She was walking through a meadow, running her finger tips along the soft petals of the tall, vibrant wildflowers that grew around her. The wind carried the soft, sweet songs of the trees.
"Tarasyl, Tarasyl." They sang a greeting to her, their emerald branches swaying with the breeze. The wispy tendrils of a weeping willow reached out to her as she passed underneath it, it's song as soft as a whisper.
She smiled and lifted her face to the sun.
She heard a dragon's roar, and she saw a horde fly over the sun. She laughed and lifted her hands out to them. They dipped low to the ground, close enough to brush their claws against her palms in a warm greeting. Ech and every one of them made sure to pay their respects to their Sky Sister.
The sight of the dragon horde filled her with a hope she had thought was diminished. She would save her people. She could feel it in her bones.
She woke in a soft bed, a canopy of lavender above her. The crystalline bedposts glimmered with rainbows as the sunlight hit them, and dark curtains were pulled around the bed. She looked down to see white furs coverings her up to her chin. And then the pain hit her.
Excruciating, agonizing pain. Her skin felt like it was melting, like she was taking a bath in molten lava. It was when a muffled whimper escaped her lips that she realized her entire face but her nose and eyes was covered, and that sent a wave of sheer panic through her.
A shadow behind the curtain stirred, and it was pulled back. A slender woman with fiery red hair sat down on the bed. She had beautiful eyes, they were the color of emeralds and shone with an ethereal light. They were looking at her in concern.
"Shhh, don't try to speak. You've been through hell." She said softly, her voice sounding like a song. "Do you know what happened to you?"
Her whole body trembled with pain, even the simple motion it took to shake her head made her tired.
"Do you remember anything at all?"
She shook her head faster this time, panic overriding everything else.
The woman put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, calm down, you're going to make it worse."
No, no it wasn't alright! What was she doing here? Why was she in so much pain?!
A calm, terrifying realization dawned on her.
She breathed through the pain as she lifted her arm out from under the blankets, and a muffled scream left her lips.
Her entire arm was bandaged, blue liquid seeping through the fabric. Blue, not red.
The woman forced her hand down, and a calming warmth washed over her. She stopped screaming.
"Something horrible happened to you." Her eyes were filled with tears. "Do you feel it? Do you feel it in your soul?"
She frowned, and then tried to understand what the woman meant. She looked past the pain of her body and tried to feel what was missing.
She felt dread again. She lifted her arm, and with a painful flick of her fingers, she tried to make the curtains move.
Nothing, there was nothing. But more blue liquid seeped through the bandage, and her arm felt worse, if that was even possible.
She felt the tears slide down her face. No. Where was her mana? Her magic?
"Someone stole your mana, da'len. I am so sorry."
Silent sobs shook her body.
"I found you alone in a cave." She smiled at her sadly. "I brought you here. Do you know who I am?"
She shook her head.
The woman's smile grew. "My name is Andruil, da'len."
She froze. She couldn't blink, couldn't breathe. She knew who the woman was now.
With a shaky, muffled voice, she forced her lips to move. "Lady Huntress…"
Andruil, Goddess of the Hunt shook her head and gently grabbed her bandaged hand. "Shhhh, it's alright, don't speak. Do you know who you are?"
She shook her head.
Her next smile was warm and comforting. "Then we're going to have to pick out a name for you, aren't we? That will be fun."
Andruil brushed a tear from the corner of the amnesia-stricken elf's eye. "Rest now, you're safe here."
She shook her head. She didn't want to sleep. She was terrified, and her skin burned like she was sitting in a fire.
Andruil moved to the unoccupied side of the bed and laid down next to her.
"Don't worry, I won't leave your side."
And it was then, in that moment, that she decided she would die for her Lady Huntress.
They were laying in Andruil's bed. The Huntress was tracing her tattoos, starting with her shoulder, her finger trailing down her chest and stomach.
While she did that, she was murmuring, "you are my Rasdalalen. You are my protector, my lover, my executioner. You are mine."
She smiled at her goddess, feeling her love in every bit of her soul. "Everything I am belongs to you."
Andruil smiled. "And I am yours, Talyn. Obey me and love me, and I will give you the world."
Talyn crushed her lips to Andruil's, relishing the sweetness of them. That kiss was a promise of devotion. She had never felt more at home than in this woman's arms, and she would do anything to stay there.
Andruil pulled away from her and reached behind her, pulling out a thin ebony box.
"I have a job for you, my love."
"Don't kill me!" The woman begged, Andruil's vallaslin branded into her face. She was on the ground, dirt coating her skin and clothes. There was a cut above her eyebrow where Talyn had hit her with the hilt of her sword.
Talyn was sneering at her from behind her mask, and her grip on her sword tightened. This wasn't the first time Andruil sent her after an escaped slave, an Elfen scum.
"If you didn't want to die, you shouldn't have tried to escape." Talyn said, her voice like ice.
The Elfen slave spit at her. "Fine then, Andruil's Whore. Send me to my death. My soul will haunt you until the end of your days."
Talyn stared at her, her head tilted to the side. She kneeled in front of the woman. She dropped her sword and grabbed hold of the woman's hair, jerking her forward. The woman cried out in pain. She stood, dragging the woman up on her feet.
She drove her armored hand into the woman's chest. She dug her fingers past the woman's ribcage and grabbed hold of her heart.
