[Vicious] Chapter 4
Rys was most definitely bored.
Sure, the forest was the very definition of doom and gloom, the very air being unwelcoming, but it didn't change the fact that it was a forest and it was boring. There was nothing for Rys to do, no books to read or weapons to make and he was bored. The company of Hadyn and Tif was welcoming and comfortable the longer they stayed together as they traveled and things didn't change much. They walked, hunted for food (which Rys was getting better at, which was...something at least) drank water when they found it and once night fell, they went to sleep only to start all over again the next day.
Tif kept swearing they were walking on a road, but if they were, it was a road only she could see. Even Hadyn seemed to laugh at her sometimes when she insisted she knew exactly where they were going. He had to admit it was amusing though, seeing the stubborn set of her jaw and narrowed eyes as she once again lost her temper at him for doubting her ability to find their way out of the forest. Most of the time, they walked in silence, only the sound of their footsteps present, and concentrated on making progress. Tif wanted to get to her cavern and Elders as soon as possible so she could give her report and get another, more action-filled, mission. It seemed she could be bloodthirsty when she wanted to.
He still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a very bad thing.
And that was how their days were spent, walking and occasionally sharing funny stories, and it was, in a word, boring. It was his fault of course, he was the one that had jinxed himself, but it was still a disappointment. They were in a forest, far away from civilization and had all they needed to have an adventure (though he didn't want to go on one) the only thing missing were a powerful enemy to fight against, and they were bored. Even Tif commented that her trip had been much more action-filled on they into the forest and she blamed his presence on the lack of enemies on the way out.
She apparently still considered him under the protection of the Forest and so it was apparently all his fault. Even Hadyn had taken to disappearing from time to time as if saying he agreed with her. The only good thing was that Tif had finally stopped singing in the morning after the third time Hadyn had almost killed her for it.
The wolf was still as terrifying as ever.
So that was how it went, walking, walking and walking.
By the time a week had passed, Rys was ready to tear his hair out. He was the kind of person whose mind was always thinking and not being able to make any of the weapons or jewelry he kept thinking of was driving him insane.
It was only aggravated by Tif's persistent humming.
Rys stopped walking and leaned back on a convenient tree next to him, letting his head fall back on the hard trunk of it as he attempted to get his mind to calm down. If this was how he reacted after not even two weeks away from Light Valley, he really wasn't cut out for these kind of things. He should start thinking about just buying a house somewhere in the middle of nowhere and becoming a hermit. Despite the fact that Tif was bored as well, she wasn't nearly as frustrated as he was, even with her fervent wish to fight someone.
He closed his eyes and just listened to the silence that surrounded them. The forest was as unsettling and fear inducing as always, yet he seemed to have gotten used to it. It was a slightly terrifying thought, that he was getting used to this eerie atmosphere, though it got a little less suppressing the further out in the forest they got. His hand carded through his hair which was once again a tangled mess, and he gave a breathless little laugh at the turn his life had taken.
This wasn't anything like what he figured his life was going to go. He always thought he was going to spend his entire life in Light Valley, never further away then a couple of kilometers and entertaining himself with laughing when the elves made fools of themselves, and then die a quiet death in his sleep from natural causes that would probably be someones attempt at finally killing him. There was nothing in his thoughts about crossing long, partly dead forests, or making friends with goblins or meeting an animal that wouldn't try to kill him on the spot.
He gave another, slightly more bitter, sounding laugh as he considered the fact that when he died, his family would not even know. This was his life now, because he could never go back. Contrary to what other elves thought, Rys wasn't suicidal, and if going home would get him killed than he just wouldn't go there. It only sounded worse when he actually thought about and it wasn't just a faint thought in the back of his mind.
His life was in pieces and Rys had no idea how to fix it.
His dark green eyes opened just enough to see Hadyn giving him what he could only describe as a curious look from where he stood next to Tif practically in front of him. Rys gave him a small smile, no more then the turning of his lips, as he vainly attempted to reassure him that he was fine. Not that Hadyn even cared about that.
And wasn't that a depressing thought, the first animal that hadn't tried to kill him only followed him in order to sleep next to him. It was pure irony.
