Private Tales A Fallen Knight

[Finn]

Finn offered a small, but warm smile in Talus' direction. She'd been out of it during those few days travel but she'd been with it enough to know he'd done a lot. He'd saved her life.

"I wasn't sure I was going to either," she said quietly.

Eyes tracked Talus as he walked closer.

"You saved me and you didn't have to. You could've left at the village or before I woke up here. Thanks for getting me here." Her smile grew for a moment then faltered.

"Why did you do it?"

 

[Talus]

He shrugged. "Didn't seem right."

It wasn't any sort of Dreadlord training, hell, they taught the exact opposite. It someone got downed or injured, you didn't care for them. You left them there, circled back if you have the opportunity.

That was their way.

Yet he hadn't wanted to let Finn die. He hadn't wanted the weight of that on his shoulders. Lips thinned for a moment and he shook his head. "Besides we had a deal."

He offered with a smile.

"You still need to get me west of the spine." Something he was pretty sure he couldn't manage on his own. Not in that airship anyway.

 

[Finn]

"Sure," she sat up a little straighter in that small bed. Tugging the bowl of steaming soup closer, she began taking little bites. Little slurps off the spoon. She was hungry. She probably hadn't been able to keep much down since the injury. Or rather, had much of an appetite.

"We do have a deal," she reaffirmed. But the warm, small smile didn't quite leave her thin lips. Talus could say all he wanted. Somehow, she already knew she had another friend - like Gristle.

She could trust him - or so she hoped.

"Want some soup? And. I think after I eat this, I can get back to working on the airship. You didn't...um, you didn't completely wreck it did you?"

 

[Talus]

He shook his head. "No, but some Dwarves saw it."

Talus wasn't entirely sure if Finn would care about that. He shook his head and held up a hand in denial of the soup, sitting himself down in a chair besides her bed. The Apprentice glanced over his shoulder, searching for any of their hosts.

"They were impressed." He offered. "Though none of them have touched it."

That would likely be good news for her. "Apparently inventors like you are a fairly big deal around here. One of them told me they invented 'golems' here."

He shrugged, as if not quite believing that.

 

[Finn]

Finn continued with the soup and finished it off fairly quickly. Sandy-brows lifted at Talus' proclamation. A crimson color blossomed on her cheeks. She didn't like a lot of attention. And didn't like getting a lot for her inventions too.

She was shy and shy about praise.

"I was gonna ask," she shifted in the small bed, sitting up straighter, pushing the food tray away and crossing her legs. "Would you mind if we stuck around here a few days? I'd like to look at their tools. Maybe talk with them more."

It was no secret that dwarves were master builders.

 

[Talus]

He shrugged. "What's a few more days to me."

It would be months before he could return to Vel Anir anyway.

One of the dwarves had suggested using a Portal Stone to hasten the journey, but the two of them had quickly found out it would still take time to reach the closest one. Still, it would cut the journey after Finn dropped him off down from months to just a few weeks.

Couldn't beat that.

"They're nice enough here." He commented. "Don't seem to get visitors all that often."

 

[Finn]

She nodded.

Took another day in bed. Slurped up some more bowls of soup and devoured some crusty bread. Then Finn was back on her feet - as strong as ever. The dwarves were as fascinated with her as she was with them. And Talus was really patient. Finn spent many a night not even sleeping, instead, poking around in the workshop of the dwarves. Their forges underneath the mountains were incredible.

She managed to barter for a few of their tools and techniques with some of her own. They even gave her a pair of their forging gloves and some magical metals. In the time she didn't spend learning with their master craftsmen and women, she worked on the airship. Sturdying it up. Making sails that would harness the wind and let her steer to a direction.

It was the last few hours of the last day when she and Talus were loading the airship with supplies. They were getting ready to leave. She shook hands with Bracken. One of the dwarves she'd been working the closest with.

"Thank you. Again. For everything."

 

[Talus]

Talus spent the days not quite as industrially as Finn had.

He did not have the same ability as Finn when it came to forging, and thus the craftsmanship of the dwarves did not interest him as much. What did interest him however was what that craftsmanship produced. Thus through a little bit of bartering Talus managed to finnagle himself a dwarven blade.

