The smell of blood was heavy in the air and Raizel looked at the broken bodies in the camp, her face crumpled slightly before she dropped her head. Too late. Always too late. Her hands went to her hair and the movement caused Aki to flutter off her shoulder and land on the ground beside her, looking up curiously. A strangled yell through clenched teeth before she took a few deep breaths and went about the camp, taking what things she needed that hadn't been pillaged and stolen already.
There was a few moments where she considered burying the bodies. It would keep things from feasting off of their corpses, but if she buried them... They'd be dug up anyway and it would take far too long. Raizel decided to leave them. A warning to other travelers if the animals didn't get them first. The group of bandits she'd been following for a few days now had proven more elusive than she'd anticipated and--
The pressure in her chest forced her to move. Everything in her head yelled at her to put these people to peace somehow, if not to just move them from where they were slain. It would waste precious time though, "Aki, what should we do?" She questioned the raven quietly before he went about picking at flowers the answer left up to interpretation.
"Fine, but we need to move quickly." It wasn't as quickly as Raizel hoped it would be. She arranged the bodies in a line while Aki hopped around the camp site, playing with odds and ends. A flower went to each of their chests and Raizel stood still for a moment, her head bowed down offering them a better afterlife to any gods that refused to speak to her.
"If we pass another camp like this it's your fault, bird." Raizel threatened the raven when he fluttered back onto her shoulder, and again she was off, her backpack a little heavier than before.
There was no effort to hide her own tracks having little fear of being followed. Still, she moved on, deciding if no one was going to put these bandits in their place it would simply have to be her.
Kilarhas narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man in front of him. The man was talking about the last people he had killed. It hadn't been long ago, he said, just two days. The whole group of bandits had attacked a camp. Kilarhas had joined the bandit's just yesterday, and he was feeling murderous already. He had joined them because he had heard that they had attacked another camp, and he knew that they were evil. He had joined them under the alias 'Corak Dillifen' and they bought it. Well, it did help that he had used that name before while working undercover with bandits and assassins and the like. As Corak he had gotten himself quite a reputation, and all of it was a lie.
If the group of assassins he was 'working' with needed someone killed, someone who was good, Kilarhas would take the job and go to the person. He would tell them about the assassins and that he was working undercover. He would warn them to leave, for if Kilarhas didn't kill them now, another assassin would come later and kill them. So then the 'victim' would escape, and Kilarhas would return to the assassin victorious. Saying no one caught him and he had disposed of the body so no one would find it.
That way he built up a bloody story for Corak Dillifen, a story that was woven from his imagination.
Kilarhas felt like killing the man walking in front of him. He was saying how he had killed a man in his sleep, a defensless, unsuspecting, innocent man in his sleep.
Kilarhas was breathing heavily, the elf's eyes filled with rage, but he didn't do anything, he couldn't, not at this moment. He would kill these bandits in there sleep, they deserved no fair warning from him. There wasn't an ounce of innocence among them.
Kilarhas was waiting for just the right moment.
And then he would strike.
Above the bandits, the cry of a raven broke the dusky silence. The cloaked figure stood in the distance, just blending in with the shadows. The only thing giving it away was the red sash tied around it's middle. The cloak billowed out when a breeze made it's way through the trees and there was no attempt to hide.
Booted feet crunched rocks and broken branches, crushed leaves. The lookout stood up, surprised to see someone so far into the forest but before he could get out a strangled cry a sword was shoved through his middle. Quickly it was whipped out the side and a splatter of blood dripped down the tree. A quiet sigh and the figure moved on, stepping into the camp. The camp smelled like old blood, the scent of wrong was heavy and quickly the figure looked up, gazing at the raven for a moment before she took the hood off.
"I've finally found you!" She exclaimed, "You know, I've been tracking you." The tone of voice was as if she'd been asking them if they had tea on and if they would be so kind as to let her join them. "Your watch is sloppy," the sword flicked again and the fresh blood made an arch on the dirt, "if any of you survive... Well, I'd suggest you start up with a better one." The raven cried again and Raizel grinned widely before looking up, pleased that her little chase was over finally.
"As it is, I'm afraid now is when you pay for those innocents you've killed and the only payment you're able to give is in blood and tears." A lick of her lips and a tilt of her head, she raised her sword and rushed in. The movements were exact, no swing was wasted, no strike was useless. It was violent and messy and the chocking sob of one bandit trying to swallow her sword was the only thing that broke the silence between heavy breathing and movement. She had counted seven bandits, four lay dead which meant there were three left. Two of them she could see, glaring at her trying to decide if they should run away or try and kill her, but the third, where was the third?
Kilarhas stood in the shadows, watching as the woman attacked the bandits and quickly killed four of them. He was impressed with her skills, but not surprised.
As soon as she had emerged from the forest after killing the lookout, he had stepped back and concealed himself in the shadows.
