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She had seen him this way before... once, it seemed an eternity ago. The usual clear blue of his eyes was clouded, murky... not unlike the color of the sea after a storm. Then he had thought her dead, but now... now he knew exactly who she was. Elyen had never touched her with rough intent, not when he was aware of who she was. The hard tug on her hair came as a shock, but she bit her lip and refused to cry out, letting him kiss her but hardly enjoying it.
Her concentration was on Galain, her heart pounding in fear... she had caught a glimpse of the madness in Railen's eyes just before Elyen had caught her. Backed into the tree she stared silently up at her former bondmate, the father of her child. "I came for you didn't I?," she said finally, "I owe you that much at least."
"Came after me?" Elyen laughed hollowly, "You did nothing that didn't try to absolve your conscience."
He flung the Amazon to the floor, stalking a circle around her. "Do you have any idea how it stings to still be able to feel you, gods damn it? It's like... like a phantom limb, except that I hear your echos." His eyes stared at her, unseeing, his voice strangely broken. "Do you know how often I feel the afterglow of your bliss, so soon after my own disappearance? Can you feel my loss? My disgrace?"
He paused, fingering his lightsaber hilt. "I don't think you do. I don't think you feel anything at all."
Thumbing it on, he held the saber blade a few inches away from the woman's unprotected neck. "Funny. All through our relationship, you were the one with the hocus-pocus magic. I was useless. I was a convenient replacement for the one whom 'Destiny' decreed was your soulmate."
Not tears. Never tears.
A single drop of moisture fell on her face. It must be rain.
"But I'm the one with the powers now. I'm the one who can kill with a thought. And does that make me happy, you think?" He paused, bringing the saber lower, until skin retreated, shrinking from the heat. "Does it make me happy?"
"I don't think anything I do will ever make me happy." He straightened, pulling bright death away. Turning away, he walked as if forgetting that she ever existed. "I wish I could go back in time. To when friends were friends. Love spoils everything, twisting ties, binding you in situations that only end in blood." Stooping, he hugged his knees to his chest and tucked his head between his knees, curling inwards on himself.
He could feel her standing up, testing. Coming closer. Worried.
"I don't want to do what I do. I am not mad, not insane, not trapped in my own spiral of hate. I'm just..."
Close enough.
"Angry."
And a stream of light shot out from under his arm, piercing skin, flesh, bone. Burning through clothing, searing through blood.
"I'm sorry I had to hurt you." He stood over her fallen body, not really hearing her gasps, entranced by the growing spot of red just above her heart.
"But I had to get rid of the pain. And I had to get rid of you."
His tone had lured her in, something of the old Elyen creeping in... the Elyen she had loved. Think what he might, she had loved him, just.. differently than Galain. Where the Elen was her passion, Elyen had been her safe place. A steady and strong love she had needed badly for so long...
Now shocked and filled with pain she stared up at nothing, blood scalding her flesh, her breathing growing weak even as she listened to his words. Glazed emerald eyes flickered, shifting to meet his clouded blue gaze. Her lips parted and she made some attempt to speak, but choked up blood instead.
You still hear me... I know you do.... She felt like she was sinking.. and she thought for a moment how familiar death's touch had become. You restored my life to me once... it's only fair that you take it back. Think what you like... but I always loved you Elyen.
She couldn't see him anymore.
Elyen felt Railen's bonds fade. He looked up, in the direction of the trap, frowning. Fool boy, I knew he would overeact.
Urgency plaguing his actions, the elf spared one last look at the fast glazing eyes of the Amazon slut beneath his feet. Her breaths were coming shallowly now, a little longer, and the pain would go away forever.
He wished he had the time to watch her die.
"I'm sorry, love, but something urgent calls me. I have to stop them, or they'll spoil everything. You know that, don't you?" He bent down on one knee, thumbing off his saber.
"Just to let you know before you go. Galain's tears killed you."
And he touched her cold cheek, bending his head so he could kiss her lips, breathe in her hair.
For he still loved her, in his own way.
