Private Tales The Death of Innocence

[Olvir]

She was right, he didn't want to talk about home.

So many things had changed, so many things were different now that he wasn't sure how he would ever bring them up to Houri. Ollie knew it was wrong, knew that he had to sit her down and tell her everything, but he was weak.

He wanted to see his friend happy.

She had suffered for years, been caged for nearly half of her life. He didn't want to see her break any more than she already had. Didn't want to deliver the news that the world she had left behind was now entirely different.

The idea itself was a nightmare, and put a deep pit into his stomach.

And then, mercifully, a smile touched her face and she offered a branch to him. The young nobleman smiled at his friend.

"What do you me-" Before Ollie could finish his sentence Houri suddenly turned on her horse and broke into a gallop.

The Knights by his side gave him a bewildered expression, but Ollie only let out a curse and kicked his own horse forward. Within seconds they broke into a gallop, quickly chasing after Houri as she sprinted away.

 

[Houri]

Houri wasn't the best horse rider but she'd been brought up in the saddle from a young age due to her family's great love of racing. Her borrowed mare was no speedster either but the mare certainly seemed to have a chip on her shoulder or something to prove for she shot off like a silvery bullet through the forest and when Houri nudged her to veer off the path and jump one of the fallen trees she ploughed into it was a deep rooted joy. She wondered if the horse until now simply hadn't been allowed to have fun in such a way and for a moment she felt a certain kinship with the palomino.

The initiated zig-zagged back and forth between the road and taking off through a made up cross country course in the thicker parts of the forest. She took them under low hanging branches and jumped great trunks. When they finally reached a stream Houri let her horse thunder into it sending spray flying with a wild laugh. Eventually the horse came to a stop however, intrigued by the water and began to playfully splash her hoof in the rippling current.

 

[Olvir]

Olvir followed after Houri as quickly as he could, and so did the Knights.

The latter two proved to be far more skilled in equestrian pursuits, though that wasn't really all that surprising considering their own pedigree. Olvir managed to keep up though, and before long the three came stampeding after the wayward Dreadlord.

"I see you found a river." Olvir said with a chuckle as they drew closer.

Water splashed all around Houri, casting into the air and creating brief flickers of rainbows before the droplets fell back down into the river below. "This your idea of fun?"

Ollie asked with a grin.

 

[Houri]

Houri glanced up as the others crashed through the forest treeline and out onto the shingle beach created by the bend of the river at this particular spot. Her horse didn't so much as glance up and continued it's pawing of the river. Houri let the reins go slack and relaxed back into her saddle, flashing her old friend a grin.

"Is it not yours?" she called back. When the horse finally stopped she lazily guided her back towards the shore. "I was following the boar tracks, I suppose this is where they come to get water," she glanced around but there was no sign of any wildlife no doubt on account of the noise she had made crashing through the undergrowth and laughing. She shrugged lazily as if it didn't bother her - the real fun had been the freedom of the ride.

 

[Olvir]

Olvir raised an eyebrow. "Boar are dangerous!"

He remembered all the lessons that his older brother had tried to teach him. Augustus had never much been a caretaker, but he had enjoyed his hunts more than most Anirian Nobles. In his eye it was an important tradition, a thing that Olvir had needed to know.

Apparently boar could be even more dangerous that wolves. Though Ollie had never experienced as much.

"Maybe we should stick to something else." He jested. "Like snowball fights!"

Ollie remembered more than a few of those with Houri. "Or stealing a loaf of bread."

A game they had played in the markets. Trying to snatch a loaf without getting caught. They had always paid in the end of course, sometimes ten times as much as the bread was actually worth. "I'd actually have a shot of winning those games."

Ollie joked.

 

[Houri]

"Where's your sense of adventure?!" Houri cried and then shook her head. Board were dangerous, bah! The Ollie she had known would never have said such a thing. "I remember a young noble once telling me danger was his middle name, before throwing himself of Paedita Falls," she raised both eyebrows. Luana's Summer Home boated one of the largest waterfalls in the Anirian territory. Ollie and Houri had once jumped right from the very top. They'd both nearly been skinned alive by their parents but it had been worth it.

