Private Tales A Fallen Knight

[Talus]

The Spine - Southern Peaks
Finn

His head was spinning.

Everything seemed to hurt, his side was on fire. Opening his eyes was difficult, and when he did all he could see was the clouds above slowly spinning over and over again.

He could barely remember what had happened. The Flash of blades, guttural war cries off of black tongues, the slashing of a blade over the Ambassadors throat. All of it had happened so quickly. Talus had no idea how many of the savages he'd killed, how many Orcs he'd managed to slaughter before they'd managed to grab him.

All of it had gone sideways so fast.

The Apprentice wanted to scream, wanted to open his mouth and curse his luck. The strength to do so escaped him. His own blood was pooling in the snow below him, and he knew that before long he would fall into unconsciousness.

He wondered what the Proctors would have made of him then, the single survivor of an Anirian Ambassadorial party. The Dreadlord Apprentice who had been sent along as an extra measure of protection.

The Failure.

He cursed himself in his head, his eyes barely cathing the flicker of motion in his peripheral.

 

[Finn]

Finn had seen the carnage from the rocks. Her air ship erm, houseboat was tucked away. The leather, mixed fabric balloon deflated while she scouted the area for supplies. The violence wasn't something she was unused to seeing, not with growing up on the lower streets of Elbion and being part of the street gangs.

Still.

Then she'd always had Gristle. Now she was alone.

Took some time for the last orc to move away. More time to wait and make sure they were really gone. Looked like everyone else was dead.

The slight girl slipped free from her hiding place and scrambled down, between, behind, and around the rocks. With her pack open. She was here to salvage from the dead. Waste not want not and all that.

 

[Talus]

Talus tried to move.

His muscles protested, screamed, yelled at him. Every single bone in his body ached. It seemed odd to him that he would feel so much pain, that he would have to struggle so, but every breath weighed on his chest like it was going to be crushed.

He caught the sight of someone moving out of the corner of his eye.

A part of him thought it was another Orc, a savage come to finish off those that the first wave had missed. Panic struck his chest but after a moment he realized the creature did not move around stabbing...but instead gathering.

His fingers tightened, and he forced himself to move.

Finn would notice a hand slowly raise from the ground, sticking out in the most pathetic imitation of a wave.

 

[Finn]

Bright blue eyes narrowed in the cold as the flicker of movement grew her attention.

Did one of the bodies just...move?

The girl glanced around cautiously, then stepped across the snow. The blood looked fresh. It was even melting the snow a little. Frowning, she took a knee next to the...boy? His armor was dented and slashed. Face inched up close to his until her button-nose was an inch away from his.

"Are you alive?" She whispered.

 

[Talus]

Talus' only answer came in the form of a gurgle and then a small cough of blood that spilled from the rim of his lips.

YES I'M ALIVE HOW DO YOU THINK I RAISED MY HAND! He wanted to scream that in the woman's face, but...that was next to impossible. His lungs burned, the cut in his side was screaming in agony.

He needed help. Fuck.

The word resounded in his mind, his eyes closed, vision swimming as he took in a sharp breath. He tried to force some sound from his mouth, the taste of copper heavy on his tongue. "P-plea-"

Talus couldn't finish the word.

 

[Finn]

Finn jerked back. Crisp, blue eyes studied his extremely pale face. Labored breathing. The wounds on his side.

She doubted he'd live through the next few hours.

"Damnit," she swore and looked over her shoulder, fearful the party of orcs would return. She wasn't a healer. And she doubted she'd be strong enough to move him, or even drag him. She could maybe rig something up, some kind of stretcher.

She just didn't know if he had that much time.

"H'okay." She began picking at his armor, gloves coming off to work off his straps and buckles. "Mrrggh," she grunted in frustration. It was like trying to get food from a crushed can. Still. She managed to get his chest plate off. Fingers went next to gingerly lift his tunic.

Face soured at what she saw.

Deep and still bleeding. Pulling out a medkit in her pack, she began applying bandages. Quite liberally. If she couldn't stop the bleeding then he would be dead in the next hour.

 

[Talus]

The blood flowed...until it didn't anymore.

Whether it was the bandages or Talus himself, eventually the pool of crimson that had formed in the snow beneath Talus slowly began to subside and die down.

He wasn't instantly healed of course, that would be nonsense, but the rising tide of death was at least stayed for a few moments. The Apprentice could still feel his head swimming, could still barely process anything, but by the time Finn wrapped the wound in his side fully breathing wasn't so painful.

Moving was though.

The Apprentice let out a groan, fingers tightening. "Need...to..."

He tried to speak to her, say something, but it was hard. His eyes locked with hers, as if that would do anything more.

"Lea-leave." A cough echoed in his throat.

 

[Finn]

Finn hated physical contact. Didn't particularly like social interactions either. And here she was in the Spine doing both.

Thin lips pursed together as he spoke.

A finger went up to her own lips to shush him. She didn't say SHHHH but it was implied. She needed to think. Hands wiped in the snow, attempting to wipe his blood off her own flesh.

