Private Tales A Burning Shed

[Talus]

Allir Plains - Near Falwood
Fraeya Elwing

"Oh no no no no." Talus flicked his hand to the left, then to right. "Fuck!"

The young man swore as he waved his hand up in the air, trying desperately to get rid of the flame that seemed to be sticking to him. His gut was churning, his head was hurting, and this damned fire wasn't going away! Another string of curses escaped his lips, fingers waggling as he did his best to dispel whatever the fuck was going on.

"Presto!" He shouted.

"Alakrab!" These were magic words right? He'd only seen a magician once, and the man had been a street performer who'd come to the village for harvest day fest. "Tikul!"

Talus shouted, his attempts suddenly interrupted.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?"

The young man blanched completely white as he heard the sounds of his fathers voice echoing up the stairs. The moment it did the flame upon his palm winked from life and disappeared. "Thank fuck."

Talus said to himself as he stepped across the small room on the second floor of the farmhouse and grabbed his coat. Winter was coming soon, and he knew that if mother saw him leave the house without his jacket he would be hunted down. There was no time for that...not when...well not when he had to deal with this!

He'd burned down a shed for Kressim's sake!

"NOTHING!" He called back to his father as he opened his window. "I'm heading out!"

Without another word Talus slipped out of the window and jumped off the roof, taking off at a sprint down the road and towards the nearby forest.

 

[Fraeya]

Fraeya's silvered-violet gaze surveyed her campsite. It was mostly hidden by the surrounding brush. Nice and secluded. There was a mulberry tree not too far away. And the last of the dewberries spotted the ground in dwindling patches. Those not covered by leaves that had long fallen.

The elf could smell the turn of the seasons in the air. Fall was nearly over. And with one strong push of the North wind, it would be

Good. Less human travelers in the winter. She was hoping the mage hunters would've given up by now but the other day she'd seen a wanted poster on the outskirts of some small town. They'd gotten her nose all wrong and had made her ears ridiculously long and pointed. Still, it was a sign that the mages of Alliria hadn't given up on getting back one of their prized student slaves.

Looking up at a tree, she called up in a language that sounded like a mixture of hisses and clicks. Then, she grabbed a waterskin and headed toward the river.

 

[Talus]

"What in the fuck is going on?" Talus cursed to himself as he continued to run down the road, his eyes half watching where he was going and half watching the crook of his hands where the small fire had started earlier today.

For the life of him he could not explain it.

He had been hiding, sleeping in Old Farmer Garen's shed when a lizard of some sort had startled him awake. The next thing he'd known the whole place was on fire, and when he'd run home his hand had been burning. At first he'd thought he was on fire himself, but there'd been no pain, no hurt.

Nothing.

He didn't understand.

This had never happened before. Certainly not around him. Magic was…magic was a far away thing, something to be laughed about and told in stories. There was no way that he could be? No that was ridiculous. He was just a farmers son, that was all, nothing more and nothing less.

Still, there was something in the back of his head that sent creeping doubt up his spine. Something was different. Was it him? Something else? Talus didn't know, but as he turned off the road and headed into the woods he didn't quite care.

He ran, still barely watching where he was going even an hour in when he went crashing directly into the river flowing before Fraeya Elwing.

 

[Fraeya]

Head snapped up as a spray of water hit her face. Violet moons widened. Fear, annoyance, and surprise flickered across her face. She'd assumed wrong in that the plodding noise just above the gurgling of the river had been a wild animal. Should've known better when she hadn't felt that familiar openness with her mind.

Was he a mage hunter?

The elf took an uncertain step back.

"The hell you doing here?" There was a buzz in her fingertips. The magic was there, waiting and ready to be used if she needed it.

 

[Talus]

Talus didn't really have time to answer the Elf, or rather, he didn't have the coordination.

By the time the words left her mouth the farm boy had already tripped over both water and rock. His arms went flailing, his mouth opened in half a scream, and then he went smashing face first directly into the river.

It was cold.

The sudden surge of cold water in the middle of winter hitting his skin sent goosebumps down his spine. His fingers twitched and unknowingly a surge of...something ran through him. It happened in an instant, before he knew what he was doing or even what was happening.

A torrent of water suddenly exploded outward from the young man, a huge wave that seemed to splash upwards and press put from him. For a moment Talus was in shock, laying on the bottom of the stream with no water around him as it was all pushed and prodded away from him.

When she saw him in that moment she would see a face of utter panic and confusion. Talus had no idea what was going on or how.

Then, in an instant it all came crashing back down on the young farm boy.

 

[Fraeya]

"Shit," she mused. The magic came from him and not from her. She was halfway turning around already before the water splashed down and swallowed him up. She didn't want to save him. Fraeya didn't save people, especially not humans.

But it was clear he wasn't in control of his magic.

And that made him dangerous to the things she actually cared about. The animals in the river were already buzzing in her ear. She'd kill him herself if she had to. Steeling herself for a moment, she plunged into the cold waters, fingers moving to grasp at his arms as her nature magic went to calm the turbulent waters he was making.

It was one will against another.

