Open Chronicles Alliria

[Elliot Aldmar]

Elliot cast a glance over towards the struggle between Dulthir, Karrazark, and the half-shaven man who had struck him with that metal...something, he couldn't recall specifically. It would resolve itself however it was going to go. As he was, there wasn't much that he could do to help.

Ceridwen, in the meanwhile, acquired some rope. She let Alexia free from her wing and displayed her sickle talon, issuing an ultimatum. And Alexia, eyes absolutely crushed with sinking despair, returned the griffin monster's gaze and said with a voice stretched thin with stress, "...why are you doing this to us...?"

But, believing without any doubt that the griffin monster would callously injure Mathew further if she did not comply, Alexia meekly shifted her hands behind her back and turned around such that the griffin-thing could have better access to them.

Mathew's turn. He shook his head with disgust when Ceridwen threatened Alexia with her wing talon, damning eyes ringed with the pain of his wound burrowing into her. "The Captain was right about one thing, beast. There's plenty of room yet in hell for you and your lot."

Then, likewise believing that the creature would mutilate Alexia, Mathew stumbled around (making certain not to put much weight onto his punctured leg) and put his hands behind his back. Alexia winced when the ropes were secured hard enough to stifle blood circulation in her hands. Both she and Mathew were tied together, and Alexia winced further. Mathew spoke soft and quiet words of encouragement to her, even as his leg bled profusely.

Ceridwen went off then, pursuing Elliot's question about Syvis. And during her absence, that left the bound Mathew and, more specifically, Alexia there with Elliot.

"What have I ever done to you?" she said, her voice cracking and breaking, eyes starkly red. She was a mess. The tears, the claw marks and gashes on her face, the wooziness of her concussion, all of it.

Elliot turned his attention to her. "You haven't done anything to me."

A small gasp of a sob escaped her throat. "Then how can you be this evil? How?"

Elliot did not speak.

"All I wanted was to finally get away from my father..." she said. "I just wanted to stop smiling and pretending like everything was okay when it wasn't. Not with him beating me. Not with him tou--" Alexia shut her eyes for a moment and pursed her quivering lips. She swallowed down another sob. Continued, "Now my mother is dead. Now almost every single man who sided with my mother and I over him is also dead."

Alexia leveled her gaze back on Elliot again. A seething inferno of hatred raged in them, and her voice was quietly laced with venom. "All because of you..."

Elliot regarded her with a stoic face. He did not let his thoughts and feelings be known.

Soon enough, Ceridwen returned. And with her she had Syvis. Elliot, all too ready to take a knee, crouched down by Syvis as Ceridwen set her down. His hands worked the saddlebag as his eyes searched over Syvis's body. Odd. She didn't look wounded--not freshly wounded anyway, not with something that might have occurred after the skirmish was done. Yet Ceridwen's observation was frank and correct. Syvis was still alive, but Elliot took a moment to check her pulse anyway, two fingers touching her neck and feeling it.

After gauging the strength of her pulse, Elliot had a potion in hand. He uncorked it. Grit his teeth. Then poured it onto his numerous wounds and steeled himself against the sharp, stinging pain that came on contact. The potion wouldn't work a miracle, but it would help cut considerable days off of his recovery time.

Elliot tossed aside the empty bottle and, with painstaking effort, stood. Said to Ceridwen, "I'm making some bandages." A look to some of the other corpses of the slain guardsmen. And he allowed for a wry smile, a light touch of sardonic humor, "We'll see if I get bludgeoned a second time."

He shambled over to a thoroughly ravaged corpse, one that was the work of either Karrazark or Ceridwen herself. Squatted. Unsheathed his dagger and started cutting strips from the dead man's dirty shirt.

* * * * *​

The hilt of the dagger struck Jack on the shaven side of his face. He stumbled around in a loose spiral after it hit, splashing up some of the shallow water about his ankles. He held the side of his face with a hand, still gripping his sword with the other, and he let out a prolonged groan of pain. The skin had broken and there was some blood on his forehead and in his palm.

In a daze, and almost in the manner of an afterthought or some base and infinitely hopeful instinct reasserting itself, Jack started to trudge away from both Dulthir and Karrazark, somewhere between the speed of a walk and a half-hearted run. It was like a last ditch attempt to escape, a move of abject desperation.

Dulthir Ceridwen Syvis

 

[Syvis]

Syvis was in and out of consciousness. She was being moved she knew. Hard dampness was underneath her; the ground. Fingers on her neck; looking to see if she was dead.

She wasn't dead, yet it was her own fault that she was near. She knew the limitations of her body, yet she pushed them, destroyed them, trashed them. Her body was weak and her urge to continue weaker. The starvation set in mingled with a lack of magic like a death cocktail.

 

[Dulthir]

The dagger struck home, hilt first. The "dead" man spun and stumbled, then half ass tried to run. He whistled, and Karrazark stopped his pursuit. Even tho Dulthir was a dwarf, and everyone knows dwarves aren't built for speed, he was still fast enough to catch the man. He used the handle of his axe, trying to trip him, a bola at the ready, if need be.
Ceridwen Syvis Elliot Aldmar

 

[Ceridwen]

Ceri ignored the inquiry from the girl… Honestly, she wasn’t sure why she was doing this… She was just doing what she was told, in all honesty and helping out her “friends.