The sword itself had cost him a pretty penny, plus some labor on the side, but it was well worth it. The blade was sharp as could be, marked with several dwarven runes and capable of melding with magic. The smith had told him that at it's core it contained a manticores stinger.

He had no idea if that was true, but he was confident it would serve him just as well as the sword he'd lost back in the village.

The blade was one of the things Talus was loading onto the airship as Finn bade farewell to Bracken.

"Do come back one day lass, I'll be eager to see what you've made."​

Over their time here Talus had learned that was quite a complement. As he deposited the supplies he walked up behind Finn. "Your hospitality can never be repaid."

The Apprentice offered by way of thanks, Bracken responding with a large grin and a wave of his hand.

"Think nothin of it, lad."​

 

[Finn]

Fin beamed to Bracken.

"I hope to."

She could see herself coming back to this place and staying for a long time. Perhaps re-stocking before she attempted to find the mythical floating city. Untethering the last of the airship's anchors, she hopped aboard. Small chin nodded to Talus.

"You got everything?"

She stood at the fire that heated up the balloon. There was a newly installed wheel with several levers. Looked like a proper ship now. But instead of sea, it would master the air.

"If I did this right, we'll be able to steer anywhere. Which way ya wanna go?"

 

[Talus]

The question was far more profound than Finn could ever hope to understand.

For most of Talus' life he'd had no choice of where to go or what to do. There had just been a mission. Some task he needed to fulfill, something he needed to do. Always there was the next step planned out for him. Always he had been under the command of someone else.

Now though he had the opportunity to do as he pleased.

Everyone at home likely thought him dead. He could escape from. Vel Anir and never return if he felt like it. Yet something in the pit of his stomach told him not to.

Perhaps the thought of abandoning his friends, perhaps the thought of not being able to finish what his entire life had been devoted to. Perhaps it was just the only thing he ever knew. Talus frowned, then looked towards Finn. "West."

Over the mountains.

"Time to find a portal stone." HE smiled at her.

 

[Finn]

Sandy brows rose but she smiled. She'd always wondered if a portal stone would work around her. Might as well find out. She'd never seen one before.

"West it is." The airship began gently rising. With a tug of levers, the ship's sails billowed out. Angling them to tack against the wind, they began defying the odds and...going west. Wind blasted against Finn's face, keeping her dirty-blonde hair away from her eyes.

The girl gave a whoop, the small forms of waving dwarfs quickly disappearing behind them. She'd just have to keep an eye on the weather. Didn't want to get caught in a blizzard up here.

And then there were always dragons in this part of the continent.

 

[Talus]

Two days passed, and in that time they made more progress than a horse could have in a week.

There was something incredibly fulfilling about watching the ground move beneath them. The snow slowly rolling over the hillsides, the occasional glimpse from farmers or traveling folks on the road.

Talus wished he could travel like this all the time.

It was only on dusk of the third night that the young Apprentice managed to peel himself away from the side of the airship and walk over towards where Finn was standing. "We'll be at the Portal Stone in no time at this pace."

He commented with a smile, apparently quite pleased with how all of this had turned out.

 

[Finn]

"She does pretty well," Finn beamed, an inventor proud of a working creation. Stepping back from the steering, she opened the door to the small cabin and began rummaging around inside. She pulled down some maps and spread them out on a surface of a small, chipped table. Head turned over her shoulder as she eyed Talus on deck.

"I've never been to a portal stone," she admitted quietly. "Where is the one you're thinking of." She motoined him to come in and pointed to the areal map.

 

[Talus]

"Right here." Talus said as he recalled what one of the Dwarves had told him.

Portal Stones were mildly, rare, but most of the active ones had been located hundreds of years ago. They were useful for envoys and ambassadors. That was how he and the other shad actually gotten here in the first place.

Though that stone had been in the middle of the sea. "It's over the mountains and just north of Crobber Lake."

That would be the easiest one to get to.

"Apparently there's a few villages nearby too." At least from what the Dwarf had told him.

 

[Finn]

"Well," she huffed and squinted down at the map, fingerpad pressing into a spot of wayward charcoal that had gotten on the paper. She smudged it down. "Hopefully those villages will be regular villages and not haunted."

