A Dream of Empire Ch. 027

"Vile filth!" she exclaimed, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "How dare you forsake these hallowed grounds. You humans have no right to tread here, or any right to tread at all!"

Both humans twisted her way, and the man quickly sprung to action.

"An elf! Stand behind me, mage. She must be the one that stole our thoughts!" he shouted, unsheathing his glimmering sword and twisting the tip her way. Faranya recognized the blade as Dawnbringer - the Valliyan sword of heroes, if memory served. That would make these humans tomb raiders, sealing their fates in Faranya's eyes.

"I stole nothing from you, human," Faranya seethed, stepping over the shattered stones of room. "Because, unlike you, I have not descended into wanton thievery. I know that sword you hold. I know it is not yours."

Faranya prepared her magics, feeling the tendrils of the world swirl around her. "I will not allow you to further plunder the riches of Dun Aysla, human, yet I will give you a choice. Put down your arms so that I may end you quickly, or prepare for battle and a tortured death."

The man didn't even consider the first option. He wrapped his other hand around Dawnbringer and widened his stance.

"I'm prepared to meet death as always, elf, but I'll have you know that we're not on Dun Aysla. We're near the town of Chance in the Borderlands. And I don't know why I have this sword. It's unknown to me," he said.

"A likely story," Faranya chuckled. Yet, something in the back of her mind finally convinced her to look about the vaulted ceilings of the chamber. Her proud smile slowly waned away as she took in the unfamiliar architecture.

The man was right. This wasn't Dun Aysla. This place was older. Much older.

"Although... I do not recognize this hall. In truth, nothing of where we stand looks familiar," Faranya replied in worried wonder.

The man glared at her for another moment before sighing and sheathing his sword, causing the girl behind him to clutch his arm.

"What are you doing?! She's an elf!" she cried.

"Yeah, and she's suffering the same fate we are. What season is it for you, elf?" the man gruffly asked.

"Why, it's the... summer of eighty-two," Faranya succinctly answered. She dispelled her magics.

"Summer of eighty-one for us," he sighed. "Damn it. We've all lost time."

"How do you figure?"

"'Cause we're all wearing furs," he groaned, shaking the girl off of his arm. "I wager we were exploring this place and hit some sort of spell. Reeled our minds back to the day we first met. She and I must've met in the Borderlands back in eighty-one, then you and I must've met a year after that. So, given the circumstances, I say we learn to trust one another. Find our way out of this place, get our bearings. What say you both?"

The girl answered first, her trembling hand rising to her heart. "I'm - I'm okay with that plan," she exhaled. "You seem a decent enough fellow. For a churl."

"I am not going anywhere with you, human," Faranya answered next. As if she would fall so simply into his trap!

"Fine," he chuckled, scanning the pillars and murals around them. "This place looks elven enough. Perhaps you could look around, see if you can find any clues on what happened to us," he offered instead.

Faranya only glared at him. "Do I not frighten you, human?"

"Not really. You're kinda cute, actually," the man smirked. He nodded towards one end of the hall, then looked to his human companion. "C'mon, mage. Let's follow the fresh air."

"Okay," the girl murmured, her hand still trembling with fear. Faranya was, of course, frightened as well, but tried her best not to show it to those unworthy.

The pair of humans then jaunted off without a second thought given for the elf at their backs. Halfway down the hall, the man said, "Name's Talos."

"Alanna. From Catriona," the other human replied.

"Well met. I've spent some time in Catriona. You from the College?"

"Um, yeah. I studied in the school of Enchantment. Class of twelve-eighty."

"Small world. Hey, you ever met a girl that goes by Rayya? About yea high, blonde hair a bit whiter than yours?"

"I haven't personally, but I heard plenty of juicy stories," Alanna giggled. "She's said to be very talented."

"Mm. She is."

The human's conversation went on like that, amicable and simply, until their voices were naught but barely-discernible whispers echoing off the stone walls. With them gone, Faranya felt enough at ease to dispel her cloud of firebugs. She then set herself to studying the chamber.

It was slow going, for the most part. Much of the room had been rendered to rubble, and with only a hint of sunlight seeping through the skylights, she had to rely on flickering torchlight to study anything in particular. Still, progress was made. The murals, constructed with colored tiles and covering near every inch of the walls, all shared a similar theme; victory. Faranya recognized many a historical event in them, from the Dragonfall, to the Conquest of Sardonia, to the Elven-Isbryggan Compromise. However, one feature in particular caught Faranya's eye over all else; the Green Crescent of the house of Remilla. Her house.