"The Captain was right about one thing, beast. There's plenty of room yet in hell for you and your lot." She tilted her head at this statement though and chuckled slightly…

“Hell is a man made construct used to control people. If you can’t be a good person without the fear of hell, then you’re not a good person anyway.” She snorted slightly through her nose, the hot puff of air cascading over his face as she finished tightening the ropes.
------------

Ceri watched Elliot work in silence, her head resting on her forelimbs, muscles twitching. She watched curiously as he poured a fluid over his wounds, noting his jaw clench against the apparent pain the fluid brought.

"I'm making some bandages. We'll see if I get bludgeoned a second time." Elliot said. Ceri chuckled slightly…

“I would prefer you didn’t. Don’t know how many more asses I can kick today....” she laughed softly as she turned her eyes to Dulthir still struggling with the other man. She wanted to help but she literally didn’t even know if she could stand at this point, and Dulthir appeared to have it under control thus far.
Elliot Aldmar
Syvis
Dulthir

 

[Elliot Aldmar]

Elliot procured enough mostly clean strips of cloth from the garments of dead men. Some spatters of blood on them, but for matters of length it could not be helped.

He returned and sat back down by Syvis. Started to tend to himself. First the largest of the bandages across his chest, and then he could at last pull his gambeson back up. As he was wrapping this first bandage, he said in reply to Ceridwen, "You did well." And punctuated it with frank honesty, "I had my doubts about your willingness, but you did well."

Alexia let out a small scoff of disbelief when she heard Elliot say that. She stared at him as if he were the worst man who had ever walked the world. But she said nothing to him. Went back to a whispered conversation with Mathew.

Next, the bandage about his arm. He had to hold it in place with his chin as he wrapped it, and with the awkwardness of it the process was lengthy. But with chin and teeth and one hand, he got it wrapped and tied with reasonable security.

Then the two for his face. For the gash on his forehead and the jagged cut that went across his neck and terminated between his chin and lower lip. The forehead gash was easy. The jagged cut was difficult, and his range of motion would be limited, lest he help the bandage gradually come loose and slip down. An annoyance he'd have to deal with.

As he was putting his leather chestpiece back on, he spared another glance to Syvis. What he didn't know: why she'd run off into the forest, and what happened to her once there. Prior she had been fine. It was unlikely that Ceridwen had seen anything when she had gone to retrieve her, whatever did happen surely done by then. Could have been the intrusion of other bounty hunters--like the one that had given him his stab wound and his second gash--but without evidence of that he dismissed the notion.

Her eyes had been trying to open. Slipping back and forth between awareness and none. And while Elliot awaited Dulthir's return so that they could all discuss their next step, he might as well try to rouse Syvis.

Elliot reached into the waterlogged saddlebag. Produced a half-filled waterskin. Unstoppered it, and then poured some of the cold water on her face. An unpleasant way to wake up if it did rouse her, and if not then at least he'd have a grasp on the severity of whatever ailed her.

* * * * *​

"It'll be alright," Mathew whispered.

"No, it won't. You're bleeding," Alexia whispered back. "I can feel it running down my leg."

Back to back as they were, bound together in that manner, her leg was touching his. Mathew's blood stained a portion of her dress, soaked his pants, and dripped continuously down to the dirt from both ends of the wound and the protruding bolt.

Elliot had spoken to Ceridwen then, and Alexia scoffed and gave him that contemptuous look. But she said nothing to him and instead whispered to Mathew. "They killed our friends, they won't let us go, they'll hurt or kill us if we try to run, so what are they even doing?"

"I don't know." Mathew's face was paling just slightly.

"They got Jack..." Alexia reported morosely. As they were standing Mathew couldn't see, but Alexia could, and she saw the dwarf take him down.

"Orrem got away," Mathew whispered, trying to stay optimistic.

Her quiet tone one of wishful thinking. "I hope he comes back with an army..."

Unspoken thoughts, plenty of them, that she kept to herself.

* * * * *​

Jack fell once tripped. One hand on the side of his head where he'd been struck by the dagger, the other insufficient to fully stop his fall, he got a mouthful of the shallow water when he went down. He turned about, splashing, spat out the water, and held up his free hand.

"Don't, don't, for the love of the gods, don't man."

Dulthir Syvis Ceridwen

 

[Syvis]

Syvis was awoke with the cold splash, instinct set in as she sat up fast and threw a punch at the air in front of her. She shivered. “Thanks.” Was all she said to no one in particular, before she heard the chitter of a squirrel. The high pitched chits and their closeness together signalled the squirrel was warning other squirrels of the chaos below them.

Syvis sighed. She’d eaten worse, and she needed protein; so as to prevent her to falling damn near comatose once again. Drawing her bow, and releasing a soggy arrow she hit the little creature like a skewer. If she saw another she’d bring it for Ceri. Until then she was going to do something utterly barbaric in her mind but something that needed to be done. Getting up slowly and hobbling to her victim she skinned it quickly before eating the rodent’s raw flesh. Syvis felt terrible about not even cooking the poor thing but what had been done was done.

