NaNoWriMo 13.5

This is the one that puts me over 50,000 words. Wooo!

His eyes closed briefly, as the spirits around him deemed it time to send up a clamor. That was his signal to go. He cradled her once more and made for the nearest building, hoping nothing was inside it, praying that they would get in, and thinking that he would just have to keep moving if he was going to have any hope of keeping them from not being eaten. Death was one thing, that was another. There were far fewer spirits out here than there had been before, though whether that was because there simply were not that many killed out here or some other obscure reson, he could not tell. THere was nothing to really hide them, the streets were fairly empty, the cobblestones crackked and the houses falling in. They were also of stonework. had they collaborated with the dwarves on this? How long ago? Perhaps they had something to do with the disappearances of the people here. There seemed like few other choices. Some of the shades had the marks of creatures, yes, but not all. Some seemed perfectly hale and whole, and those seemed to number more than the injured! It seemed very odd that so many, of all ages (he could see some that were no more than children, but the range of ghosts was all over the place) that were struck down when they should have been living peacefully.

The dwarves were not so ingenious as to figure out some way to pull that off. They marked their territory in war and conquest. They were not being that would leave a place like this to time, especially if there was so much of their work in it, and they had most certainly made a good amount of this place. The building of hte Other Place was the Sylphs, but Sylphs did not deal in stonework. They did not care for the deadness of it, usually, which made this place doubly odd. His footsteps made a pattering sound that echoed off the empty buldings- they had to be empty for no sane being would live here among such creatures.

Kirn crept close to the walls, where the houses connected with a few alleys. It was the alleys he had to beware, where something could leap out at a moment's notice, where they could get at the pair with little to no resistance. Kirn dreaded this, but the spirits from the houses gathered outside, following, making noise, though it was lessened somehow, in the darkness of the night, than it had been in the hallways of stone. Maybe it was the open air, because it seemed so oppressive. There were no stars in this place, just the light of the moon, and that seemed to be very little comfort to him at the moment. It was strange enough, since he didn't know what else was out here, and the similarities were striking enough to those of his own country that he was thrown off-balance when something was different. From the way the streets were laid out, to the dead things that inhabited it, even to the vaguely familiar shapes of the houses, it was overwhelming, and he didn't like the feeling. He had to steel his nerves, or they would be in far more trouble than they were already in.

A small thought went to the Prince and the other soldiers, hoping that they were all right, that they had passed through the forest safely. The Greenies were unlikely to attack them because there number was so large and well armed. That was a small comfort, though, because it still meant he and Nia were in danger.

He paused at the edges of the alleys, listening as best as he could for things. Spirits impeded his senses, though, going down the alleys to make noise, to draw whatever they could to them. He wanted to challenge them, but how could one do that to the dead? I was impossible unless he was turned to spirit himself, but he was blessed by the Gods- they would take his soul to the Next World, even if they would not take these sorry creatures. He couldn't help but hope the Gods would allow him to get some small revenge on them, though, for doing this before he was taken away.

He couldn't deny that there had once been dreams of an entourage welcoming him in the streets of the capital, welcoming as a war hero. This... was not quite the same. This was so close and yet so far off the mark that it was astonishing. He had to keep his cool, though. The spirits seemed to be fixed to certain places, so when he moved to another area, some were left behind, even though new ones joined. A few times he ducked into buildings because whatever was roaming the skies- and there seemed to be several, by his count- seemed to hear the clamor and came to investigate what was happening. It was a close call, since as they hid in the stairwell in the back, one draconian creature deemed fit to stick it's snout into the windows of the upper floors, nearly breaking the house, and indeed cracking the walls, and into the doors of the bottom floor. It seemed to find nothing of particular interest, and so decided to ignore the spirits. The thing growled, then howled fiercely, making Kirn's ears ring once more.

Nia didn't stir, however, and that worried him more than the creature. Her fever was running hot and true by now, and that made his heart beat with urgency.

Just a few streets over, he could hear a fight errupt between two creatures that inhabited this place. It was odd, knowing that they were so close, and other creatures were soon attracted by the blood that was spilling. It was a small blessing- they could hardly notice another bleeding creature over all that, could they? The houses spaced out, creating more danger as they neared The Edge. It seemed that the world was made like a bubble- the land just ran into the sky, with an abrupt distinction. It would be dangerous to touch it, he dind't know what would happen if they fell into the sky in a place such as this. There was no one to save them, and it would most certainly kill them. Kirn was certain that even if they found a hole in it to leave from, it was going to be tricky to leave- the spirits seemed to understand what was happening.

They seemed to have some sort of way to get messages from one place to another, probbaly by word of mouth but this moved with supernatural speed through them. All the spirits that could get to the edge of the land crowded against the sky, making it difficult for his to see, and making it easier to trip over something and fall. With Nia in his arms, he wasn't sure that she could take a hard fall. And with the noise... Even if the one creature had dismissed it, others might not. The only thing to do was to walk, though. Those they had passed by quieted down, while those that were ahead started making noise, giving the creatures something to track by. Kirn was right- there were others that would be intrigued by what was going on, fresh blood or not.

He stepped up his pace, not close enough to the sky to fall into it, watching his step so that he wouldn't trip. He could feel himself tiring from the events of the day. He had hardly rested, and there was not going to be any more for a while, he suspected. He glanced down at Nia's peaceful face, almost surprisingly calm since she was obviously sick and ill. A thin trickle of blood was leaking from the corner of her mouth, indicating how badly damaged she was internally. A silent prayer went of to the God of healing, that he never really called on before. This was the time for a prayer to be answered, if ever there was one.

Distraught over the creatures coming towards them and Nia's deathly state, he nearly missed the strange gap that seemed to be in the sky. His eyes had passed over it briefly, it was almost as dark as the sky itself, but with a strange tinge to it that marked it as something that wasn't quite normal. His heart nearly skipped a beat, hoping against hope... His hand reached out into it, a space barely big enough for them to squeeze through. He felt a rock wall meet his fingers. It was an exit! He slid through, hearing the cries of the creatures almost upon them. Though the tunnel was as dark as the halls in the palace of the Sylphs, his eyes were adjusted enough that this gave him no problems. His strides were stronger as the tunnel angeld up towards the surface, feeling hope bloom in his chest.

NaNoWriMo 13

It lunged faster than he had aexpected, it moved with a grace born of shadows and the hunger it felt waiting fro prey. Kirn imaginied it simply didn't get a whoile lot of meals down here- how many creatures fell into this place? After all, the greenies guarded it. They took care of most if the tresspeassers that would make it here. And they were ferocous hunters, as he and Nia could attest to. Regardless, they simply were not the prey that the creature was looking for- they were the prey that it wanted. They were the ones that were like the ones it had hunted before in the depths of this place. The ghosts bore strange wounde, that looked as if they could have come from the thing's claws, that looked as if they had been slashed to pieces. Some of the spirits had obviously been chewed on and devoured partially. He shuddered, as he hadn't thought that they could show the signs of their death. In Elven lore, their own spirits rose in peace once they had died, whole and hale as they had never been in life, or if they had, then even better than that. These creatures, rotted from the inside of ther souls, were obviously grated no such blessing by the Gods.

Then again, if they had been blessed, they would not be here like this. Trapped, to hassle and harry innocents like he and Nia. Kirn lowered himself, thinking to get underneath the claws that went for his face. It woud have been a blow that knocked his head clean from his shoulder if he did not move fast enough. He almost didn't. The creature was moving out of hunger and rage at it's space being intruded. He was lucky to doge in time like he did. The sword swung upward at the being's chest, thinking to slice it open, perhaps get at it's heart, but... the metal clanged against some sort of shell that it had there. He stumbled to the side to avoid another blow that was fast coming towards him. A shell! It was no wonder that the others that died here had been unable to kill it. If it had been here for that long, though. His imagination had wandered and made this the creature that had torn apart the actual sylphs that had once inhabited this place, but it didn't seem old enough, it's fight not deadly enough if he was able to get beneath its guard. A youngling of its sort, then.

He nearly shuddered at the thought that there could be another older one, or even more than this one. He had no desire to meet them, that was for certain! Kirn's hands gripped the sword tighter as he raised it once more. An inderbelly that was protected... then he needed to strick from above! His feet took him backwards, and his left foot splashed ankle-deep into the water that stood in a still pond behind them. Something nipped through his boot to his ankle, drirign him forward into the strange, mutated dog-like thing that was eyeing both him and Nia. Nia! She was defenseless, staring wide0eyed at the beat staying as still as possible. It wouldn't be enough, in this polace. After all, it was so dark. Kirn didn't doubt that it either had eyes to see in it, or had a sense of smell that was enough to eke them out, It was a dangerous situation all around.

Ankle, bleeding, he rushed the creature with a loud cry. The sword slashed at it, but the thing moved far too agily for him to do much damage. It's snout was sliced open, though, and it let out a great howl. The green eyes turned a dark emeerald with rage. Kirn felt his heart speed up at the scent if it's blood, the knowledge that it would be sure to come after him and kill him. Right? It apparently wasn't the case, deciding that Nia would be a far less troublesome snack, with no weapon to her and lying on the floor like that. Her own blood was still seeping through the robes that were on her left side, staining them a deep crimson, giving the creature an ample scent to follow. Kirn slid himself betweent he two, unwilling to let this creature harm her. He had his duty, and this was it. The sword raied again, dily reflecting the spririts that surrounded the room. They continued to pass through him at this point, were clearly doing tso to Nia. She shivered, and clutched her side, feeling the blood almost freeze. It was terrifying in it's own way. There was nothing else to do but wait for the final blow to come- the creature was strong and swift, and Kirn didn't know if he was a match for it.

The paw slashed at him, and he managed to hold it back with his stregnth, though he was nearly taken off his feet by it. The creature pressed it's paw against it, holding Kirn there. It was a strange trick, a strange knowledgeable trick that Kirn didn't know where it had learned from. It was something that let the creature draw it's face close once more and give a loud raor. It's breath stank of dead things and rot. It was the same as the rest of the things in this world. He shuddered and pressed forward, unwillling to let Nia also join the ranks of those trapped here, unwiulling to himself be one of the beings trapped here.

The thing seemed to smile. Fear stirred at the expression on its mutated face, the mask of disgust that should never exist. And it wouldn't have in the outside world, but... Other Worlds were full of strange things like this one. The other paw raised, much to Kirn's horror. The other paw... It would do far more harm to him than anything else. He was trapped between the things, feeling himself stiffen in the coldness of Death, and unable to do a thing about it. The slight tumble of stones behind him should have clued him into what was happening, but the only thing that he could imagine because of the terror that was rising in his throat was that there was another creature behind him, perhaps feasting on Nia as he held this being off. The thought nearly made him sick, but also started his mind racing on his own death. Perhaps... they would kill him quickly and he would not have to suffer too much. That was the best bet at the moment, and he clung to the somewhat- comftoring thought.

