Heart pounding and mouth dry, Rylir couldn’t command his body to do anything but push himself back slightly, leaning his weight against his hands and forearms as he leaned backward. It was a pitiful defensive move, but it was all he was capable of at this point.

“Should’ve stayed asleep,” muttered Essie as she finished her incantation and turned to the miniscule man shaking on her hearth. She turned casually and sat down, legs crossed, within arm’s reach of the man, which he seemed more than aware of. “If you just rolled over, you’d have slept through the whole night. Now you’re going to be wide awake while I’m settling in for the evening.”

It was only now that he was clearly able to see the woman. Sure enough, she had two ice-like eyes framed by silvery white hair. Her skin was like that of an ancient bronze sword, dark and deadly, but was completely without blemish. She was a striking young woman, shoulders back in a confident calm, hands resting on her knees as though she were meditating.

The way she spoke was direct, voice gentle but taciturn like a chilling winter breeze. Her statement, on the other hand, sounded mildly annoyed, like he had somehow inconvenienced her. Using his instincts, he didn’t feel that he was in immediate danger like what had happened earlier in the forest.

He did, however, feel apologetic for one reason or another. He swallowed dryly and dared to make eye-contact with the woman. “I… I’m sorry?” He winced as he said it, which Essie found personally amusing, her dark cherry-colored lips daring to turn upward in a smile revealing her perfectly white teeth.

“Apology accepted, though I don’t know what for. I could’ve just left you out there. I only inconvenienced myself,” she stated. Her lips pursed for a moment as she looked away. With a click of her tongue, she shook her head as though remembering something. “Kaven would say that was insensitive. Apologies. Your life is not an inconvenience. I just hadn’t intended on spending my evening nursing someone back to health.”

“W-who is Kaven? Are th-there more of… you?” asked the man as he caught her eye again.

“Relax,” sighed Essie. “He was my mentor; and no, there aren’t more of me. At least, I don’t think so. I haven’t seen anyone else like me here.”

The man’s chest heaved as he obviously tried to calm his breathing.

“So… you’re the… the Sorcerer of Fanged Ridge?” he asked. At this, Essie had to chuckle.

“I prefer Wizard of the Wood, but that does have a ring to it,” she sighed. “But I digress. I’m more interested in whether your wounds are better and what those four men from earlier wanted from you. They said something about you doing something to someone, but you disagreed. You said you were innocent.”

“You… heard that?” asked Rylir, shifting uncomfortably. Essie picked up on this and eyed him curiously.

“One, spells can enhance hearing, so why wouldn’t I have heard what you were all saying? Two, you’re nervous suddenly. Did you actually do something wrong?” asked Essie in rapid succession.

Rylir didn’t like where this was going. Was she going to administer her own form of justice if she didn’t believe him. She had to believe him. He was innocent!

He dared himself to straighten up off of his hands and elbows as he tried piecing together what to say to the giant wizard.

“You… might… I’m just a little worried if you don’t believe me what… might… happen to me… after…” Rylir knew that he must’ve sounded horrendously guilty, but he couldn’t think of anything better to say to explain why he was nervous.

Essie suddenly leaned forward, eyes locking Rylir’s eyes into place, as she steeled her features.

“You honestly think I’m worried about what you can do to me?” she asked, eyes flaring for a moment with magical energy. She sighed and leaned away, giving Rylir a moment to heave an immense sigh of relief; but he wasn’t out of the woods yet. “Tell me.”

He took another shaky breath before nodding, hoping she would believe him when the others didn’t.

“There… there was a crime in the village. A young woman was beaten and hurt badly. They said I… did things to her… and then they thought I stole from the home and took her family’s possessions. Coin. Food. Clothing. I’m a Nomad. I move from place to place. I work as a hired hand. Of course, they don’t want to suspect anyone in the village. Please, you have to believe me or… if you don’t… just… just make it quick.” Rylir tensed his arms and drew them close to his body as he looked away. He couldn’t look at what might be his demise.

Essie listened to the pitch of the man’s voice and used her keen eyes to examine his body posture. He was afraid. He was trembling to the point it was almost loosening the bandages around his chest. Though she had no spell in place to force him to tell the truth, there was some part in the very back of Essie’s mind that peaked in interest. It was the part of her that was undisturbed and that held the memories she could not remember.

It was some instinct that she knew she possessed and wasn’t sure how it developed or why it was as keen as it was. Regardless, Essie knew one thing.

It was simple enough – she believed him.

“So, they thought they would deliver their own justice?” asked Essie. He nodded but didn’t look up at her. Essie rolled her eyes and reached down to bump the man’s shoulder gently with her finger. “Stop cowering. I believe you.”

Rylir’s eyes instantly opened and he looked up into her eyes.

“What?”

“I said I believe you,” stated Essie. “Do you not hear well?”

“No, I just… assumed you would think I was guilty too,” stated Rylir.

“You don’t seem like the guilty type. Now, your wounds should be taken care of and if you have nothing else to say, then I can set up a teleportation circle and send you on your way. Do you have a place you want to go?” asked Essie. Rylir’s eyes widened, jaw slackened.

“Go?” he asked softly. He didn’t think this could be real. “I… don’t really have a place to go.”

Essie huffed a sigh and let her eyes rest on the fire.

“Well,” she muttered. “I guess you’re stuck here with me until you come up with someplace you want to go because I’m not making that trek down the mountain again for another few months. Now, I have to get my garden in order, and you probably need some food too. I can practically see your ribs from here.”

“I… think I like that very much,” replied Rylir.

Essie lowered her hand and grabbed the edge of the furs, eyes darting up to him for a moment.

“You okay with me picking you up like this?” she asked bluntly.

“Um… yes. Just, slowly?” he requested. It was only then that Rylir realized he hadn’t thanked his rescuer, nor did he know her name.

“Hey, I… thank you. Really, I… thank you,” said Rylir.

“Of course,” Essie replied without batting and eye.  

“I’m Rylir, by the way,” he called up to her as she pinched the edge of the furs and pulled them into her hand, bringing Rylir with them, and easily lifted him into the air like he was a weightless leaf. Essie nodded and stood with a grace and swiftness only an enchantress could possess and stepped over to the table, which was spilling over with vines and beautiful, growing things.

When she merely acknowledged with a nod of her head, he elected to prompt her name in return. “I… assume you have a name as well?”

“Oh, right. Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve needed to use social graces. I’m Essleeahsayray,” replied Essie, the name rolling off of her tongue and sending a shiver down her spine as she spoke the name she earned a decade earlier.

“Esslee… leahray… ummm… You don’t… happen to go by anything a little shorter, do you? I’m afraid I won’t remember that and wouldn’t want to disrespect or upset you by mispronouncing your name,” said Rylir.

She gave him a hard look, bringing him up to eye-level and closer to her face to examine his eyes.

“Are you taking a jab at me?” she asked skeptically, eyes narrowed and hard as she looked through him. “Making fun of the name which I rightfully earned?”

“What? No. No, of course not. I just…” stammered Rylir.

He was interrupted by her light chuckle.

“I’m teasing. Essie will suffice,” she replied. Rylir gave a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as she quickly lowered her hand to the garden top and tilted him off. “Now, I have to finish my brew so pick what you require, and I’ll find some utensils for you so we can have a proper supper before bed.”

Settling into this new life would take time, but Rylir was now determined to learn more about this mysterious woman of the woods.