Private Tales Behind enemy lines..

[Katyr]

Katyr considered for a brief moment, frowning.

There was silence, a silence that seemed to hang in the air for so long it would have been easy to assume he was simply ignoring her. Then finally he spoke. "When we reach the Falwood."

A few days yet, but the argument she had made was sound. The Falwood was his territory, his lands. Pursuing him would take an army, and most Dreadlords were smart enough to know that. He could turn her loose there and be safe.

"I will tell you the way to the nearest settlement." That would have to be enough, for he would not take her there.

He frowned, then added. "But I do not think you want to go home with that man."

Nor anyone like him.

 

[Sorai]

Hope bloomed in her chest and she drew in a deep breath, unable to help but allow her lips to twitch into a faint smile. She squeezed the arm that her hand rested upon in mute appreciation and nodded in agreement of the plan. Silently, she hoped the settlement he spoke of wouldn't be too far, the least amount of time she had to spent alone in the wilderness, the better, but she wasn't about to complain about being set free.

Again, he mentioned the man who'd come looking for her and she frowned.. "Why?... You know him?.." she asked. It also occurred to her that he'd clearly developed some level of concern over her welfare that until now she hadn't realised..

 

[Katyr]

"No, but I know his ilk." Katyr said with a slight frown, unsure of how to explain himself. "When..."

It occurred to him in that moment that he had never spoken about his torture to anyone. He'd never had the opportunity to. Even those who had delivered his food had never cared, and half the time his tongue had been held out of pure spite an hatred.

Decades had passed since he'd felt a moment of kindness.

Kindness that Sorai had shown him.

A frown pulled at his lips for a moment more, and then he continued. "When I was first taken, it was his sort that spoke to me."

He mused.

"You can always tell by their eyes. Something in them has been broken, snapped." Katyr had seen it often. "Not all Dreadlords have it, but he does. That man has no good intentions towards you."

That much Katyr was certain of.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai frowned softly at him as he spoke, realising how difficult he must have found it to speak of such things.

"Yes.. I think I've seen eyes like those before." she sighed. "You don't have them." she observed with a tilt of her head and a small smile.

"We'll avoid him." she agreed quietly. "But we should get moving before the place is swarming.."

 

[Katyr]

"I never killed for fun." Katyr said, a truth that would perhaps be difficult for her to swallow given what she had seen him do.

With a nod though he picked up what meager supplies they had and began to step towards the entrance.

He was still weary, more than weary. Trust was not an easy thing for him to come by, certainly not for a human. Yet Sorai had been right. She'd had more than a few opportunities to run, to trick him, to try and get away. She hadn't.

That earned her something at least.

Yet the presence of a Dreadlord was a mark of something. If one was after her who was to say there would not be more? "East, then south."

He told her as they left the cave, stepping into the din of a foggy morning.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai felt her stomach tighten at the mention of killing for 'fun' and she paled slightly, recalling how he'd seemed to enjoy killing Rhea and those soldiers who'd tried to help her. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and though she tried not to think about the things she'd seen him do, she knew that she'd be stupid to forget about it, even if he did seem different now. He had done those things.

She frowned and nodded as she got up to follow him outside. Her earthy gaze scanned the area for any sign of movement, the morning dew sparkling like scattered diamonds in the grasses. She saw nothing but she supposed if there was anyone nearby, Katyr would hear them before she'd see them. Sorai looked up at him to be sure before setting off into the trees.

 

[Katyr]

He nodded, and then another piece of their trek began.

In the days before he had carried her, taken her through the woods and old forgotten paths. Now they moved along a cliffs edge. Their trail was one that required care, and purposefully so. Katyr wanted pursuit to be difficult, especially for those with numbers.

As he walked the Elf began to think. He considered everything he knew, what had happened, how he had gotten free. "What happened?"

He asked as they crested a small hill.

"In Vel Anir." Katyr explained. "Why were the streets in Chaos?"

He'd never questioned why. The Prison had shook, an explosion had torn a crag within the wall, and it had been the opportunity he'd waited for for Decades. Never had he thought of why. Not in the last few days.

