Naveen

Maleen:

“Thank you, that is my hope as well.” I answered with a sweet smile, handing over the letter from Rina.


Written within:

Talon,

I do apologize for what I asked of you, it was an unreasonable proposition that I had not entirely thought through. I should have considered your position more thoroughly.
That being said, I do not want you to think poorly of me for suggesting it. I did have valid reasons. As you must have guessed, some of them were personal.
I am in a place of greater danger than I ever have been. With my identity being known it is likely there will be a fair number of objectors on both sides. Brian is sending people to help protect me, but I have doubts that they could do a better job than I alone. You, however, are one person I feel I could trust, and rely on. You a far more skilled than I or those who will go with me. My chances of survival would be greater with you at my side. Not to mention having a friend I could count on within a den of snakes would be comfort.
However, I would not have put forth the proposal with that reasoning alone. I have never wished to take advantage of you, or use you for my own goals. I do not place the needs of your people below my own. And it was them I was thinking of when I asked you. I believe in my heart that we could do great things together for this country and all the creatures in it, not just our own kinds.
Should I succeed in my ventures, I will do what I can for your people and their likes, that is not dependent on my relations to you. I wish you and yours nothing but the best Talon, and I hope this past encounter will not be our last.

Yours truly, Rina

I took the letter and carefully tapped it against my other hand for a moment. "Thank you for bringing me this Maleen. You are welcome to stay or to return if you so choose." I offered her a polite smile before opening the letter and starting to read. A frown covered my lips as I got further along the letter. "So this is her play hm?"

Maleen:

I watched him at he read the note, hesitant to leave. “Talon, why are you distressed?” I asked. I could feel it in the energy coming from him.

"Rina left on her own...". I murmured as I tapped the letter against my lips.

Maleen:

“And that distresses you? Rina leaving?” I asked him, tilting my head to the side. I could sense energy, but motive was lost on me from a lack of experience. “Are you worried for her?” I was, I would have much preferred to keep those I called friends close to me within the same cabin. That included Talon.

"She goes as a possible Maryr...and I do not know if I can follow." I murmured softly a spike of pain, longing, and fear driving it's way into my heart as I read through the letter again. "I need time to think, would you mind returning to Wren, Maleen?"

Maleen:

“Yes, of course.” I answered but a slight frown touched my face. “I hope not too much time passes before we see one another again.” I said before I left. My life was set as an immortal, even years past would seem soon comparatively.

"I am sure it will feel like no time at all Maleen." I called after her before sighing. I gazed at the floor, glaring at it in a mixture of emotions. How could I not go after Rina now? But I also needed time to think about this. It wasn't a choice to be made lightly.

Rina:

I left with the girls and Dorian to their new cabin, I would spend one night with them and then in the morning I would ride with my guards to be ransomed to the queen. It was not much more than an hours ride from the camp, but we set off early in the morning.

I rode next to Dorian and just behind the Girl while the four guards flanked us. Aero and Iris flew around me while we rode, it was a precaution I had been taking lately to have them out and ready. I didn't expect trouble on the road.

“Wren!” Maleen called with delight, turning her horse off the path and trotting through a few trees. “It's a reneva tree!” She exclaimed. The gaurds had stiffened when she left the formation, not comfortable with the divergence. We slowed so as not to pass Maleen. She slid off of her saddle and moved to touch the bark of the tree.

Wren:

I giggled and followed after, "Reneva tree?" I asked after Maleen had slid down off her saddle. I glanced back at the group for a moment then shrugged to myself and hopped off the saddle to join her.

Maleen:

“Its the happiness tree, that's what people call it. It's bark tastes like chocolate and it has medicinal properties that can help with grief. Often given to mothers who have lost children.” I explained to her, peeling of a piece of separated bark and offering it to her to try. There was a low hoot in the distance.

I took the offered bark and looked it over before with a smile I took a bite as I watched her. My eyes widened as the taste flooded my mouth, not expecting to have such a result from simple bark.

Rina:

I smiled fondly, watching the two girls. There was another hoot, closer. Aero flew higher in the air then let out a high pitched alarm. “Maleen! Wren!” I shouted as someone ran at them from behind the underbrush. Wasting no time, Aero flew at then and buried deep into the center of their chest.

Shnick! I felt something fly past my ear and hair. Everything happened very quickly. Dorian had left my side to protect the girls. I moved to slide off my horse and a sickening jolt into my shoulder. I promptly hit the ground on my feet, grasping the arrow that had struck me and pulling it out with a soft cry. The arm felt deadened but it was only my left, my right was fully intact, ad with it I drew my short sword.

Two guards lay unmoving on the ground, the other two were off their steeds as well and engaged in fight with three other men. Iris struck the archer in the back, but both my sparrows were too far to retrieve, stuck in dying flesh. With my sword, I dispatched another attacker and ran to the archer Iris was stuck in.

Dorian:

The whole thing was over in minutes, I had reached the girls and forced them both behind me as I killed another man attempting to get to Maleen. I had a firm grasp on Wren behind my back watching carefully for further threats.

Wren:

My heart pounded in my throat and I had to fight to keep my powers at bay as the fighting raged around us. But before I knew it, it was all over and nothing but the groans of the wounded remained in my ears. I stared wide eyed at the dead men before Dorian while he held me securely behind him.

Rina:

I yanked Iris out of the archer and sliced his throat with her. He was close to death anyway. I slumped against the tree he had been hiding behind and grasped my bleeding shoulder. My heart was racing, and I felt nauseous, not because I had killed three men, but because I had known them.

The attackers had been part of the rebel force, that had been at camp. They were Brian's men. They had taken it upon themselves to do away with me.

