Private Tales Pride

[Riley]

She tripped and nearly fell on her face at his words.

She caught herself and quickly straightened out her pride. "Ha," she barked. "I'll let Kaius know you think he looks four-hundred." And she'd also be sure to ask Kaius if this whole naked dancing was a real thing. She didn't think so but Riley found Arwyl dreadfully hard to read at times. And he often caught her believing whatever he said...particularly when it came to elf customs and legends.

She shot the prince a look over her shoulder, moon-flecked hazels clearly not buying his 'fleeing in the same direction.' Still. She didn't press it further. Maybe Kaius was right. All those times he said Arwyl did like her - at least enough to not leave her behind.

If it wasn't for Arwyl's words just moments before - assuring her she was one of them. Well, she still didn't think she'd believe Kaius.

Riley turned her gaze ahead, ducking and weaving through the snarly branches of the wood.

"If we make it to the princess' courts. Do you think...do you think she can help us?"

Did he think she would help them? Help Kaius.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"If you think that is the worst thing I have said to Kaius then you are sorely mistaken," he laughed.

"She will help us," he said firmly. If she was there, he decided to keep to himself. If she wasn't there then he had very little hope that her people would deign to offer any more sanctuary, let alone send anyone out to help them.

He tilted his head to one side sharply. Continuing at the same pace he kept one ear trained behind them.

"Keep going in a straight line," he whispered. "We're being followed."

As they past some bushes, Arwyl simply melted away.

 

[Riley]

The corner of her mouth twitched at his laughter and tone.

"I can only imagine," she began then quieted at his next warning. There was a chill and stiffening at the back of her neck. Hazels darted around the wood. It was quieter. The lack of sounds when a predator was close by. She fought against her instinct to turn around.

Head turned slightly as Arwyl seemed to melt into the darkness.

"Fuk," she whispered and continued on her path.

She hated playing prey but here she was. Her axe was strapped to her back. Fingers twitched at her sides. She still didn't have a lot of magic - still recovering from the day prior. Probably enough for a burst of shielding. And here was where she had to trust someone.

Trust someone else had her back.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

He waited. For a few seconds he was increasingly certain that he had only heard an animal. Then he caught sight of the cloak moving between the trees.

Arwyl went quite still.

Whoever they were they moved quietly. There was no doubt that they were following their path. The cloaked figure would be closing on Riley fast.

Arwyl stepped out of cover and padded along behind them. He called his magic to his hand, drawing a short length of spirit glass.

He stepped forwards and reached for the cloak with his left hand. He grabbed it and yanked it back, bringing the blade around to what should have been their follower's throat.

The cloak crumpled up. Empty.

"Shit."

Arwyl turned about. There was a magic user here. Another one in the girl's trail perhaps.

 

[Riley]

Shit

Riley spun, hearing Arwyl's swear. But a growing misty-fog was leeching up from the forest floor. Quickly. She found she couldn't see more than six feet ahead.

Fingers curled around the hilt of her axe as she took a defensive stance, head on a swivel. Eyes peering into the darkness.

"Fuk," she swore. "So much for having my back." A muttering grumble. Now would be nice to have Zana's gift - that gift of prophecy and visions. She'd like to know what the hell was coming because the goosebumps on her arms weren't lying about something being out there.

There was a whoosh behind her and she spun, seeing a familiar set of pointed ears and autumn hair.

"Arwyl, for fuk's sake don't...," hazels narrowed as he moved. Not quite like him. And his eyes were...glowing red.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Most magic he could get a sense of. His people were slightly more connected to that side of the world than humans.

This was intangible to him. Forces at work that he couldn't even feel. Magic was at work, but beyond him. It unnerved Arwyl.

He heard his name, but couldn't see Riley. A shadow moved through the mists towards the sound of her voice.

"Shit," he muttered.

"Leave here, back the way you came," hissed the cloaked figure as he stalked towards Riley.

 

[Riley]

"I take it you're not the real red-haired pain in my arse elf commander?" Riley gripped the axe, setting her feet wider apart as she balance herself for the coming fight. Hazels flickered around the dark wood.

"We're just passing through. Don't mean any trouble unless you're goddamned going to make it for us."

The Arwyl-not Arwyl's red eyes narrowed as it continued to stalk forward. Then sprung forward. Teeth grit and she whacked her axe through the being. But it met...nothing. A burst of warm, sharp wind knocked her backward into a tree and she hit the bark, feeling a rattle against her spine.

"Come on!" She growled.

"Arwyl, if you're still around get your ass out of here!"

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"We need to get out of here!" Arwyl countered.

He didn't rush through the mists towards her. It felt as if that would be a good way to find out - very briefly - what was surrounding them with magic.