The act in itself was proof enough that Elyen was no longer himself. Her Elyen knew... Don't touch me... Or perhaps he was himself, the part that hated what he had done. The brush of his lips on hers sealed his fate, not even An'Thaya herself could stop what happened next. Nor could she explain it, perhaps being so near death had released the binding spell.
The magic that lived within her sprang to life, anchoring in Elyen's soul and seeping the lifeforce from him. His gasp of surprise was drowned against her mouth, caught in a kiss of death that refused to break. An'Thaya's eyesight gradually cleared, and still unable to move she gazed with no small amount of horror into his shocked blue eyes.
The wound on her chest gradually closed itself, the flow of blood stanching and the flesh knitting itself closed. When finally some strength returned to her limbs she pushed at him desperately, seeking to break the tie that bound them, to stop the death that sought to claim him.
One final desperate push tossed him clear of her body, leaving her gasping and curling in on herself. For what seemed an eternity she rocked blindly before some presence of mind dawned on her. Turning around she struggled to sit up, kicking the lightsaber across the ground and pulling Elyen's head into her lap. "Don't you dare die!" Tears were flowing freely now and she shook him hard, "Elyen!"
Praying to the White Witch that she had stopped the transfer in time she felt for a pulse, relief taking her breath away when a slow but steady beat thrummed against her fingers. Despite everything she couldn't hate him, nor wish him dead. Love him again? Never... but it wasn't in her to cast him away so easily.
Vision narrowed. Not the darkness promised, but so much light that it blinded.
Hurt.
Please...
And in the end, he didn't know if his plea was to stay or go.
An'Thaya was still seated with Elyen's head cradled in her lap, her face was pale, contrasting with her hair in such a way that the long locks looked like streaks of blood against her skin. She could sense them out there... Galain, Railen, even Shadow. There was nothing the Amazon could do for them now, she lacked the strength to reach them on time.
There was only one person she was capable of aiding now. Elyen.. the man she had bound herself too over six hundred years ago now. Had it been so long? Had she spent that much time gazing into his clear blue eyes and leaning into the gentleness of his touch? Strange how everything can change in a moment.
He was slipping away, she could feel him drifting further on the tide of his ebbing pulse. "You don't get off that easy Elyen Ilander," she said softly, "We still share a daughter if nothing else... and if you won't live for me, if you can't believe in me... then believe in her. Live for Anelain." Her magic reached for him, anchored him, pulling him slowly back towards the living world. It was up to him, hang on to her strength and live, or refuse her and die.
Would you believe me if I told you that I'd rather choose death than this prideless existence?
Would you let me go?
Would you set me free?
Can I fly?
...
I'm so tired.
There was a hand, reaching, grasping, hurting as it tugged at him. There was a hand, strangling, choking, twisting as it grabbed him.
There was a hand, and he shrank away from it.
Take me.
And then there was pain and red and then more pain again.
And then he opened his eyes and blinked tears away.
He looked into the eyes of a woman he had loved, had hated, had lived for, had killed for. He looked into the eyes of a chameleon, a temptress, a healer, a princess, a lover, a warrior. He looked into her eyes and smiled softly for an instant. Whispered words before turning his head away and struggling to his feet.
"Do you know how much I hate you?"
An'Thaya stared into the eyes of a stranger, unable to speak or breath for a long moment. Could she fault him for hating her? No.... She deserved his hatred, he had every right to want her dead. "Yes.... I do," she whispered in answer, "I know what its like to give everything and recieve nothing in return but pain." Shaking her head she staggered to her feet and held his gaze, "Did you ever truly love me Elyen? Ask yourself... did you really, or was it just the idea of loving me?"
Tears streaked her face again and she wiped them away, "You don't even know me Elyen. Tell me... who raised me? Who did I look up too? Where did I travel and what did I do? The first eight hundred years of my life before I met you and Galain... who was I?" She took a step back and shook her head, "You have never asked any of it, gods Elyen your silence was deafening. You were there.. but you weren't. Were you ever more than a ghost that touched me?" Frustrated she clenched her hands, sharp nails biting into the flesh of her palms. "What the hell did you expect from me?"
"Nothing." Clutching a hand to his chest, breath coming in painful gasps, he looked at her with nothingness in his eyes.
