Private Tales The Legend's Heir

[Serafina]

He was a snake hissing in her ears weaving words of poison in an effort to ensnare her, change her, make her more like him - or rather - what he wanted her to be. He might have managed it once but it would make her a fool if she let him do it a second time. There was only so much left Serafina had left that was hers now and she clung to those bits of her soul like a desperate woman. Even if the idea of practising tempted her beyond belief. What was the point when he had made it clear this magic was not hers? It was his. Or at least, it was his until he lost the gem.

"It's not mine," she said quietly, voice nearly breaking. "It belongs to whoever holds the gem, I'm just a... a conduit." It was an echo of his own words said days before when she had thought there had been a chance of a life within this world, a life of her own. He had made her realise since then that that was not the case.

"Isn't this what you wanted? A tool that would sit and do nothing until you had need of her?"

 

[Solgrin]

He did not entirely know how the magic worked. Whether it was her unlocking the power of the gem or the other way around. All that he knew was that she could not properly channel the magic, that it was gated to her for whatever reason.

Perhaps some piece of her familial history might have given her a clue. That ring was most certainly a piece of the mystery, but Solgrin couldn't decipher it anymore than she could. "No."

The Bandit Chief countered.

"I need you to be useful." He reminded her. "Not sit around feeling sorry for yourself."

He wondered if anyone had ever slapped Serafina with a dose of reality. "I also told you that one day I would be done."

A reminder.

"Conduit or not, the magic cannot be used without you." He took another step. "So you have an opportunity."

"One day I'll be done, then you can go your own path. Destroy the gem, take a new partner of your own choosing to use the magic. Whatever you please." Solgrin truly would not care, though he found it doubtful she would believe that.

"You can either choose to arrive at that point as a weak little girl, or someone who knows what they're doing." He practically hovered over her now. "Perhaps you can even make that day come sooner."

A wry smile touched his lips.

 

[Serafina]

Serafina didn't need to look up to feel him approaching her. It was like an iron wall closing in on her back until she could feel the heat of him through the wool of her dress. Even so, she refused to look up at him and away from the view beyond. Instead she pulled her legs up closer and tucked the blanket around herself firmer. She might as well have said it out loud that she didn't intend to move from this spot for whilst his words made sense in an aggravating round about way, Sera didn't want any of that. She had no desire in life to get strong, no desire in life to turn into some hardened battle warrior. Everything she had wanted had been in Yarrin and the little bubble she had existed in.

To further her refusal of moving she laid down and pillowed her head with her arm.

"Just leave me alone." Even the anger fled from her now leaving her feeling hollow and cold, something which could be heard in the sad, broken tone of her voice. "Please."

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin shook his head.

Perhaps he had taken things too far too fast. Perhaps he had made a mistake in how he'd done things, but...there was not always time. They had the winter, but the winter was supposed to have been for training. He could not abide by having her be this way.

Not if it meant that this time slipped away and nothing got done. He could not risk it, not when there was still so much to do.

"Unfortunately." Solgrin began as he reached down and grasped her hips, arms flowing around her midriff before he pulled her up off the seat and dragged her over his shoulder in one quick flipping turn. "I can't do that."

Too much was at stake.

 

[Serafina]

Serafina's eyes widened as she felt him wrap his arm about her waist and before she could utter a cry he had hurled her over his shoulder. The anger raced back through her, burning away the cold and hopeless feeling she had been in just seconds ago. She gave a wordless shout and then began to squirm furiously in his grip, her fists hammering against his back and shoulder in an effort to make him let her go.

"Put me down!"

She tried to reach for the magic again but there was an iron wall in front of it, a will she had come to recognise as his. It seemed everyone who held the gem had an odd signature she could sense. Nasaar's had been of desert winds and hot sands, uncomfortably warm and with a subtle edge of danger. Solgrin's was an iron will that was so cold it burned her to stray too near. As he walked towards the door uncaring of her struggles, Sera gave up and went as limp as a ragdoll. Her quiet sobs were muffled against his broad shoulder but her words were clear.