He straightened up and tugged his hair somewhat back into the high pony tail it had been in and gave a much more genuine smile at the duo in front of him. His eyes crinkled slightly at the corners as he attempted to show them that he truly was glad they were with him. He didn't doubt that he would be dead otherwise, either from starvation, dehydration or just from getting killed.
"I'm sorry, let's get back to walking." he said.
Tif huffed at him but nodded and they started walking again, this Hadyn being right next to him in contrast to Tif being slightly far away from them.
"Thank you," he whispered to the head high enough to reach his shoulders. "for coming with us. I wonder if you'll stop once we leave the forest though?"
Hadyn nudged him hard enough to push him forwards, only his sense of balance keeping him from falling over. "I don't know if that was your response, but for what's worth, if you left I would miss you. And I'm grateful for your assistance in keeping me alive, I don't think I would have made it this far with out you. You're still scary though." he added.
Rys got what he could swear was an eye roll in response, though how a wolf managed it he didn't know, and grinned sharply at Hadyn, his canines visible. It was a more frightening image than he thought.
He schooled his features back into an emotionless mask as they continued down what had once upon a long time ago been a path. Now, there was no difference between what Tif swore was a path and the rest of the forest. But Tif was the one that had memorized an old map of the place, so maybe she was right. The only way to tell was to follow her and the change in their surroundings was clear, though slow. It was visible that it was the beginning of autumn with more and more yellow and red leaves on trees that were no longer half-dead. The forest wasn't nearly as unsettling as it had been some week before.
"Hey Tif, what do you think about elves?" he asked her.
She snorted and grimaced. "They're pure evil! Nowhere near as powerful as they say they are. I don't understand why the orcs keeps losing to them, they should be easy to beat. Compared to their ancestors that first came here, they are nowhere near as scary."
"Ah..." Rys said. "Well, I suppose they have to be good for something if they keep winning."
"No!" she shook her head in denial. "They are stupid evil creatures that would be better off dead!"
He gave her an absent nod and his eyes glazed over as he thought. Currently, Tif was under the impression that he was a pureblooded orc, no matter how unlikely that was, and she hated elves, the other side of him. It would be better if she never knew the truth about him, he had no idea what she would do to him if she found out. Rys wondered why the thought of continuing to lie to her hurt, almost as much as the thought about how she would react once she knew the truth. Rys wasn't an idiot, he knew very well that all secrets would eventually see light, even his. And when it did, he didn't doubt that she would hate him for it, as much as the thought hurt.
His eyes cleared up again, back to their cold frosty look and he ignored the curiosity he could feel coming from Hadyn, however that was possible, and they kept walking.
— —
Some time later, they came upon a good clearing to settle down for the night as evening was coming faster and faster each evening. Tif started collecting firewood while Hadyn left to hunt, as he had been doing the past few days and Rys dragged his cloak off his body and sat down on it. The thing was now dirty enough that seeing the original blue color was next to impossible and Rys entertained the thought of washing it the next time they found water. He could hear the unmistakable sound of a river nearby and though he liked the thought of cleaning his clothes, he didn't want to ruin drinkable water. It was already hard enough to find water they could drink and though they stayed relatively close to a water source as they walked, sometimes the path took them further away from it.
He bit his lower lip slightly in thought as he tried to figure out what to do next. Their food was still bland and tasteless, if you didn't count the taste of blood that neither he nor Tif seemed to have anything against, and Tif had taken over the cooking of food while Hadyn was the one that hunted most. Honestly, Rys was starting to feel kind of useless again. While he was not the best hunter, he was learning and he kind of enjoyed it. Regardless, he now had nothing to do.
Rys exhaled and let his head drop forward in his hands. He knew he was repeating himself, but this was not how he had imagined his life to go.
He missed his books, damn it!
He missed everything.
His eyes slipped closed and he ignored everything around as he dwelled in his own misery. It had taken him time to accept the fact that he couldn't go home, and he still wasn't alright with it, but the utter mess his life had turned into was still enough to make him want to cry. He knew he was getting more and more bitter as time passed, but he really didn't know what to do now. They were going to the goblin caves, but then what? What would happen to him after that? Where could he go that people wouldn't try to kill him on sight?
Did such a place even exist?
Rys usually tried the stay positive, but damn it, his life was in pieces, he was allowed to wallow in his own misery.
