Private Tales The Legend's Heir

[Solgrin]

He blinked, then shook his head. "No. Even if we wanted to we couldn't make it down the mountain passes."

Sometimes it was easy to forget just how much the girls didn't know about the world. These Mountains were almost impassible in the winter by normal means. That skeleton had really only gotten up here due to it's weightlessness.

Snow and ice would block the passages until it got warmer, and even then the trek would be dangerous for quite some time.

"We have a few months still." Two, three at most. "At least until spring when the snows melt."

That was something, time enough to maybe even learn a few things.

 

[Serafina]

Serafina nodded slowly and then lowered her eyes back to her food. A calmness had settled over her now he was back in close proximity and for a while she just enjoyed the peaceful moment. Their... their whatever this was had been strained for the last two weeks but had now reached a stage where she didn't want to throw things at home anymore.

She would call that progress.

"I've found a few books that might be useful, for us," she kept her eyes pointedly down as though the conversation were a discussion about the weather. "How the magic works. It's not about this gem but it seems similar things have been created in the past to control powerful mages. It sounds barbaric what happened to them, having their magic cut off and controlled by someone else to be used as weapons. But it's the closest I've found to something like this...

Maybe it is the only way to learn."

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin listened carefully, then nodded slightly as if accepting what she said. "There are similar things still in use."

Perhaps that was a reality that she would not want to face, but he had heard of it.

"Vel Anir, Rhagos." Two, though he had no doubt that there were more out there. It didn't surprise him that some time ago those same tactics were used by others. He frowned for a moment, running a hand through his hair. "No doubt an excuse for control."

He told her.

Briefly Solgrin wondered if that bond, that control could be broken.

"It would make sense that such a...tactic has been around for a long time." No doubt the Templar were familiar with it.

 

[Serafina]

Sera shifted uncomfortably in her seat; the thought of what she was going through being normal was unsettling to say the least. Clearing her throat she tried not to dwell on it too much, knowing she would end up in that spiral of not wanting to live once more.

"Well... there are ways to make it less... unpleasant for me," not that he cared. "And it seems the less unpleasant the more efficient the mage," probably the more appealing thing for the bandit chief. "It confirmed the magic doesn't work when the conduit is unconscious and too much at once can kill them," she set down her fork and then leant down to pluck the three small books that looked like a collection of journals, off the seat beside her. She slid them over to him.

"There are tools that mean you could feel when I'm reaching my limit and to sense how much energy is needed for a spell."

 

[Solgrin]

That all made sense to him, and he reached out to grab the journals.

None of them were particularly decorative or ornate. If Solgrin had to guess they were the work of some sort of scholar, rather than a noble or court wizard. He opened the flap of the first one, reading idly for a second before nodding his head.

"We'll take those precautions." He told her.

If not for her, then for the fact that he needed to keep her alive and well throughout the use of her magic. It would be utter foolishness to go through all this only to get her killed by his own actions.

"I'll read theses." Solgrin said. "Then we'll figure out next steps."

Reassurance. That was needed now more than ever. "I will...also tell you about the other two besides Nasaar, the ones that want the same thing."

A story he had not yet divulged, but had always known he'd need to.

 

[Serafina]

Sera pushed the sparkling clean plate away from her and took a deep breathe. It wasn't a story she thought she wanted to hear but if it would make her more prepared for what was to come, well then...

"There is another thing," she had been hiding it from him half out of spite and half because she hadn't truly understood it until a few nights ago. The scenes had been coming to her jumbled up and out of order but now they flowed together in one seamless flow. Reaching into the breast pocket of her shirt she pulled out a piece of parchment and smoothed it out on the table.

The drawing revealed an ornate room that could have been a ballroom in a minor nobles room, or perhaps a music room in a grander dukes manor. At the piano was sat a woman with a gem sat on her finger.

"I keep seeing her in my dream, the gem is Marcells one," she tapped over the ring. "It's just this scene over and over, do you know her?"

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin looked down at the parchment for a second, frowning.

