Anise
Anise knew she was being watched. Regardless of whether the man was capable of hiding himself well, there seemed to be no plausible way for him to do so in this crowd—he was far too discernible. Tall and slender, he was clad in the fine, grey robes of a mage that matched his inordinately light, silvery irises. Atop handsome, sculpted cheeks, his piercing gaze cut like a dagger from underneath his hood, slicing through the heavy ambiance of the tavern from the moment she walked in.
From that point onward, the usual bustling and chatter of drunken hunters and dancing village girls went on around them. She caught his glance intermittently throughout the night, and held it once with a truculent grin until he was forced to look away. He knew what she was, that much was clear—a lost Child of the Elder blood. No doubt he too, was here to abduct and abuse the extraordinary magical talents that she inherited.
Granted, this feat was impressive—not many had managed to track her lineage successfully. There were a few that managed to find her before this mage, though every last one of them failed in their conquest of her magic—he would fail as well.
Anise noted his true height as he stood, expectedly aiming to follow her down the hallway of the large tavern. She'd a job to do here tonight and would have to dispose of this man quickly. A bit of entertainment never hurt, and she would happily warm the Elder Blood before an exhausting assignment—like stretching her legs before taking off in a run. And the mage, in turn, would pay for daring to presume that he could spirit her away for his own purposes.
Avallac'h
A heavy instinct coiled in Avallac'h's chest when the woman entered the tavern.
After spending years traveling across space and time, he relished in finally finding a lost descendant of the Elder Blood, a final plea of hope that would save his world from the White Frost. Their encounter this evening would prove invaluably important, for if she refused, the fate of his world would be one of devastating winter and ice.
He needed to find a way to explain this to her.
By the elegant robes she wore, Avallac'h wondered if she, perhaps, had been exposed to the arcane arts at some point in her life. And by the way she moved about the room, he sensed her rising apprehension and awareness of his observance. Though her movements appeared intently nimble and feminine, strength and resolve rippled under every wave of her hand and pivot of her heel. She was attempting to draw him into a false sense of security. Avallac'h lowered his chin approvingly—not only was she powerful, she was clever and aware as well.
No doubt she'd been stalked and hunted many times before, and learned to lure her enemies thusly in the hardest was possible. He had no such intentions, naturally, except that his motives may appear more forward that he'd intend, when they'd finally speak. But the urgency of the danger could not and should not be understated—informing her of the impending threat to her realm, as well as his own, may suffice to convince her that their interests align.
Avallac'h furrowed a brow as he watched her turn and saunter gracefully toward a hallway at the far end of the hall, throwing him a defiant glance over her shoulder. He stood, making to follow her into the shadowy depths, and treaded carefully as he watched her enter a room to the far right.
The tang of magic coated his mouth, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, listening carefully as he approached at a steady pace. As he pushed the wood of the door, it creaked as it opened before him, revealing a vast, empty hall. He glanced about the towering pillars and smirked—recognizing the elaborate illusion of a ballroom.
The door shut behind him, and disappeared entirely as looked back toward the sound, as phantom dancers suddenly appeared all around him. Avallac'h scanned the faces warily, recognizing more than a few. Inhabitants of Tir Na Lia, and members of his home realm. The Aen Elle—elves.
In fact, a number of them were decidedly recognizable—members of the king's court. Avallac'h shook his head at the blatant violation of his private thoughts, and threw a magical shield of his own up against the invasion of his mind. The dancers vanished, and a silver knife appeared at his throat instead—along with a tight grip on his left shoulder.
"Who are you?" a feminine voice ground out over his shoulder, though he could not see her face from behind the edge of his hood.
He raised a hand slowly, and the woman pressed the knife against his skin in turn. "I'm not here to harm you," he said briskly, raising the other hand in a gesture of surrender. "I merely wish to speak."
"To me? And why is that?" she mused sternly.
"Tell me your name first, so I may know what to call you."
The woman laughed. "I know the power of a name in the hands of a mage. I'll tell you nothing until you speak—tell me who you are, and what you want from me."
"My name is Avallac'h Crevan Espane aep Caomhan Macha—an Aen Saevherne sage from Tir Na Lia."
Silence hardened around them. "Plenty of words that I don't understand there, Ah-vah-lahk," she sounded out his name carefully. "You're from the elven realm, that much is clear to me. I have been there before. Though you still haven't told me why you're here, or what it is that you want from me."
Avallac'h raised a hand to lower his hood, turning his head slightly toward the woman. For a moment, he merely peered at her over his shoulder. Despite being a descendant of the Elder Blood, she had little to no resemblance to the original bearer of the magic—Lara Dorren. Amber eyes stared back at him intently, while light brown hair tumbled over her shoulders.
"My people are in peril, and I have come searching for one lost descendent of Lara Dorren—one who carries the Elder Blood. I believe you can save my realm, and all others, from a catastrophic event that is bound to envelope all life in winter and ice."
"You…" she paused. "You mean the White Frost, don't you?"
The knife disappeared suddenly from his neck. "Yes," he nodded surprisedly. "You know of it?"
Anise bobbed her head silently, trailing her eyes off to the side. "Actually, yes," she conceded, looking toward him sharply. "And of all the descendants of the Elder Blood, I never expected I would be called to deal with it."
"Do you know the others?" Avallac'h inquired eagerly.
