Revan peered darkly at the streets from a perch on top of a building at the lone human wandering the streets alone. Revan’s dark, stormy-grey eyes peered at the human, in part amazed by the human’s unawareness, but he wasn’t really surprised. As his father said, wisely - ‘people rarely look up’.
The Human was wearing weapons, but looked a little worse for wear. Revan guessed he had lost his companion to the many natural magics of the realm, that or he had not had a companion at all and had merely escaped one of such calamities. Revan didn’t know, and he wouldn’t assume anything. He could take this human out right now, in fact, but Glumisun wasn’t keen on it - and Revan wasn’t either, as a matter of fact. He would give this human the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. But if the Human came anywhere close to hurting Glumisun…
Revan fidgeted with the knives that were attached to rope in the suit he was currently wearing; a suit that seemed to have been made for soldiers of the realm, maybe the royal guard? He wouldn’t put it past the kingdom.
Revan heard wings flap by him and quickly ducked behind a spire to receive a message from the bleached-white raven that had perched on his leather wrist brace. As Revan peered over to see the Human look up suddenly and look away as he decided it was nothing, Huginn whispered in his ear in Glumisun’s voice.
“When are you coming back?”
The Raven looked at Revan expectantly.
Revan sighed and looked back at the Human again, who was back to wandering around the city like a wolf on the hunt. “Tell her I’m on my way.”
Huginn nodded and flew off.
Shortly after, Revan stretched his own wings and flapped once to lift off, leaving behind a human who could’ve sworn… but never mind.
As Revan soared over the city skyline, so high that he would look like an eagle from below, especially to human eyes, he thought about his flight strength, which had been getting better and better, he had noticed. Maybe it was the overuse of his wings, he had to use them everywhere around here, or maybe it was the continuous training he had done to control the storm - which Glumisun had to be there to do - and he had noticed it had increased his confidence with his body, a confidence that had been destroyed by the Storm itself.
Or, at least, it had.
Revan slowed himself down with a powerful flap of his wings before landing, creating a gust of wind that only slightly buffeted the pair of people below, the Caretaker looking regal as ever with Huginn on his arm, strange, he never seemed to need an arm brace, and Glumisun, also looking regal as well; he never could tell how she did that, how she managed to look regal and like royalty all the time. She looked fierce, likely worried about the situation.
“Did he have weapons?” Glumisun asked.
“A sword and a handgun,” Revan said, “My money is on the sword being enchanted. Maybe the handgun, too.”
Glumisun cocked her head. “I maybe could’ve told if you brought you with me.”
Revan shrugged. “You aren’t sneaky.”
Glumisun looked appalled. “I’m sneaky!”
Revan lifted his brow. “Really?”
Glumisun scowled. “If a potentially dangerous threat wasn’t wandering it’s way toward us right now, you’d be in big trouble, mister.”
Revan rolled his eyes.
Glumisun cocked her head. His eyes… did she just detect a hint of gold? No, it must’ve been nothing.
“So - “ Revan said to Glumisun, and partly to the Caretaker, “what are we going to do?”
Glumisun cocked her head. “Well, we aren’t going to kill him.”
Revan nodded. “Not unless we have to. But we can’t just leave him be, either. There are a lot of things here that would be very bad for ”
Glumisun nodded. “True.”
“So - what are we going to do?”
Glumisun thought for a minute, resting her head on her fingers. Huginn cawed impatiently. “Well - we’ll talk to him.”
Revan nodded. He wasn’t surprised, nor did he disagree. He guessed it was worth a shot. Glumisun looked by him. “Let’s invite him to dinner.”
The Caretaker interrupted Revan’s dark thoughts and his impending rejection of the idea by resting a hand on his shoulder and smiling. “Glumisun or I can cast a glamour spell on her so the Vrenshrrgn cannot recognize her. He will not recognize you, I don’t think, without your cloak, Sundavr’blaka.”
Revan tentatively nodded. It was going to be okay.
“Can you do anything to protect us?” Revan asked the Caretaker.
“No, I cannot. But if you find yourselves in trouble, I may protect you here, if you can find your way back. ”
Revan nodded. He wouldn’t question the Caretaker - the few times he’d tried, it hadn’t gone over well. He had learned to stop asking how the Caretaker worked, nor the mysterious rules that he operated by.
