The brunt of the bandits had sieged the side of the carts, Tirian quietly watched the set of travelers dispatch their foes with relative ease. Even the boy, Setna, brought down a mighty titan of a bandit on his own. With their leader in pieces and the giant lifeless, the remaining bandits took this as a signal of defeat. Aaerynn quickly made sure there had been no survivors as she struck them down with deadly and precise arrows. Tirian stood in the center of seven bandits cleaved into parts, their innards covering the ground in a grotesque fashion. Bandit blood pooled together around his ankles before seeping into the loosened dirt, seven more added to that nightmarish list of men stripped of life. Tirian felt the strong hand of Rudolf, snapping him out of that catatonic state for just long enough to clean his weapon then sheath it.
The caravan gradually began to pick up speed, heading towards a spring Rudolf claimed to be nearby. Tirian fell far behind the group with his staggering walk, distanced eyes starring off into a world much too far away to be real. He’d simply put himself into auto pilot as he walked, forcing his mind to cease thought. However, the distance had not been too far as the caravan arrived within the hour. The warrior paralyzed by battle stopped in his tracks simply starring off as the group quickly settled in. Tirian finally moved forward heading to the sound of bubbles coming from what would be assumed to be the spring Rudolf spoke of.
“Sir Tirian, are you alright?”
Petite fingers grazed the tense forearm of the soldier, snapping his conscious back to earth. Blue eyes wide with confusion took in his surroundings as if he’d been lost. Finally Tirian cocked his head to look down to Serna, he could see the fear in her eyes. It had been a look Tirian saw all too often, fear of the monster he was. And yet, here she was asking Tirian if he was okay. Tirian felt his body loosen and his posture slouched to a more casual level as his reply came with a warmer tone.
“You could say that.”
Tirian moved past Serna with a deep breath of relief. The soldier perched on top a boulder that had been perfectly positioned at the spring’s edge, close enough for one or possibly two to dip their feet into the water. Tirian stripped his boots off, then his cape and finally the blood splattered over shirt. Blue eyes looked over the Syndarean twin with somewhat of a smile.
“The water’s nice. Care to join me for a while?”
-The Syndarean watched as the man in front of her seemed to return to the world, and looked at her with bright blue eyes. She watched him as he moved passed her, and turned, asking her a question. The younger girl blinked in confusion. "Join you?"-
“Yeah. Come enjoy the water, I’d say everyone has earned some relaxation, besides I could use someone to talk to right now.”
-Serna blinked again, and this time she turned to look at her brother. Setna had turned away from everyone else, and the girl wrung the rag still in her hands. Perhaps it was best to give her brother time. Cautiously the girl approached the red head, and she sat down beside him, making sure however that there was an appropriate space between them.-
Tirian noticed her worried gaze cast out to her twin brother. His eyes turned back to Serna who shyly and cautiously sat upon the boulder, practically half off of the damned rock. Tirian turned his head forward with a frown, Two days in and he’d barbarically slaughtered humans in front of two teenaged twins and a child half-elf. Everyone in this caravan knew what he was now, what he was capable off to some extent. Fortunately his heritage and magical prowess remained a secret to all but himself.
“I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
-Serna had been looking down at the water, watching it bubble beneath her feet. But as the warrior spoke, Serna looked over to him. She could see the pain in his face, and the way his body hunched forward in a deep sadness. "You do not have to apologize for keeping us safe." Serna whispered softly. "In my country, a soldier being able to kill like that, is an honor." She had tried to make the words sound comforting, but they still held pain as she looked down to the bloody cloth in her hand.-
Tirian quickly shook his head, killing was not an honor. Being able to effortlessly take a life, to take a life without mental hesitation was never something to be proud of. Tirian dipped his hands into the water for a brief moment to cleanse them of the dried blood before speaking again.
“Killing is never an honor. Taking the life of another being isn’t something to be proud of.”
