Fable - Ask Silver and Gold, Worth Feathers Untold

[Lorinna Astarel]

Lorinna had a tight grip on the rope. Since nearly getting crushed in a deep well rescuing a dragon and a komodi, Lorinna had an interesting relationship with heights. It wasn't full acrophobia, but vertigo could catch her out when she looked up or down sheer drops.

"Well...someone needs to look out for you," she said.

His honesty in wanting to communicate about this endeared him to her a great deal. Lorinna spoke volumes in a small smile before turning away.

"Where do you think our two are going?"

She was starting to think they were getting cold and damp for no good reason.

 

[Hector]

Her words and her smile warmed his belly. Had his heart flutter.

An adjustment, and his eyes returned to the shift of figures, across the rope bridge and down the trunk of the tree. "Doing a bit of investigation, I'd imagine," he said.

They stepped after steady stepped their way across the sway of the bridge.

"Spose, it could be nothing," he added, half hearted. "Just keepin an eye on us, outsiders," there was a hint of bitterness there.

Save his encounter with the Belganon men at Seehoben, the places his quests had taken him were most welcoming.

Suspicion. Distrust. They were not currencies he was familiar with.

He looked down, and saw how she held tight the rope. How her usual confidence seemed stiff, weighted with worry.

His hand eased over hers, careful not to startle her, and his broad fingers squeezed gentle her bones beneath his. "Let's turn in then?" he said warmly, and leaned toward her some, as the bridge shift with the wind.

A crackle in the branches behind them had his head turn round, his eyes wide and alert, his knees bent as he held tight to Lorinna, and with strong beats of black wings, the air churned about them. A great raven swept overhead. Then another. The rope bridge swayed underneath them as Hector made small and tried to keep anchored to the line, hand tight against Lori's as all rocked uneven

The ravens, dark and large as horses, careened through the night air. Fanned their wings wide. The guards shout. The sound of squawks, and quarks and crooks as claws snatched and snapped about Syr Urzog.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

She gave a soft sigh and nodded her head. The two knights did not need to be closely watched. They were aware that they would be followed and were more than capable.

And arrogant too, Lorinna thought to herself. No trace of irony in her own mind for how she could act at times.

She stiffened as the bridge moved, hand clasping the rope tightly. She would have dropped to the ground if she had been on the floor, but she dared not release the rope. Tucking her chin into her chest, and turning away from the moving shadows as she held Hector and the ropes.

Her lips pulled back and she wore a determined grimace as the bridge continued to sway.

"Go, help them!" she growled through gritted teeth. Lorinna finally released a grip so tight that her knuckles were bright white. She took one tentative step forwards, but knew she would be slower than hector to get moving. Her eyesight wasn't as adept in the dark either.

"What are they?" she called out, barely making out the shapes as they dove again at Syr Urzog.

 

[Hector]

Hector grit his teeth, a grunt came from his mouth as he steadied himself. The bridge still swaying, to and fro from the rush of wing-beats and stirred gales.

Lori's clear shout snapped his attention back up. His hand slipped from hers, and he nod, breaking away from her with a quick hop step, his feet sure, despite the uneven path they tread upon.

A clatter and clash, and the dull thrum of strong feathers hard against the air as talons snatched and raked across armor and spear. A dark whirl of motion, punctuated by the errant flash of metal lit by magick's light, as Herzog willed forth a spell.

Legs pumping fast, fingers cutting signs as arms worked with the run, Hector willed forth a crackle, a spark, white as star light. Pointer and middle finger straight, he whipped forward his arm, and let fly the light.

Like a pixie set loose, the sparkling light flew ahead of him in the darkness, and reached about Syr Herzog. Fizzled and spat motes of light as it hung suspended in the air, and made clear the dark shapes that wheeled about for another dive.

"Corhuk!" the guards called out. "Corhuk!"

Hector's heart only flew faster. His feet stepped as fast as they could, down a staircase.

The guards were before him, their shields raised in the direction of the great ravens, Syr Herzog knelt, breath ragged, her eyes cast up to track the raven's.

Dark wings adjusted primary feathers, ling fingers fanned and bent to change the wind, and their hooked beaks gleamed.

A crack of magick torn through the veil of the air. A bird of flame, like a long beaked rook, burned to life above Hector.

The great ravens dove down once more. The guards braced themselves behind shields. Hector struck his hand forward, the flame wing bolt ahead.