Hobbling back over she fully assessed the situation. “Gods above, what’s happened?” She asked as there was a bloody man tied to the young girl and less people then they started out with. Not to mention Elliot was bleeding in places he wasn’t before. She looked at the jagged cut on his neck and giggled at his bandage.

“Come here” she told Elliot with a smile on her face. Most people didn’t understand that they could indeed put mud on their face and still be fine. The mud acted as a seal for the bandage and would help its slipping. Though you often needed help.

 

[Dulthir]

The "dead" man tripped over Dulthir's axe. Dulthir looked down as the man pleaded for his life.
"Stop yer fooking crying. There's been enough death this day. Get on yer knees, hands behind yer back."
Karrazark had walked up behind Dulthir and the "dead" man. Dulthir secured the man's hands. He looked to Karrazark, his head gashed, ear barely hanging on. He gently touched his head.
"Ye look beautiful, brother. Perhaps we canna save yer ear, lad. Keep an eye on this one. If'n he tries ta run, you can eat him..."
He looked to the man, and smiled, then back to Karrazark and winked. He walked the man back to where his companions were at. Syvis was tending to Elliot, Ceri laying down, keeping a watchful eye on Alexia and the older soldier. Dulthir sat the other man beside them and bound his legs. He went to Ceri and knelt beside her. He stroked her head, gently.
"Ye alright, love? Canna get ye anything?"
He looked around. He figured a meal was needed for all, but, he needed to tend to Karrazark as well. He looked to Syvis.
"Syvis, lass, once yer finished with Elliot ther, think ye can fix up his pretty mug? Canna have him looking all scary and whatnot."
Karrazark grunted and nudged Dulthir, not amused with his joke. Dulthir chuckled, then turned to Elliot.
"Imma gonna see if we havena scared all the wildlife away. Ceri needs nourishment, as does Karrazark. Hell, we all do. Once we get something cooking, we canna discuss our next move."
He walked a little ways back and found the bolts that had fell out of his quiver during the conflict, and headed towards the treeline, hoping to find a decent kill for dinner.
Ceridwen Syvis Elliot Aldmar

 

[Ceridwen]

Ceri watched Elliot, a smile crawling over her beak as he said she'd done well."You did well. I had my doubts about your willingness, but you did well."

"Thanks...." she said lightly as she lifted her head, watching Syvis as she awoke. She watched curiously as the woman killed and ate a squirrel raw, which didn't mean anything to Ceri at all, it was normal to her. She turned her head as Dulthir and Karrazark strode over, Dulthur kneeling besides her and rubbed her head lightly. She cood softly rubbing against him until he stood to go seek out food.

Food would be great... she thought. She stretched her forelimbs out, sinking her talons into the ground to pull herself up, adjusting her hind limbs under herself to lift herself. Everything hurt, every muscle screaming it's displeasure at movement. Without food to fuel her however, her limbs were too shakey and within a moment she lay back down with a huff of annoyance, watching Dulthir head out to find food.

Elliot Aldmar
Syvis
Dulthir

 

[Elliot Aldmar]

Elliot tracked the reflexive punch with his eyes, then stoppered the waterskin once more. Whatever had happened to her did not seem to be of dire concern. Which was good. None among them would have been able to help if it was, and they were far removed from anybody who could've helped if such were the case.

He gave a slight nod in reply to the thanks given by Syvis. No need to inquire about the business of the forest, why she'd run there or what happened once there. If it was relevant then it would make itself known. For now, she was up and active--drawing a bead on small game with her bow--and that was good enough.

Elliot spared a glance across the span toward Dulthir--he had Jack under control, so all was well there. A look then to Alexia and Mathew. Standing, bound together, whispering, but they weren't going anywhere. The Free Company was long gone and hopefully there weren't any more rogue bounty hunters out in the treeline. So it seemed like all might be a quiet for a spell.

Gods above, what's happened?

"All I can say is that one of them--" A loose gesture of his hand toward some of the bodies of the guardsmen, "--wasn't dead. What happened after he struck me you'll have to get from Dulthir or Ceridwen."

He caught the look at his bandage, the haphazard one wrapped about his neck and chin. Syvis offered to help, and he'd take her up on it. Elliot stood in a slow and precise way, keen to keep his balance, and walked to her. He'd allow for his head to turned however it was necessary by her. "Do what you can to fix it." Something of a rueful smile. "It's sure to be a better job than what I could manage as I am now."

Dulthir came back, with Jack secured alongside the others. And after an address to Ceridwen and Syvis each, he spoke with Elliot.

"Good hunting, brother." They couldn't yet tend adequately to all of their wounds, they couldn't yet get the restful sleep that they needed, but they might at least get a meal in them and have a moment's respite.

Elliot's attention back to Syvis then. Steady eyes on her as she worked.

* * * * *​

Alexia frowned deeply when Jack was deposited next herself and Mathew, his legs as well as his hands bound.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she said softly, her words conciliatory. "You did what you could."

Down on the ground, he threw some glances around. Whispered back to her and Mathew, "Where's Orrem?"

"They didn't get him," Mathew answered. His lips were losing color and blood continued to run and drip from his wounded leg.

"Astra's good graces, are you alright, Mathew?"

"I'll be..." Mathew blinked. Lost focus for a second. "I'll be fine, Jack."