The other option was.... He didn't want to think about it, but prepared for the descent of the claws that were sure to shred him terribly when they landed on his flesh. He closed his eyes for a breif moment and wasn't prepared for the cry that errupted from the beast mere moments later. His eyes opened to seeit rearing back, tring to get something off of itself. Nia! A flashg of white robes alerted him to her presence on the back of the thing, fighting valiently to stay on. A small dagger raised upwards, colored red, then flashed down into it's back.

It had to be hard and difficult for her to stay on the thing's back. She appeared to be slipping more than once, and he saw her wrap her arms around the thing's neck in an effort to stay on, clutching ticghly to the fur that threatened to let her slide off. It had to be slick in some way, befocause she was often grabbing at it, scrabbling from some hold to it that would let her stay on through the bucking and the terrible motions that the thing made. Kirn heard her give a cry of pain once, twice as she held on, trying to get at it more than she had. He rushed forward to help her, sword at ready. There was nothing more that he could do than fight it while she was on. He just prayed that he would not accidentally slash at her.

The cries od the spirits around them were disapoointed, angry, furoious, even wtih the damage they were doing to the creature. It only stregnthened their suspiciouns that the thing hd been used to fight warriour before, bperhaps in a gladiator-style match. It had been doing before, he could tell, but this was astonishing- how many years had they done ti while dead? How often when alive? Countless men and elves had to fall beneath things like this, after all that time, but perhaps not recently, for in their fury the spirits were vengeful and terrible. They stayed in place over them, hdding together in masses so that there were veritable clouds of chill to try and get through without falling to the cold. And in the center they were far colder than many things Kirn had experienced. The creature bucked upwards, and then kept falling, falling so that it would land on its back, trying to squash the ininvited rider that it loathed and wished to eat.

A dead meal was still a meal, Kirn supposed, because it seemed that the thing preffered them alive, but at this rate... He cried out to Nia, hoping to warn her, but for whatever reason - the echoes in the hall, the sound of the creature's cries, her own fear- she didn't seem to hear him, or be listening. She held on even more tightly, and disappeared between the floor and the beast. He let out a hoarse cry. He had failed! The girl was dead! What other hope was there? The thing had to weigh two hundred stone, and she was frail as it was with that injury! The thought made him want to weep, but there was no time for the thing was rolling to get back onto its feet.

Kirn would not let it. With a ferocious cry that followed up the one of despare, his sowrd cleaved through the air at the things' back, cutting it as deeply as he could manage. It let out a nasty cry, an angry one and pain-filled one, but he could see he had not done enough damage to kill it. The fur was thick and matter, not to mention as slimy as it had appeared when Nia attempted to stay on. He drove it in like a spear, hoping that this would at least manage to do more that before. It did- the thing was shuddering, attempting to get up, bit Kirn must have damamged the spnie somewhere. It was time to finish the beast off. He looked for its other wounds, estimating where they were. They allowed him to get through the fur and the skin folds that impeded him further. Kirn drive the sword in, and after a few more times, the thing lay still. He would have said as still as death, but that humor was far too much for him at the moment. He shuddered, knowing how close he had been to death, and afraid to look for Nia's body. He didn't wish to see her dead.

Instead, Kirn took care of his sword, making sure that it was clean of the blood that now stained it. He needed this more if he was going to encounter anything else, and though he could see it starting to rust, some of the rust coming off in flakes as he cleaned it- there was nothing much else to do. His ears hurt with the ringingin death cries the creature had emmitted, with the cries that the sylphs now raised to the heaves for his avoidance of deatha nd his skillfill was of defeating the creature. The thing that they had given over to fighting had been defeated at its own game. Kirn felt a sense of satisfaction that they would have a hard time pulling this with other travellers, but.. But... there were other things that they could trap and make do their bidding. If they could open the door to this place...

That thought gave him momentary pause. There was that thing, the flying creature that they could still call on, and perhaps others, though their fury made it seem that at the moment the blue-skin was the only one that they had on hand. He needed to get out of here. Nia, though... her death had to be confirmed. He wouldn't leave without knowing that for certain. His eyes searched the ground, looking, hoping, terrified. Blood pooled around the creature. He couldn't see her, really, not yet. Some that was a bit different from the thing's seemed to spill out from underneath it. He gave a slight shudder, realizing that she must still be underneath, dreading what must have happened to her body wth the writing and thrashing. Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. If she was dead, then his duty was over. He would be executed for faliure to protect such an important personage, halfie or not. Half-breed, he corrected himself, feeling a few tears begin to fall. There was no need to be cruel to her when she was already dead.

He put all his stregnth into attempting to move the creature off of her. It was slow going- the thing was indeed heavy, and the skin did seem to have a layer of slime to it. No wonder she had such difficulty with it! THere was no way to really grip, and that meant it was all the more work for him. A hand emerged first, looking rather battered, perhaps even broken. Didn't matter, since it wasn't moving, or giving any sign of life. Then her side that had been cut so badly. he could tell that his rope had come out, slicing her more thoroughly than before. The chill that had surrounded him because of the shades of the sylphs wasn't any colder than the dread in the pit of his stomach at that moment. She was also almost covered in the spirits, they almost hid her from his view as they crawled over her body and took their anger out on her. It seemed silly, really, because how could she have survived something so terible? But he kept going. Her face looked pretty battered and smashed. Her nose had obviously been broken in the fall, and some blood trickled and smeared across her face. He was surprised the damamge to her body wasn't much worse than this, in the end, though. He leaned down to brush his fingers against her face, ignoring the spirits that covered them both, filling the room.

She still felt a little warm, strange because the spirits were quickly fraining him of heat. It should have left her body long ago. perhaps it was a thing of the halfbreeds. He wondered about it, letting his fingers rest on her cheeks. What else was there for him to do? He could feel his own limbs growing numb, could hardly feel his own fingertips. This was going to be the place he died in, huh? Strange, he had thought that it would be on a battlefield. Though this was fclose enough, with that fight. He drew his fingers downwards, thinking to pull out the necklace, the symbol that showed everyone that she was a member fo the Order. He felt something as he did so, a slight tremble of her body. He paused, thinking it had to be something out of his imagination, a vague hope that was taking shape in the form of a halucination. How could she=? But there it was again, a slight tremble. He scooted closer, hoping that this meant something more, that perhaps her life could really be saved.

Her hands were limp nd cold, and the rest of her body was no better as he gathered her in his arms. But she was warmer than a dead woman had a right to be, and she was breathing stiffly, slowly, in quiret, painful gaspss. No wonder he hadn't heard it! There must be some deeper injury to this. Perhaps broken ribs, perhaps worse. He moved her cautiosly. They had to get out of here, past the pool of water where there were more flesh-eaters so that he could get a better look at her wounds and fix her up as best as possible. This was positively terrifying. He had never had someone so close to death be on his consience buyt the Princes, but for her... there was no hope except another healer, and he didn't know where he would find one. The camp would most surely have moved on by now.

They were on the move, the spirits, trying to get between him and the other end of the room. They were successful, draining his enegry and now his spirit as well as he ke=pt moving. Nia's condition cicn't help his worries any. She looked pale and fragile and seriously wounded. This was as bad as things he had seen his compatriots die of on the battlefield. Swears ran through his head, heartening him in their won way and keeping him focused. He attempted to find new ways of insulting the sprits that dared keep he and Nia from the exit from this death trap. Mist swirled around his legs, different from the ones that the spirits caused and seemed to be. There was nothing more that he could do at this point than to keep moving. The hallway drifted to an end that branched to the left and the right. There was no clue as to which was he should go, none at all. There were no doors down here, no painings, no signs. Just some more stiff statues that were attempting to guard the halls, though like old soldiers, were just as useless and would not keep him from moving onward.

Left. That was the way to go. Right seemed as though it would take them inward of the place again, if he was thinking clearly about where they were. Left was outwards, and the safer bet. He attempted to walk smoothly, not wanting Nia to be more uncomfortable than the had to be, even in the uncounciousness that she was in. His gut twisted ever so slightly, knowing that it had been his idiocy and fear that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. If he hadn't managed to stab her, then they could have made it past the creature, she might not have been crushed, she would have a better change of living... as would he, if she did manage to survive. It was all so much for his own conciousness. This could never happen again. He held her close, nt hearing aother being, not seeing anything but spirits fading in and out of the walls, wailing their anger, wailign teir sorrw, though he didn't know what they had to be sorrowful about other than the fact that they had not died. What a thing to be sorrowful about! Dread creatures. If they had awlays been like this, then it was no wonder the Creed had been put into place. The one clause that he was starting to reconsider was that of Nia's ilk, but for the rest of them... He glared at ntheir grotequque countenances, made even more horrendous in death by the faces that they pulled.

He would almost have been amused by the proceedings if it didn't mean that he and Nia were still in danger. The noise had quieted down, for the most part, the psirits having accepted that they wouldn't be dying tonight- not until they reached the outside, at least. He worried that they would attempt to get the flying creature after them, but these happways were too cramped and narrow for the beast to fly down. It made him wonder if it were parhaps outside, waiting to be unleashed on them. It certainly also seemed bloodythirtsy enough, as much as the blue thing. The thought made him shudder. It was not a good ide to be dwelling on this. He had enough to worry about as it was. With the passing of the shades, it seemed that they were getting warmer, which was no small relief for him. There had been a real fear that she would freeze to death. As it was, her blood loss made it a very real danger that she might die.

He didn't need anything else to worry about. Her breathing was getting easier, and that kept him going. There were a few more twists and turns in the passages, but Kirn kept going. He stayed to the left, always, going outwards. It seemed after a while that they had left all confines of the palace, that this was some system that lay underneath the town. It didn't seem unlikely- after all, he knew not the reasons the Sylphs built like they did, or why the place had been abandoned. This was a place where anything was possible. Other Places tended to be like that, at least in the stories and tales he had heard. He was just grateful that this was merelay a place that a city had been byuilt in, never you mind that it had been built by enemies of the elves. He had heard far worse stories, of creatures that made Places that were their own hunting grounds, filled with fantastical ways to ddie. Those seemed to be easier to escape, since it was easier to tell when you were in danger there, but still, the stories of disappearances and some of the things that inhabited them were no treat to recall. Nothing like that would happen here, he hoped, outside of the beasts that they had already encountered.

