Darin nodded her acceptance of Ridahne’s plan, “Tomorrow then.” She smiled at Talbot, “I’m going to see if I can get Talbot back into his field. I’ll see you at the inn.”

The human would watch as the Elf walked back towards the inn. Once Ridahne was out of sight Darin would let out a desperate sob that she swiftly cut off. She left Talbot to go stand in the field right next to the gate. Maybe she could lure him back to where he belonged. She didn’t think so, but she wouldn’t know for sure until she tried.

She called out to the horse, “Come on Talbot. It’s time to come home.”

Talbot eyed the human warily before letting out a snort. Slowly he walked back in. Darin walked backwards to lead him to the center of the field. Once that was done, she slowly circled the horse. She didn’t take her eyes off of him. He circled so he could keep her in his line of sight. She slowly walked backwards to the gate. Once she was there it was easy to walk though it and latch it behind her. Talbot had been returned. That was one challenge done. She turned to lean against the fence. Now she just needed to figure out what she was going to do with the other misplace creature she had stumbled across.

Darin supposed it wasn’t fair to think of Ridahne as a creature, but she was certainly misplaced. The human wasn’t sure what the Elf had done to be exiled, but it couldn’t have been good. Darin couldn’t comprehend doing anything to actually be exiled though. She may have not been the elders favorite, and the men in the village looked at her funny, but she knew she hadn’t done anything that would have caused her to be cast out. Even though she wasn’t home now she knew she could go home anytime she wanted or needed to. Home was a safe haven. She couldn’t fathom it being the one place she wasn’t allowed to go.

Darin spoke to the wind, “What do I do now?”

Ridahne’s life was in her hands and, Darin didn’t like that one little bit. Logically she knew that every life in Astra was in her hands, but that wasn’t the same at all. That was vaguer and fluid. This was solid. This was direct responsibility. Darin couldn’t pretend it wasn’t real. She could lie about it. She couldn’t run away from it either. She supposed there was only one option really. Ridahne was going to have to come with her.

Now came a different question. Did Darin want the Elf to come with her? She didn’t know the answer to that one. She barely knew Ridahne. She didn’t know her history. She didn’t know her heart. Darin didn’t think she was evil like Mark had been. Though she didn’t have any proof that the man was evil besides the fact that The Seed had reacted so strongly and so negatively to his mere presence. The Seed had not reacted that way to Ridahne. Though it hadn’t reacted to anyone, but Darin and Mark. So, that meant nothing.

Talbot came up behind the human and headbutted her softly. Darin laughed a little bit at that as she turned back around to pet him the way he was demanding. She ran a hand over the bridge of his nose. Now if Talbot had made the same offer that Ridahne had made Darin would have accepted in a heartbeat. Animals were better that people. Sometimes they did bad things, but usually that was because a person had trained them to be bad. Darin could usually tell if an animal like her and what their motives were. She was having a hard time with people though.

A voice filled the air, “I told you he liked you lad.”

Darin turned her head to see the farmer, “I guess you’re right.”

The farmer continued, “I saw what he did for you. I cleared thing up with the constable. Well I cleared up the horse thieving bit. The dead bodies I can’t do anything about.”

Darin sighed, “Neither can I.” She gave Talbot one final pat, “I best get back to see what I can do to help clean up.”

The farmer nodded, “Best of luck to you lad; on all your journeys.”

Darin smiled, “Thank you. Good night.”

With that she headed back to the inn. The constable had mentioned a mess. Darin could help out with that. The she really needed to find a place to hide do she could check on The Seed. She felt it pressing against her thigh, but she would feel better when she actually got to look at the band to make sure it wasn’t burnt. In addition, the human was tired. She would need sleep before the morning came.