Private Tales Crossing Over

[Keernan]

"Oh."

He looked to the two hounds and then back at Syuri. So this was how she worked her way under their skin. He had no way to know if this was a parlour trick, or if this really meant something.

He had died. He had been an elf and then he had died. Whatever spirit had latched onto him in those moments had felt so...innocent...primal. It hadn't felt like a person.

"If it helps, I have never felt as if there was another...someone...trying to get out. Not even when she started tearing me apart. Whatever found me as I died, gave me these powers, we can't survive apart. I'm not going anywhere," he said firmly.

"I don't know how to kill her," he admitted. He bent over and tightened the bind round his leg again. "I don't know if she'll give us the chance."

Everything had changed. They were truly on the run now from something that seemed to be able to track them anywhere. What he feared more than her, was the thought that Syuri might not look at him in the way she had last night ever again.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri nodded uncertainly as he spoke, her gaze shifting between the hounds. She didn't trust them one bit, nor did the ginger cat still hiding in her bag. As he assured that he wasn't going anywhere she looked back at him and sighed with a nod. It'd been something she had to hear and it eased her fears a little.

"How bad is the wound? I can take a look at it.." she offered softly, a hand settling on his shoulder. Her chest felt tight as she looked at him. She knew how she'd made him feel when she'd recoiled from him, she'd seen it in his face. She'd grown close to him and already something was forcing its way between them.

She sighed, offering a small, apologetic smile.

"I suppose I should be careful what I wish for in future.." she laughed awkwardly under her breath..

 

[Keernan]

"You'll take this to the others?" the huntsman asked. He turned his horned head towards the Aralyssian before dropping to one knee to feed each hound a strip of jet black flesh.

"They asked for proof...but last time they were too afraid. I was the one who struck the blow. I'll be the one to do it again. There is no need to be hasty. There might yet be more of him lurking there. It needs to be quick and decisive."

"The elf?"

"I gave her a chance. She can run or die. Just track them both. From a distance. I need to think. Do not let them see you."

---

Syuri was trying. If Keernan had shifted her world by taking her across the veil to see the potential malice in the face world, the Aralyssian had tried to shatter it with these visions.

It was going to take some time for her to recovery. Keernan had plenty of sympathy and patience, he always had. He knew that came from before his death. Time, they did not have.

"It's not bleeding much," he said, more concerned at leaving a trail than anything else. "Let's get moving and stay off the road."

 

[Syuri]

Her eyes narrowed with a small, if forced smile as she nodded in agreement. "Alright." she answered quietly and stood back from him, clearing her throat as she looked back to the beasts that sat staring expectantly at Keernan.

"I suppose, they'll follow..." she frowned, feeling less than thrilled at the thought of them at her back.

Syuri fell to silence as they moved through the forest, her nerves set on a hair trigger and every sound or breeze had her gaze shifting, all while trying to keep an eye on the hounds that flanked them.

She could no longer shake the feeling that they were being watched, not since the Aralyssian had come to her. It weighed heavily on her mind, as did the new pack they travelled in, but more so did the sombre mood that fell between the two elves. They hadn't spoken about last night and it was obvious that the subject was being avoided.

 

[Keernan]

Keernan was slow and cautious through the woods. He tried to leave as little to follow as possible. He had half a mind to send the hounds away. Every elf could move through the woods leaving barely a trace, but these hounds forced their way through the foliage with brute strength.

The other side of the argument he silently weighed up was that they might defend them both. He had no clue what came next. Maybe she was following them, maybe she wasn't. He suspected that if she wanted to find them, she would.

Keernan didn't even try to figure out how to express his feelings to Syuri. That he didn't always read people well would have been obvious to her form their very first meeting.

---

"I told you to follow them without being seen," she spat. Her voice was impatience, but her glare was murder.

The huntsman took two steps closer. He reached over his shoulder, wincing as he pulled free an arrow with a single jerk.

He dropped it at her feet, brightly coloured fletchings fluttering like autumn leaves.

"I was not the only one following them."

 

[Syuri]

The sense of unease seemed to fester in her mind as the sun slowly sunk, its golden hue casting shadows across the never-ending forest's floor. They had stopped only briefly in the day and now she was sleepy and slowing.

Syuri glanced at the hound to her left, its nose close to the ground as it seemed to catch a scent and veer off through the trees. The other followed and she tensed, hoping that they were tracking something for supper.

