Private Tales On The Hunt

[Myrdin]

He took a deep breath, wondering just what the hell was going on. Could all healing magic do this, or was it just her?

Lips thinned for a brief moment.

Slowly Myr let his head shake. Hands came slowly down onto her body as he stopped wondering, deciding that right now was no the time to figure out this problem. Fingers slowly played over her skin, drawing small circles in calming breaths. "Rest."

He told her softly.

"For a little while." His people did not need sleep, at least not really. Like his cousins of the land sea-elves could get by for weeks with only simple meditation. "I'll keep watch, but you should sleep."

They would move on in the morning. "I'll keep you safe."

 

[Skyler]

"I know you will," she said quietly.

Fingers moved through long, rusty hair, pulling it over to one shoulder as she lay back down next to the man, nestled carefully against his side and in his arms, head resting on his shoulder. Lids closed, a soft puff of warm air along his neck as her breathing began to deepen.

Lips curled into a silent smile as she found herself enjoying his warmth. The rhythm of his breath and heartbeat. And it wasn't long before before she drifted off. Luckily for them both, she was a sound and still sleeper. Came with all those years from falling asleep high up in the trees.

 

[Myrdin]

Myr did not move for the whole night.

He kept his eyes open, he listened carefully, but he never moved. His attention was on the sleeping dryad before him, watching her and carefully running his fingers over her skin as he tried to puzzle out the mystery that lay before him.

The Sea-Elf did not really understand, and nor would he have pretended to.

Myr laid there until dawn came, only closing his eyes occasionally to meditate for a short while and give himself a small boost of energy. The next day would be as long as the first, and when the sun was rising he reached out and brushed his fingers carefully over Isla's cheek. "Isla."

He said as he kissed her softly.

"It's time." They had to go.

 

[Skyler]

The brush of his fingertips and his voice were enough to bring her from her deep slumber.

"Hmm," a throaty whisper as she stirred. She couldn't help think that she'd love to wake up like this every morning. A brush of his hand and a whisper of his voice. The touch of his lips on hers. Vibrant greens fluttered opened and looked at the elf. Shifting ever so slightly she pressed her lips to his cheek.

"I haven't slept that well in a long time," she commented and began disentangling herself from the man.

Not since she'd left home.

She began gathering her clothes from the ground. With a quick shake, her pants were slipped on. She frowned, holding up the shirt for Myr to inspect. There was a large tear down the back.

"This...is the only shirt I have." She'd had to abandon her other small belongings when she'd fled from the merchant and his son. A curl of her lips, slightly accusatory stare to the elf but a twinkle of amusement and mischief in her eyes.

"I'm not sure it'll stay on now."

 

[Myrdin]

"Ah...well..." Myr reached back and rubbed his neck, frowning for a few moments before he glanced over towards his pack for a moment.

He glanced back at Isla, and then took a step towards his bag. For a moment he rooted around, and then he pulled free a tunic. On him it would have fit more than well enough, though on her it would be more of a dress than anything else.

"This is the best I can do I'm afraid." Myr smiled. "Sorry."

It appeared that her shirt could be repaired, but they did not yet have the time. "It's very comfortable cloth."

He offered with a smile.

 

[Skyler]

She laughed, a sound as pleasant as wind-chimes hanging from trees. She gave the messed up shirt to him, so he could store it in his pack. Didn't want to leave anything else the hunters could use to find them. Slipping on his tunic, she tied it off at the waist so it still fell above her hips. Sleeves were rolled up her much thinner arms.

"There," she breathed. "Not so bad." A crooked grin his direction and a shake of her head. Clearing out the rest of the campsite, she looked up at the small falls. "When do you think we'll reach the coast?" She wondered how many more days travel through the wilds it would be.

 

[Myrdin]

He smiled at her.

The solution had worked it seemed, well enough that she wasn't angry. The shirt could be mended, though they would have to find some needle and thread before that would actually be a possibility. "Another day or two."

It was hard to gauge distance in the Wilds.

"From there we'll have to walk along the coast to find a village." Which wouldn't be half as difficult as traveling through the Wilds themselves. This place was dangerous, the coast was too, but most of the larger beasts did not venture there.

At least not in his experience.

 

[Skyler]

She nodded and stopped chewing on the inside of her cheek. She had a bad habit of doing that. Rusty strands were tucked behind a pointed-ear. "Then we should go. The trees may warn us of any danger along the way. Then again," lips pursed. "they can't always be trusted."

A shake of her head. She took the lead and carefully tread across the small stream to the other side. The water felt cool along her feet and ankles.

She had no doubt they'd run into a few more hunter parties; she just hoped they were prepared. Then again, perhaps they'd get lucky and only run into the animals. She wondered how they'd view a creature like her - someone half of the wilds herself.

Myr on the other hand.

 

[Myrdin]

"The Trees talk, huh?" She had mentioned that before, but Myr hadn't exactly thought to question it before.

"How does that work?" Myr pondered. "Whispers? Leaves wiggling a certain way?"

His tone of voice suggested that he was not in fact making fun of her.

