<strong>Eshalu - much needed rest</strong><br/><br/>Eshalu's relief was transparent when Reliyian returned, triumphant, and bearing her ancestral spear. That was a good omen. Its shaft was heartwood from the trunk of the caern's mother tree and its triangular point, scribed with logograms whose meaning was remembered only by spirits and recalled by druids in the deepest of trances, cast from the metal of a dead star recovered in times immemorial when, the songs told, they had rained from the heavens. It was a privilege to bear it on behalf of the Lodge of Rangers.<br/><br/>Struggling to her feet to meet Reliyian, she gratefully accepted the sorceress's offer of support. Her calf burned with each movement, a dull throb that occasionally burst into a searing, hot spasm. She wrapped her arm around Reliyian's shoulder, distributing her weight, and slung her spear over her shoulder with a leather thong. Taking up her damaged armour in her free hand, she followed Reliyian's lead towards the crumbling stone structure bounding the garden's curtilage.<br/><br/>"I am fortunate you are here, Kin-Sister," Eshalu said, her sharp, sapphire-blue gaze meeting Reliyian's emerald eyes - the more distant title of 'Far-Seer' no longer seemed appropriate, so the warmest term of endearment appropriate for a woman not of her clan was a natural choice to address Reliyian, "you have done well to find shelter...and most of all, my spear. My Lodge would be grateful to you and extend our hospitality if you ever wish to understand our ways better. Thanks to you, I know that there clans of the People beyond the trackless forests, which remember the True Ways." Her gaze was observant enough to read the mixed feelings in Reliyian's eyes. The sorceress's natural intelligence and curiosity did not seem to know what exactly to make of Eshalu. For her part, Eshalu was a simple woman. She had been born and raised to be a ranger and a ranger she would be until her final days. That was her Way - written in the stars and in the blood of the lynx sacrificed on the day of her birth.<br/><br/>Reliyian's admiration was undeniably flattering and Eshalu had always taken pride in the attention she had received from the druids who tended to the Lodge. But she knew Reliyian would have been no less compelling. Quite the opposite, the mountain elf's voluptuous form - closer to a nymph than a wood elf's - and her mastery of sorcery were infinitely fascinating to Eshalu. Embarrassingly, she had no idea of how courtship functioned in her companion's society - human customs in this matter were confusing enough and, based on all that she knew of mountain elven culture, she guessed that it had none of the comforting certainties of her homeland.<br/><br/>"Forgive me if I weigh heavily upon you," Eshalu felt a little rueful - that final tumble from the dying spider's back could have been avoided had she been more cautious, "huntresses of the same band must draw on the strength of each other and now I am in need of yours."<br/><br/>In the distance, the sound and scent of fresh, running water brought immediate relief. Following Reliyian's lead into the secreted cavern by the bank of the stream. Eshalu scanned their surroundings. There was no trace of predators and a welcome, peaceful silence broken only by the stony song of the river's flow. "This will do very well. A cave with a well-built fire and some fresh-dug tubers for roasting under hot ashes is one of the best shelters you can expect in the wild." Eshalu was impressed. Though Reliyian had been raised far from the First Growths of the Forest Mother, she had clearly never lost the instinctive and ancestral connection the People had with their first home.<br/><br/>Settling down on the mossy bank by the cavern mouth, Eshalu laid down her weapons and jerkin. She unlaced her gauntlets and tested the water with the tips of her fingers. Cold. Almost glacial. It was perfect. She stripped off her boots and breeches, laying them carefully by the bank - she would wash those later. Careful to keep the hilt of her shortsword and her obsidian dagger within reach, she lowered her feet into the stream and watched the water rush by, leaving the intricately carved beads of her hardwood anklet wet and dark. Darker even than the angry, purple bruise spreading from the taut muscle of her calf to her thigh. At least the cold water brought welcome relief from the stinging. And sweep away the sweat and half-caked spider fluids from her skin and hair.<br/><br/>"You seem tired, Kin-Sister," Eshalu replied to Reliyian's declaration that she would go off exploring, "do not over-exert yourself. You should guard your strength and I will do my best to regain mine." She lowered herself into the stream while she spoke, feeling the current slosh over her waist. A bracing chill enveloped her, bringing with a it a pleasing, tingling pressure on her sex. She gave a contented sigh, looking forward to lying naked in the late-afternoon sun feeling the water evaporate off her skin. "When I have finished bathing, I will light a fire inside - it will be warm and welcoming for the night. And if you are in need of help, call for me," Eshalu's lips curled into her predatory smile, "a wounded she-wolf is as dangerous as a whole pack."