"Did you see what it was?" he asked. He could see a shadow in the mists ahead of him. "Is that you?"

 

[Riley]

"Gods damned stubborn arse elf," Riley nearly spat as she pushed off from the rough bark of the tree, swinging her ax at the shadow shifting in front of her. Still.

Nothing.

"I'm still seeing what it IS," Riley yelled, still not having eyes on Arwyl. Just this...thing. She wished she could reach for her magic but she was too drained still.

"Kaius will never forgive me if something happens to you," Riley called as she took another swing of her ax. The shadow moved this time and Riley heard a crack behind her as the tree she'd been thrown against moments before split and began falling toward her.

"Shit."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Not your responsibility to look out for me!" he called out.

The magic was foreign. Arwyl realised he had to try and look beyond that, to find the source. A shape, humanoid, rushed through the mists towards him. Arwyl darted to the side then lashed out with his hand. He struck nothing.

"Back the way you came!" hissed a voice. It seemed to come from several directions.

"Not happening," shouted Arwyl.

Another figure from the mists. Arwyl stood straight, refusing to play the game. He caught a briefly flash of blood red eyes, pallid flesh. Then he was tumbling backwards, the breath knocked out of him.

"That was real," he groaned.

 

[Riley]

"You just said I was part of your band so I just assumed!" Riley hollered back as she dived away from the falling tree. She made it mostly. Branches and pine needles thumped against her back as she rolled.

"Ouch," she grumbled and scrambled, trying to crawl out.

Scratches and pine needles clawed at her hair, skin, and clothing. There. She saw the flash of red-hair stumble back. Squinting, she hobbled toward him. This time she was sure it was him. It's where his voice had come from. That royal-pain-in-her-arse tone.

"Arwyl," she reached the prince and gave him a quick look-over before turning her back on him, ax at the ready. "Can you stand? Damnit, do you think Kaius would ever forgive me if something happened to you?!" That shadow came at her from the front as a flash of red leaped at her from the left. This time she swung for the left.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"You assumed it was your job now?" he asked. Even in the situation, he managed a wry smile for that expectation. "He'd probably thank you."

The shadow dissipated. The form to her left materialised into the same image Arwyl had briefly seen. Arwyl felt a flash of satisfaction at seeing Riley's axe swinging that way.

The axe passed right through the figure. Their hand opened into a claw, light catching vicious nails. They darted between Arwyl and Riley.

"Fuck!" swore Arwyl. He brought his hand to his shoulder where he felt a flash of pain. It came away red and bloodied.

"Leave!" cried the voice.

"Press on!" countered Arwyl. He had a vague sense of where they had been heading and set out.

 

[Riley]

Riley risked a glance over her shoulder at Arwyl, eyes narrowing on the blood on his hand.

"Mother above," she groaned and swung her axe at the air in front of them for good measure. Her free hand reached out, fingers curling around Arwyl's upper arm as she tugged the elf forward with her. There was no way she was risking them being separated again.

"You can royally pardon me for this later," she quipped back, her grip on him not relenting.

She wished she had her magic right now. She could put a shield around them. Around him. She wished Kaius was okay. She wished...a lot of things. Her feet quickened and she began to sprint, dragging Arwyl with her if he wasn't running already, weaving through the dark forest. Eyes narrowed through the mists, moonlight, and trees.

"There! See it? I say we make for that road and risk it. I'd rather be out of this damned spirit territory."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Touching the royal arm without asking permission!" Arwyl shouted. There was no real annoyance behind his words.

"I can run myself, though!" He called out. He drew slightly away from her grip and kept pace. There was a sharp line in the flow of magic where she had drawn her barrier tight around them both.

The moment they reached the road the dark shape again rushed them. This time they stopped suddenly, striking the magical barrier

"Magic works," Arwyl hissed, drawing a blade of spirit glass out of the air. The shape was gone again.

 

[Riley]

Her shield dropped and she tensed.

"Can't hold it for long," she clenched her teeth and whipped her head around. But she didn't see anything. She made sure to stay behind Arwyl. That bastard would have to go through her before getting to him. Although, he, it, already had...once.

"Let's keep up on the road. This thing is too possessive over its territory. Glad to see your magic working too although don't think I ever told you that every time you do that it scars the shit out of me." A small, lopsided grin at Arwyl's back. But her eyes tracked beyond the road and the dark woods around them. The sky was already lightening. Dawn must be moments away.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Really? For all the magic you've seen this is the one that scares you?" Arwyl asked incredulously.

He increased the pace, trying to convince himself that the mist was slowly lifting. It wasn't.

"Whoever or whatever that was I think they're trailing us now. Be ready, they'll look for a chance."

They could hurt it. That had shifted the balance and he suspected their attacker was assessing their options.