Gross.

Cold, wet fingers quickly shoved back into her gloves. She leaned away from him and began rummaging back around the bodies and abandoned supplies. He might think she abandoned him if she was out of his field of vision long enough. But she wasn't abandoning him, she was constructing something he could use to walk - or she could use to try and drag him.

 

[Talus]

He laid in the snow, confident that the girl had left him behind when he caught her out of the corner of his eye.

Talus could see her doing something, walking around and taking things from the bodies. Snapping twigs and bundling them together in an odd sort of fashion. What was she doing? His lips thinned and his head felt woozy, looking up was difficult. He did feel some life return to him.

The Apprentice could move his toes now, feel that they were cold and getting colder in his boots. Slowly he wiggled them, gaining a sense of himself as he glanced down at some of the wounds still open.

She had stemmed most of the bleeding, something he was thankful for.

A hand reached up, dragging across where he knew he had broken bones. An idea occurred to him, and slowly he took a breath. His hand became an odd ethereal after image of itself, and then plunged Into his chest. There he grasped something, and quickly yanked it upward. A moment passed, and then suddenly Talus felt a wave of pressure release from his lung.

He took in a gasping breath, life and energy flooding into him as his head suddenly shot up.

 

[Finn]

In the time she'd make-shifted a small sled, she noticed the...knight? Looked a lot better. More color to his cheeks. His breathing wasn't so labored. Gloved hands wrapped around the rope as she tugged her contraption over.

She looked down at him, shuffling back to his side.

The girl looked skittish and nervous, a byproduct of her childhood. The streets were mean. Trust no one outside your gang. Sometimes trust no one inside your gang.

"Can you walk?" She asked quietly. Could he even stand?

 

[Talus]

Talus wasn't entirely sure that he could answer the question.

Pulling the broken rib back into place had released some of the pressure on his lungs, but the greater part of him still ached. The wound in his side burned with agony, and everything else was seemingly pulsing with some sort of pain. Lips thinned, and he dabbed his hand over himself slowly.

Finally he offered the girl a small nod. "I think I can walk."

His voice was barely a rasp, just loud enough to be mistaken for a whisper. Talus knew he needed water, fluids of some sort. He'd lost enough blood to make dehydration a problem. Yet the concern was second to that of the orcs coming back.

"But I need help getting up." He told her in that same parched tone. "Please."

He added

 

[Finn]

She gulped. Finn wasn’t a fan of physical touch from anyone, let alone strangers. And who was he? Without his armor on he looked younger than she initially thought he was. Though his eyes seemed a lot older.

She was tempted to run again. Against her better judgement, she finally nodded and squatted over him, facing him. Hands reached out as she leaned forward, trying to keep the grimace off her face.

HER HANDS WOULD HAVE TO WRAP AROUND A STRANGER’S BODY!

Ewwww.

“Here. Put your hands on my shoulders.” She was prepared to help left him up, boots solidly planted in the snow at his sides, then she’d turn and come along his side if they both didn’t end up back on the ground.

 

[Talus]

Talus did as she asked, grabbing the back of her shoulders as she tugged on him and lifted him up from the ground.

Without the weight of his armor he didn't weigh all that much, not with the fact that he hadn't been eating much and well...he wasn't Hal, he really didn't weigh all that much. The girl managed to drag him from the snow onto his feet, a grunt passing his lips as he felt the pain of standing on his own two feet.

His weight shifted and he let out a breath. "Can't stay here."

The Apprentice breathed.

"Orcs." He doubted they'd miss him a second time.

 

[Finn]

She was along his side now, skinny arm wrapped around his waist. Her shoulder was available for him to lean on and and wrap his arm around. Though, her posture remained stiff.

She finally spoke quietly and pointed toward the rocky area she’d crept down from.

“There’s a cave over there. We should be safe from them.”

Should being the key word.

Finn has all her supplies there. She didn’t want to bring him there. But what other choice did she have?

“C’mon.” The city girl moved toward the rocks with Talus at her side. She’d have to come back for the sled.

 

[Talus]

Talus hobbled alongside her, doing his best to keep himself upright.

"Thank you." He said quietly as the two of them walked towards the nearby caves. The crunch of rock beneath his boots was oddly satisfying in a way, like being assured that he wasn't quite dying just yet.

Talus had absolutely no idea who this woman was, but he was thankful that she'd saved.

He was the orcs would be circling back soon, both to collect their dead and loot anything that they might have left behind. The Apprentice tried to move a little faster, pushing himself to make sure that they didn't get caught out.

 

[Finn]

There was a bit of an incline they had to traverse. But soon enough they were at the mouth of a cave. Finn lead them inside and helped Talus to a nearby boulder that served as a makeshift bench. His eyes wouldn’t need to adjust too much.

She had glass jars scattered around the place filled with glow worms. They provided a natural and soft light. It was a good alternative to a fire. A fire would give the position away.