Now though, it seemed important.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai wasn't used to terrain such as that Katyr led her through. She wasn't used to venturing far at all, but she walked without complaint, even if her feet ached and her legs burned. She gazed out across the vast landscape, the fall colours creating a pretty patchwork blanket over the forests and meadows, sewn together with vibrant, azure rivers. His world was quite beautiful.

She looked at him, still catching her breath as he questioned her about the carnage in her city, and her stomach twisted to think about it. Her shoulders rose and fell and her head shook in thought. "There was much talk of a revolution. The guard rose up against the great houses, some Dreadlords turned against their own houses and others remained loyal. They must have been planning it for some time, my father was on the side of the rebellion but I had no idea. They just..started killing one another. Even Luana.." she stopped herself. She'd given only her father's name, they'd been a far smaller house, but her mother's family name reached a lot further.

"I assume you're aware of the life of a dreadlord.. They want to change the way of things." she added and cleared her throat. "Can we rest a little?.." she asked hesitantly.

 

[Katyr]

Katyr stopped even before she asked for a rest.

The moment she mentioned Revolution, Dreadlords rebelling, the Elf found himself utterly stunned. He could not wrap his mind around the idea, he could not quite place even the thought. It seemed so...impossible. Everything he knew of Dreadlords, everything he had ever been told.

They were trained from birth, conditioned. More weapons than men.

What free-will they had left was spent on those whom they chose to show mercy, nothing more, nothing less. The idea that they could strike out, make their own decisions...it was utterly...wrong to Katyr. Going against everything he knew of the Anirian mages.

"I..." He hesitated. "Yes. Rest."

A frown touched his face, and then he seemed to catch himself. "For a few minutes."

They couldn't sit all day.

It was clear though that what she'd said had shaken him.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai practically flopped into the grass in relief, her eyes closing for a brief moment as she drew in a few long and deep breaths, letting her aching muscles ease off. The air was cool, but the late afternoon sun was warm and pleasant on her face and she sighed in reprieve.

"Are you...alright?.." she asked after a while, looking up at him quizzically. She'd been shaken to the bone by what she'd seen befall her city, her family and friends. But she hadn't expected Katyr to have such a contemplative reaction to it. For him, it could only have been a good thing. More humans were dead, Vel' Anir was weakened and in ruins, and she assumed it had been the reason he'd managed to break free of whatever prison cell they'd kept him in.

 

[Katyr]

"I...did not think such a thing was possible." Katyr explained with a frown.

Throughout his entire life, all of his training, he ahd been utterly assured that the Dreadlords were little more than slaves. They were weapons to be used against the Elves and in case the populace ever turned upon the houses.

The idea that they could rebel was utterly shocking.

Had that much really changed over the course of a hundred years? What else had he missed? Where his people even the same at this point? Humans...changed faster than his own people, he knew that, yet this was the first time he had even contemplated the thought.

He frowned, looking down at her. "How do you know Luana turned?"

The Elf asked, wondering if all the Dreadlords had turned or only some.

 

[Sorai]

"I just.. I recognised one or two of them, that's all.." she answered with a shake of her head and dropped her gaze. "But, there were Dreadlords fighting other Dreadlords, and the guard, I.. I'm not sure how many rebelled."

"I didn't think it was possible either." she admitted. "My father never cared about what they done to the Dreadlords.. How they trained them. I.. suppose he hoped to gain a higher standing if the great houses fell.." she frowned, her cheeks warming with shame over her people's obsession with power.

 

[Katyr]

Katyr narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, fingers running over his knees as he squatted down to rest. Lips thinned for a moment, but slowly he nodded his head.

Perhaps there was something more to dig into there, but...for some reason he did not feel the need. Sorai had been trustworthy so far, and he was not them. She was his captive, but not his prisoner. As small as that distinction was, it mattered to him.

"They start as children." He said quietly.

"Some as young as five or six, barely old enough to understand." Katyr frowned. "At the start of the war there were schools near the Falwood. They used the forest as a training ground, throwing them there to survive."

He could still remember tracking them, tracing the children as they wandered through the Falwood in a desperate attempt to survive. "They were tools, even then."

Slowly the Elf shook his head.

"Your father." He asked, not interrogating, but simply asking. "Was he a good man?"

 

[Sorai]

Sorai's gaze was set firmly on the ground as he spoke of the children, her fingers fidgeting. It had just been their way. Dreadlords weren't the same as normal humans. They were stronger, far stronger, they were built for such things, they could cope..

