24 The Storm

The others began stirring just as Dawn's watch ended. Hearing Raven almost begging to be given a chore as they were preparing to head out again made her smile as she shook her head.

Raven seemed to need to feel necessary. He was probably unsure why she had even decided to bring him. It was mostly due to the fact that she was sure that if she was unsure of how to proceed then he would be able to help. That and she found his presence comforting.

Taking a bit of pity on him she asked him to fill up their water flasks at the small stream nearby. He happily went to accomplish the task as the rest of them took down the tents and got the animals ready to go out.

Zyph seemed eager as he bumped his head against her arm and made a soft chirruping sound. But the large griffon did not realize that he was not getting to fly.

It never ceased to amaze Dawn just how much healing magic could do. Vixen seemed entirely better this morning as she did her chores and made most of the men feel uncomfortable. Tira and Lowks ended up having to drag her away, scolding her softly.

It did not actually take all that long for them to take down the camp and get moving. Due to her impatience Dawn was glad of this. Everyone was even quieter today though, as if their mood was down.

They had only been traveling for about an hour when it started to rain. The sky had been overcast all morning and there had been that smell in the air so it was not overly surprising. It was a heavy rain, beating down on them and their horses as the wind picked up as well.

There were flashes of light in the clouds above, followed by a low rumbling noise. There was something beautiful to it that Dawn found entrancing. Arrion had always loved storms and it was something they had shared. He would during storms often walk on the parapets of his castle and laugh in the rain. And she would often join him. Though she had not laughed as she had preferred to quietly enjoy it.

She was not entirely sure if the wetness on her cheeks were from the rain or from tears. How blind she had been not to realize just how often she had actually just enjoyed spending time near to that man.

"The storm is picking up…" Raven's voice broke into her thoughts and she glanced at the man. he looked rather bedraggled with his hair plastered down around the frame of his face. Due to its length it hid much of his features.

"So? The rain feels nice."

She had no idea what facial expression he was making as his hair covered it so well. "Well, be that as it may, it would not be good if someone fell ill from being in the elements. And the mud could hurt the horses. And Zyph is unhappy about getting filthy…"

"… Alright. But what do you mean by Zyph is unhappy?"

"Well, his body language is getting somewhat agitated but it is nothing serious so I think it's the mud?"

She turned to the others and noticed that the horses were having some difficulty in the terrain and alerted the group that they were going to see if they could find shelter to wait out the storm.

It was Tira who found shelter for them, coming back from where she had gone ahead and alerting them of some ruins that would provide adequate shelter.

It was a slowly crumbling old stone barn that she had found. Not far away was the remains of the farmhouse which was in half. The barn was actually in fairly good condition as whoever had built it had built it to last and it had not seemed to have anything happen to speed up its demise unlike whatever had cleaved the house in half.

Despite the fact that Aldresh volunteered to make a fire no one trusted him to keep it small after yesterday's incident and they had Lowks coax one up instead. It took him a while to get the damp wood to catch but it eventually did, giving off lots of smoke in the process.

But it was enough to slowly provide warmth back to those who stood next to it. Dawn though ignored it and went back outside, peering up at the sky and wishing that Arrion could enjoy this truly magnificent storm with her.

She felt a bit chafed though that the storm was delaying them because it did not look like it was letting up any time soon. She hated the thought that they might lose the rest of the day due to weather. But though she found it personally invigorating, Raven was right in that it would be better not to make the others trudge through a storm of this degree.