"Stealing bread is for children," she pouted. "Let's go chase this boar! Imagine how much nicer it would be to eat crackling and roasted pork tonight rather than nettle soup," or whatever else they managed to forage up.

 

[Olvir]

Ollie took in a deep breath.

He tried to fight that weight of responsibility on his shoulder. Tried to heave against the fact that he was a Weiroon, that he was technically still on a mission for his house. Teeth sank into his lower lip, he glanced towards his two Knights.

Both men looked away almost immediately, yet the expression on their face was clear. There was something primal and fun about the hunt, something that none of them could really deny. These two men seemed to get swept up in Houri's craziness.

A frown touched his face, and then finally he let out the air in his lungs. "Fine!"

He told them with a shake of his head.

"Fine, we'll hunt the damned thing." What was another day?

Finally a smile began to touch his lips. "But we do it old school."

 

[Houri]

Houri practically squealed with her excitement causing her horse to jig sideways and pin it's ears back at the shrill noise. The two knights also grinned though they got their reactions under control a lot quicker than the young girl.

"What do you mean the old fashioned way?" she frowned when the excitement loosened its grip a little on her. The clouds had all but vanished now and what had looked to be a grey, dark day had become a beautiful summers day. Houri barely seemed to notice the heat even after the gallop they'd just done. Her eyes scanned the riverbank absentmindedly. "I didn't see any sign of the tracks continuing, so it might have waded into the water and down stream."

 

[Olvir]

"Bows and spears!" He declared.

They had neither of course. He only had his sword, the blade which whispered in his mind, and the Knights only had their own. "Proper hunting stuffs."

Ollie contended.

"No magic, or traps!" If they were going to make a game of this, then they were going to have to make a game. "There's plenty of wood in the trees to make the proper things, and I think Trik knows how."

The nobleman glanced towards his ogre-sized knight.

"That I do, My Lord!"​

He replied with no small amount of excitement.

 

[Houri]

Unless one of you is about to get hurt, she quietly added on to the no magic rule but otherwise nodded with a easy smile. She had no qualms with hunting with a bow and arrow nor a spear. The latter might even be better if the animal decided to turn and charge at them.

As the other knights swung off their horses and started into the forest to fetch the woods Houri swung off her own mount and tied her to one of the low hanging branches in the treeline so she could graze.

"Come on, let's try find the trail again," she motioned for Olvir to follow her as she set off down the riverbank.

 

[Olvir]

Olvir slipped from his horse with the lithe movement of a trained soldier.

It was, embarrassingly, something that he had to actively try to do. He remembered all the lessons in Alliria, the way Sword Master Tanaka had shouted at him. The man had been firm, and always stressed even the most basic things.

The memory was strong within Olvir as he tried to keep to it, his boots crashing against the ground and then quickly rushing to catch up with Houri a moment later. "It probably head down river."

Ollie declared, trying to recall a book he had read on boars a while ago.

"Most likely made it's home in a small clearing." They tended to do that, sprawling away from predators and noise. Close enough to a river, but also within bounds of the food it enjoyed the most.

Briefly he glanced at Houri, wondering if she was at all wondering why Olvir knew what he did.

 

[Houri]

Houri merely nodded with a thoughtful line between her brows.

"Just.... where," she murmured half to herself as she tried to recall the lessons she had had in survival hunting. Dreadlords when out on missions couldn't always rely on being near a town for food and shelter. Tracking, basic survival skills in the wild, had been as important classes as the magic ones or sword skills. It barely even crossed her mind that they were not normal things for a young noble to know.

With a task to do, Houri applied herself with single-minded focus to it. Each step was slow and she ran her eyes over every bit of dirt before moving on. Eventually, she got what she was looking for.

"Fur!" she picked up a small tuft that had got caught between rocks on doubt on the animals exit from the water.

 

[Olvir]

Olvir stepped up to the small tuft of fur, crouching down and frowning for a brief moment.

The hair was coarse, though longer than he would have expected from a Wild Boar this time of year. Lips thinned for a moment, but he shook his head. Never been much of a hunter.

