Private Tales Crossing Over

[Syuri]

Syuri froze at the sound, a curse tumbling from her lips as she looked toward it.

"We have to go." she frowned. "Last I checked, guests were allowed to leave if they wished." Syuri growled, assuming Rushel had called the others back to stop them from leaving. She grabbed hold of his hand and quickened her pace, keeping an eye on the surrounding grasses and trees.

Finding a door that couldn't be seen wasn't a particularly easy task, but she looked out for that faint ripple of air. "If they catch us.. Don't let them have that spark." she warned him. "I don't know what he's doing with them, but whatever it is he wants it badly."

"Where the fuck is the doorway?!"

Another horn sounded nearby and she flinched. "Run."

 

[Keernan]

Keernan stood his ground despite her urgency. He hadn't understood where his knowledge and abilities came from. In some respects, he wished that it had remained this way.

It was tainted, knowing that this curious, yet knowledgeable, side came from the remains of a long dead menace to the face realms.

Keernan still couldn't separate himself from a piece of himself. He couldn't give it up and he couldn't turn away from it. There was a way out of here and he could find it.

He was dipping into forces he didn't understand. There was a movement to the magic around the leylines.

"This way," he announced, setting off at a run. His gait was lopsided, favouring his good leg. He was leading them away from the stream, directly towards the moons.

The character of the light shifted. The air tasted cold and dry.

Keernan stopped to look around. He didn't recognise these woods, but they were no longer in Rushel's realm.

Victory was short-lived.

A blinding flash of light had him covering his eyes. The airs on his arms stood on end and he could taste something acrid in the air.

Rushel stood behind them, holding up a glass vial with one of the other sparks inside. His hand crackled with lightning.

"That's enough!"

 

[Syuri]

Syuri followed him without question, ignoring the disgruntled mews coming from her back as the ginger cat was jostled around. Syuri drew her bow, feeling a little safer with the weapon now clutched in her palm, but she didn't have nearly enough arrows for all of them if that need arose.

She felt the shift in the atmosphere and looked up, breathing in the air.. "We're ou--" the flash cut her off and she drew in a sharp gasp, her eyes shutting tightly against the light as she turned her head from its source. Her eyes blinked hard to rid themselves of the blacks spots that now distorted her vision, but she could see enough to nock her arrow and aim it at Rushel.

"Yes I quite agree." she answered with a sneer. "It seems we aren't as free to leave as you led us to believe." she frowned, looking at the vial in his hand. "Will you just tell us what the fuck is going on?"

 

[Keernan]

"Will I just tell you..." He echoed back, looking thoroughly bemused. "What happens now is that you both come back, you wait for me to finish my device, I take the piece of him from you, and then you both go on your way."

Rushel favoured them with one last lie to try and let this proceed the easy way.

Keernan's eyes were on the two tiny flasks. They could both easily fit in the palm of a hand. He was once again as drawn to them as he was repulsed. There was something fundamentally wrong about that power being contained.

"We're not going back," Keernan called out.

"I wasn't giving you a choice."

 

[Syuri]

Syuri's brow knit, her arrow aimed at Rushel's throat, though she was painfully aware of how many others there were.

"Seems we never had a choice to begin with. Well played, though." she muttered with a sneer.

"Any ideas?.." she asked Keernan quietly as she quickly glanced around trying to gauge how many they were outnumbered by. There was little point in running, and her bow would only be of so much use. "He can't take it." she warned. She didn't know what he planned on doing with it, but whatever it was, it wasn't good.

 

[Keernan]

"Shoot him and we run," Keernan hissed. He didn't like the idea of initiating the conflict. It went against his very nature.

Right now Rushel was the greatest danger and he needed to be taken out of the picture. They would soon find out how loyal the others were.

 

[Syuri]

She was sort of hoping that he wasn't going to suggest that, but honestly she saw no other way of trying to get out of this. Still, she hesitated, and the way in which Rushel was currently looking at her suggested that he didn't think her capable. It was a choice she had to make, and she had to make it fast.

Her jaw clenched and she drew in a deep breath. Rushel looked uncertain now, and he opened his mouth to speak just as the arrow loosed, straight at his chest.

 

[Keernan]

Keernan clenched his fists. His skin cracked and liquid fire flowed from his veins and across his body. His body hardened, his eyes were windows into the furnace. Orange whisps of smoke rose from his skin and the grass blackened beneath his feet.

The Fletching of the arrow hissed through the air as it flew true towards its mark. The ground before Rushel exploded upwards. Rock and dust thrown in all directions. Keernan covered his face.

When the dust settled, Rushel was still standing. A lump of rock hung in the air before him. The second glass vial was glowing a deep shade of ochre.

He was looking at Keernan with keen interest.