 

[Riley]

"You are pulling a weapon out of goddamned thin air. Of course it scares me," she grunted. "I still don't understand how you and Kaius got put in that jail when we first...um met." Met was putting it politely. More like when the dreadlord had used her body like a wrecking ball into the very jail that held them. Riley wasn't really known for being...cautious.

Her shield flashed behind them a moment as the mists parted and two objects came at them. One from behind and the left. And one from behind and the right.

"Shit."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Down!" Shouted Arwyl. He dropped, tugging on her arm to make sure she went down with him. Several more objects went flying overhead. Traditional magical missiles.

"Looks, when you get shit faced and then pick a fight with the ugliest looking group of humans it doesn't always go your way."

"Besides, it would be rude to bring a knife to a first fight."

 

[Riley]

She hit the ground.

“Listen. I’m supposed to protect you and not the other way around,” she growled as the air above them crackled with the magic that could’ve knocked her easily on her ass. As much of a thanks as Arwyl would get from her for the moment.

Her head popped up and she scrambled to her feet. “C’mon!”

A cracked grin in Arwyl’s direction.

“I didn’t realize you felt so honor bound when you were shit faced. Your highness.” Riley ran ahead, eyes scanning the road. She frowned at the sound of hoofbeats around the corner.

“off the road!”

 

[Arwyl Minras]

He remembered, very clearly, laughing and Kaius and asking if they could 'keep her'. Just days ago. How times had changed from that boundless amusement at annoying Kaius with the proposition.

He dived to the ground, rolling into the space between several bushes. If they could stay undetected for just a few moments they could perhaps get their bearing on the situation.

"Look, what you're supposed to do is what I tell you to do!" he hissed.

He didn't want to be found, but apparently the prince didn't want to give up the last word either.

 

[Riley]

Riley dove in next to him and pointed a finger to her lips, giving the prince a stern shushing. She’d give him a lot more than that if he didn’t stop yapping his russet haired head off. She was not above clamping her human hand over a royal elf’s mouth if it came to that.

Even if he did use scary spirit-stick glass magic.

It was a cart coming from where they’d run from. Covered back. Looked like supplies beneath. She couldn’t tell what. Someone with a slender frame that suggested a woman drove it, partially cloaked.

Riley held her breath as it neared. Then whispered as it passed. “I say we take our chances riding in the back of that cart and slip out before...wherever it’s going. It’ll get us out of this place faster.”

Riley didn’t like the build in the fog again.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

He gave a sharp nod. Arwyl hadn't had the time to show her the hand signals the band used when they needed silence.

He settled for something simple. Arwyl lifted a hand and slowly closed one finger into his palm at a time.

As soon as he made a fist he pushed himself up. Light on his feet he sprinted into the road, making barely a sound. The back of the wagon was closed, but he made the jump easily, standing on the lip of the closed door on his tip toes.

He turned to see if Riley needed a hand. She didn't always strike him at the subtle sort of operator.

 

[Riley]

Riley may not be as quick or as quiet as an elf but she was pretty damn good for a human. And completely more stealthy than Riz. Duh.

Except that she had a braced ankle from a bad sprain she hadn't yet been able to heal.

Teeth grit as pain lanced up her leg. But she pushed harder, pushing off her good ankle. She landed half around the raised up wagon back, straddling it with a grunt. Fingers enclosed around the wood, keeping herself from falling back onto the road.

There was a shriek in the darkness behind them and she raised her hand, a shield of magic popping up around them for good measure.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Arwyl stepped down into the wagon. The scent of vegatables struck him suddenly. The entire cart was full of cabbages. Delightful.

He placed a hand on Riley's shoulder, worrying she was going to tumble out the back. In hindsight, he should have made sure she was in before he joined her.

A shape moved through the shadows. Spirit glass was hard to maintain for long after it left his hand, but he summoned a shard and tossed it. The blade left a circular swirl in the mist behind it.

There was a shriek.

"Get in properly," he whispered to Riley.

 

[Riley]

"I'm fine," she grumbled.

Heaving her other leg up, she collapsed among the cabbages.

"Nice...shot," she breathed and closed her eyes, keeping the shield up around them for a moment longer for good measure before it too collapsed. She grimaced at the smell but for fuk sake, she was just glad to be off that ankle of hers for a moment.

Head popped up, eyes snapping open.

"Please get down your royal highness," she muttered tiredly in a whisper. Despite the fading adrenaline, there was a hint of humor in her tone. Shifting among the cabbages, her knee bumped into a box.

Shifting, she peeked inside. There were a bunch of vials and...dried herbs. "Arwyl," her tone went serious again. "I think our driver might be a healer. Maybe she'll...help us?"