Open Chronicles The Shift

[Silver Romani]

“As though I have much of a choice..” she muttered and closed her eyes. She was unarmed, bound, unable to use her curse for any sort of advantage. Her wounds were however, slowly beginning to knit together under her dressings. She was exhausted but she could feel her body start to heal and regenerate. “Can I retrieve my horse at least?.. I tied her off near the stream, back in the direction you came.”.. she was pushing her luck, but Raksha was all she had.

Her strength would take hours to come back to her, but for now she started trying to stretch out her ropes, unless.. “The ropes are a little tight too... I’m not exactly able to put up much of a fight against three soldiers and a Dreadlord.” she reasoned, her eyes opening to look at Talus, hoping he’d allow for them to be loosened or removed to some extent. She had considered the outcome of imprisonment, but that didn’t really appeal to her either.

 

[Talus]

He considered the request for a moment, but just one moment. Talus was a Dreadlord, not a foolish one either. "No."

There was no way in hell he was letting her walk anywhere near a method of escape, even if one of his guards was escorting her. He had no idea what she could do outside of her Lycan form, and taking a chance wasn't something he would do.

"Describe where you left your horse." He told Silver. "One of my men will fetch it for you."

That would prevent one of them from having to carry her the whole way. "You're not leaving my side until we reach Vel Cirak."

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver sighed. It was worth a try, but she hadn’t really expected to get anywhere. “Right.”... she answered bluntly. “Such a joy being treated like an innocent human.” Her anger flared a little, she was prone to mood swings, it was a package deal, and her mouth was to thank for getting her into more trouble than her more obvious symptoms, until now.

“Where the river runs closes to the main road.. I, don’t know how far..” she honestly had no idea how far she’d walked before the shift let alone how far she had run afterward, she has only planned on following the main road back to her mare..

Silver stared at him as he mentioned Vel Cirak, her eyes glazed over and a troubled frown creased her brow.. “That’s where I was attacked.. just on the outskirt... I didn’t plan on going back..” she grit her teeth and lowered her voice so that only he might hear her.. “Please don’t take me there.”

 

[Talus]

He blinked for a second, frowning. "When were you attacked?"

The question came as he motioned towards one of the Anirian Guards to go off and follow the directions given by Silver. The Guardsmen was well trained, and there was no doubt in his mind that finding the horse wouldn't be too difficult.

It would just take a lot of walking.

Of course what the girl said might actually save her life, or at least allow her some little form of leeway. Just a few months ago Vel Cirak had been infested with Werewolves. Talus and another Dreadlord had been the one to put down that infestation.

If she'd been infected during that time...the courts might look down more kindly upon her.

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver's brows rose at his question, wondering why it mattered but it appeared to.. "Four moons ago." of course, this was how her time was measured now, from each dreaded full moon to the next. "I was with a friend.. she didn't survive. And only a small part of me did..." she frowned at him "You must understand that I hate these monsters as much as any, likely more." she grimaced and readjusted herself, she really wasn't comfortable at all, but she continued her attempt at loosening her ropes under her blanket anyway. The olive tone was slowly returning to her skin, which meant her strength was growing too.

"I had succeeded until now to keep away from people. We had been camped near the spine for months, and I knew the lands well enough to take myself far enough away. My family didn't take the realisation very well, and so I am here.." she paused, falling a little deeper into thought for a moment. "This thing has ruined my life beyond repair as it is... Death or a cage won't make too much difference, at least there will be none to mourn me, my family have already done their mourning." she looked down, dealing her pity card with complete sincerity.

 

[Talus]

"I don't particularly care about your side of things." Talus commented dryly.

The story was a sad one, but empathy was lost on the young Dreadlord. His own life had been a living hell since he was four years old. He had likely done far worse than this woman, but the difference was the law was on his side.

"I understand the tragedy of your kind." He said. "I know that you do not control the beast."

Talus gestured to the corpses in the clearing. "Nine men are dead regardless, by your hand."

Or rather the beast inside of her.

"Your explanation, the fact that you were infected during the outbreak might mean that the courts will show you some sort of leniency, but Justice must be done." It must.

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver huffed and rolled her eyes as she prodded the man unsuccessfully for a hint of emotion, throwing her head back and growling in frustration. She moved discreetly under her blankets, sliding her legs against each other in effort to loosen and slip out of the ropes around her feet. They loosened enough, finally, for her to slip both feet out.

