User blog:Leea/The Tale of Voronwe, Chapter 51

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4th Era 135, 10th of Rain's Hand, Pyandonea
Orthendar escorted Pelano some ways down the road. "You might atract more thieves, so I'll stay with you until we come to the stables," he'd said. Though Pelano was slightly uncormfortable with his presence - he fairly radiated energy - he had said nothing.

* * *

"There is no need to be afraid of me...or uncomfortable, like you are now."

He glanced down from his position on the horse's back. "Reading my feelings again?" he asked, an eyebrow lifting.

"When they are about me, its hard not to." Orthendar replied, staring up at the courier.

"It's just that..." he began, but trailed off.

"Just what?"

He glanced down at the ghost again, noting with some surprise that although he had the horse at a canter - not wanting to attract any more bandits, regardless of Orthendar's presence - the spirit of the deceased Maormer kept up effortlessly, only just walking by his side. "It's just that...well, you radiate energy. Deadly energy, if you don't mind me saying."

Orthendar smiled. "I think I will take that as a compliment, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead."

"Thank you." he replied, still smiling. "Oh, and since I can appear anywhere instantly, why would you be surprised at my walking speed? You could gallop, and you would not be able to shake me off if I wanted to pursue you."

"That's a good thing to know." Pelano said evenly, staring ahead at the road. "Can you not feel others' thoughts?"

"Is this a rhetorical question?" Orthendar asked, cocking an eyebrow.

He glanced down. "Yes."

There was a moment or two as he thought it over. "For now, the one limitation is distance: the subtler feelings and thoughts require me to be closer to sense them. If the thoughts are strong enough - like yours were during your attempted hold-up - I can feel them anywhere on the isle...provided that they are from Liberators. I cannot feel any others' thoughts, unfortunately. That would have been nice. Oh," he added, noticing an emerging thought in Pelano's mind. "And, yes, I do believe in privacy. If someone is...occupied...in a certain manner, I keep myself out of their minds. I'm not a pervert."

Pelano cracked a smile. "Good to know. You'd be a Peeping Tom from the depths of Oblivion if you were."

Orthendar smiled brightly. "Just because I've been a ghost for over three decades does not mean that my priorities or morals died with my body."

* * *

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Pelano cleared his throat. "So...I notice that you aren't wearing--"

"That old uniform?" the ghost finished, grinning.

"Yeah."

Orthendar smiled wider. Instead of the Sea Vipers uniform which he had worn for the past thirty years, he now wore a fine suit of scale mail, crafted from the extremely durable and very valuable sea serpent hide. Apart from the King himself, usually only the most influential and wealthy people had a set of the armor...if only for status purposes, seeing that they never wore them. The chest and pants were crafted from the tough hide on the creature's back, as was the extra thigh and groin protections, which formed a half-skirt that nearly reached the knees and opened in the front in a wide, triangular slit to accomodate for running and easier movement of the legs. The gauntlets covered the forearms in the skin of the creature's softer, more flexible underbelly scales, and the knee boots were also mostly comprized of this material. The boots and gauntlets were as well embedded with the tough headscales on the back of the hands and fingers and top of the feet and shins. The whole effect of the bluish armor - barring that Orthendar wasn't wearing the helmet, and his bare white arms - was of a sleek but deadly serpent. The fact that he radiated energy only hightened this conclusion.

"What happened?" Pelano asked, slowing the horse's trot so it could rest.

"I was more than tired of my old uniform, that's what happened."

"Obviously," the courier replied, rolling his eyes. "Beyond that, how did you change your outfit? You can't just go into someone's closet and put something on."

Orthendar laughed. "Of course. I prayed to Auri-El - after a suggestion by Balasian to do so - during free moments, and he rewarded my perseverance with this wonderfull suit of mail."

"Makes me want to pray to a god so I can get a nice change of attire." Pelano grumbled, glaring enviously down at the ghost.

Orthendar laughed again.

* * *

The stablemaster was gratefull to have the horse back unharmed. Pelano thought of telling a very edited version of his almost robbery - leaving out Orthendar, of course - but then thought better of it. As he approached the street in the heart of the little town, he watched people walk past Orthendar. Many were oblivious to his presence, though some people did react to the presence that was invisible to them: they either shivered or quickly glanced around, not knowing where the sudden uneasiness came from. As Pelano opened his mouth to speak, the ghost raised his hand.

"Don't say anything, and don't reply to me. You don't want to be talking to thin air, do you? Imagine all the stares you'll get."

Understanding, Pelano nodded slightly, also knowing that the spirit would be able to read his thoughts.

Orthendar nodded and lowered his hand. "They can't see me because I don't want them to. Some can detect something here, but not all. Best not to alert them, eh?"

After a short pause, the courier gave another barely perceptible nod.

Orthendar nodded once more. "Good." He glanced around at all the people going about their business. "I leave you now. I assume you will be safe here amongst everyone?" he asked, raising his brows and cocking his head to the side in mock innocence.

Pelano answered with a glare.

The ghost grinned, showing rows of white teeth. Still grinning widely, the spirit of Orthendar gave a smart salute and dissapeared in a flash of white, visible to only the eternally-frustrated courier as he glared on.