Private Tales Let the Lost no longer be lost

[Tadrielus Galawen]

Tadrielus kept his thoughts more to the present than his fiery counterpart. This was in part to keep from being dashed against an overhang or pulled down by an undercurrent, but also because he had heard fewer tales with which to imagine the Lost they were seeking. They were not a topic of conversation in his youth, and despite his many travels he had never encountered one of their settlements. He had no real idea of what to expect.

Warmth and humidity blanketed the pair and at long last the snow gave way to green. Tadrielus guided them low enough that they could make out the leaves below. He could identify fewer than half of them, such was the monumental variety contained by the northeastern jungles.

“I’ve never been this Far East”

He smiled and looked back at her. “How exciting! What I would do to see it for the first time again.” The forest was truly spectacular, and be it the second, third, or fourth time, Tadrielus did not think he could grow weary of it.

His enjoyment was interrupted by a very loud squawking, and he looked back to see that they were not alone in the skies. A very large, very colorfully feathered bird was gaining on them from behind. It’s wingspan could have engulfed Tadrielus’ cabin back in the mountains, and it had a sturdy curved bill the size of a bull from which another grating scream emerged.

“Welcome to the wilds!” He called over, and waved them both forwards as he turned and dropped altitude, beating his wings harder and faster.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Was... was the bird chasing them?

Caliane cast it another wary glance over her shoulder as Tadrielus begun to push himself to fly a little faster. It didn't look like a bird she particularly wanted to be on the bad side of. Not with that beak curved into a sharp point. It's wings did a good job at making the Avariel's ones look small; something she had only ever seen from a griffin or one of the Sky Elf eagles. She swallowed and tucked her wings in to her side to dive down sharply in an effort to catch up with the elder. The bird plunged after them.

"Birds don't... eat... people over here do they?!" she called with a touch of concern in her voice. Her fear awakened that ancient being that lay half asleep inside her soul at all times. She could feel it pressing against her skin, eager to set aflame to whatever it was that sought to do them harm. The redhead wrestled with it as best she could but if the bird didn't give up soon...

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

“Not all of them!” he called back in reply. The pair of them were more agile in the air than their vibrant pursuer, but it could match their speed in the open air. Tadrielus could hear it’s wings ripping the air with each stroke and skimmed closer to the tree line.

They had just entered the wilds and would lose precious time if they went to ground now… but maybe if they stayed near the treetops the beast would not come too close.

“It can’t turn quickly!” He hollered. “Keep to the tree tops!”

His pristine white wings let him dart around jutting treetops and skirt the leafy ocean’s surface. The great bird was gaining, but it did not seem to want to fly so low for fear of smashing its feathers. Still, it did not break off, and it’s eyes looked as hungry as ever.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane risked another glance over her shoulder and squeaked when the colourful bird squawked in their direction. Without another protest she folded her wings and dropped the remaining few feet after Tadrielus to just below the treetops. The Avariel might have had a better chance flying in these conditions than the gigantic bird above them but it was still dangerous. The Wilds were exactly as their name suggested and required extreme concentration to navigate and skim around. She envied Tadrielus' years of experience no doubt honed by his years of soldiers where it became life of death to protect ones wings.

Their shadows flew across the jungle floor which was steadily growing denser and denser the further in they went. Filled with plants she had never seen in colours that were almost an assault to the senses as was the pollen that blew into the air as they swept past. It wasn't long before Caliane was struggling not to sneeze so she could see where she was going.

"I can hear water!" she shouted. Loud water and getting louder. Perhaps hiding behind a waterfall would shake their new friend...

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

Experience he had, but agility had begun to leave. A branch nicked against his boot, while another snapped against a stray hand. Minor inconveniences, but fumbles nonetheless. At least their strategy had been sound. It was clear from the angered screech above them that the large bird could not pursue.

The wilds were warm beneath the tree line, humid, too. The air felt thick against his feathers and the vines and leaves began to blue together.

Tadrielus could not hear the water himself, but he trusted Caliane’s younger ears. “Lead on!” He banked behind her, catching heat off her rusted wingtips.

Their flight path lead them to darker canopies, where the giant had more trouble seeing them from above. The branches grew fewer, but thicker. Soon the arms that cross-crossed their path were as large as the trunks had been before. The bark changed from light grays and tans to deep hues of earth and metal. They were passing through a very old grove, indeed.