The sound of the fire starting brought Rys out of his own mind and he blinked to clear away his thoughts as he concentrated on Tif sitting next to him and working on keeping the fire going. His hands transferred to the ground next to him and he tilted his head as he attempted to think of something, anything, to say to chase away the awkward silence that had befallen them. Granted, constantly being around people were grating on his nerves, but he would prefer that they would get along as long as they were forced to be in each others company than to barely speak to each other. It was uncomfortable in an entirely different way.
"So...do you have any siblings?" Rys asked.
Tif gave him an odd look again, as if she thought he was stupid. "Of course! I have 23 siblings. Goblins give birth in litters you know." she stated in a slightly condescending tone.
"Ah, I only have two." he replied. "They're both younger then me." he added.
"Hmph, how people can settle for so few children when they die so often I will never know. By the time goblins reaches adulthood, over two thirds of us are dead, you know." Tif commented in an even voice. Rys gave her a horrified look as he thought about what that meant. He knew that goblins tended to end up being casualties in wars, no matter if they sided with someone or not, but he hadn't thought about the fact that there was only one goblin cave remaining when there used to be almost a dozen millennia ago. He wondered how long until they died out. He wondered why that thought bothered him in the first place. In Light Valley, he never gave such things or other races much thought, he was content to ignore what went on outside of his bubble of life.
He was starting to think that maybe he should have made greater efforts to learn about other people and their races. Every other word out of Tif's mouth made him feel undeniably stupid.
Thankfully, the new silence, just as uncomfortable as the first, was interrupted by Hadyn returning with a couple of dead rabbits in his mouth. Rys was honestly starting to get tired of eating rabbits, it was like it was the only other animals in the forest when he knew for a fact that it had plenty of predators. Even Tif had said that the lack of other animals were weird.
Rys gave a small smile and a thank you to Hadyn while Tif started preparing the food. He rose from where he had been sitting and made his way out of the clearing in search of the water he could hear. Rys ignored the fact that Hadyn was following him, he had no idea what went on in the wolf's head and he didn't want to know, and walked towards the water. He was getting more and more thirsty the closer he got, a side-effect of not drinking water as often as his body demanded him too. When he could see the water through the trees, he hurried and before long he stood next to it. The water was a clear blue, same as every part of the river they came too and as he kneeled and submerged his hands into it, he let a smile bloom on his face. He drank the water as fast as he could, grateful as it soothed his slightly dry throat.
Once he had drank this fill, he sat back and sent Hadyn a glare when the wolf snorted at him and he felt the amusement coming from it. He rolled his eyes and got back to his feet, turning around to go back to his cloak and food at the camp. Now that he wasn't thirsty anymore, he could feel his hunger growing.
The way back to camp was easy, as he could remember where he came from. Although he still had no idea where in the forest they were – though Tif instead they were getting somewhere – he had started getting a sense of where they had been. It wasn't even that difficult and he didn't understand why he had had a problem with it in the first place.
Rys gave Tif a polite smile with a touch of teeth when he entered the clearing. He was starting to enjoy the fact that he could smile at people unbound without being called an abomination and he was determined to take advantage of it. It was liberating in way things rarely were and Rys was bitter enough that he decided that if he ever saw a elf again, he would give them his most bloodthirsty smile. Just to see their reaction, of course.
He sat down in front of the fire and started eating when Tif gave the go ahead. The taste of blood was, as always, present but it kept the meat from being bland and tasteless so he didn't mind. Not that it would really bother him otherwise either.
After eating, they laid down on their makeshift beds (Tif's was the bare ground, his cloak wasn't big enough to provide cover for her as well and she didn't want it) and among the glittering stars just barely to see through the treetops, they fell asleep. Not that their dreams were worth telling about, though. They were honestly quite boring.
— —
The next day, they were making their way through thick green grass high enough that even Rys could barely see over it. It went all the way up to his neck and half the time, he had to spit out grass that contacted his mouth. Surprisingly, the taste was somewhere between blood and tears. If that was a sign, they Rys didn't recognize it, but his instincts were screaming at him that what they were doing was a very bad idea. Unfortunately, Tif didn't listen to him and just kept walking, even though Hadyn had once again disappeared. Where, Rys didn't know, but he was confident it was better then where they were. Sadly, Tif insisted it was the only way.