Now he stood, arms crossed, leaning against a tree as he watched. He knew she would soon be looking for him, but he decided to let her dispose of the remaining two bandits to reveal himself.
He saw her glance around for him, but he was well hidden, his dark blue cloak was almost black, blending into the shadows perfectly.
The last two were deposed of quickly, Raizel gave a single exhale before she turned around again, looking into the shadows. The sun had given way to the moon and she stopped moving, the seventh bandit hadn't run come out yet and she turned around, never keeping her back to anywhere in the clearing for too long.
"Are you going to come out?" Was all she said, her voice raised just in case he'd actually run away. "You let your companions die like the vermin they are and you do nothing?" Partially she was a little disgusted, wasn't there honor among thieves? The raven that had been sitting in the trees above fluttered down and rest on her shoulder, curling it's self into her hood to rest beside her head. Raizel gave the bird a dirty look but left him.
"They are my companions, you are correct," Kilarhas said, stepping from the shadows and pulling back the hood of his cloak, letting his long silver hair fall over his shoulders. "But they are not my friends, and I am far from loyal to them. In fact, I was going to kill them this very night, that was before you came, of course."
Kilarhas walked closer to the woman, but stopped when he was still out of reach of her sword. He and no weapons out, not even his staff. It was currently on his belt in the form of a short wand. His long dagger was sheathed as well, though he would be ready to draw it at a moments notice.
"Since you killed those bandits I assume they were no friends of yours, but may I ask who you are exactly?
When her new friend pushed his hood back Raizel took in his features slowly, her eyes moving from defining points before looking at him the best she could in the darkness. It wouldn't do well to let him go only to see him again when he's elbows deep in someones torso. Raizel didn't sheath her sword, she did let the top drop to the ground, a weaker attempt at being passive.
"Who I am?" Raizel tilted her head for a moment as if giving it thought and decided to be honest, "My name is Raizel." Her hands swept out beside her and she gave a slight bow which could be mocking or honest, depending on the other persons view. The Raven protested the incline of her body and made some noises.
"Isn't it convenient that you, the last one, was going to kill them tonight?" She smiled and used the red sash tied around her hips to wipe the blood from her sword and put it away slowly, not taking her eyes off of him. "You don't smell like they do though and I'm not without reason. Who are you?"
Kilarhas returned the bow, but his was meant to be slightly mocking. He took another slow step towards Raizel, his boots making no noise on the forest floor.
He took her question as an accusation and at it he stopped and frowned. "You think that I hid from my 'comrades' and now am just lying to you that I would have killed them?" Kilarhas's voice grew cold. "I am many things, ma'am, sometimes even dishonest, but I am not a betrayer," he looked away, and his silver eyes were sparked with anger, but it was not at Raizel. "I have had too much experience with betrayers to become one. I may have pretended to work with the bandits, but I was never one of them, so while I was a 'double agent' you might say, I never betrayed them."
He turned his eyes back to Raizel. "I am telling the truth. I am a mercenary, but I only take jobs that are for good, and I never harm innocents. My name is Kilarhas Gindein, mercenary and former Elven prince of the kingdom Corriana."
Entertained amidst dead bodies was probably a little morbid, but there she was with a smirk on her face and her stance since relaxed. Entertained. "So you lied to them to become part of their group and then did nothing to help them when I came and slaughtered them all." She repeated the story before tapping one gloved finger against her lips as if processing the information mostly just entertained at the irony, her voice had gone low and she gave the man a sweeping glance again.
Finally they locked gazes and she watched him watch her, she tilted her head and locked the information away of his name and where he was from. "Corriana?" She repeated, tasting the words, "Never heard of it."
And then she was done, she began to poke around the camp for things that might be of use, "Take what you can carry and be on your way, you don't want to be here when the meat eaters come out." Another glance over her shoulder at the man and she smiled though it was hallow, "If you like you can join me when I make camp, it's always nice to have company and it's a waste of food if when I make too much."
"Yes, that's exactly what I did," Kilarhas said when she summarized what he had told her. He started to walk around the bodies, still looking at Raizel.
"Yes, Corriana, and you wouldn't have heard of it, not many who are not elves have. It is in the middle of the wilderness, and the Corrianian elves hardly ever venture far from their home.
When she told him he could take what he could carry he shook his head, frowning. "I do not steal from bodies," he nudged one of the bandits with his foot. "Not even bandit bodies." He steepled his fingers and put them to his chin. "Though I have no qualms of stealing from them when they are alive."
He twisted his fingers and a pouch of coins appeared in his hand. He tossed it in his hand as he walked, and smiled when she invited him to stay with her for the night. "I'll join you, it would be my pleasure." He crinkled his nose. "I've been staying with bandits for too long anyway, even though it wasn't that long."
This was going to be grand fun, she decided. Raizel watched him nudge a bandit, tilting her head confused. "It's not stealing," She stated, "Stealing would imply that it's theirs and they're obviously not alive anymore which means they can't own anything." And she went about going through their packs, collecting what food and water they had left over. With her hood still drawn up and the raven snoozing beside her head she had to turn farther than normal to watch the man.