Yet Alexia and Jack shared worried glances with each other.

Syvis Ceridwen Dulthir

 

[Syvis]

She flashed Elliot a smirk. “I reckon so.” Was all she said as she tended to his neck. She’d placed the makeshift bandage more accurately over the wound before instructing Elliot to stay still. Syvis used the mud as a plaster. As she worked Dulthir returned.

“I’ll be more then willing to make Karrazark handsome once again.” Syvis said cheerfully. “You can’t go far although Dulthir.” She added, well aware that the war pig was not going to like what she’d have to do to help him.

Her attentions were once again returned to Elliot before she murmured, “remind me when we find somewhere safe that I need to pour some sort of spirit on your wounds. It’ll hurt.” Syvis gave his shoulder a tender pat. “All done.”

Next was the not so fun part with the war-pig. She’d need to scour the camp, ideally she’d find a sewing kit and some sort of spirits.

Before she left to search she called out, “someone outta check on our pets, last thing we need is one of them dying. The girl would have a cow.”

 

[Dulthir]

Dulthir returned from the woods with a doe across his shoulders. She was decent sized, but, Dulth had gotten better. He laid her down beside everyone, and went to work butchering the deer. He made short work of it. He'd been processing kills since he was a wee lad. Out of habit, he found a large stone and stretched the skin over it. He began gathering materials for a fire. Wasn't much dry material, but, there was enough. He got the fire going and got some meat cooking. He took a full rear shank over to Ceri.
"Not sure if'n ye wanna raw hunk or cooked. If ye want it cooked, I'll be happy ta do it for ya."
He walked over to Karrazark with a big chunk and handed it to him. He began eating it. Dulthir looked around and saw Syvis searching for stuff to mend his friend. He shouted to her.
"He'll be ready when ye are, lass. I'll be right here. Food should be ready here shortly."
Dulthir checked the meat that was cooking. It was ready to eat. Dulthir looked around and found a plate stuck in the mud. He picked it up and wiped it off, mostly. He cut some meat off and put it on the plate. He walked over to Elliot.
"It's notta my best grub, but, it'll do. Ye need to eat something, lad. Yer looking peckish."
Dulthir, who couldn't really remember the last time he ate, cut a hunk off and sat beside Karrazark and began eating.
Ceridwen Syvis Elliot Aldmar

 

[Ceridwen]

Ceri listen to Elliot as he spoke to Syvis, his voice quickly drowning off as she fell into and exhaust induced sleep, her head resting on her forelimbs as she drifted away. She missed the words passed between friends, only to startle awake when Dulthir brought her the meat

"Not sure if'n ye wanna raw hunk or cooked. If ye want it cooked, I'll be happy ta do it for ya."

She looked at him through groggy eyes and nodded softly hooking her beak into the meat and tearing off a large chunk, tossing it back and catching it in her beak, swallowing it. She took a few chunks off, but as her tummy filled she grew more tired and she stopped eating, letting her eyes fall closed again. The throbbing in her wing couldn't even keep her awake at the moment, she was too exhausted.

Elliot Aldmar
Syvis
Dulthir

 

[Elliot Aldmar]

Some spirits on his wounds to stave off infection and sickness--things that the potions, narrow and specific in their purpose, did not prevent. It'll hurt.

"It will," Elliot agreed. That sharp burn of it was something that he was familiar with. Unfortunately so, but each memory of it a prodding reminder to learn from the very mistakes which led to his injuries in the first place. When at last they could all find some sleep, Elliot would have much to think on for his nightly self-reflection of this skirmish, of this whole ordeal with Alexia and the Free Company.

Syvis patted his shoulder and said that she was done, and indeed, the makeshift bandage felt more secure. His range of motion for his head would still be limited, but it didn't feel so prone to coming loose and slipping. "Thank you," he said.

Elliot went and sat by his recovered saddlebag in the middle of the ruined camp as Syvis searching, Ceridwen rested, and Dulthir hunted. He took a count of the arrows in his quiver, taking stock of the mundane ones and the specially treated ones for his necromancy. Syvis made mention of the bound guards and Alexia, and Elliot spared the three a glance. They were all wounded to some degree--everyone was wounded for that matter. But among the three it was Alexia alone who held Elliot's concern, and since she was okay by comparison, his attention drifted back to reviewing what supplies he had.

Among the camp, all of the goods and supplies of the House June guardsmen (minus the chest of coin, of course) were still present, if scattered horrendously about from all of the fighting and the magic. There would indeed be some spirits, a few bottles of wine in a satchel with which the guardsmen had been aiming to celebrate once they had finished their journey to escort Alexia to her aunt in Elbion. And as luck would have it, a sewing kit as well. Jack's sewing kit. Before retiring to a more stationary life as a House guard, Jack had lived a more adventurous life, one in which his padded armor and clothes often required mending, so he'd taken up the skill.

It was not long before Dulthir returned. Elliot had been sitting, resting, not quite sleeping even though it clawed at the edges of his eyes. The dwarf had his kill butchered and cooked in short order and offered him some.