Sorai had been just as brainwashed as everyone else she'd grown up with. She was taught to fear anything not human, and that their armies and Dreadlords were there to protect them from the abominable creatures outside the Anirian walls. Those creatures were bloodthirsty, those creatures were evil.

His question caused her eyes to raise slightly and her brow to furrow. "He.. I think so..." she said, a little uncertainly. She'd realised recently that she hadn't known the man as much as she'd thought, given that a secret like his place in the rebellion had been kept from her. "I suppose, he didn't have too much time for me. He wanted a son, as most men do." she shrugged slightly.

"He was.. Strict, but he was never cruel. He wanted the best for me, wanted to find only the best suitors from the best families. But, I suppose that's what was best for him.." she frowned. "He'd been so angry when I told him a boy wanted to court me, because he'd never heard of his last name." she laughed under her breath and dropped her gaze again, her stomach twisting.

Had her father only married her mother for her name? Had she chosen someone of lesser status, would he have stood in the way of her happiness?..

"I'm not really sure why it all matters so much.."

 

[Katyr]

Katyr listened with a surprising amount of interest. He frowned at points, but never spoke over Sorai or interjected.

Instead the elf waited until she finished. The question hung in the air, and although it was rhetorical Katyr felt the need to answer. His shoulders rolled for a moment, hand coming up to slowly thread through his hair. "I know very little of your politics."

He admitted.

"We were taught how to fight Dreadlords, not your game of houses." Though throughout the war Katyr had come to understand that the two were linked in a way. Each Dreadlord has served a house, and sometimes their interests had not all aligned.

His Captain had always assumed it had something to do with bloodlines. Certain houses breeding with others to create more powerful Dreadlords, though Katyr had later learned it was not so.

"Perhaps he thought you would not be safe." Katyr offered in ignorance. "A weaker House might pose a more dangerous home."

He shrugged. "It is clear you are...important."

At least enough to have a Dreadlord after her.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai gave a huff of a laugh as she lifted her eyes to look at him, her lips curling into a genuine smile. "Are you trying to mollify me?.." her head shook, but she shrugged, deciding to oblige him.

"Perhaps you're right." she answered. It was how her father would likely have explained it to her, but she knew how powerful men became powerful men, and her father wanted that more than anything. She didn't doubt that her father loved her, and didn't doubt that she was important to him, but if she died he'd mourn the loss of a potential marriage to a powerful house as much as he'd mourn her.

She sighed and pushed herself to her feet to rock back and forth once on them. "Shall we go on?.." she asked with a glance toward the sun which was well on its descent.

 

[Katyr]

Katyr lingered for a moment more.

Briefly he wondered if his people knew anything about this... situation. In days passed they had always monitored Vel Anir, watched things closely. It had been the smart thing to do, keeping an eye on the enemy. The task had always been dangerous, incredibly so, but worth it. He wondered if they did the same in peace time.

For some reason he doubted it, but he was eminently curious. "Yes."

The Elf eventually agreed. His head dipped in a nod, and he decided that for now it was best to focus on survival. They still had to skirt around the nearest human settlements, and after that they would have to ensure whoever this Dreadlord was didn't find them.

Then he could worry about what his people did or did not know.

"We continue west, then south." He told her, pulling himself up onto his feet and motioning for her to begin. Katyr would take up the rear this time, a small inkling in the back of his mind telling him it was the right thing to do.

 

[Sorai]

Her brow quirked as he motioned for her to go first, wondering if she'd said something to lose a little of the trust she'd gained. She gave a shy, tight-lipped smile and nodded in understanding as she turned to continue on.

Sorai was still clumsy on her feet, though she managed not to fall at least, instead stumbling this way and that every so often. It only got worse the more tired she got and the more her legs and feet ached, but she kept going without complaint, only checking over her shoulder every so often to make sure he was still following her.. She wasn't sure why she worried that he mightn't be.

She paused by a river that was roaring and white with the rush of the current. "Is there a way to cross?.." she asked, looking up and down the river before turning to look back at Katyr.

