The rune covered man continued to chant, his spell holding up against all the other magics thrown at him. It was strange, to see magic work that way. It was almost as if his barrier ate the spells and attacks thrown at him, becoming stronger with it. In the man's eyes, a fearsome glee could be seen, only weakening the enemy's morale more. Just when it seemed like nothing worse could happen, the alchemist's army spilled into the fort.

The soldiers had been distracted by Archaedes tricks so it was easy to push through. Farron ran with his sword ready toward the back of the line, his usual gloves carefully covering his hands. Although his power might make quick work of the enemy, he couldn't bring himself to use it. He feared who else he might take with him, or the sheer sadness that it brought. Better to die by a sword than that.

With the elven army already decimated, it was a quick fight. Farron watched more and more elves die, leaving his gut wrenching and his feet stumbling so that he fell farther and farther back from the front line. He couldn't bring himself to stop though. This was...fair. At least, he believed in all that Archaedes taught. If magic users had to die, then...he didn't know what to think. At least, he didn't think he saw Echildur fall. If he didn't see that elf in particular, he could go on.

A call rose up in the distance, triumphant though Farron couldn't tell just how the battle went. Had the elves surrendered or all been killed? He quickened his pace to a trot, interested to see the results.

The elves were decimated. The human army caught them by surprise while they were focusing on the runed man. They were barely able to raise their shields before steel and false magic tore at them, their numbers quickly dwindling. The elves who had been relatively safe while trying to fight the runed man managed to bring a few humans with them in death while those recently healed or currently injured were powerless to fight against their fated end.

The mages were easily suppressed without their soldiers guarding them. Those that were not dead were beaten, gagged, and chained; and some were knocked unconscious.


Echildur was still busy healing his brothers before he noticed something strange. The noise of the battle happening outside was slowly growing quiet. He looked over to the scout standing by the door and paled as he saw the fear in the young elf's eyes. They were losing. "Aisa!" He called, trying to catch the elf's attention before a sword stabbed right through his heart, and soon after, he would turn into dust. Echildur's anger rose as his heart cried for his brothers and sisters who were slain by the humans. He felt a thrum of magic as it poured from his skin in green tendrils and started spreading over the injured elves, healing them within a few seconds of contact.

The previously injured elves immediately took a hold of their weapons and started to fight against the humans without minding any injury they sustained after they noticed that Echildur was still somehow able to completely heal them while they were in combat. They started fighting back with a new vigor and an absence of fear until one of their comrades had fallen dead. Echildur had stopped healing them with his powers. As the few elves closest to the humans started fighting in a wild frenzy, one young elf in the back of the group turned his head to look at their healer who was in an unconscious heap on the floor. A human stood above him with chains in his hands.

By the time that Farron reached the front lines of the battle, it was over. A few soldiers still struggled, fighting here and there, but now the focus appeared shifted. Blinking his blue eyes, Farron just stared for a second. All around the open field inside the fort, kneeling in what their booted feet had turned to mud, were dozens of chained elves. He watched as some of the higher ranking members of the rebel army inspected some they had captured. After a second, two were killed and the last put in chains. It seemed random at best and left Farron just standing there in a daze.

"Prisoners? I thought we were going to slaughter them all," a voice said from next to Farron, making him start. The soldier was younger and even more lost looking than he felt. Almost instantly, a harsh voice silenced him.

"Know your place idiot! This is the great Archaedes' plan!"

Farron bit his tongue before he could utter agreement to the other young soldier and quickly trotted away, his sword feeling uncomfortable in his hands. Blood ran down the blade--he'd used it even if he stopped noticing the blows after a while. He'd barely made it two steps though before something caught his eye. Farron froze again, his entire body seizing as if struck.

A tall human pulled a single unconscious elf from out of a smaller building, kicking aside a dead elf in the doorway. Blonde hair slide over the elven man's shoulders, the familiar eyes closed now even though Farron still felt like he could see their brilliant color. "Echildur!" The shout exploded out of him before he could even think to stop it. He felt his feet starting toward the elven man, but a hand grabbed him from behind. Even though he fought it, the grip wouldn't let go of his arm.

"Farron!" Lucille hissed, low enough to not draw even more attention to them. He fought her grip another second more, but gave up when she nearly yanked him off his feet. Stumbling, his eyes left Echildur and he felt as if he woke from a trance. "Stop doing this! You'll kill somebody." Coldness sinking into his heart, Farron looked down. The mud beneath his feet had turned into dry, cracked earth, spreading out for nearly a yard. Even Lucille's dark nailed fingers trembled against his flesh.

"It was Archaedes' order to capture some of the elves so deal with it, okay? Or would you prefer that we kill him?" Her eyes darted to Echildur and Farron had to drop his gaze.

"...You knew?" She knew about him and Echildur meeting in the night? She knew Archaedes' plans that even he did not? Farron wasn't sure which he asked.