A crash of feathers. A smash of flame that caught against oil slicked plumes. A pained screech from one great raven, as the other enveloped Herzog, neath a fan of its wings. Lifted up with strong beats, and carried the knight off betwixt its clutches, its wingmate struggled back into the air, as fire licked across it. A tuck of wings and a sharp dive, saw the fires go out.

Hector looked on, wide eyed and snarling as he stood at the edge of the walkway.

The guards turned ot him, with weapons pointed. "You struck a Corhuk," one said, voice laden with accusation.

Hector's eyes snapped back to them. "What?" He asked bewildered, a back step taken, as he saw them encroach upon him, one edging around him to cut off his retreat. "Hold on, I am with the kni-"

"Silence!" A lazy jab of the spear, aimed low at his legs.

"What, hey!"

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

She could do this. Her feet felt as if they had been nailed down to the bridge. She paused for a moment, watching Hector rush on ahead. He drew his magic to himself and summoned the light. Lorinna felt a flush of pride for his actions and a flush of shame for her own.

Lorinna turned her eyes forwards. She turned all thoughts to her goal. Step by step, hand over hand. She made slow progress until she reached the end of the bridge.

Lorinna turned to see the bird beat its wings to carry Herzog up into the air. Lorinna felt the air driven from her lungs. The knight was caught in talons, possible already skewered and bleeding out. There was nothing she could have done, even if she had found her nerve immediately.

Instead she rushed down the stairs as one of the guards turned on Hector. A flash of anger turned to ice in her veins. She would not tolerate this.

She stepped smartly past Hector. Without full plate she couldn't take the usual risks, but she wouldn't be timid.

Her hand wrapped around the haft of the spear, tugging it close to her hip. Lorinna delivered an open palm strike to the chest, over the rim of as shield and sent the man onto his backside.

"How dare you point a spear at us."

 

[Hector]

Wide eyed, and mouth agape, Hector stared in awe of Lorinna's decisiveness. Blinked as the other guard seemed to think on what to do.

A breath came out of his lungs, focusing on the heat of his heart, and with a sharp fingered cut of the air, Hector willed forth a small bright sphere of fire, no bigger than a sling stone. It set to orbit about him.

The guard who was still standing saw the magic, saw the enraged squire, and took a back step, raised his spear up, and tucked behind his shield. "Woah now, d-don't do anything hasty,"

The one on the ground grumbled. "Miserable piece of shit," he reached for his spear. "Ye've struck a Corhuk, and ye've attacked an Elder's man," he laughed. "Ye'll be lucky if you don't hang for this,"

Hector's brow knit. A growl in his throat saw the little sphere of fire crackle and hiss the louder as it traced about him like an angry humming bird.

Shouts came in the distance, the shuffles of footfalls sounded against wood planks. More guards soon closed off the route behind them. Two more.

"What's going on here?" one with a salt and pepper beard asked. A sword at his hip, and a studded targe on his arm. He looked to Lorinna, the guard on the ground, and Hector, who willed fire about him. "We, saw the magery,"

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

She was breathing hard. Panic from the bridge, fear for their ally and friend, anger at the way they threatened Hector.

Lorinna took a step back, still angling a shoulder to put herself between the spears and the men. It was at times like this that she valued her armour. It placed her above the common peasant with a knife tied to a stick.

"You tell us what is going on," Lorinna demanded, her tone sharp and clipped.

"I just saw a bird take out friend and this one point a spear at him," she said, tilting her head over her shoulder. She kept her hand away from the pommel of her sword, but angled her stance so they could see the fine weapon.

She had to stop imagining cutting through this men like chaff for betraying Hector.

 

[Hector]

The man with the sword and targe went wide eyed and stiff. He looked to Hector, and then to the other guard who was just getting up.

Hector tensed as he watched the spear raise up, passed the point of threat, and rested on the hostile man's shoulder, though the tightness about his face made him none the friendlier.

"A corhuk took your friend?" the man with a sword asked, as if to check that he had heard correctly.

Hector let out a breath. Nod. "The great ravens, yes, they... swooped down and, grabbed up Syr Herzog, our companion."

"And the bloody long ear blasted one with fire!" the hostile guard barked. "And he's got his sorcery burning right now! Look at em!"

"What was I supposed to do?!" Hector snapped back. Riled and anxious. Adrenaline still hot in his blood. His orb of fire sizzled and hissed as it flit about him.

The other guards tensed to the situation.