Slightly confusion when the pouch appeared in his hands and she simply shrugged her shoulders before giving a nod at his acceptance of her offer. "Good. We'll go upwind a bit," she wrinkled her nose too, "I don't want to smell them."
With her backpack now stocked with water and what food they had left over Raizel began the trek towards a new clearing. Picking up branches and hunks of fallen dried wood as she walked, Luckily for the pair the days had been nice to them and nothing was soaked through, it would have been a miserable night otherwise. Finally a nice patch between trees was found and she dropped her backpack and pulled her hood down. The moon was bright and she dropped the wood before rolling her shoulders.
"So, Why 'former'." She inquired while she went about unpacking her backpack, "How do you be a 'former' Prince. Did you get fired?"
Kilarhas followed Raizel to the clearing, also picking up dead branches and wood from the ground. When they got to the clearing he dropped his wood on top of hers and then crouched down.
"Fired?" Kilarhas laughed at her question. "Princes don't really get fired. No," he shook his head, taking some of the wood pieces and starting to stack them to make a fire. "No, I got banished. There was a war, and my father, the king, was all for surrendering," Kilarhas spat bitterly. "He wanted to give our people and our land to the enemy. I knew if he did that our people would lead terrible lives under the rule of evil. So I snuck, with some followers, into where our enemy lived, I assassinated him. His followers then attacked our castle. We won the war, with few losses, but it was better than if we would have surrendered. My father was going to banish me and the elves who helped me assassinate our enemy for being traitors and going against his orders, even though it helped us win the war. But then my followers betrayed me. They told my father that I had forced them to come with me, I threatened them. So my father let them stay and he banished me."
Kilarhas glared at the wood in his hands for a moment, but then he looked up and smiled. "But that was nearly six years ago. I've been wandering ever since." He pulled some dead grass from the ground and put it in the pile of wood. Then he put his fingers right above the dry grass and snapped his fingers, a small flame lit on the tips of his fingers and he lowered it to the grass. It lit and he drew his hand back, snuffing out the fire in his hand.
"So," he said, looking to Raizel. "That's my story, what's yours?"
A piece of dried meat went into her mouth and she chewed on it, giving Kilarhas her attention while she ate. Honestly the most interesting thing was his use of magic to light the fire. Still, his story rubbed her the wrong way and she shifted. Betrayal was always an interesting subject and Raizel finished her jerky and rubbed her gloves against her pants while she nodded and pursed her lips.
What could you say to that? "That sucks," yeah. That was good. Nice and to the point.
Raizel removed her gloves and reached out to the fire, rubbing her fingers together in a lackluster effort to give them warmth. She simply smiled at Kilarhas and shrugged, "I don't have a story," Pushing a hand through her hair and leaning back against a tree she looked at him, "I'm sure it's interesting though, if I ever find it out. Though I hope it doesn't have the awful twist that yours does." Frowning for a moment, "I really am sorry that you were forced to leave your home."
"Are you a vegetarian? I have more dried meat if you aren't. Some of you elves are super picky when it comes to eating animals." Raizel ignored the fact that her own ears ended in a delicate point.
Kilarhas's eyes widened when she said she had no story. "You remember nothing?" He narrowed his eyes, thinking. "That's very interesting. And unfortunate, I'm sorry."
Kilarhas sat down and pulled his wand from his belt, playing with it in his fingers. He liked it as a wand, it was sometimes more practical than a long staff. As a want it looked like a smooth, thin, piece of wood about seven inches long. It was dark oak and the end was twisted, with a small blue gem set into it. All in all, it was a mini version of the staff. He turned it in his fingers as he listened to Raizel. He laughed when she asked about the meat. "I have no limits about eating meat," he said. "Those elves who claim to be closer to the earth by not eating meat puts them farther from nature. In my opinion, it's just part of the cycle of life, nothing could be closer to the earth. By one animal being killed and eaten, it gives life to another." He narrowed his eyes. "But what I do not like are those who hunt when they do not need the animal, or worse they do not eat or use it altogether. Rich lords and ladies riding out after dogs chasing after an animal for sport, when their larders are stuffed full of meat and other foodstuffs. That it what I detest."
He frowned, thinking back to her saying she had no story. "What is the earliest thing you remember?" he asked, then he quickly nodded his head to her. "Never mind, it's none of my business."
He turned back to the fire, but looked at her out of the corner of his eye, half smiling at her, still turning the wand in his fingers. It was a thing of habit, he hardly knew he was doing it anymore.
There was a soft pull at her lips when he apologized. "I'm sure it's for the best," People didn't just forget happy things, did they? Raizel gave another shrug and offered him her pouch of jerky while he ranted about poachers. Or people who hunted for sport. She watched him play with the piece of wood, which was a pretty fancy looking piece of wood.