"Should, we follow?" she asked Keernan uncertainly. "Or find somewhere to rest a bit?.." she asked, meeting his gaze for the first time in a few hours..

 

[Keernan]

"At a distance," he said without thinking. Another fact that come from a place hidden inside his memories. They could stalk reasonably well, if not truly silently. Either way, it lid not to be right behind them if they were closing on something.

He slowed to a stop and turned to face her. Syuri had been set adrift and he hadn't really been present to anchor her.

"We should stop. We can rest, maybe talk a little and who the fuck are you!?"

Keernan took a step past Syuri.



"Well that wasn't polite," replied the figure, casually lying down and balancing a single knife on the tip of one finger. He didn't even look across at then.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri chewed idly on her lip as they walked, fighting the mental battle between having no idea what to say to him and the guilt that came with her silence. She'd been so lost in her thoughts that she had failed to notice the male either, and she'd been nodding in agreement with Keernan when he asked someone else a question and she tensed instantly.

Her bow was drawn and had an arrow nocked in seconds, though she had to peek out from behind Keernan to aim it at the male. Her icy gaze narrowed on the male in cold scrutiny.

"Who the fuck are you, please?..." she growled quietly, watching that blade closely.

 

[Keernan]

"Rushel, at your service," he replied with a mockery of a bow from his prone position. He stood up. Or rather, he was lying and then he was standing. He didn't appear to actually 'stand up' during this process, but flowed to his feet like water.

"I might have chased off The Aralyssian'huntsman who was quite easily tracking you both, but seeing as this wasn't asked for I would not feel aggrieved for not being thanked."

The silence that followed suggested he really did want to be thanked for doing that. Keernan remained quite still for the span of three breaths. Calming himself, attuning to nature around them let him notice the small things. This Rushel was not alone.

"Thank you."

"So which of you is it then?" he asked, before giving another bow with much more of a flourish. His eyes stayed on the point of Syuri's arrow.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri wasn't as attuned as Keernan was, all she could hear was her own heart thudding angrily in her chest at this Rushel's attitude. Her fingers tightened their grip on her bow and she looked at him with a mix of disdain and confusion.

"Which of us is what?" she asked sharply, deciding against thanking him, though the possibility that there had been a huntsman on their trail done absolutely nothing to alleviate her tension.

 

[Keernan]

"Oh I like you," Rushel said with a smile that Keernan did not appreciate. He walked slowly from side to side, watching Syuri to see if she might lower her bow.

"Which one of you is she after?"

"That would be me," Keernan said without a pause. His right hand was balled into a fist. His skin had started to darken from the wrist down.

Rushel put away the knife and took a small glass tube from his belt. It fit neatly between finger and thumb and the tube ended in circular cooper plates. The far gave it a shake and held it closer to Keernan. A small turquoise ball of light started to dance inside the glass.

"Yup. Another one."

 

[Syuri]

A muscle feathered in Syuri's jaw as she watched the male, her gaze narrowed in scrutiny. She let out a sharp huff as he moved closer to Keernan, wary of whatever it was he held toward him. Syuri's bow rose and she drew the arrow back, the feather brushing her jaw as she aimed it directly at Rushel.

"Well I don't like you." she answered defensively. "Will you stop arsing around and tell us what you know?"

 

[Keernan]

"Of course I will," he said smoothly. The device was placed out of sight with a single sleight-of-hand gesture.

There was a howl in the distance. Then another. Then a third. The pack was out there.

"Thenagain no. I will tell you a little of what I know and then make an offer because we have sweet fuck all time. You have something inside you which has pissed off the mad queen.

"It's not quite what she thinks. Close but...ah no time." Rushel looked clearly agitated now. The sound of the hounds returning clearly bothered him far more than Syuri's arrow.

Another of his kind slowly emerged from the trees. He carried a longbow and a quiver of arrows adorned with brightly coloured feathers.

"I can remove it safely so she stops bothering you, but you have to come with us. Now."

 

[Syuri]

Syuri's gaze shifted for a very brief moment as she heard the first of the howls, a shudder riding down her spine by the third. By the expression she wore, she had been about to argue but stopped as the other male stepped out from the trees and her brow furrowed.

Her aim lowered and she looked between them uncertainly before looking to Keernan, a quirk in her brow that said it was his choice to make whether they trusted them or not.

