Eros

Hail to the King - 9

The guard was woken from his usual nap at his post outside the prison by the unfamiliar ring of the alarm bells. Wobbling to his feet, he went up to the prison gates. He blinked and tried to rub sleep out of his eyes when he saw an elf and a soldier from the capital running side by side towards him. Oddly, they were still there when he looked again.

The elf reached him first. He stepped towards her with his limbs stretched to block her path, but she dropped to the ground and slid across the floor between his feet. He looked up again, and caught a glimpse of Kaido's fist before it struck him into darkness.

-

They burst out of the prison and Kaido looked around them. The town stood to their one side and the forest to the other.

"To the forest!" Alora yelled and ran straight towards it. They made over half the distance when they heard the shouts of their pursuit. An arrow whizzed past Kaido's ear, and another buried in the dirt Alora's foot had occupied half a split moment earlier. They ran past the treeline, and the volley of arrows that followed embedded in the barks.

Kaido frowned. If he was in his old cloak, the forest and the night would've easily been enough for him to slip out of his chasers' sight. He cursed Veramor and its colors. An arrow thunked in the trunk beside him, and he looked over his shoulder. The soldiers were closing in on them.

Kaido's eyes narrowed when he spotted a nearby branch bending unnaturally. It moved like a tendril as it bent into a running archer's path. His face was stopped against it, and his body thumped against the ground.

Alora sent out her senses once more as she spotted the soldiers coming close to a thick root that protruded from the earth. Her fingers bent upwards, and so did the root, rising to meet the soldier's shin and trip him to the dirt.

Despite her second success, Alora was frustrated. She couldn't remember much of the fight over her burning village, but she could never forget that awesome surge of power. It was, by far, the most powerful she had ever been, and it had left her exhausted for days. Compared to it, moving a root and a branch felt humiliating. She had spent most of her time imprisoned trying to resummon that power, to no avail.

They ran until they lost sight of the soldiers, then stopped behind the cover of a massive tree. Both of them panted heavily, slumped to rest on the ground, and for the first couple of minutes, didn't want anything more than to breathe properly again.

After somewhat regaining his breath, Kaido shuffled to sit against the tree and started to remove the armor he stole. Alora didn't exchange a word with him until then, but couldn't stop herself from asking as she stared him down.

"Even though you're wanted, you stole a soldier's armor and strode right into their prison?"

"Mhm." Kaido confirmed absentmindedly as he discarded the gauntlets and wiped blood and sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. The bruise she gave him paled in comparison to the gash that crossed his cheek – parting gift from the captain's sword. The skin underneath it was painted red down to his jawline. A drop of blood dripped from his chin to his breastplate.

"Why, by the seven, would you do something as idiotic as that?" She asked. He didn't seem to be in any rush to answer her as he took off his breastplate. His washed out shirt rested on broad shoulders, arms built firm with muscle. She noticed that his hands, though callous, were unscarred. It seemed unnatural. Amongst seasoned swordsmen, the two usually came together.

"I heard they were served decent meals." He answered as he removed his legplates.

"You did all that because you heard they were served decent meals?" Doubt creased Alora's forehead. She hoped he wasn't serious. He moved his head in a slow, circular motion, his neck making a gentle crackling sound as he stretched it.

"I came to eat, getting taken hostage was an unexpected bonus." His eyes met hers, and she found herself looking away. It was the second time she had trouble containing his gaze. She couldn't determine why, but it made her feel uneasy when she seduced him back in the prison, too.

"It's the first time I've seen anyone do that." He broke the silence.

"Do what?"

"Make the branches and roots move." He moved his fingers in a way that crudely resembled the way she moved hers as they ran.

"Your eyes glow green," He continued. "I thought elves' eyes only glow blue."

"I'm not surprised, I've already gathered you're not the smartest person around." She said, and a smirk twisted the angle of his mouth.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Why would you want to know my name?"

"Are you always this suspicious?" The tone of amusement in his voice irritated her.

"Only when it comes to fugitives from the law."

"That's rich, coming out the mouth of one." That lopsided smirk of his appeared again.

"I know why they're after me, I have no idea why they're after you." She forced herself to look him in the eye.

"Fair point." He said, but showed no intention to explain. They stared at each other in silence until he pushed himself up to his feet.

"We should keep walking."

She nodded and stood up. His hand slipped into his hair, rubbing the back of his head as he took a long look around. "I hope you know the way out of these woods, because I have no clue where we are."

Such an idiot, she thought, but couldn't help smiling.