Finally, the hallway that he had come onto came to an end or sorts. There was four doors, two in front of him, one to the left, and one to the right. Ach, as Nia would say. There was little to do but to set her down and open them one by one, to see what was behind. His sword was drawn once more after he had put her down as gently as he could, trying not to harm her further. The door to the left was opened first. It was a storage room of some sort, but what it had once held he could only guess from what smelled like rotten meat and fruits. He was grateful that there was no sign of bodies to accompany it. The door to the right, next. It branhched into a hallway filled with more doors. He had no desire to see what was in them because of the sounds that were coming from it. He closed it quickly, before anyhting could scent them or hear them and come to investigate.

The door on the right, that had been right in front of them happened to be a rather long staricase up. Up to where, he didn't know, but anyehere was better than down here. Down here was far too dangrous, and the spirits were gathering around them once more. He couldn't let them get to Nia, not with her blood loss and her health down like this. She would catchi somethng dealy, he was sure, as humans were suceptable to thinkgs like that and he wasn't sure about halfies. He didn't want to take any chances, though. THe staircase up ended up in another door, something that didn't surprise him. This one was wooden, though, and it was far more dangrous that the stone ones. It rotted right as he pressed against it with his shoulder, trying to keep Nia from bangingi aginast it. He nearly fell over into the large hallway that it entered into. It seemed to be a servant's entrance of some sort, to this place... must have been some sort of political place, once upon a time. The spirits here were fewer, though no less upset at the two intruders. Ther was once handings on the wall, and the stone was of a fine cut and expensive price. Rare in this land, though he'd heard that in the South it was more common.

This was no place to let her stay, either. Everything had molded! Everything had rotted! And with the spirits around them, there was no way Nia would be allowed to rest and recover,w hich she desperately needed. It would be a gambit, but he needed to escape with her now. Tonight, or today, or whenever it was. The hallway had a staircase at the end, that led to the outside. He could almost see the exit from where they were. He walked with purpose in his stride. This was not going to defeat them just yer, not while the Sylph was alive. There was no sound from around them, nothing in the place that had once been so fine. He almost coudn't tell that it had been such a nice place because of the rot and decay that had taken over- even the ceiling had begin to crumble in, and his pacings weren't helping things. In some pkaces the echo of his boots made things crumble a little more than they would have otherwise, untouched. It was so delicate. It was so sad, in it's own way.

The mystery of what had happened here would have to wait. He needed to escape. They needed to escape. And with any luck, there would be no greenies to deal with once they did. That was one of his biggest fears, that the Greenies would be waiting for them once they were out. It was very likely. Places like this usually only had one entrance, or so was told, because wat creature wanted others wandering into it> Well,,, those other creature that used Other Places to trap and kill it's prey, he supposed, but this wasn't that type of place. This had been made for hiding the community of Sylphs, and that was all there was too it. Not even the Greenies had entered here, though why, he could not tell. It should have been easy for them, with the remnants of magic they had, to turn this into a nest of their own once it had been abandonded.

A slight cough caught his attention. He glanced down at Nia. She let loose another one on top of that, and whatever had happened to her insides seemed to be affecting her breathing. It came rasper when the cough came, and some blood spurted out. He wanted to gasp, nearly stopped in his tracks. Blood! She had been internally injured, with injuries to her lings! This was something to be deeply troubled about. What on earth was he to do! She needed a healer immediately. Nia probably wouldn't last long with those injuries to her insides. He knew that eves had an easier time dying with them, but humans... humans were far more sucpeptable to death, and he didn't know how much that side of her blood affected her. He could only hope that the elvish side would heal her enough to live until they got out to a safe place. With this, though, he could only wonder that she would probably need another Sylph to heal her. He wondered if one would. They all had to be Elves, he took it, since they lived long enough to learn the hers and medicinal remedies. They were more practiced than any of the others. A human would be better for treating her, perhaps with a little less of the prejudice that ran in the thoughts of elves, the elite class in this nation.

But it was pointless speculation if she died beofre reaching anyone. He wanted to hurry, but her injuries demanded a slow and steady pace. it wore at his neveves every time her heard her breath hitch or come rattling through her body. It didn't help that he could also feel her body temperature heating beyond what it had eben before. Fever, the deadly precurser to infection, If it was infected... He couldn't help but think so. The bow string had been an emergency measure and most certainly hadn't been sterile. It was also fairly thick, and though it had closed the wound for a while, it also left its own wounds as it had ben threaded through her skin. The spring also could have been a culprit, resting here for ages upon ages as it had been. Perhaps in that rot and mold something had gotten onto it. It was likely.

The outside light was dim. He couldn't tell if it was daylight or sunset, and it didn't really matter at the moment. There were things out there, outside the building. ONe door had been left open, and a few distant creis of things reached his ears. They would have to take cover where they could as they looked for a way out- but how would they find the way out? This question had him pausing at the top of the stairs. Shades of sylphs wantered around him, now silent, and far fewer than in the tunnels. Ones of all ages started at him, murmering in incomprehensible sylables and babble. Had they been so dead they had forgotten language? Or had they died so long ago they could not properly address him?> The latter seemed more likely, from the state of the place. He started down the stairs, determined to keep going. If they wandered aroudnt eh edges of this world, then they were bound to come across something, some way out, right> It was their only hope. A quick peek of his head outside the door, and he could see nothing except more buildings, They were into the housing district, while this appeared to be some governmental building that stood out from the crowd. It was bigger, with columns that had once been elegantly carved, but now looked like misshapen sticks that held up a non-existant roof. The roof had crumbled long ago.

The houses were simple, of various sizes and shapes, but no taller than two stories. He could see the moon beginning to rise in the distance, while the sun set beneath the horizon the buildings reated. They were not the sun and moon he was familiar with. The sun had burned a strange green, while the moon had a second, smaller one orbiting it. He wondered at that, what posessed them to make such strange but wrong likenesses of them. Then he shrugged slightly. It was none of his concern. What was his concern was the shadow of a beast that passed through the light of the moon and cast darkness over his eyes. He ducked back in, but the creature seemed to not spot him and kept flying on.

NaNoWriMo 10.5

Written in the same night as 10 2830

He could feel rough patches in the wall, felt where paint was and had been, could smell the dust that covered everything- including the flaking paint that was covering his hands like pigmented snow. It was said that in some of the highest mountains, it fell as blue, but somehow he doubted that this kind had been seen anywhere. The light from the globe shrank quickly, as the bugs began to die. He reached in and picked out two of them so the others would not be exposed to the rot and death of their comrades, so that they would have more room and air andwold live longer. It was the least he could do, so that he would not be in the formless night again. Rough edges of... something... brshd his fingertips. It fel different. It wasn't paint, nor the rough stone of the walls, though still stone. He traced the outline, his eyes straining against the othingness that was threatening to swallow him. A door? Where had this been! He pushed against it, hearing it scrape against the flagstones of the floor, but not wanting to give up, no matter what was on the other side of his. He strained his body, and it moved further, little by little, inch by inch. It was slow going, but eventually he could see a faint light spilling from around the edges, spilling into where he was. It hurt his eyes more than the twinklebugs had, but he merely closed his lids so that he could keep going. If he paused then the door would fall back into place under its own weight, trapping him once more.

He could feel a sweat breaking out by the time he managed to get it open enough to slip through. He edged as close as he could to the opening, making sure there was enough room for him to slip through without getting crushed between it and the wall, or in the doorway, as was like to happen as not. It was a grim thought, but the faint grey light encouraged him on. A deep breath, and Kirn ent for it, pressing himself against the wall as he was unable to open the door enough to step into the room in front of him as fully as he was able. It swung closed behind him, scratching up his back, but that was not the important thing to him. The cool, wet breeze that cradled his skin was. His eyes were watering against the light, but he didn't want to let go of the sight. Wherever he was, it was someplace that he had never heard of before in tale or legend, or history or geography. This was some sort of palace that he had entered, and if anyone had heard of this, it would have been telling.

The slender hallway he entered faced some sort of solarium, where four wings met in the center, and a skylight opened up into the world beyond. Only grewy light filtered through. It must have been a cloudy day here (odd since it had most definitely been sunny when he had disappeared from the forest), and fog rose from the sunken center area, where a large and twusted tree grew, the color of his skin. It was odd to see it in another living being, especially one that seemed to eschew such colors and existed in such vibrancy. As he walked towards it, his eyes catching the sight of mouldering tapestries that lay on the floor and paintings in crude but vibrant colors that covered the walls, he wondered where this was. It was not the world he had come from, that was for sure. However, the only beings that could create such a place could be the sylphs- and they did not leave ruins like this, Did they? Few lived to tell tales of such places, and sylph nations were not places that one just wandered into. They were often closely guarded and manned, and most who attempted such were gruesomely illed, their remains left as warning for others who would think to do the same. This place, however, reeked of age and neglect.

Could it be that the ones here had been wiped out? By the Greenies that they had fallen in league with, perhaps? No, greenies didn't have the ability to Pass like elves and other, more elf-like creatures. Like humans. His head whipped around, looking for some sign that perhaps Nia was here, perhaps had passed by... there were tracks in some mud that pooled in a little corner of the hallway, but they were animal tracks, as near as he could tell. The closer he got to the center of the hallways, the wotse the floor got, cracked and crumbling. Vines and ivy reached up the walls, striving to conquer the stone that dared defy it and stay where it was. It was almost ready to fall into the center area, when he was close enough to look over. To his surprise, he realized that this was two stories high- he could vaguely see other entrances down there, through a fog that seemed to crawl and slither up the stones towards the second floor.

He couldn't see any sign of anyone else, though, and that was more than disheartening. Where could she possibly be? Or perhaps they had ended up in two different places? Kirn wasn't well-versed in the tricks and magics of the old races such as sylphs, as they were enemies and to be avoided at all costs. He didn't even know much about humans, for that matter, but sylphs went far beyond that in obscurity. He stepped back, and waited for something that could tell him where she was. If she was able to be heard or seen anywhere here- this place seemed to have been built entirely of stone, and it had been hard enough for him to get out of that hallway. That he had made it here was a miracle in and of itself! Perhaps she had been far unluckier in her area of reappearance.

It also gave him time to think about what had hapened and how he had gotten here. Old stories told of getting to these places by tunnels or the like, placed in odd places, some in fruit, some in rocks, others in trees and nests. Whatever they were, though, they were Other Places. Not like normal ones, for entire cities could not be held in a normal nest, right enough! These were places to hide things, and the Sylphs loved to do that. They were odd to begin with, loving to play tricks, loving to hide away and be found, but when the King had discouraged the races to mix, they went from odd but prankful into downright spiteful. They went to old enemies, went to destroy old friends. And created these Other spaces, so that they could hide away and rest, and go to wage war another day. He supposed the lantern appearing was a leftover magic, something that let the sylph that entered know that they were welcome. Too bad there really was no welcome. Perhaps that was for the best, though.

