Warnings: AU, Plot spoilers for Lyn's story... probably some language, and battle scenes, which by their nature will have blood and gore.
A Twisted Beginning
Prolouge: Bleak Midwinter
Jaffar was annoyed. His targets were less than two hundred feet away, illuminated by both the sickly orange streetlight and the pale luminescence of the full moon, making the bridge they were standing on almost as bright as daytime. A plain, pale, blonde woman dressed in all black, the silver, dragon-winged eternity loop emblazoned on her shirt barely distinguishable at this distance, and her brother, equally pale but shockingly attractive, with black hair and blue-violet eyes, dressed in the somewhat medieval mode favored by the royal court. They were wrapped up in some private squabble, utterly oblivious to their surroundings and hissing at one another much like the serpents they would become if left to live. However…
However, he had been ordered to eliminate the twins secretly, and in such a way to make their deaths look accidental if possible. Another good thing about their quarreling, if they did fight, he could easily step in and make the siblings' feud turn 'tragically' deadly. Unfortunately, the three of them were not the only people on the bridge even at this late hour, and the siblings' squabble was drawing the few other people still out to them like moths to the flame. And they would burn, especially if the girl lost her temper. Shamans were always tricky, especially since their magic required them to keep a tight reign on their emotions lest their own magic consume them…
He pulled up the hood of his black sweatshirt. Really, he should leave. He couldn't risk being seen by anyone, this was one of Sonia's special missions, one of the ones that none of the real Black Fang were supposed to find out about. He was getting more and more of those lately…
He should leave… but it was so damn aggravating to see his targets sitting there, begging to be killed, while he could do nothing simply because of a few annoying, misplaced eyes…
The siblings' argument was getting more heated. The black haired young man grabbed his sister, shaking her hard enough that her head snapped back and forth, yelling something that was lost in the wind. When he let her go, she stumbled backwards. For one long moment she pitched backwards over the guardrail and the stone ledge, her arms wheeling… before she fell helplessly out into the blackness. Instinctively, she tried to catch herself on the ledge by her knees, but this resulted in her body slamming into the concrete and metal of the bridge. Temporarily stunned, she lost her grip and started to slide headfirst into the water…
Shaking out of his horrified stupor, her brother leapt forward screaming her name. He managed to grab one of her feet, halting her decent temporarily, but before he could get a better grip the black sneaker slid off her foot and she fell screaming into the river. Jaffar only lingered long enough to hear the splash, once he had heard that he knew that her chances of getting out alive were minimal. The current of the river was swift at this time of year, the water frigid. She would either drown or freeze to death before help could come.
So Jaffar left, before Bern's excellent police force could come in and start questioning people. Even if only half the job was complete, the death had been quite accidental and hence completely untraceable back to the master. Sonia would just have to be happy enough with that for the immediate future.
On that same night, several hundred miles away, a man named Hassar smacked his horse's rear. The creature was already terrified by the close proximity of fire; it really didn't need the prompting to careen off into the frigid darkness…
The horse could run, of course. The animals had been smart enough not to drink from the tainted well. For some reason, no one had noticed that until after three quarters of the camp had drunk from the poisoned water.
Hassar was not among those lucky enough to escape the poison.
Almost as soon as they had begun to weaken, the Talvier had fallen on them. Outnumbered and almost too weak to stand, his people were being slaughtered with a horrific efficiency.
These are bandits? He wondered numbly. Smarter than any bandits I've encountered before…
But no, that didn't matter now. He'd gotten his daughter out. Even if he couldn't save the rest of his people, Lyn would survive… that was all he could care about at this point.
There had been some small victories… those who could fight back had done so ruthlessly… his wife had managed to make those newfangled weapons that they had gotten from somewhere… guns… explode in their hands with a single arcane word. Pity the ruffians hadn't been carrying more of them. And every person who was sent off on horseback was a victory, for the Talvier had no horses of their own to pursue them…
Shouts, coming in his direction. So, they had seen Lyn. Too late for them to do anything about it, she was already out of arrow range. As long as she could stay mounted, she would survive.
They were coming back in his direction. He struggled to his feet and drew his sword shakily. He would die as what he was, the chieftain of the Lorca tribe, not as some sickly infirm begging to be slaughtered.
"I'm coming, Madelyn," he whispered, bracing for the end…
Well, that was…depressing. But, you wanted my version of Lyn's story, so here it is, in all its AU glory! Plot comes in the next chapter.And the next chapter of Distorted Reflections will be out in a day or two. Schoolwork is slowing me down.