Private Tales Behind enemy lines..

[Katyr]

There it was. The City gates. The open fields.

Katyr could feel his heart shake in his chest, the thunder. A hundred years. A century. It had been so long. So long since he had seen anything but this cursed and broken place. Since he'd seen anything except for the square lines of Anirian architecture.

His breath caught in his throat. Was this it? Freedom? After so many years of isolation? Torture?

"Walk." The Elf croaked.

Katyr reached out, grabbing her shoulders. Fingers dug into her skin, pushing her along the path that was set out before them. His eyes were fixed upon the gate that lay ahead, never straying to the streets, participating in the foolish mistake of complacency.

He wanted to get out. He wanted to leave.

"Go." Katyr said, urging her forward with another shove. Every body around them ignored. The remnants of the undead attack, the writhing bodies of those still barely alive, everything completely unacknowledged.

Fingers wrapped around the back of her neck, holding her, urging her towards that gate.

 

[Sorai]

She'd have fallen forward if not for the grasp he had on the back of her neck and she let out a gasp as he shoved her forward.

"Nobody is going to try and stop you from leaving now. Please, let me return to my family." she asked as calmly as she could as she walked, her heart pounding a little harder with every step toward the gates.

 

[Katyr]

There was just the briefest pause, hesitation. A heartbeat.

The words she said were a bare echo in his ear. They may as well not have existed. An afterthought. He filled his lungs with a breath, fingers clutched tighter on the back of her neck. "Keep walking."

Katyr hissed.

The Elf all but shoved her forward, their steps taking them closer and close towards the gate. On their left and right eyes could be seen. Innocents. Women and children watched them, staring. Some in fear, some in curiosity. No one said a thing, no one stopped them or shouted.

He held his breath as they approached the gate.

Every second he expected something, someone to stop him. A Dreadlord. An arrow. A bolt from a scorpion.

Something.

Yet it never came. As he held onto Sorai's neck, as he pushed her forward dagger in his other hand, they passed through the final gate.

It was like a weight falling from his shoulders. A burden slipping away. A laugh echoed from his throat, a boisterous, almost desperate guffaw. Then she would feel him lash forward, striking her into unconsciousness and sweeping her from her feet.

 

[Sorai]

She was aware of the people who lined either side of the street, she could feel their eyes on her as they slunk back into the shadows, but she couldn't bear to look at the fear that reflected back on her. There was no question that she was already dead..

The closer she got to the gate, the weaker she felt. His elation was her defeat and her body went limp just in time for him to sweep her up. She tried to look back, her hand reaching out toward her city as though some invisible hand could drag her back home. But all she saw were those faces.

She screamed out in desperate rage and thrashed against him, her nails clawing at whatever skin she could find and her legs kicking as violently.

"Put me down! You're free! Let me go BACK!"

 

[Katyr]

There was no freedom. Not yet. Katyr knew that better than most, better than anyone could have. As she thrashed within his arms, as she bucked against his grip and did her best to paw away at his flesh The Elf gripped only tighter.

His hands dug into her, his arm wrapped around her throat. "Shhh."

Katyr silenced her.

"Go to sleep, little girl." There was a hoarseness to his throat, a tiredness. They stood in front of the gate now, a wall of corpses behind them. A tide of undead that had been stemmed by the defenders of Vel Anir.

A wall that now protected him and his prey from sight. "I'm not done with you yet."

 

[Sorai]

Her nails dug as deep as they could into his forearm, trying to pry it from her throat as she felt the blood stall as well as the air. Her mouth opened but she couldn't pull in another breath and her pulse echoed in her ears.

Slowly, she weakened. Slowly, the black spots in her vision took over and her eyes drifted closed until finally, she stilled.

 

[Katyr]

Katyr could feel the girl finally go limp in his arms. Her weight softening against his grasp, breaths growing more shallow, muscles going slack. For a moment he held her tight in his grasp, ensuring the last breath passed from her lungs before she faded from consciousness.

The Elf seemed to sigh as Sorai's weight collapsed against him fully. "What a shame. You could have been so much more."

As he spoke Katyr stroked his thumb over her cheek, and then he twisted her in his grasp. With one smooth and fluid motion he hefted her slight body over his shoulder. A glance was shot back towards the wall, his keen eyes making out a silhouette standing above the parapets.

He smiled, motioning a wave, and then began to walk into the country.

It was hours until he stopped.

The sun had dropped down below the horizon, Vel Anir lay within the distance. He'd used the last of the magic he'd taken, the little bit of power that had been left in his veins to get as far away as fast as possible. His muscles ached, his body was sore, but the city of his nightmare was far within his wake.

They were in the countryside somewhere, deep within Anirian lands. He had no idea where, but a small fire crackled just ahead of where he sat. Sorai lay off to his side, her hands bound with a strip of his own ragged clothing.

