© 2001- 2024 Linda Aarts
Part 3

"Why are you always following me? I hate the feeling that you always watch over me. I am almost as old as you are. I can take care of myself. Most elves are younger than me. The majority calls me an elder. Don’t you think I can look after myself? Why do you follow me?"

She had raised her face to meet his eyes. It was quite clear that she wanted an honest answer. And he was willing to give her that.

**Because Talon asked me to take care of you.**

Goldstar’s eyes widened, and for a moment stared at him with open mouth. Then she muttered: "He... he did?" She recovered fast of her amazement. "Don’t you think that he meant that that only was after his death?" she then softly said. But she immediately regretted thewords. She had refused the help he had offered.

"I do."

His answer came to her by a surprise, but she didn’t have any chance to ask him why. Coldnose barked; he had found something. And the same scent that just passed by appeared again. Goldstar smelled it too, and a peaceful smile enlightened her face. She turned her back on him and ran in the direction where Coldnose had disappeared.

Hawkeye looked at the disappearing elfess. He knew what she would find. He knew it when he smelled it the first time. But she had probably been too busy with formulating the question. And why had he answered the last question?

**Hawkeye?**

His name came into his mind, sent by a sweet mental voice. She never used his name. He shook the feeling off him before he answered. He was one of the best when it came to shaking off feelings. That was how he survived. **What?**

**He’s hurt…**

Hawkeye immediately went in the same direction. A soft squeak of Ripple got him out of his thoughts. What was wrong with the wolf?
It soon became clear. In some way or another the speckled wolf had got stuck between a few roots of an unstable tree that stood on the point of falling down. His front paw had disappeared in a hole, and he wasn’t able to get himself out of it. He had tried, though: he had tried to scratch the sand beneath it away, but the result was that he also had scratched his front paw to bleeding. The mud had infected the wound, and Hawkeye could imagine that it had to hurt terribly.

When Hawkeye kneeled down, Mudspatter showed his teeth and snapped. With wet eyes, Goldstar tried to stop him doing that so that Hawkeye could release his paw. Coldnose growled, and Mudspatter stopped. He well knew that a wolf higher in rank should be respected.

After a few moments Hawkeye managed to release Mudspatter’s front paw. The wolf whined softly, and Goldstar wrapped her arms around the poor animal. Hawkeye stood up, and watched them for a moment.