She glanced over the dead men as he reminded her of what she’d done, and her gaze fell. “Yes I remember.. I’m very much aware.. I’m sorry for what happened, for what it’s worth.” she lifted her eyes to him, she was sincere, but she was in utter confusion over the man. He was like stone, and apparently very much ‘by-the-book’, she didn’t know of many men who wouldn’t have butchered her for what she was and what she’d did, he wasn’t letting her away with it clearly, but he somehow wanted to give her some sort of a chance.
“Since we’re not talking about me. Who are you?.. You’re a Dreadlord, I know, I’ve always been afraid to come closer than a hundred feet from one of you. But here I am..” truthfully, yes she was afraid of him, she’d seen his ability, the way he could move and his skill with a blade, she’d be crazy not to be. But she also wasn’t as afraid now as what she had been before.
He wasn’t as cruel as she’d thought all Dreadlords were, and seemed to be more intent on upholding the law and letting justice prevail..

 

[Talus]

"My name is Talus." He offered with a simple shrug of his shoulders. Anonimity was not something that existed for someone like him, plus she would learn his name eventually anyway when she was brought to Vel Cirak.

He stared at her a brief moment, and then slowly sat himself down onto the floor.

"A good bit of advice." Talus said with a shrug. "Most of my brothers would have executed you already."

Though perhaps that would have been a mercy for her. "I don't see eye to eye with many of them."

Not anymore anyway.

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver managed a hint of her first smile at his words, watching him sit.. "Talus." she repeated with a slight nod, committing the name to memory. She laughed under her breath at his advice and let her head fall back against the tree to look up into the canopy in thought.. "I don't doubt that. I doubt there are many men who wouldn't have. Thank you for sparing a thought for my life..Everyone else I knew forgot about my human life the moment they learned of my affliction." she chewed on the inside of her lip, considering the irony that she had only ever trusted those closest to her, and she had forever feared Dreadlords, and here she felt safer in this man's company than she would her family's.

Her wrists were burning as she twisted them against her bindings and she tried not to move too much or grimace at the discomfort. Silver could feel human flesh under her fingernails and closed her eyes, trying not to allow them to tear up and trying to bide down that feeling of nausea in the pit of her stomach. She cleared her throat and frowned "I suppose then I should be glad that I met you Talus, and not another of your brothers.." she sighed deeply.

 

[Talus]

"Better you had met none of us." He commented quietly.

The conversation was most definitely a depressing one. Werewolves were a complicated issue, even in Vel Anir. Many saw them as monsters, but Vel Cirak was...different. The city had been besieged by Lycans, but it also had lost many sons and daughters to the plague.

Some had argued that those remaining alive should be treated like plague victims. Allowed to live but carefully monitored.

The Governor of the city had ultimately decided against such measures though. He still remembered the scent of blood from the execution fields outside the city. "Where are you from? Originally."

Talus asked.

 

[Silver Romani]

Her head nodded gently in agreement with his words.. "True..".. The wound he'd left on her temple had healed over, leaving nothing but a faint bruise, though her face was still covered in blood and it was all she could smell. She'd be pushing her luck a little too far to ask for a sponge bath and so she kept quiet about the matter.

Silver's lips curled into a smile as he asked where she was from, perhaps she was getting somewhere.. "Nowhere and everywhere I guess.. My people are travellers, we never settled anywhere too long, there is far too much of this world to see to stay in one place." she smirked, retelling her mother's words, and she cleared a pain in her throat. "We are street entertainers, dancers and actors and such.." she told him, leaving out the more illegal parts of their trade. She lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug, and her blanket fell to reveal the round silver scars which she stared down at, reminding her that these things she spoke of were no longer a present tense..

"What about you?..Where are you from?" she lifted her attention back to him.

 

[Talus]

"Vel Anir." Not exactly true, but for someone like her it wouldn't really make much of a different which particular town he was from.

Especially given that he couldn't even remember most of that town.

"Dreadlords don't really have a culture." He explained. "We're trained form childhood to fulfill this role."

He'd never known any other life. "I am just a soldier, as we all are."

In truth he had no idea what the life of an ordinary Anirian was like. He'd never bothered to learn and no one had ever taught him.

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver nodded lightly at his words "Got myself lost inside those walls once..Impressive city." she commented.

She looked at him almost sympathetically as he spoke of their lack of culture and humanity to an extent. "Well that sounds extremely boring.." she tilted her head.. "It's not much of a childhood, training to serve someone else's cause. Didn't you ever have any fun? Have you ever at least danced?" she asked, but laughed under her breath at the thought of it.. "I suppose not." she'd add quickly - he didn't seem the type to her that would enjoy such things. Dancing and music had been her fun, whilst weapons and battles appeared to be his..

"You can't be 'just' a soldier. You have a name, it makes you different. If you were all just called 'soldier' then perhaps but that would be ridiculous.. Talus is a distinctive name, there's more to it than just a soldier. Everyone has their own story, granted, but I refuse to believe that there are humans without love stories and dreams and likes and dislikes. That's what humans are, is it not? We're not animals to be trained and used like horses." she shrugged, almost there with the bindings around her wrist.. She wondered how long it would take him to find her annoying enough to get some sleep. But still, it did sound like a particularly dull life, and she pitied him, not that she'd insult him by saying so.