Ollie admitted to himself, though didn't admit as much out loud. His head swiveled slightly, turning towards the direction he thought the boar might have gone. No hoof-prints sat within the muck, another odd thing, though another tuft of fur was stuck between twigs.

"This way, I think." Ollie said with a gesture, standing up and quickly following the mediocre path left behind by the creature.

They moved quickly, wandering into a denser part of the forest. The light up above growing thinner, sun not just obscured by the Canopy of trees, but clouds as well.

 

[Houri]

"We shouldn't get too close, not without weapons," Houri said after a long way of walking in companionably silence through the thicket. She couldn't even hear the sound of the river anymore and they must have been walking for a good twenty minutes. There was still no sign of the boar however, nor any den which might belong to their elusive prey. Her eyes flickered between the trees, watching for any sense of movement. Her magic did not lean towards such things but she had learnt enough in the Academy how to apply her natural senses to the environment around her.

"We don't want to be caught--" she suddenly stopped at the sound of a branch snapping.

 

[Olvir]

The sound of a twig snapping brought a smile to his face. His mind instantly jumping to the conclusion that the boar was nearby.

Head turned, expecting to see the small four legged beast staring directly at them. What he saw instead was a thing straight out of a child's nightmare. It stood tall, taller than Ollie by a head and a half. It's skin was plagued with patchy manged fur, and it's head was elongated like a wolf, though far more broken.

Antlers rose from it's head, and beady red eyes stared from the center of it's skull.

"What the fuck." Ollie declared, his hand instantly reaching for his sword. The blade freed itself with a loud ring, it's blade colored a bright red which seemed to glint even in the bare light under the canopy. Instinctively, foolishly, he took a step in front of Houri. Position himself between her and the beast.

The creature took a step forward, spindly claws flickering as it's jowls pulled back in a low growl.

Then it pounced.

 

[Houri]

Lightning struck the space between Olvir and the beast causing it to snarl and jump to the side to avoid being turned to ash.

"Move."

It was Houri's voice but twisted somehow, darker and more authoritative. It didn't belong coming from a girl but an older woman, a hardened woman. She all but pushed Ollie out of the way with barely a glance for the sword. The smile she wore was bordering on cruel and her eyes seemed consumed with the light of a thunder strike. She was... enjoying this.

The sun vanished beneath the rolling storm clouds that suddenly swirled above them. The trees began to bend as the crashing weight of the wind hammered at them and fat rain drops began to descend whilst an eerie mist began to swirl about their ankles.

 

[Olvir]

The beast flickered back in the same instance that lightning struck.

Claws dug into the ground, dragging through the earth as it stopped itself near flickering seconds before it reached the touch of power. A snarl rang from it's throat, eyes focusing upon the two humans that lay just beyond the scorched earth.

"Houri!" Olvir shouted as she shoved him back. "Stay away from that thi-'

Before he could even speak the thing growled.

Then it pounced forward once more.

There was no hesitation, no waiting second. It bounded against the two humans, claws flickering from it's flesh as it slashed at Houri's skull.

 

[Houri]

The malnourished, innocent girl Houri has been until that moment was gone. In her stead was a deadly warrior, a testament to the training the Academy put its Dreadlords through.

As the creature moved so did the Dreadlord. Her spine bent backwards to avoid the swipe of the claws, then her body swung under, palms facing outwards the creatures chest as lightning came down once more. The thing snarled and darted to the side just as quick and cast the girl a wary look once more. Houri, in contrast, only smiled wider. Adrenaline thrummed through her causing her breathing to come short and sharp.

She didn't let the beast have the first attack this time but instead jumped forward herself. Bolt after bolt came down causing the creature to take the backfoot.

 

[Olvir]

Ollie just stood in awe.

There wasn't much he could do with a sword when Houri was slinging lightning of all things. He had known she was a Dreadlord of course, known that she could do magic, but there was a difference between knowing and witnessing.

It was a strange moment for him, a flicker of reality and a realization of what she had talked about just a few hours earlier. Lips thinned, but he didn't let down the guard as the creature shirked and shifted. It drew back, darting away from the Dreadlord.