The woman choked and gasped, her eyes wide. She looked up at her, and Talyn could see her reflection in her eyes. She could see the cold, unfeeling darkness that would be her last image before she died.
Talyn tore her heart out of her chest. The slave's body dropped to the forest floor, the fist sized hole singed with blue.
She looked down at the heart in her hand and whispered to it, as if the Elfen woman could still hear her, as if she was trying to convince herself, "I am her talons. You are nothing."
The next thing she saw was a silent forest cloaked in winter. Nothing could be seen, not even the moonlight pierced the dense canopy of leaves above her. But Talyn could see perfectly without it. Up ahead she saw a tall man walking, his footsteps leaving no impact on the snow beneath their feet.
Fen'Harel. She could tell it was him from the way his hair cascaded down his back in silky, raven waves.
The Trickster. The Dread Wolf. One of the Cursed. Fen'Harel was supposedly invincible. It made Talyn smirk, which made the mask of flesh and bone on her face tug at her real skin. Fen'Harel had never encountered Rasdalalen before.
She glided across the white blanket on the forest floor, her footsteps quick and light so she made no sound. She stalked him, blending with the night so he couldn't see her.
When they were far enough away from the palace booming with music and laughter, Talyn pulled out her bow and knocked an arrow into it. There was a faint glow underneath the glamour on her skin, traveling down her arm in little rivers and latching itself onto her bow. Her smirk grew as she pulled the bowstring back, and the arrow was lit with blue fire.
Fen'Harel stopped walking. He stood perfectly still, like an unmovable statue. She aimed for the back of his head, while the victory was already soaring in her heart. She would bring back his head for her Lady Huntress.
She let the lyrium infused arrow fly and watched in anticipation as it flew towards it's mark. She watched it break through his barriers, which fizzed out in a blue light.
Fen'Harel whirled around and caught her arrow just as it brushed his forehead. His gleaming silver eyes were staring directly at her from the shadows, his crown made from an animal skull standing out against the blackness of his hair. He smirked.
The silent forest suddenly burst with sound as ice sang its way through the air. Talyn dodged the ice shard, kicking up snow in her attempt. She felt the disappointment bloom in her heart that this would not be as easy as she thought, but it lit with fire at the challenge.
She was taking refuge from the ice shards behind a dark tree, her enchanted armor making it impossible to tell what was shadow and what was elvhen. She knocked two arrows into her bow, tapped into the lyrium that coated her veins, and quickly moved to shoot them at him.
She watched his cocky smile grow when the glowing arrows ignited and fell on the snow before they reached him.
She moved, keeping to the darkness, where she was safe from those starlit eyes. But she could hear him speak.
"Who is it that wishes to kill me this time?" Fen'Harel's voice was dark and silky, threatening, yet full of amusement. Like this was merely a game that he expected to win.
Talyn didn't respond. She watched him walk with his hands clasped behind his back, peering around every tree and then dancing to the next.
"Where are you, little assassin?" He sang in a mocking tone, "are you going to hide like a coward, or face me?"
"Kill him for me, my love. Kill him before he kills me." Andruil's words echoed in Talyn's mind.
She clenched her jaw and abandoned her bow, opting for the daggers strapped to her legs.
"I suppose that whoever sent you should have saved their money." He sighed dramatically, "it seems as though the man they hired has already failed."
Talyn swept her way through the shadows, circling Fen'Harel so she was at his back. He was staring in the direction her arrows had come in, completely oblivious to her. She watched him lift his face in the air and heard him inhale deeply.
He laughed but didn't say anything else. He stepped forward, towards her last location. She used that as her opportunity to strike.
She finally emerged from the darkness and ran towards her unsuspecting victim. When she was close enough, she lifted her daggers and prepared to drive them into his back.
Then Fen'Harel turned around once more, a snarl on his face. He bared his fangs, and with one swift gesture of his hand, tree roots snaked their way underneath the snow to sprout up and wrap themselves around her ankles and wrists. The roots pulled her back, making her fly across the forest until she was slammed into the trunk of a tree. Her daggers had fallen to the ground.
Fen'Harel was standing in front her, staring at the face that didn't belong to her. He threw his head back and laughed again. Then he leaned in close to her, and one of his warm hands went around her neck. He squeezed lightly, and then his grip turned into iron, closing her airways. Choking sounds came from Talyn, and she struggled against her bonds.
"That was such a weak attempt, da'asha. Surely you could have done better than that."
Her mask was contorted into a snarl, and she braced herself against the tree roots. She wasn't supposed to expose herself like this, not when she was wearing someone else' face, but she had no choice.
The lyrium shone underneath the glamour, muted but definitely there. The swirls of light cut through the tree roots and released her from their hold. With lightning speed, she grabbed a hold of Fen'Harel's wrist and crushed it in her grasp, forcing him to let go with a cry of pain.
Talyn's markings glowed even brighter as she threw herself into him, and they crashed into the ground. A snarl ripped through Fen'Harel. Talyn straddled his waist and pinned his good hand to the snow, while her other shining hand went around his throat.
A fraction of a second later, the warm glow of healing magic lit up the forest, and Fen'Harel was the one pinning Talyn to the ground. She could feel his power radiating from him, it made the glow of the lyrium more intense. His strength was pushing her body into the ground, leaving an imprint in the frozen dirt beneath the snow.