"I expect nothing. And now I have it." He looked at her, knowing that he cannot kill her now. To try to redeem his failed attempt would shame him further.
Elyen looked at his saber, lying silent on the floor. Expending precious energy, he Called the weapon to him. At the Amazon's gaze, he replied, "relax. I will not have vengeance upon you again."
We have felt enough. It is time to make one who has not, feel.
A swift check ascertained Railen's awareness.
Time for part two of my little farce...
It was at that moment that An'Thaya realized the Elyen she knew was gone. Utterly and completely. It hurt... surprisingly enough after all that had happened.. it hurt. He was, after all, the father of her child... partially at least.
Chilled she nearly stepped away, but her hands released her daggers instead as she opened the pathway inside her that led to the Aethyr. It was as strong and deadly as the force, and if she had too, she would magnify Elyen's own power back on him. "I won't let you hurt him."
Circling around him she headed in Galaiin's direction, reaching along the bond to touch on him. Elyen had just proved to her once and for all that she had made the right choice. An'Thaya belonged to Galain, she always had... and she always would.
~*~
An'Thaya reunites with Galain and Shadow, racing to stop Saya from sealing Alcarinque away from the world.
An'Thaya stopped and shared a look of confusion with Galain when Chezlar dissappeared. The Amazon was positive she had heard him cry out, not something often heard from the virtually indistructable Changeling. "Where do you figure he went?" Things were beginning to feel oddly sureal... she could feel a charge of magic in the air so strongly that it was making her fine hairs stand on end.
Galain didn't say anything though he stopped too. His armband was burning fiercely on his arm, so much so he was certain it would mark him permanently. He ended up going down to one day, sucking in his breath as he absorbed this newest pain. His head throbbed and he groaned before he manage to speak.
"I don't know. But Alcarinque... something's so not right," he gasped out. "Saya's done something. The city feels like it's getting farther away from me."
It was confusing.
An'Thaya stared at Galain for a moment, then turned to stare in the direction of Alcarinque. "Further away?" The electricity in the air had her shifting uncomfortably and she turned her gaze on Galain again, eyeing the armband. "The Aeglos," hooking her arm under his she urged him to stand and start forward, "She must have a spell on the go, have you managed to use your magic yet?"
As she spoke she gently prodded him along, hurrying thier pace, "Shadow? Are you coming?" The tower wasn't very far off now, and the closer they came the stronger the feild of magic became.
Saya was at the core of it, but Galain’s own people and home were at stake, and it was Saya’s desires to “protect” Alcarinque that were truly core – at least to the witch and now to Galain. His priorities had shifted wildly. He was their prince, perhaps someday he might be their king. He glanced blindly at An’Thaya.
“I was able to use it once, then it all disappeared.” He pointed to the open and bleeding wounds that decorated his upper torso, and placed a hand over his beloved’s. “Don’t touch them. If I live, they’ll be reminders. I need a few reminders.” He breathed slowly after he spoke. Blood was coagulating, flesh was seeking to mend… he’d survive. He didn’t attempt to stop Shadow. No matter what blood ran through her veins, her upbringing and beliefs were what drove her and he’d never begrudge her that. Her loyalty was not to a people she didn’t know, but to friends whose memories she held dear.
Galain tripped, staggered, then fell.
“Let me try and see what I have,” he grated out, grabbing hold of An’Thaya. He had to stop. He couldn’t keep running.
An'Thaya fell to her knees beside Galain, respecting his wish about his wounds, there were a few she chose to keep herself... memories... markers on the path of life. What mattered more now was the fate of an entire people. True, they were nothing to her aside from Anelain, her responsibilities lay on Whispin. But for Galain... she loved him as she had never loved anyone, and Alcarinque was his responsibility when it came down to it. Galain was worth the risk.
"Let me help you," she said softly, "Use me to stop the Aeglos." At the look of confusion in his eyes she took his hand and laid it on her chest, "Did you never wonder why Tallin has persued me so tirelessly? It goes well beyond my ability to weild the Aethyr." She opened the conduit in her soul, letting him feel the power there, the potential, a secret she had kept all her life, even from him. Revelation was weakness, exposing her to those who may want to use her. "Use my gift... save your people."