The mist in the air foretold the massive waterfall, and the pair headed for the safety of its rumbling cascade.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane slipped on the wet rocks as she landed on the other side and nearly ended up on her backside. Scrambling to find purchase she quickly turned and ducked her head back through the onslaught of the thundering curtain of water. Without having to concentrate on where she was going she was able instead to focus on providing more help to her friend. The heat of the fire that rose up around her burned a hole of steam through the waterfall wide enough for two to stand side by side without being swept away. Aiming with her hands - a notion not needed but that aided with concentration - Caliane drew on the Soulfire within and then hurled a warning shot at the great bird.

As intended the fire soared close to its mark without hitting. The bird squawked and pulled up nervously, flapping its giant wings and buffeting the pair with the force of the wind it kicked off. For a moment, Caliane thought it might attempt to snatch at them despite the possibility of being burnt but then, with a final cry, it turned and begrudgingly begun to fly away. Letting out a sigh of relief she stepped back behind the waves and let the fire drop.

"That was a close one."

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

The humid air whipped at his hair as he followed the phoenix into the mists. He tucked his wings and rolled to a painful stop behind the curtain and looked up in time to see Caliane's fire. He felt the intense heat from it, and marveled and how bright it was even in the full light of day.

"Aaugh," he grunted, standing back up and rolling his shoulder. The waters had returned to their full force and the cavern was lit by a calming, yet eerie blue.

“I used to be better at avoiding those,” he muttered as he looked around. The cave walls looked like they were moving in the wavy, undulating light. Tadrielus squinted, noting several features that were not natural at all.

“Caliane, look at this.” He leaned forward to touch the carvings. “These look old.” His fingers traced the hard edges of geometric designs, and the more he looked the more he realized what they must be.

Crude winged figures. Images of towers in clouds. Sagas of the angels flying down to ground. Then there was text, written in a script only the oldest times of Thysari contained.

“It’s incredible.”

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane wished she had paid more attention to her mothers lecturing as she came to stand beside Tadrielus. The Scholar would no doubt be able to tell them at a glance the precise year it was made and what it was depicting. The redhead could only marvel and scratch her head.

"Do you suppose this means we're in the right place?"

She turned away from the script to inspect the rest of the cavern they had found themselves in. The sunlight through the water lit it enough to see but there were still parts where shadows gathered which might signal the area went on further than the eye originally led a person to believe. With care she begun to step towards the back.

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

"I don't know, but it seems hopeful. I can't read this, but I think I remember seeing this script in some archives. I had to get a librarian to translate it for me." He smiled, his eyes glittering against the wavering darkness. Where some may have been frustrated, Tadrielus was delighted. Mystery. Adventure. How he had missed this.

"Avariel were here a very long time ago." He turned to watch Caliane moving toward the dimness. If only they had brought a scholar, or even an artist to copy the carvings... oh well. Perhaps they could return once their mission was complete.

He followed her and, flexing his fingers a few times, called up a sphere of gentle white light. He tossed it lazily into the air before them where it hung like a minuscule chandelier, floating overhead in time with their steps. Unlike Caliane's fire, it gave no heat.

The cave did, indeed, extend further back. So far that the orb's light could not penetrate its full depths. A tunnel extended back lined with similar runes and carvings, and as they progressed it appeared that a story was unfolding.

"The figures are staying on the ground," he noted, pointing to the nearest pictures. "They aren't flying anymore." Buildings were depicted on solid ground, and the only things overhead looked... monstrous. Given the pair's own experiences above the canopy Tadrielus could not say he blamed these ancient carvers.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane traced her fingers over the engravings as they walked leisurely down the tunnel. What had those Avariel thought all those years ago when they had found themselves cut off and alone for the first time? What had made them want to carve their history into these rocks? It seemed an odd place to record such important things. Or were they even older than before the Closing? That sent shivers down her spine. Perhaps she had been rash to leave so quickly and should have spent more time with her mother in the archives studying.

"Look," she stopped suddenly as it registered what her fingers had traced over. An image of an Avariel with their wings spread was drawn three times. Except that the third and final picture was nothing like an Avariel. Its wings were skeletal and its mouth a gaping maw with rows of razor sharp teeth. Their eyes took up the rest of the face with a squashed hollowed out nose. The only reason she thought it an Avariel was the middle grotesque image that was half the first image and half the last.

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

Tadrielus had to admit... that didn't bode well. "There... could be numerous interpretations..." he began, and the small orb of light floated closer. Unfortunately, the rest of the mural appeared quite literal. People, places, creatures, all of them had been things of solid reality, at least at first glance. Despite wishing himself to be wrong, Tadrielus did not think this monster was a metaphor.

He squinted, thanking his luck that his eyes were still keen. "I don't think it is a demon. There are no infernal markings, the script still seems Thysari, or close to it." The middle figure was the most haunting, deep in the terrifying valley between beauty and revulsion.

