against him with all her might and kisses back, she can feel his tongue, it is warm and slippery, a very odd sensation, yet very pleasant. Her heavy head is lifted slightly, she grips him in the best embrace she can give and she just does not want the moment to end. The deep kiss finally comes to an end with her breaking it, a soft moan on her lips as she pulls back and looks at him with half-closed eyes. They will have to go soon, she will have to leave her home for unknown places and an unknown time.

Cayden looks at her with that icy blue eye of his, his messy hair hanging in front of his face as always, he is silent, still and looks a bit mesmerized. She leans in to kiss him again, her still half-closed eyes pinned on his orb of blue and her soft breath over his scarred skin. Right now, in this moment, there is nothing in that large, dangerous world but them, two extremely different creatures in a far-off place from one of them, probably heading to a far-off place for the second. They found each other by pure chance, all things around them has been chaos since, besides the ever small moments of clarity, pleasantries. This is one of those moments. Cayden parts his lips slightly before he instigates the second kiss, a move just as daring as when Mimosa begun with the first little lick and then the soft pressing of her lips against his.

She is not accustomed to kissing, her kind does not do it, that is something she displayed with that lick. But with him, of course, it is different and while it is exotic and strange, it is also very pleasant and even arousing. The thought flutters through her head just as the fluttering feeling in her stomach. He has seen her naked, he has slept in the same bed as her, he kept his hands to himself as far as she knows and he did not even peek at her when she was stripped, did he want to? He kisses her with passion, she answers with the same romantic enthusiasm, for that is what it is, romantic. She claws a bit through his hair, over his back and on one of his arms, she feels restless, breaks the kiss and soon takes another. She feels hot, like a fire started inside of her.

Yet again, she soon ends up with leaning back, looking a bit shy and gazing into his eye. Whatever she wants out of this, whatever he will answer, they cannot do it here and now, they have to move, soon, now. As soon as the elder and his helpers arrive. She swallows softly for herself and simply stares at the nine-fingered man that is looking back at her with a very warm, smiling expression. Right now, she just wants to go, get it over with, enough of all the worries, she just wants to be alone with Cayden, even if it does include walking aimlessly out into the woodlands.

To be continued.