"For the last time, Solas, I can handle myself!"
"It's not about that," Solas shot back. He paused. "I know you're capable, I'm just worried."
"That's just code for: 'I don't think she can set foot outside without combusting.'" Nimwen retorted. Why did Solas have to be so difficult? All she wanted to do was take Lori on a walk like they always did, and here he was adamant she stay in camp.
"Vhenan," Solas started with a heavy sigh. "We don't know these woods. We don't know if there are humans nearby. We don't know if it's safe."
"Now you listen here," Nimwen hissed. "I did not survive an explosion, demons, a mountain falling on me, Orlesians, and a wannabe god just for you to treat me like glass!" Nimwen really wanted to smack Solas right now. Perhaps that was just the hormones.
"Mamae, daddy, no fight," Lori spoke up.
"I realize you're not glass. And the fact you were pregnant with Lorien during the final fight," he trailed off looking pale. "I won't make the same mistake twice. You could have lost her or been killed yourself. You're not glass, but you have to be careful, lath."
"Are you saying I'm not careful? You think I'm irresponsible? Huh?" Nimwen felt like a boiling kettle. "And don't you dare bring up Lori. I took care of myself and her all on my own. Where were you?!" Without waiting for his response, Nimwen picked up the toddler. "Come on, da'len, we're taking our walk now."
"But daddy-"
"Daddy's not coming." Not even looking back, Nimwen stormed out of the aravel.
She stomped away from camp, muttering angrily to herself. Where did Solas get off telling her what to do? It was her body, she knew it better than him, not to mention she was the experienced one when it came to pregnancy. "Stupid Solas," she grumbled.
"Mamae?"
Nimwen snapped out of her stupor. "I, yes, da'len?"
"You gonna make daddy go?"
"What?" Nimwen stopped walking. "What do you mean, da'len?" she asked as she set the girl down.
"You yell at daddy," Lori said quietly. "I no want him to go."
"Oh, sweetie." Nimwen stroked Lori's hair. "Lori, daddy isn't going anywhere. We just had an argument, that's all."
"I no like you yell."
Regret settled over Nimwen. She shouldn't have let Lori see her and Solas fight. "I don't like yelling either." She felt her eyes mist, but restrained herself. 'Damn these hormones.' Perhaps she was a bit harsh on Solas. She would apologize to him later. Now, though, she was going to prove to him that he worried over nothing. "Come, da'len, let's walk and I'll see if you can tell me the names of the trees."
Lori smiled. "Okay, I get good!"
Nimwen chuckled. "We'll see." She took the toddler's hand and the two set off down the trail. There was a light coating of snow throughout the forest, sparkling under the morning sun. The crisp winter air soothed Nimwen's nerves, and she felt a tranquility she hadn't felt in a while. "What's that one, Lori?" she asked, pointing to a tree.
Lori giggled. "That pine, silly."
"Oh-ho, that one too easy for you?" Nimwen winked.
"I smart."
"Yes you are. But let's see if you can guess…" Nimwen's eyes scanned the forest, looking for a new target. She spotted one, and pointed. "That one?"
Lori's brow furrowed, her seed shaped eyes narrowing as she concentrated. "That, um…" Toddler made a frustrated noise.
Nimwen smirked. "Give up?"
"No, I know!" Lori pouted. She stared at the tree with a look of concentration that reminded Nimwen so much of Solas, it made her smile.
Just as she was about to ask Lori again if she gave up, the girl gasped. "I know!"
"All right, what is it, da'len?"
"Bitch!"
Nimwen sputtered. "What?!"
"It's a bitch." Lori grinned proudly.
"No, no, da'len. Birch. It's a birch tree."
"I say that, bitch."
Nimwen groaned, palming her forehead. "Sweetie, it's birch."
"Bitch."
"Goodness gracious."
Lori blinked. "What wrong, mamae?" she asked innocently.
"Oh, it's nothing." 'Except now I'm going to train you until you say birch.' "Let's keep walking, shall we?"
"But I get right though?"
