Christian

He was awakened by the burst of air that the heavy winds brought in; looking to the sky the clouds were turning dark, wet weather must be coming. Bending one knee while pushing with his hands he managed to stand; giving himself a moment to ensure he was steady enough to walk. Brayden scanned the area looking for an opening, a familiarity of some sort; anything to help him figure out where he was. Nightfall was coming, he had no weapons so he had to move quickly; being defenseless was not something he was accustomed to.
A tingly feeling came over him as he sensed someone or something was near; he began to search the area in front of him for anything he could grab and use, just in case his gut instinct was right and he would have to defend himself. Bending down slowly so as to not alert whatever it was of his intent, Brayden grabbed a rock that sat just a foot in front of him. It wouldn’t kill anything, but it would definitely stun it and give him a small amount of time to defend himself.
Grabbing the rock, he stood and spun quickly, swinging his arm as hard as he could; he wanted to connect with whatever it was as hard as he possibly could. His eyes locked with a male standing a good ten feet from him as he released the rock; aimed for the man’s head. The man diverted the intended weapon with a swift semi circular motion of his arm; sending the rock flying to the left of him. A Warlock! Thinking quickly, Brayden lunged at the man; defeating a warlock was no easy task, especially for an unarmed mortal. This time the man simply stepped to the side causing Brayden to miss him completely ramming him into the tree behind him. Stunned by the force of the impact, Brayden laid motionless on the ground. “It would be wise that you just stay there warrior,” the man said matter of factly. Groaning, Brayden rolled over and sat himself up in order to at least face his opponent. “I wish you no harm; my name is Christian.” Confused and angry, Brayden stood himself up brushing the dirt from his chest and legs. “I care not who you are, Warlock; just state your intentions,” he was in no mood to entertain him.
“Makes no difference to me, mortal, but by the looks of things you may want to try being a little less aggressive and a little more attentive.” Christian had been watching him for a few hours now; he looked over him for injuries as he slept. “These lands are sacred, and can be dangerous to those that do not belong here. Tell me, just how did you get here?” Brayden walked past him; focused on the stream, he needed to splash the cold water over his face and head. This was all just too damn much for him; he was tired, confused and angry. “It seems as though I have highly pissed off one of your kind; all I remember was waking up here after seeing her.” Christian just stared at him in wonderment. It takes a lot of power to transport beings; power very few supernaturals had and rarely used, and he knew of someone with those very abilities.
After splashing the cool water over his head and face, Brayden turned back to Christian, “I just need to find my way back to my kingdom; so if you could help me with that I would be very grateful. I have no time to be lost in these forests.” He had to get home; warn his father of what happened, although he was fairly sure he already knew and had a search party working to find him.
“Of course, the sooner you leave these lands the safer we will all be. I can show you a safe way out; but first maybe you need to rest a bit? The travel will be lengthy,” Christian’s intent was to find out more of how and why this warrior ended up here. Although he had an idea, he needed to be sure; if what he thought were true it could bring unwanted chaos to his land.
“I should trust you? A Warlock? How can I be certain you aren’t using some sort of trickery on me?” He had had enough of witches and warlocks to last a lifetime; he just as much be shown a way out of these Godforsaken forests and return to his normal kingdom. Being betrayed by one witch was plenty for him; one he trusted.
“You don’t have to trust me, mortal, if you wish to trek along by all means please do so. The skies are turning dark and the wildlife will be waking, but I’m sure that will be no match for a great warrior like yourself.” Christian smirked as he turned to walk away and Brayden knew he had no choice. The warlock was right, the darkness would hinder him and with no way of protecting him from whatever these forests were home to he conceded and began to follow him.
They walked in silence for some way; Brayden would never allow it to show but he quite enjoyed the peace and beauty of the forest. In the time he spent in these lands with Harper, he grew to love it. It was the complete opposite of what he was used to in his kingdom; chaos, loud noise and drunken warriors were the norm for his land. He never quite understood how he felt so at home here; warriors were not accustomed to the quiet and tranquility of nature, they did not like or adjust well to surroundings out of their element. For Brayden, it felt like home; a place where his soul rested and his mind was at ease.
“You are correct, warrior, these lands are the essence of peace of mind. Allowing yourself to blend with the forest creates a calm in your soul that is unexplainable.” Christian had a gift of mind reading; although sometimes it could get clouded depending on the person’s state of mind. Brayden stopped abruptly, not happy realizing the warlock could tap into his mind, “I would prefer you not wander around in my brain, and bleak conversation is not needed nor wanted.”
“I see, well it is something I cannot help at times; I just hear it. It is a most useful gift at times; but can also be a burden. I apologize, I will try; but no guarantees. We are here,” Christian stopped just short of an opening. Brayden looked around, taking in his surroundings and accessing any possible danger or at the very least, an exit just in case. The cottage was small and bland, nothing spectacular. It sat a few yards away from a stream, possibly the same stream he had awakened next to; there were no other cottages, no gardens, no nothing.
“How does one live out here all alone? I thought Warlocks lived in Covens?” Brayden was so used to being surrounded by the population of his kingdom; and although he knew Harper had lived secluded he knew why she did, but Christian he knew nothing of. Chuckling, Christian replied, “I do live in a community; this is just a cottage I use when I feel the need to blend myself with nature. You yourself said you loved the peace here; why wouldn’t I?” “I never said I liked it; you assumed I did when you trespassed into my thoughts,” Brayden said as he continued to walk towards the cottage.
He knew nothing of this warlock, yet there was something familiar about him; he just couldn’t put his finger on it. As they arrived at the cottage, Brayden followed Christian inside; it was just as quaint and boring inside as it was outside but it would serve its purpose for shelter and rest. “There is a basin just outside to the right and there are clean linens in the room down there,” Christian pointed to an open door a few feet from where they stood. “You will find clothing in there as well; go clean yourself and I will find something for you to eat. You can fill your belly and rest for the night; in the morning I will show you the way home,” with that he turned and began gathering vegetables on the counter and began cleaning them.
Brayden entered the room where he found some cleaning cloths and clothing. Gathering them up he went outside and began to wash himself; he was hungry and exhausted and was just ready to get home. The basin held warm water, how he did not know but he assumed some sort of trickery was used and he did not care as it felt wonderful. After he washed and changed his clothes he returned inside to find Christian had some sort of stew in a bowl with bread waiting for him. Brayden sat down and stared at the bowl, “what is it?” he asked, untrusting of the warlock. “It’s a vegetable stew; eat.”
He must’ve been hungrier than he thought as he devoured three huge bowls of stew and two large pieces of bread; it really was delicious. He watched Christian cautiously; he didn’t feel as if he were in danger, rather he felt a sense of comfort. He felt a distinct connection of some sort but could not identify just what it was. As Christian continued to busy himself with arranging items on the counter ever so neatly Brayden couldn’t help himself from reminiscing about his time with Harper; maybe that was what it was, just the similarity in the surroundings.
Christian turned and walked towards Brayden, stopping at the end of the table where he sat. “You are correct again, Brayden,” he said as he stared at him. Confused, Brayden’s mind began to swirl; how did he know his name? He began to feel himself instinctively go into high alert. “You do not know me, but I know you. I told you my name was Christian; what I didn’t tell you was I am Harper’s brother.”