The following morning
Maybe It was the anticipation or the mix of fear and excitement, of what I might discover and learn from this man. That awakened me again and again throughout the night. The third time I awoke, the sky was just beginning to shift front the shade of black into the blue. Gale had already opened her eyes from all my squirming, "I know, girl, I'm sorry, go back to sleep. We'll leave in a little while". However, she seemed to have a different plan as she stood up from where she was, leaving me to fall back on the dirt.
"Or not"
After dusting off the dirt and dust from my garments, I led gale to the watering well and pulled up a filler of water for her. Though she was only a horse, she was like the only one I had left, but then out of nowhere, the same strange bird, or at least, it seemed like the same bird. Landed on the roof of the well, it was only a little beyond arms reach, looking down at me. I had never seen such a winged creature before, but then again, I have not seen much. My father tried to teach me everything he could, but nothing reminded me of this animal.
*flaps downward, landing on the lower part of the wall next to my sword*
"Hello, little guy, what are you doing-"
*eagle grabs the sword with both of its talons and starts flapping away at high speed*
"Hey!"
I quickly tighten the reigns around gale and mount her, chasing the bird flying and soaring in the sky with my sword. Gale had been running at full force since we departed. She will need a break soon. We were led into the woods as I looked up to not lose sight of the bird. Maybe if I had been more alert, I would have seen the tree branch that was right ahead of me.
*knocks into tree branch being knocked over gale and onto the hard ground *
"Ahh, seven hells."
As I picked my body up from the fresh morning dew grass, I soon realized we were no longer in the woods. Instead, that winged rat had led us into an open clearing along a cliffside. The only thing I could see besides the morning sky above and the emerald grass below was a wooden shack near the edge of the cliffside. So that must be where the man known as isul lives; I proceeded to collect myself when I felt an object beneath my foot. It was my black blade. Did that bird lead us here, or was this just some strange coincidence? Either way, I ended up exactly where I wanted to be ., so I picked up my weapon off the wet ground and grabbed gales reigns, and proceeded to head towards the run-down home. But as I got closer, I saw the very same bird on the roof of the place, watching me as if it was observing me, judging every aspect of me. I finally got near the edge of the cliffs, but before I attempted to check the home, I was awed by the sight of endless waves. Calm winds and the sun's light touching the ocean, I had never seen such a thing in all of my life. When I suddenly heard a very rough voice come from right behind me.
"Who are you?"
Turned around, and what I saw astonished me. This man was old indeed, but he had the build of a knight. Even though his hair was white as snow or the white swirls in the sky, his complexion showed that he was very along in years. So much so that you would think the man would drop dead any second, yet he showed no physical signs of weakness or weariness.
"Sorry to bother you, mister, but I was wondering if I could-"
"who, are you?"
He looked at me with an icy look in his eyes, as if he was judging me, judging every word I said.
"delias mister, my name is delias," I said
"delias what?" he asked.
"just delias, mister," I replied.
" so 'just delias what are you doing here."
I started to walk closer to the old one, drawing the sword from the scabbard on my side. As I did, the hands of the old one moved slightly, as if he had a weapon that he was prepared to draw in case of my attack. Unfortunately, even though I meant no harm, he seemed to be overly cautious.
"I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the symbols and engravings on this blade."
*hands the blade the old one*
I handed the blade to the grey old man, but there was a sudden rise ever so slight in his brows when I did. Like a recognization or a familiarity had found him, but also a great disdain and regret.
"where did you get this?" he asked.
"it was given to me by my father and from his father before him," I replied
" is there anything you can tell me about it?" I asked
The old one gazed at the blade for a few moments before returning his gaze to me and handing me back the sword, and placing it into my hands.
"Only that it's from an age long dead and buried."
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