•─────⋅☾Faelyn ☽⋅─────•

The magic hums through the forest in quiet whispers. The knowledge that a group of humans have come so close to the forest of my home. I wont accept that group idly hunting on our lands. Despite how crunchy the floor is with the underbrush and fallen twigs, my feet step through everything soundlessly. Sneaking up on them ought to be simple almost effortless. My blond hair tied in a loose braid that bobs laying across my left shoulder. My band of elven guards follow me leaping through the trees. My closest guard the one that annoys me the least is at my beck and call on my side. The only one I allow within my personal bubble.

I can go nowhere alone. They seem just as eager to do nothing about the poachers as my father does. These horribly annoying humans wandering and blundering around the forest with no care for the spirits or what they tarnish with their blatancy for murder. There’s a dance to killing for food that they don’t even give thanks to the souls taken to feed. To kill without remourse is such a frustratingly irritating act.

A frown crosses my lips as I step ever closer to where the joyous song in the trees turns to a symphony of danger. Looks like I was right, that little hunting party took a step into the bounds of our land, again. The thought curls by blood in bitter anger. Though I would not degrade myself into letting that show on my face.

The trees swaying in the gentle night breeze along with the scent of iron in the air. There laying in the circle of flowers, lying on the foot of a tree is a human. My eyes narrow as I can already tell the poor human has several broken bones, his body full of injures and is barely clinging to life. Here he lays in a puddle of what I can only assume is his own blood.

A rush of wind has my turning my head. The head guard of my little harem of protectors lands next to me. His bright crystal eyes blink at me. 

“Sir, stand back.” Celbrim demandingly steps in front of me. “We can send a sparrow for a healer.” 

“There’s just one problem with that,” I say patting him on the shoulder as I step past him and walk closer to the disgusting human. “By the time they get here this little mortal will be long dead.” I dodge his hand as he tries to reach for my arm to stop me. “I doubt the attackers stuck around after night fall. They do tend to fear the trees at night.”

Here I am walking toward one of these humans that I detest at the brink of death. My healing magic second to none. Even as I come closer I can almost feel the warmth fading from him. Poor poor human. His hair is dark, I see scabbard on his hip with the sword missing. Which means someone took his weapon from him. 

Despite the instance that those who had done harm to this human is nowhere nearby, Celbrim’s foot steps aren’t far behind mine. I shake my head but bend down. I put my first finger and my middle finger together and touch his forehead. I grunt in pain as I can feel a flicker of the agony exploding within his body. I can hardly believe he’s even breathing much less alive. Internal wounds, broken bones, someone had the nerve to stab him with a sword. The more energy I pour into him the more life glows back with in him. His body is full of relentless suffering and my healing energy a calming candle leading him through the dark. Not even three minutes later whoever they are would be dead. 

It’s not until I see his face twist from pain to a peaceful sleep until  I stop pouring my healing energy into him. When I finally lean away standing, I’m dizzy. Celbrim has to catch me before I fall onto the merciless ground as well. 

“Let’s go you have cured him enough don’t you think?” He asks as I attempt to pull myself together. Perhaps I used too much of my magic on him. The circle of flowers now appear to have twisted in agony with a gray or black char color to them. The recoil from the magic must have struck the flowers nearby. 

Celbrim isn't wrong. I have used far more magic that I should have if the gnawing ache in my head falshed as a warning. Blinding my focus for a moment before I try to gather my wits to stand on my own two feet. It wasn't abnormal for my magic to cling to the plants around me but to have killed a bunch of flowers felt wrong.

“Let’s go back.” I say a second before I hear a grunt, blinking I turn toward the previously nearly dead corpse, I mean, human. Part of me dearly hoped that I could just cure him and leave him here. Now his bright green eyes are blinking at me, I can’t help but scowl. 

“Who are you?” His hoarse voice instantly sends dread through my insides. This is my fault. I rescue him and now he’s alive. It’s like rescuing an animal right? I can't just leave him to get pissed on or eaten by another animal.

“None of your—Argh.” Celbrim stops mid sentence because I gut punched him. What do or say to this human is up to me not him. As I once again kneel down to examine him, my head is swarming with ideas. 

