At this, Fier’s eyes widened at his recollection, and his arms and hands moved by some other force, meeting with Aveyna’s heavy blade with a horrible sound. With her heart burning and her eyes almost aflame, Aveyna twisted her blade in her grasp, jumping instantaneously, turning as she ascended to scorch him with her gaze, filling his heart with a taste of the pain and fear she had felt. Then she cried out, pointed her blade downwards, and descended, piercing Fier’s exposed chest, then his black heart, before it emerged from his back, as she knocked him to the ground, falling with him, tied to her blade.

He was dead before he reached the floor.

Aveyna drew herself up from the floor slowly, her reddened blade emerging, with difficulty, from Fier’s corpse, breathing heavily. Telthar’rion ran to meet her, his eyes filled with a sight he had believed he would never witness. As he looked into Aveyna’s face, he saw determination etched into her expression and a sudden peaceful happiness in her eyes. A smile surrendered itself, her lips curving.

“He’s gone,” she said, her eyes misting over once more as she echoed herself. Telthar’rion smiled, before asking,

“If it is not too painful a question to answer, why did he kill your brother?” Aveyna blinked away the fresh tears, before answering,

“He captured my brother’s betrothed. He was feared by the local elves for his strange obsession with Elven women. She was to suffer the same as all of them if she were held there for long. My brother followed, fuelled by his deep, sincere affections for her, and saved her from Fier. As he instructed her to run to meet me in the clearing, and she ran to safety, Fier-” she paused a moment to collect her thoughts, “Fier slit Ahelitar’s throat.”

Absorbing this information, Telthar’rion suddenly seemed to embody anger, his eyes fierce and his teeth clenched. Through gritted teeth, he commanded Aveyna to stand back. She did so, suddenly afraid, and ran a short distance to the entrance of the clearing.

She turned to see Telthar’rion’s hands glowing red, his eyes burning, and his mouth widen to produce a sound of rage, disgust and sadness all at once. At the emission of this sound, the glowing became flame, setting him alight, wreathing him in fire and crowning him with an inferno. The trees about him began to be consumed, the screams of Fier’s collaborators were barely audible above the sound of the red terror. And all the while, that sound continued - Telthar’rion’s innate disgust for all hateful, violent and repulsive action towards his own kind moved him greatly, and this, the event that had caused Aveyna to fear fighting, contained all of the aspects of that disgust at once.

This reaction, destructive and powerful, tore through wood and flesh, leaving ash in its wake. Aveyna looked on in stunned silence, while an inward mixture of fear and awe was stirred within her, as she inhaled deeply, aware of a sudden lightness in her head. Telthar’rion turned as the flames died away, and walked towards her slowly. As he reached her side, he looked into her face, and Aveyna understood all that had happened. She responded with a nod, and as this happened, their surroundings swirled once more, as they were returned to the doorway of the inn, suddenly stilled, now at peace.

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Author guidance for This story

My first NaNoWriMo attempt!

I understand I am posting this on the second day; my internet access on the first day cut out as I was posting it.

Good luck, fellow Wrimos!

Running Total

Day 1 - 2483 words
Day 2 - 4128 words
Day 3 - 5708 words
Day 4 - 7832 words
Day 5 - 10041 words
Day 6 - 15438 words
Day 7 - 17023 words
Day 8 - 18003 words
Day 9 - 20285 words
Day 10 - 21635 words
Day 11 - 23705 words
Day 12 - 25059 words
Day 13 - 26609 words
Day 14 - 29009 words
Day 15 - 30250 words

Author's note: Traditionally speaking, Elves age much more slowly than other races - for the purposes of coherency and to grant consistency among other races, the ages of the elves given are a human equivalent, and not accurate of their true, greater ages.

updated Nov 15 '11 by emptyanima