forum For one thing to be born, another must die; that is how the stars are born, that light up our night sky. REBOOT // OxO // CLOSED

Started August 04, 2019 by @croccin-champagne

tune

Kieran shook his head, but didn't respond. He sighed softly, closing his eyes again.

The attack came out of nowhere.

They were camped out for the night, in a clearing on the side of the side road they had been using, both carriages and multiple tents set up in a sort of circle around a large fire. The sun had set too long before they'd reached the next town. So obviously, camping out for the night and continuing in the morning was the safest decision, and the best for giving the horses the rest they needed. So there they were, all sat around the fire or sleeping. Or in Elara's case, on the other side of the 'barrier' the circle made, grabbing the shoes she had left in the carriage when they'd been setting up.

And that was when it started.

As soon as Elara stepped out of the carriage, there was a sword at her throat. And a very large man grinning at her. "Keep quiet, and you'll live." He whispered, his grin widening. Unluckily for him, and probably herself, Elara wasn't a very good listener, or good at being quiet when she didn't want to be. So instead, she swept out the cane she had swapped to after using the crutches for a couple days, catching the man in the back of the knees and offguard, sending him to the ground and knocking away his sword with the cane.

Kieran had looked up after hearing footsteps that he knew none of the humans could hear, and had just been standing when the figures broke out of the underbrush, flashing swords and knives. The guards were soon locked into battle. Kieran looked over at Elara, and saw her fighting back. She can take care of herself for a minute. He knew. Hell, she had nearly beaten him. He sighed softly as he fought.

Elara made quick work of finishing off the man that had attacked her, before moving to join in the main fray. Her cane came in handy again when she cracked it against the head of a man double-teaming on Matthias, giving him a chance to focus on the other assailant. She was no stranger to fighting large groups, and it was honestly nice to have other people fighting alongside her. Though it was obvious that they were sorely outnumbered. Eight guards(numbers??) and a former street rat against at least twenty also armed assailants.

Kieran was probably the best fighter of all of them, which was made obvious by the fact that he was nearly surrounded. The tall Thari had immediately been singled out as the biggest and likely strongest, and so they were trying to take him down first. He was holding his own though, fighting as hard as he could.

Elara made her way past body after body to help the guards, avoiding or taking out anyone who came after her, desperately hoping against all odds that each one she passed belonged to an attacker, and not one of her guards. A shot rang out, and then another, something hot and painful lodging itself in her shoulder. Ignore the pain and keep helping. That's the best you can do. Only, it was hard to keep helping when the numbers of your allies dwindled faster than those of the attackers. Think think think what can you do? What advantage do you-

"Cover your eyes!" She shouted, sending up a prayer to whoever was listening that the guards listened, and that this worked. She waited a beat, and then let loose as much light as she could in a flash, the light temporarily(hopefully) blinding anyone looking at it.

Kieran heard her shout, and closed his eyes tightly, still fighting as best he could without sight. He released a strangled cry as he felt a blade stab into his leg, and he slashed in the direction the blade had come from, frowning. He could see the flare of light against his eyelids, could see the shapes of men falling down or stumbling, disoriented and blinded. He remained still until the flash was gone, then opened his eyes, making quick work of the disoriented, dazed men around him. His leg burned with each step, blood flowing down his pants in a steady stream, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

The light fizzled out completely, and Elara pretended the act hadn't drained her almost completely, focusing on the man stumbling towards her with a sword. She slipped her mother's dagger from it's sheath, spinning the blade into a comfortable grip and lashing out. Neck, face, chest, throat. And then she caught sight of a familiar figure, laying bleeding out on the ground. Matthias. Covering him was a but hard, with her ankle and arm and exhaustion, but she was managing. But there were still three men standing, one Kieran and the other two definitely foe, not friend.

Kieran continued fighting. His eyes were a bit dazed by the light, even though they had been closed, but he knew he was better off than the two men before him. Without a word, not battle cry nor curse, he sliced into them with his sword. A silent killer. He wasn't the type to speak when fighting, not usually. And not now. His leg bled more with each step, staining his pants and leaving a trail along the ground.

