Private Tales Behind enemy lines..

[Sorai]

Sorai froze as the tremor ran through the forest. The air seemed to shudder around them, and the ground beneath her feet shifted as if something ancient and powerful had stirred. The trees—towering, ancient, and wise—shivered in unison, their leaves rattling like the clattering of bones.

A cold weight pressed down on her chest, and her heart twisted. She shifted a little closer to Myr, her gaze drifting over the trees with the overwhelming sensation of being unwanted washing over her, leaving her with a hollow ache in her chest. It wasn’t the gentle embrace of nature she had expected; it was something far more distant, cold, and unwelcoming. "Perhaps, they do mind.." she frowned softly.

There was no denying it now—the forest didn’t want her here. It wasn’t just a casual awareness, it was an active rejection. She felt like an intruder, unworthy of stepping on this sacred land, and it stung in a way that words couldn’t fully capture. The trees knew she was not one of them, and they were letting her know, clearly, that she didn’t belong.

She shook her head, her expression falling. "This place doesn't like me, does it?" she asked, her voice small, as if speaking the thought aloud made it more real, more painful. Her feet instinctively took a half-step backward and her head bowed. Her voice was small, barely above a whisper when she spoke. "I'm sorry. I don't mean any harm.." she assured, her cheeks warming slightly.

 

[Myr]

"It doesn't like what you are." Myrdin knew that the slight distinction would likely be lost on the sinking feeling in her chest. The Old Wood was something else all together, not just a thing, but a living and breathing entity.

When stepping within the forest, you stepped among it's roots and branches.

"They will understand why you are here." He said slowly. "Their memory is long, and although he was lost two hundred years ago...."

Myrdin trailed off, smiling. "That is not such a long time for them."

The elf slowly let his eyes flicker towards Katyr's body. As much as the Trees would have wished, they could not move themselves to bring him home. Their roots would only dig and grab, not shift him to where he was supposed to lay.

"Come." He motioned. "There will be a shelter beneath the roots."

Slowing only to collect Katyr's body.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai said nothing as she followed Myr, her arms wrapping around herself as if she could shield against the cold weight of rejection pressing against her ribs. It doesn't like what you are.

The distinction should have mattered. It should have softened the blow. But all she could feel was that shudder of the forest, its rejection woven into the rustling leaves, its ancient voice whispering through the branches that she did not belong. Even knowing that the trees would understand why she had come did not change the way they seemed to recoil at her presence.

She walked in silence, every step forward felt like an intrusion, like the forest itself was holding its breath, waiting for her to leave.

The roots of one of the great trees curled and twisted into the earth ahead of them, gnarled limbs thick enough to form walls, arching overhead in a natural hollow. The space beneath them was cavernous yet intimate, its floor a bed of soft, damp earth covered in the golden-brown remains of long-fallen leaves. Vines dangled from above, brushing against the ground like delicate curtains, and in the dim glow of the fading light, the space felt almost sacred—like a temple carved by time itself.

Sorai hesitated for a moment before she ducked inside, the air within the shelter cool and damp, thick with the scent of loam and old wood. She was careful not to touch the tree roots, as though afraid she might offend the giant if she did. She sat in the soft blanket of leaves and earth, making herself as small as possible by pulling her knees to her chest.

Her gaze drifted to Katyr’s body as Myr carefully settled him down. He belonged here. Even after centuries lost, even wrapped in death, the trees would know him. They would remember him.

"I would never have made it this far without you, Myr. I know you do this for him, and not me, but I am grateful for your help too." she said quietly.

 

[Myr]

As Sorai settled down, Myrdin slowly began to roam the small space beneath the tree. From the ground he picked up small scraps of bark, leaves, and even twigs that had fallen. Slowly moving around to collect his bounty piece by piece.

All of it was stacked within the small center of their root born home. "I appreciate that."

Myrdin said softly as he began to build what would clearly become their hearth. Remaining silent as he used the bark as a base, before slowly piling his tinder.

"I don't know if it's..." The Elf frowned, not looking towards his human companion, but only considering for a moment before be continued his own. "Right."

It seemed a harsh thing to say, at least from his perspective, but Myrdin had never been one to lie. He wanted to do this, he felt as though he needed to, and felt as though Sorai was a part of that. But the truth was, he did not know if it was right. "I do not know if it would have been better to simply come on my own."

Slowly he looked over at her.

"I think there will be many who call me a fool, accuse me of breaking the old oa-" He paused, and then shook his head as if deciding to leave out some detail.

"It does not matter." Myrdin continued. "I do not know if it is right, I do not know what anyone else will do or think."

He looked to Katyr. "But I think it is what he would have wanted."

Myrdin reflected quietly. "Otherwise he would not have saved you."

 

[Sorai]

Sorai's stomach twisted, a cold, sinking feeling washing over her as Myr spoke. She had been so focused on her promise, on her duty to bring Katyr home, that she had never once stopped to consider what this might mean for Myr. What he might be risking by helping her.

Her throat tightened, and she suddenly felt foolish—selfish, even—for having accepted his help so readily. She had never asked what it would cost him.

Her gaze dropped to her hands, fingers curling against the soft earth beneath her as guilt pressed down on her chest like a weight. "I didn’t—" she started, but her voice caught. She swallowed hard and tried again, softer this time. "I'm sorry. I.. didn’t realise."

She felt stupid. Had she really believed this journey would be as simple as just walking Katyr home? That Myr, an elf of this land, could guide her without consequence? Of course there would be repercussions. Of course there would be those who saw her presence as an insult.