"Go inside and see about making it habitable for our people. You can't do anything more here if you lose control of your power." Cold eyes stared at him so that Farron felt his heart skip a beat. Had Lucille always been this way? Not knowing what else to do, he did as she said and turned toward the camp. The soldiers were cleaning things up here already anyway. As soon as they had all their prisoners, they would lock them within cells in their own fort. Apparently the human alchemists were here to stay.

Echildur woke up with a groan and a throbbing on the side of his head. His blurred vision soon cleared up to see a group of familiar eyes look at him, all filled with defeat but still with a sliver of hope sparkling in them. "Echildur! My brother, are you well?" one of them asked him with a whisper. Echildur tried to sit up from his position on the ground but twitched when he felt a pain in his shoulder. It was then that he realized that all of them had their hands chained at the backs and some were even gagged.

"What's- what happened?" he asked after being helped up to a sitting position. "I mean. I knew we were fighting and then ..."

"We lost." One of the elves replied abruptly. "The humans killed most of our kin. Only we remain. And I fear we will lose another soon."

Echildur followed the elf's eyes to look at a pale elf sitting at the corner. His head was rested against the wall and his back was arched, his eyes devoid of the light of his soul. Echildur's eyes widened as he saw the elf's state and immediately knew what had just happened. "He lost his mate." the four words barely escaped his lips as he looked to the elf beside him for confirmation.

"Killed right in front of him while he was preparing a spell. I know you can help him, Echildur. Take his pain away before he departs. He deserves at least that."

Echildur slowly made his way towards the dying elf, his brothers and sisters moving around him to form a circle. "Avaaren, my brother. I'm here to help." He smiled sadly before starting a chant in their ancient language, low enough for the guards, if there were any, to hear. All of the elves within the circle closed their eyes to mourn for their brother and their foreheads shone with elven runes like circlets of light. And with one last breath, Avaaren closed his own eyes with a peaceful smile on his lips.

The prison they were in was filled with silence. The elves in the other cells watched on with solemn looks and silently cried for another soul lost and looked away when the dead elf started to turn into dust.

Farron paced at the top of a stone staircase that led down to the dungeons of the fort. It hadn't taken long for the alchemist troupe to make the fort their own, adding fortifications that suited a human army, alchemic runes drawn outside the fort walls, waiting to be triggered. Of course more enemy would come, seeking vengeance for their lost comrades. That was why Farron couldn't understand the need for keeping prisoners.

The other soldiers accepted all of this with ease. And Farron, he really tried to as well. Hadn't Archades saved him from a completely destitute life? Farron owed him everything. And yet, no one was allowed down to the dungeon except those with the white rune stitched into their sleeve. Farron couldn't contain his need to know though--and also, his need to see a particular elf.

Having been watching for a single day, Farron knew that the guards only watched the stair rather than the cells themselves, assuming that there was no other way in or out. That would be the human way for access to a dungeon, though not all the alchemists were human. No one of elven decent offered any other opinion. Farron had found the other way in though which led directly to the outside from the opposite side. It was through there that slipped inside, his cloak hood thrown up over his dark hair.

Inside, the dark quickly washed over him and Farron stepped slowly, not sure what he would find now that he'd gone this far. Should be call out for Echildur or perhaps he should stop this foolishness now? He found himself hesitating not far inside the long dark hall of cells, unsure of what to do.

Night has fallen on the fort and the elves had remained silent through out the day. There would be a few murmurs, a few light hearted jokes to raise the mood, and a few songs sung to mourn the dead. But none moved to find a way to escape. They all just wished to rest. Perhaps the next day or the day after that, they would convene to share ideas and wonder when the king's army would arrive, but not today. They had forever to live, after all, if the humans did not plan on ending them. They knew how soldiers grow complacent over time, how sure they will be that everything will go as well as it did before. They could wait.

The elves could feel the moon rise to sit next to the stars even if they could barely feel the light from the small windows near the ceiling. (And a few moments after Farron entered the dungeons,) The few elves who stayed awake smiled in their hearts as they heard the soft familiar hum. They could feel the ancient energy flow inside the walls and gather where the elven runes were drawn. Green light slowly shone from the symbols and bathed the dungeons with a soft comforting light, just as it did through out the fort where the runes remained undamaged.

Echildur opened his eyes to see the green light he thought he would never see again when his sight landed on a lone cloaked figure standing in front of his cell. He smiled.

Barely seconds after stepping into the dungeon, Farron felt his eyes drawn to a singular spot. He knew what drew his gaze, finding himself looking into Echildur's eyes. Even if many feet of distance still stretched between them, he knew without a doubt that those were the eyes that watched him now. As he stared, a strange green light rose through the room. Unnerved, Farron hurried forward until he reached Echildur's cell, pressing himself close to the wall.