"So, you don't like poaching." She commented idly, giving a nod. This fellow had a lot of opinions about things. Raizel pushed her hands through her hair, the streak of white bright amidts her black clothing and black hair, she pulled her knees up to her chest and pressed her elbows to her knees. Propping her head up with her hands she gave a soft smile to Kilarhas.
"Why? Do you want to help me?" Her voice was mirthful, not expectant and obviously she was teasing. "I remember waking up." Raizel's blue eyes turned to the fire, stared at it as if she was looking for things that weren't going to be there. "My hair was longer and blonde and I had fresh wounds on my back." Then she shrugged, "Imagine my surprise when it all grew out black. Did that sate your curiosity?"
"I didn't say I didn't like poachers, just those who hunt when they don't need to." Kilarhas listen as she told him about her memories waking up. As he listened he looked at his wand in his hands and twirled it in his fingers.
When she had finished Kilarhas nodded.
"The part about your hair is strange," he said, thinking. "But I still wonder whatever could have caused you to loose your memory. Was it something simple? As in you were attacked and got concussed in the fight? Or is something more sinister at work here?" He smiled softly at her and looked up into his face.
She asked if he wanted to help her. He could tell she didn't really mean it, but he tilted his head to the side.
"I actually would like to help you," he said. "If I can, and if you want me too, and if you even want your memories back. I do not think the matter of your memory loss is a simple one."
There was a shrug and Raizel ran another hand through her hair and smirked, "I think it was changed maybe magic? Maybe a potion. The rest of me has black hair." Then she frowned, curled up a little tighter and simply stared at the fire. Her fingers began to shake and she hugged her knees, which was always the reaction she got when she tried to remember. When she tried to think of why she couldn't...
Blowing out a shaking breath she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself down.
Everything inside of Raizel revolted against remember. "Maybe it's best I don't know." She rolled her shoulders, winced briefly and then looked at the bag of jerky, "What, you're not hungry?"
Kilarhas frowned as she started to shake, but when she asked if he wasn't hungry he smiled and took a piece of jerky from the bag. "Not at all!" he said, biting into it and tearing off a strip. "It's just that I was so wrapped up in your story I forgot."
As he ate the jerky he looked into the fire, thinking, and still playing with the wand.
There was a moment where she frowned and she tilted her head, "You're oddly cheerful." Raizel's hands moved down to pick at the ground, moving pebbles and picking at grass and leaves. "Why are you doing that," She nodded towards his wand. The thought of 'who used a wand' traveled through her head but obviously it was this guy.
"Is that thing important?" Her head tilted curiously, oddly like a bird. The raven still snoozed on her shoulder, his head tucked under her hair against the back of her neck and his butt hanging out by her cheek.
"What? Oh, the wand," he said when she asked why he was tirligh his wand. "It's just something I do, it's natural, I hardly even know I'm doing it anymore." He listened when she asked if it was important. "I should like to think so," he said when she was finished. "It's my wand, I'm a mage and it helps me channel my magic. I do not need it to perform magic, but it helps with the more difficult spells and makes the simpler ones more powerful." He laid it next to himself. "It also does this, which I think is really cool."
Then the wand suddenly turned into a staff. Six feet long, it looked almost exactly the same as the wand but much larger. The blue gem set into the twisted wood at the top flowed softly, pulsating slowly in the dim light.
Raizel watched him curiously. "I see." She didn't really, not being a mage meant there were some things she just didn't understand. Magic and wands being one of them. His trick made her give him a good natured applause, a small smile on her face. The gem in the wand made her press her palm to her chest, she'd always forgotten about the thing under her skin but she kept quiet and simply watched him.
"I don't have any magic." She supplied this information in an attempt to keep the conversation going, "I'm simply good with a sword. A pity though, magic looks useful." She nodded towards the fire, "Thank you, by the way. That was much faster than lighting one manually."
"No problem," Kilarhas said when she thanked him. "And magic is useful, though sometimes it's a bit of a handful. I travel a lot, and in some placed mages aren't so welcome. I was chased out of Connlaoth not long ago. They would have killed me, I'm sure, if Keyne hadn't been there to save me. Keyne is a dragon, she's somewhat like a familiar, if you know what that is, but rather than she being my companion, we are each others. We were born at exactly the same moment. Keyne is a Sirrian Dragon. We will both live to be around a one hundred if to we live to old age. We are magically bound together, and if we do live to old age we will die at the same time. But if one of us were to die from a illness or wound, the other would live on to the age that we would have lived to if we had been able to live to old age. It is the same for both of us. Yes, it's kind of confusing, I need to work on how I phrase it. And I bet you're wondering why she's not here now, if we are bound. She likes to travel on her own, but we are connected. If I need her, I can mentally call her and she will be able to know where I am and come, the same if she calls for me. Though I will undoubtedly take more time in getting there, after all, I can't run as fast as she can fly!"