This place, then, was likely the crypt of her defunct family. It wasn't a coincidence that she was here. Faranya had been traveling all over the world to unearth the secrets that her grandfather had left behind, and the crypts of Remilla had been high on her list. Still, what of the humans?

She thought on it for another quarter-hour. They hadn't attacked her. By all accounts, the man Talos was actually somewhat bright, and the sorceress Alanna was far too weak to be a threat on her own. Ultimately, Faranya figured she could leave them well-enough alone until she had more information. She might regret a haste attack.

Instead, she decided to tell the humans of her findings, and so set out to find them by following the scent of fresh pine.

-=-=-

Faranya arrived at the mouth of the crypts near the waning end of sunset. Talos greeted her when he heard her steps, but his gaze remained firmly planted on the warm horizon beyond.

"Hail, elf."

She decided to correct him. "It's Faranya."

Talos, still looking away, waved a hand over his chest, "Talos," then towards the other, "Alanna. Learn anything in there?"

Faranya cleared her throat, still taken aback by the man's aloofness. "We are likely in Falinor. This complex is related to the House of Remilla - the um, old High Kings of Elvendom. I noticed a passageway behind the debris which may or may not contain the answer to our curse, however... it was very dark in there."

Talos' lip curled into a gentle smirk. "Good work. Though, we came to the same conclusion regarding Falinor," he said, nodding towards the horizon. Faranya climbed the remaining steps to see what was so worthy of his attention.

And... there it was. A majestic range of snow-capped peaks, draped in the pink-and-purple shadows of a tired sun, resting beneath a orange sky painted with wispy, pink clouds. The valley floor, located some hundred yards beneath them, was littered with evergreens rising from a carpet of snow, glinting like gold beside a roaring fire. It was one of the most gorgeous views Faranya had ever witnessed, and she and they stood mostly in silence as they took it all in.

"So, we're in Falinor," Talos eventually repeated. "It ain't the summer of eighty-one or eighty-two. We've no idea why we're here together. Annd there's a passageway, one that we ought wait for sunrise to explore. That about it?"

"Yep," Alanna casually agreed, trying to act as cool as him. Faranya wasn't buying it; the young sorceress kept two arms-lengths away from anyone else, and had been watching the sunset wearing the most nervous of smiles.

Faranya offered an idea during the silence. "I can discover the date via sorcery. Just a moment."

She focused her will on a patch of unused dirt where, soon enough, a strange-looking tree sprouted and grew as if years were passing in seconds. But, this was not just any tree.

A thousand-and-three years ago, elven scholars discovered that, while the stars do turn as the world does, they did not turn at the same rate. This allowed them to predict where the stars would be for the next thousand-thousand years, all of which were written into a vast series of tomes. This array of knowledge was, in turn, composed into a spell - Serra's Hex of Starkeeping. Faranya's part in all of this was infusing that spell into a tree, a tree holding twelve branches, with flickering tips and a luminescent trunk. She read its blinking lights with ease.

"It is the Ninth or Tenth of Dawn's Light, Twelve-Hundred-and-Eighty-Three years since the Dragonfall," she told the others.

"Shoot. That's a lot of time lost," Talos acknowledged, seemingly unimpressed by Faranya's sorcery.

"So much time," Alanna worriedly agreed. She checked her engagement ring again as if to see if it moved, and another anxious moment passed before Talos broke the silence.

"Do you both feel... I don't know, groggy? Like you're waking up from a hundred-suns nap?"

"Yeah," Alanna softly answered. "Like there are a thousand-thousand things I should know but don't, and my mind decided to fill all the gaps with clouds. Thicker ones than those," she murmured, nodding towards the sky.

"A poetic way of looking at it. Faranya?" Talos asked. She only nodded.

Talos sighed as he finally turned his attentions away from the sunset and back towards his companions. Faranya felt his eyes groping her, and she did not know whether to feel excitement or disgust. He was really handsome, after all. For a human.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now but worry and wait," Talos smirked. "So, I'll offer a fun distraction. I've come to the conclusion that we are all lovers."

"Excuse me?" Faranya snorted.