He glanced down at her, lips thinning.

A part of him wasn't sure why he had kept her, why he hadn't just left her in front of the Anirians walls. Had someone asked him he might have said a bargaining chip for the future, in case they chased him. In truth though, he wasn't entirely sure.

An impulse, a mistake? Katyr didn't know.

 

[Sorai]

Her sleep was fitful, as though her subconscious was trying to kick her into consciousness but her body refused to wake. Her brow furrowed and she let out a croak of a sound as she finally roused. She swallowed and winced at the pain, her fingers curling into the dirt and pine needles she lay on, and her eyes snapped open as her memory flooded back. She drew in the sharp gasp of air she'd tried to draw earlier, as though checking that she could still breathe, but she coughed and rolled onto her back, trying to draw her hands apart.

She wasn't dead. At least not yet.

Sorai blinked up at the trees, the light of the elf's fire flickering its warm glow on the canopy. She swallowed again, her mouth dry..

"If you're going to kill me.." she rasped and cleared her throat. "Then what are you waiting for? If not...Why am I here?.." she asked, but the question terrified her. Still, she had to ask. Her head turned to look up at him..

 

[Katyr]

Katyr glanced over towards the girl as she stirred, her voice hoarse and barely audible over the crackle of the flames.

A breath filled his lungs. A drag of fresh air that he had not tasted for what seemed like an eternity. His eyes close, and he allowed himself to linger within the scent. His silvery hair seemed to wave within the wind as he sat there, and then slowly he looked down at her. "Insurance."

The lie that he told himself.

"They'll come looking for me." Katyr said softly. "At least with you I'll be able to stave them off."

How many Dreadlords had he slaughtered on his way out? A dozen? Two? He hadn't been able to keep track. All of it had been a mad dash, a desperate attempt for escape. Now that he was here it almost seemed like a trap of some sort.

A trick. "What year is it?"

He demanded before she could ask anything else.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai's brow knit at his question and she rolled onto her side to face him, her voice slow and calm despite the fear raging on in her mind. She was afraid to answer, having wondered how long he'd been in Vel'Anir's dungeons.

"Who will come looking for you? Half of the city's soldiers are dead, Dreadlords too. My family might well be dead for all I know. They watched you take me, and nobody tried to stop you. Nobody is looking for either of us." she frowned..

 

[Katyr]

Katyr frowned, listening to her words. He'd seen the chaos of course, the battle, the undead. He wasn't a fool, but...nor had he known just how serious it had all been either. Lips thinned for a brief moment as she spoke of all the death, the destruction.

Was this the end of Vel Anir?

Had his own people done this? No...Fal'Addas would never sink so low. Even a thousand years could pass and the Thorned Crown would never use the undead. It was simply unthinkable. His head shook slowly. "They were ordinary men, women. Did you expect them to jump to your rescue when you've stood upon their backs for so long?"

Katyr could only assume that truth still held within Vel Anir. The inequality of the nobility. The righteousness of her kind. "What year is it?"

He asked again.

"What...what happened?" He was weary to admit his own ignorance, but what was she to do? Her hands were bound. Her knife lay at his hip. She was his only hope. The idea that he might offer her some escape.

 

[Sorai]

"No." she answered quickly. "I didn't." she frowned, her tone a little sharper. "And I haven't stood on anyone." she protested in a quiet muttering.

She was silent for a moment as he repeated his question.

"Necromancers sent an army of our dead to wipe us out." she told him quietly as she slowly tried to work her wrists free of their bindings. "They were defeated, barely, and then the guard.. It was like it'd been planned for months." she frowned. Her own father had been part of it and she'd had no idea..

"They rose up against the houses.. Well, most of them, I think.." she swallowed.

"It's 370."

 

[Katyr]

Katyr's eyebrows rose. "So it wasn't us."

He sounded almost disappointed. The Elf had always known it was not their way, but a small part of him had hoped. Wished that something beyond the norm had been done.

Lips thinned, and slowly he shook his head.

He was out. Gone from that wretched city, out of the horror of their prison. That was enough, and perhaps it was better that they were tearing themselves apart than that more Elven lives were being lost. He took a breath, staring down at her.

"A century, more." Katyr said, his hand raising up to thread through his hair. "More than a lifetime for your kind."

He scowled, reaching out and grasping her throat. Fingers wrapped around her delicate skin, dragging her to him. His eyes met Sorai's, face just inches away. "Can you even understand how long that is?"

 

[Sorai]

Her head shook, a silent confirmation that her city had imploded and that her people were tearing one another apart without any help from the elves. Her stomach churned..

A century...

Her lips parted, but there was nothing but stunned silence in answer until his hand was once again around her throat and she let out a strangled cry as he pulled her toward him. Her wide, brown eyes shifted between his, her fear crystal clear in them as her head shook.