Kilarhas smiled, thinking back to when she said she had no magic. "One can always learn magic. It just might take a while. Well, it does most of the time, but there a few very gifted beings who can learn magic extremely fast, me not among them!"
The look on Raizel's face was cool interest.
"I don't know what a Sirrian Dragon is but it sounds very short lived if she's only going to live to be a hundred." Again she tilted her head and looked at him examining his features as best she could from across the fire, "Really? A hundred is old age? For a dragon and an elf?" Raizel laughed, entertained more than she probably should be, the raven on her shoulder gave a grumpy noise and nipped at her ear to which she went quiet and scratched his back, muttering a quiet sorry.
The smile didn't leave her face and she just gave him a look, one eyebrow risen up and her head turned down slightly when he stated anyone could do magic. "I appreciate the vote of confidence though, Kilarhas."
Kilarhas smiled. "Thank you, and yes, for dragons and elves, one hundred is pretty short. We are both species of our kinds that have that lifespan. Some elves scorn me for it, but I think that a shorter life causes one to enjoy it more. Knowing that you d not have a lot of time causes you to do better things with it. At least in some cases."
Kilarhas was thinking of the evils in the world, and not all were long lived demons. Humans, elves, and other beings who were doing the wrong thing. Some lust made a mistake, others born evil, and yet other not evil at all, just forced to do the wrong thing.
Kilarhas frowned, thinking. "One hundred years? Is that about how long a human lives? Or is it more like eighty?"
There was a slow nod, it wasn't like she could make any comments about it. She didn't know how old she was. Didn't know how old she could live to be. Sure there was a slight point to her ears and she knew something had been removed from her back but other than that? No idea. There were no majorly defining features she carried.
"I'm not sure." Raizel confessed, honestly, "I suppose a very healthy human might live for a hundred years." She tilted her head, gave him a once over, "How old are you? You seem quite young."
"I'm twenty-four," Kilarhas said. "You? Oh, nevermind, you probably don't remember," he smiled somewhat sympathetically at her. "I would guess you're maybe, hmm, twenty-eight. But that's just a guess from how you look. From what we know you could be a million year-old sage."
Kilarhas narrowed his eyes, now deep in thought. "I could probably take a sample of your blood or something and magically scan it, then I could figure out your age within probably ten years, and your race. . ."
He snapped out of his thought train and shook his head. "Sorry, that was kind of weird. Okay, stop me if I'm intruding on you, but I see your ears are pointed, do you know if you're a half-elf? Or human, or something different?"
Kilarhas picked up his staff and shrunk it back down to wand size. He put it into his pocket and rested his chin in his hand, leaning his elbow in his knee.
Raizel smiled, a gentle look coming over her face before she looked back at the fire. "I don't know." She said and mirrored the way he was sitting, her head in her hand and the grumpy sleepy Raven's tail feathers against the side of her face. "Do elves have wings?"
All the travelling she'd done hadn't found her any. Maybe she was alone. Completely. Raizel's features turned dark and her smile slowly faded. It wasn't wrong of her to be content alone, was it? "You're not intruding. You saw me slaughter six people." Raizel made eye contact for a moment before looking away, "You're closer to me than anyone else at the moment."
"Elves don't have wings," Kilarhas said. "Well, at least from what I know they don't, there could be some with wings, but I have yet to come across one or hear of one in my travels, and my travels have been pretty extensive."
When she said he was as close to her than anyone else at the moment he smiled softly and bowed his head. He felt sorry for her, but then reminded himself that perhaps she had been mind-wiped for a good reason. What if something terrible had happened to her and the only way to preserve her sanity had been to clear her mind of the memories? Kilarhas didn't know. He looked back up at her and cocked his head to the side.
"If you wouldn't mind, I could magically scan you to find out your age and species," Kilarhas said. "But that still might be pretty weird."
"If they don't have wings then I'm not an elf." But she offered no more information. She clearly had no wings. There was a soft chuckle and she moved to sit with her legs tucked under her. Then she opened her arms and have a nod of her head.
"Be my guest, good sir."
Raizel wasn't expecting anything but this should prove to be interesting.
Kilarhas raised his eyebrows when she said she couldn't be an elf. She clearly had no wings, but that didn't mean much.
Though he would find out soon enough, he found, as she agreed to let him scan her.
"Okay," he said, and he got to a crouching position, moving towards her and stopping right in front of her a foot away.
He took out his wand and laid it on the ground between them. Then he lifted his arms and pit the tips of his fingers on Raizel's temples. Then he closed his eyes and started to chant.
"Corporis ergo aperui ad spectare vestra corporis intro amplius lucis atque spectare intra."
He repeated this mantra several times, and on the third time the end of wand started to glow brightly. Then he abruptly stopped chanting and withdrew his hands. The wand stopped glowing and Kilarhas sat back, a puzzled look on his face and his eyes wide.