Quite simply, he gaped. Galain let his senses feel out his bondmate. It was about all he could do although he could feel the ragged edges of his abilities returning. He touched them gently, channeling what small bit he could at the moment. Then he tested it against what ’Thaya was revealing to him and his eyes grew large. His hand stayed against her chest, his mind feeling the conduit she’d opened.
“Oh gods,” was all he could say. He waited impatiently for the magic that bound him together to return to its full strength then.
An'Thaya smiled gently, her face upturned to look into Galain's eyes. There was trust there in that look she gave him, something she hadn't completely given to anyone in centuries. Perhaps never. But to her Sy'rish she gave all, every secret, every emotion, every bit of power that lay hidden in her soul.
The Amazon's head fell back and her arms went limp, her back arching so it seemed she reclined upon the air itself. Tendrils of deep red hair billowed around her face and her emerald greens slid shut upon the world. The conduit yawned open, nearly visible to the naked eye as the aethyr formed a vortex around Thaya's diminutive form. She was ready to be the vessel, to carry the spell that would nullify Saya's magic.
~*~
Meanwhile... Elyen interrups a scuffle between Railen, Saya, and Shadow
Saya screamed in rage and tried to wrestle out of Railen's grip. The stripe haired elf was stronger then she however, and her struggles were in vain. As a last resort she tried pulling his weight forward, attempting to drive the sword into Shadow's prone form. "You weak fool," she snarled at him, "Letting a woman sway your destiny!"
Elyen had been watching.
A hand pressed to his side, the exact mirror of where he had stabbed An'Thaya, he had been leaning against the door frame, watching drama explode with blank eyes.
Ignore me.
He took a step forward. Pain blossoming.
Ignore me.
There were so many things he could do. Railen had betrayed Saya. He had the right to -
Ignore me.
If he just took the sword. Two steps away.
"Perhaps if you look over your shoulder once in a while..." And Elyen thumbed on his saber, shunting the pain away through strength of will and pushing past Saya to engage with Shadow.
Railen was giving her a chance, and she wasn't going to pass it up. The elf back peddled till she was able to regain her feet. Shadow watched as Elyen stepped into view and swallowed...she could do this, her own mother was a ghost...what would a couple more do to her? Well a lot, specially if they could hold solid objects.
Okay...that answered that question.
Shadow sighed as she watched Elyen. "Not you again...Honestly Elder, is this attack Shadow day to get at Galain? Seriously, do you think he'd risk a city of people being lost forever over his own daughter? Come on, I'm just his bastard and not as important as the others." He'd never even tried to find her mother...The forest elf pushed that thought aside as she drew her daggers up to defend herself.
"I'm growing tired of being bait, you know that?"
Galain licked his lips nervously and then purposefully emptied his mind of any conscious thought as he reached for the conduit his mate had provided. He was already drawing upon the energy required for what he had to do, weaving it in a surprisingly deft fashion, weaving it into a fine tapestry of taut power that grew and magnified as ’Thaya’s own remarkable magic increased its potency beyond anything the Elen might have been able to handle on his own. Galain swallowed once when he realized that should the magic backlash he’d be a burnt out husk.
He forced away the thought and focused on his people and his city, found Saya’s black web of a spell and let out an audible gasp when the white light of his magic shot through the air and wrapped itself, some distance away, around the faltering wards of Alcarinque. It ate at Saya’s work, enveloping her spell in a miasma of energy that undid all she had wrought. And then he did something he’d never quite been able to do successfully and that was handle two spells simultaneously. Even as he was nullifying Saya’s work, he opened a portal to the tower where he knew the others were. It was a relief to be able to use his abilities so easily, and awe-inducing.
Even scary.
“Let’s go love,” he gathered up An’Thaya as gently as he could and stepped through the portal, nearly dropped her when he saw the chaos unfolding on the other side. He was certain he’d killed Railen, and was that Elyen? Thought fled again as instinct took over and he set An’Thaya down carefully on the stone floor. He drew his sword, took one breath and ran toward Elyen.
