Fable - Ask The Tide Turns[Historical]

[Leoric Virak]

Elven magics were still mostly a mystery to the Anirians. Sure there had been a few interrogations, some experiments, but discoveries like that did not come easily. Especially when the other side was actively resisting you learning anything at all. Not that the Anirians could really blame the knife-ears for that fact.

No doubt the Dreadlords would be just as secret after the war was done. ”It’s definitely some kind of magic.”

Leoric nodded in agreement with Clarissa, frowning as he watched the odd swirling mists within the orb.

At first he did not notice Rhea suddenly being so transfixed with the object, his focus instead on the sphere itself. Lips thinned for a brief moment as he observed, then finally he turned around, opening his mouth to shout for his companion. Instead instantly noticing her there standing frozen and transfixed.

”Uhh.” Leoric said, taking a quick step. ”Rhea?”

The Virak offered, gently nudging his companion.

Never knowing that the second she had focused on the object, the moment she had peered into it, a whole world would have been shown to her. A living network of trees like nerves, a maze of forest that breathed and lived all at once.

Controlled, at least in part, by that very orb.

 

[Rhea]

Let us show you...

Rhea could do nothing but tighten her hand on the hilt of her sword before the images hit her. Suddenly it made sense why the trees had acted as they had when Leo had used his foul magic on them. The orb showed her what it had done, how it had stunted its view of that part of the forest, but how it was already healing from the urging of this magical object. The enchanted orb continued on past just the complex map system to beyond, the lives this forest cared for, how the elves lived and cared for it, and of a time long past when human and elf had both worked towards that.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

"Is she... is she ok?" Clarissa was stunned by Rhea's off-kilter behavior.

The princess of Vel Anir had seemingly gone stiff, as if she were in another world entirely. Irises glazed over, breaths irregular, whatever this object was had gotten ahold of her.

"Rhea!" she waved a palm at her fellow Dreadlord before turning to Leoric, distress clearly visible. "Do we break it?" A hand was already wrapping around the hilt of her blade, face gesturing towards the smokey orb wrapped in vines.

 

[Leoric Virak]

”Shit.” The greater part of him did just want to smash the fucking thing.

They had no idea what it was doing to Rhea, but they didn’t know if breaking it wouldn’t just kill her too. They didn’t know shit, which was why they had come up here in the first place. Letting out a curse Leoric suddenly dropped his sword.

The blade clattered to the ground, and in one fluid motion Leoric pulled off his heavy coat. The thing swept forward like a fishing net, and without a second thought he swung it over the strange orb. Covering it, and luckily, severing the connection that the thing had with Rhea.

As he covered the artifact Leo turned, preparing to catch The Princess. ”Rhea?”

He echoed Clarissa’s call.

”Hello?” His finger snapped in front of her face. ”Anyone home?”

It would be just their luck that the damned thing turned the Princess of Vel Anir into a brain dead ox.

 

[Rhea]

It wasn't just a map the elves had created with their enchantment. It was a Consciousness. A consciousness that now bore its entire presence down on the young Princess's mind with its ancient magic. Rhea's hand tightened even more on the hilt of her blade to the point it began to dig into her flesh enough to cut.

You come to burn our forests...
You come to kill and spill blood....
We remember the wars of old, how there was no winner.
Let us show you.

Rhea could only brace this time for the images and thoughts and feelings that poured into her. Loss after loss. Humans and elves over the years. The senseless slaughter on both sides. The forest was on nobody's side, it just wished to live, but how could it not feel when it bore witness to such horrors? The hoard of human slaves murdered by elves, the elven children burnt alive by humans, the cries and pleas.

It was too much.

She might have drawn her own blade and drove it into her own heart had Leo not covered the orb. It was like someone had suddenly closed the lid on a music box, except the echo remained and haunted her even as her own vision returned. Almost instantly her body which had been forced to stay still trembled and her knees gave way, her breath growing suddenly laborious as if she had run for miles without a stop.

"They know we're here," she croaked as her head swam.

Because, beneath it all, she had felt them watching.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

Claire was growing more and more tense by the second, slowly inching towards the orb as she considered striking the thing only for Leoric to step forward and toss his cloak on top of it.

A few breaths passed until Rhea finally spoke.