“My lady, are you hurt?” The one guard left standing joined my side. He knelt down beside me when he saw my shoulder and began wrapping it with cloth to stop the bleeding. It wasn't a dangerous wound, merely a painful one.

Dorian:

I turned to the girls and hugged them both close. Wren more so than Maleen, but the young witch girl was shaking badly. I had to focus on her rather than Wren. “Hey, are you injured?” I asked her, forcing her to look me in the face. She shook her head, tears streaming from her vivid green eyes. “You're okay, you're safe.” I reassured her. She shook her head more, body trembling.

Maleen:

They were all dead. I could feel the energy leave the bodies. Violent energy was thick in the air. Nine dead men, and another dying. That was all I saw, and felt.

Wren:

I held onto both of them, utterly shocked. But when I felt how much Maleen was trembling I turned and embraced her. I just wanted to hold onto something. And it felt like she needed to be held. I kept my gaze moving, looking from the dead, to the ones left standing, to Maleen and Dorian.

Rina:

With Elkenson's help I got to my feet and went to find the girls. The guard went to attend the injured one after I joined Dorian, Wren, and Maleen under the tree. I pulled Aero out of the dead man before going to them.

Maleen was held by Wren with her face pressed into the other girl's neck and shoulder. She did npt handle violence well, I knew that.

I put a hand on her back in comfort. It took a several minutes to calm her, Wren doing most of the work, while Dorian moved the bodies out of sight. In the end, when she saw that I was injured she insisted upon healing me.

She apologized profusely when she could not do a better job. She had healed it to the point of a few days, enough to seal the wound, but it still hurt to work with the arm. I dismissed her worries and took her to see the injured guard. It took her longer to work on him, he had a gut injury. Once he was well enough to move we hurried along to the cabin, where she would work on him more. I sent the guard Elkenson with a message for Brian.

Talon:

I stood before Brian, arms folded across my armored chest. I'd just finished telling him my plans for my men, clearing the woods between the camp and the cabin as well as my own quest to go after Rina and see that mission done safely.

Brian was suspicious of Talon joining Rina. When he had requested he join her on her trip to see the Vampires, he had not had the information about who she was. Now, such an alliance between the two of them could harm him. Nevertheless, he could not deny the elf lord, for fear that he would do it anyway and drive a deeper wedge between them.

He was mulling it over when one of the guards he had signed to Rina come into the tent without introduction. He informed him of what happened and that two of the guards were dead ad that the seven men who attacked had been Brian's own men. He conveyed Rina's anger about the information getting out, and her request for specific men to accompany her. Brian had intentionally not sent men who were close to her, that decision had cost him.

I waited impassively, watching the emotions war over Brian's face. I felt a stab of ice run down my spine as the messenger burst into the tent and relayed his words. I let nothing show on my face only glanced between Brian and the man as I waited.

After hearing what Elkenson had said there was definitely no denying the Talon. He was willing and he was needed. And if he was going there was no real need to send anyone else along.

Brian sent Elkenson out and squared away plans with Talon, giving him the location of the cabin.

I was going to leave three of my men under Brian's command, protectors and soldiers for him to use as he saw fit. And with the rest of the plans settled I crossed the camp to our tents and relayed the plans to my troops. After I gathered up my supplies and gear for the trek after Rina.

As Talon rode up, the red and blue swallows buzzed him aggressively but did not strike. Iris flew off into the trees and Aero chirped while circling him.

Rina:

Everyone was within the cabin, I had insisted upon it ignoring Dorian's protests. Maleen had taken the whole event hard, and Wren and Dorian were needed to console her. She was also broken up over not being about to preform healing magic on the wounded guard and myself. She said there had been too much negative energy blocking hers.

The cottage was L-shaped and I sat, concealed in inward corner. The underbrush was heavy, which made me nearly invisible to those approaching the cabin. I rested with my back against the wall and a long bow across my lap. Several arrows were stuck in the ground ready. I was prepared if there was another attack.

Despite their long range and accuracy, Aero and Iris were more useful with close quarters combat, and they only had one use unless I was there to pull them free of flesh. What worked best over distance was using the bow and arrows and following cues from them as they circled the assailent. If I aimed straight for Aero, who made a perfect target being red, I could make the shot eight times out of ten, and almost always on the second try if I missed the first.

The chirping that Aero made now were of the sort that told me not to shoot. I stood from my resting place and peered through the woods, expecting to see the men I had requested. They weren't exactly friends of mine, but they had always been respectful and on my side in any dispute.

My heart dropped into my stomach when I saw who it was. He was immediately recognizable as Talon. I still gripped the bow with an arrow notched, but I had it lowered to the ground as I moved out into the pathway to greet him. Many emotions played across my face as my eyes met his; doubt, hope, hurt, anxiety, vulnerability.

Talon:

I had a sword drawn after finding the bodies and I kept my grip on it even as Iris and Aero circled me. I only slowed when I spotted the cabin ahead of me. I adjusted the grip on my blade silver eyes searching the building for signs of life.

My packing had been quickly taken care of and I'd requisitioned the same horse that had carried me to and from the vampires. I wasn't much for riding horses, but I had come to rely on and enjoy my steed and as his ears flicked towards a bush I settled my gaze on it and the figure that seemed to melt out of it as we approached.

I could tell who it was immedietly, feel it within my core as Rina stopped on the pathway. I could see the emotions play out on her face. The doubt, the hope, all of it. But what brought me up short the most was the Vulnerable air she held. Slowly I slipped down off my horse and crossed the distance halfway my sword slipping into its sheath as I gazed at her. I extended a hand out to her but made no move otherwise.

Rina:

I reached out to grasp his hand. “What are you doing here?” I asked uncertainly. His presence here now did not mean that he would stay, or that he would be coming with me. It was possible that he was simply sent to escort me to the hand off to prevent further ambushes.