"Seriously, look at this," Talos grinned, raising a fur backpack that was resting at his feet. "I took your pack on my way out, and-"

"You did what?"

"Relax, we're traveling together," he swiftly silenced her. "The foodstuffs we took are all from the same place. Anyway, beneath all the lacy undergarments and racy skirts, I found this," he said, handing a bottle of wine to her. A bottle of Evoran honey-wine, specifically; whatever that was.

"And?" Faranya irritably replied. "I have been known to enjoy a bottle of wine."

"Honey-wine ain't wine, and I'm from Evora. You brought it was a surprise for me. Therefore, we're definitely lovers," Talos declared, thrusting a thumb towards Alanna. "And Alanna over here, why, she's so worried about her ring that she's discussed the pitfalls of monogamous marriage for the better part of a half-hour. Ergo, you're both my lovers."

"Absurd!" Faranya nervously laughed. "You must be quite the narcissist to believe that I would forsake my vows against humanity to copulate with you."

"I also found it unlikely," Alanna agreed with a half-smile. "I don't really... menfolk don't really tickle me. And I'm sure you're a really nice guy, Talos, but I doubt you'd turn me that way."

"Sure, sure, but try to explain away the ring. Because I'm not aware that women could marry each other," Talos smugly replied.

"It... probably isn't even mine," Alanna reasoned, terribly.

"Take it off, then, and see what shade your skin is beneath it."

Alanna hastily lifted a hand to cover her ring finger. "I like it where it is. Besides, I could be married to somebody else."

"Somebody else who turned you?" Talos smirked, waving a hand over his own visage. Alanna shrugged. "Who let you travel almost-alone with me?"

"Good gods," she giggled. "The elf's right. You are full of yourself."

Talos snatched the bottle of honey-wine away from Faranya. "Mayhaps. We should at least get out of the cold, drain this, and discuss the matter again," he smugly suggested.

Faranya accepted the man's challenge despite her earlier reservations, knowing a single bottle of wine couldn't possibly impair her purity. What else was there to do but worry and wait?

-=-=-

And so, as night settled in, the party set up camp in the entrance hall of the crypts. Talos rolled out the bed and scouted the adjoining rooms, Faranya set to making the fire - a simple matter with her nature magics - and Alanna, well, mostly supervised those efforts.

The party then gathered around the fire. There they passed around that bottle of revolting honey-wine and told tales of their lives, the contents of which likely boring anyone who already knew their full stories. Once that bottle had been drained, and the liquor had warmed the trio's veins, Talos again mentioned his theory of a love triangle betwixt a man, a woman and an elf. Faranya's virtue, however, dictated that she must deny him once more.

"I still do not understand where you got the idea that I would ever be attracted to you," Faranya squinted at the arrogant lord. Unfortunately, this only seemed to provoke him. Talos moved closer and placed one strong hand on her shoulder and another on her knee, causing her heart to skip a beat.

"Obviously you were drawn to me by my experience," Talos boasted, sliding his hand up her thigh. "You needed a lover who could show you the pleasure you deserve; not some epicene elf who demands marriage before mating."

Faranya brushed his hand away, denying her pounding heart. "If I wanted that I would have found a gentleman who practiced a bit more tact," she exhaled, short-of-breath. Talos squeezed her shoulder, undeterred.

"If I'd the time for tact I wouldn't've been so forthright."

"Then perhaps come to me when you have the time. I will not... will not..." Faranya bravely shot him a glance, forcing the words from her lips, "Spread my legs for a one-night suitor!"

"Alright. Alright," Talos murmured pitifully, finally releasing her shoulder. Despite Faranya's words and the harsh way they came out, she still felt a pang of regret when the Talos left her side and moved on to greener prospects. "Well Alanna, guess it's just us tonight."

"And why would you think I'm so easy, hm?" Alanna teased the man.

"Surely a Catrionan as shapely as you is up for a good time."

Alanna bit her lip and smiled, her cheeks reddened by the drink. "Mayhaps I am. And mayhaps I need to see more of you to know for sure," she winked.

"I'll de-robe if you do," the man coolly replied.

"Oh, please. It's you that has to convince me, not the other way 'round!" Alanna cutely giggled. "Tell you what, I'll throw ya a carrot, you pig. You can have my mouth if you disrobe."

Faranya glanced at the young sorceress in confusion. What did she plan on using her mouth for? Kissing? And why did Talos scramble so hastily for a kiss?