There was something about her tone that made the words far more terrifying. Like they were spoken from a primal, subconscious fear. Like Rhea had just been transfixed on something truly traumatic. "The... elves?" Every hair on the back of Clarissa's neck stood on end, goosebumps pressing outwards on the flesh of her arms.

"How do they, how do you?" She shook her head, trying to regain her composure. "Should we just burn this tower to ash now?"

All the Dreadlord from House Vansire knew at that moment was she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

 

[Leoric Virak]

Leoric caught Rhea the moment her knees buckled.

There was no mockery, no jokes, nothing. The moment that some danger had truly fallen upon them that had all fallen away. The only thing that had mattered was ensuring she was okay. They were a brotherhood, closer than even family.

At least to him.

"Good." He said in simple reply as Rhea gave a breathed of the coming danger, glancing up as Clarissa asked a spur of questions. Some of them had flickered in his own mind, but he shook his head as he spoke.

"No." The Dreadlord said. "We wanted them to notice."

Leoric reminded. "As long as they're looking at us..."

He glanced at his companions in silent explanation.

 

[Rhea]

Rhea was still having trouble separating her own thoughts from the lingering tangles of the Falwood. With Leo's help she managed to get her feet under her but her whole body still shook violently. There was no flinching away from him though, no rejection of his help, instead she allowed her weight to lean against his strength whilst she focused on not being sick and working out how to form words.

To Clarissa's question about the elves she could only nod before shutting her eyes. The debate about whether to burn the tower went entirely over her head.

"Take it," she croaked and nodded sluggishly towards the orb. "It has... so much information."

She just had to figure out how to impose her will on it rather than the other way around.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

A flash of panic overcame Claire as she saw the state Rhea was in. It only got worse when she asked them to, "you want us to take that thing!?"

A sideways glance over her shoulder towards the orb covered cloak. There was no way in the seven hells of Anirius she was ever going to touch that thing. Not after what it had just done to the princess. Not if it had told the elves where the first of the Dreadlords had struck.

There was, of course, another option.

"Gideon! We need you!" The shout came with a level of anxiety that would alert the oaf to hurry. Within seconds feet clattered up the stairs and the burly Dreadlord of House Urr stood before them with a confused look on his face.

"Wha- what's up? Is she ok?" A fat finger pointed towards Leoric and Rhea.

"Yes. No time to explain. We need you to carry that," she pointed a thumb over her shoulder, still not willing to look at the orb, "but you are not to uncover it. Leave it covered up at all times."

"What is it?"

"A dangerous elven artifact."

 

[Leoric Virak]

“So you want me to carry the bloody thing?!” Gideon demanded indignantly. Leoric rolled his eyes, both at Clarissa willing to use one of their brothers as a sacrificial lamb and at said brother being an impertinent twat.

”Just put it in your pack.” The Dreadlord said. ”And Keep it covered.”

He had fully looked at the thing before Rhea had noticed it. Perhaps it had some special connection to her or perhaps it had somehow been…aware of what he was. Either way it didn’t matter, covering it seems to have rendered it at least somewhat inert.

Gideon gave Leoric a dubious look, snarled at Clarissa, but then ultimately did as he was told. ”We need to get ready.”

He reminded them.

”If the Elves know we’re here, then pinning them down for as long as possible is now the goal.” That way the army would have as much time to maneuver as possible. ”Gideon get this place ready to burn, Clair, help me set some traps.”

For a second he paused, looking at Rhea. ”You just get some rest for now.”

He said, voice surprisingly caring.

 

[Rhea]

Rhea wanted to argue but without Leo to lean against she would collapse again. As it was it was only with his help that she managed the winding stairs back down the tower and over to a low wall where she could sit with her back propped against. Gideon followed muttering about not being a servant but he eyed the orb askance when he saw how weak Rhea was. Once they were outside he gingerly put it into one of the backpacks and left it by Rhea as he went back to help with getting the tower ready to burn.

Alone, the Princess cast glances towards the bag.

Who had that presence belonged to? The person who had made it? What other enchantments did they have this deep into the forest their people did not know about?

Rhea shuddered and reached for the bag. It was not the orb she drew out though but her notepad and charcoal. Furiously she began to sketch the ideas of her next creations.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

Clarissa paid the brute from House Urr no additional mind after he'd gotten instructions from Leoric.