His smirk was both arrogant and knowing. "I should have known she would send you."
She could see one of her daggers a few feet from where they were. Talyn grunted, calling upon her own strength once again to shove him off her. He went flying into a tree, the sound of the branches breaking off it echoed. Talyn was on her feet and scooping the knife up when Fen'Harel slammed into her.
They wrestled on the ground, both of them trying to gain the upper hand on the other. They were shrouded in a mist of falling snow that was disturbed during their fighting. Talyn's lyrium was so bright it was melting through the glamour and the mask on her face until the entire area was bathed in an azure light.
She finally had Fen'Harel pinned underneath her again, her sleek ebony dagger at his throat. Satisfaction and blood lust shone through in her glowing grin. He was motionless, his wrists were restrained with her other hand, and she was leaning over him, so the chestnut hair of her stolen face created a curtain around them.
She stared into his eyes that glimmered like the moon and found herself immobile as well. Her grip on his wrists lessened, but Fen'Harel didn't move a single muscle. He was staring into her eyes, as if he could see through this face that wasn't hers, right down to her very soul.
There was something so beautiful about him in this moment. His tangled raven locks were splayed across the snow like midnight lightning across a white sky, the skull crown on his head was slightly askew. She could feel his rapid pulse beat against her blade, but she saw no fear lingering on his face. In fact, his eyes were shining with something entirely different.
She pressed the blade down on his throat, a thin line of red trailing down his neck. But her hand was shaking, her entire body telling her no.
Fen'Harel stared at her in silence, as if he was waiting for her decision as well.
Something stirred deep inside her, and her own voice whispered in her mind, 'mine.'
'He's mine.'
The shock of her own thoughts made her grip on her knife lessen, and it slid from her fingers to fall on the ground.
For the first time in her life, Talyn was helpless. She let Fen'Harel flip her, let him pick up her own weapon and hold the point over her heart. But she saw no intention of finishing her in his eyes. He was studying her false face, as if he was trying to sketch her true face beneath it. He buried his nose in her neck and inhaled. His fingers trailed down her throat, and stopped on the seam of her mask, which had been so well hidden by the glamour that covered her tattoos. Talyn's heart stopped beating as he started to tug on it. And she let him.
There was a chorus of howling wolves nearby, and Fen'Harel gently placed Talyn's knife in her limp hand. With the lightest of touches, he put a finger on her lips, and then leaned down to say in her ear, "run, little wolf."
And then he was gone. Talyn laid there, her chest rising and falling quickly at the demands of her air-deprived lungs. She heard the sound of cracking bones, then the singing of another wolf, almost right next to her, rang out in response to the others.
A great beast stood before her, a midnight wolf with silver eyes. She had an arrow aimed right between its eyes, her own narrowed in anger. She stood in front of her kill, her present for Andruil for failing her in the cold winter months that had just passed.
The Dread Wolf snarled, baring his sharp teeth and his own glare aimed at her bow. She stared at him unblinkingly, and said in a cold voice, "give me one reason not to shoot you."
The giant wolf tilted its head, and then shook it's fur out. Fen'Harel's bones started to break and reform themselves, his fur fell off him in clumps, revealing smooth alabaster skin beneath it. Then he stood before her as a man, his raven hair tied back in several braids. He was wearing clothes, which confused Talyn. She refused to let her gaze linger on his biceps that looked like they were going to rip the sleeves of his shirt. His face was even more handsome during the day, where the sunlight could illuminate his eyes that were as stormy as the sea. His full lips were twisted into an arrogant smirk.
"You won't let that arrow hit it's mark, Rasdalalen." He said matter-of-factly.
Talyn pulled back on the bowstring harder, aiming the arrow right between his eyes. She raised an eyebrow, but he couldn't see it within the blackness of her hood.
"You want to bet on that, Dreamwalker?"
He stalked towards her, a challenge in his every move. Talyn watched him get closer to her, but her arm still held the bowstring.
"I'm going to do it."
His laugh was deep and rich, like honey. "Then do it."
Talyn chewed on her lip and let her arrow fly. It whizzed past his cheek, leaving a line of red blood, and embedded itself into a tree.
Fen'Harel threw his head back and laughed again. When he looked at her, his triumphant smile was blinding.
"You see? You won't kill me."
Talyn growled in frustration and slung her bow over her shoulder.
He drew closer to her, forcing her to step backwards. His grey eyes were peering underneath her hood, trying to catch a glimpse of her face. Talyn leapt backwards over the dead bear, keeping a distance between them.
"Stop that!" She commanded him.
He laughed again, which made Talyn scowl.
"Stop it."
He was grinning mischievously at her. "You're quite bossy, for a servant of Andruil."
Talyn could still feel her vhenan's hands yanking her hair, her nails gouging out her cheeks. She remembered her beautiful green eyes that had been black with pain and rage. She still felt so much shame for failing her. Out of reflex, Talyn had her bow in her hand and was shooting an arrow at Fen'Harel in seconds.
He casually stepped to the side, and the arrow flew past him. He stepped over the bear and kept walking towards her.
"Someone's touchy about their mistress." He teased.
"What do you want?" She was irritated, hurt, and confused, and it bled into her voice.