 

[Katyr]

As they walked, the Elf seemed to trail behind Sorai. A few times he would reach up and touch a tree, there would be a soft pulse, and then he would continue onward. He never once spoke, and each time when Sorai looked back he was almost directly behind her.

Katyr glanced down stream for a few seconds, not answering Sorai's question.

After a few seconds his gaze flickered back towards her. "I'm not sure."

He said in all honesty.

"There was once a bridge, just a few miles down from here." Katyr could remember that well enough, it had been the only crossing. A strategic holding point, so much so that a fort had been built around it. "I'm not sure if it has survived."

Again he glanced back towards the way they had come, frowning. "We might be best served finding a shallow point and simply swimming across."

 

[Sorai]

"I.." she blinked, turning to look at him. The river was anything but calm, who knew how far they'd have to walk to find somewhere safe enough to cross. She couldn't swim, and she'd been about to tell him that but had realised how pathetic it sounded before she'd said it. Around him, she wanted to be anything but helpless.

"I'm not a very strong swimmer.." she amended, it didn't sound much better, but a little better than the truth of the matter. She'd never been in water deep enough to swim in before. "But if we must.." she shrugged and turned to continue on down river, hoping to find the bridge he spoke of..

 

[Katyr]

Katyr nodded absently, still somewhat preoccupied with something behind them. "Lets go."

He said, only half noticing that Sorai was already wandering ahead down the trail.

It took them another hour or so before the bridge came into view, though calling it that was a stretch. What had once been a beautiful artisan work of stone was now a crumbling sham. A single arch of masonry bowed over the river, on either side a broken and ragged fortress.

Katyr's breath caught as the structure came into view. "They must have..."

The Elf trailed off for a moment, coming to a stop and glancing towards Sorai.

"It must have been destroyed during the war." He continued. "No army could cross that."

But they could. Barely. "Come on."

Katyr motioned, an eagerness to his voice as they headed towards the destroyed fortress on their side of the riverbank.

 

[Sorai]

Her legs were so weak that they trembled and threatened to buckle every few steps, but she tried not to slow. It wasn't that she was eager to get closer to the Falwood, but that now she clung to the hope that he'd live up to his side of their bargain and let her go once they got there. And, the last thing she wanted to do was complain, she was too stubborn to complain.

She frowned at the crumbling structure and looked over her shoulder at him as he spoke of war and armies. The thought had always frightened her, and for that reason alone she was glad that she was born into wealth and didn't have to worry about such things. She felt a rise of guilt at the thought, and her lips pressed into a thin line as she nodded and followed him.

 

[Katyr]

The two of them stepped into the shambles of a fortress.

Where once there had been mighty walls and a huge keep there now was only rubble. Fallen stone was scattered everywhere, moss covering most of it. An emptiness seemed to hold to the structure, and a gust of wind echoed the silence around them.

There was something...off about this place. "Stay close."

Katyr said quietly, glancing back towards Sorai.

"Something is...wrong here." He could not have put into words what, but he could feel it. A trickle of magic over his spine, a touch of something more. Lips thinned as he stepped beyond the fallen wall, goosebumps running over his skin.

In the distance the setting sun cast a gloomy orange light upon them.

 

[Sorai]

Sorai frowned at him, shuffling a step or two closer. If whatever was 'wrong' here was enough to concern Katyr, then she ought to be very afraid of it. She barely blinked as she looked around, the shadows cast in the orange gloom playing tricks with her mind, contorting them into shapes of beasts and cloaked figures.

Her pulse quickened slightly and she let out a shudder of a breath as a shiver ran down her spine.

"What is it? Shouldn't we find another way?.." she whispered, afraid she might disturb whatever eeriness lay around them.

 

[Katyr]

"It's..." How could he put it into words? Lips thinned for a brief moment as he hesitated, glancing around the ruins.

The shadows seemed to shift, a trick of the light perhaps...or something more. He frowned, and then very gently reached out and grabbed Sorai. His hand softly gripped her shoulder, and gently he pushed her forward towards the bridge. "No."

He said quietly.

"I don't think there's another safe crossing for miles and..." Katyr frowned. "Something is following us."

There was a slight shift in his voice, but he did not let go of Sorai. "Stay close, whatever lurks in this place is an echo."

Something that had been left behind, the reason that no one had taken back this fortress. The reason that it still stood.