"I look forward to trying that out," he almost sang. He turned to his hunters. "Bring them to me. Well, bring me him."

For Syuri, there was just a shrug.

"Get behind me and keep shooting," Keernan said, stepping forwards.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri shielded her face from the gust of dust and rocks, though her gaze quickly snapped back to Rushel, another arrow quickly nocked and aimed before she realised what he'd done and what he'd said.
He could harness the power in those shards. Of course he could. Oh you fucking idiot, Syuri.

Her heart dropped at Rushel's command and she stepped back, feeling the intense heat radiating from Keernan as she did so. The sight of him in his elemental forms was quite something to behold, and she wasn't entirely sure she'd ever get used to it. "Careful." she whispered to him, unsure how these hunters intended on capturing him.

Arrows were aimed at her, and she stuck close to Keernan, using him as a defensive wall as she peeked out to aim and fire in quick successions whilst more than a little concerned that her arrows were few.

 

[Keernan]

Rushel was quite content to stay back and allow the lesser fae to test the limits of Keernan's spark and Syuri's bow.

Keernan was worried. Rushel obviously had some command of the power in those vials and it was going to be too much. He could feel their power, felt an even more powerful draw to them. He resisted that call with all his strength.

"I am sorry," he told Syuri. Sorry that she had ever chosen to follow him into this fate.

An arrow glanced off the layers of magma surrounding him. He stepped up and delivered a single blow to a fae that tried to rush Syuri.

The weight behind the strike, the heat that instantly cracked skin, put the fae out of the fight. The other hunters came on more carefully, looking for a route to deal with Syuri so they could surround him.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri frowned at Keernan's apology as she fired another arrow past him and into the shoulder of a fae currently taking aim at her.

"You have nothing to apologise for. No matter what happens." she said firmly. If she died, then she wouldn't let him live with that on his conscience. Her throat ached at the thought and she forced a laugh. "Most fun I've had my entire life."

She gasped as an arrow whooshed by so close to her head, her skin slick with sweat from sticking so close to Keernan and the intense heat that radiated from him. She peeked out and fired back before quickly reaching for another arrow to find nothing left in her quiver.

"Shit."

Syuri dipped, grabbing rock after rock and using her bow string to launch them at whatever targets she could, but they surrounded the pair and started closing in.

"Keernan--" whatever she'd been about to say died on her tongue as she felt something like a hard punch at her side, followed by intense, hot pain that burned through her. She stumbled back, her eyes falling to the arrow protruding from her side, and then raising to the fae aiming his next at her chest.

 

[Keernan]

As Syuri swore one of the fae, who dared not get close to Keernan even with a spear, picked up a rock and hurled it at him. It struck him across the shoulder, breaking off look chunks of black rock. A whisp of orange smoke rose where it had hit him. That had hurt.

"Keernan--"

He turned, eyes immediately fixating on the arrow protruding from her.

Keernan shifted into his hydra form. Dust fell to the ground where he had stood as he rushed ahead of her. A spray of mist was flung forwards as he risked complete exhaustion by shifting again.

The spray of mist was superheated into a fine steam. The fae closing on them cried out in shock and pain. The archer lost his bead on Syuri in the cloud.

For a few precious seconds silence fell.

The flash of light seered itself onto Keernan's retina. Lighting cut through the conductive cloud and sought him out. He cried out in agony before his nerves spasmed and clamped his jaws shut. The assault continued until the cloud had dissipated.

Rushel was standing on a stone above the field of skirmish, both glass vials in his hand. He came closer, just a few feet away. Keernan had shifted back into his natural form, left on his knees and completely spent.

As he approached Keernan could feel those sparks. It was painful. Something deep inside, as opposed to the skin deep pain from their assault. It felt like something that had torn deep in his soul. He tried to fight that connection, to keep it at bay.

"Let's get this done then," Rushel said. Keernan hadn't even noticed the third vial at his belt. "Quick for you, but I think we might keep her around a bit longer."

Keernan was done. He stopped fighting that pain deep in his soul. The lights in Rushel's vials flickered.

Keernan closed one fist. The pain stopped. The connection finally opened up. A spark of electricity ran between his fingers.

"Huh," he went.

Rushel frowned. He leaned forwards, peering at Keernan's hand curiously. Right up until he was thrown from his rock by a bolt of lightning that left Keernan's hand and arced right through his chest.

 

[Syuri]

Every breath she drew in only seemed to make the pain burn more fiercely. Her eyes had closed as she awaited the final blow, but when instead she heard a strange rush and a sharp cry in agony, her eyes shot open again. She wasn't entirely sure what she was seeing, especially when the plume of mist started to flash like a thundercloud.