"Wait Tif, if this is the only way, how did you get to the place where we met?" Rys asked.
From where she was entangled in grass taller then her somewhere at his feet, she let out a huff and answered. "I went through here. This is where I got all those wounds, remember? A tribe of giant cats or something live here and they tried to eat me. Thankfully I got away and wth you here, I'm sure it's perfectly safe now."
Rys had the sudden urge to bang his head against a tree until it cracked. "You do know I don't even have a knife right? I lost it at that old fortress." he muttered down at her.
"I'm sure you're very powerful." she waved away his worries like they meant nothing. It gave him the urge to throttle her, but he kept himself in check and thought of happier thoughts. Like the fact that they would soon be out of the forest in a couple of days. Apparently it had gone faster when they didn't have veer off from the path to avoid hungry animals all the time.
Rys was starting to doubt how she had gotten so far into the forest in the first place.
He pushed more grass out of his face and continued forwards. Considering the fact that Hadyn wasn't there to protect them (though he probably wouldn't anyway) they should hurry to get out of this high grass. Contrary to what Tif thought, Rys was very confident in his inability to protect them. If they didn't get out of this place as soon as possible as neither he nor Tif had a weapon – she had apparently lost hers aw well – they were going to get eaten, no two ways about it. After how far they had gotten, it seemed like a stupidly anticlimactic ending.
"Come on," he whispered to her. "we need to hurry out of this place. I am very sure I'm not as powerful as you seem to think I am."
Instead of a reply, he got a yelp as she stumbled over his black leather boots. He felt her arms hug his legs for balance and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Sometimes, the fact that she wasn't yet an adult was easy to see.
She pushed off from him, almost tearing his brown pants in the process, and blindly moved forward. Rys dutifully followed after her and nudged her when she was about to turn back the way they came. He was getting more worried about her as they went as it seemed she had truly lost all sense of direction. It was almost as bad as Rys'. Eventually, after several hours of walking almost in circles, Rys could see the start of the forest again. Though they hadn't left the forest at all, but it made things clearer if he split it up into parts. He looked down at Tif and frowned when he couldn't see her close by. There wasn't a lot of time he could have lost her, but maybe he had?
As he wondered if he should turn back to try to find her, a growl filling the air made him stop moving, barely even breathing. His eyes were wide, because that ain't the sound of Hadyn, not to mention that Hadyn had started making sound when he got closer to them in order not to startle them after the third time he had almost scared Rys to death.
He listened as he stood still and tried to think of what to do. He had no weapon, both Tif and Hadyn were gone so there was no chance of reinforcement and although he knew hand-to-hand combat, he had never fought an animal. Whenever they attacked, someone else stepped in to fend them off and calm them down. No actual predator had ever tried to kill him (although he was still slightly unsure about Hadyn) and he had no idea what to do. He had never trained for this, no-one had told him how to handle a situation like this.
More growling filled the air as more animals joined the first one, and they were close enough that it sounded like they were right next to him. He jerked when he felt something impact with his legs and looked down, sighing in relief when all he saw was Tif holding a finger up to her lips in the universal sign of 'be silent'. He gave her a shallow nod, trying not to drag attention to them. It failed, as told to him by the growling once again filling the air, this time much louder.
He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the growing fear and terror in the pit of his stomach, standing as still as he could. He didn't dare try to hide as they had, as proven already by growling, already seen him. Terror gripped his heart and among the many chantings of "I don't want to die" in his head, he could hear his pulse racing. The rhythm of his heart picked up speed the more terrified he got and as the film of red took over his sight, even closed as his eyes were, he realized what happened.
It was silent. He could hear nothing above the loud beating of his heart. He was only faintly aware of Tif letting go of his legs as his eyes flickered open. With eyes glowing a startling shade of green, much brighter than they usually were, he turned his head and stared at the three giant catlike creatures he could see standing behind him. He could see their heads and a large part of their shoulders above the grass, and their eyes were a soul-sucking black. The coloring were what allowed them to blend into the surroundings, a green color that he had never seen on an animal before. For a second he wanted to stop, wanted to grab Tif and run and never look back and hope for the best, but then his head caught up with his fears and he realized he would never be able to outrun these creatures. He wasn't sure if even Hadyn would be able to. And now he understood why Hadyn hadn't followed them through the grass, he knew what was waiting for them.