He glanced around him at a rustle, then realizd it had come from below. He peered over, slwoly, hardly daring to breath to try and hear what was below. A shreik, decisively inhuman, met his efforts. A startled cry, and he covered his ears as he backed away from the center. A dark-winged creature was rising from the mist slowly, and Kirn was not about to wait for it to get any higher up! He started running down a different hallway. The latern was left behind, useless, as he hoped that he would be lucky enoug to escape with his life. THere was little else to hope for, in this place. A door, made from the differently- colored and textured stone than the mansion (possibly a palace, dependoing on how old it was) appeared to his right. He slammed his body against it. While it was going to leave a rather nasty fbruise for the next day, he felt ift give way more easily beaneath him than he thought it would. It was no small relief to have it shut behind him. Thankfully, this place had a sundow to the outside, and with the light that filtered in through dirtied and broken windows, he could make out this was a sitting room, an entrance to somebody's living quarters. The wood was rotting, and the cloth for the most part had mouldered away. He could feel the soft remains squishing beneath his feet as he ventured forward, hoping that he would encouter something more friendly and less dangerous than whatever had been in the solarium. He could hear it's wingbeats as it flew on past, seeking out it's mean with a few clicks and screetches.

Kirn was relieved that it would have no luck finding him today. His sword was now drawn, and he tested the weight in his hands. This would have to do- there were probably weapons of some sort here, but it would be dangerous to use them,e ven if they were not long-rusted and ruined. He could hear nothing from the next room, so hoping against hope, his hand pushed against the next door. It slid open far more easily than expected- the sylphs must have had dwarves help them with these, though their work had been unused for so long and most of it had started to fall into disrepair. Only dwarves could make doors like these, with no apparent hinges and light enough that one such as him could have no trouble. This room had once been a bedroom. He could see where the posts had once stood, and the few carvings that weren't worn away by time or things that ate such woods stared at him, strange and eerie. They were not ones that he was familiar with. They must live here in the Other Place, he reasoned, though that was no comfort. He would probably have to deal with them soon enough, and not knowing what they were would make them more difficult to defeat.

Piles of what once had been furnishings and clothes were in heaps, but it wasn't untidy. None of the ruin he had seen had been such unless it was simply by not being used. It was as if it had simply been abandoned. But why would the Sylphs do such a thing? There was no purpose to it, and whatever this place was, it had been built with great skill and care. His eyes strayed to the window in this room, which had been left open. Dangerous, yes, but he had to see. He slid foreward, long-gone floor coverings almost ticking his feet, in this place where the memory of things long past was so strong. He could hardly wonder that there was anything left but the stone. There was no sound or movement but the wind, but it lacked the creepy whistling that the forest had, which had turned out to not be the wind but the calls of the greenies that were about to attack. No sounds were prefferable, since the danger of them being signals to attack was high. He eyed the world outside. Fog and mist covered this Other Place. It was an empty town, large, at one point obviously bustling, but now left to the ravages of time.

It was a mystery as to why it was here, and one that he desperately wanted to know. It had saved his life, after all, but also... to know about it meant to know how to escape it. That was something he was unsure of at this point. He stepped back, unwilling to stay close to the window for too long. Back to the other room, glancing at the remains of what had to have been scrolls (what some people would give to be able to read them! He would be able to buy back his belongings and tools ten times over, but alas, these were in far too poor condition for anyone to read). Another door on the other side caught his eyes, and he went to push it in, too. There was a light scuffling noise. He paused, holding his sword at ready. Whatever it was, he would kill it. That he was certain of. He would kill it before it killed him, and he would feast on its flesh! THere was no creature that would stop him!

It only took a moment and a deep breath for him to gain the courage to slam the door open- thankfully, it opened as smoothly as the first one- and went in, his eyes scanning for the danger. It was coming at him, a blur of brown and white, spreading it's claws out wide. His sword went into and through it, and a scream emitted from it. From her. He felt the weight of her body on his sword as his mouth opened. The only sound he could make was a groan, as the horror of what had happened filtered into his brain. The creature he had seen with his fear-addled mind turned into a slight figure, dirtied robes clinging to her, but flowing out when she saw him and rushed towards him, a smile on her face as the crown of white hair streamed behind her.

She was crying, lying on the ground and clutching at her side. Kirn started at her in shock, utterly useless and unable to do anything except watch, studying her, making sure she was really the little Priestess that he had vowed to protect and take to camp. This was no trick- Nia lay there on the floor, and when Kirn finally was able to do something, her dirtied, brown robed were slowly staining a dark red, as was the floor around her. The sword clanged on the floor, and she let out another scream of pain as he lifted and turned her, needing to see where the wound was and how bad it was, The robes ripped in his hands as he tugged on them, looking at it, and needing to get a better view. THey were in his way, and that would not do. A hiss of air between his teeth, as he drew in a sharp breath. His heart and stomach sank to the floor. This was as bad as anything he'd seen, fairly deel but only cutting her side. She needed this stitched up immediately.

He flet around on himself, hoping for a needle, as his eyes glaced around. His gaze alighted on something that would do in a pinch- it was a pile of steel settings, what looked to be what was left of a clock. His fingers fan over and through the gears. If he was lucky... if he was lucky.... Ah! A spring! He pulled it from the pile and glanced at it. This would do! It had started to rust in a few places. It was steel, though, and hardier than most other metals. It would do for now- it would have to do. Otherwise, there was no hope. She straightened it out the best he could, then glanced down at his own shirt. Something to swe her up with... only one thing would do! He pulled out the string for a bow. While Kirn himself was not trained as one specifically, he had been trained to use one in an emergency, and this was something every soldier carried on them. Who knew what would happen in an emergency! While it was a rough solution, without it she would bleed to death. As it was, Nia was looking pratty pale- and with her complexion, that was no small feat. he untied her belt and folded it, making sure that she wouldn't bite off her tongue by placing it in her mouth.

With that he gathered the flesh , pressed it together- the slick feeling of blood making it dangerously likely he would lose his grip and stab herin the wrong place- and began to sew. He glanced at the window that was also in this room - was there no place here that was protected from the elements?- and could see nothing eyeing them from the outside. Even if there were, there was nothing he could do about it at this point. His fingers worked their magic, as unskilled as it was, to let her see another day. If they got out of this place, at least. Small whimpers were escaping, as were tears. She was definitely cring. Kirn wanted to stop and make the pain stop, but if he didn't, then it would all be for nothing. He coudn't do that. It was no small relief when he was able to stop and tie the string. Nia had gone limp by then, from the pain, probably some exhaustion. But at least she was not in pain while she was unconcious.

He rested his bloodied hand on her forehead, pushing aside her hair so that he could look on her sleeping face. It was a comfort to him right now, and that was something he wasn't going to give up easily. His red hands stained the white strands of hair equally red, giving her a look that was not dissimilar to that of the punks that ran around the capital back home. A small smile escaped. He wondered how she would take that comparison. Of course, that it was blood spoke to something far more serious than simple rebellion...

This was a dangerous place to stay while she healed. Her blood was on the floor, and the wound was still oozing, though he had done his best to patch her up. She would need time, and rest, and the work of her elvish heritage to help her through this. For now... perhaps the hall where he had first come from? Nothing seemed to be there, and he would likely have been attacked if it were. The issue would be that creature from before. Was it lying out there in wait for him? Anticipating his next move? What else was he going to do, though? He took his sword back into its sheath and lifted the girl into his arms. She looked quite young like this, helpless, in a deep and possibly escapeless slumber.

His ear pressed against the door that he had entered the set of rooms from. He heard nothing out there, nothing to indicate a living presence. That might mean nothing here, especially with doors made of stone. He set Nia down right noxt to it, in a position to be grabbed easily and run with if so necessary. He leaned into the door, and it swung open more smoothly and before, almost as well as the inner chamber doors had. His eyes saw nothing as they gazed into the hallway. There was... nothing, though the hallway faded into darkness as it went father from the skylight. His eyes studied the center area. He saw no movement in the fog that threatened to escape the bowl that cradled the old tree. his hand reached down to grasp his ward. Then his hand jerked back- he had forgotten fopr a moment that he could not pull or tug her. That would pull the stitches out, and the renewed blleding would certainly bring something their way, whether they were aware of them right at the moment or not! He bent down, taking his eyes off the main area of the palace for a moment.

When he turned back, there, at the dark end of the hallway, was the beast. He froze, Nia in his arms, unstirring, but most definitely appearing to be a snack to whatever it was. It was humanoid, covered in a dark orange fur, and with two great wings upon it's back. They reminded him of butterfly wings, but the orange and crimson pattern looked far more insidious than those. It's head swung around, enlarged nostrils sniffing at the air. It's eyes were a pale, sightless blue, but still managed to pierce his soul when they met his. He felt dizzy, more frightened than he had a right to be, and though the girl in his arms was not to be jostled or moved quickly, he found himself doing exactly that. His footsteps pounded through the hall, echoing and deep. The creature let out a loud shriek and a few clicks, and took to the air. Its wings pounded the air steadily. It wasn't a fast pace, but it didn't need to be- it was able to cover a lot of distance with one wingbeat.

That distance was a curse to Kirn as his footing faltered over the cracked and dangerously crumbling rocks that were what was left of the floor. He could hardly believe that there was any way out from this situation. The door that he had come from was... was... open? He couldn't believe it. Almost didn't, but he could hear the wingbeats behind him and they were the same tempo as his heartbeat, and all that he could do was dive in and pray that they would be safe. Thankfully, that was exactly how it worked out. The door closed behind him as he stumbled nad bumped into it, and that left him and Nia in the dark, with no way to see, and no discernable escape. After all, the door had been open. But who had opened it, and why? He waited for someone to say something, to reach out and kill them, perhaps, but it never happened.

NaNoWriMo 10

There was nothing else to do but go forward with the more extreme measures. "Rope out!" he bellowed, turning towards the men. This was an unusual order, but sometimes an effective one where people were likely to disappear. This would both cut down on the runaways and those who would be taken otherwise. Most of the time. The ones who were newer to the force, that had not heard it given in their lives, hesitantly brought out their short pieces of it that were necessary on the battlefield for traps and tricks to escape the enemy. Those who were older began to tie their legnths onto their belts, securing them tightly. Liam did not do so, nor did the rest of the cavalry- their maneuverability would be impeded if they were to do such a thing. However, the older soldiers proceeded to whisper instructions to their companions and the warriors that did not know what they were doing, and within minutes, squadrons had been tied together for their own safety. It was harder to run off when the fumbling to untie the things would attract so much attention, and taking four men was harder than one, if the beasties decided that they wanted more snacks.