The Wilds were an interesting place, and as he shouldered his pack he wondered just how handy this skill of hers could actually become. There was no doubt in his mind that they could make it, but if the Wilds itself would help?

That would be a godsent.

 

[Skyler]

A smile curled on her lips and her head shook as her feet hit the small beachy shore on the other side of the river. "Not quite like that. More so whispers. Like when the sound of the wind moves through the trees? It carries the voices they've been using all along."

Shoulders shrugged as her feet transitioned to grass and back to a path she cut along the woods.

"I suppose you just have to know how to listen for them and speak their language." She'd been born with that gift and she imagined it was due to her ancestry.

Voice lowered as she leaned slightly into Myr as they walked.

"They can be gossip queens and like I said, can tell half-truths. So you always have to be careful when listening to trees."

 

[Myrdin]

For some reason the words made him laugh. Perhaps it was the idea of trees gossiping, of leaves jangling as they spoke to one another. The thought itself made him laugh, though he wasn't entirely sure why that would be.

"Well." He shook his head. "I suppose it's better than outright lying."

Gossiping trees, what a life.

Myr shook his head, clearly still not mocking her. Her magic was very real, considering last night, and if she said that she could speak with trees then Myr had absolutely no doubt in her word. "Perhaps you should try gossiping back."

The Sea-Elf offered with a grin.

 

[Skyler]

Isla shot the man a look, corner of her lips twitching.

"It doesn't exactly work like that." Trees seemed to understand emotions more so than words from her. But she didn't see the need to explain the intricacies to Myr. Although, she enjoyed that spark of amusement in his eyes.

They'd been walking for awhile.

Isla eyed an upcoming tree. "I think I should climb up and get a better view of our surroundings. In case we're being followed."

 

[Myrdin]

Myr frowned for a brief moment, and then nodded. "I'll stay here."

The Sea-elf did not mind crawling up the mast of a ship, didn't mind climbing the rigging, but a tree? There was something...wrong about that. He preferred to keep his feet on the ground, preferred to be set a bit more solid on the ground.

It wasn't an unreasonable consideration really. Not when you were as bulky as he was.

"If anyone is on our tail shout down." They would not doubt be rather far behind, but Myr wanted enough warning that he could actually do something.

 

[Skyler]

"I will. If only you could hear the trees." She smiled and shook her head once. Reaching up, she began nimbly climbing from branch to branch. It was clear she was made for the forest. For the outdoors.

She wondered if she would hate the cold, though.

Maybe one day she'd find out.

It wasn't long until she was near the top where the tree thinned out. A height most would find dizzying. But she found exhilarating. Right at home. The breeze kissed across her face up here. Vibrant greens panned below. Myr was a very small shape from the base of the tree she'd just climbed.

A small smile tickled her lips before she cast her gaze outwards.

Greens narrowed and she frowned. To the west was movement. Multiple shapes. They were too far away to see what or who. And the trees weren't talking.

"Myr!" She called down. "Movement coming in from the west. Fast!" She began the climb down. There was no way in hell she was going to let him face whatever was coming alone.

 

[Myrdin]

Of course there was something coming, of course something would be on it's way to kill them. Why would they have any sort of luck? Lips thinned for a brief moment and he reached towards his back to draw the blade there.

It was an elegant weapon, curved with half of it's base cruelly serrated.

The sword had been forged by his first shipmaster, a man who had shown him both kindness and offered him a sense of belonging. "Hurry!"

He called up to her, looking around the clearing for somewhere to properly place himself. After a few seconds he noted the boulder to the left, quickly moving towards it as a way to actually put some space between himself and whatever was coming from the west.

 

[Skyler]

Isla got halfway down and paused as a group of hunters entered the small clearing below. One was definitely a mage and seemed to have the power of the wind. It's how the party had moved so quickly through the woods and why she'd seen the trees move from so far away.

Isla froze, half hidden by the branches. She could still see Myr. Catch his gaze.

The lead hunter was an orc and had a nasty scar down his right eye. He looked to Myr, recognition flashing across his face. The others looked warily around the clearing.

"Oy, Myrdin. Figured we'd run into you sooner or later. Can't believe you haven't found her yet though." He looked pretty smug about it.

 

[Myrdin]

Myr clenched his hand around the handle of his sword.

He recognized the orc of course, a man who went by the name of Vrak. He was a nasty piece of work, knowing for cutting up prisoners just so that they were easier to take back. There was a rumor he once dismembered a man just so he wouldn't fight.

"Vrak." Myr said as he glanced at some of the other men. "Not working alone on this one?"

The Sea-Elf pursed his lips. "Getting a little weak in your old age?"

Vrak was of course around the same age as Myr himself, but mockery often made the orc rather unhinged. Unhinged meant mistakes. Mistakes that Myr and Isla could exploit.

 

[Skyler]

The orc growled, showing his pointed teeth. A sneer twisting his lips. Isla nearly held her breath as one of the other hunters in the party started glancing up, toward the tree she was hiding in.