He was suddenly standing in front of her, whether his sudden speed was from the perks of his Curse or his magic, she didn't know. All she knew was that Fen'Harel was towering over her, peering down at her, trying to see past the shroud of shadows her enchanted armor caused her to be.
She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. All she could do was stand there and stare at him while her heart tore itself apart at her sudden longing for him.
No. She loved Andruil.
'Mine.' That voice that was hers, and yet not hers whispered in her head. 'He's mine.'
'No. Andruil is mine.' She argued with the voice.
"You feel it too, don't you?" He spoke quietly, his face soft and his voice gentle.
Her traitorous heart fluttered at his words, recognizing their meaning. Yes, she felt their connection. She could feel her soul reach out to his, desperate and blind. Her body reacted to him, her lyrium glowed in his presence. She grimaced as the blue light came from under her hood for him to see. He didn't say anything about it, but he did watch her with fascination.
"I don't feel anything but extreme disgust." Talyn did her best to make her words cut like knives.
Instead, he had another arrogant smirk paint his face. "If that was the case, your arrows wouldn't have missed." He leaned in. "Twice."
He closed his eyes and sniffed her.
She scowled. "Stop it."
He chuckled. "I'm trying to figure out what you smell like, but all I can smell is her."
Talyn stepped around him and went back to the bear with her arrow sticking out of its eye. She pulled the arrow out and wiped the blood and brains on her leg. She stuck the arrow back in her quiver. Solas moved in front of her, blocking her from the bear. She stepped back so that he wouldn't look under her hood, but he kept making her back up, until she felt her back against the rough bark of a tree. He was so close that their chests were touching, and he was looking down at her with those hypnotizing eyes.
Talyn's pulse betrayed her, and she knew he could hear it pound against her skin. She stopped breathing, she couldn't bring herself to so much as blink.
"I know you feel it, Rasdalalen." Fen'Harel murmured, his mesmerizing voice putting her in a trance. "We're fated for each other."
"No." Talyn insisted, but her voice shook with a sudden wave of uncertainty. "I belong to my Lady Huntress."
Fen'Harel growled, his eyes turning dark and stormy. "You belong to me."
Talyn closed her eyes, cutting off the spell Fen'Harel had seemed to put on her. But she still felt the longing for him in her bones, her hands itched to reach for him.
"I can't stop thinking about you." He said in a raw, ragged whisper.
Her eyes flew open to see that smirking persona diminished, and instead she saw the desperation in his face, the way he stared at her like a starving man.
"I know you can't stop thinking about me."
She chewed nervously on her lip again and refused to answer. Because he was right, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She couldn't stop thinking of the way she had enjoyed him touching her, even though they had been fighting to the death.
He reached up, his fingers lightly grazing the edges of her hood.
"Let me see your face. Your real face."
She closed her eyes and lifted her face upwards. She felt him grasp her hood and start to pull it over her head. She was content with letting him.
Then she came back to her senses and shoved him. Hard.
He fell a few feet away, and Talyn rushed to her kill.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take my prize back to my Lady Huntress." She shoved down her confusing emotions and locked them in a box. Andruil was all that mattered.
"You belong with me, Rasdalalen. I will prove it to you." He promised her.
"Stay away from me." She warned him. She went to pick the bear up.
"You killed that in my lands." His voice had that sarcastic, teasing tone to it again. "It's only polite to pay me tribute."
She scowled at him. This was the only time that she wished that he could see her face. She reached down and tore off the lower jaw of the bear. She threw it at him.
"There's your tribute. Don't come near me again, or I will kill you."
Fen'Harel just grinned. "Oh, we'll see about that."
So much blood.
It was everywhere. It painted the walls, pooled on the marble floor. She worked so hard to keep her face as unmovable as a statue, to not make the skin mask on her face crack with her despair. Her Savior was watching her, all of Andruil's court was watching her in a horrified silence.
She couldn't take her eyes off of the family she had just slaughtered in her own home. She couldn't stop staring at the little girl, her ruined throat still bubbling with blood, even though she stopped choking on it minutes ago. Her mother had her in her arms, her glassy eyes full of terror for her child.
The father had been first. There was a hole in his chest where Talyn had torn his heart out. He was still clutching her wife's hand.
"Do it, Rasdalalen." Andruil's voice was hard as stone and leaked with madness.
Talyn turned her face to Andruil, who was sitting on her throne. She was staring at her expectantly.
She bowed, and then turned back to the family lying in their own blood. She knelt in the puddle and pulled out one of her ebony daggers. She went for the mother and drew a line around her face with the knife. She pulled off the skin and placed it in one of the thin ebony boxes where Andruil kept Rasdalalen's masks. A slave took it away.
"This is what happens when you cross me." Andruil shouted for the entire room to hear.
She stepped down from her throne and walked over to Talyn. She kneeled in front of her, the lavender material of her dress soaking in the warm blood on the floor. She put her dainty hands in the pool, and then she placed them on the cheeks of Talyn's mask, her jeweled eyes smiling in satisfaction.
Talyn's stomach churned at the thought of that blood on her face.
"My Rasdalalen will punish those who betray me." She said.
In that pool of innocent blood, Andruil placed a kiss on her lips.
She was standing in a field bathed in moonlight. Wildflowers sprouted from the earth, adding color to the gently swaying emerald grass. She stood underneath the moon with her face lifted to the sky. It was so peaceful in this quiet world, where she felt the damp grass beneath her bare feet.