"I knew I liked you," Talos grinned as he rose to his feet. "Fine. For your mouth."

Talos knew full-well that both girls were gazing on him in anticipation, so he made somewhat of a show out of removing his jacket, chainmail, leather armor, then his undershirt beneath that. What he revealed stunned the elf. She couldn't lie to herself any longer.

Talos was the perfect specimen of the male form. Broad shoulders, toned muscles, abs that could likely double as a cutting board. Faranya hadn't seen a more developed body on any of her previous three mates, and they had all been warriors from birth.

But, what struck Faranya most were the man's scars. They were numerous and frightening to behold, a tell-tale sign of a man who had seen a vast spectacle of combat experiences and, so far, had always come out victorious. There were the thin ones where swords had slashed him, thicker ones where axes had bitten him, and a curious set of fang marks on his abdomen where some beast had nearly eaten him whole!

"By the Lady..." Faranya whispered, urging her trembling legs to stand. "You do not shy away from using that blade, do you Talos?"

"Nah," he shrugged. "Don't know about this one exactly, but I've had blades in the past that've claimed half-a-hundred souls. Elves and men alike," he boasted, going so far as to flex his arm. "Do you wanna touch, or just gawk?"

"Oh, well - I shouldn't," Faranya gasped.

"You should. We're lovers, after all," he smirked. Talos turned his attention to the enchantress, who was so far only staring at him. "Alanna?"

"What about, uhm," Alanna cleared her throat, clearly taken off-guard, "what about downstairs?"

"I'll de-robe if you do."

The enchantress mulled it over for a moment, bobbing her head left-and-right. "Well, it is a little hot by the fire," she breathlessly chuckled. She then bounced to her feet, thrusting a thumb over her shoulder. "But I have to check on something. Be right back!"

Alanna scrambled away to some far corner of the hall, leaving Faranya alone to tread closer to this Talo'nir-in-the-flesh. There, despite her earlier words and any semblance of decency, she let her hands dance as they will over Talos' body. Her fingers traced lines over his scars, her palms grabbed and groped where they pleased, feeling his heartbeat, worshiping his flesh. What a cruel world this was, Faranya thought, to have her forget spending so much time with this man. If what he said was true.

She did not protest when Talos then moved to take off her coat. She did not complain as he pulled her closer, either... she even parted her thighs a bit when his hand slipped under her dress. Talos pressed his fingers against her panties, stroking her through the fabric.

"You're so fucking wet, elf," Talos whispered into her ear.

"Mm-hm," she moaned into his. "I am starting to believe your tale. You certainly look the part of my lover." Faranya let her hands drift down Talos' body, clasping his belt in time. To her surprise, he gently brushed her away.

"Let's wait for Alanna," he softly-yet-sternly said.

Talos' sudden dismissal gave Faranya pause. What exactly was she doing here? Why was she fondling this human she'd only met just a couple hours ago? An elven princess, even one of a defunct house, should show more class than this!

"I should not be doing this," Faranya meekly whispered, mostly for her own ears. What a fool she'd made of herself! For all she knew, Talos could be her arch-nemesis!

"Why not? You want to, right?"

"It does not matter if I want to," Faranya quipped. "I am a - well, let us just say that I am not descended from some common line of elves. For me to tangle with a human would be seen as utterly crass by my peers. And, besides that point, for us to not be judicious nor sober when choosing our mates makes us no better than animals."

"But we are animals, Faranya," Talos gruffly replied. "I've seen men and elves do terrible things to each other, to themselves, to whomever they can get their hands on, just like animals would if they had the ability. You think lovemaking compares to any of that? It harms no one. It brings nothing but pleasure to everyone involved. And, fortunately for you, you did not wake up beside some random, unworthy human." Talos raised his arm and flexed it. "You woke up beside me; Lord Talos of Evora. Conqueror of hearts and souls alike."

"That is not particularly inspiring," Faranya replied through her teeth.

"Yeah? Well, it's all you got right now," he smirked. She thought of once again calling out his arrogance before they were suddenly interrupted.

"I'm torn," Alanna groaned as she returned from the shadows. Talos looked her way - unfortunately releasing Faranya as he did.

"Of what?" he asked.

"My cherry, ya dolt," the enchantress pouted. "I lost my virginity somewhere in my memories!"