It was somwehat awkward and embarassing for the men who were in this, but at the same time Liam could see some relief on their faces. The safety that this gave- or at least the illusion of it- was something that would hearten them when worse things came. Liam wasn't even going to say 'if', at this point, it was 'when'. He turned to the front, and set off, as the whole squadron had been stopped while this had occured. It was not something to do lightly, since even the foot soldiers would be impeded by such a maneuver, but it was the best he had at this moment. The leaves of the trees rutled around them, sending little drifts of ash over them, and sounding as dead as normal ones in the autumn. The dead sound, as mummified whispers of ancestors, sent shivers up the spines of the most hardened. This was not a place to tresspass in. This was not a place to stay. Their paces quickened. There was a bend in the path ahead, and beyond it... the leaders of the soldiers' march called out in startled voices to eachother. Their own mounts halted, and some began to panic and buck, throwing ther riders.

Chaos began to reign, almost as badly as the sudden downpour that beset the large group. Cries were made at the greenish liquid that splattered on clothes and got in eyes. It was unpleasant, with a vague stinging sensation to accompany the mess that it was making. Liam had to call out loudly for his orders to be heard, to keep the men from panicking and bolting as the horses were tempted to do. Did, as he watched one dash off into the grey wilderness, riderless. As it was, two groups had fallen into the muddying ground, some of ther members attempting to flee the strange and horrendous rain. Liam shuddered beneath it. They had to find shelter. "Into the trees! Into hollows! Be in sight of all others, do not go out of sight of everyone, and never untie your ropes! It will mean your death!"

Some of the squads happily obeyesd dashing under the trees and some overgrowth that made some dry places to hide away and watch the others take cover. Liam was surrounded by his men and led to one. They stood surrounding him trying to ensure that he would not be overtaken by the miserable downpour that was covering everything in slime. That was what it felt like- pond scum, moss from the rocks... He rubbed it bentween his fingers and sniffed it, examining the texture and the scent. He was afraid to taste it, though. As it was the skin that it touched- virtaully all of him that was uncovered, and even some of it that it has soaked into- was tingling unpleasantly, like a tickle that had gone on for too long or a brush that was too hard. He shuddered lightly and wiped his hand. When he looked at where it had been on him, his skin was slightly paler than it should have been, and wrinkled to boot. What on earth was this stuff?


Some cried were going out among the men, some who had gotten it in their eyes, or had dared to taste it and were finding it terribly disagreeable with their insides. He wanted to help, but as it was, it was safer to remain beneath the slight cover that the trees gave. From his vantage point, there were five squadrons visible. Liam gave more orders for the numbers to be counted off. Within minutes he had a count back- all were present and accounted for, minus one horse, which was no small relief given the circumstances. Now all that was left to do was wait for the rain to end. The ones who were injured by it would have to wait until then- he wasn't going to risk their healer in this, not when they didn't know what it was or what it would do.

-----
You knows, Rotheryn isn't as safe as thems up power claims it to be. You young 'uns, you'd best be believin' that there's still the Wild Ones... thems Others... that still roam the wilds. We's rarely trespasses on their territory, we's stay in ours own borders, but that doesn't mean that theys aren't out there, watchin' for a chance to get yous. They're tricky like that. Especially afters the King and thems Advisors made the Creeds. Yous all know, the Creeds that- Kuon, sit down and listen!- made the halfies outlaws (why we's all can't rise up through marriage any more) and also made us enemies of them Others. Eh? No, Grier, I don't remembers what exactly it was, but... I'm not tellin tales, you all... Eh! Maire, another ale!
- Lesson from a Rotheryn elder (human) at a local tavern

Nia could smell the thick, rich loam of the forest. It was both relaxing and made her more nervous, as it was tinged with something sour and rotten. Had some fruit of last year gone uneaten and was spoiling? But these trees were strange. They looked like they didn't give any fruit, or blossoms, or anything for that matter, except for moss. Perhaps that moss was what the trees blossomed with. Even so, it wasn't exactly a pleasant thing to witness. They were covered from canopy to root in thick layers, some adhering to the bark of the trees, others draping over as blankets did people. Some you couldn't see for the veil of greenery that lay over them, as if it were some large room that the tree had claimed for itself, and was determined that no one should approach or steal it from it. It was astonishing to see it, and menacing, since it always felt as though there were something behind the walls, waiting, watching, hoping for a chance to reveal itself, or perhaps take them and hide them away. Never to be seen again, of course.

It was all rather frightening. her heart skittered all over the place, the only comfort she had the quiet company of Kirn, who spoke not to her, and didn't acknowledge anything other than what was going on around them. It was both a relief and an irritating thing, since nothing was happening around them. Nothing that she could sense, at least, but with her senses she guessed that he was picking up on far more than her. That was not a relief. If he could sense it enough to be on guard, that meant there was something sinister. Nia's fingers rubbed together, feeling the scratches that those cruel little sprites had given her. The blood had dried and hardened into scabs fairly quickly, thanks to her elven blood. If only some other of the inheritance of that side were more useful!

Kirn stopped, listening. Nia followed his example, hearing only a soft whistle of the wind through the leaves and branches. It wasn't anything different from what they had been hearing for the last hour, after the Greenies had quit following (though she suspected she still saw them in the trees, their brick-like countenances and loamish hair streaking by at the edge of her sight. The wind actually whistled here. Something about the wood, the trees, made it seem as though a tune were being sung just a bit ahead when the wind was going. It had been going almost this entire time, however, which had put her nerves more and more on edge as time had gone on. It was tuneless and wandered randomly around them, which made it far more frightening than when they had been followed by the Greenies. At least, in her opinion. Those, she knew where they had been and what they were about, but this nothing that seemed to live around them was something else entirely.

Her eyes closed. Nia heard.... nothing but the wind, except the tune seemed a little richer than before. Just as silly and pointless, but there were more notes that went into it. She shook her head and looked at Kirn, waiting for him to say or do... something. She was not about to get herself in trouble over this. What had got him riled up, anyway?

His head twitched slightly, attempting to follow the sounds. Eyes flickered quickly beneath his eyelids, as if he were reading some impossibly fast-unraveling scroll. Her breath caught as she watched him, the pale violet statue that he had become in that moment. It was spoiled in the next as his hand tightened on hers. "This way!" Kirn hissed to her, pulling her along. She stumbled for a moment, unsure of what he was doing and why he was in such a rush. It had to be because they were in danger, and the adrenaline that had worn off from the near-constant worry surged back. She couldn't run as quickly as he could, but she was giving it her all. THey slipped off the path and into the trees. Screetches filled the air behind them, as if a hundred birds were attacking. Except they sounded like birds that thirsted for the blood of someone that had disturbed their nest.

"Greenies? How did you-" She was cutt off with a glare from him, and decided to save her breath for the sudden excercize. The sounds was approaching them. Their run was slowed by the thickening of the loam, soft earth that she nearly sank into up to her ankles. In places it crunched unpleasantly, in others it stung like briars, but she tried to keep up. The trees were creaking and groaning as they passed, as if to warn the creatures that they wer epassing by. Perhaps they were warning them, Nia corrected herself, feeling the soft brush of spider's webs and moss over various parts of her body. At some points it even seemes as though they reached out to them to get them on purpose, but such whispy and etherial things would not hold them back for long. It was the ground and the forest itself that would, given half a chance. She wanted to shudder at the thought of it, since by now it was apparent that the stuff they ran on was no normal soil. It squished once, beneath her toes, and Nia didn't have the courage to look down. Whatever it was could wait until later, when she had the time to scream and fret about such things.

As it was.... She tripped over something that hadn't disintegrated entirely, that clutched about her ankle and was most definitely going to bruise later. She went down, her robes accumulating dirt and turning them a dusty brown as she lifted herself back him. Kirn had dropped her hand in the sudden fall, unwilling to go down with her. His eyes darted towards where the screetches were fast aproaching. It was too late to change course, they were going to die! Nia reached out for his hand, backing away as she listened to the calls and cries of their little pursuers. Beings no bigger than her hand, that snarled and spat sap, that would eat them from the insides out... It turned her stomach. Her back pressed against a wall of moss, pressed into it and through it. She was uncaring of what lay behind as she pulled Kirn with her. Perhaps it would grant a momentary reprieve from the gruesome death. Perhaps... perhaps... she glanced up at the branches that spread above them, the moss hanging over like a blanket. The cries and shrieks had muffled and gained a confused tone, and it was no wonder- the moss had sealed up behind them.

Kirn looked as bewildered as she felt, and must have looked too. This was unexpected! A smile reached her lips as she felt a sparkle of hope ignite in her breast. Her moved backwards, taking in the tree, seeing it reach above her as she neared the trunk and then... feeling darkness engulf her. There was no sound oher than her own hearbeat and breathing.

The shock of this after the near escape overwhelmed her, and Nia passed out, wondering if she would wake up at all.

Kirn turned towards Nia as she kept backing up, seemingly in a trance. Some sort of euphoria, perhaps, at work? She couldn't make a sound, it was too dangerous, and if she kept up lie this... he started for her, seeing that she was going to hit her head on the tree. Her back slipped against it, and into it, and she just kept going, swallowed in an instant. Kirn could hardly believe his eyes. He paused for a moment, hoping it was just his imagination. A hallucination. He was not so lucky. With a shout- one that renewed the furious calls nearby, he ran for where she had disappeared... and also vanished into the darkness that had taken Nia.

It was no small shock to have that darkness, that emptiness, engulf him. If he had not known that this was no dream, he would have thought himself either asleep or dead. Had he not felt the weight of his weapons upon him and the clear memory of what had happened before, he would have imagined himself to be insane or perhaps have gone blind, Though there was no guarantee of the latter, was there? It nearly made him chuckle. The ways of the creature forests were strange and filled with dangers untold, magics that were as old as time. It was no wonder he should happen to stumble into one of them at some point- he just wished that he was going to live the encounter. He could feel nothing around him, and even as he groped with his hands, felt no surface beneath his feet and no solid thing to give him an idea of where he was. All he could do was fold his hands into themselves and wait. Wait for what, he didn't know, but what else were his choices? It made him shudder to think that he had to stay like this for an unknown period of time.

But wait he did, unsure of whether his ees were open or closed, and wondering if he would see Nia- or anything else- ever again.

He must have fallen asleep at some point, for it was with a yawn that he opened his eyes to light. It stung his eyes for a moment, and he had to turn away from the source. It was wak, flickering unsteadily, and barely enough to illuminate three feet around it. The darkness that he turned to seemed so much more welcoming after the time he had spent in it. How long that had been, he didn't know, but that was unimportant at the moment. After a few seconds, when his eyes had adjusted to it, he slowly let his gaze find the source. It was a hanging lamp of some sort, and as Kirn approached, he found it to be filled with a number of twinklebugs. They shone like weak stars in the night, but were decently bright enough that they could be used for such things if it was so desired. It wasn't often, though, except in the most desperate of circumstances, as they died easily and dimmed even sooner than that. He grasped it from the hook in the ceiling that it dangled from.