Once they were outside and he began to prepare kindling and flame she worked in tandem with Leo on setting traps in the open field not far from the tower, with the two of them taking turns and keeping an eye upon the treeline.

"You want to pin them down?" Her voice was low, not wanting to risk the other two overhearing. "If they know where we are they could send a large force."

They could die, is what she was getting at.

Although if the orb had seen Rhea, "with luck maybe it's just a smaller squad." She had the tactical knowledge that if they sent an overwhelming force to wipe them out it'd almost certainly spell victory for the Anirians whose main force was heading deeper into the forest. But a smaller squad meant the four Dreadlords might not have their lives ended before the end of the day.

There was also the issue of, "we should probably avoid a straightforward fight until she's better."

Maybe hiding, hit-and-run, and getting Rhea far away was the best plan.

 

[Leoric Virak]

"I do." Leoric said in quick answer to Clarissa.

He could understand her hesitation. Staying here now was like sitting in the middle of a trap you know had been sprung. By keeping them here it could very well be that he had doomed them all.

Yet to his mind, the decision was simple. Their mission had been to draw every eye possible, to make the elves look here so the army could strike. It could be argued they had fulfilled that duty, but the longer they stayed and kept the knife-ears in place, the better. All of them knew that.

Even if there were only four of them.

"Traps." He said, skipping over the small hope Clarissa wished for. Deciding that it was better not to add his own desire to the pile. "You and I should range out and set a few."

It wouldn't do much if the elves did send a big force, but at least it would slow them down. "It'll give Rhea some more time."

And them too.

 

[Rhea]

"What are you doing?" Gideon grunted as he came to sit beside Rhea, leaning over her shoulder to peer at her journal. "The fuck is that?"

"Something new," Rhea said absentmindedly as she continued to draw. In the last hour the Princess has done seven sketches. She never really knew what her objects did until she Made them, she just knew that they were needed. Once she had a new Sjælden in her mind they were easy enough to recreate. Most of the men wore the amulets she had created back when she was only 16 that helped a man sense when someone was about to use magic. It had saved countless lives already.

These would not save lives, they would destroy them. That was the only certainty Rhea had.

By the time the others returned Rhea had laid her head back and dozed off.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

Setting traps wasn't something Clarissa reveled in. It was a necessary thing, a thing that all of them had learned in their Dreadlord training. And she supposed that Leo had the right idea here

"Pin them down," she muttered as she set another snare. They'd already dug enough tiny spike traps in random locations that the elves would be slowed heavily. In fact, if things worked according to plan the elves might even try going around their field of traps which would buy even more time.

Claire wiped sweat form her forehead as the bones in her spine cracked. Her muscles were aching from the work.

Just before they finished she set one final trap with her magic, deadening a toe to create an explosive trap that would prove fatal to anyone who stepped upon it. "Shall we head back?" The sun was beginning to set and she didn't think it likely they'd get much more done this evening.

 

[Leoric Virak]

As he and Clarissa moved through the woods, Leoric couldn’t help but watch the trees.

He felt a strange sort of discomfort here within the Falwood, as though someone was constantly peering over his shoulder. As he strung the last of the trip wires, Leoric frowned for a moment. Pausing as he heard Clarissa call out to him.

Glancing over his shoulder, the Dreadlord frowned, then gently plucked at the trip wire. A trickle of his magic surged through the string. It seemed to reverberate and shift, and then suddenly the barely visible piece of string disappeared entirely. ”Yeah.”

Leoric called out, pulling himself to his feet as he glanced at the trees near him one more time.

His head shook, and with a quick few steps he caught up to his companion.

”I hate this place.” The Dreadlord muttered, more to himself than to Clarissa. They had all heard the stories of course, tales of what the Falwood was like, what had been done to the men who’d marched here. His own family line had nearly been ended within the forest.

A fact which he doubted House Virak would ever forget.

By the time the two Dreadlords made their way back towards the tower the sun was already beginning to set. Above them a thick din of clouds was beginning to form, threatening rain and thunder.

 

[Rhea]

Upon returning, the two would be met with a sight that would undo Gideon's tough and brutish reputation for life. Rhea had at some point finally given in to the exhaustion the orb had inflicted upon her mind and had slumped over entirely until her head was in his lap. Instead of shoving her off he'd covered her in his own cloak whilst he shivered with the slight onset of rain. He looked as if he were considering picking the Princess up when the others appeared and he all but flew to his feet, making Rhea sit up with a tired start.