 

[Talus]

The moment she touched him the magic she held overwhelmed his own.

How could it not?

Talus was a scrambling fool that might as well have been throwing cards out at random. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing, why he was doing it, or how he could stop. This entire situation was utterly and completely terrifying.

The water around him came to a stop, his lips thinning and his arms suddenly jerking to the side as he did his best to push himself to the top of the stream.

A breath filled his lungs, and his lips parted. "WHAT THE FUCK?"

He was confused.

 

[Fraeya]

Fingers would lash out, curling around the collar of the human's shirt. With a sharp yank, she'd drag the human through the water, toward the other side. The girl was stronger than her thin frame alluded to. Booted-feet sloshed and slugged through the icy-water.

"Shut up and listen round ears."

With a loud umph, she would continue dragging him until they were both on the opposite bank. Assuming he would allow all that and remain in his drunken stupor. "Congratulations. You can do magic." Voice was dryer than the last leaves that were dead and brown on the ground.

 

[Talus]

Talus didn't make any attempt to struggle or fight against the elf. Hell, she was just about the only reason that he managed to make it back onto the bank at all. His eyes were as large as bugs and his arms were limp as she dragged him back onto land, a breath filling his lungs as his lips thinned and he tried to get himself back into conscious thought.

Of course, all that effort was utterly wasted when the elf spoke.

At first he thought 'round ears', was rather rude, but he'd never met an elf before so perhaps that was simply how they referred to humans. Might as well have been, but what she said next rocked him to his core.

"Wa-" Magic?

No.

No no no.

That simply wasn't possible, not at all. He was a farmboy, the mayor's son sure, but a farmboy nonetheless. He didn't know Jack shit about magic and he didn't want to know.

"No." He told her quickly. "You must be mistaken."

Had to be.

 

[Fraeya]

She released the collar of his shirt, not mindful of whether or not he'd bounce back a bit on the cold, hard roots and branches of the dry bank. Hands wiped together as if she was trying to wipe off the scent of a human. Then they fell to her hips as she looked down on him.

Raven brow lofted.

"Sure, suresure, I am the one that's wrong. Then explain that surge of water. Also, why are you traipsing around out here? I'm guessing other weird things have happened to you lately. Hmm?" Fraeya didn't have a lot of patience. So she was digging the bottom of the barrel for this guy.

 

[Talus]

Talus was about to open his mouth and speak when he quickly shut it.

Lips thinned. "I..."

What the hell was he supposed to say to that. The ground seemed to shift beneath him, though he was pretty sure that was just a trick of his mind. Fingers dug into the earth slightly, lips thinning as he closed his eyes and tried to think back over the last day.

In the back of his head he already knew that the Elf was right, but accepting it was...difficult. It had to be some sort of trick, didn't it? Something that was just happening once or twice and not...not actually a problem.

It had to be. "I..."

He didn't know what to say.

 

[Fraeya]

One slender and pointy finger pointed in his direction.

"Listen. Figure it out. It's dangerous walking around untrained and not in control. You're not my problem but you're everyone else's. Got it?" Fraeya wasn't being very nice but to be fair, she'd been turned into a mage slave by humans. The elf girl with the wild purple hair had good reason not to be nice.

Besides, he seemed like a privileged human. He'd be fine. Head shook as she stomped her boots into the ground. Looking around, it would be night soon. She needed to get a fire going and get these clothes dried.

Without waiting for him, she began gathering some dried pieces of wood and walking away.

 

[Talus]

Talus scrambled up onto his feet. "Wait wait wait!"

The panic squeaked from the young man's voice as though he were a mouse. His hands flailed as he tried to keep himself steady, panic setting into his chest at the prospect of being left completely unaware of what the hell all of this meant.

"You're an elf!" He called after her as he finally managed to find stability on his feet and chase after her. "You're magic and stuff."

Was that racist?

Elves were magic, he was pretty sure he read that. "You can tell me what's going on, right? More than just 'im magic'. I can't be left alone with this. What if...What if i hurt someone?"

He'd already burned down a shed.

 

[Fraeya]

The girl spun around on him, balancing some sticks she’d scooped up in her arms. Just another uneducated human. It was sad, really. And it made her angry.

Her Papa always said elves with dragon magic ran a bit more hot blooded than most. Fraeya was starting to believe him. “I’m not here to help you with anything. Run back to your little town and tell your magistrate. It’s not like you’re the first human to discover you have magic. You have it. You aren’t it. Just remember that.”

The girl went to shove past dreadlocks.

“Now leave me alone before I kill you.”

 

[Talus]

Talus raised his hands as the girl pushed passed him, lips thinning for a moment as a hand ran through his hair to try and untangle some of the dreads that had wrapped around one another as the water crashed down on him.

A sigh escaped his lips, but he tried to speak to her once more. "We don't have a magistrate."

He told her, as if that would somehow make up for everything she had just told him. Talus didn't want to die, but he also had absolutely no idea what the hell else he was going to do if she didn't help him.

"We barely have a mayor and thats...my dad." He frowned.

His head shook again.

