| 15,505 Years Post War
Never had a day passed where she didn't look to the stars. In all of her immortal years, those blinking faces never once left her like so many others did. She had walked this earth long before any of her friends did, and she would walk it long after they had gone. A million words of love and hope filled a meager century of her life, just for their body to give up and fail, deaths sweet hands coming to whisk them away to tomorrow.
And it happened again. And again. And again. Over and over like a broken melody; the musician plays that one bar over and over until they fit together with the rest of the song.
Faces forever lost to history, yet never forgotten in her labyrinth of thoughts.
A whickering of her horse brought Remys from her memories, her eyes fixating on the lush hills in front of her. The furred saddle under her cushioned her ride as she urged her mount back into a walk, a long white mane delicately flipping back against her legs. The leather plates along the crest of the mares neck soundlessly moved together as her head rose and fell with each step down the hill.
Remys delicately reached down towards the breastplate, lightly tugging it to test that it was snug. Once she was sure she sat back in the saddle, picking up her reins again. The mare nibbled on her bit as the duo rode back towards the forests, the only metal plate which resided on the flat of the mare's face shaped around her eyes and ending between her nostrils in a rounded point.
Warm brown leather held everything in place, an old elvish leather that cost Remys a fortune when she bought it. The long curve on her bit allowed Remys to have the control she needed while maneuvering through the lands, though she tended not to use it unless circumstances called for the sudden control.
Another wicker made the elfs heads raise as she looked around the lush rolling hills. About an adult dragon length in front of her a small band of soldiers stood, their horses all standing in a simple crescent shape, though the one on the far left stood a good two lengths ahead of the others.
Glancing over the group, Remys immediately picked out the three who carried visible weapons, the others all seemed to be travelers with their hired guards. The one in the center seemed to sneer at those around him, his fine noble clothes not a common site in this valley.
Riding closer Remys noted how the guards relaxed seeing her with no one else. The one in the center eyed her mount with greedy eyes, his hands twitching slightly as if waiting for the chance to grab the reins.
"Lady Remys," one of the guards spoke, causing the rest of the party to look at her slightly confused. The guard bowed her head slightly before giving a warm smile. "Welcome back to Druset, Lady Remys. What brings you here this spring?" The guards' open interaction with the Lady confused the noble in the front, to the point where his mouth opened and his horridly spoiled voice spilled into the air.
"Who are you to speak to a Lady of Druset in such a way?" The guard seemed to shrink back and offered a mumbled apology. Remys furrowed her brow, her lips falling into a slight frown.
"They've always spoken to me this way," she finally spoke, her voice calm like the river on a summer's day. "I wasn't born a lady, nor did I marry a lord. I became one by doing my part. They have every right to treat me no different than they did when I was one of them." The lord turned to her stunned before tilting his nose up and scoffing.
"Rubbish. They are gods we are nobility, and because of that-"
"I am not nobility nor will I ever be. I am simply a Lady of the court who earned her way into that chair."
The guard finally broke the sudden tense silence with a small smile and a lilting tone. "Have you brought more of those musical performances this time around, Remys?"
Remys gave a sneaky smile and winked before looking back to the lord who huffed indignantly at being ignored. "Is there something you need, sir? Or may I continue on my way?"
A small moment of silence punctuated the end of her indulging question before the lord finally shook his stupor off and put on a courtly air. "The young lord from one of the capitals surrounding cities has run away. We are on a mission to bring him home."
With a small dip of her head Remys turned her mare to head left around the party. "I haven't seen them on my travels so I would assume that you have double crossed them at some point. Good day."
The other travelers simply bid her a safe travel before resuming their journey to find the runaway son, the noble's loud complaints finally fading to nothing as Remys resumed her path towards the forests that lay only half a day's ride from the capital of Druset.
Lifting her reins, Remys urged her mare into a steady canter towards the huge lumbering trees that drifted in and out of view as she crested the hills. The steady breathing of her steed let Remys relax into her saddle, pulling out a notebook in which her notes from the continent spilled over every page. Flipping through the pages, Remys glanced up occasionally to make sure her mount was still on course for the forest before going back to brushing up on the harsh language of the dragonfolk.
When shade started flitting across her pages Remys looked up just to be surprised by the forest that surrounded them already. Looking curiously at her mount she gave a small laugh as her mare easily cantered towards the camp Remys had set up a few weeks prior to visiting the other cities on the other side of the rolling hills.
