Private Tales Behind enemy lines..

[Sorai]

Sorai was living on her nerves- traumatised, grief-stricken and terrified of what she may be yet to face, but there was no denying the sense of calm that fell over her when Myr assured her that Katyr would return home, no matter what. Nothing mattered to her more right now, than that.

'I cannot say what my people will do with you.'

"That's okay.." she offered with a shake of her head and a timorous smile in reassurance.. "This is most important."

If it was death that she faced, then she hoped at least her deed might have warranted her a swift one. Imprisonment? Well, if Katyr had endured it for a century, then she could hardly blame them for throwing her in a cell to rot. But Katyr would be home and she'd tell them what he told her to tell them, and then it was up to the elves to make their choice.

As they walked, she remained close, a hand on Katyr's shoulder, as though it made any difference to the weight of Myr's quarry.

"I really am grateful for you mending my feet.. I'd forgotten what it felt like to walk without pain." she sighed, savouring her steps without glass in her feet and blood squelching in her boots.

 

[Myr]

”That's okay.”

The words reverberated within his mind. Lips pressing to a thin line as he considered the weight of them. The truth that he could hear echo through every syllable. It only added to the strangeness of this moment, the oddity of a human so caring about the fate of one Elf.

An elf who was already dead.

A smile formed at her next words though, and for a second at least he forgot the darkness that had brought them here. ”I have always enjoyed mending things.”

He admitted softly.

”Much of my life has been teemed with death.” He had fought In two of the three wars of Elves and Men. Both of which had been utterly brutal for either side. He remembered the blood, and at times, could still feel it upon his hands.

”After I lost…” Myr trailed off, glancing at Katyr's body for a moment before shaking his head and shifting his thoughts. ”After the wars.”

He began again. ”I was lost for a very long time. I could not go home, not could I go to the homes of my friends. Instead I walked into the Falwood, fully intent on never returning.”

A somber look crossed his features, but he did not offer more detail. ”What I found instead, was a forest almost as broken as me.”

Myr explained softly.

”There was a comfort in that, as though I were not alone as I thought.” He smiled, glancing over to Sorai. ”And so I stayed among them, and slowly together, we healed.”

At least as much as they could.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai listened in silence as she walked, taking in every word and trying and failing to fathom living a life such as he had. Such as Katyr had. So many trials and troubles, so many losses and such a long time to suffer them. But, also, such a long life to see and understand the world around them and to appreciate it far better than her kind ever had. They were truly remarkable.

She glanced at him as he mentioned his loss, chewing on the inside of her lip as she took on the guilt that wasn't hers to bear, so heavy it might've ground her bones to dust had it been a physical thing.

Sorai looked around the forest, wondering if, given the chance, she could find some way to heal too. In such a short time, Katyr had had such a profound impact on her short life, that she very much doubted she'd have enough time left to soothe the ache in her chest.

She smiled back at him, though it was sombre and her eyes glistened with unshed tears once more. "How many had to die and suffer for all these years, because we are not the same?" her brow furrowed with a flicker of anger. She laughed under her breath and shook her head, swiping away a tear in frustration.

"Perhaps the rebellion will change something." she shrugged. "But we have already lost." she looked to Katyr's body and then to Myr.

 

[Myr]

"Many thousands." Myr said softly, shaking his head in disappointment.

In the years past he had reflected much upon the wars of Elves and Men. The stories that surrounded those times and even the ages before. Many of his people were long lived, and for them the last battle was still a recent memory. Those memories tainted the etchings of how things really were, a fact that Myr keenly remembered now. It had taken the trees to remind him.

"There is a lesson to be taken from those times." He said softly. "Humanity sparked the war between our people, but it is not as though even we are innocent."

Though Myr had yet been war, he knew the stories of the first time Elves and Man had come to clash. It had started with the cutting of the Falwood, and the reprisal his people had brought had been nothing short of a campaign of extermination. They had nearly wiped Vel Anir out, stopping only at the city walls and pulling back for reasons even he did not know. The campaign had been utterly brutal by all accounts, and had down the seeds of hatred even further.

The truth was, neither side had the innocence they might have wanted to proclaim. "My ancestors wrote of a time in which they worked with Humanity, even with your founder Anirius."

Those tales were old, even the eldest of his kind barely remembered now. Over a thousand years was a long time even for an elf.

"Perhaps one day such things might happen again." He mused, catching her words with interest. "Rebellion?"

Myr asked inquisitively.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai flashed a quick glance to Myr and nodded, the memory of Katyr slaughtering Rhea and a few city guards as he stole her away was one she tried not to conjure. "I know.." she frowned. Still, she doubted that elves treated their own the way humans treated their fellow men.

Her brow rose as he spoke of his ancestors and hers, searching his face for any sign of a lie. She found it too difficult a thing to imagine. "I.. have read no such text. Anything I've ever read or been told about your kind portray you as savages, hell bent on eradicating us." she laughed mirthlessly under her breath.

"As long as there is land or status, or wealth or differing faiths, men will fight over it. They started this and your people fought back.. One of my own people was happy to murder me just to get to him. They were slaughtering one another in the streets when he took me from the city. My father was involved in the uprising. I.. had no idea.." Nor did she have any idea if he or the rest of her family survived. She chose to believe they had.

 

[Myr]

Myr listened carefully to her words. The sorrow which flowed through them, the pain that still harbored itself within her. He could hear it in how she spoke, the pangs of bitterness and the stabbing hatred for what her kind had done to itself. They were emotions he well understood, for he had felt them all before.

”Humans have short lives, and even shorter memories.” The Elf said ruefully. Wondering just how much they had lost.

”A thousand years is a long time, even for us.” He explained. ”And there are many of my own people who would deny such things ever happened, but the Eldest remember.”

Though even some of them would contest the claim that peace was possible. There had been far too much strife over the ages, and hate often took far deeper root than other emotions. It was easy to hate, especially for a thing that was so unlike you, for a thing that had hurt you.

The truth was, many of his people would gladly act as the savages humanity had painted them as if it meant wiping out their ancient foe.

”I see.” Myr said softly as Sorai spoke of her father, still wondering what the purpose of this uprising had been. What changes it had brought to Vel Anir, what it would bring. It was strange, this girl was the first to bring him news of the outer world in so long a time, and now he felt as though his curiosity had been sparked anew.

”I will not pretend to understand the minds of your people.” Myr said softly. ”But if there are more humans like you, then perhaps this uprising is not a bad thing.”

The Elf contended. ”There are those who want to kill, to maim and murder, but there are those who…simply do not.”

Myr said as he looked over at Sorai.

”Look at us now.” He mused softly. ”Two strangers, an Elf and a Human. Walking side by side.”

He said, an odd sadness in his eyes. Two centuries ago, I would have hated myself for this, and now I am glad for it.”