Humans aren’t for me. Taking one home will be frowned upon.

Yet the plea in his eyes says ‘Don’t leave me.’ He’s like a wounded bird. I can’t just leave this poor easy to murder human all alone here in the forest. I’d be a monster. 

“Faelyn.” I answer softly as I hear Celbrim mutter something under his breath that sounds a lot like ‘asshole’. I’ll tease him about that later. If my dad was within earshot he would probably be punished. 

“I-I am not dead?” He asks wearily and as if to prove it to himself he lifts his hand to his face and opens and closes his hand while I watch. Yeah, thats pretty strange. Just for extra help I pick up a stick and jab him in the side. The yelp that comes from him as he glares at me is entertaining. “What was that for?” 

“Feel alive?” Curiously I ask waving the stick around like I’m about to poke him a second time. 

“I’m alive! Stop jabbing me.” He whines his face twisting into a look of irritation. His voice sounds a little better and less like sand paper now. Thought it’s still pretty grating on my ears. Then I can’t help myself as I pop open my water skin, shift a hand under his shoulder to help him sit up and place the water skin close to his mouth and slowly drip water into his mouth. I watch as he drinks the water he seems to relax ever so slightly. I can tell his skin looks slightly less gray. Good he’s saved. 

Pulling my water skin away and recapping it, I grin at him. “So Human. How did you end up nearly dead all the way out here in Elvish territory?” 

“Caspian.” He moves sitting up himself, as he frowns at me. 

“Is that the name of your attacker? Is he going to come back?” I ask raising my eyebrows. That’s such a unique name for a human. I kind of like the sound of it. Though if this Caspian injured this man than I’d probably feel better running my sword through him. 

“That’s my name.” He scoffs as if that were obvious. His eyebrows narrow at me along with his eyes. He continues to act like that is obvious. It wasn’t to me and I feel the urge to jab him with my stick so I do just that. A light jab to the thigh. He growls at me like a dog. Somehow that just makes him more cute. 

“Hanta. Mona carmeldi!” The irritated voice of Celbrim hisses at me now hovering over me and my new human person, Caspian. He wants me to stop and wants to know what I am doing. 

“Melnir.” I say clearly and the look of shock and worse fury on his face from my answer has him ready to just grab my arms and drag me away. 

“What are you guys saying?” He frowns looking between us. The poor creature doesn’t know a lick of elvish which is why Celbrim switched over to our language though we are more than welcome to maintain the human language for this region. 

“He wants me to leave you here. I want to take you home.” He grins. “Tell me human named Caspian, what happened here and who tried to slay you?” 

I can tell he didn’t like my new nickname for him at all but he sighs and begins to tell me. Though he isn’t fully recovered and his body is probably sore, he sure does seem in higher spirits than he was moments ago. 

“So William and I have this sparring match. William’s never lost a sparing match before. It’s hard to say if people just let him win or what not because he’s a noble. He’s the son of a Duke, anyway, the commanders of our battalion decide to watch. Even the General over looks us. Our sparring match turns into thirty ticks of back and forths with a crowd. So then I defeated him.” A smirk crosses his face. I could tell that he was proud of what he’d done. “He was the most up and coming Knight of our age group and I don’t come from the kind of background as everyone else. So when I won it was a big deal apparently. He spent the next two days bullying me. Light hazing not a big deal. However, we were sent to hunt for some deer. Some of the commanders are trying to put together a feast. They refused to give me a weapon which I thought was more hazing at first.. Until it was clear they meant to hunt me and not any other animal.” 

By the end of the story my veins are full of fire. A burning anger and the need to kill this group of humans. Duke’s son be damned. Then I see the look in Celbrim’s eyes. The look of horror all on its own has him whistling. Another Soldier guard walks over and another of my guards leaps out of a tree next to Caspian. It seems his story struck a chord. 

“What’s happening?” Caspian gasps as the dark haired guard picks Caspian into his arms like he weighs nothing as I rise to my feet stepping aside. 

“Your coming home with me, Caspian. Aren’t you lucky I found you?” I smile at him as I take a deep breath. Celbrim looks ready to offer me his arm but I can walk all by myself. “Lets go.”