The loud clanking of metal against metal brought a small smile to her face as Remys approached her camp. A decently large elven wagon stood on the far side of the covered clearing, nestled between a group of large trees; just enough room in the front to get to the main path that she had created with magic many millenniums ago so she could access this clearing. The neighing of horses drew her attention to the group of five horses that happily munched on the oats layed out for them in a wooden trough.
A long rope connected the horses together, tied off at each ring on the horses neck ropes. A simple design by the dwarves who had introduced her to the art of using one long rope to tie multiple animals together.
Happy purring brought her attention to the sabel tooth cat who lounged on the log closest to the fire, his pale gold colored streaked with a brownish grey. A sudden shriek drew her attention to the skies as her blood hawk swooped down and resumed its post on her left shoulder, nibbling affectionately on her ear until she gave it a few scratches on the chin. The griffon who completely lounged across the top of the wagon lifted its head slightly in greeting, making a cooing sound before its head thumped back down onto the wagon.
Laughing lightly Remys dismounted her mare and procured an apple from her saddle bag, splitting it into sixths; not forgetting to give her mare the biggest of the six. Picking the seeds out, she fed them to Mercy who chirped happily from her left shoulder with each treat. Grasping the reins Remys brought her mare over to the other horses, grabbing the singular neck rope that lay across the edge of the trough.
The small yet tedious task of untacking the mare happened next, the tack settling on a low branch of the closest tree with the tack and rigging from the other horses. The distinct elvish leather of the tack caused a slight smile to crease her lips before she shook her head, looping the neck rope around her mare's neck, the rope slipping snug so it stayed on. The other horses lifted a head and gave small sounds in greeting before going back to grazing, their long manes brushing the ground as they did.
Patting the mare on the nose Remys smiled and rested her head against the mares forehead. "Such a good girl you are Mystic." A soft nuzzle was her response before the mare pulled away and walked over to the other horses, nudged a few of them affectionately before dropping her head to graze beside them. Setting the apple slices against the edge of the feed trough, Remys chuckled hoping the horses would figure out they were only allowed one. Putting the seeds into the small pouch at her waist Remys turned and strode towards the fire, lightly rubbing the sabel kitten on the back before settling beside him on the log.
Glancing around she noted the large white dire wolf on the far side of the camp, lazing in the patches of sun that shined through the covered area. Smiling softly she barely heard the soft hissing before a scaled creature wound its way up her leg and onto her lap. With a laugh Remys lightly stroked the snakes head, watching as the golden stripes down each side of her body shimmered in the faint light.
"Why hello Rogue," she finally greeted through her laughter, pulling a few small cubes of meat from her bag that rested just under the kittens' place on the log. "Excuse me Kasimir," she said lightly as she handed the kitten one of the cubes. She thumbed the other one onto her hand and held it up till Mercy snatched it, tearing at it with her beak. The last one she opened her hand and let it rest on her palm, so Rogue could easily swallow it.
Once the small group had their meals Remys set Rogue on top of Kasimir, the snake happily curling up on the warm kitten as Remys strode towards the wagon, opening the small door and walking inside to grab one of the bags that hung on the wall to the right. Opening it Remys made a slight face before pulling out two large slabs of deer and elk meat and hurriedly rushing outside before the wagon started to smell. Glancing up she found Nereus's face immediately hanging over the edge watching her, his large body almost hanging off the wagon.
Lifting one of the slabs up, the griffon happily snagged the meat before retreating back up to the top of the wagon, picking apart the meat as he ate. Rolling her eyes, Remys brought the other slab to Jynx, the great wolf happily wagging her tail once she caught sight of the food in Remys's outstretched hands. Slipping the large slab to the wolf, Remys retreated back to the fire, opening the small satchel under Kasimir again to pull out a small box of rations, content to eat the dried meat with dried fruit and some bread.
When Remys finished her small meal, she lifted a hand, her flute materializing in her hand and she lifted the instrument to her mouth, playing a light melody as she watched the fire before her. Small shapes built in the flames, the four figures on horseback all parading around the proximity of the flames.
The scene changed with the music, the four figures laughing with each other as they walked up a hill quickly changed into the four figures fighting back to back. Remys quickly cut the song off just as the flames roared upwards, scalding the sky as the memory infused with the song took hold.
Everything slowly settled again and she played the flute again, laughing around the mouthpiece as Rogue and Kasimir played on the ground to the sound of music. With a warm smile she played well into the night, sighing happily as she looked around at her family.
Yes, she thought warmly. This is home.