"N-no. I ca-n't.." she admitted, her eyes tearing up as she struggled to breathe. Her expression was a silent plea to let go, the sound of her heart drumming wildly in her ears.

 

[Katyr]

Rage consumed him, anger. It welled through his chest and grew through his very heart. It could be read on his face, in his eyes. His very soul seemed to burn with rage and anger, lips thinned as his fingers tightened around her throat.

He squeezed, his touch bruising as he strangled the life from her.

Katyr stared into her eyes as he held her there. Piercing blue matching a calm sea of tanned color of her iris. His lips pressed together in a scowl, the runes upon his throat beginning to burn. Then suddenly he tossed her back and away from himself.

"Ksh." The Elf Spat as he threw Sorai onto the floor.

He seemed to tremble as she fell, the fingers that had held her throat just a second ago closing into a fist.

 

[Sorai]

For seconds that felt like minutes, she was certain that this would be how she died, staring back at a pair of crystalline eyes that held the rage and hate of all elves who'd ever been harmed by a human. Again, she tried not to cry. She tried not to look as afraid as she felt and graciously accept that this was it. She didn't want to die, that much was clear already, but it seemed just as clear that this was his decision to make and whatever she said or did held no sway in it.

She thought of her home, of her family and friends, of what her life was supposed to be and now never would. Her brow furrowed gently against the bruising pain under his fingertips and the screaming agony of her lungs as her heart started to slow and she was once again on the brink of unconsciousness, this time doubting she'd wake again.

It took a moment for her body to remember how to breathe as she hit the ground. Her back arched from the ground and she tried to gasp only to cough as air flooded back into her chest. She dragged each greedy breath in, her eyes streaming as she coughed uncontrollably for a moment and wearily rolled onto her side and tried to drag herself a little further away from him with a quiet sob..

"Why can't you just do it.." she quivered and coughed again. The fear was growing tiring, the expectation of death only to be let live was torture in itself, like trapping an animal and letting it go only to capture it again.

"I'm sorry, for what my people done to you." she whispered, her throat too painful to speak much louder, but she was sure he'd hear her anyway. "But I can't change it. Hurting me won't give you any of those years back, and I'm not the one who locked you up."

 

[Katyr]

"BECAUSE I'M BETTER THAN YOU!" His voice boomed out within the clearing, a dozen birds suddenly jumping from their perch and sounding their songs. Woodland critters running in fear as the echo of his tone resounded through the trees.

The tattoos on his flesh seemed to spark as he spoke, a surge running through them.

Katyr seemed almost to recoil as they rushed through his skin, his fingers clenching into fists as he drew in a sharp breath mixed with pain. Eyes scrunched closed for a moment, his expression flittering with pain as he pulled back and away from Sorai.

As she spoke the words seemed to roll over him. Excuses. Justifications.

She wasn't one of them, but her father, grandfather, cousins, Uncles. Someone. All of them maybe. They had tortured him, tried to break them. They were all the same. All of them monsters in their own way. He scowled, his eyes opening.

He stared down at her, teeth clicking together.

She was right.

Deep down. Within the depths of his should Katyr knew that she was. He had been taught as much his whole life. Not to blame humanity. Not to blame the innocents, but only those who came to the Falwood. The Dreadlords that came to burn his home.

He knew that. He remembered it, but the rage, the anger was still there.

Slowly he reached out, fingers lacing through the hem of her shirt as he grasped the cloth above her chest. Gently, almost painstakingly, he drew her up from the ground and onto her haunches.

For a moment he seemed to watch her, looking at her like a predator would prey. Every word played through his mind, fingers holding her in place. Then slowly he let her go, his head shaking.

"Eat." He said, pulling up a makeshift platter of what appeared to be roasted vegetables.

 

[Sorai]

His voice seemed caused even her very bones to tremble. There was no hiding the jolt it sent through her, nor the way she seemed to curl up like a frightened child. She remained silent in fear of angering him any further, but she watched. Sorai knew pain in others well enough to know that something was hurting him, and she watched those tattoos warily.

She tensed as he moved toward her again, her eyes fixed on his as he reached out to pull her up and her breaths short and sharp with a tremble here and there, half expecting that blade to reappear and be run across her throat. Then, he let her go...

Eat?...

A surge of relief flooded through her again, though she couldn't deny the anger she felt. Was he doing this on purpose, or was he really so troubled as to whether or not he would kill her? Her dark eyes fell on the food he'd offered, and rose to him warily as she settled herself.

"I.." she swallowed, and gestured to the bindings she'd been unable to loosen around her wrists.

 

[Katyr]

Katyr looked her up and down for a brief moment, lips thinning. "Don't."

