Elven Graveyard

The graveyard where the elves buried their dead. The stones are worn and weathered from the centuries, and is nearly overrun by brilliant, brightly colored flowers.

Her name was etched with an expert, elegant hand into the stone above her grave. It was beautiful, as unique as the body, the woman beneath it. He had not allowed himself to say his goodbyes, had not broken his own statuesque form over the past couple hours to do so even now. Lathai just knelt there, staring, his mind off where his body was not. His wolves investigated the City and its surrounding area, tracking a herd they knew was not far off but could not quite detect. One offered a snarled warning in the distance until it noticed that the oncoming elf was a friend, and it then bowed its head and  continued on its way. The Wolf ignored it, not even hearing it or caring to.

Aelwynn knelt next to him. The pale blue forget-me-nots had enveloped the hillside. The damage to her armor had cut into her chest, and blood dripped slowly down the silver, but she had been far too worried to notice.

He hardly noticed her, though the smell of her blood reached his nose easily, waking him up to a vague reality. "You should take that off. Heal yourself even. You know where the forges are." Lathai turned his head towards her, a sort of numb that no elf should be capable of feeling. "I still have a garden to investigate, tomes to search for. We'll have to return at some point, you know. With Skalanis. It might even help Eloen. And if it stays clear here, then we could even bring Hikaru." His voice held no emotion, just clear, blatant thoughts.

Aelwynn started to speak, but words failed her. Hurt echoed in her eyes where her words failed. She didn't bother unfastening her armor, forcing herself to regain her composure. He was grieving. In mourning. And he didn't want her interrupting. She stood, bowing, the silver digging deeper into her skin from the gesture. But, she still didn't notice it, walking quickly down the hill, leaving the horse to graze in the pasture below.

He felt the panging need to try to help her, to go after her, but at the same time, he was glued to his spot. He blinked, looking back at the engraved stone, pressing his hand to it amd letting the first of many tears fall. He had loved her. Throughout his early life, she had been his partner, his playment, and in time, his lover. Redalia was Mairi's first mentor, his mother's caretaker, and his sanity. She'd been the eye at the center of his storm, his gravity, and he had been the protector, the faithful, reliable partner and lover she had always needed. They were like puzzle pieces, had always been able to work and weave around each other. But he had been reckless, and she had left herself open. And in her final moments, had she suffered? He did not know, nor did he ever expect to. It was done and gone, the past lost in the echo of a memory.

The wing blowed gently, and the horse seemed to know to stay away from the flowers. But, Aelwynn had left. And she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

With time, the tears stop. He had screamed the fury of his agony on the day she was taken from him. Revenge had been on his mind then, but time, thought, and meditation had torn the idea out of him. There was no revenge for an elf. There was justice. Her death was unjust, without proper reason, and thus would be corrected with justice. Such was the way of an elf. Such was the way of a proper alpha, a proper commander, a proper man. 

He stood, brushed the tears from his eyes, the dirt from his knees, and giving her a final, grand salute. "Goodye, my lover, my friend, my partner, my Redalia. Hods hold you close."

He knew not what to do now, though he knew that he needed to check the Chapel garden. However, there was a far more pressing matter to attend to, especially with the late hour. Quickly, he instructed his pack to guard the horse and surrounding area before he ran to the one place he would always find her, the one place that she felt safe to call hone.

The echo of screams of our rage carried down the hills, from far up the mountains.

Thadin hears a noise, like screams almost. "Alright lets hurry up!" Thadin says, picking up the pace

Arri followed, swords at the ready. "What was that?"

"I'm not sure." Thadin huffs. He reached the center of the graveyard and begins looking around.

A soft growl came from behind him, "I smell it on your blades, you know. I am not nearly so dumb as you take me for." The wolf stood on a stone behind them, perched. "I do not see the elves, so I take it you refused my offer. Pity." He tilted his head back in a howl that echoed loudly through the ruins of the city. Several howls echoed back. At least a dozen were-wolves answered.

Arri growled softly, watching him. "We're not so devoid of loyalty that we'll betray our friends for some coin."

He chuckled, "Or for your own life?"

Arri readied herself. "Not three days ago my life was forfeit to a faerie curse. I owe my life to an elf, and I will not allow harm to come to her."

He grinned, "You're sentimental. How quaint. You and I could have been excellent friends, you know."

Eloen stepped out of the darkness. "I doubt you would say the same for me, beast." Her blade slowly shifted, the silvery sheen vanishing as the entire sword became as dark as the shadows around it. Eloen smirked a bit. "Before we begin, however, I have a question."

Arri gasped in shock. "Eloen, what are you doing here? Run!"

He chuckled, "We might have gotten along had our forefathers, or more likely my forefathers had not willed otherwise. What is your question? I will answer."

Eloen sighed softly. "So, you do die of old age. A pity. I'd hoped that perhaps you had extended life, at the very least, and that I could have my vengeance against the ones responsible for...Well, I suppose some dreams have to die." She flourished her blade, jumping on top of a headstone. "Regardless, I'll not allow harm to come to my friends."

Arri sighed, moving to stand by the stone Eloen was perched on. "You'll not fight alone, Eloen."

He grinned through his wolfishness, five wolves joining him, howls echoing far off, signaling more on their way, "Tell me his name. I'll tell you if he lives. Some of us have been around since the war. I may know him. I owe you that much before your death, at least."

Eloen shook her head. "I knew not his name, only that he was tall, and..." She feel silent, clenching her jaw. "This farce is over. Today you pay your tribute in blood."

Arri looked at her, frightened. Her attention shot back to the wolf as she tried to get herself ready to fight.

He chuckled, "And here I was willing to help." he stepped back, "I do not wish to shed your blood humans. I ask you one final time, leave this place. And I will forget your face."

Arri steeled her gaze and took a deep breath. "I'll not have myself in the service of monsters such as yourself. You say you and the elves might have gotten along. Is it not now your own fault that that is the truth of this world? Nay, you sit and feast and hunt them, instead of attempting to reconcile. I could not think of a more proper term than monsters, and I refuse to accept your amnesty."

"Coward!" Thadin barks "do you always summon your fellows when you see trouble?"