Private Tales The Death of Innocence

[Houri]

Hounds leapt from the fog-hedges ahead of them, taking out two of the guards who had not hesitated at Ollie's words and had bombed ahead of their fellows. Houri was not quick enough to throw up a barrier to save everyone but those that had been waiting to pile down the Lung marked road suddenly found it sealed off. Only the screams and begging of those alive on the other side reached them until there was nothing but silence.

"We're missing something..." she murmured calmly despite the slaughter going on. She looked at the figures again, both Kraken and Lung now taken off the table.

The young new recruit happened to be standing by her white faced and clutching at her sword. Tearing wide eyes away from the maze that had just consumed several of her friends she looked at Houri.

"I... I t-t-t-think they're all n-nursery rhymes."

 

[Olvir]

The curses cast through his mind almost instantly. They flowed with a river of guilt, a harsh slice of agony as he watched the soldiers die. Shit shit shit.

Ollie cursed himself.

His feet kicked slightly, the Noble turning in an instant as he caught himself upright. Gaze flickered over towards Houri, the expression of wondering on her face. His lips thinned, eyes turning immediately to the young recruit who stuttered out her thoughts.

Nursery rhymes.

They had to be local. "Siren!"

He called out, his confidence now faltered but still there.

"The one of Orrestis and the Sirens." It was the only one he could think of. "It's supposed to teach kids to listen!"

Which he'd always found very strange since you weren't supposed to listen to Siren. Then again many nursery rhymes didn't make much sense.

 

[Houri]

This time the Guard were more hesitant to follow blindly. They cast a glance at one another then back towards the now misted entranceway where nothing but silence reigned. It was Houri who in the end had to walk forward first and only when she was a good few feet down the pathway did the others follow in behind.

"Nursey rhymes," Houri murmured to herself, nodding as though it had all made sense now. Her mind went back other the other clues and there was not one that threw the theory out of the pram. With the code figured out the next three turnings were simple enough to fix and the jittery unit seemed to begin to relax. The sounds of howling had become distant.

After the fourth turn the group came out to two doorways.

"One leads to home and the other to me, one will lie and the other speak true," she read from the engraving above. "I remember this story... we only get three questions."

 

[Olvir]

Ollie knew the answer almost instantly. He had heard the riddle growing up, had been teased with it by both of his brothers. More than once they had taken one of his toys and acted just as those in the story had.

It had been Aisling who told him the answer in the end, but there was a problem here.

The solution was a riddle in it of itself. Not just the lies. The true question that they had to ask themselves was what did they want? The soldiers, Ollie knew, would want to go home. Hell he wanted to go home. It was a natural instinct after the terror at their heels.

But going home wouldn't solve this.

Going home wouldn't end this fog. Wouldn't stop anyone else from running in and getting themselves killed.

No. They had to go to her, the one who put all of this in motion. The one who controlled the strange wolves which had set all of this in motion. Without letting anyone else answer, Ollie turned to one of the carved Guardians and spoke. "What would the other Guardian say if we wanted to go to her?"

There was a pause, and then a slow answer that seemed to rumble.

"They would say the right path."​

Ollie glanced at Houri, and then walked towards the path on the left.

 

[Houri]

"S-Sir, I feel like that's--" One of the guards stammered but it was too late.

Once Ollie had taken the path to the left the maze trembled and the delighted laughter of a small girl echoed all around them.

"You get to stay!" she cried gleefully and clapped her hands making the mists swirl away, vanishing until it was an endless sprawl in every direction that came no higher than the groups ankles. Houri's mount whickered uncertainly and took a slow step back, her nostrils flared. No doubt she could smell what they could all see; death.

 

[Olvir]

"No!" Ollie called out into the abyss, his voice firm.

He tried to remember exactly how Aisling had talked to him when he'd been a kid. When he'd done something wrong and she had managed to find him before either of his parents had. She had always been so calm, so assured.

Strong, fair, but always telling him he was a wrong. "You will stop this right now."

Ollie said, his voice carrying all the authority he could manage.

"We need to talk." There was a slight pause, a shift, and then all of a sudden the mist shifted once more. It twirled and rewound in on itself, and then seconds later took the form of a girl. Her face a mixture of betrayal and hurt as though she didn't understand.

"But I didn't do anything!"
​

The spirit objected.

 

[Houri]

"Ollie..." Houri murmured softly in warning. This creature - ghost, spirit, fae - whatever it may be, might look like a child but its power was far beyond that. She had wondered over the last hour whether in life she had been a Dreadlord initiate herself with that kind of magic. Or perhaps one of the pure souls who ended up dying because they couldn't control that magical essence inside of them. Whatever it was, whatever this girls origins, what she was now was dangerous and Ollie had no magic. Nothing to protect him. Nothing but her.

She clambered down from her horse and moved to stand with him.