The Elf began as he drew the knife from his hip. The platter of food was placed down onto the ground besides him. Then, with a surprisingly gentle touched her wrapped his fingers around her wrist, tugging her close to himself so that they were once again a mere inches away.

"Run." Katyr finished as he cut through the ragged cloth and allowed her the freedom of her hands once more.

His expression was stern, serious.

He wouldn't hesitate if she made a move, to stand. He still needed her, for one reason or another. Even if he did not know why himself.

Without a word he slid the platter close to her once more.

 

[Sorai]

She felt her heart stumble over itself in her chest as he drew the blade again, recalling the fear the steel had wrought in her and the cold bite of it against her throat. She frowned at it, and seemed to stop breathing as he pulled her so close to him.

Sorai shook her head slowly in answer. She wouldn’t get far if she tried, and even if she managed to run and hide, she’d have to stop breathing or halt her heart in her chest to stop him from hearing her. No, she wouldn’t run, not whilst there wasn’t a chance in hell of her making it.

“Thank you.” she said quietly, unable to meet his gaze as she rubbed at her wrists and fixed her dishevelled state somewhat.

She had no desire to converse with him, not after everything he’d done or what he’d put her through, but she was trying to be logical. He didn’t have to feed her, nor cut her bindings to allow her to eat. He didn’t have to resist his anger and urge to hurt her some more, or worse. But he had.. Perhaps, there was some way through. Some other way to escape and get back home alive.

“What’s your name?..” she asked softly..

 

[Katyr]

The Elf watched her carefully as she rubbed at her wrists. A flash of memory carried through his mind.

Chains still bound him. Black steel wrapped around his ankles, his wrists, tight against his throat. Runes etched within the metal. It burned each time he spoke, each time he moved or shifted. Every time he called upon the magic still settled within his core.

He could feel them break. Could feel the wall explode behind him and the links suddenly tear away. His hands wrapped around the manacles, tearing, biting, scratching. Blood slicked his skin, his thumbs snapped, and then suddenly he was free.

A shiver shook his core, and Katyr snapped back into the moment.

His head seemed to lull for a moment, eyes closing as he dragged a forceful breath back into his lungs. He looked up as she spoke, asking his name. "Katyr El'Sur."

The Elf responded, his voice barely audible as he stared into the flames.

"Or it used to be." His fingers reached up, slowly tracing along his wrists, the marks that had embedded in his flesh there.

 

[Sorai]

It was as though she could see how haunted he was, the way his gaze grew distant, the shiver and gasp of air, the way he grew quiet. Her eyes fell on his wrists and confirmed her suspicion, and she felt a writhe of guilt in her stomach now that she knew what fear truly was.

"If it was then it still is.." she answered quietly as she reached for a roasted beet and took a small bite. "My name is Sorai.." she told him, hoping that killing something with a name might be more difficult a thing to do, though she doubted it.

"Are you... In pain?.." she asked cautiously as she ate..

 

[Katyr]

He looked at her with confusion, lips thinning. "Maybe."

Katyr wasn't sure.

Had they taken his name? Had they taken away who he was? They hadn't been able to kill him, or perhaps they had thought it amusing not to. Yet who he had once been seemed to distant, so far away. A century was a tenth of his lifetime, and yet it had felt an eternity.

"They probably think I'm dead." He said quietly, looking up towards the south, towards home.

A small sad smile touched his lips, his head shaking.

His fingers ran over where he had been bound on his wrists.

"Yes." Katyr admitted quietly, his voice not accusing, but simply truthful. "A gift from your people."

 

[Sorai]

He was talking to her at least. It was better than yelling at her or strangling her to within an inch of her life, but she knew how fragile his temper seemed and so she'd try to be as careful as she could. She followed his gaze, assuming by 'they' he had meant his people. His family. Those he'd been taken away from, just as now, she too had been.

Wherever his home was, the thought of visiting it caused her hands to tremble slightly until she balled them into fists.

Her gaze narrowed in a slight wince as he spoke of his pain and she sighed quietly. "I.. can try to help, if you let me. I was learning to be a healer."

 

[Katyr]

Katyr glanced down at his wrists as she spoke of healing. Eyes wandering over the deep red gashes that still lay within his flesh. He knew that they would stay there, for months, perhaps years if they were not treated properly.

The chains they had kept him in were created for such things.

Her offer was tempting. Dangerously so. The pain still wound it's way through his body. Burning from his wrists, his ankles, his throat. It was a constant reminder of the century he had suffered through. A taxing agony that he dealt with even now.

It was that same agony that reminded him though; her kind was not to be trusted.

"No." The word was quick, harsh. A dog barking at a woman who stepped to close.

His fingers tightened.

"Not now." Katyr added quietly. "When we're closer..."

The Elf glanced at her. "Maybe."