Rain drizzled down gently. Small raindrops splashed on the ground, immediately disappearing into the dry earth. It hadn't rained in weeks since Lianne and Amra had started their journey.

A soft raindrop splashed on Lianne's forehead as she gazed at the sky, trotting calmly ahead. Clouds had started to gather, but it was still quite warm. Lianne smiled while closing her eyes. She concentrated only on those raindrops tickling her skin. She was feeling better than she had in days. They had a destination now and that felt like a big deal, even if it was just a roadside inn.

A large raindrop landed straight on the tip of Lianne's nose and she flinched. She opened her eyes and saw that dark clouds were drifting over the hills, moving closer to them.

"Those clouds look ominous. We should try finding some shelter," Amra said and glanced at the other two.

"This is good. The land is in dire need of water," Faolin said while looking around the dry land. The scenery had changed as they traveled northwest. They were now surrounded by hills and leafless trees, but everything was still bare.

It didn't take long until the rain started coming down harder. Large raindrops thrummed against the branches of the trees and puddles began to form on the ground.

"Oh nice," Amra sighed frustrated.

"I wanted a bath, but not this," Lianne said while holding out her hand and letting a couple of raindrops fall on it.

"If Faolin wasn't here, you'd strip naked and take a shower right here," Amra said and grinned widely at Lianne.

"Do not mind me," Faolin said nonchalantly.

Lianne quickly glanced at Faolin, her eyebrows raised. "You wouldn't mind?" she asked.

"No. It is natural to be bare. I do not see what would be wrong with that," he shrugged.

Lianne looked at Faolin, a small smile playing on her lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, the rain started pouring down hard.

"Now we really need that shelter!" Lianne yelled at the others while spurring her horse to a full gallop. Amra and Faolin quickly did the same, following Lianne.

"I guess you got your bath!" Amra yelled, her voice almost drowning beneath the harsh rain.

"I didn't want to bathe with my clothes on!" Lianne yelled back at Amra as they galloped fast ahead, trying to look for any kind of shelter.

The rain came down so hard that it lashed Lianne's face, stinging her skin. It blew into her eyes, making it hard to keep them open. The drops drummed against the ground harshly and the sound of the rain started to blur into one long static noise. The rain soaked through Lianne's clothes, the fabric clinging to her body.

"There! Follow me!" Faolin yelled, the lashing rain making his voice sound distant. He saw something further away and took the lead. Lianne and Amra pulled on the reins, to make the horses turn and follow Faolin towards the hills in the distance.

The horses galloped through the trees, the muddy water splashing everywhere. Faolin lead them to an overhang of a hill that seemed like the best possible shelter they could find at the moment.

They all jumped off their horses and tied the reins to the rocks. Everyone took off their backpacks and bedrolls that the horses had been carrying, and ran under the shelter. It wasn't that large but it provided them enough cover to get away from the worst rain.

Lianne let out a deep sigh as she got under the shelter. She looked like a mess, her hair drenched. Large droplets of water fell from the tips of her hair onto the ground. Her clothes clung to her figure, the soaked fabric making her shiver.

"Shit. We need to make a fire," Amra cursed as she tossed her other belongings on the ground. Her lute she placed leaning against the wall.

Faolin let his belongings fall from his lap on the ground. The arrows from the quiver spread around the ground as he tossed it along with everything else. "I will find some wood," he said and sprinted out of the shelter and back to the pouring rain.

"Thanks!" Amra yelled after Faolin before concentrating on her belongings. She checked through her lute, wiping the drops of water out of it before putting it back to lean against the wall. "Unpack your things," she said to Lianne.

Lianne nodded and knelt down. She opened her backpack and started to take everything out. The exterior of the backpack was soaking wet, but everything on the inside had stayed dry.

Lianne pulled her clothes, a towel, food supplies, her flask, and some dishes out of her backpack. "We really don't have much," she said while looking at the few things she had with her. She didn't need much more, but it still felt strange how her life seemed to fit into her backpack.

Faolin ran back to the shelter, his arms full of branches that looked as if he had forcefully ripped them off a tree. He threw the branches on the ground. "Let them dry for a moment. They are not soaked through," he said while shaking the excess water off his clothes. He was drenched, his dark hair glued against his face and his clothes against his torso. He didn't seem to mind about his state at all, even if he looked miserable.

"Thank you Faolin," Amra said while spreading the branches around the ground to let them dry.

Faolin started to unpack his belongings. He took out his clothes, some tools, a flask, arrowheads for making new arrows, food supplies, some personal items, and a book.