Unfortunately for them, this had never played a part in Rys' nightmares.
Rys let out a growl of his own, trying to ignore the feeling of bearing his canines at the felines in front of him as he turned his entire body to face them. As he looked closer, he could see faint brown flecks on their pelts and he grinned as he lost the last shred of sanity he had managed to keep.
It wasn't a bloodbath.
There wasn't any ripping or tearing limbs from limbs, there wasn't even much growling. No, there was just pure cold killing and bones breaking, skin and fur slashing open and breathing blood. There was no unnecessary moves, just the easiest and fasted way to kill. A neck was broken, another had their throat torn out by sharp claws and the third tried to rip and tear its attacker back but didn't get far enough for it to matter. There was nothing of Rys left in his movements. Where he would have hesitated, his body didn't, where he would have stopped to kill them kinder, his body didn't care and where Rys would have been ready to throw up from the way he left them on the ground, his body didn't even notice it. It wasn't a bloodbath and it wasn't coldhearted murder, because there was no heart in it at all.
It was just a battle for survival.
For a moment, the world was still. His heartbeat slowed back down and the red haze covering his mind slowly started to fall apart. His breath came out in puffs in the suddenly cold air, visible as a white cloud escaping from his mouth and control of his body returned. He could feel the dark red blood covering his hands and he absently entertained the thought if his cloak had suffered any damage as it was the only clothing he had for when the weather got colder.
Rys gave a shuddering breath and closed his eyes, trying to shut the world out. His arm hurt where one of the creatures had gotten a swipe in and he took another breath as the pain started to settle in. There was the vague thought that he couldn't let it get infected without proper medicine, but his mind was more concerned with trying to calm down from the almost frantic state he was in. He quenched his eyes open and looked wildly around himself when he remembered that he wasn't alone. The grass had been pushed down and flattened by their fighting and spotting Tif was easier then he thought it would be. She was hunched down behind some large grass still standing, half hiding and on her dark grey face, her expression was that of awe and fear.
His pale hair on the edge of being white flew around his face as he hurried towards Tif. Rys almost let out of breath of relief at seeing her unharmed, but instead bent down so he was almost on the same level as her. He gave her a small smile, trying to be as reassuring as possible and he wondered if she would push him away like Jet had done when he saw the part of him that screamed orc. When she finally seemed to snap out of it, her eyes teared up and she stood up as straight as she could as she took a deep breath and let out an explosive:
"Why didn't you leave any for me?!"
Rys stared at her in shock with wide eyes that were back to their normal green color and before he knew it, he started to laugh. He threw his head back as he tumbled to the ground and leaned back on his hands, laughing like never before. He laughed to the point where tears started gathering in his eyes and fell over his cheeks and he could taste them on his tongue. When his arms could no longer hold him up, he felt back on the grass covered ground and continued to laugh, even as tears escaped his eyes and traced tracks on his grey cheeks. His hair spread out around him and he slowly stopped laughing, an hysterical giggle still escaping now and then.
It figured that a battle-thirsty female goblin would be a better friend then an elf he had grown up with.
"Thank you." he whispered to Tif that had sat herself down next to him, looking clueless about why he was laughing but willing to put up with it.
She gave him an odd look. "What for?"
"For not being scared of me." Rys answered honestly.
"Why would I be scared of you? I want to be like you!" she gushed as she looked at him with stars in her large eyes.
He gave a quiet scoff in response. "I don't think that would be a very good idea, Tif."
Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a look of displeased stubbornness. "Well, I don't think that's up to you. I can be whoever I want to be.”
He let out a tired sigh as his body calmed down and he could feel the strain. He was still bleeding from his arm as well. "Alright, do whatever you want." he said and looked up at the, for once in a long time, clear sky.
It was sunset and the sky was a mix of red and orange, the majestic sight enough the cheer him up for him to smile a little in cynical amusement. He wondered what his family was doing, if they were alright. If they missed him.
The very thought was enough to wipe the smile from his face.