With it down about eye level, Kirn made his way cautiously forward. He could see nothing ahead of him, and had no desire to bump into anything that was lower than that with his shins. Some would say he was overly so, but a broken nose would mean blood, and who knew what would be attracted to that? He didn't want to think about it. He edged a little more forward, and from the darkness emerged a groteque face from a person that was larger than him. He let out a startled cry, unsure of what to make of it and frightened that his death had come at last. The lamp dropped, as did he, cowering and shivering with fright. It was all he could do to not scream more than he had, though tears threatened to escape.

It was more than a few minutes before he had the courage to glance up once more. No sword was emerging from the darkness to join the face, killing him. No movement was made by the feet that were now showing. But the feet weren't really feet. They looked... odd. Still. Like something that had never really been.... His hand reached out gently, and discovered he was right. THey had never really been (in real life, that was). They were painted onto a wall, and as he grasped the handle of the lanp again- which had gone dangerously low- he crawled upwards onto his knees and then up to where the face had been, looking up since it had been taller than he. The grotesque face was no longer so, merely sharper, with eyes that were deeply sunken into their sockets, and hollow cheeks besides a gaunt and stringy body. It was a sylph. A painting of one, at least. His eyes glanced at the lamp, then back at the painting. Who made these anymore? They were uncommon, as the sylphs themselves had gone to being as cruel as the greenies.

His hand against the wall, he started moving along it to the left, hoping that it would lead him to an exit of some sort. There was little else to hope for, since he had no idea where Nia was, and whatever this place was, he had no idea how to escape it.

NaNoWriMo 9

His eyes strayed on them, watching them as they disappeared into the distance on the path. Literally disappeared. He started his steed forward, unsure of if what he was seeing was really there. His entourage of guards followed closely behind, calling out to him as he trotted forward and peered at the ground closely. "Junie, come here. Examine these tracks!" He called his head woodman forward from the ranks. The man did so at his order immediately, so that he could do what his Prince requested. He dismounted and walked through the guards so that he could examine the tracks in front of the Prince more closely. They seemed to veer a little to the side before vanishing into the woods. There was nothing beyond the tree line, no hint that any person or beast had passed by there.

The men behind them were murmuring, wondering what was happening, in hushed voices that held an inherent wariness of the forest around them, knowing that it was dangerous here and that it was far too easy to stray to their deaths. The Prince gazed back. "Fall in and parade order!" The command gave the men direction. They did so, falling into the orderly rows that delegated their order far better than the slightly messy lines that had been in before. The Prince turned his attention back to the woodsman. "And what is your determination?" It was said in a quiet voice, that seemed to be muffled even further by the blanket of solemnity that hovered over the soldiers. At the same time he motioned for the man to come close so that his answer would not be overheard by ears that should not hear it.

He gave a slight sigh. It was barely audible, but tinged with regret. "It seems that these riders have been led off by the greencaps, or perhaps willow sprites. They have been stolen away."

The Prince's shoulder stiffened. "With a Sylph should they not have avoided this?"

"They are not trained in woodslore, except for some of the most minor avoidances. They are too often kept in the cities where they have no need of such things, and are mainly trained as healers. The sprites would not care of her rank, or of whether she was needed. We should take care lest we also fall to a similar fate."

"Is there no hope that they might be saved?"

"They have as much chance as anyone of surviving. We cannot follow where they have been taken. That part of the stories is true."

The Prince grimaced, furrowing his brow. This was not good- they would have to save themselves if they were in trouble. With any luck, his own contingent would not fall, either. His back straightened. "Men, head out!" None of his worry tainted his voice, and it echoed clearly through the trees. They could not worry about this at this point, regardless- there was a war to be fought and a border to be brought into order.

They kept heading along the road. With so many, the likelihood that they would be tricked into evil places was far less, but it was still not a safe thing to be dealing with in this area. His eyes kept towards the road, letting his men take care of guarding the borders of the men. The cavalry spread out at his motion, taking to the sides and herding the men closer together.

Nia sighed deeply as her eyes opened. The gentle rock of the horse beneath her comforted her an unusual amount. This was nice. She lifted her head from Kirn's back. She could feel that the folds of his clothing had made an impression on her face, and so she tried to lift a hand to rub it away. Her hands happened to be tied around his waist, though. "Am I a slave or a captive?" she murmured quietly, trying to get his attention without startling him. From the look of his shoulders. he was tense with something> Worry? Panic? He didn't look good, though, from where she was looking.

He glanced back to ensure that she was awake. "I didn’t' want you to fall off when we were riding. I hope you don't mind. Give me a moment." He stopped the horse and started to unknot the rope. "Are your writs’ chafed?"

"No, they feel fine." She drew her hands back so she could rub them, feeling a slight tingle as blood started running through her hands more freely. "Thank you. Falling off would naught have been an experience I wish to be acquainted with."

"Well, I hope being lost is not one that you're too eager for, either. Unfortunately, it seems I might have taken a wrong turn in the woods. I have no idea where we are at this point."

She glanced around them, taking in the sight of the dark trunks of twisted and warped trees pressing in on them. The sun was still in the sky, and she could feel a warm breeze brushing her hair away from her face. It gave an odd whistling sound as it wended it's way through the woods. Her shoulders shuddered, though, as she realized the implication of his words. "Ach. So the greenies have gotten the best of us? Or one of the woods sprites at the very least. Any idea of how to get us out of this mess?" They weren't really questions to be answered. The answers to all of them were fairly self-evident. If there had been any hope of him knowing how to avoid the traps, they wouldn't be in this situation in the fiorst place. If he knew how to get them out of it, he would have already. All in all, Nia was frustrated with herself, as she had no better idea of what to do at this moment.

"Let me down, ne? I would appreciate a look around us. Perhaps I can get my bearings better on my feet. I've naught been on a horse before, and it's making me motion sick." Kirn let her slide off. She did so slightly awkwardly, but was right on her feet well enough in a few moments. Her eyes looked around, trying to find something useful other than the dirt of the path ahead, for the path behind them... It hardly seemed believable, but the path behind them only extended for a few feet, then disappeared into overgrown thicket and woods. It was as if it was dead-set on eating them whole, the way it was enclosed on them. Her fingers tightened, and she walked over to it, pushing aside some of the branches, hoping for some clue as to what to do.

That turned out to be a bad idea, however, as there was a high-pitched squeak, and her fingers came away with a dozen thin slices that bled like no tomorrow.
It was painful, so much so she jerked her hands back and burried them into her sleeves. The blood seeped through the material, staining it bright crimson. Her gasp of pain didn't go unnioticed. "What is it?" Kirn dismounted quickly and hurried so he could see. It appeared worse for him since her sleeves were now red up to the elbow. "The greenies!" He hissed, looking back at the brush with fear in his eyes. They weren't attacking yet, but... his eyes went back to her wounds as she pulled them out so he could see. It was a relief to know that she wasn't more hurt than she was. He turned towards the horse to see if he could get her pack so she could take care of her hands only too see that the horse had disappeared. "Nia, please tell me I am imagining this." It was a quiet order. Her gaze lifted from her hands, where they had been fixed by the little wounds, and every motino was stilled.

"It's gone."

Her voice was quiet, unbelieving, panic starting to run into her tone. "I can naught help us if I do naught have my pack. Where did it go?" Her hands gripped into fists in front of her. clasped together. "Kirn, we're stuck and lost here. Where did the horse go?!" er tone was rising into the hysterical. Nia's eyes were wide, and he could see the whites clearly. Fear was practically pouring from her pores. His hands went up and grasped her shoulders.

"Listen. We aren't going to find the horse if we sticka round here panicing. Understand? We'll be finw iffin we just keep walking." His eyes bore into hers, trying to give her the confidence that he himself wasn't feeling. A bursh of leaves on his elbow encouraged him to take a move away from the end of the path. It was slightly terrifying, as it meant they were slowly growing. He gazed at them, looking at them, seeing them slowly gorw and encoutageing them to keep moving.

Nia's eues followed his gaze. "Imma sorry!" Her feet started moving, pulling him along after he started her moving. "I shouldna gotten off, and now we're stuck without my pack, and we do naught have the horse-"

"It would have happened at some point. Better the horse and your pack disappear before us, right? There would not be much else to happen first." Your hands will stop bleeding soon enough, we don't need your pakc for that. Just keep them wrapped in your sleeves." She nodded and obeyed his words. She knew that already, felt silly for forgetting, for letting her mind be thrown by what was happening. This was the best she could do, though. Nia wasn't going to lie- she was scared. This was the first time that she had really been out and about in the wilderness. She had always been by the cities, or in populated areas. Very few people lived out in the wilds, and those usually didn't need her skills- they themselves knew the best remedies for their maladies from haing lived out there.

She stuck close to Kirn's side. There was little else to bother her at htis point, other than their being attacked. It made her grateful for Kirn's sword. As a healer, she had to fundamentally be against them, but as someone who needed it's protection, it was something else entirely. With her hands in her sleeves, there was no way for her to grab his arm- something that she would be tempted to do if she were not wounded, something that would be dangerous and a hindrance if he needed to draw his wapon.

Kirn kept his hands on his weapon, not knowing when he would need it. He was just grateful that Nia could not smell the blood that he could- faint, but not hers. It didn't bode well for their ride, but their feet would be enough for them right now. They would carry them far enough, and once they got to the camp, they could find a new one. What else could be done?

----
Liam glanced at the road ahead of him. It didn't look right. Where were they heading? This seemed very odd, indeed. The trees were becoming a pale, ghostly color. He could almost feel the sunlight through them, see the outlines of other trees. He halted the company and motioned his woodsman forward. His woodsman looked pale. What did he know that the rest of them didn't? The men had fallen into light disarray again, bunching together in familiar groups that they used for fighting. "Sire? My Lord, what do you need?"

His eyes leveled at Junio. "Where are we? What direction are we headed, and if you do not know that, what does this place seem to be to you? Woodsman, I assume you know your lore. " He was disturbed by what was around them, in ways he could hardly describe.

The woodsman wasn't in much of a better position. "My Lord, it seems we are still heading in the direction that we should be. However, I feel that... I feel that we may be passing into their realm. The sprites seem to have led us into a dead place, someplace that the life has been sucked out of, by whatever force lives here. See, this seems to be the best explanation for... this." He held out a leaf that he had plucked from a tree, and when h rubbed it between his fingers, it turned to grey and began disintegrating into ash.

The Prince's lips tightened. "And why did you not see fit to notify me of this earlier?"