"I hate you."

 

[Solgrin]

"I know." Solgrin said in simple, quiet acceptance as she declared her hatred.

It was an easy thing for him to deal with. He could not count on his fingers how many people despised him. Hell, he doubted that he could count as high at all. To many he was infamous, to many more he was a source of utter terror.

In the face of all that, what was one more little girl hating you?

The Bandit Chief stepped out of the room and slowly descended the stairs, wandering down below the first level into a rocky basement that had been carved from granite. They passed a few of the bandits on the steps, though most didn't even pay attention.

Some smiled.

Eventually they reached a large wooden door, a bolted lock keeping it closed.

Clutching her over his shoulder still Solgrin stepped forward, pulling the bolt free. The heavy door began to creak open, revealing a large and spacious library inside.

 

[Serafina]

Do they know what happened? Did they suspect? Serafina shut her eyes after passing the third bandit and tried to wish the ground beneath Solgrin's feet open. She felt like nothing more than a cheap whore, naïve and foolish for believing he would want anything to do with her but to use her. By the time they had got to the basement she had found some tiny corner of her mind that was pure darkness, where she could hide herself away and pretend that this was all a horrible nightmare that she would wake up from any moment now.

She wasn't sure where she thought Solgrin was going to take her; perhaps the training yard, some other room where he could practising using the magic he took from her. Certainly she would never have guessed he bring her to the library. Her eyes opened when the temperature of the air changed from the slight cold of the corridor to the warmth of a room with a fire and then she gasped.

The library was huge, far bigger than what Violet had possessed in Yarrin. Her gaze roved around the various shelves and she timidly lifted her head higher and higher to get a better look. There had to be thousands of books here, far more than she could read in her lifetime.

 

[Solgrin]

Libraries never had much meaning to him. Solgrin could read and write, despite what his father would have liked, but books had never held much of an interest for him. Oh he'd read a few, some had even captivated him, but he preferred to experience the world rather than the pages of a book.

Despite that though he saw the value in things like this, in preserving knowledge that could otherwise have disappeared. He knew what the world would have been like without it, all those thoughts and ideas just slipping away.

With an unexpected amount of care Solgrin plopped Serafina down in a large chair that was situated around three hours. "There."

This place was the chief reason he thought that this fortress was of Templar origin.

When the Order had been whole they had prided themselves on the collection of knowledge, some still did. A noble might have had a passion, but the Templar had drive like no others. At least from the little Solgrin actually knew.

 

[Serafina]

Why.

Serafina pulled her knees up to her chest when he set her down on the large chair. It seemed to engulf her tiny frame and make her appear even more fragile and young. She watched him with the same wariness she had way back when they had first met, like a mouse trying to guess whether the eagle was playing with it or going to eat it. She didn't understand why he would go to the effort of bringing her down here as opposed to leaving her in her room. She hadn't been doing anything to hurt anyone and had been content to be left with her own gloomy company.

Slowly, and still not quite convinced he wasn't going to hurt her again or reveal how this was some sort of trick, she dragged her eyes away from him to the rows upon rows of books once more. Perhaps this was a better place to be gloomy than in her room. It took some time but eventually Sera couldn't resist any longer and peeled herself from her seat to go wander about the stacks. After what seemed like mere minutes she returned with a stack of four tomes which she placed carefully down on the table before curling up with the first.

Pointedly ignoring him.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin was in no hurry, at least not down here.

Peeling her out of that room was one step, but there would be thirty more before he likely got her training. Hopefully it would only take a short time, though as Maria had said, there was a certain stubbornness to the girl.

Annoying, really.

Still, as Serafina began to roam through the library Solgrin sat himself down in one of the other chairs, leaning against the soft plush back. It was surprisingly comfortable, and he wiggled slightly as Serafina plucked the first tome off of a shelf.