"I'll need more than a satisfied stomach," Elliot said. Not ungrateful, simply a stated fact. The most pressing need, of course, was to seek out a healer or physician who would ensure that no scars set in from his wounds, and if they did, to have them healed immediately. Only utter fools willingly kept their scars, perhaps even brandishing their failures as some manner of pride or proof of experience. Such spoke to many shortcomings of character.

And Elliot sat cross-legged. Ate the cooked venison.

Enjoyed at last a quieter moment as the dawn's sun rose higher.

* * * * *​

Alexia, Mathew, and Jack continued their hushed conversation among themselves. Their quiet words in turn urgent, angry, calming, lamenting, resigned.

Syvis Dulthir Ceridwen

 

[Syvis]

Syvis found some alcohols and a sewing kit. The gods were smiling upon her today that was for sure. She pranced back to the group her head held high with a smile on her face.

„You’re in luck pretty!“ Syvis called out to the war pig. „I’ll have you looking handsome once again no doubt-„ she winked before finishing „- women love scars.“ alas she finally made it to the pig and gave him a scritch behind his good ear. She frowned. „I warn you this will hurt but no more then the pain you‘re in now.“ without warning she dumped some alcohol onto his wound. Feeling sorry for her actions already. Regardless it needed to be done.

 

[Dulthir]

Karrazark was no stranger to pain and the process of being stitched up. He grunted slightly as the alcohol poured over his wound. Dulthir knelt in front of him, scratching his jowls as Syvis worked on his ear.
"Easy lad. She's gunna fix ye right up. Ye'll have tha ladies fighting over ye in no time."
Dulthir glanced over to Ceri. He was concerned for her as well. She was eating on the hindquarter he had given her and was resting. Still scratching Karrazark, he looked to Elliot.
"Well, lad. What's our next move? We've gotta get this lass somewhere she'll be safe, and outta her da's reach fer good. Any ideas?"
Ceridwen Syvis Elliot Aldmar

 

[Ceridwen]

Ceri slept silently, missing the mending of wounds of the others. When she woke Karrazark was stitched up and she had a very little bit of energy again. She sunk her talons into the ground and pulled herself up, grabbing her food and moving to lay with Dulthir with a soft whine.

She attempted to fold her broken wing but failed and just let it hang. She dropped back to the ground as she stopped besides Dulthir to listen to the discussion of what was next. She rested her head against Dulthir, closing her eyes again as she listened.
Elliot Aldmar
Syvis
Dulthir

 

[Elliot Aldmar]

Elliot made no comment aloud on the statement that women loved scars. He'd voice his scathing opinion on scars and the fighters who kept them if the situation warranted it, if asked directly, but neither condition had been satisfied so that was that.

Elliot had finished most of the cooked venison Dulthir had offered to him when the same initiated the dialogue on what was ahead. What to do. Elliot had been weighing the question in his mind, testing out various options in a mental arena, while Dulthir was hunting and there had been plenty of time for it. And he'd reached some conclusions on the matter.

A glance to Syvis. She was attending to Karrazark's wounds, but she could listen just fine. A glance to Ceridwen. He wasn't so sure about her--if she'd fade back into sleep or not. But it did not matter much if she had the opportunity to give her input or so much as hear everyone else out. There were immutable facts that could only be reckoned with in a limited number of ways, and little to change that.

Elliot began, keeping his voice low enough so that Alexia and guardsmen would have some difficulty hearing him, the little whips of wind and rustling sway of far off branches in the light morning breeze helping with that. "Yes. It is in our best interest to turn the girl loose as soon as possible."

He paused for a moment there. The irony wasn't lost on him, how Dulthir and Ceridwen had only just stopped Alexia and the guardsmen from running. But, in the wake of the escape attempt, certain things had changed. Certain things were known for a fact. The situation was different now than it was before.

"Bringing the girl through any town, any village, is begging for an ordeal. Passing by any manner of caravan, group of travelers, you name it, is begging for an ordeal. Alexia will try to rouse anyone and everyone to her aid, and she'll have a good case for it. Gagging her invites too many questions. The Allirian Rangers who patrol the roads, in general, are a lot who would be bound to take her side even if she was completely fabricating the whole story.

"Furthermore, the complication of the guardsman who got away. Orrem, was his name. He is an unknown factor. He might not be able to find us again at all, or he might come with an entire unit of Rangers or band of incensed local lawmen. We just don't know. And while the girl is with us, we might as well have a stolen king's crown in our possession."

A flick of his eyes toward Syvis. Just a brief thought, a musing, if she had ever stolen anything so valuable as a king's crown before. Then he returned to speaking in general.

"Captain Marghast won't go back on his word--his own self-interest is tied up in keeping it. So when he arrives back in Alliria and reports to Lord June, there won't be a reach for Alexia to worry about. This turns keeping the girl in our company from a necessity to a liability."

He placed his hands down on the knees of his crossed legs. "Thus, I say we let her go at Saif's Bend. We allude to heading in one direction, but in truth depart in another, to throw off any immediate search for us that might result. Her life is her own after we release her."

Elliot, surveying both Dulthir's and Syvis's faces for their responses.

* * * * *​

Alexia, Mathew, and Jack's whisperings grew infrequent. And soon it was only two of them even speaking to each other.