"My lord, I-" He was cut off as the Prince ordered his men to take him, tying him up and one escoting him to the back of the group. The Prince turned to his men, their murmerings and whisperings of fear reaching his ear and growing louder by the moment as they saw what happened. "Men! Fall in and parade! I know how many men we started out with, i wish to know how many we have now! Know your fighting brother! War groups pair together in line!" His orders were obbeyed. There was a flurry as men lined up together in the groups they would fight in on the battlefield, feling the safety in eachother's presence. However, not all of them were complete. Shouts went up as several soldiers were found to be missing. His eyes scanned the rows of four, picking out which ones were incomplete. One was left with only two men, while four others were missing one. Five men out of eighty-four. It wasn't a bad count, but it wasn't a comforting one, either. Two horsemen had also disappeared into the woods. Those were worse losses, but ones that they could deal with.

The names that were brought back revealed that four of the men had been suspected to run regardless- and Liam suspected they would not be seen again in this world- while the others were good soldiers. Two had been brought from the healing camp, the others had been the soldiers he had brought with to save the camp. His head bowed for a moment, and a quick prayer was sent up to the heavens on their accounts.

NaNoWriMo 8

This is Number 8, and where I proudly announce that I have hit the halfway mark! 25,000 words, Baby! GO ME! ^.^

Though the feeling still lingered in her mind, feeding off the hate that she had towards said policies. Those who were singled out as unfit were sent aside, while those that were remained standing at attention. The soldiers deemed unfit strayed back into the camp, taking down what needed to be and packing supplies. Those that were fit were dismissed to help with what they could as long as they were ready to leave afterwards. Taking down the camp would be more lengthy than packing to leave, so they knew that there would be time enough to move out before noon. The Prince dismissed her at the same time, without a backwards glance. That was alright, in her opinion. The feeling of being near someone so important, someone so connected to her own status in this country made her unbelievably uncomfortable.

She slipped into the camp to help the Sisters with taking care of the wounded that were too wounded to even get to the meeting this morning. She started for the bed nearest her that was unattended, but a glare from the occupant stopped her in her tracks. She bowed her head in mock humility, waiting for him to give his permission for her to approach. Like she did anyone at this point. This was going to be highly disappointing- she was going to miss Kirn. He was somebody that had made life her ever so slightly more tolerable.

Kirn himself was motioned away from the camp by one of the commanders that had been with the Prince. To his surprise he was directed to the Prince's side, to discuss something with him. He stood stiffly at attention, the bowed, unsure of the meaning being this. The green grass swayed beneath his feet, brushing against his boots. The weight of this fell heavily. "You brought me here to be treated, soldier, and I owe you my thanks for bringing me so timely. Between you and the Sylph, I am in much debt. Please, lift your eyes."

He stood up straight, not abruptly but respectfully. His arms were like sticks at his sides. Kirn was silent, waiting for what the Prince wished to speak with him about. "As you are aware, the camp is moving into the country. There is a possibility that rogues and other assassins will follow, thinking that you know where my whereabouts are. Since Nia is both a valuable asset and knows my identity and the nature of my wounds, I feel that she needs a guard, someone to keep her from getting into too much trouble. Do you feel you are up to the task?"

Kirn's mouth was dry, as dry as if he had licked the ashes from the ground the night before. He could hardly believe what was being asked of him, though it was a tearing feeling between honor and disgrace. "I am certainly most capable, Your Honor. I would be honored to accompany her." It was treue, as there was honor in such a task. However... However, he was not returning to the Battlefield. He was not being allowed to fight by the Prince's side on the field of war. Was he being shifted aside? Even if she was a Sylph, she was a halfie, and how could he not dislike her, considering who his father was?

"I know a person of importance, and she is one." The statement echoed the thought in his head. "And even with her heritage, we would be sore pressed if she were lost. Take care of her, and see that she is safe."

Kirn bowed his head. "I shall do so to the best of my ability, Your Honor. Thank you for allowing me this." This what? Duty? It was most certainly that, though an unwelcome one if he was being told that he was not good enough to die for his nation. Even so, he could see the sense in it. Sylph. Why did she have to be a Sylph?

With that, the Prince gave a slight smile. "Then my thanks. You may return to your duties." A clear dismissal. There was nowhere else to go at this point. He want back and began to pack up his own belongings- something that didn't take too long, as they weren't his, they belonged to the army supplies. His own had been left behind in his other camp.

That made him frown. He would have to send for them soon, or risk losing them to other soldiers that needed them. He stood up and strode for the camp's commander, who was giving out orders and overseeing the work of his soldiers. "Sir." he said smartly, raising a hand to salute him. "My supplies are farther West, where I came from with the Prince. Please allow me to go and retrieve them." The commander's hard stare gave the idea that perhaps it would not be allowed. That wouldn't be too surprising- often, supplies were lost on the trails that they took, or were given out among those that needed them. Even so, personal items were precious, and could hold a soldier through many a hard days.

"And what of the Prince's orders to you?"

"To guard the Sylph, sir. I can do such on the roads we are on, away from the ones from this camp. If they believe we are with you, then we will not be bothered by any enemy soldiers, should they come across us. I will be a mere escort to a simple healer, if she changes the knot on her robes." It wasn't meant to sound desperate, but he feared it coming out that way. Kirn's own personal items were so precious... So very important to him. He feared having them lost to scavengers or sold for cash to bear the drinking and whoring of his fighting companions.

There was a hard look in the commander's eye as he gazed over the guard. Kirn wasn't sure whether his current duty was a demotion or a promotion, but to disregard the order from the Prince was a hanging offence- he was a superior officer, and that alone demanded respect.
"Then do so, but you will meet us there on the day we arrive or before that. You will be given no grace if you are late, and will be considered a traitor if you have not arrived by then. Understood?" Kirn bowed his head, inclining it and folding his hands in the way that signaled he understood and respected his commander's orders. This was going to be an interesting time, indeed, he thought as he began to mentally calculate how fast they would have to go to get to the camp and meet the group before the arranged time. It was going to be quite a ride, but he could handle it. Hopefully he would be able to press the Sylph into it, as well.

"Then go and get a horse from the stabled ones. The one you came in on should be well enough to take you back to the camp again." He was dismissed, and Kirn started for the Sister's tent. Nia was not there, so the next place he looked was in the recovery tent. She was taking care of a man with a severe head wound, from the look of the bandages on his head. The bluish blood was seeping through it, though it didn't stop him from glaring at Nia was a baleful look. He started forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. Nia flinched beneath his touch, jerking the patient's head. A shout escaped him, and he began a string of swearing and Nia. The rest of the soldiers and healers either glared at her outwardly or looked at her from the corners of their eyes. She blushed brightly, crimson staining her cheeks, as she excused herself to follow Kirn. The language followed them, getting muffled from the cloth as it fell between them and the patient. Nia's shoulders hunched slightly, ashamed of her nervously she had behaved when touched.

:Do not do that again, Kirn, sir. It is not helping things around here, and making things very difficult for me to work peacefully. Understood?" There was some humility to her words, but the tone was angry, however quiet that anger was. He grimaced. "Yes, I understand. Sorry. However, we're moving out, you and me, since I need to head to my former camp to get a few things. My orders are to guard you, so I need you to come with me." His last words had been to cute her off before she could say anything about it, asking why she also needed to come. "How far away is your camp? How long will it take us to get here?" "Just a day, if we ride hard, but I feel that in order to keep the horse from tiring out, it should take us more like two. This will give us enough time to make it back to the rest of the camp before they reach their destination. We need to leave soon, though. Should I help you pack?"

"You aren't allowed in the Sister's tent, remember?" Her words were wry with a slight bit of laughter. "Thank you, but I can be ready in ten minutes if you can get the horse saddled and prepared by then. I'll see you on the path to the town." She turned without saying anything more, leaving him to prepare for the ride. It was going to be an interesting two days, indeed.

She rushed back to the tent, not even bothering to alert the healers in the tent that she was leaving, leaving the patient to be treated by someone else. He would be grateful for that, she thought with some ruefulness. That had been embarrassing- she should be able to handle patients better than that, but when someone snuck up on her... Thoughts of practical jokes and terrible pranks flitted through her mind, things that had been done to her when she was in the cloisters. Those were why she had been so happy to leave and wander, what had drawn her to the Man from Somewhere Else. She wondered if she would be so lucky as to see him on the road- he found her on occasion, but it was always randomly, never at a predictable rate, never somewhere that she would think that she would see him. Nia strode to the tent where Superior was directing those Sisters left over and not preparing the wounded from travel to pack up everyone's things. Everyone's but hers' of course. She was always left to take care of her own things in addition to the duties to the patients. It was not something that bothered her, since it allowed her things to not be ruined or spiders placed in her pack, or snakes. The few times others had taken care of her own things, she had been disgusted with the things that had been found- the last time, her medical pack had been filled with shit. That was the last time, and while the perpetrators had never been caught, no one had ever been allowed near her things again, not because it had been wrong to do such a thing to her, but her medicines were too valuable and precious to be allowed to be messed with, especially when she could need them at a moment's notice. That bag had been replaced immediately, but Nia never forgot the feel of reaching into it without knowing what had been inside.

A light shudder ran through her body, and she nearly felt sick from it. Her Superior turned to her after she had made a respectful stance for a minute or so, digging into her time to prepare but not angering the Superior. "And what do you need? Why are you not taking care of the patients?" Well, there had gone the hope of not bothering the Superior. "Sister Superior, I am being taken to the camp of my guard so that he can retrieve a few things, and so that I can heal a few of the soldiers there at the same time." "Guard? You have no guard. You aren't worth a guard, even if your skills are that good. I am sure that I would know such a thing if I-"

:She has a guard, assigned her by the Prince himself. And he gave them permission to go to the camp as well, so let her prepare." A voice cut in, the camp commander's. Nia quickly turned to look, face-on, but after a moment of his glare, her eyes went to the ground. The Superior sputtered with disbelief. "You cannot be serious. He ordered it himself? But we need her to tend the wounded in this camp! And why the guard? Does he truly feel..." Her words ended there. There was no complaining against the order itself, but questioning the why's were. "He feels that since she is an asset to the nation and that she is in danger of being attacked again, due to her knowledge, that she should have a guard. Kirn, the one who brought her. They will meet with us at the new camp." There was no arguing with his words.
Superior was not happy with the state of things. She studied Nia with hard eyes, and moved her head to allow her to pass into the tent to get her things. Nia scurried in there. There were few people she was honestly afraid of, but Superior was one of them. She had been Nia's teacher and supervisor at the main cloister, and had always had it in for her. Things that the other girls would never have been allowed to get away with, if they had been done to other students, were allowed to happen to her with no consequence or eyebrows raised. Her punishments for breaking the rules had been dealt out harshly. Nia still had the scars from some of them, embedded in her knees where she had been forced to kneel on hard planks carved with the symbols of obedience and humility, and others on her back where outright disobedience and talking back had been punished with the whip or switch. It had hurt more with her pride, even when her blood had stained the floor blue. Once, it had been spoken out against- when Superior had attempted to punish her with the meting out of strokes that would be given to an adult man. Mother had stepped in at that point, saying that even that was too much for the then ten-year-old to handle. Superior had not been pleased, but had acquiesced to the order. Nia loved Mother for that. She had fainted from the pain of the strokes that had been given her after, but she would have died if Superior had been allowed to commit the punishment she wanted.