"Echildur?" he whispered, not sure why he needed to say the elven's man out loud when he knew he had the man's attention. And yet, it sounded wonderful to be heard, even in the barest whisper. Farron kept his hood close over his face, aware that he would draw the attention of far more than just Echildur like this. "I..." he started, then stopped. Was he going to apologize? Did he plan to say he had no idea this would happen? He hadn't, but he expected something from the start, whether death or pain. They had and still were enemies. So why was it that Farron couldn't meet Echildur's eyes?

Finally, he just sighed and settled for finishing his thought with another, safer question. "...Are you hurt?"

"Gûr edhel ..." Echildur winced as he moved to sit up, frowning at the strained shoulder as he pushed himself off the floor. Standing up was even more of a challenge with his hands chained behind him as he rocked to get momentum to get on his feet. He moved slowly towards the bars that separated him from his heart as the elves around them watched before giving knowing smiled. They turned away and some pretended to sleep giving the pair as much privacy as they could.

They knew in their hearts that they would never understand what Echildur's own was going through knowing that the other half of his soul was a human, and part of the enemy's army at that. The enemy who killed their way into the fort, chained them up, and threw them in the dungeons. But they did not blame Echildur for their defeat, nor did they blame the human. They were angry about the loss but they did not find fault in the ill-fated pair and dared not doubt the loyalty of the two to each other because as the all-knowing immortal snobby elves they were, they knew full well how one half of the soul would never want the other half to die.

"Farron." Echildur whispered as he tiredly lay his head on the bars. "I am well and my mind is clear enough to know that you are not supposed to be here. But as much as it contradicts what I just said, I am glad you're here." He looked into the darkness under Farron's hood trying to see those blue eyes but gave a soft smile and a sigh when he couldn't. "It was-"

"NO!" A pained scream tore through the silence as one of the elves awoke with tears falling from his tortured eyes. "No." He whimpered as he crumpled onto the ground and wept as he constantly repeated a name, visibly growing paler even under the faint green light. The elves beside him immediately moved to comfort him but all knew it would not help. One of the elves in the same cell as Echildur met his eyes before shaking his head. "We have lost a brother. Our messenger is gone. And we will lose another soon."

Echildur turned back to Farron and gave a comforting smile as if to say that everything would be alright before telling him to leave. "It would be best for you to go. A scream in the dead of night would surely bring someone here to inspect. They must not find you here."

(( I hope it's okay that I killed off the messenger o.o ))
(( The messenger died on his way to the castle. I'm thinking some sort of animal attack. It would take longer for the king to find out now. I don't know why I'm stalling the arrival of the king's army ... ))

Farron hesitated near the bars, still unable to take the one step that would close the distance between them. He wanted to. He wanted to so badly and yet he felt that he shouldn't with all the non-physical distance that existed between them. It was as if to move a single step forward would also cross all that other distance and he just couldn't do it.

"I know I shouldn't have come," he murmured back. "I...I had to though..." he started before a scream cut him off, leaving Farron dropping his gaze back to the floor when they'd almost risen to Echildur's face. Vibrating with tension, he didn't speak for half a minute. Then all at once, the words that had been welling inside of him burst out.

"I'm sorry!" He jumped forward, closing that final step so that he could grasp Echildur's hands where they clutched the cell bars. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I don't understand at all. I wanted you dead. I wanted all the magic users dead, but-" He choked on his words, realizing all at once where he was and who was listening. Farron snapped his gaze away before pulling back, muttering another apology.

A clatter announced movement from the top of the stairs. Echildur was right. So, Farron just nodded his head, not knowing what else he could even say at this point. "I'll be back." With those words left in parting, he finally turned and fled back the way he'd come, the sound of a soldier's footsteps already descending down the stairs.

((oh lol, that's totally fine. I think we needed to stall the army anyway, give our characters lots of time together.
And sorry about all the wait. I'm terrible at keeping up with things lately.))

(( It's cool~ I'm terrible at keeping up with things too, hahaha~ ))

Echildur heard his heart beat loudly when Farron held his hands and faster when he pulled away. He followed his shadow until it blended into the darkness and his eyes continued to search even when he knew that he was no longer there. That was when the humans arrived. He turned his attention towards the soldiers and moved a few steps away from the bars. He, together with the other elves, watched the soldiers without fear and the few near the dying elf moved to hide him from the human's gazes.

The soldiers looked around the dungeon for any 'funny business' but the only odd thing they found was the quivering elf. Just as the pair was about to return to their posts, the younger of the two noticed an extra pair of clothing neatly folded and placed by the wall in one of the cellars. "What the-" he cut himself off as his eyes widened. "One of them escaped!"

"You won't find him." One of the elves in the same cell replied with a bite in his tone. "He is not on this earth anymore. He's dead! Your kind killed him."