He looked further down the tunnel where the darkness extended even further, and with a wave of his hand the little orb of light copied itself and sent its clone sliding down the dark expanse. It was ringed by the tunnel walls until, finally, it hung alone in the black. It illuminated a flat, dark floor but no walls nor ceiling. A large cavern.

"We should take care," he uttered, rather redundantly given Caliane's expertise. "The darkness has a way of changing things." He gestured to the wall carvings they continued past, and did not like how the skeletal beings were quickly outnumbering the avariel figures. He did not draw his sword, but his hand rested more firmly on its pommel.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane had never exactly... chosen to get into a fight. Not if she was being honest. Battles had rather just found her. To begin with she'd always tried just to work on the fringes; she hadn't been trained in the life of a Soldier, so had concentrated her efforts on tending to civilians or innocent bystanders, trying to ensure that they didn't get caught up in the mayhem of war. In the end she'd always been drawn into the fighting and had - more often than not - nearly ended up dead. It was the soulfire that kept her alive.

She just wondered how many times it would.

She slunk along beside the older soldier and made a note to herself to pay close attention to his movements, perhaps she would learn something from him so she didn't have to rely on her magic quite so much. On the soulfire. Every time she did it grew... stronger.

Suddenly, a loud snap echoed from under her feet causing her to jump. When she looked down she stepped back suddenly; a bone. She'd stepped on a bone. And as Tadrielus brought his light closer to the ground it showed that floor was covered in them. Hundreds if not thousands of winged skeletons decorated the floor.

"I think... we should leave...." she whispered nervously just as a sound above their heads drew her eyes up to the hundreds of dark, twisted figures hanging from the ceiling...

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

The little orb ahead of them hung motionless, alone against a sea of black so vast it could not reach the edges. Its copy by their heads cast a cool halo around the pair, granting a small island of light for them to float upon in this widening abyss.

The carvings were becoming less intelligible to him. They still carried the script from before, but the figures and what they were doing had grown obscure. He could not tell if the lanky skeletons were metaphors or true beasts. He did not know if the upside-down towers represented collapse, or simply a different beginning. He didn’t know if the circle the drawn people gathered around was the sun or something they had found down here.

Tadrielus turned to Caliane at the snap, his hand tensing on his sword but his body kept still. The light revealed the grim carpet, and then he, too, heard the dry shuffling from within the deepening cave.

"I think... we should leave...."

His brow was only slightly furrowed at the grisly host hanging above them. He couldn‘t make out many details in the darkness, but it did not take a scholar to know that the mural monsters were here. They had come so far, though, and they had found their destination, impossible as it may seem. Were these what the lost Avariel had become, forced to live beneath the surface? Part of him, the part that had yearned to adventure again, wanted to press on. It needed to know what had happened here.

”...I agree,” he said, taking a step back from the cavern’s entrance. The brash adventurer within could not overpower the older, wiser warrior. This would be a mystery better left unsolved. The hanging creatures were stirring, moving. One turned craned a bald, gray head back and squinted massive jet eyes for a split second before Tadrielus snuffed out his lights.

It was quiet for a few drawn-out seconds.

Then there was an ear-splitting scream and a leathery whirlwind of wings.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Avariel eyes might have been better in the dark than humans were, but they were not good enough to pierce into a cavern from which birthed the meaning of darkness. The monsters, whatever they were, had no such problem it seemed. Hundreds of the twisted mutations suddenly took flight in the cavern in a cacophony of noise. Some seemed to be flying just because its brethren were but the majority had scented fresh meat and dove with unnerving precision towards the two avariel. Caliane instinctively threw her arms over her head to protect her face a mere second before the first of the creatures sunk its talons into her flesh and ripped it open. She couldn't tell where Tad was and feared to unleash the fire building instinctively inside her in case he was caught quite literally in the cross fire. Swinging a sword blindly also seemed unwise.

But it was do something or die.

Another set of claws raked across her shoulder as she pinned her wings tight against her back.

"Cover your eyes!" she shouted over the screeching and noise of buffeting wings before raising her hands and firing a series of small fire balls into the direction of the deepest bit of black.

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

Tadrielus ducked down instinctively and furled his wings tightly against his body. He could feel the air pulling at his feathers and the harsh scraping of nails on skin and armor alike. So far they were glancing blows with no single creature lingering upon him. They were acting startled more than aggressive at first, but soon the attacks became more focused and Tadrielus was knocked bodily to the ground.