"She fell asleep!" he spluttered, face turning red. "She was drooling all over my arm so I just--" he turned frantically between the two and now the confused looking Princess. "If any of you mention this I swear-!"

Thunder cracked overhead and Rhea shuddered, eyes closing.

"They're here."

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

Claire crossed her arms into a tight jumble, simply nodding along as Leoric voiced his disdain for this place. He wasn't wrong, the hairs on the back of her neck in a constant raise from the eeriness of the wood. "It's not great here."

Briefly the thought flickered in her mind of what would happen if they won.

Would the Anirians really settle in a place like this? She certainly wouldn't be advocating for a Vansire home to be built within the Falwood, that much was certain. "Let's head back," she turned on her heel and walked back towards their makeshift encampment at the tower.

Clarissa immediately saw the scene playing out and a sly grin formed as the taunts began.

"It's ok Giddy, you're just a cuddly teddy be-" she stopped speaking and in an instant her demeanor shifted. A split second of fear before her nerves hardened and she was ready for war. "Let's go." A hand pressed to the hilt of her sword as she walked with the others to get a glimpse of what the army they were about to face.

 

[Leoric Virak]

Leoric held back a chortle, letting his head roll for a moment as Clarissa got in the first snipe. His mouth opening as he prepared to immediately add the second when Rhea's eyes suddenly popped open. The words that fell from her lips almost immediately caused a tension to roll over the Dreadlord, his lips thinning to a line and his fingers furling into fists.

Though for a second he hesitated.

Noticing something, Leoric looked Rhea up and down instead of immediately jumping into action. He seemed to hesitate a moment, questioning, and then shaking his head as he decided the time wasn't right. He could ask her how she knew later.

For now the knife-ears were coming.

They had to take care of that problem first.

"Gideon, Clarissa get down to ground level." The Traps would slow the Elves, but they would need to be prepared. There wouldn't be going any easy this time. Not if they wanted to make it out alive. "If they surround us, I need one of you to hold back and be ready to cut a swath through."

Which one of them would want to save themselves for that task would have to be up to them. "Rhea you're with me. We're going up."

If they could hit the Elves before they got to the walls it might slow them even more.

At least he hoped.

 

[Rhea]

Marching. The trees parted for them with bows as they rode past on their steeds, lances high. He could smell fire in the distance and it burned in his soul too; hate... he hated..

Rhea youre with me. Were going up.

The Princess opened her eyes and the visions in her mind merged with the one before her for a second then vanished. Rhea blinked. What the fuck... With a grunt she hurled herself to her feet; Gideon had got as far away from her as possible so was no help there.

"All the way?" She grimaced eyeing up the tower. She'd barely got down the last time, she wasn't sure she would manage up too. Glancing to Clarissa she gave her friend a grim nod then held out her hand so they could clasp forearms.

"May luck be with you, sister," and then they were off up the tower steps.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

"You as well," Claire issued towards Rhea before heading outwards with Gideon.

The Dreadlord pair waited, with bated breath, as the sound of an army's footsteps crashed through the forest and began to enter the clearing. Seconds dragged on as the sound of the elven horde grew louder and louder.

Clarissa tired to steady herself, keep her mind at ease, while the looming battle grew closer and closer. Gideon belched, a thing he often did when he was anxious, and then shifted back-and-forth on his feet. "They're gettin' closer," he whispered as if the elves could hear them from such a far away distance.

And then, the rhythmic sound of footsteps was interrupted by a scream.

The first of their traps had been triggered and some poor soul had stepped upon Clarie's magically laced trap.

 

[Leoric Virak]

"All the way." Leoric confirmed with a nod of his head. Taking in a deep breath as he glanced between his three companions.

There were only four of them.

All were powerful, some of the strongest Dreadlords who had been crowned, but it still did not seem enough. Leoric knew that this was his plan, that he'd been the one to call for them to stay and stall, but that didn't absolve him of any of the trepidation. He knew what he'd stuck them into, what their fate would likely be.

Four against an army were odds that no one would take, not even the maddest gambler at the last Tavern in the Gutter.