Syvis Dulthir Ceridwen

 

[Syvis]

Syvis listened to his whispers intently as she finished off her stitching. She made no move to look at Elliot he knew her well enough to see how her ears twitched when he began to speak showing her attention shifting.

Her face flashed a bemused smile as he spoke of a kings crown, she wished to steal a kings crown the most intense thing she’d ever stolen was a lord‘s wife. The woman was hardly a lady more a prisoner but her head was on the chopping block for a while after that... until she took his head. One could say it wasn’t her first time with a prisoner but typically she had more facilities at hand.

The Elf insured she stayed silent as Elliot spoke her long now messy blonde hair twittering about in the tendrils of wind that passed her by. She truthfully was a bloody and muddy ragamuffin, regardless her job was done. So far she agreed with his plan. Syvis honestly wished this hadn’t been so traumatic for the young girl but Alexia refused reason, so now she had the trauma to build a real character. Syvis let out a chuckle as she thought of how far the girl could come.

Keeping her voice just as level and low as her counterpart she turned to face Elliot. „I agree about the release. Sooner then later. We need to... fix the girl. A woman in clean clothing draws less suspicion then one in matted ripped fine fabrics. Ceri and I could fix her up, plus the dove deserves some kindness.“ Her tone was sympathetic towards the captive they now had. „We must take final provisions soon then leave. We are asking to be found.“ it was for the groups sake Syvis said this but also her own.

 

[Dulthir]

Ceri leaned against Dulthir. He gently stroked her head, trying to soothe her. Karrazark, all stitched up, laid in the mud and continued eating his meal. Dulthir listened to Elliot, then Syvis. He nodded in agreement.
"Aye, tha sooner tha better."
He walked over to the trio of prisoners, with chunks of cooked venison and gave each of them something to eat. He looked at Alexia.
"Now, lass. Ye see, we were just tryin' ta help ye. Is thar somewhere specific ye wanna go? Give us a direction to head."
He sat on a rock and waited for a reply, from her or one of her guards. Truth be told, he didn't expect much info from any of them, but, he figured he'd try.
Ceridwen Syvis Elliot Aldmar

 

[Ceridwen]

As Ceri rested against Dulthir he stroked her head slowly, she purred gently, the sound reverberating through the somewhat quiet camp. She opened her eyes as she looked to Syvis... not sure she agreed that the girl deserved kindness... but it was neither her nor there and she simply nodded in response to being willing to help. She would do whatever they deemed fit, the girl meant nothing to her, other than an annoying presence.

Dulthir stood, forcing Ceri to move slightly to give him leeway to move. She rolled to her side to watch him with them cautiously. She was mentally at her breaking point... if any of them had some trick up their sleeve... and pulled a frying pan or any other weapon from their pocket they would all be butchered without though. Ceri was over all of them and her kindness had faded into the animal that she truly was. Dulthir was trying to be kind, so she stayed put, knowing her presence hovering over his shoulders would only make them all more nervous.

She took the chance to try to clean her talons, though the attempt ended only in a mouthful of mud and one spot of clean before Ceri gave up on the monumental task. A shower or bath would be great... She turned her head to her wings, dragging a feather through her beak, her broken wing bloody where the thin bones had pierced flesh. She growled slightly but there was nothing she could do about that and she knew, it was unlikely she would fly again.
Elliot Aldmar
Syvis
Dulthir

 

[Elliot Aldmar]

Fix the girl. Elliot nodded slowly in agreement to that. In truth he hadn't thought to do it, such notions did not come naturally to him. Just as he had left her with a swollen cheek and bloodied mouth when the Free Company returned her to Lord June, he had meant to leave her in the admittedly sorry state she was in now once they got close to Saif's Bend. If on no other level than a practical one, it made sense. It would draw less suspicion. Alexia's dress was ripped and frayed, stained with urine in the front and now drenched with Mathew's blood in the back, and her face looked like she had lost a fight with a mountain lion. The townsfolk of Saif's Bend didn't need to be Allirian Rangers all to be incensed enough by the pitiful sight of her to fervently try and hunt down, or see to said hunting down of, the people who'd brought her to such wretchedness.

He had only one suggestion to add. "I've seen how the girl reacts to Ceridwen. It would not be a good idea for her to help. If there's any fixing of Alexia that can be done, I think only you can do it, Syvis."

Both Elliot and Dulthir were out of the question, for obvious reasons.

Elliot stood slowly, his nostrils flaring as his body made its dull and pervasive protest against him doing so. He eyed the flattened tents, their canvas and their tentpoles all in a sprawling mess from the aftermath of the fighting. Then he returned his attention to Syvis. "There might be a change of clothes we can scavenge from the campsite." If Alexia left with such haste from the June estate that she didn't bring another dress, then at the very least a cloak should help some.

Meanwhile, Dulthir approached the trio.

He had brought food with him, and the three each had different reactions. Alexia looked at the offered food with disgust and disbelief, her lip curling. Mathew, his face pallid and his eyes sunken, barely regarded the meat. Jack, despite a flash of honesty in his expression that suggested he would truly devour the venison, nevertheless tried to keep neutral about it. None of them could eat even if, like Jack, they wanted to anyway, such as it was with their hands bound behind their backs.