 

[Keernan]

"Don't hurry, it's not like the mad bitch and her favourite lackies are closing on us now," laughed the fae. His voice was thoroughly laced with sarcasm.

The archer headed off without them, cutting a path through the trees in the direction away from the encroaching hounds.

Keernan didn't like the way Rushel had phrased that. He wasn't sure he wanted anything removed from him. Once, he had died. Now he was the way he was. He didn't see why that had to change.

"Well go with you." There wasn't much of a choice.

"Excellent. Do keep up."

Rushel brushed past them, slowly only to cast a glance at Syuri over his shoulder. Curious, thought Keernan, given that he was interested in his spirit.

Keernan turned to follow. Rushel had already put some ground between them. He was quick.

"Where are we g..." Keernan started as Rushel pushed through a wall of vines. The sound of the hounds receded to nothing as Keernan followed. He felt that slight shift again. The sensations he couldn't explain and some he could: like the sudden shift in scents, warmth, humidity.




"Home," replied Rushel, as the curtain fell behind them.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri sneered at Rushel's sarcasm, her nose wrinkling bitterly. She was reluctant to trust him, nor anyone else for that matter. For all she knew he was one of hers. Syuri waited for Keernan's answer and nodded stiffly at her companion.

The way Rushel looked back at her caused her brow to knit and she rolled her eyes with a huff. There really didn't appear much choice in the matter, but she stayed close to Keernan with her bow still nocked as she moved.

That shift made caused her to tense and she reached out to grab hold of Keernan's arm.

"You're a Fae?!".. Of course he was a damned fae. Syuri's growled. "We're not supposed to be here. I made a deal." Her heart pounded and her gaze darted around her whimsical surroundings, half expecting to see the Aralyssian welcoming them into her trap.

 

[Keernan]

"He is," Keernan replied. The rhetorical nature of Syuri's explanation was lost on him. He ran on instinct more than the nuance of wording and tone.

Instinct that had him ignore the space that had opened between them, had him reach out and place a hand on Syuri's shoulder. His hand was a large, reassuring weight spread across her slender shoulder. Keernan gave a very gentle squeeze.

"You are perfectly safe here, far far beyond her influence or that of any of her allies."

Rushel turned towards them. There was no whimsy to be found as his gaze fell upon Syuri.

"What deal? And tell me, pricesely, its wording." When it came to deals and bargains the fae took everything seriously.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri's brow knit as she looked back at Keernan quizzically, her gaze falling on his hand, but she couldn't deny feeling a little appeased by the gesture. She let out a quiet huff, exasperated by the confusion and wondering if she'd ever get a damned straight explanation again.

"How do you know that?" she asked the elf as he assured her of their safety, but Rushel was already badgering her for more answers and she turned to give him a warning glare.

"I.." she frowned in concentration and ran her hand over her face in fluster as she tried to recall precisely what they had agreed. "They had taken children from my village. She said we could return them home, so long as I never tried to find the fae realm again. I promised that if she let us take them that she'd never see me or my people again." she frowned.

That she had seen the Aralyssian again and that she had found whatever realm this was again, was no fault of her own, she supposed.

"Now you give us answers." she demanded and reached to prod her index finger at his shoulder.

 

[Keernan]

Rushel looked visibly relieved. He gave a slow nod before continuing.

"I'm the strictest sense you did not try to find this place at all. You were led her with no knowledge of where it would be. No court would find you guilty of breaking your pact. Do you know why she was hunting you?"

Keernan had been distracted by their surroundings. Shards of silver moonlight illuminated pale pools of rock. Where those fingers could not reached, the plant life met the darkness with a myriad of biolumniscent colours. There was such wonder in all the worlds. It made the pain in his leg feel like such a mundane problem.

"She thinks I'm the spirit of some...horrible king from the past and wants to make sure I can't return?" Keernan replied.

"Khalldryn. The dread lord. Uniquely despicable. Decadent, remorseless, possibly mad. She found his true name and a way to bind his magic. That was a long time ago. She took his seat of power and whilst her name doesn't evoke dread, she is quite universally despise. The cure was not much better than the disease. I suspect if she had a fraction of Khalldryn's true power she would be just as terrible."

"So how did you..." Keernan started to prompt.

"Yes, yes I was getting there. Honestly the pair of you have no appreciation for dramatic flair.