They had no chance of winning this fight, all of them knew that. Their only job was to stall and delay, ensure the elves were too harrowed and weary to move quickly through their own home. Leoric and his companions needed to inflict a weary hurt upon their for, one that would buy their kin enough time to strike.

Perched within the tree-like top of the tower, Leoric heard the distant scream echo out as Clarissa's trap was sprung.

"Well, guess they've found the first one." Leoric said, sliding himself forward and stepping into a marble platform among the foliage. He motioned for Rhea to follow."Time to play spotter."

He told her, not wanting the Princess to commit more of her energy after what had happened. "Find them in the trees. I'll take care of the rest."

 

[Rhea]

Stags ran this way and that in the confusion, some with and some without their riders. Some with their riders trailing lifelessly behind with their foot caught in the stirrup. He brought his own frantic stag under control with a firm hand and a snarl.

"Watch for traps you fools!"

...in the trees. I'll take care of the rest.

Rhea stared at Leoric and tried to recall the words he had been saying to her but found nothing. She hadn't been here, she'd been there. In there. Fuck - if she could see through his eyes, could he see through hers? He didn't seem to have noticed yet but it would only take a matter of time... Hastily she undid the sash about her waist and tied it around her eyes. She couldn't risk him figuring out their position. If all he could see was darkness...

She drew her bow and an arrow made of that same, odd material that wasn't quite glass but wasn't quite anything else.

"You're going to have to trust me," Rhea said grimly by way of explanation and knocked an arrow. "30 degrees, third row of trees."

She shot in the other direction just before an elf stepped from the treeline before Clarissa, going right through his eye.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

The traps were working as intended and from above she could hear the arrows fly as her fellow Dreadlords launched an assault at them. Maybe if they played this right the elves would believe they were a larger force than they truly were?

No. That was just wishful thinking.

"We need to do something," she said aloud but knew that it went contrary to Leoric's plan. If they went forward now it would reveal their position and he'd been clear that they needed at least one of them to stay back to create an exit path if they were surrounded.

Even if it was the best strategy the feeling of being useless in the moment was a hard one to shake. Particularly when you'd trained your entire life to split open elven skulls.

Her demeanor shifted slightly as the slowing march of the elves ended. They'd triggered enough traps and had enough arrows bury into their flesh. Now they were moving at a full sprint towards the tower. Triggering traps rapidly, sure, but also running the number of traps left on the field thin.

Things were looking beyond grim.

 

[Leoric Virak]

Leoric took slow calming breaths as he waited. His eyes carefully set on the forest. Besides him Rhea drew her bow, snapping an arrow to the string.

"I'd trust no one more." The Dreadlord said, his voice strained, as though he were lifting some great weight. If the Princess glanced at him, even for a second, she would see the strain in his body. The tension that coursed through him.

Every muscle.

Every tendon.

Veins seemed to pucker and stick out from his arms and in his neck, and as he drew upon the magics of his family they slowly began to turn black. He called upon the Well, drawing in the taint and foul magic. Black flecks flickered over his eyes, trailing and obscuring his vision as Rhea called out the first target.

A pulse rang out over the top of the tower as the air in front of Leoric seemed to bend and turn in upon itself. Twisting and turning against itself as ethereal lines of black filtered from nothing and began forming into tumultuous sphere. The arcane might turning in on itself again and again until a ball, about the size of that children would use to play came fully into being. It hovered within the air for a brief moment.

Then, suddenly, a beam of black fire lanced out from within it.

Within the single span of a breath the black flames cut down into the forest below. Scouring through wood, foliage, and flesh. Burning, Incinerating, and leaving only a wake of ash as screams of pure abject horror called out from the forest below. Leoric's magic not just killing, but scouring the very earth everywhere it touched. Leaving only echoes of the life that had once been there, and a trail of black flames which seemed only to grow when touching that which was alive.

"Next." Leoric said in a cold, dispassionate voice.

In the forest below, Gideon stood besides Clarissa. Seconds before the beam of black flame arched above them the giant of a man gave a shrug to the other Dreadlords words. "Leoric said wait till they get over the walls. So we should wa-"

The line suddenly lanced through the sky, screams echoing from beyond the wall as the elves moved faster and triggered traps galore.

"Well." Gideon said as he pulled the massive axe from his back. "Guess we're done waiting."