The woman did not look familiar, though shockingly there was something else that he recognized; the Ballroom. Rather, it was the chandelier that hung within the room that he actually knew. His eyes narrowed for a moment.

"I don't recognize her." He said slowly, but he pointed at the chandelier. "But I know where this is."

Solgrin frowned. "It's in Tel Amos."

A city with an illustrious history, though darker than most. As far as he knew there were no mages there, at least not in any great number any more.

"They had a...purge...some time ago." He did not feel the need to tell her what kind of purge.

 

[Serafina]

Serafina watched his expression closely as he examined the drawing, looking for a sign he was hiding something from her. Surprisingly he seemed to be sharing what he knew rather than hiding it. Slowly, Sera nodded though her face was painted into a grimace.

"Well, gems like this are priceless," she tapped the one in his palm. "Not counting their magical properties. She probably had it brought for her by a suitor hoping to win favour," the fire topaz was a rare stone said to be born in the heart of a volcano. Marcel had used it because it had been his wife's favourite stone.

"She probably doesn't know what it is, it should be easy enough for you to get it."

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin nodded his head in agreement. The woman likely didn't even know what she had, and if he had to guess the Gem was little more than a prize for her.

"After the spring." If she was even still alive.

Perhaps Serafina had some sort of connection to the gem, or perhaps this was some sort of bait by one of the others. He himself was a simple soldier, but the others? The others were clever, conniving, and more importantly they were mages.

All Three. "We will have to be careful with Tel Amos."

Especially her.

"But, that is a concern for another day." Months yet until traveling there was even a possibility.

 

[Serafina]

Sera leaned back against the wall in front of which the bench she was sitting on had been placed. It was why she hadn't bothered to take her coat off as the cold seeped through the old rock and would have sunk into her bones. Instead she pulled the long strands of her blonde hair round in front of her and began to de-knot it with her fingers as she spoke.

"And the concern now is your... old friends?" That was what Nasaar had called him and surely they must have been that once upon a time. He had said the mountains were safe for a few more months, at least from humans, but what else would attack them in the meantime?

"If they have the last piece of the gem they'll be able to sense where I am no matter where we go. They'll be waiting in spring."

 

[Solgrin]

"Probably." He had outpaced them so far, but he was doubtful that he would be able to do so forever.

The bastards were clever, all of them. Even though he was the best general among them, they were all more than capable of leading men. One was particularly adept at it even, though in a different fashion than Solgrin took.

"Not friends." Not really. "There were four of us."

The Bandit Chief explained. "All advisors to a King."

It seemed like an age ago now.

"The Vizier, The Sorcerer, The Spymaster." He listed them off, then quietly finished. "And the General."

He got a dark look for a second. "You've met the Sorcerer, Nasaar. The two other two are lurking with their own plans I'm sure."

 

[Serafina]

"Necromancer," she corrected softly. For some reason it felt wrong to call him a sorcerer which conjured images like brave heroes holding back waves of men with a spell on the brink of collapse. She didn't want to think of Nasaar like her great grandfather, like her. She rubbed her arms as a sudden chill ran through her.

"So, tell me the story then," Sera raised her eyes to his. Last time she had asked she had been spun a golden yarn which had told her very little about them. "I need to know... in case you're not there when I encounter them," Nasaar had snatched her out from under his nose and he was still out there with a new face now. He could be anyone.

 

[Solgrin]

"That would imply he can only raise the dead." Nasaar had other magics that one had to be weary of. That was why he wanted the gem the most, why he needed it almost. At least that was what he had said.

His argument for it. "There isn't much of a story."

Solgrin said with a shrug.

"Nasaar was the one who found the gem first, at least rumor of it. He read about it in a book, the blood line, the magic that came with it." He frowned. "He told the King first, whispered in his ear, but Lok could never keep things quiet."

A hand ran through his hair. "He told the others, the Council, Marius and Civel. The Spymaster and Vizier respectively. Me too of course."

His head shook.

"Lok had it in his head that we would find the gem and the blood, you, for him." Lips thinned. "It didn't work out that way."

