Two Fae Youngsters

Chapter 9

Sorry for the late update 😅.  I was having a writer's block.

     Fuming with rage, Celaena reached the shore. Her tears were raining down like a storm . She couldn't hold back the sob anymore. Celaena  wanted to run away. Suddenly a voice came coursing along the river, a voice she longed to hear. 

"Fireheart." said her mother. With the old name came an enormous box of memories and more sobs.
The whys and hows dissolved into thin air as did the rest of the world.

"Why do you cry, Fireheart?" The voice continued.

"Because I am lost and I don't know the way."
   Celaena said more to herself than to the voice. All too quickly she was ashamed of her plan to leave. That eight year old girl didn't have a choice but if she turned her back on this she wouldn't be anything but a coward, doing nothing more than wasting Marion and Nehemia's sacrifices. Celaena gathered herself and was going to head back to the fortress when caught a faint putrid odour. A smell which she wouldn't forget in a thousand years.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

His foolishness knew no bounds. Aelin  had left about an hour ago and Rowan had thought that her tantrum would end soon. It was now that it struck him that the demi fae killer was on the prowl . It would be a cakewalk for it to target Aelin. She hadn't yet mastered the shift, her powers were nothing more than a liability and here he was sitting idly  , contemplating a way to apologise.
    He ran to the door only to find most of her scent was dispersed in air making her even more difficult to track. Shifting into hawk wasn't an option as his hawk senses wouldn't do him much good in sniffing out Aelin's whereabouts. 
     After walking miles he found her. She was on the coast, utterly distraught. Her sobs loud enough to make his ears hurt even from a distance.  Suddenly Aelin fell silent and she closed her eyes. Rowan was so consumed by the search that he hadn't noticed the other smell lingering in the air . Gods that filthy reek would never leave his nose. It was then that he realised that Aelin wasn't consoling herself rather she was trying to shift and track the scent. She sat there concentrating. Despite whatever he had said here she was trying and trying to shift to protect those people whom she barely knew. He felt something break within him, he should be there beside her aiding her yet he couldn't muster up the courage to meet her eyes let alone help her. While he was wondering when he had traded his innocence for this ruthless self , he caught a flash of light at the corner of his eye. She did it , obviously she did , she was the most stubborn person he knew after all.

     Though Rowan didn't dare to go anywhere near her , he was following her as she trailed the scent.

    Soon he was witnessing another of that humongous creature's horrors . Much like the previous one except this the site was more bloody and fresh. Aelin stood there examining the details while Rowan stood and watched like an idiot. He had never felt so useless in his life before, then again  he had never been so ashamed to look at anyone either so it seemed fair enough. Aelin crouched down to have a closer look and apparently whatever she saw was enough to drain the colour out of her face. She quickly got moving further in the direction of that bloody reek. They went deeper and deeper into the forest, it was almost dark inside. Whatever little light of dusk remained in the sky was replaced by shadows of trees and tall grasses. As they moved forward the grass was tainted with black splotches of some gooey substance which Rowan preferred to avoid. Now that the reek had intensified so much so that it had become impossible to block, Rowan knew they were uncomfortably close to the creature but it seemed Aelin was already prepared. She took shelter behind a rock, ready to pounce at the sight of any movement.  
     Even before Rowan could realise a black figure leapt out of the shadows and jumped Aelin. Rowan got ready to fight and drew his knives only to find Aelin was waving a dagger in the air. Rowan had absolutely no idea from where she had got her hands upon it but he was glad that Aelin had it. Though that relief was short lived,  Aelin paused in mid swing as if someone had replaced her with a statue. It was then that it came to Rowan that her lack of resistance was because of the dark power of the creature and Aelin was probably living her worst memories.  He knew if he waited any longer, Aelin would be turned to husk. So without even a second thought he lurched into the fight. Focusing not on their foe instead looking at the only person who accepted him for what he was. The dark cloud tried to evade his mind but his eyes were fixed on the golden head ahead, he didn't give one inch of his mind to the horrendous memories coming up. Pouncing straight for Aelin he grabbed her. Before he could get her out of this torment the creature swiped his talons across Rowan's back. Rowan turned and beheld the enemy's full form for the first time. A figure of shadows whose darkness threatened to consume you whole and yet make it look like a peaceful end. Rowan reminded himself that he had to combat it if he wished to walk out of this alive so without wasting so much as a second he jammed a knife in his chest, lifted Aelin and ran. As soon as the black fog subsided , Aelin came to her senses. Initially she was shocked then she realised what had happened . They soon scaled a tree and  sat there.

" Are we waiting for it to catch up?" Aelin asked. 

" My winds are blowing our scents away. Besides we can't just run forever we have to shake it off the trail. " Rowan replied. "Let's see , it doesn't fear sunlight so we can't wait it out . My knife was clearly useless since it started following us almost immediately. We would dry out in its presence so what are we supposed to do?"

" We need to lead it away from the fortress.  I have a plan , I want you to shift and leave a gust of wind in the opposite direction of the fortress when I shout." Aelin ordered .

Do I even get to know what you are going to do? 

Aelin gave him a pointed look. No. Consider it a revenge for earlier.
  Why was he even surprised ? He had it coming. 
   We can play these kiddish games later , Aelin . Please tell me.

This no game either shut up and obey or fly away I will handle it myself.

Rowan obviously stayed. What he saw next was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Aelin had gone insane,  she jumped off the tree and landed right in front of the creature. 
"Now" she shouted.
  Rowan did as he was told and then beheld the inferno below . Aelin had unleashed her power which combined with his winds to break the creature's dark shield. All aimed at knocking it off balance and distracting it. It was a smart move to say the least.
   Aelin came out running from the fiery forest and they sprinted to mistward .  
It was when they finally came to a halt that he noticed Aelin was covered in dirt and blood. Without waiting he asked, " May I?" Pointing towards the wounds.

"I don't need your help, I can heal myself. " Aelin retorted .

 "Surely you have exhausted your magic anyway, it's the least I can do. " Rowan muttered.

Shouldn't you be tending to your back first ? Her brows twitched a bit.

I treated it there and then. Besides  I owe you one from our skinwalker adventure.
Rowan was surprised that she even remembered the wound.

Fine, get on with it . 
 
While treating the wounds he inquired, "Where did you get these from anyway?" 

 Aelin's expression suggested that she was going to rip his head off if he tried to initiate any other conversation.  "I fell down along the way."

"And what of the dagger?" 

"You took me to Gavriel's room . How can you even think I would exit without a weapon. " Aelin said with a proud grin. Still when Rowan extended his arm she handed it over without question.

" Umm… I wanted to… I am sorry for earlier Aelin." Rowan didn't why he was so anxious but he somehow managed to get it out. " I overreacted. I shouldn't have said all that."

    Aelin stared at her amethyst ring for a while as if his words reminded her of something . "It's fine . When someone we care about is in harmed it happens."

  Rowan hadn't noticed the ring before but now he was suddenly curious and apparently Aelin caught the question too. 

"It's nothing like that, it was just a gift from a friend whom I prefer to stay away from." Aelin clarified.

"Why? " Rowan blurted 

"Proximity to me often puts people in danger so he is better off this way." Her voice was coated with sorrow. 

" You are right, people we love are often used as weapons against us." Rowan let out, though he wasn't sure whether he was telling that to Aelin or convincing himself.

"By the way, thanks for saving me from that monstrosity. Also next time I am not forgiving you so easily so mind your words, you ass. Now let's go , it's been too much talk. I am obviously hungry after scorching a whole patch of forest. " Aelin mumbled .