Glumisun nodded and then looked up at Revan expectantly. “Let’s go. Make sure to put away your wings - and put on your mask.”
Revan sighed and did as she asked.
————————
As they approached the human, steadily, but with caution, Revan having donned a simple black cloak with a raven’s head for a clasp, the hood down, and Glumisun having cast a glamour spell on herself so that, even though she looked the same, the human would not recognize her. Nobody but those present at the time of the spell’s casting would.
As they approached the human from behind with slow, even footsteps, Glumisun grabbed Revan’s hand and squeezed it. As fierce as she looked, Revan knew from experience that she was worried.
Revan squeezed back.
The Human suddenly turned around, unsheathed his sword, and pulled out his handgun, aiming it directly at them. But, because there were two of them, we wasn’t quite sure where to aim. He eventually decided on Revan.
Heh. Good choice.
Revan smiled grimly, and maybe the Human recognized, because his gaze sharpened and remained trained on Revan.
Glumisun nudged him sharply, and then smiled at the newcomer. “Welcome to Sundavrblaka’baen, stranger! Don’t mind my friend here. He can be hostile with people he doesn’t know.”
The Human nodded, but kept his weapons out. “I am, too.”
Glumisun cocked her head. “You can put your weapons away, stranger. We mean you no harm. See?” Glumisun held out her hand. “I’ve no weapons.”
The Human looked at Revan. “What about him? Does he carry weapons?”
Revan almost laughed. He wordlessly lifted his arms, and the sleeveless cloak lifted up so the Human could see that he indeed was not wearing weapons. His weapons were in fact concealed in his tight-fitting sleeves, under his lightweight bracers, smooth and elegant knives that also had rope attached to it, running all throughout his suit. The Human could not see these weapons, and they functioned much like his chains, but were lightweight. It hadn’t took tong for him to learn how to use them effectively. He could kill this human in an instant.
The Human’s eyes looked up and down Revan’s suit, as it seemed made for battle, but as he found no weapons, he accepted that there were no weapons on his person.
The Human still didn’t trust them, though. “What about the mask? Why do you need to wear one?”
Glumisun frowned. “My friend has some… respiratory issues. He keeps the mask on for his health.”
The Human frowned back. “What - why are you two here?”
Glumisun smiled. “We are just simple travelers, seeking strange things. Why, I would ask next, are you here?”
The Human frowned. “I am an Ash Wolf,” the human said, putting away his weapons tentatively. “I am a scout they sent to hunt demons around this area. A pair of the leaders were spotted heading this way.”
Glumisun looked at him, thinking. “The only other person here is a man called the Caretaker, but he is neither man nor demon.”
The Human looked confused. “How - is that possible?”
Revan chuckled. “Your guess is as good as mine, friend. It seems like you’ve had a hard journey. Do you have someplace to stay?”
The Soldier considered this for a second. “I do not,” the human said, finally relaxing. “Do you?”
Glumisun brightened up. “Yes,” She said. “Come, we’ll fix you some dinner. You look hungry.”
The Ash Wolf sighed and began to follow them up the path to the cottage where they stayed. “Where is this place where you stay?” The human asked. “How far away is it?”
“Oh, it’s only a short hike,” Glumisun said. “We live in a cottage on a ridge near here. Don’t worry; there’s plenty of room.”
The Human grunted in understanding.
“Why are you here without a vehicle?” Revan said. “I thought you would’ve had one. “
The Human shook his head. “No, it broke down about a mile north of the city.
Revan nodded. “Some kinds of technology don’t work very well around the city,” he said. “Especially a bleeding edge car like you likely have. You can only really rely on yourself, anyway. Technology has a habit of failing.”
The Human nodded silently.
“Stranger, I don’t think I ever got your name.”
“…Khazul.”
Revan looked up at the Human, sizing him up.
“Welcome to Sundavrblaka’baen, Khazul.”