The man with the sword at his hip raised empty hands, motioned for calm. Stepped before the spearmen before he could lower the weapon again. "Peace, peace, so there be no bloodshed!"

The guard's who had accompanied him, two, seemed wide eyed as they watched the two squires. Hands near the handles of clubs.

Hector grit his teeth, his hands clenched tight at his sides. With anger beating hard in his chest, worry and fear swirled there in, it was hard to ignore the call of fire.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

Lorinna let her hand fall from the scabbard of her blade. Her gaze passed from each of them men before them in turn.

Even as her mind turned to a peaceful solution, she was still sizing them up and planning her next move. Fighting several people at once was it's own art, with several key texts dedicated to the subject that she had memorised.

"Hector, let the magic go," she said calmly.

Lorinna took another half step forwards, her hands out to the sides of her hips.

"I saw Syr Herzog taken and then someone moving to attack Hector. You can perhaps see this through my eyes?" She asked.

She would offer no apology, only explanation.

 

[Hector]

Hector let a breath out of his lungs. The magick fell away. The sizzling sphere of fire sputtered and sparked until it snuffed out.

The guard with the spear seemed to ease some, though his face was still screwed tight.

"Aye, miss, I can," the guardsman with the sword agreed. Stood between the spearman and the two squires. His hands raised, fingers fanned, as if to stoke the calm. "Only, if what Henlic says is true, your companion, has broken a sacred law, and... you have struck a guard,"

The man with a spear grinned. As if vindicated.

A grumble from Hector, his eyes counting the guards. "We don't have time for this," he muttered below his breath.

"Surrender yourselves into custody, so that we may deliberate with cooler heads, come the morning," the guard with the sword. "You will be treated fairly,"

One of the guardsman with the clubs grabbed at the handle of his weapon.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

"What sacred law have we broken?" Lorinna asked. Her eyes fell to the hand at a club. Then her gaze lifted to the eyes of the man risking it.

"We are not leaving the town. We need to try and rescue Syr Herzog. I will gladly return for a discussion between cool heads about the laws we have broken upon our return."

"In fact, you can keep us in custody by accompanying us on this sortie."

 

[Hector]

The guards looked over themselves. The man with the sword stared grimly at the young woman, so sure and confident in her demeanor.

"The corhuks fly beyond our town, young miss," he assured her. Looked to his men. "But I will accompany you,"

"Kremly," the man with the club asserted.

Kremly raised a hand and nod his head to motion the guards on. "I will see this through,"

The guards looked to each other, and nod in agreement. Glad to avoid bloodshed. They shuffled off, and Kremly looked to the pair of squires.

"Well," he said expectantly. "Let us see if can rescue your companion, Syr Herzog,"

Hector looked to Lorinna, eye full of a steely admiration. How she had handled the situation. It was not something he would soon forget.

He looked to the distant darkness, eyes trailed to the North and East. "I can still... feel the trace of my magicks upon the raven," he said to the both of them. The feint trail of flame's kiss like a string of silk, only his eyes could see shimmering in the night.

He looked to the two of them, and motioned they follow.

"It may be best to take a skiff, down at root level," Kremly advised. Hector nod, and soon, they had loaded up into one of the swamp craft.

He sparked to life one of the orbs of fire, and set it forward, like a lamp bug for them to follow, and soon, their small craft cut through the water at a stead clip.

A bundle of cloth near the stern of the shallow hulled vessel moved. Bounced. And out came a slinky white shape that scurried toward Lorinna.

"Plinket!" Came a familiar voice as the boat shift in the dark waters.

Hector slowed his rowing, and wide eyed, found-

"Miss Marannie!" Kremly sounded with surprise.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

Lorinna let her hand slide further from her sword. She gave a firm nod.

If she had been able to witness herself she would have been aghast. She liked to think of herself as a fair and considerate woman. She would have seen far too much of her father in herself.

She had looked down on the common guards as beneath her and used a very similar tone of authority.

"Let's get after them."

---

"Plinket!" Came a familiar voice as the boat shift in the dark waters.

"No..." went Lorinna, looking to Hector in shock.

A few minutes of time with the child had been enough for the next week. Now they were trapped together on a small boat.

Plinket was caught by the scruff of the neck.

Lorinna sighed.

"Come out girl."

 

[Hector]

Plinket squeaked and scrabbled his little arms, as Marannie worked her way out of the canvas bundle that hid tackle and fishing spears.

