Chapter 38: The Big Friendly Giant
After many hours of plodding through the forest, the group finally came across the river that passes through Direwood, the next destination they marked on the map. Their faces perked upon seeing the jewel-blue stream that curved through the forest, splashing gently across the rocks at the side. The yellow slime from the creatures had dried on their faces and parts of their clothes. Even after scrubbing up quickly, it was hard to get off, making them feel disgusting; it was the perfect opportunity to clean up.
All at once, they dismounted from their horses and happily made it to the riverbank, sighing as they splashed fresh water on their faces. Ger, always ever so vigilant, stayed back and kept his eyes on his surroundings. He also used the excuse to have a little space from Evanna and her intoxicating scent.
Evanna cupped some of the water onto the back of her neck, the cooling sensation soothing her. Although the forest was still cold, she found herself adjusting to it, but she was still not completely immune to the chill in the air. The nights were when she felt it the most. But a little bit of water on her face and neck helped remove any tiredness and the perspiration she felt lingering on her skin.
"Axel, are we staying here now?" She questioned, looking up at him, her eyes half pleadingly. She felt disgusting and wanted to clean more of herself, not just her face.
Axel looked back at her. He wanted to move on, but he saw a slither of desperation in the princess’s eyes and remembered that she was not only royalty but a woman; they liked to clean themselves more. He looked up at the sky and realised they already covered a lot of ground, and it was a lot later than he perceived. The birds nearby were chirping away, and the sun was lower in the sky, showing it to soon be early evening. Sighing, he said,
"Yes, but tomorrow morning we are leaving as soon as possible. We are making great progress."
Evanna smiled and sighed in relief. After they filled their water skin’s up and let the horses drink from the river, they led them further back into the forest away from the waterway. If they stayed next to it, it could bring unwanted attention from other animals, and the insects would feed on their flesh, leaving irritating bite marks, which Axel explained to Evanna after the last time the guys stayed next to a river. Once they were at a safe distance, they set their belongings down, and with no tents or mats to set up, they just sat down watching Cilv light the fire and Axel setting up ready to cook dinner.
After the fire was set, Evanna and Cilv were the first to go to the river to clean themselves. Cilv acted as a guard while Evanna stripped and dipped into the icy cold stream, leaving goosebumps along her body. She dipped her head underwater, with her hair already flowing down her waist to be cleaned; she was freezing but felt terrific to get the stench of herself and the bugs slime off her body. Cilv threw a towel at her, which she caught easily as she started to step back out of the water.
Cilv stripped and jumped into the water without wasting any time while Evanna got changed, leaving her to dry her hair in the towel.