Her serenity was interrupted by a sound that made Talyn's skin crawl.
"Rasdalalen?" A child's voice was much too loud in this silent place.
She turned her head, dread filling her heart. The little girl from this morning was there, her brown hair soaked in her own blood, and the jagged cut Talyn had made with her fingers was oozing her life force. The girl's eyes were cloudy and bloodshot, her lips blue. She reached for her.
"Why did I have to die, Rasdalalen?" She asked, worms falling out of her rotten mouth.
Talyn shook her head and took a step back. "You're not real."
"You killed me, Rasdalalen." The little girl's tone was accusatory. "You made me watch my parents die, and then you killed me. Why did you do that, Rasdalalen?"
The child's brow furrowed, her cloudy eyes turned black.
"YOU ARE A MONSTER!" She roared at Talyn, bugs spewing from her mouth and flying towards her.
Talyn fell to her knees. She hugged herself as she rocked, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She sobbed, repeating her apology over and over.
The little girl disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
She already knew that she wasn't alone in this nightmare of hers. She didn't have to look to know who. She turned her back on him, feeling her panic at how exposed she was. There was no hiding her face from him in this world.
"That's pointless, you know. I've already seen you." Fen'Harel stated.
She just shook her head. She couldn't deal with him right now.
"I understand why she keeps you all to herself." His voice was soft, and full of awe, "you are more beautiful than starlight."
She heard the crashing of waves, smelled the salt and felt the sticky sea air. But she didn't speak.
"The sounds of the ocean have always comforted me." Fen'Harel explained.
Still, she said nothing. She wanted to turn around and look at him, everything inside of her was telling her to do it. But she couldn't.
"I belong to Andruil." She finally whispered after what felt like an eternity of silence.
His growl rumbled deep in his chest. "Andruil, the woman who tells you to slaughter families?"
Talyn walked away.
"The woman who forces you to cut the faces from dead women and wear them? To kill their children in their stiff, lifeless arms?" Fen'Harel was walking beside her, his long legs keeping up with her easily. His voice was getting louder, his rage more prominent.
He knew. Of course he knew. All of Elvhenan must know her sin by now.
"She didn't do this!" Talyn shouted, turning to face him.
He looked just as magnificent as he had in that dark forest so long ago. He wasn't wearing a crown, and his dark hair was longer than she remembered. His silver eyes were shining in this dream world, where he truly was king. His face was wild with fury, and she could see the Dread Wolf lurking in it.
The scenery around them changed back to the bloody throne room. She pointed down at the corpses at their feet.
"I did this!" She cried.
She held up her tattooed hands. "My hands ended them. I stole their souls and tucked them into my pretty little boxes. I wear their faces, speak with their voices. I-"
"Did you choose to do any of that?" Fen'Harel countered. "Or did she-" he pointed at the throne, where the dream of Andruil sat motionless, "tell you to? Were your hands obeying her commands?"
Talyn threw her hands in the air and started to walk away from him again.
"You are her victim too, Rasdalalen." Fen'Harel appeared in front of her, like a spirit.
She stepped around him and kept walking. He blocked her, again.
"Just because she dresses you up and calls you pretty names doesn't make you any less of her victim."
"She loves me!" Talyn shrieked, her voice full of tears.
"Oh, she loves you?" Fen'Harel stepped closer to her, getting in her face, his silver eyes flashing with anger, a snarl on his full lips.
Talyn felt a spark of fear at the rage that twisted his face.
"Is that why when I watch your nightmares, I see her despicable face, and her hands on you? Are those cuts and bruises she heals afterwards signs of her affection? Is that what true love looks like?" He was mocking her.
She felt her face warm up. She scowled and tried to walk away from him. Everywhere she turned, he was blocking her.
She snapped at him, "my Lady Huntress is my vhenan, and she would give me the world if I asked for it."
"So would I." Fen'Harel was serious. His eyes stared into hers, the intensity and devotion within them overwhelming her. "I will give you everything you ask for, and my touch will hold nothing but love. With me, there will be no more violence, no more death."
Talyn turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't want to hear his words, because deep in her heart, she knew they were true.
She could feel his chest against her back, and the ghost of his hands on her arms. He whispered gently in her ear, "I will be here every night until you know that I was made for you, and you were made for me."
The lake of starlight was glittering underneath the weak winter sun. Although it was cold enough for snow to be on the ground, she could see the steam from rising from the water. She had sneaked away from Andruil's palace with the excuse that she was hunting. In reality, she was waiting for him. Fen'Harel. He was Solas only to those who were closest to him, those who knew what tragedies he had endured while the Banalla still reigned in the Wild Lands.
She heard him approach and turned to see him, her heart lighting up at the sight. She slammed into him and wrapped her arms around him. He lifted her and spun her around, burying his face in her neck.
"Talyn." Her Dread Wolf greeted her softly. She loved the way her name sounded on his lips.
She stepped out of his arms.
"Solas, Andruil suspects there is something I'm not telling her."
He smirked. "She has always been paranoid."
She shook her head. "We have to stop this, it's too dangerous."
Solas growled. "You're mine. Not hers."