"First off, I know your age, twenty-seven," he raised his eyebrows, his eyes still wide, "and that you have a very powerful magical artifact in your chest, which is pretty strange to me. I also found that you are an elf, a kind of elf I've never heard of before, a kind of elf that has wings." He cocked his head at her. "You don't have wings, do you? Or are they just magically hidden?"
The contact with her temples was a little odd, but she stayed quiet and watched him do his thing. It was an odd thing to be sure but she stayed quiet and Kilarhas do his work. Raizel didn't expect any other expression from him and the look of confusion made her have a smug grin on her face.
"Twenty-seven?" That was it? Raizel made a face, she sure didn't feel twenty-seven, not that she knew what other ages felt like. Self consciously she shifted her weight and rolled her shoulders, casting a brief look over her shoulder at the tree. There were no wings there.
"I don't have wings," She stated, "You know how, if someone has a limb amputated they can still feel it there?" It was a rhetorical question, she wasn't expecting an answer because she continued talking, "Also, the scars." Her voice went quiet then and she gave a shudder, not wanting to remember that pain. By the time she knew herself everything was mostly healed. Raizel didn't want to remember the pain of having wings torn from her back.
"So you think you used to have wings?" Kilarhas asked. "And they were, well, removed?"
He wondered if that had been the traumatizing experience that had led to her memory being cleared. Or perhaps not, for all Kilarhas knew, she could have fallen, hit her head, and forgotten her past.
But he doubted it.
Something strange had happened, he thought, something out of the ordinary.
"Oh, yes, I also know kind of how long you'll live. Well, not really, it's very vague, but a couple thousand?" Kilarhas shrugged. "I'm assuming you know about the thing in your chest," Kilarhas continued. "But do you know anything about it? Even the smallest inkling of memory? Or have you researched about it at all?"
Raizel felt her eyebrow twitch but she kept the amused smile on her face, this man was just being nice and it would do no good for her to be nasty to him for trying to help. "Yes, they were removed." The mass of scars on her back and the muscle spasms were enough to lead her to believe so. The back of someone who used to have extra limbs. She tried to imagine herself with big wings, but nothing came to mind. She couldn't picture anyone.
"Research!" There was a chuckle and it was quickly followed by an angry caw from the raven. "You think I can just walk into places and go 'i have this thing in my chest, where might i find it in your books'?" She rubbed her hands against her thighs and shook her head, "You're precious." She tucked some hair behind her ear and tilted her head.
"Let's talk about you, Kilarhas, The night is young, your fire is bright." Raizel leaned back against the tree, moving her legs out from under her and crossing them out at the ankle while she leaned back, "Why haven't you gone and gotten your kingdom back. Your father sounds like a guilable fool, there's probably already been a coup d'état and you don't even know it." She nodded at him, "Probably one of those people that lied to your dad is the new king. Wouldn't that bust your chops."
"Well, that's what I would've done," Kilarhas said when she said about researching the artifact on her chest.
When she asked about his kingdom he looked down and shook his head. "The truth is, I really don't want to go back. I like my life, how it is now, traveling, adventuring." Kilarhas frowned. "But I do feel guilty. Maybe you're right, and the kingdom is under another's rule, the rule of an ruler even worse than my father, but I don't really want to find out, because I know that if I do hear that something bad has happened, I'll want to go back and fix it. I am ashamed of myself. I'd rather live a life of blissful ignorance and do nothing for my people that to know their troubles and help them." Kilarhas put his head in his hands. "I am indeed a coward."
Kilarhas had never talked about this to anyone before, and now as he talked he realized even more the damage he could be causing his people, what troubles they could be going through while he ran around Le'raana, doing as he pleased.
Well that didn't work out. Raizel just stared at him, sort of amazed he just up and accepted that it was a possibility and he was selfish after all.
"I was just trying to be super nosy and make you uncomfortable." Her hands went out and she shook them slightly, "But you see." She held out one hand as if she was weighing something, "you can go on and be free and jolly and accept that maybe things are good." Then she held out the other, "You can go on and learn that things are bad and hate yourself forever for leaving."
Then she pressed her palms together, "And then we're in the same boat."
Raizel crossed her arms over her chest and just stared ahead, giving Kilarhas a once over. "I don't remember my past or who I am. Maybe it was awful - good that I've forgotten, I don't want to know, I am content. If it's good, well, tough shit for me, I don't remember." Raizel pressed a hand through her hair, "Maybe someday someone will recognize me." A shrug and she looked back at him, "As it is, I don't care. If I was important, I'll hear about some missing person and go 'oh hey, that's me. Which is probably why I usually avoid towns and cities." She wrinkled her nose.
"Do you avoid news of your home? So that you don't have to know, one way or the other?"
Kilarhas sat silent for a moment after her question, thinking. Then he looked up, frowning. "I don't exactly avoid it, but I don't go actively searching. I want to know what's happening in the kingdom, I want to hear news, but at the same time I dread it. The dread overpowers the want, though, and I haven' head any news since I left."