"Eh, close enough."
"Yay, I right." Lori clapped.
A glint of gold flashed through the trees. So fast it was gone in a blink of the eye.
"What that?" Lori asked.
"I think that was a fox," Nimwen replied. "Or maybe a fennic?"
"Foxey!" Lori squealed.
"Oh, no, you already have Nummy," Nimwen reminded her.
"But Nummy need friend," Lori insisted.
"You're his friend, da'len. And nugs don't like foxes." 'Especially since they tend to eat nugs.'
"Fiiiine," Lori groaned.
The two elves continued on their walk. Fortunately they didn't have another 'birch' incident, and Nimwen found to her amazement that Lori could recall almost all the trees she'd taught her about. It filled her with a sense of pride knowing that her lessons stuck with her daughter. Before they passed, Nimwen's parents taught her many things, and Keeper Deshanna taught even more after that. She was glad that she too could enrich Lori with knowledge at such a young age, even if it was simply the names of the trees.
A rustle from the bushes caught Nimwen's attention.
"What that?" Lori asked. "Foxey?"
A flash of familiar black hair caught Nimwen's eye. The next moment she could just make the movement of a familiar elf, stumbling out of the bushes.
She raised a brow. "Mahvir? What are you doing here?" Suddenly an idea struck her. "Don't tell me Solas sent you to spy on me."
Mahvir didn't reply only moved a little. It looked as if he were looking for something he had dropped in the fine dusting of snow. "Fenedhis," he muttered.
"Hi, Mahvy," Lori waved.
"What's wrong, Mahvir?" Nimwen asked. She and Lori approached the other elf. "Did you lose something? Did you drop your cane?"
The moment she was around the bush, she saw he wasn't in rags. The elf leapt to his feet and took hold of Nimwen with a grip far too strong to be Mahvir. Eyes the color of the sun gleamed. A sneer curled his lips from under a golden mask which mimicked the skull of a dead man. The scarred flesh under his eyes pulled with the sneer.
"Grab the toddler!" he called, voice stronger than Mahvir's but holding the same subtle sounds as the other elf.
He roughly turned Nimwen, golden claws digging into her skin.
"No!" Senses heightened for battle, Nimwen acted. She encased her leg in ice, then kicked her assailant's knee with her full strength. "Let go!"
Her leg slammed into a magical barrier.
Three others dropped from the trees, making to surround Lori.
The one which held Nimwen bound her arms and pulled her towards him. His long finger moved down her jaw, the tip of a golden talon tickled flesh. "My, aren't you the feisty one," his voice dropped to a whisper, "aunt." She could feel the the cold of his golden mask touching her cheek.
She shuddered, but her focus was on Lori. "Get away from her!"
"M-mamae?" Lori whimpered, staring at the three fearfully.
"Get the kid now!" the elf barked. He turned Nimwen. "Remember, our prophet can never return without all the pieces!"
Using all her concentration, Nimwen tried to summon Pull of the Rift to drag the attackers away from Lori. She didn't have Shockmaw, she didn't even have her hands, and in the end she could only stop their steps. "Lori, listen," Nimwen said through gritted teeth. "You need to run."
Lori's eyes widened. "B-but-"
"Get back to camp."
"What is this?" one of the thugs snapped. He struggled against Nimwen's magic, and almost broke free.
Nimwen redoubled her efforts, feeling her mana waning from the strain. "The camp is east," Nimwen panted. "Remember that, Lori. Now, go!"
Tears spilled down the toddler's cheeks. "But, mamae-"
"Please." Nimwen smiled, even though she could feel her own tears. "Go get daddy, please, da'len?"
"I think this thing's breaking!" another henchman called.
Lori cried harder. "Mamae…!"
"Go, Lorien!" Nimwen begged. "I can't hold them, now go!"
It was as if Lori were snapped from a dream. The toddler took off into the trees.
Nimwen released her spell, and with her remaining mana, created another. 'I love you, Lori.' With a cry, she summoned a massive ice wall.