Elara dropped to her knees, fumbling for the gun of the man she had taken down just earlier. Something felt off. She still felt like she was being watched, that theif's sixth sense tingling in her gut. And her suspicions were confirmed when she checked the barrel of the gun. There was only one bullet missing. She had been fired at twice, and heard a third shot that she guessed hit someone else. Meaning-

"Kieran, get down!" Her shout came just in time, as a man emerged from the woods that sandwiched the campsite inbetween them and the road. His gun was raised, not pointed at her, but at Kieran, aiming to take him out.

A loud bang echoed around the area.

And the man hit the ground. Elara held the smoking gun in her hands, trembling slightly as she stood on her injured ankle, covered in blood and unable to tell if it was her own or someone else's. She had just shot someone. She had shot him and killed him.

She had killed before, of course. It wasn't something she was new to, sadly, but something about killing someone and using a gun….it felt different. It felt wrong.

Kieran looked up in time to see the man topple to the ground. His eyes darted around the campsite as he took stock of how many were alive and fighting still. He only saw himself and Elara. Have to get her out of here. He realized. He came over to Elara as quickly as possible, limping slightly because of the wound in his leg. "Your highness, we should go." He said quickly.

Elara stood there for a few moments, unresponsive and with a white-knuckled grip on the gun as she stared at the spot the man had been. Before she'd shot him. And then the gun hit the ground as well, Elara scrambling back as though it was on fire. That's why she was scared of them. Gunsmoke fills the air, mingling with the metallic tang of blood, so much of it and how wasn't she dead yet? Because it wasn't her blood. Her eyes dropped to the ground, wide and as terrified as the shout that left her lips-

"Matthias." She whispered, spinning around and ignoring Kieran to check on Matthias. He wasn't moving anymore, but he was breathing, his eyes focused on her as he mouthed something.

"Go."

Kieran took a deep breath, and rolled his sleeves up. Fire burst to life, shooting from his hands and enveloping the remaining attackers. He went over to Elara. "I'm sorry about your friends, but we must leave. My priority is you, not them." It was cold, and it was harsh, but it was the truth. His priority was Elara, and not the other guards.

Elara was entirely too out of it to pay much attention to the fire or it's source, crouching next to Matthias. She reached out, and he met her half way, taking her hand and slipping something into it as he squeezed it. "I-gods, I'm so so sorry, I-"

"Don't. Not your fault, Magpie." Matthias managed, smiling despite being in obvious pain. "Kind of our job. You need to go, though. Don't make this for nothing." He took in a shaky breath, releasing her hand and looking to Kieran. "Please." He couldn't manage much more, and it wasn't obvious who he was talking to, but Elara seemed to get one message. The other was for Kieran, a plea for him to take care of her. Elara drew her dagger, closing her eyes at the same time he did, ending his suffering with a quick and efficient cut. She stood, shaking even more now but otherwise oddly calm.

"Where to?"

Kieran shrugged. "I don't know. We can't take the carriage since they cut the horses loose, and even I am not strong enough to carry or pull it on my own. It has to be by foot. We can't follow the road, it would be too easy to run us down." He glanced into the woods. "So that leaves the forest." He picked her up and started walking quickly. They could travel faster if he carried her, even with the bleeding wound in his leg. "I'm very sorry about your friend." He added as he walked quickly into the woods.

Elara returned to withdrawing into herself, unable to even be surprised by Kieran picking her up. Shock. She just sat there, instead, staring off to the side blankly. "So am I." Her voice sounded odd even to her own ears, like it belonged to a different person. "I'm sorry about all of them." They didn't deserve to die. If anyone should be dead, it's me.

Kieran was limping, the wound in his thigh sending sharp spurts of pain through his body with each step. He ignored it as best he could, and continued walking into the woods, carrying Elara. He knew he might be leaving a trail of blood, but couldn't bring himself to care. He glanced down at her. "Your highness, I realize you are upset, and that shock is setting in, but you need to keep a clear head. You can mourn later. For now, we are in the middle of nowhere, alone, with no backup. I need your help. I cannot do everything alone."

"It's all my fault." Elara whispered, her face and eyes scarily blank. She didn't say anything more, leaving those words to linger in the silence as they moved further from the massacre behind them. Then she blinked. "You're limping. Put me down." She instructed, her voice void of pretty much anything. "We need to take care of that."

"It isn't your fault." Kieran replied softly. "And no, I won't. We can move faster this way." He kept walking. Once they were far enough away, he would put her down. Which meant not anytime soon. He could run as he was right now, bleeding leg and everything, if necessary. With her ankle, she would slow them down considerably if he put her down.