Her fingers strayed over the small items that she carried with her. Her pack was separate from her medicines, her medicinal pack holding the most precious of things that could not be messed with. The herbs and ointments that took hours to prepare, days to create. They were her most precious items, but there were a few other things that she treasured as much, such as a small gemstone that had been given when she had traveled to the South Inner Sea. The deep blue of it was marked, it was a cheap stone, but the boy she had treated for rotting of the flesh had been thankful to her for saving his leg. His tears of happiness when he learned that it would not have to come off had given her the ability to go on- that had been at a dark time in her life, where she had stood at the edge of the Sea and contemplated simply walking in and never looking back. She liked healing, though, and that had confirmed that even if she received no thanks, that she would continue to do it.

There was a tiny ring of silver, also cheap, but still more precious than gold. It had been the wedding ring of a woman whose husband died before she could reach him, and who was dying of the same disease. The woman had thanked her for saving her own life, and that of her grandchild, but the ring that had graced her husband's finger had come off. He was free to travel to the next world with no attachments at that point. The ring had been payment, though she could see the sorrow that the woman herself had survived. Nia didn't know what became of the woman, but the granddaughter had promised she would care for her. The ring was something that Nia knew she could pawn off for funds if she ever decided to leave this country, when she could do so without risk to her own life. That was the plan, at least. Her hands clenched over the silver circle and she tucked it into her robes. It might come in handy on this journey, and she was determined to not lose it.

Then there was the light blue belt that marked her as a beginning healer. Her fingers graced the cloth with some trepidation. She had worked so hard to get this, to be allowed to interact with others and have some respect. If the Order had its way, she would have been tucked away in a cloister, where no one could see her, doing the cooking and cleaning for the children that were there. It was not a life that she could have handled. This was her saving grace. The blood that stained it was red and blue. It didn't wash out, no matter how hard she tried. They were made that way, to soak it up, so that the ones who wore them would not forget that lives depended on them, that they could be the difference between life and death for those whose veins the liquid ran through. Her fingers rubbed the stains, knowing that the her own veins had mixed blood, though in color it was no different from a human's. THis was tucked into the small back that held a blanket as well as a change of robes.

With that she was ready to leave. It had not taken long to organize and arrange everything. Her medicinal pack fit into the one with her personal items, so that there would not be an overturned or awkwardness to it. And it would go well over the horse's saddle, she mused, knowing that it had been made for such a purpose but never having done such a travel. Before this it had only been on foot, and the pack had been made to accommodate that as well. She stepped out, where the commander was still waiting. She was surprised when he motioned for her to halt. "Because of your status, you need to change that belt. You have your minor healer's belt? Most do, so exchange it. You will only draw unnecessary attention and danger if you do not." Nia nodded, then stepped back into the tent to change. The Sisters were busy taking down the sheets that acted as walls between the sleeping areas, and as she untied her own, her robes falling open briefly to reveal even more of her pale skin, they glanced over at her as discreetly as possible, both with disgust and envy at her blue belt. Temptation to take it had happened to other Sisters, and a few times it had gone missing in her sleep, but it was often returned, or replaced when it could be (though that gave her far more trouble than it was probably worth). After all, her rank was not dependent on the belt she wore, and that was made clear. It did make things easier when she could prove what she was saying about being a healer, though.
THe old belt came out and wrapped around her waist, much to the shock of the other healers. They wanted to know if she was being demoted to a lower rank- not possible, due to her skills. Nia didn't answer the questioning looks. It was none of their business. They could reveal that she had changed her belt to others, but it wasn't going to affect what she was doing. And it was unlikely that the enemy would hear of this, right? Ah, well. Didn't matter in the long run. She tightened the belt around her waist- the baby fat she had when she first recieved it had eventually melted away, leaving her a little thinner and more shapely. Not that anyone would notice beneath the cloth layers that covered her body. when it was adjusted and the one that marked her true status was tucked away, she left, passing the commander with a small bow (Superior was nowhere to be seen), and walked up the path to the town.

He was waiting halfway for her, the horse looking lively and ready to start moving. The earth was clumping underneath the pawing of his hooves. Kirn smiled slightly, holding his hand out for her pack. She gave it over, and he roughly attatched ut, like an overly large saddlebad, bt it was balanced out on the other side by a pack of supplies that he had rustled up from the commotion in the camp. He motioned her to get on. Nia hesitated a moment, unsure of whether she would be able to make it on. Her hand grasped the saddle horn, and her foot went into the holster. She lifted herself over with a little difficulty, since the horse insisted on shifting beneath her as she did so. Kirn lifted himself up in front of her so that he would protect her from wind and the immediate sight of any possible asailants. Even a beginning healer could be subject to kidnapping within the realm, if the people were hurt and needed one enough. She rested her hands around his waist and held on as he started the horst into a jog, then a canter, and finally into a gosting gallop as the headed around the camp and into the countryside. The forest closed behind them, cutting them off from the camp and the noise of the packing. A last glimpse before it did gave her the sight of the army on their horses in the field, preparing to move out.

THey would be following behind them for a few leagues, but after that, she and Kirn would be on their own. Her face burried into Kirn's back, wondering what would be ahead for them. Would the camp even be there still? It was possible that by now they had moved- one of the time-honored strategies in the kingdom was to keep moving. If they were still there, she hoped that he would be able to have his things.

The ride was quiet, the whistle of the wind past them the only sound to accompany he pounding of the hooves of the horse. She adjusted to the rhythm of the movement in a few minutes, after awkwardly banging into Kirn a few times. She could tell that it irritated him, but he didn't make a sound. He was either far nicer than he let on, or he just wished to keep moving. Yelling at her would do no good, so Nia suspected the latter. The path they were taking was an older logging path. She could tell where the trees were regrowing. There was grass growing in thin patches and lines excpet in the most worn of the tracks. Her eyes scanned the trees, looking for the michevious sprites that were likely to cross their paths in this type of place. Greencaps were not uncommon in woods like these, the protectors of the forsest, the ones that would take revenge for the trees that had been cut down. They had to watch for those at the camp because of the forestry that occured there. Here, though, they were sure to be far more plentiful and angrier, since people had long left and the sprites were left to their own devices.

She had no desire to neet them. Kirn had managed to get here without coming across any, though, so that eased her nerves. It was possible that they had just decided that it wasn't worth it to take revenge against simple travelers. It wasn't unheard of, at the very least.

And there were other, more dangerious sprites to worry about. If the encroaching soldiers got to the woods, then they would have far more to worry about than greencaps. The ones that lived in the mountains seemed to be taking care of them fairly well, but there were always things that were more dangerous. Even the people that lived in the country knew that there were places that were still untamed. Wasn't that the case in those other coutries? It was said that they didn't take the proper precautions against the mountain spirits and creatures, which made her think that they were just strange to them, or that they had killed them off. While Nia was frightened of the deadly ones that haunted in the wilds, she would be saddened if their mystery was forever ended and left to the dust of time.

Her hands tightened around Kirn's waist even more. The ride and shade of the forest was getting to be too much for her after the complete lack of rest from the night before. It was not going to harm anyone if she rested, right? Her eyes slipped closed once she was sure she had a firm grip, and her body slumped against his back. The sunlight made patterns against her eyelids, ones that hypnotized her and drew her into her own dreamland, where the world was mysterious and dangerous, exciting, and loving to her, where she could escape to the safety of the mysterious man's arms.

Kirn felt her go limp, and one of his hands moved to make sure hers were secure. Soldiers could do this without a problem, but she was not a soldier, and there was a real danger of her falling off. His grip on the reins slackened, and the gallop slowed to a canter, a different three-beat that was more leisurely and kinder to the sleeping woman. Some roped from the side of the saddle- necessary for a soldier who laid traps- was unwrapped, and he wrapped the reins around the saddle horn so that he could tie her wrists so that she was secured around him. It was safer for them both that way. As his other hand went to get the reins, one of his hands lingered over hers. Quite a healer, indeed. He decided against pushing the trip too much, because they would need the horse to get to the town in time. In the meanwhile, though would follow the... the path?

He pulled the horse to a stop as he contemplated what was in front of him. It split off into two branches, both going in the same general direction and both appearing to be quite safe in th sunlight. However, if they took the wrong one it would be real trouble. A trick of the greencaps? Or some other menace? He was sure this hadn't been here before, though he had been coming the opposite way before. His eyes lingered over the trees and ground, but was unable to discern anything that would tell him which way to go. He could not even see the evidence of his previous passing. Greencaps were surely at work with that. Kirn took a breath, and took the path to the right. It seemed to be in more the general direction of where they should be heading, and that was definitely the signal of something otherworldly at work. He felt his shoulders tighten with the stress of not knowing if he was taking Nia into danger. The soldiers following them would have their own test to pass through. The one thing he knew was that he could not turn back- that was the one thing that would ensure their death if he did. Greencaps were known for illusions and traps, and if he did at this point, he would only see a mirror image of the crossroads. Beign entirely turned around was as bad as just facing the two paths and choices.

His chin lifted. He was Kirn! He was more than a footsoldier- he was guard to a Sylph, and a second Tithen to the commander! He had some authority and could take on these things. Nia probably had some herbs that would come in handy in protecting them from these spirits. She had to- no healer was unprepared for an emergency, right? He glanced at the posistion of the sun. It was hard to believe that this kind of emergency had occured three hours after leaving the camp. Somehow, he had thought that it would be longer before they came across any trouble. He and Nia would have to escape on their own from this, though- the army would be no help, what with the greencaps and their ways. He slowed the horse down to a walk, his hand slipping to touch Nia's, reassuring himself that she was still there, not wanting to wake her quite yet. THere was still the possibility that he had chosen the right path and that they were well on their way to the camp.

Liam and the rest were on the path in the woods. He could see where the tracks from the Sylph and her guard had rushed along. A gallop, to try and get to the camp on time. He smiled slightly, wishing them luck on their journey.n They would need it with the timeline they were given. It was a comfort to see that they were well on their way. At the head of the army, he would know when their paths split. If he were father back the tracks of his own men, both horsed and not, would have destroyed the marks made by the other travelers.