She threw her hands in the air, and felt tears prick her eyes. "I belong to her, Solas! I made an oath, and if I break it, she'll kill me! She'll kill Bri, and you, and she'll slaughter entire vil-"
Solas closed the space between them and silenced her with a kiss.
He rested his forehead against hers, and his hands slid around her waist.
"Let me make this very clear," he said softly, "from the moment I saw you in Arlathan, I planned to take you away from her. There is nothing she can do to stop me."
He started to beg, "I promise you that there is nothing to fear. Come with me, and I will never let her touch you again."
Talyn shut her eyes and chewed on her bottom lip.
Solas' hands slid up her waist, her arms, and rested on her shoulders. One hand went loosely around her neck, where the seam of her mask could barely be seen. The other went to cup her cheek, and his thumb brushed away a tear that she hadn't noticed.
"Take it off." He whispered.
She shook her head. She couldn't, not here.
But she didn't stop him from peeling the skin mask from her face anyways. He did it slowly, as if he was waiting for her to stop him. Her hands closed into fists when she felt him pull it over her head.
"Look at me, vhenan."
Reluctantly, Talyn opened her eyes.
He was staring at her like she was the sun. She felt her face warm up at the intense devotion she could see it his gaze. He ran his fingers through her pale hair, studying it in the sunlight.
"You were plucked from the night sky and made just for me."
She felt like she couldn't breathe. She shut her eyes again, just to gain some control over herself.
He placed feather light kisses on her eyelids. "Little wolf, don't shut me out. Please."
He grasped one of her fists and forced her fingers to open. He put her hand over his heart, where she could feel his steady heartbeat. She knew he could hear her erratic one.
"You are my world, Talyn. You are the missing piece of my life, the other half of my soul."
She opened her eyes to look at him then. He smiled at her, and the sight of it made one of her own tug at the corners of her lips.
"Leave her, love. Leave her tonight and come with me. We'll get married and have babies-"
"How many babies?" She whispered.
He grinned. "As many as we want. I'll kiss you every morning, and you'll eat breakfast in our bed-"
"What if I want desert?" She asked, her eyes roaming down his body.
"Love, we can have desert all day if it'll make you happy." His grin turned wicked, and then his face softened, his voice started to take on a pleading tone again, "I promise that everything will be alright. I will take care of it. I will take care of you. I will make sure that you never have to feel pain, or despair, ever again. Ar lath ma, vhenan. Ma'alasen. Please say yes."
Staring into his eyes the way she was, there was no other answer. She couldn't ignore the way her heart whispered to her. She loved him. She loved him from the moment she decided not to kill him.
She didn't say anything to him at first. She turned around and walked towards the lake, taking off her clothes along the way. Once all of her azure swirls were revealed, she stepped into the liquid starlight. Once it was up to her waist, she dove in.
Solas was next to her when she came up for air. Immediately, her arms went around his neck and her legs around his waist. She felt the goosebumps form on her metallic skin as it hit the cold air above the water. One of his hands went under her, and the other went around her waist to keep her there.
"I'll need a day." She told him while she tangled her fingers in his raven hair. The ends of his hair looked like they were dipped in silver.
He gave her that arrogant smirk he made when he knew he won. She loved it. "Is that a yes?"
Her kiss was all the answer he needed.
Bri screamed again, and it hurt Talyn's soul.
Andruil grabbed her by her hair and pulled her from the chair. She shoved Talyn's only friend towards the guard, who then threw her over his shoulders like she was nothing and walked out of the room.
She forced herself to remain calm, to not let Andruil win. She kept telling herself that Solas was coming. He was coming for her.
Her former lover had taken a turn for the worse. Her skin was ashen gray, her beautiful crimson hair looked oily and unkempt, and her eyes were black instead of green.
"You broke my heart, Talyn."
She didn't flinch as Andruil led her to the blood covered chair by her own pale gold locks. She expected for Andruil to use magic for her lyrium-resistant shackles to separate and attach themselves to the arms of the chair.
She took even, deep breaths, and steeled herself for what was to come. She stared at the wall, refusing to look at her.
Andruil leaned down so that her face was inches from Talyn's.
"So, who is it, Talyn? Who stole you from me?"
"No one stole me. I can't be stolen."
She had to grip the arms of the chair to keep herself from crying out as she felt the knife stab into her.
"YOU WERE MINE! YOU SWORE TO ME!" She shouted at her.
Talyn didn't say anything.
Solas was coming for her. He would be here any moment.
Andruil screamed with rage at Talyn's silence. Talyn couldn't help her grunts of pain as Andruil drove the cold knife into her over, and over again. She climbed on top of Talyn, forcing her to look at her. For her face to be the last thing she saw before Death took her. As black dots swam across Talyn's vision as the pain consumed her, she saw Andruil's face splattered with blood.
And then there was the warm healing light that Talyn had come to know so well. Her pain was alleviated, for the moment, as her body stitched itself back together.
"I'm sorry, vhenan." Andruil whispered, her face twisted with grief and her eyes filled with tears. She started to stroke Talyn's hair with a bloody hand.
"You just hurt me so much. But we'll work through it. I'll learn to forgive you, and you'll learn to love me again."
Talyn spat in her face. "I will never love you again. I curse your name! It will never leave my lips again for as long as I live."
Andruil slowly wiped Talyn's spit off of her face. Her fingers left a trail of blood.
And then, without warning, she drove the knife into Talyn's belly again with another mad scream.