It was when he reappeared on his knees that she realised, her gaze shifting between him and Rushel. No. "Keernan!" she gasped, her voice strangled with pain as she attempted to move forward only for her legs to give way beneath her and she landed on all fours. She'd crawled only another foot before a hand curled into her hair and dragged her back. Syuri cursed and cried out her protests, kicking her legs and clawing at the hand despite the liquid fire coursing through her veins with every move or sound she made.

"You fucking bast--"

Another flash, and everyone lapsed into stunned silence. She heard a dull thud and yanked her head to see Rushel, not Keernan, laying motionless. She breathed a sigh of relief so great that tears that had pooled in the fear of losing him now were shed in the solace that he lived. Not only did he live, the fae that surrounded them stood dumfounded and hesitant. They were angry, but they were also afraid of him.

"Enough!" the male that held Syuri bellowed, yanking her hair back and gripping hold of the arrow in her side, twisting it so that she screamed out, and then he stopped. "Not another move or I make her death far worse than it has to be."

 

[Keernan]

Keernan turned his head sharply at Syuri's scream. He turned the rest of his body towards her slowly. Behind him came the soft sound of two glass vials shattering.

He could feel those two distinct sparks. This was the answer to what he was. Each had a distinct power, a distinct shape of personality.

He was a calm and considerate person, but these sparks were angry. It showed in Keernan's eyes, manifested in a tremble of the earth beneath his feet and the scene of ozone in the air.

"I'm going to let the rest of you go back. There is nothing more for you here," he said.

Rushel did not get up. One of the fae knelt over him, to find that the bolt has seared right through his heart.

 

[Syuri]

Without their leader to issue orders, the fae around them seemed uncomfortably uncertain, but the one who had hold of Syuri seemed to have found some confidence in his position.

"Oh there's plenty for us here.. If he is dead, then you'll answer for it. Turn back and go willingly, and I'll spare her." he offered with another hard yank.

Syuri's teeth clenched hard, though there was no controlling the short, sharp whimpers that escaped her with every other laboured breath. Her head shook at Keernan, resulting in yet another hard pull at her hair.

 

[Keernan]

The ground continued to tremble around Keernan. His right eye slowly sifted colour, matching each of the three sparks in turn.

His gaze softened as he looked down at Syuri. His eyes went from the bloody patch at her side, to the fae's grip on her hair.

He could not abandon her. The feelings he held for her welled up, extinguishing some of the burning anger.

"Let her go and I will come," he said. The ground went still.

 

[Syuri]

Her expression silently screamed of her disagreement, though she didn't dare voice it for fear of another twist of the arrow.

"Fine. I'll just keep hold of her until we're sure you're cooperating, then we'll let her go." the fae nodded, and the others slowly edged their way toward Keernan to apprehend him. Two large males with blades drawn stood either side of him, and hesitantly reached to get a grip of his arms. Those remaining had their arrows nocked and aimed at him.

The new male in charge shoved Syuri toward the ground and stepped over her with a gesture for the others to take Keernan back to camp, though he turned to one of the archers and glanced toward the wounded elf with a sneer.

"Kill her."

 

[Keernan]

If Rushel had been alive, Keernan reflected, he would have understood the danger. Rushel had been experimenting with these sparks and understanding their power. The fae expected him to transform, giving them time to strike.

He was an honest man and a terrible liar. That didn't prevent him from seeing dishonesty in those around him. It still angered him to see a fae break an agreement so readily.

The two sparks were angry. They were not complete beings. Fractured pieces of consciousness and life. How Khalldryn had drawn such power to himself in the first place with dark arts was still beyond him, but Keernan knew how to use them now.

His hands were tied, but he stamped his foot.

Every fae was launched into the air on a pillar of rock. Soil was launched in all directions. Arrows were flung wildly as the fae lost control of their bows.

Keernan felt a bright spot of pain as one thumped deep into his thigh. He stumbled through the chaos, through the forest of stone pillars he had made, towards Syuri.

"Can you stand?" he asked. He didn't even know if she was going to survive her wounds.

He heard the dull thumps of several fae falling back to the ground.

 

[Syuri]

The fae had agreed only to let her go, not that he'd allow her to live, a fact which he grinned at as he glanced over his shoulder at the elven woman who's expression was fraught with pain and panic. The hunter who'd nodded obediently at the order drew a serrated knife and had taken up the hold on her snowy hair in her feeble attempt to crawl to her feet.

Syuri let out a bleat of a sound and her eyes closed tightly as she braced herself for the steel to cross her throat, but the grip on her hair suddenly ceased and she covered her face with her arm against the blast of soil and dust. The roar of moving earth rattled through her bones and muffled the sounds of screaming fae.

When she heard footsteps come toward her she dared to peek up, her eyes blinking hard as they took in the altered terrain with speechless confusion. Her crystalline eyes softened as she realised it was Keernan who came to her, though she glanced passed him as she heard those sickening thuds of bodies returning to the ground.