He did as Caliane instructed. He felt the heat come off of her while his eyelids flashed red at each fireball. A few distant screeches, but where they from pain or anger? Tadrielus kicked back a heavy, dark form that had lingered on top of him and the moment his arms were free he unsheathed his sword. The metal gleamed with a light all its own and unveiled their assailants in pristine white light. Able to see that he was clear or Caliane, Tadrielus continued his swing to cut deep across the sunken belly of the creature before him.

The sudden light of Caliane’s fire and Tadrielus’ sword staggered the swarm, and the current of leathery bodies diverged around them like a horrifying stream. The monster that he’d cut, gray-skinned with wide black eyes, clutched where its stomach had been slashed as dark, almost burnt-looking edges spread from the wound.

Getting to his feet, Tadrielus saw that their small circle was growing smaller. Fear of the light was quickly overcome, it seemed, and no matter how quickly they cut through their enemies, the two would never kill all of them. They had to escape back the way they had come. Back to the waterfall.

Tadrielus turned his blade and struck the ground before them. From the impact a thin globe of light spread forth, expanding out beyond him and Caliane and appearing to physically shove the flying creatures aside. It dissipated against the dark hoard.

”Back to the waterfall!” he called above the din, striking the sword on the ground again for a second flare, giving the pair enough room to turn and run for another second.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

The fire only seemed to serve to anger the swarm.

As the clear source of the light and heat the attack on Caliane tripled with its earnestness. Talons, skeletal wings and spindly arms all sought to grab, tear and slice at her. Even with the fire still burning across her skin they came in waves until they almost smothered her whole, using the dead and burning bodies of those closest to her to protect themselves whilst they slashed at her. The result was a weight that sent her to her knees as she tried not to get crushed to death. Tad's light came just as she was beginning to gasp in air and sent the beasts back relieving some of the weight. Coughing and pushing the dead remains off her she scrambled backwards and to her feet, cursing as she clumsily stood on her own wings in her panic.

Leaving wasn't something she was going to argue with.

Turning and speeding for the waterfall she didn't even think as she dove through the crashing waves and into the air beyond...

... Straight into the awaiting talons of their earlier friend.

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

Tadrielus ran almost fast enough to keep up with Caliane. The shimmering blade in his hand continued to sing against the stone as its tip struck the floor again and again, each time sending a fresh wave of white light to repel their pursuers. With each strike, however, the radius diminished. Lucky for them that the light was returning from the encroaching cavemouth.

Caliane tore through the waterfall, and the momentary rush of true sunlight prompted shrieks from the dark beasts and saw them flying into walls and clutching at their massive, lidless eyes. With a final flare from his sword, Tadrielus heaved himself through the waters with a grunt of exertion.

He tumbled down and rolled at the base of the falls through shallow water, exclaiming loudly with a tired, graveled voice as his weight fell on a wing. He caught a glimpse of red above him and looked up to see the titanic feathers of the roc rather than Caliane's fiery hair as expected. No, wait, there it was, clutched in talons as thick as tree.

Good.

He stood, rolled his wing joints a bit with a pained face, then took off after the pair. You've got your adventure, you old fool, he thought to himself. Another part of him was still smiling on the inside.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

"Put me down!"

"CAW"

Caliane knew talking with the beast was likely to get her nowhere but she wasn't sure what else to do in this situation. Her wings were pinned in tight against her arms so she could move either and her legs flailed wildly in the thin air. Never before had she been afraid of flying but she was certainly getting a healthy dose of fearing falling right then. Who knew how much damage there was to her delicate wing bones now? Would they comply and save her should the thing let her go?

The heat from her wings didn't seem to bother the beast either though it did occasionally pass her from one clawed foot to another.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, the fire was just to get you to leave us alone. I promise."

The bird seemed to hurrmph.

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

The bird was so enormous that a single stroke of its wings bent the treetops below. Tadrielus had to flap several times to keep up with that single stroke, and he kept straight behind the monster to keep from being tossed about in the turbulence. He could see that Caliane was alive and, given the amount of movement, did not have her spine crushed.

Several times Tadrielus tried to overtake the crimson bird, but each time he veered too far from the slipstream he lost progress to the strong tailwinds. Hold on, Caliane.

For whatever reason the creature did not venture too far above the canopy, which was steadily growing more irregular. Every now and then a singular tree would peak above the rest, and as they flew on, the number of these trees increased. Titans of the forest, with branches twice as wide as the trunks of lesser trees. Thick vines hung from them and they fanned out leaves larger than Tadrielus or Caliane's wingspan. A true giant's grove.

The bird cawed loudly and veered towards one such giant. From the tree an answered chorus of screeches could be heard. Tadrielus felt his stomach tighten as he realized that Caliane's captor was not hunting for itself, but rather delivering dinner.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

The chorus of chirping ahead of them caused the same dawning of realisation for Caliane. The blood drained from her face.

