Pathfinder

2- Kelpie

In one movement she twisted her body around and stuck her sister's dagger out in front of herself. A part of her wondered if that was it. Her arms were shaking. But there was no way she was going down without a fight. Not while there still was a chance Damitri needed her.

She saw him towards the center of the river, just past the fallen log. A naked figure hesitantly emerging out of the brush growing at the edges of the water. For what felt like a small, nerve-wreaking eternity he simply stared back at her, unsure eyes trailing her up and down.  He had a tall, slender, but undeniably muscular build: all covered in an uncharacteristically thick layer of freckles. His face, just as dotted, had a similar, handsome look to it. Slim, angular, yet somewhat soft features molded into each other with full lips curving into a nervous smile.  All the while what must have been the longest mane of tangled, wet hair Kirsha had ever seen on a man dipped into the river like a copper-colored waterfall. 

A part of her felt relieved. Her first thought was he must have been a local who'd gone out for a morning dip. Not one of the witch-hunters. That was the only reasonable explanation for his state of undress. Not that she knew of any settlements nearby, but it wasn't entirely unlikely, given she'd been too scared of leaving a trail for the hunters to ask for directions at the last village they'd crossed.

Just as she took a shaky breath and was about to try asking if he'd seen a little girl, however, he took a few more steps towards her and immediately the dagger shot back up again into a defensive stance...But that didn't seem to phase the stranger too much. He slowly continued with both arms raised as if approaching a spooked animal. Once again her eyes were caught by his. Soft amber. Welcoming. Compassionate. Soothing. Before long the only thing separating them was the dagger, shaking lightly. Then he finally spoke, voice soft and gentle, if not the slightest bit raspy, as if the words were the first to leave his mouth this morning."You...don't look too good miss."

He gave her a moment, but Kirsha wasn't sure what to say to that, and soon he continued again. "I heard you from quite a bit upstream." He paused, as if for a moment to consider his words. "Such screams would give most a reason for fright... What has got you so upset?"

At this Kirsha's throat tied itself into a knot. As if there was anything which hadn't gone wrong at this point. Her entire life was gone. Home, mother, future and now even... But when she attempted to articulate even just that last most important bit all which came out was a strangled, undignified sob. This wasn't what she'd wanted.

With a concerned crease in his brow the stranger gently pushed the dagger out of the way with one hand, while he reassuringly put the other onto her shoulder. He didn't say anything, merely kept looking into her eyes with a naked sincerity. It was as if his very eyes were promising her everything was going to be alright and for a moment she almost felt silly she'd held up the dagger in the first place. Her hands started sinking.

Still not breaking eye contact he took her by the other shoulder and leaned down closer to her face, about to say something more. Whatever honeyed words he was about to say, however, she never quite caught. Because it was precisely this moment she realized just how cold his breath was. Entirely unlike his warm, amber eyes and just the same for his hands. His grip was stiff and frigid, like that of a corpse.

Within a brief moment of clarity she thrust Damitri's dagger into his thigh. Shocked, the stranger let go of her and buckled over in pain. Before he had a chance to do anything more than hiss Kirsha had already pulled out of his grasp, bloodied dagger once again raised.

Only then did she see the wicked creature for what it truly was. Mind no longer numbed by its...eyes? voice? She wasn't entirely sure...But there had to have been magic involved to lull her into such a false sense of security. For Where human ears had been just a moment ago, were now those reminiscent of...a horse? What she had thought had been the reflection of his hair turned out to be similarly a tail, and then, lastly, as he finally looked up at her again, she saw his eyes. Dark grey where the whites should be, like those of a wolf or a bear.

A shudder went down her spine. She circled around him and hurriedly stumbled back to the shore. She could guess what he was. Her mother had told her about them. That there were few of them left now. Even fewer than most other Fae. Yet there he stood in for of her. A kelpie...who's grimace had slowly morphed into a chilling grin.