 

[Talus]

"It is a pleasant enough thought." Talus said with a smile, having heard the words more than once from people who either did not understand, or did not want to see.

He supposed it was a good thing. There were still people that cared out there, people that saw everyone as something else. Even if she was a werewolf, he could at the very least acknowledge that she had a hint of a soul left.

That was something.

"But the thought alone does nothing for me." His head shook. "I know I'm human, I know I have a name, but I also know what I am."

Talus shrugged. "Because of that I do not have the freedom to roam, the freedom to love. Not without consequence to others."

He was as much a prisoner as she, and he knew it.

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver grinned at him "Hey..you can smile." .. Silver's life had eventually come to tragedy but she couldn't think of a more tragic life than the one he'd described, even if he seemed okay with it. One single purpose, and a child unable to simply be a child. It was sad, really.

"What you are is human, with thoughts and emotions, regardless of your profession. We're a free race..those of us not bound with chains and bars that is. We have short lives...far too short not to roam, or love... Don't you do anything just for fun?.." she questioned, studying him curiously. "There are far too few strong and handsome men in this world who are also kind. Particularly amongst soldiers. Further evidence that you are not 'just a soldier'...Call me a hopeless romantic but when you leave me to my fate and we part ways, I'll imagine you seen sense and found a good woman to marry..You'll have children too." she smirked "Little Talus junior.." she settled her head back again, but her smirk was not long-lasted as she realised this was not to be her life now either. Enter depression.

 

[Talus]

"Not if I want them to have any semblance of a better life." He cut off the fantasy immediately.

It wasn't like Talus hadn't considered it before. A life outside of being a Dreadlord, a home, a family. It was something to desire, something to crave even, but it was not an option. Not yet.

"Any child I have will be a Dreadlord, like I am." That was the way of Vel Anir. "These things you're talking about require choice, and much like your current situation, I have no choice."

A sigh escaped him. "I could run, yes."

He cut off that thought before she could voice it.

"Find love, hide, but then the rest of my life would be spent like a gnat." His fingers ran over his scabbard. "I am happy instead to do something all together different."

To bring about change. "Now. Shuttup for a few hours and we'll all get through this."

Talus said as he slowly stood and went to go get some food. He didn't want to think more depressing thoughts of his future.

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver had been about to disagree with him about his apparent lack of choice, but she quieted when he told her to shut up, it seemed he'd finally had enough of her rambling, but she felt she'd prodded at something a little deeper than his skin. She didn't understand what choices he had or did not have, clearly, she simply couldn't see how a man without chains or bars could not simply run from a life of servitude. She refused to believe that anyone could be fulfilled by that life.

She watched him get up and spared a glance at the other two men, hoping that the third would be back with Raksha soon. Silver still wasn't entirely sure how she was planning to get out of this, but Raksha would at least make her chances a little better, there was no way she could outrun Talus in this form and her leg still ached. She'd bide her time for now, her bindings now loose under her blanket. He said she'd have a few hours at least...

"Then whether I'm executed or imprisoned, my heart will weep for you, Talus the Dreadlord." she told him, and closed her eyes.

 

[Talus]

Talus stopped for half a moment, frowning slightly and glancing back at her before shaking his head and regarding the fire.

The truth of the matter was that he simply didn't want to have the conversation. Most would have called it denial, and Talus couldn't fault them for it. He did not have much hope left in him, and it was all he could do to keep going most days.

He had a goal, and that was it.

An hour or so after their conversation ended, the Anirian Guardsmen that Talus had sent out returned with Silver's horse. The steed seemed to be perfectly okay, and the Guardsmen lead it into the clearing with a broad smile on his face.

"Found it surprisingly quick, seemed like it was just...waitin."​

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver had dosed off with the silence, a chance to gain a little more strength and for her wounds to heal entirely, but it wasn't a pleasant nap at all, so said the unsettled frown on her brow. She dreamt of being left in a dark prison cell, being stabbed with spears every now and then and being left to heal before undergoing the same treatment. It brought about a cold sweat, and her eyes opened just as she took another spear to the heart, and she let out a breath as she realised that it had been nothing more than a nightmare..not that her reality was much more comforting.

She sat up a little as she caught Raksha's scent and heard her massive hooves beating into the ground, and she smiled warmly at the mare, glad that she was safe. She clicked at her, and the horse pranced happily, pulling to see her and nuzzle at her face and hair, dried blood or not.

"Thank you." she smiled at Talus, and nodded at the soldier who'd found her.. regardless of what fate they'd be taking her to, they didn't need to grant her any wishes let alone walk miles through Falwood to return her mare, she was all that she had and she was thankful.