The girl watched them with a pout and turned her attention to Houri.

"You promised! You lost, so you have to stay," she stomped her foot.

 

[Olvir]

"No." Ollie kept that same firmness in his voice. Never talking down or being mean, but maintaining that sense of control.

Slowly he made his way towards the girl. His steps careful, calm. His body language keeping as relaxed as he could manage it, though in his chest he could feel his heart thundering.

There was no telling how dangerous this was. What the spirit could do to him, but he thought this was the only way to come to a solution. The only way they would actually be able to make it out of here without endangering others.

"But it's not fair!"​

The spirit wailed, whirling on Olvir and staring at him accusingly. "Neither is you forcing us into your game."

"I didn't you-"​

"You did." Ollie said calmly. "With those wolves in the woods. You knew we would come back."

The spirit looked at him indignantly.

"Yeah but...I just wanted to have fun, I was lonely and the other two aren't very good at games!"​

Surprise flickered over Ollie's face. "...Other two?"

He asked calmly, and then the spirit waved her hand. The fog seemed to shift and move, roiling, and an odd sort of mirror appeared within the mist. It flickered, and then showed Trik and Ollie's other Guard, both standing in a small clearing as they puzzled around a wall with some sort of writing.

Ollie felt relief flicker through him, but didn't wait long.

"Well, you can't make people play with you. That's not very fair to them." He said calmly, reaching the girl and squatting down in front of her so he was at eye level with her.

"But...I get so lonely."​

The spirit said quietly.

 

[Houri]

Snow began to fall.

"I understand what it's like to be lonely," Houri said quietly. The young girl looked from Ollie up to her with a touch of surprise. The young Dreadlord initiate merely played with a bit of thread in her sleeve, too uncomfortable with the emotions she was feeling to let them be seen by the other two so clearly on her face. "I was alone for a very long time... until Ollie came along. But he wouldn't enjoy staying with me if I did this to him," she waved a hand around at the fog that was beginning to withdraw at the onslaught of snow.

"I think there's a place you could go where you wouldn't be lonely anymore, and people would want to stay with you."

 

[Olvir]

A small sniffle escaped the little girls throat.

"R-Really?"

Ollie looked over towards Houri, a slight frown on his face. He had absolutely no idea what place his friend was talking about. When he'd walked into this place he'd not really had a solution in his head. It had just seemed like the right thing to do.

"Yes." He said quietly, showing the faith in his friend.

"Let us help." The Young Noble said softly. "Okay? There's no need to make people play."

As he spoke, Ollie gently reached out his palm. One hand extended towards the girl, but never trying to close that last bit of distance. A dubious look crossed the spirits feature, as if she wasn't quite sure just yet. Then slowly she reached out.

Her palm touched Ollie's, it was gentle, cold.

As though made of mist.

 

[Houri]

It took some time to gather those who had come with them into the maze, but also those who they had believed lost. The guardsmen they had heard be torn apart reappeared from the mist staring bewildered at their friends. The men Ollie, too, had thought lost, re-joined them once again. But there were others the young spirit revealed. The misty hounds that had snapped at their heels all revealed themselves to be people who had stumbled into the young girls game and had lost. They stared at their own hands and then at one another. Some even embraced and shed happy tears - families who had thought they would never again see one another.

Once they were all together they made their way back towards the garrison, though before reaching it Houri, Ollie and the girl branched off in another direction. It took a few days of travel but eventually they came to the Anirian Orphanage Houri had had in mind.

"All these children need a friend," Houri explained, her hand on the ghostly girls shoulder. "Can you be that friend? And be a friend for the centuries to come, to all the children who might end up here sad and alone like you were?"

 

[Olvir]

It was like something out of a story-book.

A spirit of mist, the echo of a little girl, trapping innocents within the forest. Desperate for company and so sure she was doing nothing wrong. Convinced not by violence or evil to stop what she was doing, but by a simple gesture of kindness.

As Houri asked her question of the spirit, Ollie couldn't help but think of the irony. The maze had been filled with stories, and here they were...right in the middle of one.

"I can do that!"​

The spirit chirped happily, her body seeming to almost glow with joy for a second. "But, you can never hurt anyone, okay?"

As soon as he spoke the Spirit turned her gaze on him, a fierce nod tipping her head. The wide smile on her face only growing larger as she took a slow step back towards the orphanage, looking at the building for a moment before returning her eyes to Ollie and Houri.

"I won't! They'll be my friends, and you don't hurt friends."​

Ollie smiled. "That's right."

The ghost almost seemed to vibrate, and then slowly she turned around, walking towards the front entrance of the orphanage. Before she reached it she stopped, looking back towards the two who had brought her here and offering a wave.