“This just isn’t your day, old friend,” Galain snarled. His sword swept down in a sweeping arc, slicing viciously into Elyen’s side. Some part of the Elen gasped at what he was doing, but the rest simply did what needed to be done. “Nobody messes with my yeldë.” He pulled back on the sword, stopping just short of Elyen’s spine and stepped backward, suddenly realizing what he’d just done. His eyes caught Shadow’s as he waited for Elyen to fall.
An'Thaya could barely move after the spell, it had taken all of her energy to provide Galain with the power he needed. Trusting him she had rested her head against his chest, the reassuring beat of his heart the only sound she heard until he set her gently on the cold stone floor of the tower. For a moment she was unsure of what was happening, emerald eyes glazed with confusion as she looked on the tableau in front of her.
Everything seemed so sureal... she could clearly see the danger Shadow was in, the vibrant light of the saber raised in Elyen's hand was a death toll. Just to the side Saya was struggling with Railen, her face red with rage, but panic glinting in her cobalt eyes. Galain was moving, his sword drawn, and he was saying something. In horror the Amazon watched as her mate cut down the Stripe haired elf without pause, thinking that she had never seen him so sure of anything in his life. Dazed she tried to scramble to her feet, unsure of what she intended to do...
Pain pierced his side, and he felt strangely light headed.
Blood loss.
Tired from his previous injury delivered by AnThaya (sweet, sweet pain), he let go of his guard (did I mean to?) and got himself hacked into two for his efforts.
It wasn't until he felt the rocks stab into his knees that he realised that he had fallen to the floor, and that the tower was coming down around him.
It wasn't until he saw the blood pool that he knew that he was dead.
Tears scalded her cheeks and she could hear her own voice calling out for Elyen. Blood... there was so much damn blood.... The stone scraped her knees as she pushed up and stumbled forward, the greenish light from the saber throwing shadows on the Amazon's face as it fell, shattering at her feet.
Clouded blue eyes stared up at her unseeing and she stared back, six hundred years of a love shared flickering by in those lifeless mirriors. "Elyen..."
The ground was shaking, she was falling again....
Something glittered in front of her, something green and familiar... Shaking fingers reached out and closed upon the emerald tear.
Full circle....
"Elyen..." Blinded by tears she brushed his two-toned hair from his face, ignoring the blood that seeped into her clothing. "No...."
She had never wanted this, not this...
No more time for anything, Galain realized swiftly and turned away, scooping up An'Thaya in the process. The tower was crumbling around them and he found himself diving out a nearby window, surprised to find the tower was sinking so rapidly into the ground that the fall was perhaps a few feet. He rolled, praying he didn't crush 'Thaya in the process, then staggered to his feet, fell to his knees, then lurched back to his feet, practically dragging the Amazon after himself as the earth shook and the the tower crashed and roared into a subterranean grave.
Her eyes met Railen's for the briefest of moments, unspoken words left between them as Galain's arm encircled her waist and pulled her away, a swirl of red hair bringing down the curtain. An'Thaya's heart broke for the elf she might have loved, but even as she fled for her life she knew that fate had landed her right where she was meant to be.
At a safe distance away they stopped, the Amazon standing in within the protective circle of Galain's arms as they watched the tower dissappear beneath the earth. With it went part of her heart, no matter what she had said, a part of her had loved Elyen. One couldn't spend six hundred years with someone and feel nothing, the Stripe haired elf would always have a place in her heart... in her memory. Bright blue eyes would always haunt her dreams...
Opening her clenched fist she stared down at the emerald tear, turning her gaze up to her bondmates. The stone shimmered, a gold necklace appearing where one had been over six hundred years ago.
He would never offer excuses for what he'd done. Love was always paramount for Galain and all that he'd done over the past weeks had simply been because he loved. That didn't mean he would ever be able to wash Elyen or Railen's blood off his hands. Never. Galain sent Elyen a silent farewell, remembering the friend of his youth, not the nightmare of their most recent present.
He touched the necklace that again decorated An'Thaya's throat and kissed her gently as the tower subsided into the ground leaving behind only dust and shaking ground and trees. The mountains that towered above them appeared untouched and unfazed by the events occuring at their mighty feet. It was the silent reverberations beneath the ground that would carry on for centuries beyond now.
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