"Will you take her, Talus? When you leave Vel Cerak?" she lifted a brow, and fought back at an ache in her throat.. "She's a prized horse, loyal.. perfect temperament..She's fast too.." she looked up at the massive clydesdale sadly. "I wouldn't want to see her come to harm, and there is no-one else to leave her to.."..

 

[Talus]

A frown touched his lips as he slowly looked back towards the girl.

It seemed an odd request from someone who considered themselves condemned. Particularly given the fact that he was the one bringing her to that death. For a brief moment he wasn't entirely sure how to respond to her. "Uhh."

He glanced towards the horse.

"I guess." Talus had never been one for horses. He'd had no particular affinity towards the equine arts, but if it would ease her mind then who was he to say now.

"I'll find her a nice stable." That was what horses needed right? "That way she won't be in any danger."

 

[Silver Romani]

Silver frowned gently, "I intended her as a gift, but a stable works too.. As long as she's treated well.." she nodded at his response with a stiff smile, and it was all she could do not to lift a calming hand to the mare and reveal her lack of ropes, she laced her fingers together under her blanket as a sort of reminder. Gods she wished she had her clothes and weapons, but hell if she could remember where she'd left those. She could likely find them with her own scent at least, but she doubted his soldier was about to wander through the thick of Falwood looking for them.

She sat quietly contemplating whether or not an escape plan was plausible, watching Talus and his remaining men, glancing over the weapons of the fallen. She felt she'd sussed Talus enough to know that regardless of whether he pitied her or not, whether he cared at all if she lived or died, he'd do what he thought necessary rather than allowing her to roam free. Raksha was the fastest horse she'd known, but if Silver mis-stepped at all, she did not have anywhere near the level of skill with a blade to match Talus alone, not forgetting his other men. If only there was some way of distracting them, if she had a spare few moments she could at least get a decent head start.

"When do we leave?.." she questioned, with obvious dread in her tone..

 

[Talus]

Talus glanced down at Silver, then back towards his men.

It was nearly dawn now, the sun was just starting to rise through the canopy and light began to cast town through the trees. Traveling the Falwood during the day was usually much safer than night, but there were still things to be weary of.

A frown touched his features, and he looked to his men. The three seemed to be about as eager to get going as possible, mostly because they had spent the night being hunted by a terrifying monster. ”Now.”

He answered, stepping over to Silver and cutting the bindings on her feet, but not her hands.

”I trust you can walk?” Talus had thought about letting her ride the horse, but he wanted her close by to himself.

If only to stop any nonsense before it started.

 

[Silver Romani]

Now.. Silver's stomach flipped and she felt nauseous again, her gaze falling as she frantically ripped through her mind for some sort of fucking idea of how she was going to get out of this. She stared at Talus as he cut the ropes and she nodded quickly at his question.. "I can walk." she answered. She was bare footed, but that wasn't unusual for her..

She gripped either end of the blanket with her fingers and pulled it tight around her as she tried to get herself up. She faltered a little, her head slightly dizzy and her muscles ached and she stretched her legs. Raksha's lips nibbled at her hair and Silver kissed her on the nose, and turned to look at Talus, feeling much smaller in his presence than the last time she'd stood facing him.. "You can still change your mind.." she shrugged at him with a small smile, and got ready to start walking..

 

[Talus]

"Walk." Talus said with a gesture of his hand, pointing towards the road.

It was clear that no minds would be changed on this day.

Two of the three remaining Anirian Guardsmen seemed entirely in agreement with that, falling in line behind Silver as if to ensure she would not be suddenly running off into the middle of the forest. The last took point with Talus himself.

"It'll be two days before we reach Vel Cirak." He told them. "After that we'll be all clear."

At least he hoped.

The Fawlood was always unpredictable and they'd already found one monster.

 

[Silver Romani]

She frowned at him as he gestured for her to walk. She’d take that as a ‘no’ then. Her gaze fell to the road and she started walking.

So she had two days to figure this out. Two days for the men to become complacent with her for only a moment, she only needed one short window of opportunity. She was naked and unarmed under the blanket wrapped around her perhaps - but she was no longer bound and she had Raksha. She had to trust the hope that she’d never see Vel Cirak.. “You’re not exactly likeable. Did you know that?..” she muttered with a huff, mentally taking back what she’d said about his kindness.

“All clear of what?” She asked curiously, looking into the trees on either side of them.. Sure, she’d been a monster, attacking them herself only hours ago, but now she wasn’t and there would be little she could do in defence.

She kept an eye on Raksha, with a mental note to stay ready to climb onto the mare’s back should the opportunity arise, and she glanced back to the soldiers that followed behind her too.