When Rys was very young, when he was still an only child and his mother had just married his stepfather, he used to pretend that he was on grand adventures with friends and comrades that would have his back in fights, that when he came back victorious the elves would praise him and pay attention to him. They would be so grateful that he would even get to be on the Royal Guard and no-one would ever be allowed to hurt him again. It was a child's fantasy that never failed to cheer him up. He remembered his mother reading him stories of heroes and villains, of grand quests for peace and prosperity and right and wrong under his stepfathers disapproving gaze and how he used to dream up scenarios with his mother of fighting back against the evil orc army.
He wondered what she thought of him now.
Rys scowled and pushed himself up until he was sitting next to a bored Tif and pulled his his dark grey shirts sleeve away from his arm. He inspected the wound when there was still some light left from the setting sun and frowned in thought as he saw the two claw marks on the skin of his left forearm. They were still bleeding sluggishly, and he could feel himself starting to get a little dizzy. He dragged the cloak off his shoulders and with a snarl, he bit down on the end and tore it off. He grunted as he wrapped it tight around the wound on his arm, tying it off with off with one end in his mouth and the other in his hand.
"So," he started. "do you know what those things were?"
"Nope!" Tif gave him a bright grin, that looked lopsided on her scarred face.
Rys shook his head in resignation and leaned back down on the ground. He laid there for a moment, simply drinking in the stillness and what could almost be mistaken for peace that surrounded them and then he dragged himself up off the ground and started to bundle up what was left of his cloak, tore off that it was below his knees. In the first place it only reached his heels, but he figured it was still good enough for him to use. The tear wasn't even, but a jagged mess, but he didn't think it mattered.
When he was finally finished, he stood still and took in the sight of three dead animals littering the ground, their blood drenching the grass and the stank of death already filling the air. He ignored the slight nausea in his stomach, his eyes hard as he turned away from the sight and instead looked down at Tif that had started getting up when he did.
"Well," he said. "let's keep going."
She nodded determinedly at him and marched on through the thick covering of the tall grass, the sun only giving enough light for them to continue until they reached the tree-line. Once there, the forest rose up before them, just as mystical and unsettling as before and Rys gave a slight pause before he hunched his shoulders back and stood straighter, continuing forwards with a determination he had never felt before. The world was so very different from what he had thought and he wasn't going to be out of the game yet. He still had elves to humiliate and family to reunite with, after all.
— —
That night dreams came in flashes.
Unlike what he thought might happen, he didn't dream of his childhood or family and he didn't have any nightmares about what he had done, as he knew that he would do it again if necessary, though the thought unnerving. Instead, Rys dreamed of Hadyn and Tif, sitting around a campfire in comfortable silence. No-one spoke in his dream and he slept as his dream-self wondered through his mind, digging up memories and thoughts he didn't remember having.
When he woke up, it was to the forest's stillness.
Rys blinked his eyes open and groaned as the pain from his arm hit. It was a biting kind of pain, the kind you couldn't ignore even as it healed. The only good thing about it was that he didn't seem to have a fever, which most likely meant that it didn't get infected. Or that the claws of those green animals didn't have poison in them.
He pushed himself into a sitting position as he looked around the place they had finally decided to set up camp at. There was, as always, a fire in the middle which he and Tif were on opposite sides of and they had, for the first time since they met Hadyn, split watch in order to make sure no other giant green cats followed them. He had thus taken first watch as it seemed the excitement of it all had made Tif more tired then they thought. A couple of hours later, they switched and Rys went to sleep.
The trees were once again blocking off the sun.
Rys made his way to his feet as he stood up from the ground, slightly unsteady as he was still in considerate amounts of pain from the claw marks burning on his arm. They weren't deep enough to graze the bone, but it was easy to tell that it was going to scar.
He breathed in the fresh air and let a genuine smile form on his face as he looked up at the top of the trees. For the last couple of days, leaves had started to change colors faster and the air had been getting colder as winter approached, though he was sure snow was still a few months off. Yet, he was excited for when it came as it never really snowed in Light Valley, and when it did, it was a light kind of snow that melted even as it fell. No, at most there would be hail and despite everything that had happened, Rys was looking forward to it. He wanted to be able to tell his younger brother everything about it when they met again. Because there wasn't a doubt in Rys' mind that they would. He made his way to where Tif was sitting next to the fire and carefully settled down next to her. He kept his arm from moving around to much as he looked sideways at Tif. Usually, she would already be chatting to him by now, but instead she was sitting quietly, with her head bent down so he couldn't see her eyes. It was disconcerting not to hear her be the usual chatterbox that she was and he found himself worried about her.
