Friends….finally?

RING!!!!!!! Are you fucking kidding me? AGAIN?!?  I open my eyes to see the elf standing yet again in my room.  “I thought we were done with this shit”, I tell him crossly.  “My apologies”, he tells me, “but I need your help”.  I get a really good look at him now.  Standing tall in the half shadow, I look at him, his  eyes wild, hair tangled, and…”Is that blood I see on you?” I ask.  “I need your help Shae”, he repeats.  I get up and start toward him.  “Fine, let me look”.  “It’s not for me”, he tells me.  Not for him, I think..then who? “Will you come with me?” he asks.  I dress and tell him that I need to know what help is required if I need to bring other things.  “I need a healer”, he says.  I nod and begin the sorting of herbs, and other assorted things I would need and place them all in my traveling bag.  “I am ready”, I tell him.  A huge blue portal opens and he motions for me to go through it.  I think to myself that I have to be one of the craziest witches I know going places with strange folk.  But I walk through the opening and find myself in shadow.  Not the ones of ghede, that although are bone chilling cold, they  feel inviting.  Nor the ones that feel warm and comforting to me like the swamp, but this is one where I can see distant images of trees through the mist of darkness and it feels menacing as if it knows that I am an interloper.  I pull my cloak closer to me and grip my bag firmly as if to reassure myself that I will be fine.  Corwvyn is soon beside me and leads the way.  We walk for awhile and finally come to a huge tree.
Remembering the one from the spiders, I am not surprised to find that we are going inside the trunk.  The Elf touches a place on the trunk and an opening appears and he again motions that I should go first, which I do.  I enter a fairly good sized room which has a table and chairs, a fireplace  on one wall and a bed.  It is to the bed that he goes and speaks to the one lying there.  Another elf, I think to myself…GREAT.  “I brought the witch for you Daeg”, he speaks softly.  “She can help you”.  Daeg nods, and I move next to Corwvyn and see that this elf is very hurt.  Almost as if he  knows I am there, he opens his eyes and I can see how this came to be.  His green eyes are mirrors that tell me everything of the battle that is still raging and how he was injured trying to save his friend.  I shield myself against his pain because it is too much for even me to bear.  I speak softly to Corwvyn.  “I need some hot water  and more light so that I may see to his wounds”.  The fire is lit and water begins to boil in the cauldron.  I open my bag and begin to pull out herbs, moss and bandages.  I pull one of the chairs next to the bed, and pour water into a small bowl.  I remove the blood soaked bandage from Daeg and assess the damage.  What I see leaves me shaking because it is indeed massive and deep. ” I am limited” I tell him, “in what I can do, but I will try to ease you some”.  He closes his eyes and nods.  I begin to clean the wound gently and as I do I can hear the crash of battle around us.It is so loud that the tree shakes even though it is massive.  I jump and look around.  “It sounds closer than it really is” says Daeg gently.  I laugh.  “you are injured and yet seek to comfort me.  Sweet”.  I find that for the intrusion, I like the elves.  I begin to make  a salve with the herbs, and place it on the wound and bandage it with care.  I make a tea with the other herbs in my bag and have Daeg drink it.  “It will help with the pain”, I tell him.  He drinks it slowly and the door opens and yet another elf comes through.  Seeing me, he stops short.  “What is she doing here?” he demands to know.  I turn to look at him, and dismiss him as immaterial to what I am doing.  Seeing my slight, he begins to get louder.  “I said, WHAT is she doing here?” “Oh for the love of Elphaba!”, I whirl around and yell at him.  “Will you stop all the damn yelling? I am here because my friend asked for my assistance and I came to give it”.  He looks at me as if I have grown another head that I would dare yell at him, while Corwvyn grins at my sarcastic response.  “You heard the lady”, he says.  “I asked for her help and she agreed to come help me”.  The yelling elf looks at Daeg.  “And what if you get gangrene from accepting this witch’s magic?” he asks.  Daeg looks down at the neatly bandaged wound and looks back at “screamer”(I don’t know his name but this is what I tagged him with) and says,”I went to ‘healer’ and have spent two whole days and nights trying to decide if the pain was worth my life.  Less than an hour has passed and I am no longer in pain and the wound feels better.  I would say that is a much better improvement, so I cast my vote for the witch”.  He closes his eyes again and smiles.  Obviously this is not what screamer wants to hear, so he turns to Corwvyn and says.  “She needs to leave and soon for her own safety”.  Corwvyn agrees, which kind of surprises me but then there is much going on in their battle that I don’t know about.  I gather my things, and leave herbs for them to use, explaining to him what each is for.  Corwvyn listens intently and thanks me for leaving them.  I go to the bed and say my goodbys to Daeg.  “Thank you for coming, and for the help”, he says.  “I will not forget”.  “Take care of yourself” I say gently.  I turn and gather my cloak and bag…”I’m ready”, I tell the elf.  As we leave the tree, there is a vehicle there.  It is a cross between a jeep and a tank..massive.  “We will take this”, he says.  “it’s faster”.  OMDamn! Fast was so not the word for this thing.  We zipped along like we moved at the speed of light.  Soon we came to a clearing and the elf geared down to stop.  “Why are we stopping here?” I ask.  Corwvyn motions with his head and I turn to look.  There in the clearing stood George with the huge black dog from Maman’s as well as Brin. “A welcoming committee”, I chuckle.  “I kind of made you go off grid” says Corwvyn sheepishly.  “They won’t thank me for that”.  “Fuck!.. I thought I was protected, and I wasnt?” “I protected you” he said.  So he did.  I shrug and move forward.  Brin looking very much like a worried mother hen(which is damn hard I must admit) carefully looks me over as if reassuring herself that I am well.  “My apologies” said Corwvyn.  “I needed her assistance and she agreed to come”.  George looks at me crossly as if to say that we will speak on this later(yeah so looking forward to that one)m but it is to Corwvyn that he speaks to.  “I will ride back with you”.  Corwvyn nods, then turns to me.  “I thank you for your help tonight.  If ever there is a time when I can also repay the favor, just call”.  Then he leans forward and kisses my cheek.  With a wink he returns to the vehicle which George and the dog have already gotten into and with a flash it is gone, leaving me standing with Brin.  We move back through the portal with Brin hovering close.  “I am sorry that you were worried”, I tell her.  “I will try to warn you before I move off grid again”.  Brin arches an eyebrow at me as if to say there had better not be a next time, but ya’ll know how I am about rules, even those regarding my personal safety,lol.  I undress and put the bag back into my closet.  I get into bed, suddenly exhausted.  These trips into elsewhere take a lot out of me I think.  I’m getting too old for such shit .  that makes me chuckle because in the elsewhere I dont feel that way at all. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep…no dreams, but real rest until the mundane chirping of the alarm goes off signaling the start of a new day. I awake and think of the night…Crazy shit I think…And interesting friends to hang out with..Friends?  yeah, I think I might actually have to include them as such…I laugh and shake my head.  I swear I think this might be another sign of the coming apocalypse.

DEUCES