Lynnette watched as the bandits dragged Fenryn off after tying his hands behind his back. She had wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him to fight, but she realised quickly that he had been holding back any attempts at escape for her sake. They really had been surrounded, and even as they began to leave; the bandits had still kept their arrows honed in on Fenryn and her both.
She tracked their footprints until she spotted the stronghold in which the bandits had made their camp. She knew right away that any attempt to storm such a place on her own would only result in her death. Forced with no other option, she decided to head towards the town Gardo in order to alert the guards at the very least. She rarely ever ventured into human-populated areas. Even her clan avoided them out of fear. However the town itself had many of the Malruthiia, and the humans seemed to not even notice her presence at all. They really couldn't tell one 'elf' from the next. Part of her was in
As Fenryn was led into the bandit stronghold he noticed the entrance was only accessible via a pressure plate. He took a mental note of this. There were several more bandits inside, but they were busy with other tasks. The bandit leader stood at the far end of the encampment. He was a tall man with short black hair. Fenryn noticed the man was giving orders to some of his underlings, but he himself did not look like much of a fighter. He assumed the man was more brains than brawn, and it had likely been his idea to build the pressure plate at the entrance.“What have you brought me this time, Zhen?” The leader asked as he looked over to Fenryn and the bandit that had captured him. He gave a thoughtful frown, then said to Fenryn, “you look familiar.”Fenryn gave a nervous laugh, then replied with, “I get told that a lot. I just have one of those faces.”“I caught this one by the chasm that opened up recently. Looked like w
Lynnette couldn't wait any longer. As an Enerawyn, she had little faith in humans, let alone bandits. She knew better than to trust that they would keep Fenryn safe. She had never cared about the safety of any human before, but now she did. She was amused with herself since she had only met him yesterday. It usually took a great deal for her to care for others outside of her race, but something about Fenryn made her believe he was worth looking out for.Against the innkeeper's wishes, she stormed out of the inn and made her way to the edge of the town. She was fully prepared to fight off a horde of bandits on her own if no one else was willing to aid her. As she made her way back the way she had come, she noticed something moving in the forest across from her. Blinking in disbelief, Lynnette saw Fenryn, and another younger man following closely behind him. He didn't look like a warrior or a bandit, so she assumed he wasn't one of his enemies.“Fenryn!” She
The late evening sun was slowly beginning to set, and the three relaxed on a bench near the inn. Roy had brought them something to eat and drink but had otherwise kept to himself. He had given Fenryn a knowing look, then left to deal with another client. Lynnette could tell the man had a deep respect for Fenryn, despite the fact that he got into trouble wherever he went. She smiled at him a little as he spoke about some wild tale of his, where he had gotten lost, and how much trouble he had gotten into with the Knight captain afterwards. It was during this moment that Lynnette came to understand why people seemed to like Fenryn so easily, which could include her, she supposed.“You're like a little puppy.” She said finally, she hadn't meant to say such words out loud, so her words had come out rather composed.Fenryn looked at her with a puzzled tilt of his head. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted by the remark but chose not to comment on
As the small group made their way out of the inn, Fenryn adjusted his sheath to a more ideal location. He had thought of getting another sword so that he wouldn't have a knights sword on display since he was not wearing the correct armour to match. However, he had decided against it after some thought. He was going home, so there was a smaller need to pretend he was just a commoner than when he had left on his adventure.Lynnette watched Fenryn as he held his head. She held back a chuckle as she realised he was still suffering from his hangover. The way he reacted, was evident that he rarely had the pleasure to drink to the extent he probably had. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and then smiled to herself. She knew that in all honesty, she would have done no better in his position. Her people did not venture into towns and never drank. She wasn't sure if other clans were different, but hers avoided humans as much as possible.Her attention soon shifted to Arias, w
Closing the door leading to the bathroom behind himself, Vaughan gave a rather irritable sigh. He looked over to Lynnette and Arias who waited in the lavish bedroom. It was only now he paid attention to the young man, and he gave Arias a critical look. It was enough to cause Arias to fidget uncomfortably.“So,” Vaughan began, his eyes constantly fixed on Arias. “Why are you here, without your guards, and no silver? If I recall you were the worst magic-user I have ever had the displeasure of yelling at.”Arias blushed deeply, his restlessness only getting worse now that all attention was upon him. “The bandits mistook me for a son of a noble, and killed the guards, then sold the silver bracelet.” He explained. He hoped Vaughan wouldn't get angrier at him than he already seemed to be.“And why were you outside the Guild to begin with? I'm surprised you were given permission from the Guild-master, seeing as how you always m
I was fairly young when I first met Vaughan. I was sparring with my elder brother, Valantine at the time and with our mighty wooden swords, we were practising our swordsmanship in the castle gardens. As he taught me how to fight, I knew that one day we'd become mighty warriors. Of course, being so young I was never any good at it back in those days, so it was more playing than actual fighting.My mother and father, the King and Queen were standing near the fountain and beside them was another couple. I knew them as high-standing nobles, but I was still learning names and ranks back then. Anyway, clinging to his mother's skirt was a young Vaughan. He was really shy back in those days. A vast difference to how he is now. As my brother and I finished our training, we moved over to the adults. We were pretty tired, but both of us were enthusiastic about making our parents proud. My brother was an especially handsome person, you can ask anyone that knew him. He had dark-blond hair
Once Fenryn had finished telling their life story, he allowed Arias and Lynnette to take it all in. Vaughan seemed less than amused with the subject matter being shared, but he said nothing on the topic.“Wait a moment,” Arias said as he blinked at Fenryn. “You're engaged? I never heard about that!” He continued, surprised.Fenryn gave an awkward smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. “It is a complicated matter.” He said softly.Lynnette seemed annoyed but mostly confused. “Is it usual for your elders to choose a life partner like that? I mean how do you know if you love someone if you don't make your own choices?” She asked.Vaughan spoke up now as he said, “it is not about love. It is about land, riches, power, and sometimes to solidify unions in order to prevent wars. Only if you are lucky, do you end up with someone you might like.” His words were laced with disgust. It was quite evident t
With the Knights distracted with clean-up duty and tending to the wounded, Lynnette took this time to speak with Vaughan. “You've hit your head.” She said with a frown.“What?” Vaughan asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “I am not hurt at all.”“No, I mean you have knocked your head so hard, that you've lost any sense,” Lynnette said, her tone serious.Fenryn chimed in with a gentle, “sarcasm goes over his head. You need to be a little blunter than that.” He grinned a little, then continued to allow Arias to check his wounds over. The boy was no healer, but he at least knew the basics of healing herbs.Sighing heavily, Lynnette nodded. “What I am saying, is that you have lost your mind. Saying you want me to be in your army? Like a knight? You're joking with me, right?” She said, folding her arms as she considered Vaughan critically.The man in question, however, merely stared at