"You are not the reincarnation of a terrible lord. Apologies, if you had aspirations on that front. I'm afraid when his being shattered little shards of his power birthed new sprites. You would be the third that I have found. I don't know how many exist out there."

Rushel removed the curious device from his belt, giving it a little shake. The light once again danced inside the glass.

"One of my little tricks for finding curiosities in the mortal realm," he explained.

 

[Syuri]

A little of the tension in Syuri's shoulders eased at the relief on Rushel's face and she gave a sharp nod at his assurances. Her attention turned to Keernan as he spoke and shifted between them as she listened, her furrowed brow rising as Rushel explained that Keernan wasn't what she'd feared he might be.

She swallowed, and a wave of guilt drenched over her like ice cold water. She'd known he wasn't dangerous.. hadn't she? No. She'd let her own fear come between them because of what some fae queen had claimed instead of trusting her instincts. Her stomach churned as she recalled the way he'd looked at her after she'd recoiled from him.

Syuri narrowed her gaze on Rushel's little glass 'trick' and she huffed quietly, turning to Keernan and wordlessly dropping her bow and wrapping her arms around his waist, her cheek pressing to his chest.

"I'm sorry."

 

[Keernan]

Keernan was slow to wrap his arms around her. It was the last thing he had expected from Syuri given how little she trusted the fae around them.

Ignoring those around them, Keernan embraced Syuri and planted a kiss on her head. He sighed.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for," he said. The tone of his voice made it sound more of a question. He honestly could not fathom why she would apologise to him.

 

[Syuri]

Her grip tightened as she felt his arms around her. The relief brought tears to her eyes and so she closed them with a deep sigh. She'd been afraid of what she'd seen, afraid that the Aralyssian might have been right, and she'd barely looked at or spoken to him after the night they'd shared. A night so perfect marred by the next morning when she'd recoiled from him and he'd looked at her like he'd been wounded.

"I was afraid." she frowned with a huff and looked up at him, allowing herself to feel that trust and attraction again, allowing herself to see what she'd seen before the fae queen had skewed her vision. She smiled and settled a hand against his chest for a moment before she stepped away with a glance down at his leg.

"Do you have a healer?.." she asked Rushel with a quirk of her brow. "And.. Some way to get her off our backs?" she added in a grumble.

 

[Keernan]

"Of course you were," he replied softly. It had hurt to feel that distance placed between them. Keernan had been lost, unsure of how to deal with that. He was able to face up to it now, look at his own feelings in more detail. He studied it as closely as he studied her expression. It felt like a tight knot slowly unfurling.

She looked down. The reminder of the wound was also a reminder of the pain. Keernan winced.

"We have healers," Rushel confirmed. A single look sent one of the others rushing away. The grass itself glowed when it was crushed underfoot, leaving a faint trail of footprints in her wake.

"I can remove the spark," Rushel said. "With it gone I can take you back and she will not be able to track you. I have done it twice before."

 

[Syuri]

That he seemed so understanding only made her feel worse, and yet she couldn't help but smile brightly up at him thanks to the weight that had been lifted. It was the smile he should have woken to this morning, the one she owed.

She sighed as she watched after the one who'd gone to fetch a healer and she offered a grateful smile to Rushel in response before finally allowing herself to take in her unusual surroundings with intrigue.

"Will it change him?.." she asked as Rushel mentioned removing the 'spark'. "Will it hurt him?" she added with a frown as she looked up at Keernan.

"If so then we can find another way to be rid of her. I can make another deal. Something." she looked between them.

 

[Keernan]

"Good question," Rushel said. He tilted his head to one side, observing Keernan. He walked a slow circle. He had a strange gait, almost walking on the tips of his toes, like a dancer. He stopped looking at Keernan and seemed to be looking around or through him.

"I don't know if it will hurt, but if the spark provides you any magic you will lose it. It didn't hurt the two people before. Quite quick and painless."

He offered a shrug that ran from his shoulders to the tips of his fanned fingers.

"But two is hardly conclusive."

The fae he had sent skipping off after a healer returned and Rushel waved in her direction.

"No rush to think about such things, go with Heryle and get that leg sorted."

---

"Was it painless?" asked the archer beside Rushel once they were out of earshot. Rushel grinned.

"I'm sure they were dead before they felt anything. Fairly certain. It will take a few days to get everything ready, make sure they can relax and enjoy themselves as much as possible for now."