Dulthir spoke, and Alexia's shocked disbelief only deepened. Just trying to help. They butchered nearly every man who had the courage to do what was right and finally stand up to her father and help her, men who cared about her and her mother, and men that she cared about too. Just trying to help. They let her mother's murderer go, simply let him go. Just trying to help. This dwarf shot Mathew when they were all trying to leave, and now they wanted to take them somewhere, like all of this villainy never happened? No remorse, no apology, not even a shred of acknowledgement for any of it. By the gods, what was wrong with these people?

Alexia drew together a glob of saliva in her mouth, and then spat at Dulthir, aiming for his face but likely falling short. "You don't care. You're a murderer. All of you are."

Dulthir Ceridwen Syvis

 

[Syvis]

Syvis nodded, Elliot was right. The girl hated Syvis but despised Ceridwen, it was all a matter of who Alexia hated least at this point. "It will be done." The elf said in a curt tone with a fainthearted smirk. She could wash Alexia fairly well with all the water that was about them, and a quick braid of her hair would fix the knots it was now twisted in.

Elliot rose and Syvis watched, his nostrils flared out as he made a huff of assumed pain. She herself rose quickly, finding herself ready to dote upon him once again. She was at his side fairly quickly. The Elf felt a little annoying with her concern over him but she couldn't help herself. "I can go alone." Syvis told him sternly her eyebrows rising as she spoke to signal her seriousness. She really didn't need his help, and he didn't need to put himself in pain.

Her head whipped around as she heard Alexia seethed at the Dwarf. "Fuck it." She mumbled under her breath before jogging over to the scene, her footsteps nearly silent.

She approached and kneeled down in front of the girl, placing a hand under her chin squeezing her cheeks to keep her face squished and closed. "Don't act like a Llama, its unladylike. I know you were raised better than this Alexia. You're angry, you hate us, your mother is dead and your father is trying to kill you, Gods above you're doing better than I did."

Her face contorted in pity, before she turned around. The blonde lifted up the back of her blouse revealing a series of scars that asperously tore at her back with no remorse, the flesh on her back had been ravaged. "This,-" the Elf said shakily before turning around to face the girl, her voice rose as she continued "-this is what fucking happens when you're left on your own, this is what happens when you; a lady ; runs away with no damn plan, no freaking skills, so damn you, hate me. HATE ME ALEXIA!" Syvis screeched before calming down and continuing, "I do not care. Just know I am saving you from ever feeling this. We all are. I'll have you know I took no joy in killing those people, but you couldn't be civilized and just let us warn you of the damned forsaken Free Company, so here we are. " Her tone was hostile before she knelt down once again and whispered in Alexia's ear low enough only those tied to the girl could hear. "Get off the moral high ground Lady June. You sent them all to the fucking executioner." She growled before stepping back. They were Dulthir's problem again.

 

[Dulthir]

Dulthir hadn't thought about their hands being bound behind them. He looked at the food, then at the prisoners, then back at the food. He shrugged and pulled a piece of venison off and tried to hand feed Alexia, who, as thanks spat at him. It fell short of his face, her intended target, and instead hit his tunic, that was covered in mud and blood. He looked at the girl, then his tunic.
"Hey... this is my good tunic. Now ye've ruined it. Guess I wonna be wearin' it to the next ball."
He laughed out loud. Then Syvis was there, almost out of nowhere, giving Alexia a verbal lesson in how to be a lady. Dulthir smiled. He hadn't been to sure about the elf, at first, but, he had grown fond of her. He ate the meat he held in his hand, then shrugged his shoulders again.
"Suit yerselves. Be a wee bit before we get to where we're going. Hope ye all donna starve by then."
Not one to waste food, he walked over to Karrazark and set the food in front of him. The war pig was not shy as he devoured every scrap of meat. Dulthir walked up to Elliot, who obviously was in pain. Then he looked over to the two remaining horses.
"Well, we've two horses for transport. Ceri wonna be haulin' anyone. But, I can ride Karrazark with one of em, and you and Syvis canna do tha same thing with the horses. Soon as tha girl is ready, we should make haste. I dunna want to be here any longer than necessary."
Ceridwen Syvis Elliot Aldmar

 

[Ceridwen]

If Ceri wasn't so exhausted, the oh so regal woman would have lost her head, quite literally, for her disrespect to Dulthir. Ceri's patience was gone and she was rapidly getting to the point that she'd rather be chewing on the girls vocal cords, than listening to them working.

"I am ready whenever you are..." she mumbled as she looked at the girl while Syvis talked to her. Unlike Syvis, Ceri did not feel sorry for the girl. Every moment spent with her honestly made Ceri's patience unwind another strand. She drug herself painfully to her feet, stretching slightly to try to sooth her muscles as she glared at the child. She thought to herself... some eggs are just laid rotten... this was definitely one of those.


She couldn't help chortling.... laughing to herself at the idea, turning her eyes away from the girl whom now she kept visualizing as an overgrown egg. She shook her head at her self amusement and shook off as she walked past the tied up group, right in front of the bratty girl, throwing mud and muck from her pelt all over the girl.
Elliot Aldmar
Syvis
Dulthir

 

[Elliot Aldmar]

Syvis made mention of going about in search of a change of clothes for Alexia herself. Elliot appreciated the concern, respected the commitment born of it and made manifest in the stern rising of her brow, but even if Syvis's attention had not been diverted by Alexia he would have went to search as well. Preparations needed to be made for their departure, and time was a resource. As such, he would simply need to bear the aching, stinging torments of his wounds. The time for meaningful rest lay far ahead of them, and it would have to be earned by pushing through the weight of want with the force of necessity.