"I don't know them personally," she shook her head. "I've only ever felt their existence. A connection in our blood, you might say."
"Would you be able to find them?"
"No," she murmured. "Believe me, I have tried."
Disappointment settled in Avallac'h's chest, and he tilted his head as he observed the woman's features. "So, what is your name?" he asked again.
The woman lifted her gaze to meet his, and Avallac'h's eyes flickered down to the subtle grin that tugged on her lip. "My name is Anise. We-"
Anise was interrupted by the sound of a banging door. Avallac'h watched as she blinked off to the side, and a door appeared in the direction of her gaze. She looked back at him,
"We may discuss this after my business here," she said.
"There is little to discuss," Avallac'h interjects, stepping into her path as she turns toward the door. "I need you to return with me to the land of the Aen Elle—if only for a time. You may travel there and back as you wish," he added reluctantly—lying through his teeth to the woman.
He knew there would be no return from Tir Na Lia. The king would never permit the woman to flee—however he would constrain the magic of the Elder Blood, the woman would not be allowed to leave.
Guilt twinges slightly in his chest as he watches her spare a contemplative glance, and nod slightly. "Very well, I will help you. After my business is dealt with here."
Her hair nearly flew over her shoulder as she turned, rather dramatically. Avallac'h narrowed his eyes at the demonstrable confidence in the way her hips swayed, and he watched for a moment as she strode toward the door, blinking away the thought as he followed after her in a brisk pace.
In an instant, Avallac'h watched the illusion melt away, and they returned to the tavern. He looked about the empty bedroom before stalking out through the open doorway, noting the unusual silence awaiting him at the end of the hall.
Dozens of eyes were now centered on Anise, as she stood over the weakened body of a young woman laying beside an island fire. Even the men behind the counter stopped working to observe the scene, and Avallac'h cut through the crowd to the woman's side.
Testing how close he could stand without her protesting, Avallac'h neared the woman slightly—prepared to act if the Elder Blood lost control in the middle of the room.
The woman neither protested, nor reacted to his proximity as she raised both arms gracefully into the air. She, too, was silent.
Gasps arose throughout the crowd as pale green light bled into her arms and forearms, streaming further down the rest of her body. The woman suddenly began to rise from the ground, rising further and further as Anise lifted her arms.
Avallac'h turned his attention to Anise's stern profile, eyeing the way she peered so intently at the figure levitating before her.
"Aman, aman," she muttered in a dual voice, and the greenness of her arms intensified to a pale white light. "Esvall nethal aimene!"
Avallac'h's eyes widened at the magical incantation, and his lips parted at the way the young woman's body reverted to an even younger form. Slowly, she descended to the ground, and his gaze hardened with suspicion and sharp realization—this woman was more dangerous than he'd anticipated. He had never seen the power of the Elder Blood used in this way, and he lifted his arms slowly as Anise staggered a bit.
She caught herself in time to keep from falling over, but that hardly deterred Avallac'h from stepping closer to her. "Where did you learn this magic?" he muttered darkly.
Anise rolled her eyes toward him heavily, shaking her head and panting lightly. "Later," she murmured. "This is not the time."
Avallac'h pressed his lips together tightly, scanning the woman's face. A glimmer of pity shone through his expression as he watched her collect herself—whoever taught her to control her powers did so very poorly.
He laid a hand on her shoulder to steady her, and Anise looked toward it sharply, before looking up at him. "You're right," he said. "We will discuss this at a later time. For now, you must rest."
She shook her head. "The White Frost isn't resting, is it?" she said, straightening up. "We should go to your realm."
"Wait," he said, surprised by her eagerness. "You may want to collect yourself a bit."
"I've been doing this for a long time," she responded sharply. "I know my bounds, and I haven't reached them yet. Let us go—besides," she paused, and Avallac'h stiffened visibly as she scanned his length. "The land of the Aen Elle must have a more comfortable bed than the one I found here."
"Why are you so eager?" he asked suspiciously.
Movement flickered in her brow, and Avallac'h narrowed his gaze at the flash of a memory that danced across her eyes. "This is what I do, sage. And I could not stay here long one way or the other, now that I have used the Power. There are others who will find me here. I may as well leave."
Despite the bustling going on around them, Avallac'h held Anise's gaze silently for a moment before conceding.
"Very well," he said, stepping back with a nod. "If you insist."
"I do. Let's go."
Hi readers! Thank you so much for reading this first chapter! :) I love the Witcher series and I love Avallac'h as a character, I think he's so underrated and has such an interesting, noble demeanor about him. I've been thinking about writing this story for a while, so this is me getting started.
Now, once I start on a project, I do commit to posting regularly (once a week at least, if not multiple times). I do write for myself first and foremost, but depending on the response I get for this story, I may write this at more of a leisurely pace than normal. Knowing whether people are into the story will influence me to come back to it sooner, simply because of the fact Avallac'h is such an underrated character, and I'm not sure what my reader base will look like as I'm writing this. So if you enjoy this story, please please do share your thoughts and interact with me about it! Just so I know that people are reading it, and I should continue writing it sooner rather than later.
And for those of you who are coming here from my God and the Siren series, thank you so much for having enough faith in me to come over and give this story a shot. :) I try to make my stories accessible to people outside of the fandom as well, so I hope to take you all on an interesting journey!
Til next time!