The way it moved was inhuman, strange. Shadowing the trees and slipping away.

As Houri's bolt sundered another tree, the monster suddenly shifted one more time and dropped to all fours. With a yelp and scorched fur it rushed out and away from the clearing the two Anirians had found themselves in.

As quietly as it had come, the beast ran. Fearing the magic thrown it's way.

 

[Houri]

Kill it!

No, we should follow it to find out if there are any more.

I agree, we kill it. It's a threat to us. It might bring others back.

Excellent...

Thunder rolled across the sky but... lightning did not strike this time. Houri's hand stayed out stretched as though debating her next move before eventually lowering it to her side. She watched its scampering form retreat into the forest with curiosity, her head listed slightly to one side. The storm showed no signs of letting up however. Rain still hammered the earth and strong winds blew her wet hair across her face.

"The hunt's more fun this way," she murmured beneath her breath in agreement with the others.

 

[Olvir]

Ollie took a slow, measured step forward.

His hand reached out with all the caution of a man touching a hedgehog in the midst of his fright. Fingers curling out and reaching to touch Houri's shoulder. "It's gone."

He said, his voice a measure of confidence.

The beast had all but disappeared into the forest. Melding with the leaves and trees around it, submerging into the underbrush like a chameleon. Olvir had no idea what it was, why it had been here, but he had watched it disappear.

"I..." He bit his tongue. "I Have no idea what the fuck that was."

Ollie admitted. "But it's gone."

He told her firmly over her own little murmurs. "At least for now."

 

[Houri]

Houri flinched at the touch of Ollvr's hand.

As she turned towards him she looked older, harder. There was a harsh coldness to her eyes and the set of her jaw. It took a moment for her to seem to registered who exactly he was and that facade slipped away, her face softening once more and a slight smile curving her lips.

"I guess," she rubbed the back of her neck and glanced back at the way the creature had vanished. "It looked like a monster I saw in a book, once..." she murmured trying to recall what the volume had been called. She snapped back to the present and glanced over him. "Were you hurt at all?"

 

[Olvir]

Olvir frowned as he studied Houri's features, the hardness of her eyes, the way her expression seemed to shift. What did they do in that place.

It was not the first time he had asked himself the question. Not the first time he had been left wondering just...how much that prison had effected her. A part of him wondered if he should have stayed, tried to find records, interrogated the jailer.

At least he would have known more.

But it also would have meant keeping Houri there, making her sit in the prison they had kept her in for nearly half a decade. Lips thinned, and he shook his head.

"No, I'm alright." He told her. "But we should get back, see if the others are okay."

They were Knights, but against something like that...he wasn't sure that if they would be able to do much. Olvir himself was lucky he'd had Houri here, otherwise he would have been ribbons. He looked at her, and then added. "Thank you."

 

[Houri]

Houri gave him an amused look.

"Just doing my job," Dreadlords were there to protect the citizens of Vel Anir. Ollvir was even more important than the average joe, being from a noble family, when she returned to the Academy and told them how she had saved a Weiroon's life they would reward her. Perhaps with honey on her gruel. The thought was joyous and the sun above finally broke through the clouds to reflect her buoyant mood.

"Let's go," she agreed and began to head back the way they had come.

The trail back was far less exciting to Houri's disappointment, several parts of her hoping for another go at the quick creature. But soon they found the river and then their horses.

"I don't see them..." she glanced towards the treeline. They had been going to find wood for bows...

 

[Olvir]

"Just doing my job."​

The words rang in his head for a few seconds after she spoke them. Teeth sank into his lower lip as he considered them, head shaking as he drew in a breath and quickly followed after her. A few moments later they returned to find the clearing empty.

Ollie frowned as he looked around. "I'm sure they're just on the hunt."

He said, trying to remain optimistic.

The two Knights had been in his families service for years. Both of them were competent warriors, but a monster like that...

"They want to eat well I imagine..." Ollie continued, trailing off as he stepped into the clearing. Both of the Knights swords were gone, though the armor they had taken off to be more silent for the hunt remained where they had placed it earlier.

There was no sign of blood, and yet...he couldn't help but feel like something was off.