Before they knew what was coming, the trio of goons crashed into the ice. Their cries of shock and pain brought Nimwen satisfaction. They would have to find another way around it. She'd given her daughter a head start, and Lori was already fast.
'Please be enough.' Nimwen slumped under the effort to maintain the wall. Only her captor kept her on her feet.
"You imbeciles!" her captor lifted his hand. Flames raced out and engulfed the wall. "After that child!" He forced Nimwen around and dragged her forward.
The ground changed from ice to stone as she was forced through an eluvian. The stone soon was replaced by an even deeper cold than the place she had been before. It was a familiar, biting cold of the high Frostback Mountains.
The elf dropped her to her knees. Her captor still held her shoulders. Talons bit through her cloths with the force of his hold. She heard the soft sound of a cane. Then felt the harsh metal tap at her jaw. She was forced to look up into a face which almost mirrored Solas's. Long, faded gold hair framed the elf's features. His nose was narrow and eyes a burning amber, sticking out in the darkness. But his features were sickly pale, his body appearing weaker and thinner than even Mahvir.
"So, this is my brother's lover. You've done well, Falon'Din, my son."
Falon'Din? Son? That could only mean- "Elgar'nan?" Nimwen's spoke barely above a whisper, voice constricted by shock.
"The toddler escaped, father," Falon'Din spoke in tones far softer than in the woods.
"No matter." Elgar'nan tapped Nimwen's cheek with the metal cane. "Solas will bring her to us. My brother will feel the torment he placed us through."
"And the insect?" Falon'Din's grip tightened on Nimwen's shoulders.
"The bastard son of Mythal and Solas will fall by your scythe."
"My thanks, father." Even as he said this his voice snagged a little. Falon'Din pulled Nimwen to her feet. "You there!" he barked to a figure who had been standing low in the shadows. "Healer." He shoved Nimwen towards the figure. "You know your job, do it!"
The figure scrambled back, chains clanked with his movement, and bowed. "M'lord," he stammered.
Elgar'nan made a growling sound and slammed his cane in the man's back.
The man fell into a crumpled heap on the ground, whimpering.
"Feed her, keep her healthy, do everything to make certain she carries to term," snarled Elgar'nan. The air heated with rage. "Go, you pathetic mortal."
The figure scrambled to his feet and raced down the hall before Falon'Din and Nimwen.
"Why are you here?" Nimwen demanded. "What do you want from me and my family? Answer me, you bastards!"
Falon'Din ignored her. He shoved her down the cold hall. One hand held to her bindings. She could hear the echo of Elgar'nan's cane as he followed at a slower pace than his son set.
The man Elgar'nan had beaten stood, hunched and shivering as he held a door for Falon'Din.
"In." Falon'Din shoved Nimwen before turning. With his free hand he took hold of the other man and tossed him in first. The ropes loosened but she could feel something else pressed onto her wrists. The next moment, Nimwen was on the cold stone floor. The door slammed shut and the sound a lock clicking filled the air.
"Wait!"
Enraged, Nimwen summoned her mana, ready to blast the door down with ice. She thrust her hands out, but nothing came.
"Wh-what?"
She tried again, but nothing. It was like she wasn't even trying.
"Go!"
Nothing.
"Do it, ice!"
Nothing.
"What is going on-?"
Her eyes widened. The manacles around her wrists glowed a faint blue, the light dying as she stopped using mana.
"No."
She tried again. The manacles glowed blue. No ice.
"No."
They'd taken her magic. The manacles were absorbing her mana, cancelling her spells before she even cast them.
She banged on the door. "Let me out!" she screamed. She pounded the door. "You can't do this! Let. Me. Out!"
Her hand was going numb with pain, and her silverite one had paint from the door chipped on it. She kept pounding and scratching, desperate to escape. She had to leave. She had to leave!
"Let me out!" she screeched.
Flamewing: So, half of the cat is out of the bag, er, characters, I mean characters. I write Elgar'nan and Falon'Din as well as the healer Nimwen was thrown into the room with and one other character who will appear a little later.