She didn't know how long she endured Andruil's excruciating torture, only that it was the worst pain she had ever felt in her life. With every enraged cut and stab, her hope of Solas coming for her faded. She would endure this for the eternity.
And then, a giant beast came crashing through the wall. Andruil turned her attention on the wolf, but it wasn't her Solas. This one was tawny, it's eyes a striking blue.
Andruil jumped off of Talyn to deal with the wolf, who charged her with everything it had.
Andruil hadn't healed her yet. She could feel herself bleeding out, and everything started to look so much darker.
Strong, familiar hands lifted her from the chair. She didn't have the strength to look at him.
"I'm here, vhenan. Hold on."
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Fen'Harel and Talyn." Zak spoke, his bulky frame taking up most of the archway.
Talyn was standing across from Solas, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her the entire ceremony. She was wearing a sapphire gown, with a matching crown of silver and sapphire jewels sat on her hair.
Solas had his crown of bones on his head, and the jawbone of the bear Talyn had given to him in "tribute" was around his neck. He looked every bit of the god he was.
Her god. Her Dreamwalker, her Dread Wolf. It was actually happening.
"Now, I know a lot of you here aren't very approving of our good king's decision, especially with the war." Zak continued, "but if there is anything that should be fought for, isn't it love? Shouldn't we all fight for the freedom to love who we want, without some crazy feathered bunny bitch trying to fuck everything up?"
Everyone laughed, including Talyn. It had been a good idea for Zak to do this.
"Fen'Harel and Talyn have a kind of love I have never seen before. It's the kind of love that's worth dying for." Zak was beaming.
"So, with the power our good Fen'Harel vested in me, I now pronounce Fen'Harel and Lady Talyn officially wolf-man and wife! Kiss the bride, you furry beast."
Solas didn't stop for a heartbeat between punching Zak and scooping Talyn up in his arms. Talyn's joyful laugh was cut off by his kiss.
They were holding hands and running through the courtyard. Everyone was drinking in the main hall, which gave them the perfect opportunity to escape the festivities.
"Hurry, before they find us!" She giggled and urged Solas.
He pulled her into the griffon stables. "Relax, ma'alas'en. We'll be off the ground before they notice we're gone."
Talyn climbed into Zephyra's saddle and stroked her golden feathers gently. Solas climbed in behind her and grabbed her reins.
"Brace yourself, wife." He teased her.
Talyn rolled her eyes. "I think I know how to ride a griffon, husband."
He whistled, and Zephyra let out a lion's roar. She jumped into the air and caught the wind with her massive wings. Talyn shouted with joy, holding her hands out on either side of her like she had wings.
"My name is Talyn." She spoke loudly to the group of slaves in front of her, the vallaslin of Falon'Din burned into their faces.
They stared at her in wonder and fear. They watched Solas beside her, with his skull crown and his Pack at his back, the massive wolves who watched Talyn with pride shining in their eyes.
"I have many names. Rasdalalen, The Faceless One… Andruil's Whore. But I choose Talyn."
She watched their faces pale as she announced who she was. Shame bloomed in her chest, but she pushed it down. She wasn't done with her speech.
"There was another name that I was called, in a time long before this one, when we Elfen still roamed our lands, when there were still some of us not trapped in chains."
She reached down for Solas' hand, interlacing their fingers. She drew strength from his warmth, and comfort from the small circles he drew with his thumb on the back of her hand.
"I was once Tarasyl, daughter of Tarsula, our Sky Mother."
The air was more charged now, surprise and hope replacing the fear on their faces.
Talyn swallowed her shame. "I was abducted three thousand years ago from the banks of the Siren's River, by Andruil. She stole my mana, my memories, and my soul. She branded me, lied to me, and twisted me into something I wasn't. I was supposed to be your Savior. I was supposed to rescue Tarsula and my fellow Banalla from the Beyond. But I did none of those things, and for that, I am sorry."
She blinked back her tears. "I should have been there to protect you when the Evanuris came crashing into our lands and enslaved you. I can't change the past, but I am here now."
She started to grow angry, the rage of what had been done to her people breaking through in her words. "We were once a proud and mighty people. And I promise you, if you follow me, if you follow Fen'Harel, we will be again. I swear to you that we will not stop until each and every Elfen soul is freed. We will not stop until the Evanuris are dead and our kings and queens are home."
"We are the Elves of the North!" She shouted. "We are Elfen! Let us show our Elvhen captors what it means to be one! Let's go home, together!"
Her people stood to their feet and cheered. They looked to her with their sunken in eyes, shook their scarred fists.
"Talyn!" They chanted her name. The only name she had ever chosen.
She looked at Solas, who was staring at her with all of the love she ever needed.
Soon, everyone would be free.
Pain wound around her body like a snake, gripping and squeezing her insides, making her very bones ache. It's tight hold on her mind and body nearly suffocated her. She could feel the poison moving sluggishly through her veins, turning them black, giving her blood a purple tinge. An arrow, the likely cause of her pain stuck out of her shoulder. With her free hand, she shoved the arrow through her shoulder, broke the arrow head off, and pulled out the shaft, with only a single grunt to signal how much it hurt.