It was obvious Solgrin was weary of telling every exacting detail. "Greed got the better of the day, Lok was killed, and the Council descended into treachery. Everyone wanted the gem, everyone wanted power."

 

[Serafina]

"Everyone wanted me," she finished quietly. Still wanted. It made her feel so powerless and naive having not known miles away there was a whole kingdom warring over the possibility of owning her without a care about what she wanted. Serafina was just a prize to be won by powerful men and she was getting tired of the feeling.

"Can the others use magic? What are they like?" Nasaar had promised to teach her how to use it for her own interests and had treated her like an important guest. Honeyed words had been so tempting after the horrors Solgrin had inflicted on her. She wanted to know what to expect of the others.

 

[Solgrin]

For a few seconds he considered the question, as if trying to think of how to best explain a concept that was not quite...simple. Lips thinned for a moment, and then he began.

"After a fashion." He frowned. "Nasaar is the only one with true magic. the other two have something...similar to me."

His finger ran down his jaw. "Civel can bend minds, thoughts, emotions. It is a subtle touch, but things...warp around him."

Suiting magic for a Vizier.

"Marius...Marius is a shapeshifter." And the only one Solgrin would once have called a friend.

 

[Serafina]

Sera still didn't entirely understand what Solgrin was either. He had said it was the cost of a decision long ago and she hadn't wanted to press for more information because of the storm in his eyes at the time. The same storm she saw brewing on the horizon of his amber eyes right now. He was a private man and clearly these discussions were a quick way to light his short fuse.

Sera carefully changed the topic with a polite nod.

"Then I need to learn just how much of this magic I can use to protect myself and how far away from the gem I can go," she was learning how to shoot and her ruthlessness, as Ajax had called it when he had heard of how she had killed "Lukas", was a good starting point but she needed more ways to defend herself. "I can't always rely on you to protect me," she held his gaze with a determined tilt of her chin.

She would not be a maid in need of defending any longer. Of course, everything she learnt could be used against him. Would he take the risk?

 

[Solgrin]

He nodded his head. "No arguments from me."

At the moment he suspected that she could stab him through the heart and her own magic would restore him, though not by her choice. As long as he held the Gem Solgrin was certain he could not perish, at least not through a blade or arrow.

Foolish, perhaps, but a thought that had now cemented in his mind.

"Learn what you can, and take lessons from them too." He motioned to some of the others.

"The Band are quite skilled." In many different ways. Most would think they were simple bandits, criminals, but all of them had one trick or another up their sleeve. "I hear Violet has been taking lessons from Vela."

The Thief, or at least that was what most people called her. She herself had always termed herself as a 'slight of hand' artist.

 

[Serafina]

"I know," Serafina sighed with a clearly disapproving look on her face. Violet had stolen several small items from her over the past few days as practise and she had been none the wiser until she had tried to take the ring off her thumb. Her eyes flickered around the room as she put her head in her hand and considered who might hold a secret she would want to learn. Violet could dabble in whatever she wanted, Sera needed things to survive. If one of these other men took her they wouldn't make the same mistake as Nasaar; it would be far longer before Sol would reach her next time.

"You realise that means spending time with me, not just stalking me from the shadows, right?" Her eyes found their way back to him before giving him a tired, wry smile. He might have thought himself stealthy but since their night together she had known his whereabouts every waking moment and he had always seemed to be nearby. Watching.

 

[Solgrin]

"I do." He said with a nod of his head.

Solgrin had never particularly excelled in stealth himself. He was too bulky and too much of a brute to go sneaking around in the dark. It was a good thing she was taking notice of things though, seeing things that before would have slipped her sight.

Perhaps a mark of the horrors she had experienced already. "We'll practice."

He assured her.

"Tomorrow." Solgrin did not want to push it. She had already exerted herself today, he had no intention of throwing her over the edge. "Tonight you can rest."