When he had gotten everything out of his backpack, Faolin opened the small pouch that contained his pipe and tobacco. He took some tobacco and pinched it between his fingers. "Not too wet," he sighed in relief.

"I'm going to change. So, Faolin..." Amra said, gesturing for Faolin to turn around.

Faolin lifted his gaze from the pouch and looked at Amra for a moment. "What do you mean?" he asked puzzled.

Amra laughed. "Would you turn around so I can change my clothes? I don't want you to see me naked."

Faolin cleared his throat. "Right, yes," he said while turning his back on Lianne and Amra. He closed the pouch again and continued getting everything sorted out. "I find some human customs strange," he commented.

"Why?" Amra asked while starting to undress.

"Being bare is our natural form. Why would it matter if I saw you as you are?" Faolin asked curiously.

"We're not used to getting naked in front of people we don't really know," Amra answered, glancing at Lianne while smiling.

Lianne grinned at Amra's expression, amused by the conversation they were having. "Amra, you're often naked in front of people you don't really know," she said while laughing.

"It's a totally different situation," Amra retorted, glaring at Lianne.

Lianne smiled as she started to undress. She took off her boots and soaked cape which she hung up to dry on a rock on the wall. Then she started to pull her tunic over her head, which clung to her body like glue. Lianne put it to dry next to the cape before taking off her trousers and changing her underwear.

As Lianne dried her hair with the towel, she stopped as her eyes caught Faolin taking off his shirt. The markings of winding branches circled around his back. They went along his upper back, through his shoulder blades, and down his lower back. The markings were ornamental and beautiful. They looked mesmerizing, but Lianne realized that she wasn't actually looking at them. Her gaze had shifted from the markings to his skin. For some reason, Lianne couldn't look away.

Faolin turned while hanging his clothes to dry and Lianne saw the mark of the beetle on his ribcage again. It was on top of the winding branches and looked out of place among everything else. Faolin had markings of two different worlds branded on his body. As Lianne looked at them, something seemed to resonate inside her. What kind of life had he actually lived?

When Faolin pulled a dry shirt over his head and covered his skin, Lianne finally tore her eyes away from him. She shook her head and closed her eyes for a second, trying to clear that image out of her mind. She cleared her throat embarrassed before she continued putting her spare clothes on and the wet clothes to dry. The air was cold, but she still felt warm.

Suddenly thunder roared, rumbling through the sky. It boomed in the distance and echoed from the hills. Lianne flinched. The last time she had heard thunder was the night before she and Amra had left on this journey. It had thundered so loudly that she hadn't been able to sleep at all that night.

A bolt of lightning struck close by, illuminating the sky for a moment as if it was daylight. The horses instantly started to neigh and thrash around nervously.

"Oh no!" Lianne yelped and took the cape she had just put out to dry. She threw it over her head and sprinted out into the rain barefoot.

The horses neighed restlessly and stamped the ground while pulling on the tied reins. Lianne ran to them and took a strong hold of the reins. "Luna, calm down!" she tried to say to her horse, but her words got drowned under the rumbling thunder.

The horses pulled hard on the reins, making Lianne stagger. "Hey, calm down!" she yelled again, but the horses stamped their hooves on the ground, wanting to get away from the storm.

Faolin ran to help Lianne. "Move them closer!" he yelled while untying the horses' reins from the rocks.

"Can you take the two?" Lianne asked Faolin while handing him the reins of Sol and Myrin.

Faolin nodded and started pulling the horses closer to the shelter. The horses resisted at first but Faolin was able to coax them to follow him. "Myrin, come," he said to his horse while raising his hand in front of Myrin's muzzle and slowly touching it. He stroked the muzzle and then pushed it down, making the horse lower its head. Gradually Myrin quietened the nervous neighing and eventually stopped stamping the ground.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

As soon as Myrin calmed down, Luna and Sol settled down too. Lianne and Faolin pulled the horses as close to the shelter as they could. They tied the reins to the rocks so that the horses wouldn't get away when the lighting struck the next time.

"You handle your horse well," Lianne said as they returned to the shelter. She took the cape from over her and shook it a couple of times.

"Myrin has been with me for years," Faolin answered, looking at the horses in the pouring rain. He wiped his clothes as if he would be able to dry them like that.

"Lianne, the flasks," Amra notified her while she was carving the wet bark off the branches with her knife.

"Ah, right!" Lianne nodded. She put the cape back to dry and gathered all their flasks. She craned out of the shelter enough to put the flasks on the ground, to let them gather drinking water.

"I'll get the fire going soon," Amra said while peeling another layer off the wood for kindling.