She was a nightmare come to life. The full moon shone through the stained-glass ceiling, illuminating the lone woman standing among the piles of corpses. She stood in front of a pair of thick oak doors, a defender, a snarl etched into her fine features. She was covered in blood, some of it hers, some of it her enemy's. It dripped from the end of her warriors braid, running in small rivers down her alabaster skin and black leather armor. Her azure eyes glittered with a deadly determination.
Her muscles ached, her damaged arm nearly shook with the effort it took to hold her sword. Her bow had been discarded long ago, when she had run out of arrows. How long had it been since they invaded this temple? A day? Two? It felt like a century, but still she held on. The dead bodies of her fallen friends stared up at her with glassy eyes, a silent plea to end this once and for all. The make their deaths not be in vain.
There used to be others with her. Solas' followers, and the Elfen that they had saved from slavery together. They had been cut down like they were nothing but pieces of parchment, like fragile glass figurines. None of them had the pure stubborn will she had, and the fact she was standing here was all because of him. Her love for Solas knew no bounds, it made her stand here among the dead and dying when she should be giving in to the pain, screaming on the floor in utter agony as the poison took her. But all she could think about was his face, his hands leaving trails of fire along her skin. She lived for his smile, to see those dark eyes lighten, like a sea after a storm. She did this for him.
She knew she was going to die today. So she committed his face to memory, recalled his voice saying he loved her.
The venomous Huntress's men banged on the doors Talyn managed to bar. Something heavy thudded against them. She gripped her sword more tightly, the metal gleaming in the moonlight, an animalistic growl on her blood covered lips. She would die before she let her get to him.
The door started to crack under the weight of the heavy object they were throwing against the door. The mindless drones were going to come at any moment. They were mindless, because she had taken their souls. She whispered sweet nothing's in their ears, told them promises of fortunes, of safety, when she was the danger they should be guarding against. Elves prided themselves on their strength, their magic, and yet at the first sign of danger these pathetic people rushed to Andruil's side, begging her to protect them. Pathetic. They were pathetic.
The dam broke and the horde rushed in, screaming that vile wasp's name. Their swords gleamed wickedly, their armor in perfect condition.
Talyn screamed, a wordless cry for the thousands that suffered at her hands. An anthem for the dead, for the broken. She would not let anyone else suffer. Never again. She would go down in history as the madwoman who fought off a thousand men at the end of the world as they knew it. She just needed to buy Solas enough time to finish the spell that would lock away the Evanuris forever.
She slashed and stabbed. Limbs were cut off, noses wiped away with a flick of her deadly sword. She was a menace, a force to be reckoned with. Even wounded, poisoned, and exhausted, these well rested honey bees were no match for Fen'Tarasyl, the She-Wolf from the Sky.
But even she, the mighty Talyn, had her limits. Her vision swam, her head felt light. She felt like she was walking on clouds, as if this was a bad dream that she'd never escape. A tactical blow to her shoulder forced her to her knees, her sword clattering to the floor.
As quick as a lightning strike she was on her feet again, grabbing a man by the throat and digging her nails into his soft flesh. She bared her teeth and tore his throat out, snatching his sword from his hand as blood bubbled from his ruined throat and he fell to the ground.
She would not give up. She could not give up. He needed her to keep them at bay, to defend him. She would always defend him.
"Fenedhis lasa!" She shouted at them. Death would not pull her from her mission.
But then, the earth started to shake, and she could the scent of magic was thick in the air. The warriors around her started to move slowly, as if they were running through quicksand.
Then the sky exploded and was tinged with emeralds. She watched her enemies start to double over in pain, heard their shouts.
Her stomach churned and flipped as she started to spin.
Then everything turned black.
And she suddenly found herself in a room with a high ceiling. There was a sight in front of her that confused her.
There was a strange, shriveled creature tied to a post. She wore an odd hat that stood tall on her head. And there was another one, this one tall with red crystals sticking out of him.
There was another creature, one that looked like a younger version of the one tied to the post. They looked like elves, but their ears were short and round.
The third creature had jumped at the sight of her, and dropped a black, round stone. It made a soft thud when it landed on the floor.
She frowned. That was Solas' Foci.
"What's going on here?" She asked, stepping towards the Foci.
"Kill the elf!" the tall red creature commanded.
"Quick, warn the others!" The shriveled one begged.
Talyn reached the Foci and picked it up. Everything exploded.
She was running through darkness, a thousand insects at her back. The old woman, who had introduced herself as Justinia, was ahead of her.
"Quickly!" She cried as she climbed up the hill towards the green portal.
Talyn didn't dare look behind her. She caught up to the woman easily.
She reached the portal and looked behind her. Justinia had fallen behind, and the demons were catching up to her.
She went to run back for her.
"No, go! Save them!" Justinia shouted. "You must save them!"
Talyn hesitated.
And then she nodded and put her fist over her heart. She leapt through the portal without looking back.
OMG YOU GUYS. THIS WAS SO MUCH.
I do apologize, because I DID post this chapter with chapter thirty, but then I reread it and I felt the need to make a few quick changes. BUT HERE IT IS YOU GUYS, THIS IS WHO TALYN IS. I'M SO FRIGGIN EXCITED RIGHT NOW!
So, I'm thinking about writing a prequel, just because this entire chapter came out to EIGHT THOUSAND WORDS and I had to cut out quite a bit. Would you guys like that?
Chapter Thirty Two if coming up!
C.J.