"Oh, oh! Don't be so rough with him! He means no harm," she said, reaching out to retrieve her small companion. The white ferret twitch and twist till it popped out of Lorinna's grasp, and scritched and scratched its way back to the girl. She grabbed her up gentle, and cradled him close to her.

Hector recovered from the shock, took in a breath as if to prepare. "Miss Marannie," he started, looked to Lori, as if to gather some stability as their craft moved on through the dark waters. "You... Why are you here?"

Kremly looked back to the distance they had covered. Precious minutes already gone by. And he rememebred the stern look in the young woman's eye. The way she held her sword. He grunt.

Marannie looked to Hector, then to Lorinna. A seriousness in her eyes that was beyond that of a child her age. Like a dozen years to her name. "To help you find Syr Herzog, of course,"

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

"Damnit," Lorinna hissed.

She made no attempt to hide her dismay at this development. The dastardly ferret was going to be a problem if it escaped the girl's arms. Lorinna could only imagine how Herzog would feel if a child have been put in danger for her rescue.

Lorinna looked to Kremly.

"How dangerous as these waters for the girl?" she asked.

Lorinna took her breath, trying not to react in a way that wouldn't help the situation. Maybe there was a chance that the girl could hide under that blanket and be safe whilst they trudged up after the Corhuk.

 

[Hector]

Kremly clicked his tongue twice. "No place for a young lass to be left alone, so dark in the night," he craned his head back toward the village, the lamp lights in the windows of some homes and buildings a feint glow in the distance, and high above their heads in the canopy. "Could go back," he offered.

Marannnie looked back to Kremly, then back to Lorinna, Plinket calm in her hands. "No! Honest, I," she looked to Hector, as if maybe he could say something for her.

Hector quirked a brow. "If we turn back, that puts us farther behind," he said to Kremly.

Marannie nod, and Plinket slipped from her hands to run up on her shoulder. "Yes! And, and, I know where Syr Herzog is!" she looked back to Lorinna. As if determined to win her approval. "I know how to pass through the Corhuk's veil,"

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

"We should go back," Lorinna said. "Herzog wouldn't want us to put a young one in danger like this."

She saw the child's spirits drop. She felt that pang rather personally. Having your hopes crushed as a child was not a pleasant experience.

"What...what is this veil?" Lorinna asked. "Keep going. For now. "

 

[Hector]

Hector knew Lorinna was right. He could hardly feel the thread of fire that trailed after the great raven he had struck. He grumbled at the problem before them. Saw the scene again. Black wings, and long talons. He nod his agreement, when Lori spoke next, he looked half as happy as the girl.

Marannie's spirit redoubled, brow furrowed as she leaned forward and her skinny arms tensed with determination. "It's, it's what protects their homes," she said quietly, but no less firm. Her eyes looked to Kremly, widened with worry. Looked back to Lorinna and whispered. "The wild Corhuks,"

The guard looked taken aback by the young girl's sudden shift. A blink, as if trying to make sense of it, and his expression softened some.

Hector, a elf, could hear her clearly. And looked to the guard. Took up the oar, and started to paddle once more.

Their boat cut through the dark waters. Frog song around them, and firebugs and moths, danced about the little fire wisp Hector set to trail ahead of them.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

"And what is this thing that protects their homes?" asked Lorinna.

She sat forwards, placing her elbows on her knees. Her weapons were sheathed and on the floor between her feet. No matter how well she kept them, she didn't enjoy having them so close to water. Her father would have been most disappointed at a tarnished blade.

"What makes these ones 'wild'?" she added.

She glanced at Hector. She was uncertain of her decision and looking for some kind of confirmation.

 

[Hector]

Hector oared steady, trying as he could to hold the line of flame's trace, though he could feel his arms grow the more tired with each easy row and shift. Row and shift.

His eyes looked down to Lorinna, he seemed calm, sure. He gave her a nod. He was here with her. They would see this through. Trust.

He turned his attention back to navigating their craft. Back to trying to feel the water beneath the wooden hull.

Maybe it was because he had grown up in the Monastery, amidst the Knights and all their tales, but, something of this turn in events felt... right to him.

The girl blinked. Looked to Kremly, who noticed her eyes on him, and the sword toting guard turned his head away. Cleared his throat, and thought to take up one of the oars, and moved to help Hector row. A nudge against his arm, to signal without words his intention.

Hector nod. Let him know to follow the small flame, and looked to Lori again before he went back to rowing.