Another bolt of lighting struck nearby, making the horses neigh. Lianne was ready to sprint back out if needed, but luckily the horses calmed down immediately.

The wood hadn't gotten wet all the way to the core, so Amra got the fire going quickly with her flint. Lianne laid down her bedroll and sat on it. "Hasn't rained like this in a while," she said while leaning back and stretching her bare feet closer to the fire.

"It feels like a welcome change," Amra said while throwing more kindling into the fire.

Thunder roared around them, momentarily making the rain pour down even harder. It rattled the trees nearby and splashed on the puddles that had formed on the ground. The rain cooled the air, but the fire was blazing between them, warming everyone up.

Faolin sat down on the ground, crossing his legs. Amra took the lute to her lap and checked it one more time. She plucked some tunes that mixed into the roaring thunder. Lianne was staring at the fire. Everything seemed to calm down, except her thoughts. She couldn't stop thinking about Faolin's markings.

Lianne glanced at Faolin. "Hey, what do the markings on your body mean?"

Amra grinned while stopping the playing for a second. "So, you were looking."

Lianne glared at Amra with a stern gaze. She always seemed to notice everything, and it was irritating. "I want to know if there is a meaning to them, that's all," Lianne elaborated, trying to disregard Amra's comment.

"Yes, they do have a meaning," Faolin said. He rolled one of his sleeves up, revealing another winding marking on his forearm. "These are a tradition. Our people get marked when we exceed a certain age," he said while touching one of the markings going from his wrist up to his elbow.

"They begin from the dominant part of the person. As he grows and learns to strengthen his body and mind, they are added to the whole body. It is a reward for bettering oneself," Faolin explained.

Lianne listened to Faolin unceasingly, concentrating on his every word. "Does that mean you have learned a lot?" she asked, her eyes wide. She had never heard of a custom like that and it intrigued her.

Faolin laughed an uninhibited laugh, the first one Lianne had heard from him. "I would not say it like that, but in a manner of speaking, yes," he answered smiling.

Lianne stared at Faolin's new expression. "Where did yours start?" she asked.

Faolin rolled down his sleeve before lifting his hand and placing it on his chin. "From here."

"Your chin? Why?" Amra asked, also getting curious about it.

"From the time I was very little, I used to hold my chin up high. I had too much pride, but when I got older, I learned to let go of it. My markings grew as I let go," Faolin answered while moving his fingers from his chin to his neck, following along the lines of the branches.

"That's fascinating," Lianne sighed adoringly, getting another amused grin from Amra. She ignored it and continued questioning Faolin. "Are you going to continue those markings?"

Faolin was silent for a moment. He scratched his neck and hummed. "I will," he then answered with a nod.

"Do you regret getting the other mark?" Lianne nodded towards Faolin's torso.

Faolin looked at Lianne, his expression turning serious. "Is that not a strange question? Did I not tell you that Yugtrass is a mere swindler?" he said in a tone that made Lianne silent. "Who would not regret creating a bond with a man like that?"

Lianne averted her gaze. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and leaned against them. "I have been thinking about it. If I'd known that the man was Yugtrass, I'd still have agreed to use the dark magic."

Amra lifted her eyebrows questioningly. "Really? Are you insane?"

Lianne frowned. "Edwin was the only thing I could think of at the moment. I didn't even care who that man was back then," she answered while glancing at Amra, her voice almost a mutter. "If it hadn't gone wrong, then..." she continued before stopping herself and swallowing hard.

"If you do not mind me asking, what exactly went wrong with the magic?" Faolin asked curiously.

Lianne clenched her hands tightly together. "I'm not sure. I did everything he told me to. I used my own blood on myself and my brother, and I learned the incantation. It was the right time. I used all the energy that I had," she explained, remembering the night she tried to revive her brother.

"And, nothing?" Faolin asked, gazing at Lianne intently.

"Well, something happened," Lianne replied, recalling how a thick dark fog oozed from her hands to her brother as she recited the incantation, whispering foul words under her breath. The dark fog covered her brother and a sharp pain shot inside her. She was sure that the spell was working, and she was dying for her brother's life.

When the dark fog stopped and lashed back at her with enormous force, she knew that something was wrong. The darkness shot straight at her heart and disappeared inside her. She'd felt deep desperation growing in her, a feeling she had never known before.

"I guess the spell backfired. My brother lay there lifeless and I was alive," Lianne explained before pausing again. "The next thing I remember was when I woke up the next morning with a dead man lying next to me. I was covered in his blood and Amra was waking me up."

"That is..." Faolin started saying, but for once seemed lost for words. He stared at the fire intently, his body tense. Amra was silent too, her eyes unfocused as though she were remembering that morning too.