Sorai forced herself to look at him, her expression raw with regret. "I should have thought about what this would mean for you before I asked for your help." Her voice wavered slightly, her hands balling into fists in her lap. "If they accuse you of breaking an oath, then it's my fault. I'm the reason you're risking anything at all."

Her eyes stung, and she looked away, shame burning in her chest. "If it comes to that… If it means protecting you, then leave me. I won’t let you suffer for my sake.." she frowned, looking to Katyr as she spoke the words.

It hurt to say. She didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to make it, to see this through, to stand before Katyr’s family and tell them herself. But if it meant Myr being outcast, punished, or worse…

She couldn’t let that happen. Not for her. Her eyes burned, but she steadied herself with a slow inhale.

"I’ll follow this path as far as I can. He guided me to you, he can guide me to his home."

 

[Myr]

Myr held up a hand to stop her words, his head shaking. "Whatever crime they might see, has already been done."

Using such a word felt harsh.

His people had laws of course, but there was none against bringing a human here. Not written anyway. No one would try to throw him in prison, no one would try to execute him, such was a thing of humans. But he would be shamed, and he would be looked down on.

This was a fact Myrdin had already known from the start. He understood the ways of his people, and he understood those who lived where Katyr had been born. The Elves of Leth'Loren were more hardline than others, always had been, but they loved their Prince.

They deserved to have him returned.

"I would not leave you here, nor anywhere else." He assured Sorai. "That is not right either."

A small smile touched his lips. "We make the choices we have to, and stand for what consequences come."

Gently he reached out and patted her knee.

"I knew what I was doing when I agreed to escort you." He had always known. "The Oath I break is one shattered long ago, whatever happens, I have made my choice and I stand by it."

 

[Sorai]

Sorai stared at him, searching his face for any trace of resentment, any flicker of regret—but she found none.
He had known. From the very start, he had understood the weight of this choice, the cost, and still, he had made it willingly.

Her throat tightened, the guilt not fully ebbing, but something else settling in its place—a deep, aching gratitude. He had chosen this. Even as he spoke of the shame he might face, of an oath broken long ago, there was no doubt in his voice. Her lips parted, but for a long moment, she had no words.

The warmth of his hand against her knee was fleeting, but it was grounding. A simple gesture, but it settled something in her heart. She swallowed hard, nodding as she exhaled a slow, unsteady breath. "I don’t deserve your kindness, Myr," she admitted, her voice quiet, but no longer shaking. "But I’ll do everything I can to try and be worthy of it.."

She didn’t know if that was possible—if there was any way she could make up for what her people had done, for the weight she had unknowingly placed upon his shoulders. But she would not let this be in vain.

Her gaze flickered toward Katyr’s body, then back to Myr with a short nod.

"He knew you would help me.. That you wouldn't let me be alone.." she offered a small smile. "Thank you."

 

[Myr]

”All we can ever do is what we can.” Myrdin said in response to her, the small smile on his face making it clear that he expected nothing.

Even if she wanted to give more.

In his youth he'd made the folly of expectation, and it had lead him down only a path of anger and vengeance. Sentiments he had left behind long ago, or tried to. He had made that choice for himself, not for anyone else. Not those whom he'd lost, those who remained, or those who would still come.

”I do not know if he expected me to still be here.” He said softly. ”I wonder if he expected anything at all.”

Myr understood the sentiment Sorai spoke, and he hoped with all his heart that she was right. ”But it does not matter. He chose correctly, as he usually did.”

A soft laugh escaped his throat.

”He was arrogant in that way.” Myr shook his head. ”Never believing his choices were the wrong ones.”

 

[Sorai]

Sorai let out a quiet breath, watching the way the firelight flickered across Myrdin’s face. He spoke of Katyr as if the weight of knowing him had never left his shoulders, as if even now, in death, his presence still lingered—pulling at the loose threads of his thoughts.

She understood that feeling all too well. She only wished she'd known him longer. Her fingers traced absent patterns into the dirt beneath her, letting the silence settle before she spoke again.

“He didn't doubt himself.. But his choice was wrong." she said quietly. He had suffered long enough, he deserved to go home.

She sighed, her body aching from exhaustion, from grief, from the weight of everything she still carried. “I should get some sleep,” she said finally, shifting to lay down. “Tomorrow will be…” she hesitated, then simply shook her head. “Tomorrow will come.”

She turned on her side, curling into herself, but the words she didn’t say still lingered between them.

Tomorrow would come. And with it, all the answers she wasn’t sure she was ready to face.

 

[Myr]

Sorai shifted and turned, curling into herself as the night's silence began to settle on their little clearing. "I do not think he would believe so."

The words were spoken just as she drifted off to sleep, almost as though he had put a spell on her to make sure it would be the last thing that she heard. His voice soft and soothing, and the abyss of unconsciousness coming directly on it's heels.

Hours later, with pinpricks of the sun, Sorai would feel a gentle hand shake her awake.

"Sorai." He whispered softly. "Sorai, wake up."

A tad more urgency touched his tone this time. "It is time to go."

The early light of dawn was touching them just barely within the clearing. The Great Canopy of the Old Wood blocking out more light than would make most comfortable. Yet the sun's warmth still touched them, despite the eerie fog which seemed to cling to the forest.

"The Old Wood calls." Myrdin said, and as he spoke the wind softly brushed over the two of them.