Marannie seemed, relieved. Nod, looked to Lorinna. "A glamour," she whispered, careful, as if being too loud would dispel the very fabric of what she spoke of.

"My friend, he's a Corhuk, he taught me how to get through," she said, more proud of the prize she could show off in the moment. Though her eyes went wide as she rememebred herself. "They are wild because they are free," she said, matter of fact. Nod. "You'll see, Syr Astarel!" she said, excited.

Plinkett scurried down her trunk, onto her lap, and sniffed at Lori's hand.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

Lorinna drew her hand back from the oversized hairy worm with teeth. The last thing she wanted was a bite on her fingers.

She looked over her shoulder, imagining that she might see some kind of magical veil hanging between them and the giant birds. That would - of course - have missed the point of their protection.

"If they are free Corhuks..." Lorinna glanced at Kremly and back to the girl.

"...then which are the ones who aren't free?" She asked.

 

[Hector]

Plinket jerked back from the sudden movement. His little pink nose slowly reached out, and he sniffed at the air before him.

Marannie looked down, and offered her hand to her small companion, a soft smile on her lips as he tickled her fingertips. "Those bound by the old covenant," her eyes looked to Lorinna. "The eld bargains, and accords," she looked out to the bog that rolled gently by. "Least, that's what old Nan's tales tell," a frown, deepened, and she looked back to Kremly, who spoke idly to Hector about things.

"Pa says, that we've always had em, we've always bread them, that they feel it an honor to protect their home, and see us as their flock, but..." her eyes were cast down, as if she searched for something there betwixt her grubby little hands. "We've only one rider left,"

Plinket rose up to her, balanced his long scrunched body on his hind legs, and tilt his head.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

"Those bound by the old covenant,"

Lorinna lifted her chin. This was potentially interesting. There were rules around these giant birds that they had failed to grasp. Weapons had been drawn because of them.

"Least, that's what old Nan's tales tell,"

Lorinna's interest obviously waned a little. She had been expecting some hard facts, not tales.

"We've only one rider left,"

"One rider," she mused. That was more to go off.

"Do you think your friend would talk to us?" Lorinna asked. If there were many more of the birds up in the trees they were hardly in a place to mount a rescue by force.

 

[Hector]

"Twinli?" She asked, realized she had mispoke and flinched in on herself, as if she could hide. She smiled uneasy, eyes peering over Lorinna to Kremly and Hector. She nod, hesitant. "I, I am sure he will, he is kind, and... well, yes" she nod. "He will, I know he will, he always comes when I've called,"

Hector blinked as he felt the pull of fire vanish ahead of them. Looked back to Lori, and Marannie, as Kremly went on about how his preffered hook when fishing was a smooth hook, as he felt the barbed hooks didn't really-

"I can't follow them anymore," Hector anounced. Cast a worried look to Lorinna. Kremly piped down, looked between the two young squires. "Its as if, they've been..." Hector's brow furrowed. "Swallowed up," though he suppose it made sense, given the conversation.

Kremly stared at the darkness ahead of them. "Don't like the sound of that,"

Marannie nod, and whispered. "The veil," to Lorinna.

Their craft cut through the water all the same. Hector did his best to keep them on course. Fog soon stewed about the surface of the swamp. Thick as soup. The little fire light Hector kept ahead of them, fizzled and hissed against the wetter air of the darkening night, and Kremly looked half slouched at his oar.

"Feels like we've been rowing for hours," the elf said idly. "Hard to make sense of... anything in all this,"

Marannie yawned, and Plinkett yawned with her. "We're in the maze," she said idly. Smiled with sleepy eyes. Plinkett curled in upon himself, there on her lap. "Follow the branches, Syr Hector," she assured. "Longest branch points to the truth, the shortest branch points to..." she rubbed at her eyes. "I don't remember."

Hector nod, and looked up. Yawned. And saw a long branch point them eastward. A short branch point them northward. He looked to Kremly who had nodded off, hugging his oar to his chest. Hector shook his head, and steered the craft toward the east.

 

[Lorinna Astarel]

Lorinna removed her helm and the padding from around her neck. Despite being dark, the thick air trapped the heat.

She moved to take over the oars from Kremly.

"Catch your rest," she told him.

The shortest branch pointed to something. Going be the amount of sense she had drawn from today's events, Lorinna surmised that could be a hidden treasure or a nest of giant spiders.

She didn't want to find out.

" Is the veil after the maze?" Lorinna asked as she picked up the pace. She longed for the simplicity of a fight with simple guards.