Kilarhas narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. This woman had asked some questions that really made him think about what he was going to do with himself. Was he going to continue to ignore his people? He knew he couldn't do that forever, but when would he finally go to see what had become of them? As he thought,sitting there and staring into the flames, he realized he couldn't wait much longer.
He mentally shook himself and looked up. "I understand how you might not want to remember, but don't you at least want to find out what happened to make you forget? I think I would," Kilarhas smiled a bit, "but I've never been in your situation before! Or maybe I have and have forgotten it!"
Raizel shook her head slowly.
"No. I don't."
Maybe it was selfish of her. Maybe there were people she'd forgotten about, ones that were waiting for her. She rubbed at her arms and let her head for a moment. No. As much as Raizel wished she could care for these supposed people, there was nothing. Maybe not being selifsh got her into this mess in the first place.
"You should get some sleep, Kilarhas." Raizel suggested softly, "it was a nice talk. You're a good person." Looking up at the trees she sighed softly, "I'll keep watch, so don't worry."
Kilarhas smiled at her. "Good idea."
He pulled his bedroll from his pack and rolled it out, lying down on it on his side and looking into the woods. His mind was filled with turmoil as he tried to sleep, thinking about his kingdom, his people, his father, and of Raizel's memory loss.
His thoughts turned to dreams as he drifted into sleep, and his dreams were a raging battle in his head as he slept.
When he woke up, Raizel would be gone.
The light was brightening the sky before she left. Giving the man a fond small smile. She picked up a discarded feather that Aki had dropped and placed it where she was seated. As silently as she followed him and his bandits, she was gone. She'd left behind some food and a container of water but she was gone.
Maybe if Kilarhas was intent on finding her again he would. She made no effort to cover her trail. Still, she moved on. Raizel couldn't afford to make friends and while Kilarhas was a friendly man, she didn't want anyone to depend on her, emotionally, physically. In any way. It would only lead to trouble.
Kilarhas took it as a challenge, even though he didn't know if she had meant it as one.
When he woke and saw the feather he smiled. He packed up his things, doused the fire, and took up her trail. He understood her leaving, she was troubled, at least that's how he saw it. She had made no effort to cover he trail, and as an elf and very good tracker, Kilarhas had no trouble following her.
He made great time, and after nearly four hours of walking he saw her.
He was about to call out when a shadow passed over him and he heard the whoosh of great wings.
The dragon landed right in front of Raizel, blowing ice from its maw on the ground in front of Raizel, far enough away to not hurt the woman but close enough to be threatening.
Kilarhas sighed and ran forward.
What the...
Raizel stared up and frowned deeply. Aki took flight off of her shoulder and moved to high in the trees, crying out loudly at the suddenly interuption of their walk. She didn't take out her sword, instead she just stared at it with a less than pleased look on her face.
"Kilarhas," Raizel said evenly, looking over her shoulder at him as he ran forward. Who else would expect, "Is this your dragon?" Her arms crossed over her chest and she tilted her head. Not surprised at the sight of the dragon but rather offended by all the ice.
Kilarhas grimaced. "She is," he slowed to a walk as he neared the woman. "Sorry about her, she likes to tease people every once in a while." Kilarhas glared at the dragon. "But, I assure you, when she's not acting like she was born yesterday she's actually a pretty smart and sometimes serene dragon. It snaps on and off."
I hope I didn't offend you. The dragon, Keyne, sent the message mentally to Raizel, but as she sent it her eyes widened. There is something different about you, what is it?
"She's a winged elf with a powerful thing in her chest," Kilarhas said. "But her wings were removed and her memory erased." He looked to Raizel and frowned. "I hope you don't care that I told her, but everything I know, she can know."
The appearance of the dragon made her stare and frown. This situation was so familiar. A being working with a dragon. There was a country that did that. Raizel licked her lips and gently gnawed on the inside of her cheek. Why was this so familiar. Her heart began to race and she just stared at the two for a moment. Aki simply sat in the trees, looking down upon the group feeling rather irritated at being surprised.
"I don't care who you tell," Raizels voice was curt and she looked between the two, "There's a country that does this." She nodded between the two, "Dragon riders." Why couldn't she remember the name? It seemed like such an important name. A whole country name she couldn't remember.
"What's it called."
Kilarhas frowned as Raizel seemed to be thinking about something. At her question he cocked his head to the side. "Do you mean Adela?" he asked.
Why wouldn't Raizel know that, or had she forgotten that as well as her other memories? Was he starting to remember a little? Or was this just some strange flash of memory that would never come again?
Kilarhas didn't know, and he wasn't going to ask the young woman, as she had made it plain to him that she was uninteresting about finding more about her past, and that was her decision, and the elf wasn't going to press it.
Adela?
