12. Bonfire
Abigail saw the light of the campfire first, and from it came the scent she had been tracking. Soup, if her nose was to believed, and without thinking she almost walked down to go get some.
A gust of wind blowing past, gripping her legs, dragging across her bare skin put an end to that though. Until her stomach started to growl, again, and she dared to walk just a little closer. Close enough that she could make out more than the orange light of the campfire.
There were two elves down there. Male and female. Both possessed brown hair, the guy's a contained sea of wavy dunes, while the girls was a cascading water fall, straight and smooth. It was the kind of hair that Abigail had once imagined running her own fingers through. Back when she was little.
Now all she could imagine was getting herself a nice hot bowl of soup. But that meant going down there, where the elves could see her. Half naked. Maybe if she had some furs that could be fashioned into a skirt. Or another pair of pants. Anything to cover herself, really. Maybe then she could go down there.
...Or she could go as she was.
Her stomach growled at the thought, and Abigail started walking. The worst that could happen after all was that they said no, or figured out that she wasn't who she said she was. That she was a human pretending to be an elf. Then there would probably be some violence.
But that was the worst that could happen, and when did the worse ever actually happen?
"Hi." She stopped at the edge of the camp's light. "I, uh, smelled some good food?"
The guy elf squinted at her. "Yep, that'd be my wife's cooking. You want some, cause let me tell you it tastes better than it smells if you can believe it!"
The thought of that being true was enough to make Abigail drool. "If you don't mind having me, yeah."
His wife waved her over. "We wouldn't mind that at all. After all it can get awfully lonely out here, even with the two of us."
The husband nodded his head. "Right."
Abigail didn't respond. Her eyes were locked on the pot as she took three slow steps into the light of the fire. Then once she was within sight of the elves she stopped and took a seat on the ground.
They were staring. Mouths and eyes open wide as they eyed her bare legs, and the tattered fabric clinging to them.
It didn't take a genius to guess what was going through their heads. A bit of shock. Maybe some disgust that she was out here like this. Then, once all that had been processed, curiosity.
"So, uh, what brings you out here? Down in the deep?" He offered her a bowl of steaming soup.
Abigail didn't hesitate to take it. "Uh," she started eating, spoonful after spoonful, purring like a cat as it's warmth traveled down her throat. "Mmmm~ this is so good. Ugh, it's been too long since I had something hot to eat."
"Heh, well, uh, I'm glad you like my wife's cooking. But, do you think you could maybe tell us who it is you're hunting? Ya'know, if they're dangerous and in the area?"
Abigail paused her eating. "Uhh, no he's definitely not dangerous. And I don't think he's in the area."
The couple sagged with relief. "Oh thank the maker. Ha, when I saw you I thought that something serious was going on for a moment. Or that we were in trouble."
"Why'd you think that?"
The couple froze. A nervous glance shared between them. "Well. You know like, uh, it's not that we did anything. It's just that you're-a, a Blackguard and all those stories that kids get told. You know. Heh, heh."
A scream shook the air, and Abigail was already up. She turned around, towards the darkness. In it she saw shadows move, four limbed shapes shifting between the rocks.
Behind her, the couple stood and that's when the shadows attacked.
Sloths, the size of coyotes and with golden brown fur that blended in with the cave at their back, jumped at her. In their eyes was a mad look, red all the way to the center, fangs bared as they reached out with claws the length of a knife.
Abigail ducked under the nearest pair of bladed hands, and struck back with a punch. Then, before another breath could pass, she summoned a flame. It was a small thing, burning bright, and bringing with it a terrible memory.
Her hand almost snuffed it out twice, and shook between balled fist and open palm. She heard her mother scream as ice cold wind brushed against her. A memory pushed down in the face of need.
There were thirteen, maybe more, of the sloths and only half of them had eyes for her. The other five, they were looking past her, eyes locked onto the huddled together couple.
For them, the fire was worth it.
To the sloths, it was danger. She could see it in their eyes, the way they stated at the orange flame. How their pupils followed it's every flickering movement. The rallying cry they unleashed right before they all charged.
Abigail answered their cry with a searing jet of flame erupting from her palm. She swept it back and forth like a blade, setting two sloths in the front ablaze. But that didn't stop the rest of them.
They climbed over their fallen brethren and into the flames way. Like the first two, they fell one by one. Their bodies, though, were falling closer and closer to her. The brown of their fur, though, burned like her mother's hair. It crisped and curled in the fires embrace, singing a gentle song to little Abigail.
It told her that it would be alright, and she chose to believe it. Smiling as a few salty tears ran down her cheek.
The last sloth fell at her feet, and she turned around to face the couple.
"You guys alright?" Her mask gripped her face.
"Thanks to you, yeah."
Ardin and blood, still burning with an energy all its own rattled through her bones. "Nah, don't think much of it. They weren't that tough."
"Well they were sure tougher than we could have handled miss. Is there any way we could repay you?"
Her head throbbed. "Maybe a skirt."
The couple shared a look between each other. Wife smiling at husband. "Actually, we happen to run a clothing store up in the capital. If you'd be willing to come with us, we could make you a whole new wardrobe."
Abigail's heart was thumping, thumping, a scream clawing at her throat. "That actually sounds lovely right about now. But there's something I gotta tell you first."
"What?"
She smiled, heart still once again. "I, uh, might not be the same size by the time we get there."