Private Tales Broken Compacts

[Órlaith]

How could he possibly smile at a time like this? Her expression was the portrait of panic and pure fear. They were going to kill him and drag her back there, and even if they did make it they wouldn't stop hunting them. Her eyes teared up as she looked at him and nodded, letting him guide her through the buildings.

She was trying to move as quickly as she could whilst taking care not to trip over fallen furniture or knock anything over. The drake would hear a pin drop in the otherwise silent cavernous city. Each time they opened another door onto another street she looked up, flinching at the sound of screeching as the beast hunted, the rider on it's back still calling out for her in a final warning.

The smell of thick smoke filled her nose as they opened the next door, and she realised that the buildings across the little alleyway were burning.. Òrlaith looked to Cal with a deep frown. "He's going to smoke us out." Or trap them in a ring of flame and burn them to death.

"We need to move."

 

[Cal]

It was a nightmare. A hellscape. What many back home would have seemed like an eternity in the abyss.

Heat. Smoke.

It lingered within the air, bit at the lungs, carved at the throat. Cal could feel it. It scratched at his skin, tore at his very soul. They would be burnt out. They would be chased into the streets, and there was absolutely nothing that they could do.

Cal nodded his head. "Alright."

He said quietly.

"Alright." Cal said with a nod. "Run."

It was the only way. "Run and don't stop until you reach that gate. Don't look back, don't look up. Just keep running."

Lips thinned.

"Understand?" He didn't give her a second to answer. He didn't let her argue. Cal leaned in and kissed her, a fierce press of his lips that cut off anything she could have said. "Run."

 

[Órlaith]

Òrlaith nodded quickly at him, failing to hide the panic in her eyes as he spoke, her lips parting to speak when he kissed her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she kissed him back, saying everything she possibly could without words.

She stared at him for a moment and pulled in a breath before she turned and did as he asked. She ran as fast as she possibly could, grimacing at the searing heat and the piercing screeches of the drake, leaping over debris and dodging tumbling walls as she made for the gate without looking back.

 

[Cal]

Cal glanced back one last time, looked above them.

His breath caught in his throat. His eyes squeezed shut, and then he darted after Orlaith. He moved as quickly as he could, he ran faster than he had ever thought he could. With panic in his heart he moved after the love of his life, dashing over fallen rocks and ancient debris.

Above them he could hear the flapping of wings, the shifting of a drake within the air. A roar echoed through the air, a powerful breath.

"You Insolent, stupid little girl!"​

The words echoed through the sky, resounding through the fallen city as the lovers ran.

Cal didn't glance back. Didn't look at the beast chasing them. Instead he simply ran. His feet pounded against the heavy stone, thundering within his ears as the Gates drew nearer and nearer. As they came upon them Orlaith would feel a pulse within her palm.

A soft and dull ache.

It resounded around her flesh, a gentle glow consuming her hand...and then the ground rumbled.

The whole city seemed to shake, shift, as the gates before them began to peel themselves apart.

 

[Órlaith]

She could feel the fire chasing them, felt the buildings crumble behind her, but she didn't look back. Her muscles screamed at her in protest, her lungs burned as she breathed hard, heavy breaths of smoky air. Órlaith winced and lifted her hand as she felt the pulse, her gaze widening on the gates as they started to open.

Her heart pounded. They could make it. He was still with her.. They were almost there..

Soon her feet were on the bridge, her legs no longer felt like her own. She didn't slow, even as the bridge shuddered underneath her, as it started to crumble away.

She wouldn't look back.

 

[Cal]

Cal had never wished for a moment more that he had some sort of magic. That he could better protect Orlaith, that he could somehow make sure they would be okay. Another roar echeod behind them, the sound of the dragon reaching over the crumbling stone.

Every step they took seemed to spurn the falling debris. Every move they made caused the bridge to collapse further.

Cal ran as fast as he could, sticking behind Orlaith just in case. Then it happened. A loud crack the shattering of stone, the falling of a bridge. A massive gap opened just ahead of them, crumbling into the lava below and leaving them stranded. Fuck fuck fuck.

He swore to himself, fingers reaching for the whip at his back.

"KEEP GOING!"His voice boomed out as they neared the gap. "Hang on!"

The whip lashed out and forward, reaching to one of the massive statues above and catching on it's arm. As they ran Cal grabbed Orlaith, sweeping her off her feet as they jumped over the gap and used the whip to swing across.

He let it go as soon as they landed, tumbling onto the ground and sweeping upwards onto their feet. "Go go go!"

Cal screamed as they continued to run, bursting out of the massive gate and onto the other side of the Spine.