The fire crackled between them. Another lightning bolt struck further away and the remains of thunder roared quietly. The storm was moving away but the rain stayed, splashing the puddles. One of the horses whinnied while knocking a hoof on the ground.

Amra took in a deep breath. "Come on, it's already raining. Can't we at least try to cheer up?" she asked with a smile, even if Lianne immediately saw that it was fake. Amra started to pluck the strings of her lute again, to lighten the mood. "So, do you know any songs of your people?" Amra asked while turning to Faolin.

Faolin cleared his throat as though he'd woken up from his thoughts. "I do know some."

"Can you sing something?" Amra asked curiously. She always loved to hear new songs.

Faolin pursed his lips. "I know a song that I heard through my childhood."

"Can you sing it? Or at least recite the lyrics?"

"I can try," Faolin said before glancing down with a small smile appearing on his lips. "But know that I am not the best singer."

"That's fine," Amra commented.

Faolin closed his eyes for a moment as though trying to remember how the song went. Then he started to hum a slow melody. Amra listened to him and plucked the strings of her lute at the same, trying to adjust to the tune.

When Faolin had remembered the gist of the song, he started singing with a low voice.

The tree, my brother, the leaves, my father,

Dire one born under grey sky,

The river, my sister, the waves, my mother,

We are born with a new life,

The girl, my love, the boy, my pride,

Dire one flew into blue moon,

The greed, the earth, the death, the air,

We will fall into old ways.

Lianne listened to the song. The tune was melancholic and it seemed to fit what she was feeling and thinking at the moment. She couldn't help but watch hypnotized as Faolin sang the lyrics, his voice soft and alluring. He was more reciting than singing, but it still sounded beautiful.

When Faolin stopped singing, everyone was quiet. Amra plucked the melody once more as if to print it in her mind so that she would remember it later.

The rain had started to die down, calmly drizzling outside. The thunder had moved on and the horses were calm again.

"That was great," Amra sighed and Lianne nodded.

"Thank you," Faolin said in a quiet voice. He wasn't looking at either of them. He kept staring at the fire, his eyes sorrowful.

Lianne wanted to ask Faolin about the song, but when she saw his gaze, she couldn't. "We should stay here for the night," she said instead while clearing her throat. There was no sense in continuing the journey now when it was almost night.

"I agree. It's too late to continue," Amra said and stopped playing. "Does anyone want something to eat?" she asked while glancing at the food supplies laying on the ground.

"I'm not really hungry," Lianne said with a shrug.

"Thank you, Amra, but I do not need anything," Faolin also replied.

"Your loss," Amra said while putting the lute away and searching the dried-up meats among the supplies. She took some of it and started chewing.

When Amra had eaten and everyone had taken care of what they needed, they were ready to retire for the night. The rain had stopped by then and the clouds were parting, the evening sky appearing behind them.

"I'll stay up for a moment," Amra said to Lianne like she always did.

Faolin shook his head. "No need. I will stay up a while. You get some sleep," he said while sitting on his bedroll and taking out his pipe.

Amra looked at Faolin dumbfounded. "But, I always stay up."

"No need. You get some sleep," Faolin repeated while stuffing the tobacco into his pipe and lighting it up with a swift movement of his hand.

Amra stared at Faolin with wide eyes. She opened her mouth, wanting to protest, but then she laid down on her bedroll, pulling the blanket over her.

Lianne almost laughed but kept it to herself. Amra looked so stiff as she laid down on the bedroll. She always stayed up later than her. Now she looked uncomfortable while going to sleep before someone else.

Lianne smiled as she laid down on her side, taking a comfortable position on the bedroll. She felt relaxed. The air smelled fresh and pure after the rain. The fire warmed up her legs.

Lianne glanced at Faolin from the corner of her eye. He was sitting cross-legged on his bedroll, the pipe on his lips. He inhaled and held it in for a moment as if he was tasting the smoke. Then he exhaled it in one long breath, the smoke immediately disappearing into the air. He stared at the crackling fire, a pained and desolate look in his eyes as if he was reminiscing about something.

Faolin rubbed his forehead and then took another deep breath from the pipe. He sighed and leaned back on his hand, craning his neck so that he could see outside. His lips moved as if he was talking to someone without a voice, or reciting inaudible words.

Lianne closed her eyes. His expression made her feel empty, and she couldn't look at it any longer. She turned onto her other side so she couldn't see him. She wanted to sleep and to be able to rest before traveling tomorrow. They had one more day before reaching the inn. She needed to focus on the journey and not let other things distract her.