Questions danced on her tongue, but they'd have to wait. She nodded at his question despite her uncertainty. "I think so.." she grimaced as she gingerly pushed herself up. The arrow was lodged deep in her side, and movement sent white hot pain shooting through her so terribly that she had to refrain from throwing up or giving in to the urge of passing out.

The blade meant to end her life just moments ago had fallen conveniently close to her, and her trembling hand gripped it as she gestured for Keernan to turn so that she might free him of his bindings. "You were going to go with them." she said quietly, her voice strained with pain.

 

[Keernan]

"Yes," he replied plainly. "I thought they would stick to the agreement."

He flexed his fingers when the restraints were cut. Some of the fae were still alive. Keernan had no interest in fighting them again and those still graining in pain were in no rush to come for him.

Walking was agony. The arrow in his thigh was stuck fast in bone. It did not worry him anywhere near as much as the arrow stuck in Syuri.

"Hold still," he said before reaching down the snap the arrow. With it sticking out of her side, if the shaft caught on something the head could have lacerated her insides.

They needed distance from this place. Then they needed a healer.

 

[Syuri]

"They'd have killed you." Syuri frowned and swallowed the pain she'd felt at the thought.

She'd barely registered his instruction by the time he'd reached to snap the arrow, and she hadn't braced herself quickly enough to bite back a sharp cry. Her fingers curled into his jacket and she leaned forward to press her forehead against his shoulder, steadying herself as she drew a few slow breaths. Her eyes were heavy and the thought of sleep was so tempting, but she could hear the groans of injured fae nearby.

"We need to get out of here.." she sighed drowsily, her gaze falling to the arrow in his thigh. It was difficult to be hopeful given the states they were in, but the odds had been against them since they'd come here and they were still alive.

Syuri lifted his arm and tucked herself under it, trying to act as a crutch. She was weak, but she could walk. They'd been close to the veil when they hunters had caught up to them, and ahead she could see the air shimmer.

 

[Keernan]

The subtle shift of air passed over them. The scents, the nature of the light, shifted just enough to make it obvious that they had left Rushel's vale behind.

The two sparks still trailed in his wake. His golden eye was now set back into its usual hue.

It took more concentration to stop and turn than it had to keep placing one foot in front of the other.

"They were a part of him," he explained to Syuri. "But not really him. Stolen power. When he died, they were formed and scattered to the ends of the world. They latched onto people by instinct."

The two sparks hung in the air in front of them. There was a faint sense of power emanating from them.

"I think mine latched onto me...or who I was...just as I died. So I'm not really a piece of Khalldryn, but I'm not really an elf either.

"They're not afraid any more. They're going to return to the magic of the world."

Keernan could barely explain how he knew this. The sparks weren't conscious, not quite. They had a sense of purpose now and their time in this world was up. They sank to the soil and joined with the leyline of power deep below.

Keernan felt them fade from the world as distinct entities. They were no longer held captive.

 

[Syuri]

Syuri felt the shift in the air, the scents and sounds, the trees and grass. They had crossed back through the veil, and the relief of that alone threatened to make her legs buckle. She clutched at her side, trying to keep the arrow from moving as blood seeped through her fingers. Dizzy with pain, she turned to watch the sparks of light as she listened to Keernan, glancing up at him as he spoke of them as though he knew what they were thinking.

She sighed as they sank into the ground and her lips curled into a small smile. Slowly, she leaned further into him, and her eyes closed.

 

[Keernan]

"Good morning. Or...afternoon," Keernan said softly as he brushed her cheek to wake her.

They were in a small clearing, surrounded by thick ferns and trees on old sides. Keernan had trimmed some ferns to make a comfortable bed for her. Her side was tightly bound around the arrow shaft. He had placed some rocks to stop her rolling onto that side whilst he watched.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, looking deeply concerned. He brought his palm to her forehead.

 

[Syuri]

Her brow furrowed with disorientation as she woke, her eyes gradually blinking the sleep away. Her body hadn't remembered its pain yet, and so she smiled with a soft sigh at the brush of his fingers against her cheek and the sight of his face.

His question brought the pain back to mind and she swallowed, glancing down at her side with a huff. "Like I was shot." she laughed under her breath and grimaced. Her skin was pale and clammy. "You?" she asked, registering everything that he'd done whilst she'd been unconscious, all the while having an injury of his own.

Her jaw tightened as she tried to move and decided with a growl of frustration that it was best to stay still. She'd die of infection if the arrow wasn't removed, and so there was more pain to come. Much more.

"The arrows.." she paused to swallow. "Are double barbed. If it's pulled out i'll probably bleed out.. You're going to need to push it through, and close the wounds." Then, it'd be out of their hands.