"Puir wee thing... so young, and yet already marked.." Eothain awoke,
the entire lower half of her body in pain, yet dulled, throbbing. She
slowly propped herself up with her elbows, and took a look around. She
was in a warm, fire-lit room: small, but cozy. She was lying in a low,
hand-made cot, with a warm, cozy wool blanket tucked around her tender
frame, decorated with Celtic spirals and knots and what appeared to be a
cross in the center, but unlike any she had ever seen. Settled near the
bunk was a small, rough table, with a pitcher of water and a wooden mug
perched on a thick, heavy-looking manuscript.
Silhouetted against
the fire, a tall, broad shouldered man stood, his back to Eothain. in
the dim light from the fire, the man's long, rust red hair could be
easily picked out from his dull, earth-toned robes. He might have easily
been some wandering monk, except for two things that stood out in the
firelight. Belted onto his waist was the most beautiful sword she had
ever seen, wide at the hand guard, then narrowing, and back again before
narrowing down to the tip, with the grace of the ocean tide, the blade
and hand guard etched in gold and silver, intertwined. Strapped to his
forearms, seeming to glow in the blaze of the fire, were intricately
crafted gauntlets. Extending to his knuckles, each plate and strap were
polished to a gleam, and each plate was engraved with a spidery,
ethereal script, weaving and winding and crossing over itself, with that
same strange circular cross embossed on the hand plates.
This man
clearly was not the Rider, but- she looked back up at him, to realize
that he was looking at her. His eyes were kind, very intelligent and
gleaming with past laughter and joys. That is what she first noticed.
his beard was carefully braided, and strung with colored clay beads. In
the fire's light, he didn't appear to be much older than her, about as
old as Liam, but his eyes, interwoven amongst the laughter and the deep
piercing intelligence was age. Age, mixed in with seemingly centuries of
deep pain, and a calm, steady Light. Whoever he was, she was definitely
safe around him.
He sounds like a very interesting character!
ReplyDeleteLets just say that he proves to be an invaluable character later into the story.
DeleteI absolutely loved the second paragraph. I could picture him perfectly. I can't often do that with stories but you described him wonderfully!
ReplyDelete