"Woah now, let's just..." she wriggled more in the steel-like talons that pinned her arms and wings against her sides. The bird barely paid her any attention now that its babies were in view to whom it called back with - what Caliane assumed was - a loving manner. There were three chicks in the next in total, which she supposed she should have been grateful for considering they were same size as her at only a few days or weeks old. The bird stopped and hovered above her chicks then slowly loosened her talons to drop the avariel straight into the middle of the nest.

The disorientating nature of being dropped and falling - which was a rarity for an avariel - left her dazed for a few seconds. Until three sets of beady eyes blinked at her.

"Err... TAD!?"

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

Tadrielus cursed the burning in his shoulders as he pressed forward. The air here was thick and humid, and even the high altitude winds did not stem the sweat dripping from his brow. The bird's wings beat a thunderous rhythm as it slowed its descent, dropped its cargo, and swooped away. Tadrielus wondered how many beasts the creature had to deliver daily to its ravenous brood, and he resolved not to linger long enough to find out.

"Hold on!" he called back with a bit more age in his voice than he felt good about. Two of the three heads turned upon their spindly necks to greet him, while one remained fully focused on its red-headed meal. He landed roughly to the babies' chatters of surprise and crouched over Caliane. He afforded her only a cursory glance, just enough to ensure she had not been savaged by the colossus' claws, before looking back to the chicks. "Can you stand?" He asked quietly.

They were horridly ugly. Oversized heads and beaks atop round, fleshy bodies just barely covered in wisps of fluffy white down. They sat awkwardly upon their haunches, as though they were unable to navigate their too-large feet. Their wings were useless nubs at this point, stretched only for balance in the nest. Had they not been a present danger, Tadrielus may have found them endearing.

The mutual size-up lasted only a few seconds before instinct kicked in and the largest of the three lunged. Tadrielus managed to get his sword up in time for the beak to close around the blade, and he wrested against the neck muscles that tried to tear it from his grasp.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

There was something utterly abhorrent about attacking babies. Even if said babies wanted to tear you to pieces and eat you for their late afternoon feast. Caliane winced at the sound of bone on sword and the startled squawk of one of the chicks as its meal fought back. She'd barely been able to nod to her companion in assurance of her ability to stand before the beasties had lunged for them. With two more focused on Tad than her she had more room to roll out of the way of the razor sharp beak that suddenly came hurtling towards her in an effort to peck her to death, she assumed grimly.

On her feet now, fire leapt into her palms. She could have burnt the whole nest down even bruised as she was but something held her back. These were creatures only doing what instinct told them to do. She did set a small one going between the birds and the two Avariel though causing them to scream and jump back.

"Maybe we should fly for it?"

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

The flare startled the nestling long enough to release the blade, and Tadrielus took his chance to retreat. Dry branches crunched under his boots as he moved, and he regarded the flickering barrier grimly. "We must put it out as we go," he said without taking his eyes from the birds. "Who knows how many of these are left?"

As frightening as it was, the massive bird had been a wonder to behold. Just as Caliane did not wish to harm the young, Tadrielus had no desire to slaughter animals without need.

"Maybe we should fly for it?"

He risked a glance behind them. The parent was nowhere to be seen, but he didn't much like the idea of taking to open skies again so soon. "Another tree? The leaves could hide us while we regroup."

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane nodded and tested her wings. After so long clamped in the vice of talons they were bruised but she counted herself lucky that they weren't torn to ribbons as they could have been by a creature that size. The birds shrieking grew louder but the fire angel kept a tight leash on the flames so it didn't spread any further and then lifted herself into a hover above the nest.

"I'll douse it once we're clear," she promised Tad and the babies then glanced over to her older companion. "Ready?" The nearest tree was a good few meters away. It didn't seem like a lot but when the mother could be anywhere nearby and grab them both...

"Go!" she shot for the tree and as they both left the nest the flames gutted out.

 

[Tadrielus Galawen]

He jumped on Caliane's signal, dropping far enough for his stomach to lurch before his wings bore him aloft. At least there was open air between the trees, and he aimed for the nearest branch that held enough foliage to conceal them. It was wide enough for four to stand comfortably across, and his feet touched down on the sturdy wood without moving it an inch.

He huffed and rested his hands on his knees, folding up his tired wings and checking to ensure that Caliane was with him. The whines of the babies were still loud, but thankfully the parent did not seem to be nearby. "Sorry, friends," he said quietly, "You'll have another meal soon enough."

"I vote we camp here," he said, straightening up. "I think that's quite enough adventure for one day. Twice seems like a good limit for attempted devourings."