Waiting was what a soldier did best, and Solgrin was a hell of a soldier.

So as she saw herself down in the chair opposite him and cracked the first back, all he did was smile.

 

[Serafina]

Patience was a virtue that was always rewarded.

He had to drag her from her room the next day, and the day after that, but by the third day it was only an empty bedroom that greeted him when he came looking for her. Violet managed to convince her to eat and by the end of the week she was taking books from the library to read elsewhere around the keep. By the second week Serafina was back to smiling shyly at stories the Bandit's shared, laughing at jokes, and joining in with the life they had made for themselves up in the mountains.

Maria gave Solgrin a knowing, satisfied smile.

It was on one cold, crisp morning after a fresh snowfall that she found herself outside with Einar and a bow. The Norden had woken her up before the dawn and informed her if she had wanted to learn to hunt she would start her lessons right now.

Sera stifled a yawn and tried to concentrate on what it was Einar was telling her.

"Feet further apart, that's right, elbow up a bit, there. Now look down the shaft, aim and..." Sera released the string as she breathed out and gave a small yelp of triumph as the arrow hit the target.

 

[Solgrin]

It's progress. Solgrin thought to himself as he peered down into the training yard, leaning back against one of the parapets on the inner walls of the Fortress.

Two weeks had passed by now, and though it was longer than he would have liked it was at least done. He could not ask for more than that. Watching her, she was not exactly bad with a bow, though she'd need much more practice.

Einar looked up at him every now again, as if looking at his Chief to see if everything was okay. Each time Solgrin would just nod. He had never been good with a bow, at range he had preferred a crossbow. Other than that he'd always forced himself into the middle of the melee.

This was not his world.

"RIDER!"​

A call went out, Solgrin's head snapping towards the man in the tower. "What?"

His voice was incredulous.

"Rider from the east! Not a horse but...something else moving over the snow."​

"Einar." He motioned to the man to meet him over the gate.

 

[Serafina]

"Keep practising, lass, I'll be back in a minute," Einar smiled and rested a hand briefly on Sera's shoulder before trudging off in the snow towards the gate Solgrin had motioned him to. Sera watched him go whilst chewing on her bottom lip.

Nobody should have been up here in the mountains. The snow was deep enough before but after this fresh snowfall even Einar had said hunting would be foolish for the next few days. Fresh snow meant risks of avalanches and sinkholes, dangerous things for heavy men let alone animals, Einar had told her this morning when she had first begun fumbling with the bow and arrows. So it would only be a driven man or a fool who would chance it. And what else would bring a person up here if not her and the gem?

Slowly she walked over to the target and removed the arrows with the little trick Einar had taught her to replenish her quiver. With that done she cast a glance over her shoulder to where the two men stood beside one another talking in low voice, then risked it by darting up the steps to get a look over the wall. Sure enough there was a figure moving over the snow, though at this distance she couldn't make out anything other than that it was kicking up a spray of snow in its wake.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin frowned as he watched the Rider approach, that frown quickly turning into a scowl as he realized just what it was.

There was no horse, as the watchmen had said, but rather the pale shadow of what had once been a living being. What had likely once been a horse was now an amalgam of bone and flesh, moving over the snow by hoof that barely sank in.

Atop it was not a man, but another abomination of death.

"Nasaar." Solgrin said with a grimace as the Rider came closer. It came to a stop just short of the range of a bow, standing and turning so that it was watching the Keep and those atop it's walls.

The creature did not move, did not speak.

It simply watched.

 

[Serafina]

Bile rose in Serafina's throat as the rider became clearer and she realised that what she was staring at was not human. At least, not anymore. She took a step away from the wall and prayed the thing hadn't seen her. With her striking blonde hair it was probably a doomed wish, but she wished for it all the same and tugged up the thick fur-lined hood of her coat to cover the giveaway locks. Her hand tightened on the bow in her hands and for once a weapon gave her some measure of comfort; she might not have been the best shot but at least she could do... something now.