Tirian stopped for a moment to look out over the spring, taking in the calm surroundings. A beautiful sight after the disgusting battle in the recent hours. There had been a beautiful waterfall on the far side of the spring that offered the calming sound of crashing water.
“I killed my first person when I was five. Forced. My home city took boys at five and tossed them into a gladiators ring with one simple goal. Survive.”
-Serna's eyes widened as she heard that. "F-Forced?"-
“It was either that or death. Every boy is required to join the army. No exceptions.”
Tirian nodded solemnly, the sad truth about Durandal revealed, not all of the horrid truth however. Tirian would not speak of the trials he faced after those days. His blues eyes met her own with some happiness finally returning to them. Talking about the past even if it held a nightmarish emotion always helped heal the wounds.
“What’s Syndarea like. I have to be honest I’ve only read so much.”
-Serna grew pained as she heard the past of Tirian. She couldn't even imagine such a young boy, forced to kill others. Her shoulders shook as her hands tightened on the cloth. Why did anyone have to kill? Why were countries and people so focused on killing others, hurting others?
The question about Syndarea brought the girl out of her thoughts. She looked at the red head for a moment, before her gaze turned to the water. "I suppose we are not like where you come from. But...our boys too, are forced to join the army. Solid and healthy boys go into training quite young. Others unable to fit the physical demand become doctors or strategists or other jobs."-
Tirian took in Serna’s words and noticed the shaking in her shoulders. Such sadness shouldn't be felt simply due to ones situation of the past. Something seemed odd however, Serna specifically mentioned boys. This sparked the man’s interest as he pursued further questioning of the girl’s homeland.
“What do the women of Syndarea do? In Durandal they are household leaders and leading smiths. Everyone is equal so to speak."
-Serna paused, her eyes drifting to look out over the water. "We run the household, and most take care of their own farms or gardens."-
Tirian raised an eyebrow to the words coming to his ears. Such simple lives while the men were training and pushed into a life of military and defending their country. Tirian pondered to himself for a moment, cracking a smile at the differences between the two of them. The red-haired man grew serious as the next sentence came out in more of a whisper.
“This question might be too personal, so ignore it if you want. Which one of you has the magic?”
-Serna's eyes turned wide. "I'm sorry?" Her hands fidgeted though, nervously clinging onto the bloody rag.-
Tirian noticed the sudden shift in nervousness. He’d struck the chord most people wished to never be hit. Tirian looked over to the camp for a moment then back to Serna. No one was paying attention yet, fortunately. If the conversation came to revealing secrets the last thing Tirian needed was the group finding out what he had been keeping secret.
“Syndarea was known for barrier magic. I’m just curious if either of you inherited that.”
-Serna looked down at her lap. Her small hands turned into tight fists. "N-Neither of us d-did."
Her body shook though and she didn't look up at him. As nice as he seemed, she had promised Setna she would tell no one. No one could know. It would endanger them both, and the young girl had seen enough blood shed and watched her brother almost get killed only a few hours before.
All because of her and what she inherited. The power brewing inside her nearly got her brother killed, and more than likely this violence would continue. Serna felt her eyes fill with tears and she couldn't fight them anymore as they slipped down her cheeks.-
The reaction spoke louder than any words. Tirian understood and took the whole thing in at once. This sort of reaction meant something, and it was obvious no matter how hard he dug the shy twin wouldn’t budge. Tirian quickly gathered his clothes and boots, putting them on in orderly fashion. Tirian hopped off of the boulder and began to move past Serna, stopping to whisper on last thing that only she could hear.
“Make sure you take care of yourself.”
Tirian nodded to Serna once and left the Syndarean to her owns thoughts. Blue eyes took in the camp of travelers. Each and everyone one of them battled with courage. Somehow, the travelers banded together as a team to protect the common goal. Tirian trudged over to Rudolf and sat down with the old pervert with a sullen expression.
“An afternoon like this calls for some mead my good friend.”