That named seemed important. Raizel winced and rolled her shoulders, "Yes. I believe that's it." She looked towards the great beast and put her hands on her hips, looking over her shoulder at Kilarhas for a moment before she faced the dragon. "So.. Is there... two of you or... are you one being with two bodies?"
"Oh, there's two of us alright," Kilarhas said, walking up to stand next to Keyne and putting his hand on her shoulder. "It's just that our souls are so intertwined we can nearly read each others thoughts when we are near each other, and I don't mean the mental messages Keyne sends. Anyone can receive those, but as in I know what she's thinking and what she's going to do next, and she knows the same of me."
We can also call to each other from long distances, Keyne added, over the whole of Le'raana if need be.
Raize stared for a moment, "I'm sure that's very useful." Raizel took a step closer, removing her glove from her hand. They were a lady's hands, despite the sword play, slim fingers, nice looking nails. She looked up at Keyne, "Aki and I do not share that connection." She looked up at the tree, amused at the Raven that was going to have nothing to do with the dragon.
"I feed him and he likes the company I guess." Her hand still out, palm out, "May I touch you, Keyne?"
The dragon raised her eyebrow ridges, her silver eyes wide, but she lowered her head so it was level with Raizel's face.
'Why not?' the dragon sent. 'But why?'
As Keyne 'spoke' to Raizel, Kilarhas looked at the bird, Aki. To him, it looked slightly evil, but only in a grumpy way, as if unwilling to do anything that wasn't it's idea.
Aki turned his beady little bird eyes to Kilarhas and cawed at him, fluffing his feathers but not moving from his perch. Screw the giant scaly bird, he was fine up here.
Raizel held out her hand and pressed it against the dragons body. Her eyes closed and she grew sad. Like something welled up in her chest and soon enough her face was wet with tears that she quickly wiped away. Giving Keyne a gentle pat she stepped away and took a breath. "It's familar." She said softly, looking at the dragon and then back at Kilarhas offering him a kind smile, though strained. "She seems so familiar to me, like... I'm supposed to know but..." Raizel shrugged and turned away, giving Kilarhas a pat on the shoulder, "Thank you for trying to help me, though."
Keyne cocked her head to the side, her eyes soft as she saw Raizel's tears.
Familiar? she sent the message so only Kilarhas could receive it.
I don't know, he sent back. He could only send messages to her, because of their connection, and he would have to use magic for any other telepathic communication.
"I know what you said before, about not wanting to remember," Kilarhas said to Raizel. "But I'm going to tell you my opinion, and you don't have to agree, just listen. If you are supposed to know, supposed to remember, like you just said maybe you are supposed to, then I think you should try and remember. Especially if it is going to torment you the rest of your life, and by my magical scan, the rest of your life will be very long."
Keyne grunted softly and reached out her neck to gently nudge Raizel's back.
Raizel pressed her hands to her chest, frowning. "I have nothing." Aki cawed from his treebranches and she gave a smile and rolled her eyes, "The feel of the dragon is familiar. Like I know how it should feel." She shrugged and let her hands drop to her sides.
"Maybe someday, I'll know." She gave a shrug, "I'm not going to devote what life I have now to remembering what life I had before." It made sense to her, what use was remembering something she'd forgotten when it was such a trouble to remember anyway. It made no sense and only lead her to being frustrated. "I tried remembering. It just made me angry. Now, I go where I feel like I need to be, and I don't need to be here anymore."
Raizel gave a bow fit for a king to Kilarhas and she offered him a smile and a nod of her head. "Thank you, though."
Kilarhas nodded. "Maybe it will come to you, in time. I've heard of memory losses and over the years the memories slowly came back until they were all intact." The elf shrugged. "But I don't know."
He smiled when Raizel bowed to him, and he returned the gesture with a bow of his own. "Your welcome, though I bet I just brought back feelings you may not have wanted to have."
"I'm sure they will," Raizel commented idly, giving the dragon another sidelong look. Adela was the place with the dragons. Maybe she should go there? The idea filled her with dread and she looked up at the sky before taking a deep breath. "You didn't bring anything back." Slowly she pulled her glove back on, made sure her sword was at her side and her pack was secure on her shoulder.
"Unless you've a plan to infiltrate more bandit groups for me to sneak in and dispose of before you can, I suppose this is goodbye." Raizel didn't travel with companions except for Aki and she gave Kilarhas a lingering look and a soft smile.
Kilarhas nodded to the woman and smiled.
"Nope, no more bandits, for the time being, at least." Kilarhas bowed again. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Raizel. I hope that your life goes down a path that you will enjoy."
Kilarhas climbed onto Keyne's back and patted the dragon, who nodded to Raizel and sent her a mental message, saying it, too, had been a pleasure to meet the woman.
"Farewell," Kilarhas said as the dragon turned around and took of. Kilarhas waved back to Raizel and Aki until they shrunk out of sight as the elf and dragon flew away over the trees.
The End