Caeli stepped through the portal and was instantly engulfed in bright light. She squinted her swollen eyes and tried to allow herself to adjust so that she could see exactly where the portal had brought her. The indefinite endless night she had been in made her eyes ache in pain from the sun.
She blinked rapidly as her vision began to clear. The portal had placed her on the opposite side of the pond from the cottage where she could vaguely see Aurum and Brego standing.
Almost instantly her friends saw her appear and they ran to her, shouting her name. Brego tossed his head back and forth as he ran towards her and Aurum slithered quickly and almost invisible in the grass.
As they neared her, Aurum threw himself around her legs and Brego trotted excitedly in a circle around her.
"Where have you been all this time?!", Aurum shouted at her from around her ankles.
"I am so sorry to make you both worry so much.", she said softly.
Aurum gave her a squeeze and looked up at her, smiling his reptilian version of a smile. It did not last long until he realized that she had been crying.
"Caeli, what's wrong?", he said softly giving her a pat with the tip of his tail.
She slowly shook her head and then suddenly wrapped her arms around Bregos' neck. She sobbed uncontrollably for a couple of minutes then pulled herself together.
Caeli told them they should return to the cottage before she relayed the past events. Upon arrival she found her old set of clothes and her mother's cloak laid on the bed. Raven had likely sent them back for her. The thought of him made her heart ache.
She sat on the bed heavily and told her companions everything that had happened from start to finish. They sat quietly and listened without interruption. When she came to the end, Aurum had positioned himself in her lap and staring up at her thoughtfully.
"My lady, I know that you're hurt. And you have every right to be so. But may I speak freely?", he said softly placing his tail on her hand as she wiped her face.
She nodded slightly and said, "Of course."
"As a creature that was a simple common animal before you named me, I think I understand where this Raven was coming from. It's almost as though the creature you were before your naming was somebody else, but in your body. If it's any consolation, it sounds like he really cared, cares, about you and he understands that he did wrong doings. I think that you're understandably upset but as a creature who once only knew primal thoughts, I think that he surely did not mean to hurt you. On the contrary it sounds as though he truly cared about you. If that was not the case, you would not have been able to come back to us healthy and safe as you have done.", Aurum looked away, the thought of Caeli never returning or returning badly injured, making his heart heavy.
Caeli looked out through the window, the sunshine made her feel as though she was not truly at the cottage, as if the real life she had been living was left behind in that long off valley in some unknown time, stuck in an everlasting night. She felt as though she were dreaming.
"I don't know Aurum. I am so hurt, so shocked, I truly… truly cared about him. I've rarely allowed myself that luxury in life. Until I left the village I had only ever met a handful of genuine people, and even then never allowed them too closely. I've always been able to see the deceit or manipulation people attempted to serve me, I've always know their true intentions without disclosure. I feel as though I've had a rug swept out from underneath me."
"That's understandable Caeli but he also protected you. No matter the mistakes he made he taught you things that will help keep you safe on your journey, he taught you things about yourself, that you did not even know. Despite his initial lie, he seemed to be very honest and open with you. There's a lot to be said about that….", Brego said standing in the doorway of the cottage.
Caeli stared, exasperated at the two.
"Then what should I have done? Stayed? And for how long? How long before he would have told me the truth? Our last conversation only ensued due to my persistence to understand what was happening. How long would it have been if I had not done so?", she asked angrily.
The two creatures looked at each other and Aurum seemingly shrugged.
"Miss Caeli, it is difficult to hold much against the creature. Since the day I've met you, you've attracted the attention of every living thing you've come upon. The spirit of the wood, the townsfolk of Flumen, the head councilor himself. Intelligent or otherwise.", Aurum scoffed at the last bit bringing too mind Callon more than the creatures of Cheshire Wood. "I agree that your feelings are valid, but I think you're finding it difficult to see things from Ravens point of view. Perhaps because I understand him a little more, I can sympathize.", Aurum said the last portion softly thinking of how much he adored Caeli. How she had changed his life the moment she had walked into it. He also could not imagine life without her. Although this Raven made him displeased with the affection they shared with each other, he also understood the irresistible draw that Caeli possessed.
Caeli stared down at her hands.
"I missed you both so much.", she said with a sad smile.
Brego huffed loudly and bobbed his head in the doorway.
"Of course you did, your presence was missed here as well. With each day our worry grew. It has been a long three weeks for us, hoping that you were alive and safe.", he said reluctantly. It was out of character for Brego to be so affectionate.
Caeli sat frozen.
"Three weeks?", she asked softly looking at Brego with bulging eyes.
She quickly turned to Aurum for confirmation, and he nodded solemnly.
Both companions recalled that when Caeli had told the story of what happened since her disappearance, she had also mentioned that it had been nighttime, the same nighttime, every hour she had spent there. The moon had remained full and at its peak in the sky. It was no wonder she had no inkling of how long it had been.
"I've been gone for threes weeks?! What have you both been doing in the meantime?", she asked, astonished.
"Well we didn't wake up right away.", Aurum said, scratching the top of his head with the tip of his tail, trying to recall what had happened. "We could tell because the left over fruit we had picked was beyond spoiled by the time we came to."
"You were asleep?", Caeli asked slowly, slightly confused.
"Yes, I now think your creature friend likely caused that to be able to whisk you away unnoticed.", Brego responded.
She initially tried to think back to Raven's retelling of what happened. She did not distinctly recall him stating that he had done such a thing, but she also conceded that she had not been entirely listening to everything he said. Her whirlwind of emotions had been hitting her like waves, consuming everything.
"We awoke to you missing and spoiled fruit.", Aurum reaffirmed. "It had perhaps been a couple of days by the time we woke. Soon after we realized you were not in the cottage, not in the valley, maybe not even in this realm. We could not smell you, we could not hear you. It was almost as if you hadn't existed. If not for Brego, after week one I would have began to wonder if I met you at all.", he said sadly. He remember feeling devastated at the idea of never seeing Caeli again. He had been scared once more, just as when she had found him.
She placed a hand on his soft cool head and gave it a gentle pat.
"I would never leave without saying goodbye and if there was no evidence of my being taken against my will, there is nothing to worry about. I could never leave either of you behind. ", she said smiling at both of her friends.
She lifted Aurum onto her shoulder and allowed him to curl comfortably around her neck so that his head could hover above her arm.
She stood and walked to the door way. She wrapped herself around Bregos thick neck and gave a small squeeze.
"Thank you for waiting for me. We should push on I think.", she said into the gelding thick mane.
"As you wish.", the horse said softly to her.