 

[Serafina]

Serafina's eyes lingered on him and traced the lines and contours of his face, the little blemishes, the odd quirks. She hadn't truly ever just... looked at him before. He had always been the man who had taken her from her home, the man who sought to use her for his own means. Of course he was still all of that when she looked at him now, but she also noticed that he looked tired. Perhaps it wasn't just her he meant when he spoke of rest. She wasn't entirely sure how the magic affected him either - if it did at all - but she was certain the worry of what was to come was.

That odd feeling was back.

"Whatever you think is best," she stood up abruptly and then held out her hand towards him. "But you need it too," she could sense it, somehow. Like he wasn't fully charged or ready to defend her if the need arose.

 

[Solgrin]

"Aye." He agreed.

The future was often a mysterious thing, a thing to be questioned. Solgrin was not entirely sure if he would achieve his goals, if he would get to do as he pleased with his life. A part of him longed to know the answer, a part of him longed for all of it to end.

Yet the piece of him that had not utterly been consumed wanted to keep going.

It was a strange anathema to himself. It had always seemed an enigma, his desires, and yet here he was with the ability to make them come true. "I think you're right."

He conceded with a nod of his head.

 

[Serafina]

It was like admitting it made the shadows under his eyes and the tenseness in his jaw more stark. Like he had given up trying to hide it now she had throw open the curtains on it. For the first time, Serafina actually felt a little sympathy for him. Perhaps it was a trick but somehow she didn't think so. Not in that moment, no, for the first time she thought she actually caught a glimpse of who he really was beneath it all.

She wriggled her outstretched fingers, inviting him to take her hand.

"Come on, it's my turn to teach you something now."

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin closed his eyes for a moment, as if forced to rest them, if only a few second. In that quiet moment the world passed him by, snapping into place and slipping away before slowly he looked down at her once more.

"Alright." Cooperate.

Play the game.

Despite the mar upon his soul, the curse that he bore, Solgrin was still human. It was not as though he were some husk, some remnant of himself. He could still feel joy, amusement, all of those things. He was simply a man on a mission.

A task was there to fulfill, and when it was done...he could go. That was what had mattered for so long. What was one moment of indulgence in the face of all that?

 

[Serafina]

Sera twined their fingers together when he accepted and gently - but surprisingly firmly - led him from the room, giving the surprised looking Einar a tiny wave as she passed.

She didn't say much as she led him down the corridor, down a flight of stairs and in a seemingly haphazard manner through the lower, more unexplored bits of the keep. Violet and her had spent a few days alone together exploring when her leg had still been weak from its time in the brace and she hadn't been able to face the snow yet. The Bandits didn't seem too interested in what lay below; the most interesting things had been discovered already they had said. Below there was the library, empty vaults and nothing but storage. It had made the exploration even more fun for the two girls knowing it was time they would finally have to themselves.

She took him into an old storage room, or at least what had been used as one, and then tugged back a rotten door in the corner of the room which revealed another set of stairs. Here the architecture changed. It was rougher, more like the natural rock of a cave than the building blocks of a keep. It was also oddly warm all of a sudden. The stairs curved and once they were around the bend an odd bluey-green light flooded the area.

Down below was a pool. It wasn't large but it was deep and steam steadily rose up towards little vents which fed into the kitchens above. There was a tiny bit of a flat ledge where two people could stand or sit comfortably but the rest was craggy rocks.

Sera didn't say anything as she let go of his hand, just gave him an odd, lingering look as though she couldn't work out if he would leave or not. After a moment she shrugged and stripped off her jacket, her boots, her shirt and breeches. Once completely bare she gave him another glance then dived into the pool.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin had known of the pool of course.

When they had first found this place they had explored every little inch, every nook and cranny. Doing so had been paramount. Any room, any tunnel or pathway undiscovered was something that could be used against them in a time where it would hurt most.

Paranoia, most of the Band had called it, and they had probably been right. Yet there was a reason that Solgrin had survived a dozen attempts on his life. A reason that he was still walking the earth and making his way through this life.

"I know how to swim." Solgrin joked as he watched Serafina strip of her clothes and dive into the pool.

Humor was not his forte, but then again neither was vulnerability.

For a few seconds he simply stood there watching, like a man admiring a piece of art in a museum.