He hummed in thought. "Are you alright?"
She was startled by his voice bad enough that she literally jumped and she turned wide eyes on him in shock. "Of course I'm fine! You protected me!" she exclaimed.
Rys nodded. "Yes, but are you alright?"
Her eyebrows furrowed as she frowned and tried to figure out what he meant. "Yes." she answered. "I'm alright."
"Good." he smiled at her and ignored the widening of her eyes at his expression. "Then let's keep going. We still have a long way to go, right?"
She nodded and they smothered the fire as they prepared to leave the temporary camp and keep going to the goblin caves. Rys drew his significantly shorter cloak on as it had once again been torn apart in order to change his bandages. Thankfully, it seemed as if the wounds were already beginning to scab over, although he wondered how much would be left of his cloak by the time it healed.
They continued walking in the direction that would lead them to the goblin caves the fastest, and the imaginary path they took started twisting and turning pretty soon. Rys tried not to think too much about it, the way Tif still insisted the forest was sentient and instead concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
He was really not in the mood for anymore surprises any time soon. The bloodthirsty rage he had gone into the day before had left him exhausted and he didn't think his body was up for again so soon. There was also the fact that the complete loss of control had frightened him enough that no matter how useful it was, he didn't want enter that state again. It had been so long ago since the last time that he forgot, but that kind of utter lack of anything but an intense need to spill blood and slaughter his enemies, it scared him. It always had.
A couple of hours later, they stopped to rest for awhile. While walking, Tif had commented that this was the same way that she came, and there wasn't really any worse dangers on the way than those dead cats so they could slow down. It would only take about two more days of walking if they hurried to get there. Rys was doubtful, because that was clearly a very old map, it was even falling apart at the edges, but he decided to trust her on it.
After all, she had made into the forest in the first place.
After they rested, they kept going. Despite the fact that the forest was less eerie then it had been before, it was still a scaring place with an almost dark atmosphere. Rys had a feeling that whatever had lived in that fortress was responsible for it and if he was right, maybe even the reason people apparently thought it was sentient. Rys was prepared to believe in a lot of things, but a forest capable of thought was not one of them. He just didn't understand how it could be possible.
As time passed, the pain in his arm lessened and he found that ignoring it was getting easier and easier. While Rys had a fairly high pain tolerance, this was still one of the worst injuries he had ever received. The worst one would be when he had an accident while working in the smith a couple of hundred years ago and burned himself badly. Thankfully, the elves medicine was good enough that by now it could barely be seen. It hadn't even really scarred.
Rys felt a shiver pass over him as they passed an invisible threshold in the forest. The difference between the forest around the fortress and the path they were on was getting more and more apparent with every step they took. The trees were further and further apart and significantly shorter as more and more sun passed through the treetops. Shadows crawled on the ground in response to the sudden sunlight and moss sat upon rocks and trees. Small beams of sunlight filtered through the leaves and hanging branches from trees that were no longer any wider then him as they were younger than their larger counterparts.
The feeling of being observed and having every action he did picked apart in pieces returned as they advanced out to the edges of the forest. Still, the Forest of Darlan was an enormous forest that occupied half the country of Loria and Lamirna and even at the edges of it, there was still some time to go until they exited it.
He ignored the feeling of magic that had passed over them and instead walked faster, pretending not to notice Tif's questioning had been in the forest for weeks and frankly speaking, he wasn't sure he liked it. He liked Tif and Hadyn and he liked the fact that he had gotten a chance to get better at hunting, but he didn't enjoy the feeling of constantly being watched. It was entirely different to how he used to be watched in Light Valley. It wasn't waiting for him to mess something up so the owner of the gaze could have an opportunity to screw with his life, rather it was an unnerving mix of curiosity and malevolent. It was disconcerting and made him exhausted in an entirely new way.
He just wanted to get out of the damn forest.