"I can't go to him." He remembered what his father thought of mages, what the rest of the village thought of mages; trouble.

Best to be avoided.

 

[Fraeya]

Silvered eyes flashed to the guy. It was clear this problem she’d inherited wasn’t going away. Did he not believe that she’d do it? Just a flick of her wrist and a dagger to his throat. That’s all it would take.

He couldn’t go to them? His own father?

“Why ever the hell not?”

She grabbed another stick, her back turned to him.

 

[Talus]

"Well." He stopped for a second as she turned towards him, his hand scratching the back of his head. "Few years ago a mage ran through this area."

Street magicians playing tricks was all well and good, few fireworks were fine, but actual magic? That only had a bad name attached to it around these parts.

"Before I was born I mean." Thirty or so years ago, when his father had been a younger man. It was talked about fairly often among the Elders of the village, though most had tried to forget it so details were sparse.

Talus glanced around as if someone would overhear him. "Burned down most villages."

He continued to explain.

"People say he raised the dead after too." This was clearly an uncomfortably subject for him. "Damn near destroyed five whole villages until he was stopped."

Talus paused. "Lotta people, my dad including, remember that mage."

 

[Fraeya]

"Oh great. Of all the villagers and villages I had to run into, I pick the small backwater xenophobic one." She huffed and glanced over her shoulder.

"What do you expect from me? Have you ever even met an elf before? You don't even know me. I could be an escaped convict. Murderer. Hell, I could be a necromancer just like from your father's stories."

She weaved deeper into the trees.

 

[Talus]

"Elves have necromancers?" It was an ignorant question, but pretty much the only one Talus could think to say.

He had never heard of a bad elf. Sure there were the people from Vel Anir that came through to trade every now and again but everyone knew you shouldn't listen to what they had to say about...well pretty much anything.

Arrogant blowhards.

As far as Talus knew Elves were the good guys, at least they always were in the stories. Standing up for wildlife, defending the weak.

That sort of thing. "I don't know what I expect, I don't even know, I just..."

Couldn't deal with this on his own.

 

[Fraeya]

Fraeya paused. Her jaw clenched. A huge sigh ran through her frame. It would be dark soon. She didn’t want to take him back to her campsite. But she also didn't want him running back to his village and yapping about seeing a lone elf with bright purple hair.

“Here,” spinning around, she’d shove the pile of sticks into his arms. “If we’re going to talk, at least make yourself useful. Follow me.” She began picking her way through the forest. All the trees looked dead and ready for that first snowfall.

Up ahead, he’d see the smallest of clearings. A neatly laid out bedroll and a cleared spot for a fire. There was already a pile of sticks started.

“Okay. Let’s talk about this. What do you feel when it happens?” Kneeling down gracefully by the fire pit, she began stoking the embers.

 

[Talus]

It was better than getting stabbed, he supposed.

Carrying the sticks wasn't really all that bad, he was used to bringing in firewood during the winter anyway. A lot of folk in the village called him spoiled, but none of them acknowledged all the jobs he'd taken to over the last few years.

Just because he never did any of them for more than a month didn't mean that he was stupid. He just...got bored with it, that was all. "I don't know."

Talus said quietly as he put down the sticks.

"I just...I don't do it on purpose." He told her. "The first time it happened I was sleeping in a pile of hay, woke up surrounded by flames."

A frown touched his lips. "I was...I was dreaming about standing on the bow of a ship, holding myself against a storm."

 

[Fraeya]

Taking a few of the sticks, she began building up the fire. No magic this time. Just good old fashioned survival skills. Orange licked red and smoldered as warmth spread forth. Rocking back on her heels, she took a seat on a log of a tree that had fallen long ago.

Fingers went down to her wet boots. They were of a fine, worn leather. She began unlacing them, glancing up at the guy.

"The fire. Did it burn you?"

 

[Talus]

"Burn me?" He repeated quietly, frowning for a moment before shaking his head slowly. "No, it didn't even hurt."

His own clothes were still soaked, but he didn't really have the presence of mine to take them off. In fact, strangely enough Talus did not even feel cold. Even with the soaking wet river having wrapped around him, even with his wet clothes clinging to him.

There was no hint of cold.

"It was warm." Talus offered the elf.

 

[Fraeya]

Peeling off her boots, she let her feet get close to the flames. Pulling some berries out of her pocket, she began munching on them. The light around the forest was already fading. The sun was about to set.

"Hm," the elf stared thoughtfully into the flames. "Sounds like you have fire magic. You did also move the water though." A shrug rolled over her shoulders. "Do you feel tired after this happened to you - in those few episodes?" Magic always had a price. Sometimes the life-force of others. Sometimes the user's own energy.

 

[Talus]

Talus felt his stomach drop. Life force? This magic was taking his life? The idea made him want to vomit all over the Elf's shoes.

A frown touched his face. "I felt...disoriented."

Was that the same as tired? Talus had no idea what was going on at any given moment he'd used magic. The thought had never occurred to him, hell, he hadn't even thought he was the one doing it in the first place. What did he know about cost.

His head shook.

"I don't know." Talus admitted. "It all happened so fast."