 

[Houri]

Houri waved back and waited until the spirit had vanished before mounting her horse once more. They were not far now from Vel Anir and would probably make it by nightfall. The thought filled her with excitement and nerves. She was eager to see her family again - her father and mother, her older brothers too though she had not been as close to them. But she was more eager to return to the Academy she had dreamed of returning to her five years away. The Handlers had always promised she would one day return when she was better, but she had begun to think on this trip, since finding Ollie, that perhaps they had lied to her. It was her greatest source of excitement that was also the reason for her nerves; what if the Academy didn't want her? She had missed so much, no doubt the children she had known so young like Edric, Sable, and her cousin Trix, were probably graduated fully-fledged Dreadlords by now. If they had survived graduation.

"I guess this is it," she gave Ollie a brave grin as their horses trotted along the road. "We're going home."

 

[Olvir]

A small knot of anxiety formed in Ollie's chest as Houri spoke, realizing that soon the truth would come out.

He had known it would happen of course, had known that in the end the confrontation was inevitable. He had not wanted to do it at the Asylum, he had not wanted to do it randomly in their journey. Ollie had wanted Houri to be safe. Had wanted her to be surrounded by people who loved her.

A bit of good news first...

Yet as they drew closer, it couldn't be helped. He knew that. "We are."

Olvir said softly, nodding his head.

The two knights they had freed were still riding with them, though both of their armors had been shorn off and lost within the mists. They hung back as the two Nobles rode outfront, the rode ahead of them starting to fill with people as they drew closer to Vel Anir itself.

"A day or so now, I think." The orphanage had been close to Vel Anir, and if he had to guess they would be there by night fall.

 

[Houri]

Houri practically wriggle in her saddle. She wanted to do nothing more than drive her heels into her horse and gallop until the beast couldn't stand. However, she had learnt that galloping off headlessly into whatever lay ahead was perhaps not the smartest, certainly not when she had a friend with her who she didn't want to die, so instead she kept her pace steady and settled for merely standing up in the stirrups every now and then to see if she could see any further into the horizon.

The first flash they got of Vel Anir was as dusk settled and the lanterns in the great fortified city were being lit. From this distance it appeared as though a hundred fireflies danced among the battlements.

"There it is!" Houri said excitedly, drinking in the familiar sight like a drowning girl. Then, slowly, her smile began to fade and instead confusion took its place.

"What happened to the flags?"

 

[Olvir]

It was a topic that could no longer be avoided, something that he couldn't prevent.

The tight knot in his stomach grew just a little bit larger, and Olvir took a slow and staggering breath. Suddenly he felt as though the weight of the world was crashing down upon him. Yet as he spoke he found his voice steady, calm. "Houri."

He said softly.

"Things have...changed a little while you were away." Ollie didn't know how to go about it, didn't...didn't have a frame of reference for how to explain all of this. He didn't even know if Houri had ever been told the truth about how Vel Anir worked in the first place.

Most people in the city believed that the King had ruled, and even most nobles were under some impression that was true until they grew up.

"There was a..." His lips thinned. "There was a..."

How the hell did he put this? "Vel Anir is a Republic now."

 

[Houri]

Houri yanked her horse to a stop.

"A... what?"

A Republic, child, Tiri whispered gently.

Well what does that mean? Vayu asked in a panic. Is the Academy gone? Will we be homeless?

Forget the Academy, nobles die when there's republics! What about father?! Tishya cried.

Panic, anger, and horror rolled through Houri in waves. She wasn't sure how to sort out her own thoughts from those of the others. Was Tishya right? Were her family dead? There was no way the Dreadlords had allowed this to happen quietly, surely, which meant... which meant war. A...

"There was.... a revolution?" she half asked, knowing that what she asked was already true. Wild-eyed she looked back at the city flags and noticed that not only had the flags changed but that she could no longer see the crest of her family. History lessons crept into her mind of the bloodshed of an angered public. Of the heads on pikes... "Father..." she whispered and then belted her horse in the ribs, spurning it into a flat out gallop towards the gates.

 

[Olvir]

The moment Houri spoke Olvir couldn't help but wonder if he had made a mistake. If he shouldn't have left Houri in some village somewhere and brought her family to her. It would have been better, less shocking, and...and...

Fuck.

He hadn't been equipped for this, he hadn't been prepared for it. Yet still Houri was his friends, one of the few people who had stepped across the boundaries drawn between their families. He'd needed to get her out of there, and he still had a chance to make this go well.

"Yes." Ollie answered quickly. "It was bad for a little bit, bu-"

Before Ollie could finish his sentence Houri took off at a gallop.

"Shit." He swore, grasping the reigns tightly as he spurred his own mount forward. The two knights behind him letting out shouts of alarm.

"Houri!" Ollie called. "Wait!"

 

[Houri]

BURN THEM ALL DOWN! Ahdvi roared.

No, Houri listen to me--

Child you need to--

SET IT AFLAME, GIRL. AVENGE THEM ALL!