As the fear rose in her even if had not reached its peak, an odd sensation overcame her. It was like a sudden... pull towards Solgrin, that came from deep within her very core. She tried to push it away and forget it but it rose inside of her until it felt like a swarm of bees were inside her mind, disrupting all thoughts apart from one. With quick steps she made her way across the yard to his side where the noise finally stopped.

She gave him a wary look, unable to tell if he had done it to her or felt it too.

"I thought I killed him... a-and there were no other bodies to use nearby," she grimaced at the memory.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin looked at Serafina for a moment. Confusion filled his features, though it was not because of her question.

Rather it was the emotion that trickled over the back of his mind.

The feeling was not his own, it was...a sense of something. Not that he himself felt that way, but just...something there. He looked at Serafina for a few more seconds, and then slowly regarded the strange abomination once more. "Yes, you killed him, but ending him is more difficult."

Solgrin said quietly as he motioned for Einar to go below.

The Nord nodded, knowing immediately what it was Solgrin wanted.

"It took time four his soul to find a new body." He explained, then added. "He is likely miles away still."

Solgrin peered at the Skeleton. Below then Einar sneaked forth from the keep, creeping through the snow almost unseen. "That is just a...minion of his."

 

[Serafina]

"So... he is like a scout?"

Serafina folded her arms across her stomach and followed his gaze to the skeleton, even though it made her feel sick. The dead should not walk. Now that her leg was fully healed she had been able to wear the thick, cozy breeches she had brought in the town along with a pair of high fur-lined boots. As the wind whipped at them high up on the battlements she was glad of them, even if they did feel strange after a lifetime in skirts. As the fear rose once more, again there was that need to be close to him.

She leaned against his side and the need quietened.

"And he's just going to... to watch and report back to his master what we do?" she didn't look to where the Norden had gone out of fear she would give him away, even though she couldn't see him against the snow.

 

[Solgrin]

His hand gently eased on her shoulder, a calming touch. "A scout, yes."

There was no doubt in his mind that Nasaar had been searching for them. He doubted that the man had learned of the fortress until recently, so he had ripped the information from Luka's mind. Lips thinned at the thought, but it was quickly quelled.

Einar moved through the snow now, unseen as though he had been born within the white frost.

The bow he clutched in his hand tightly marked his goal, and Serafina would see him as he slowly rose just a few dozen meters to the side of the Skeleton. The abomination did not notice until it was too late, an arrow suddenly exploding through it's head.

As it's rider tumbled into nothing but bones the mount beneath shifted and suddenly began to run away. Einar shot another arrow, but it flew passed.

That was when Serafina would feel a sudden drain.

It was a wisp of energy, and then suddenly a crack of lightning reached down from the sky and smote the abomination upon the snows.

 

[Serafina]

"Ah," Sera put one hand on her forehead and another out to brace against the battlements as her vision swam for an instant. The drain of energy was nowhere near as bad as it had been the last few times he had used her magic but it still made her uncomfortable. It was different when she was using it herself in those odd, uncertain, moments. That felt... natural. Like she had run a mile, or hike a mountain. When he used her magic it felt wrong. Her body knew she had done nothing to reason why her energy had suddenly depleted and thus it wasn't prepared to mitigate the after effects.

Three deep breaths and the sensation passed.

"I think... we need to practise that," she fumbled through her mittens with the wine skin at her hip and took a slow sip. She didn't look at him as she spoke, but instead watched as the Norden archer trekked his way back towards the gate.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin nodded his head. "Aye."

He watched her for a few seconds, his lips thinning as she took a sip from the wineskin. Then slowly his eyes flickered up and over towards Einar who was walking back. The expression on his face did not change as he looked towards the spot where the Skeletal mount had been incinerated.

For a brief second he stood still, then he gently put a hand down onto Serafina's shoulder and squeezed.

"Let's go meet Einar." He said. "Maybe get something to eat."