He’d also see parts and tools scattered about. Odds and ends scrapped together. It was clear she was a tinkerer.

“Don’t touch anything,” she warned quietly. “I have to go back for the sled.” She began turning away, lacking any social finesse to excuse herself politely.

 

[Talus]

Talus sat himself down on the rock, looking around the inside of the cavern in wonder.

Was this woman some kind of cave witch? He'd never seen anything like...well any of this. Eyes darted from one place to another, fixing on the strange worms that gave off a soft almost lamp like glow.

He had heard of some of the great Universities in the world having things like this, but this was a cave in the middle of the Spine. "Uhhh...ok."

Talus said quietly.

Who the hell was this girl?

 

[Finn]

Finn scrambled back down the rocks and quickly loaded up what she’d salvaged before meeting the strange, alive man. Pulling the rope, she began heaving it up toward the cave.

The sky was an angry, swirling grey. Fresh flurries were already starting to fall. Hopefully it would be enough to cover their tracks. She didn't want to meet the orcs that she done this. Not all orcs were bad. Gristle has been half orc.

With a scrape and clatter on rocks, she managed to pull the sled into the cozy cave.

Breathing heavily, she shook off the snow from her jacket and knelt down. Her back was to Talus. She began rummaging through her finds. Dirty blonde hair escaped the back of her snowcap in airy wisps.

 

[Talus]

For a few seconds the Apprentice remained quiet. The girl had returned, but it did not seem like she was much of a conversationalist. He frowned for a moment, glancing at her and trying to look around her lithe figure to see what she was messing with.

After a moment he cleared his throat. "Do you have any water?"

Talus didn't want to be rude, she had already saved his life, but he felt like he was as dry as a sponge outside the ocean for three days.

He really didn't want to pass out after going through all the effort of getting here.

 

[Finn]

She glanced over her shoulder. Realization slowly eclipsed her crisp, blue eyes. Rocking back on her heels, she stood and walked over to a series of packs on the opposite wall of the cave. Lifting a flap, she took out a water-skin.

Thin lips pressed together and she walked it over to him.

He was right. She didn’t like talking a lot. She was an introvert by nature. And all this was just a little awkward for her. She’s never expected to share her temporary cave with anyone, save for a few cave lizards.

 

[Talus]

Talus accepted the water skin gratefully, taking a sip and letting out a sigh of slight satisfaction.

"Thank you." He said the words again.

A part of him wondered if she knew what he was. It would explain her lack of conversation. Even this far East Dreadlords were well known as killers and soldiers. The caravan he had been in clearly had been marked as Anirian. Yet there was really no way to tell he was a Dreadlord. To her he likely just looked like any other soldier.

At least he hoped so.

"This cave is rather...unique." He offered her.

 

[Finn]

Finn knew enough to recognize Anirian colors. She didn’t know much about dreadlords. She kept her nose buried in books but not political books. She knew enough about street gang politics to survive. But now all that was left far behind. There was one point when the Elbion authorities had been after her. A particular ruling family there had wanted her skill set.

But she didn’t know if that was still the case since Kellen had gotten her out.

She sat down on an opposite rock, after dragging a basket-full of odds and ends over.

“It’s been home for a bit.” The girl finally broke the awkward silence. Hesitant gaze flickered between him and her work. She was working on a line of some sort with a pulley system.

“What’s the Anirian government doing all the way out here?”

 

[Talus]

Talus glanced down at the basket, then answered. "Emissaries to Belgrath."

It was the truth. They had taken a ship From Vel Anir beneath the continent and then made their way up towards the Dwarven city. The journey had been long, nearly a month since they had first left, but establishing contact with Belgrath had apparently been extremely important.

Though Talus had no idea why.

"Orcs caught us before we could get there." He supposed that was obvious but he still needed to say it.

 

[Finn]

“Hmmph,” the girl grunted in response. She didn’t know the Anirians to have emissaries. Usually they arrived in massive war ships and armies to take what they wanted. Or so the stories went.

“Their numbers have increased in these parts lately,” she added quietly, pulling the rope taught. It was one of the reasons she’d been grounded so long. She wanted to take off before the bad winter storms hit. They were still on the edge of fall.

But filling the balloon always took time. And it was a beckoning target to any within eyeshot.

 

[Talus]

The idea of more orcs was not something Talus really wanted to think about. He was an experienced combatant, but those savages had fought harder than anyone he'd ever faced.

It was like fighting an elf or going toe to toe with amother Apprentice. There was no elegance or subtlety to the way the Orcs had fought. The thing about them was that they just seemed to keep coming. Even after a mortal wound the savages had kept going and going, each time striking out like madmen. Talus had slain a dozen of them, but it just hadn't been enough.

"We can't stay here." Talus said as he half moved to stand up.

As soon as he did pain lanced up his side.

The agony of his wounds was far from subsiding, and even though he had managed to set his ribs there was still quite a bit of bruising. With a grunt the Apprentice fell back onto the rock, grimacing and holding his side.