Back of her hand pushed against the tip of her nose.

"One more day to get over the mountains. Then at least we'll be able to see the lake in the distance. Might not be too much longer until you can get back to your country." Blues shifted up to his face.

 

[Talus]

"Dwarves trade with them I think." So they had to be real, he thought at least.

Of course that didn't exactly mean much. The town they had been in before probably also had a few trading partners until it became a demons plaything.

His lips thinned as he expelled the rather grim thought, deciding to push it out of his mind as he turned towards Finn and nodded. "Aye."

A hand ran through his hair.

"Back home to be told what to do." As was most of his life.

 

[Finn]

“Hmm,” she put the map away. “You said you’re in the army. Some apprentice, right?” She grabbed a hammock and carried it back outside to the little cabin, moving to string it on deck in a corner.

”There’s another inside if you want it.” She motioned with her chin back to the cabin. There was plenty of room on deck They were having fair weather now. While it was a little chilly, the sun was shining bright with clear skies. A rarity in the spine. It looked like they’d managed to get above the cloud wall.

 

[Talus]

Talus quickly followed in Finn’s tracks and took up one of the hammocks.

It was disappointing to leave behind the comfortable beds the Dwarves had offered them, though no complaint would be heard from him. He was used to travel and uncomfortable places to sleep. ”Yes.”

He confirmed quietly.

”A soldier, really. Just a fancy one.” That was what Talus had always thought of himself as. Dreadlords were technically apart from the military, but in his mind they were one and the same. Tools of the state.

 

[Finn]

Finn climbed into the hammock with the ease of someone who used one all the time. One leg hung haphazardly on the outside. Arm propped her elbow up. Blue eyes stared back at the crisp, blue sky.

shifting her weight her hammock began to rock gently.

The inventor enjoyed the silence. She’d never been one for much conversation unkesss she was muttering to herself for inventions. The girl idly wondered what the crime lord who’d helped her get out of Elbion was up to.

 

[Talus]

He frowned slightly as he looked out from over the edge of the airship, his lips thinning. "What are you going to do after you drop me off?"

There was a slight hint of concern to his voice.

Finn was hardly defenseless, in fact, one could argue that he had brought most of the trouble to her. Yet after saving her life he couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for her. He didn't want to see the Inventory get hurt.

He certainly didn't want her walking into danger.

 

[Finn]

Eye closed. Thumb raised as she used it to block out the sun. Then she moved it, closing one eye and opening the other. Hand dropped and both eyes closed. The cool, warming air brushed lazily across her face.

"I dunno," she exhaled lazily. Foot that was hanging out, kicked slightly.

"Probably just keep traveling. Eventually I want to find that floating city in the sky. Maybe live there for a bit." It was clear Finn had no tethers. She was free to wander.

 

[Talus]

Talus slowly cocked his head. "Floating city?"

What the hell was she talking about?

Had he dropped her on her head while carrying her back to the Dwarven Hold? He was pretty sure that he hadn't. A flying city sounded utterly...impossible. Even Elbion, home of some of the most talented mages alive, was rooted in the ground.

Who had ever heard of a flying city?

Ludicrous.

 

[Finn]

“Yeah,” Head popped up from the hammock as she eyed him.

“You never heard of Thyrria before?” Arms stretched above her head as she sat up, legs swinging to the side of the hammock.

“Legend has it, it’s a dwarven built city. I even have a map.”

Now she was boasting.

 

[Talus]

He blinked for a few seconds, wondering whether or not this woman was chasing an impossible dream that couldn't be or if she was so earnest he had to believe her.

After a few moments he decided on the latter.

Together they had fought and killed a demon. They had seen an entire village come to life through malevolent magic. He himself could turn into a ghost. Was this really so crazy that he had to utterly deny it?

"Huh." He said quietly. "Where is it supposed to be?"

A slightly stupid question for a flying city.

 

[Finn]

Finn shrugged.

"Dunno. Got the map tattooed on my arm. Still trying to figure out the starting point." Head turned toward the prow of the ship. Blues squinted.

"Think that's the lake ahead," she pointed in the distance as the airship dipped down what looked like the last peak. "Looks like you'll be home in almost no time."