She needed food of some sort after that, something he had picked up after the last time she had used her magic.

There was always a drain.

 

[Serafina]

"Food sounds good," Sera agreed and leaned back into his side for support. Einar had woken her before dawn had broken the horizon and the kitchens had been quiet so they had not bothered with breakfast. The norden had insisted it was far more important to learn to shoot in the different types of light she would find herself in. There was no wonder her stomach was growling in protest. She stayed tucked against his side as they made their way carefully off the battlements and back down into the training arena.

"Thank you for the lesson, Einar," she smiled shyly. The Norden was a quiet man and blunt but she had come to really enjoy his company. She held out the bow and arrows towards him but he shook his head.

"They're yours, I picked 'em out for you. An archer should know how to look after her kit not just use it."

"Why does that feel like another les-"

"Come," he slammed a heart hand on her back, pushing her towards the keep door, with a glance over the top of her head towards Sol. "I'll show you how to wax them over breakfast." Sera groaned.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin smiled.

He remembered moments like that in his own training, how his teachers had been strict and pushed him in nearly every moment. It was the sign of someone who actually wanted their pupil to learn, a sign of them pushing things forward even when the moment should have been peaceful.

"Go." He said gently. "I'll be along shortly."

Though the magic had all but obliterated the horsemen, the remains of the rider were still in place. He offered a smile, then moved out of the gates and headed towards where the pieces of the corpse still lay. His inspection was quick, and as he finished he poured some oil over the bones and set them alight.

Solgrin would take no chances.

 

[Serafina]

Serafina cast a worried glance over her shoulder as Sol left them and for a moment, she hesitated. The immediate danger might have gone but the threat still hung in the air: Nasaar would come when he could and perhaps he would be with the other men Solgrin had told her about. She could feel that urge to be near him though it wasn't as bad as it had been a moment ago.

"Come on, lass," a gentle touch and nudge forward by Einar and she reluctantly carried on.

Inside the hall had been turned into the main eating mess. Long benches ran down the middle in three rows and people found a space as and when they could to eat. They had arrived at the tail end of the meal so there was plenty of room and Einar guided her to a practically empty bench. Serafinas mouth was watering from the moment she smelt the cooked food and she would have dived upon the spread had Einar not first put a cloth in her hand and told her the care of weapons came first.

By the time Sol joined them the bow was gleaming and Sera was on her second helping.

"I ain't ever seen a girl put away so much food," he chuckled and glanced up when Sol approached. "She's gonna eat us out of house and home if ye not careful, chief."

 

[Solgrin]

He shook his head. "We have enough food."

Humor was unfortunately in short supply in that moment. Nasaar was a threat, the other two were a threat, and they only had a few months left to get ready. The men at the Fortress could fight, they were a small army, but...there was no telling what any of the other three could bring to bare.

It made him nervous.

He had Serafina, but in the face of a nation that didn't mean much. In the back of his head he wished he knew something of what the others were doing, where they were. At least with Nasaar he could make a guess, the other two?

Nothing. "Just make sure she's fed."

Solgrin said as he squeezed the man's shoulder and wandered over towards the table.

 

[Serafina]

Einar nodded and kept his watchful position against the door frame. He wouldn't admit it but the Norden was also nervous; fighting in snow like this was dangerous and half the group didn't have the experience of how best to utilise the landscape to their advantage. He would have to see about some more training exercises.

Serafina glanced up when she sensed Solgrin approaching, the gems nearness was a sweet song in her ears that grew whenever it was near. She suspiciously put another piece of bacon in her mouth as though she half expected him to snatch it from her grip.

"They're gone?" For now, she added silently but she didn't think she needed to add that outloud. They all knew it was a matter of time. Sera pushed a plate over she had saved for him and then attacked the eggs on her plate. Why did magic make her so hungry? "Are we going to move on?" There was a pang of sadness to her tone, she had grown to enjoy this cage.