"This one is worth a lot. And the bounty has changed. They want her alive now. Perhaps so they can enact their own punishment on her." A glint of dark pleasure in his eyes. His gaze roved the ground before snapping back to Myr.

"Her tracks stop here and funny we should find you here as well." He sniffed at the air and began stepping forward, leonine walk toward the lone elf.

 

[Myrdin]

His grip tightened for a second. "Alive huh?"

He clicked his tongue.

"Shame." Myr knew that he could kill Vrak. The man was a simpleton on a good day and a fool on any other. He had some skill with a blade, but not near enough to actually be much of a threat. It was the others that concerned him.

No matter how fast Myr was he couldn't dodge arrows and swords at the same time. The Mage wouldn't be much help to them, but by the time they would need that it would likely already be too late. "Her corpse is just beyond the clearing."

He went for a slight gambit.

"Was a fighter, had to snap her neck." Myr shrugged casually.

 

[Skyler]

Isla's grip on the branch tightened. For some reason, the prospect of being taken alive scared her more. Did they need her alive for the ritual? A cold shiver ran down her spine despite the warmth of the afternoon sun.

Vrak spat as the others began circling around the area. One studied the ground and began wandering toward the tree she'd climbed. The wind mage went in the opposite direction. "I don't think you'd leave a corpse worth that much just lyin' 'bout. Have you gone soft, elf?"

He flexed his sword arm and motioned for the wind mage to check the clearing anyway. The mage practically floated above the ground and with a burst of wind, disappeared through the thicket. The one at the base of her tree began looking upward. Eyes widened as he spotted the red-haired young woman. His mouth opened. A branch between the dryad and the man suddenly snapped off - falling toward him.

 

[Myrdin]

Myr knew it was time to move as soon as the sound of cracking wood echoed out within the small clearing above him.

He had no idea what Isla did, no idea if the sound was her doing something or the trees trying to protect her naturally, but he also knew that as soon as the noise echoed out into the clearing every Hunter within a mile would know to come.

So his blade flickered forward.

The curved scythe like sword flowed forward and directly through one of the men standing near him. The blade swept through flesh like butter, cutting through the man's stomach and continuing it's path before suddenly it met steel.

Vrak's eyes burned with hatred, anger.

"Why would yo-"

As the orc began to speak Myr attacked again. His blade flickered forward, to the left, low, high. Myr became a blur, never allowing Vrak a moments rest.

 

[Skyler]

Heart twisted in her chest as she saw Myr fight the orc.

The branch crushed the hunter's skull instantly. He was dead before he hit the ground. The windmage didn't need long to confirm Isla's body was not back beyond the bushes. With a burst of air, he floated back through the thicket, eyes finding the other crushed hunter and traveling up to Isla.

He flew upward even as branches bent and plunged in his way.

Reaching Isla, he snatched at the dryad. She brought her hands up, nails raking down the man's face as he dragged her from the tree and to the ground. He was strong. She struggled as he pinned her to the ground. The ground began to shake beneath them, vines snapping up from the earth to try and snake around the mage.

Isla's vine tattoo glowed on her body as she used the magic of the forest.

 

[Myrdin]

Vrak was good. Myr wouldn't have denied that even if someone had asked, it just so happened that he was better.

Growing up at sea he had gotten used to people trying to kill him. Pirates, silaors, and even his own people had tried to murder him for most of his life. Myr was a match for most even without his magic, and with it? With it he could kill near enough anyone.

His blade slipped forward.

The orc tried to parry, tried to shift to the side and get himself more balance, but Myr didn't give him any such opportunity.

As the Orc moved his left foot Myr lashed out. His blade flickered once, then twice. Steel came up to block his blows, but Myr had known they were coming. The blade slipped high and then quickly low. Blood splattered over the clearing as he cut into Vrak, the Orc letting out a scream of pain as Myr sliced through his artery.

There could be no mercy here.

 

[Skyler]

She heard to scream just as one of her roots managed to get a hold of the wind mage's ankle. He pushed his hand over her face and suddenly, she felt the oxygen pull from her lungs. Her manipulation of the roots stopped. Lips parted and her head shook as she gasped like a fish out of water.

A fist went up toward his face but his other hand caught it easily. He pressed his weight into her stomach and pinned her other two limbs to the ground. Her eyes watered as she struggled to...breathe.

A sharp knee came up for his crotch.

He swore and crumpled over.

She took a grateful lungful of air and pushed against his weight trying to scramble away. She still felt a little dizzy. A little lightheaded.

 

[Myrdin]

Myr cut through two of the others that Vrak had brought with him, sword slicing quickly through them. The hunters crumpled onto the floor, bodies flailing as they hit the earth like ragdolls. Myr scowled as he stepped over them.

He saw Isla half crawling on the ground, lunging to get away from the windmage.

"Isla!" Myr called out to her, trying to grab her attention just long enough to bring her over towards his side. Fingers reached out, wrapping half around her as he pulled her behind himself and stood between her and the remaining Hunters.

The sword in his hand turned as he watched the Hunters regathering themselves. "Are you alright?"

He asked, not glancing back.