We're making assumptions here, they could be fine! Ollie is fine! Why wouldn't our family be fine?

Revolutions don't take prisoners you FOOL!

Houri's heart pounded in her chest. How could Ollie not have told her? She had thought he had been her friend and friends didn't lie to one another! He'd known this whole time. He'd known and he'd...

The sky over head rumbled. What had been a pleasant and sunny evening was not a turbulent storm that had seemingly rolled right in off the sea. Thunder rumbled and then lightning clapped, lightning up the fortified city ahead of her. Great, fat droplets of rain suddenly came pelting down and people who were winding their way to the gates cried out as they were soon drenched. Houri didn't slow though and her horse caused great sprays as it galloped on past.

 

[Olvir]

He was a fool.

A great big bastard of a fool.

And the bigger problem was that even after years in an asylum Houri was still a better rider than he was. A string of curses fled from the young man's lips as he rode, urging his horse forward faster and faster as he continued to shout. "HOURI!"

He called through the din of rain as the storm up above began to unleash it's fury.

"WAIT!" The sound of his voice could barely reach his own ears through the pelting raindrops falling from the sky. People fled all around them, breaking into their homes, shops, or whatever tavern was near.

By the time the two Nobles reached the inner-district and neared the Luana estate the streets were nearly barren save for the Guardsmen standing tall in front of government buildings. Some of them stepping forward in confusion as they saw the two riders.

Ahead, the Luana estate seemed to rise from the ground. It's great walls still flying the flags of the House.

 

[Houri]

Tears streamed down her cheeks and combined with the raindrops lashing at her face. They didn't stop her from seeing how much had changed in the city. Statues that had not been there that now proudly proclaimed the Republic, buildings which had been there where now only building equipment lay. Her breathing reached a feverish pitch until she caught sight of the Academy still taking pride of place in the centre of the cityscape. Her mind couldn't even comprehend what a Republic might mean for the Dreadlords, she had to deal with her family first.

The guards who were stood outside stepped forward as Houri yanked the horse to a skidding stop and leapt from its saddle.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"My name is Houri-Azadeh Mahsa Al'Luana, and I demand to see my father!"

 

[Olvir]

Through the storm one could barely see the buildings on the other side of the street. The rain was torrential, and in the coming weeks people would speak of the monsoon which had swept through the city so unexpectedly. A tirade of rain and nature that none of them could ever understand came from one lost and forgotten girl.

Ollie's steed slid to a halt, the young noble launching himself from the horse just as Houri called out to the card.

Every bit of his clothing was soaked. His boots squelched as he rushed forward. Running towards the gates where confused Luana guards looked up at Houri in puzzlement. Their faces a tangle of different emotion. None of them understood, not really. The name was familiar, but the daughter it belonged to had been gone for so long. "It's her!"

Ollie called. Desperately trying to do the right thing. "But...Houri..."

Shit.

"You need to..." He looked to the Guard. "Get Jiya, anyone..."

Slowly Ollie stepped towards Houri. "I need you to listen...okay?"

 

[Houri]

The guards looked at one another before one gave the nod, sending his younger partner in to fetch the lady of the house, before returning his attention back to the strange girl. She had the Luana look, he would give her that, but he would not have his first posting as Captain come to ruin because he was lax on security. Another Luana couldn't die on the guards watch.

Houri watched the guard go and then rounded on Olvir with unrestrained fury. A bolt of lightning hit the pavement in the space between them.

He lied, the voices hissed. He knew all along and he lied.

"Don't you dare! Don't you come a step closer! YOU LIED TO ME! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!"

 

[Olvir]

Ollie fell back. Tumbling onto his haunches as super heated rock from broken cobbles burst upward in a slashing spray. A curse echoed from his lips, hand flickering in front of his face to shield his eyes. He felt one of the pieces cut through his skin, digging into his arm.

"Houri!" He called with a hiss of pain.

Fingers furled into fists, panic and fear flickering through the guilt he felt in the center of his chest. "I didn't mean t-"

No, that wasnt true.

"I didn't know how to tell you!" He shouted above the rain, the sound of thunder clapping overhead. "You'd been in there for so long! You'd lost so much time I-"

His head shook. "I just..."

He just hadn't known how.

 

[Houri]

Houri! Don't kill him!

No girl, give in. END HIM. We don't need liars in our lives. Slit the boys throat...

Houri scrubbed at her eyes angrily. She didn't want to hurt Ollie. Not deep down. Not really. She knew in her heart he was her friend and had done what he had done to protect her in his own way. But that didn't take away from the fact that right now she was hurt. Right now she was angry. Right now she was afraid. Everything she had known was gone. It felt as though she had been abandoned by her city again.

"You don't get to make that choice! All my life people have been making choices for me!" she cried, her hands balling into fists.