So as Syvis went to Alexia to speak her mind, Elliot stiffly walked his way to the collection of felled tents.

Alexia regarded Syvis with surprise at first, wide-eyed and high-browed, and then immediately became receptive and attentive when Syvis spoke to her frankly, spoke of her emotions, her slain mother and cruel father, and even of a hint that Syvis herself had gone through something similar. Enraptured silence as Alexia listened. Sorrowful glances at the scars the elf showed her. And then, as Syvis went on and her tone became angrier, more hostile, Alexia's gaze dropped and a horrible look of abject chastisement, edging into a nascent despair, settled in. Her tiny hope, that at least one among her captors was not like her father, not like Elliot, had dimmed and faded by the end. She tried to speak as Syvis stepped back, trying to form a feeble entreaty for her to wait, but Alexia's tongue was caught in her throat. And so her eyes stayed stuck to the ground, her head lowered, and she could say nothing at all.

Elliot, as he was rigidly stooping and squatting and searching among the strewn canvases of the tents, had glanced Syvis's way as she was berating the girl. And he saw the scars upon Syvis's back, his brow narrowing with a faint but visible disapproval. He scorned the notion of fools who willingly kept their scars, likening them to people who neglected to bathe themselves and wash away the filth upon their bodies. Normally, he would outright dismiss those who brandished their scars in such a manner, sparing no ear to entertain whatever concocted stories and excuses they would conjure to justify and defend their gross disfigurement. But, in deference to Syvis's courage and commitment that she had exhibited today, Elliot made a note to at least hear what she had to say with regard to her scars. Later, when he could. He kept searching.

Meanwhile, Jack couldn't hide another brief, longing glance as Dulthir walked away with the cooked meat. By the gods, the smell alone had been heavenly. But, despite however much he wanted a bite to eat (hardly having the time to finish shaving before the chaos let alone have breakfast) if Alexia didn't have anything to eat then he wouldn't. It just didn't feel right. Mathew did not react at all to the offer of food being withdrawn.

Ceridwen came by the three of them. In front of Alexia. Shook off intentionally her dirtied pelt in their vicinity. Jack closed his eyes, tried to turn his head away as he lay there on the ground, muttered some low lamentations about this whole woeful situation, but couldn't do much else to avoid the copious sprinkling of mud. Alexia simply endured it silently with a forlorn resignation, and made no attempt to turn her head or close her eyes. Splattered now on her dress and on her body among the sweat, the water, the urine, the blood, was a scattered coat of mud that turned most of her front side brown. Mud clung to her downcast eyes, hung from her lips, dripped in globules from her chin and from her jaw, and only a quiet, indiscernible sound came from her throat. Mathew did not react at all to the pelting of mud.

Elliot had found some spare cloaks after turning over the canvas of one fallen tent--this by the time Dulthir had come to him. He was looking through the bunched-up collection of them while Dulthir spoke.

I dunna want to be here any longer than necessary.

"I hear you. Neither do I."

Elliot didn't like the idea of each of them having a captive (a fitting enough word for lack of a better one) riding saddlebag with them--not after what had happened with him and Jack. But he still had some time to ponder the matter, see if either he or someone else came up with a more secure alternative.

Meanwhile, he did find two additional dresses belonging to Alexia. Each one light and thin, practical for traveling, like the one she wore now. Two dresses--it was as if she, in her haste following the attempt on her father's life and in fleeing Alliria, had simply grabbed one in each hand from her closet and ran.

Elliot stood. Held up one of the dresses for Syvis to see. Called to her, "Here. I found one."

In the short interim of time it might take for Syvis to come over, Elliot gave a sidelong glance to Dulthir and said, "Plenty of supplies here to scavenge--the tents and bedrolls not the least of them. Inns will be a poor choice, even for a while after letting Alexia go fr--"

And it was then that Mathew collapsed. It had been a miracle of sheer willpower that kept him standing, but his legs at last gave out as crippling weakness from his prolonged exsanguination overtook him. Mathew tumbled to the dirt and Alexia along with him, tied together as they were, the girl giving a meager yelp of alarm as they did. Mathew's blood was everywhere. All down his leg, all down the back of Alexia's dress, coating his boots, darkening the ground where he had been standing prior, a mortal amount of it having been spilled by the crossbow bolt in his leg and what it had cut inside. The time to staunch the bleeding had passed, and his face was deathly pale now, his lips a sickening blue, his skin cold and his pulse fading by the second. He was unconscious, and death was near.

Jack uttered some exclamatory curses, squirming to try and get a better view of what was going on.

Alexia, her voice hoarse and tiny. "Mathew...?"

Elliot, having glanced over at the scene and making an appraisal of it in his mind, said in a cold and offhanded way to Dulthir, "That frees up a spot on the horses."

Syvis Dulthir Ceridwen