Erythis lowered her free hand to her side, letting the apple
core she held fall to the ground. “I am Erythis Firestorm, Lady of the
Sel’belore Province. Who are you?” She kept her tone even, but her counterpart
remained alert, evidently aware a helpless woman would not travel alone. She
let her hand stay at her side, but subtly drew the arcane powers that lay
everywhere toward her, concentrating them.
“Alorinis Alah’ni, I have a lot of titles, most of them are
too ridiculous to mention. Seems unsafe for a demure little thing like you to
be waltzing around the southern forests all on your own.” He paused, his eyes
narrowing in concentration. “So, I have to ask—“
Erythis did not allow him to continue and instead flourished
her hand. The sword placed against her suddenly burned a hot red and the man
gasped, dropping. She swung her staff to the side, not needing it to battle,
and as she flicked her arm before her, the unusually agile man hurled himself back
through the air with a backflip. In the space that was created exploded a
fireball.
The man whom the sorceress was increasingly sure was a
ranger drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and sent it flying with inhuman speed.
However the crimson haired woman was no slouch and raised an arm, erecting a
wall of fire.
Her opponent Alorinis appeared through the wall, arms
covering his face, hands clutching a bow in one hand and arrow in the other.
Midair he sent another arrow flying, this one forcing Erythis to dodge
physically, and beginning a deadly dance.
The ranger tossed the bow to his side, its range too long
for close range quarters, “I like you Ery!” he shouted as he swung his sword at
her, only to find it deflected by a bulwark of fire, “You’ve got balls!” He
rolled back, panting, singed and strangely enough, grinning wickedly.
Erythis remained steadfast in her position, unwilling to
give the man the satisfaction of making her move any more than she already had.
“Then if I’m so ballsy, why are you attacking me?” She challenged him, her
hands alight with her magicked fires. Small eddies of flames licked upward
around her from time to time, and her hair was buoyant on eddies of air her
powers made around her.
“You attacked me!” He retorted, spinning his sword in his
hand slowly. He strafed to the left, then back to the right, his dark gaze
never leaving her. “Why are you out here all on your own? Decided to go
slumming?” His final words were tinted with disdain, and his brows knit in what
she considered uncharacteristic anger in his otherwise ebullient, if violent,
persona.
She extended her left hand, his other sword becoming
vibrating and shaking as it was suddenly heated to such a degree it smoked. He
yelped and dropped it, and went for a full frontal attack. However Erythis was
no fool, and extended her other hand, stopping him in his tracks. Her left hand
returned to the fold and moved toward her right. Before her, a spherical cage
of fire appeared around Alorinis.
“You’re good,” Erythis admitted, a small smirk tugging at
her lips. “But I’m better.” She kept her right hand in the air, raising him
into the air in his flaming prison. “And why I am out here is none of your
business.”
For being trapped in fire and only inches away from being
seriously burnt, Alorinis showed no signs of concern for his welfare. Instead
he only grinned wider, “Would it have something to do with the royal visitor
and the missing regent?” His tone was coy, and it became immediately apparent
to Erythis that he knew more than he originally had let on.
“What do you know?” She asked sternly, her defenses
heightened.
“Enough,” he replied cleverly. His hand moved to his thigh
and before Erythis could react properly, her spell failed and she found his
leather clad arm around her throat and a knife pressed to her throat. She
planted a hand on her side, smoldering dully. “I’ll burn you to cinders,” she
threatened darkly.
He chuckled, “You can’t cast any spells with your neck
slit.”
She considered his words and smirked, “Touché…”
“How’s about we put our magical nonsense down, I put my
knife away, and we talk this out?” His words hung in the air for a long, tense
minute before Erythis relented and lowered her hand. True to his word, he
removed himself from their violent embrace and sheathed his knife on his belt.
Alorinis moved around her, the smell of smoke and forest
thick on his person. He went to collect his weapons and Erythis took the time
to observe him. He was slim – lithe, she decided, was an appropriate adjective
for the ranger. His auburn hair was messy, reached passed his shoulders and
merely pushed to one side of his head with a messy part. His clothes; a rough
beige linen tunic, stained and torn, a set of what were probably once white
pants, riding boots, and a pair of thin leather gloves reaching his elbows
matched the boots in their black colouration.
“So why are you trying to find Vyn?” Alorinis questioned as
he bent over to pick up an arrow. “You personally, that is, not why someone
would want to.” She continued to watch him, remaining silent as she considered
what to say.
Erythis brushed back a stray lock of hair, “Is it not the
duty of one who is as capable as I to do their part in finding our de facto
sovereign?” her words were haughty, and the ranger snorted out a laugh in
response. “What?”
“Ery I could have had you on your knees in a second if had
wanted to, I just let you win.” Now it was her turn to let out an entirely
unladylike laugh, both at the double entendre and the perceived audacity of him
winning their little battle.
Procuring his bow and placing it on a hook on his back, he
turned to face her, “So I’ll tell you what. We travel together to find Vyn, and
I won’t bring up the fact that you had a vision of an older version of you both
fighting the Empress of the Eastern Empire.”
Erythis narrowed her gaze at him, but he only smirked
smugly, “Well I can’t tell you where I learn things! That would take out the
mystery in life. You’ll learn eventually, I’m sure.” Flourishing a hand down
the road, he offered a mock bow, “Shall we be off, my lady?”
“… Fine,” she relented, “But you’re telling me who you are
and why you want to come along.” He nodded, and offered her the staff she had
immediately discarded at the beginning of their battle. Closing the distance
between them, she took it and began on the path again.
Silence fell as they set off again, the sun still high in
the sky as they continued on what was now their trek. “Well?”
Alorinis looked over, blinking uncomprehendingly: “Well
what?”
“Who are you and why do you want to accompany me?” She
snapped.
“Oh, right!” He chuckled, “I’m a member of the king’s
personal task force, sent out for only the most important missions.” Erythis
gave him a flat stare, and he waved her off dismissively; “Fine, don’t believe
me! Here I am telling you the truth like you asked and it’s just too impressive
for you to believe.”
After a pause, he continued, more seriously. “The king had
serious concerns about the safety of his eldest son, the kingdom and indeed the
very world. He sent my squad and I out to investigate. I was on my way to the
Badlands to try to find the prince when I saw you.”
“Badlands, hm? Are we to run into any of your… comrades on
the way?” Erythis inquired, worried about what kind of horrendously annoying
company Alorinis kept. He only smirked, leaving her to guess what friendly
horrors he had in store for her.
0 comments:
Post a Comment