Soon, the trio had reached the ridge that housed the cottage that, in turn, housed the pair, Revan and Glumisun. It sat elegantly but simply on the ridge as the sun set, the sun in the west outlining it like a golden halo, the long shadows running gracefully across the grass. Revan smiled at this simple but beautiful sight, but wondered the ramifications of inviting a human into their home. He had never met a human before, though he had heard tales of their kind. Khazul’s impatience had not escaped Revan, although it was a decent climb, the longevity of Revan’s years had put it into perspective; a year to a human must seem like a long time, but to Revan it was but a blink of an eye. He had lived a hundred of this human’s lifetimes. A thousand, perhaps. And the Caretaker… the Caretaker must have lived a million and a half of Revan’s lifetimes, maybe more. Revan could see it in his eyes.
As they approached the front door, Khazul looked at them strangely. “What - am I supposed to do something?”
Revan inclined his head toward the door. “Knock.”
Khazul did, the three strong knocks on the wood of the quaint little door, resounding through the woods.
The door swung open.
Khazul paused. “What - exactly did that do?”
Revan chuckled. “If you had been our enemy, you would’ve been disintegrated on the spot.”
“…Oh.”
Glumisun laughed. “Come on in!” She said as she led the way into their home. “We were planning on having some stew with our leftover venison, so dinner won’t take long. And Revan usually cooks, so we can have a little chat while we wait,” Glumisun said. “I have a lot of questions.”
Revan smiled. Glumisun’s curiosity was infamously insatiable.
After Revan was sure Glumisun and Khazul were situated, he went into the kitchen to fix up dinner.
————————————————
“That was good!” exclaimed Glumisun, after they had all eaten their dinner. “You did a great job, Sundavr’blaka.”
“What - that’s his name?” Khazul said. “Sun - dagger - what?”
Revan shrugged. “It’s more of a title, really,” He said, chuckling.
“A title for - what?”
Revan considered this for a moment. “It means Raven.”
“That’s a little long to mean just raven.”
Revan laughed. “I suppose it is. Literally, it means shadow-flapper.”
Khazul nodded, understanding. “Why are you called Raven?”
Glumisun stood up from the table, seeking to dance around this conflict. “Why don’t I show you to your room?”
Khazul was not stupid, but allowed himself, barely, to be dragged away from the table and towards the stairs, where the couple had an extra room. Revan stayed behind to ‘clean up’, and Khazul had no doubt that he did, but also believed that this Sundavr’blaka had shown his hand a little too much. It also did not escape him that the name of this place was “Sundavrblaka’baen’, and that had his ‘title’ in it. Suspicions rose in Khazul’s head, but he put them to rest for now. He was not willing to act on his suspicions yet, his interest was jut… piqued. His curiosity.
Glumisun led him into a relatively small room with a lone bed.
“You must be tired. You should rest for the night - we’ll both be downstairs if you need anything.”
Khazul nodded and thanked her for her hospitality. To Khazul’s relief; Glumisun left, allowing him to be alone with his thoughts. Who exactly was this… sun…. davr…. whatever? Who was his lady friend? She certainly didn’t look like the other runaway leader that he was shown, but Raven… there were only a few people he knew that would be worthy of such a title, and in what seemed like the Ravincan language, no less.
Khazul decided that he would have a look around.
————————————————
As Revan was cleaning up dishes, he heard footsteps behind him. He sighed.
The click of a gun being raised did not escape him, nor the heavy breathing of his guest. As he kept the gun trained on the leader of Ravinca.
“I know who you are,” Khazul said, rather obviously as he held out a tear-shaped gem.
Revan cocked his head. “I didn’t know that the humans knew of the God’s Tear.”
Khazul shook his head. “That’s not important. You’re coming with me, right now, or I’ll - “
Revan suddenly released his wings and they flapped backward, creating such a gust of wind that Khazul was knocked on his butt and the napkins that were on the counter fluttered about Revan’s form. Khazul had never seen wings like these before, as the lights in the room began to dim as Revan turned around, wiping his hands with a towel that he had grabbed from the countertop before placing it back where he got it, Khazul’s mouth hung open in awe.
“Shadow-flapper,” he merely said, in awe.
“Peace, Shrrgnien, I mean you no harm,” Revan said, hoping to make peace with the human, showing him the concealed knives attached to rope that were hidden in his suit. “I have had many chances to harm you. If I really wished you ill, I would have killed you already.”
Khazul shook his head. “But that doesn’t matter,” he said. “They sent me to hunt you down, to kill you.”
Revan laughed. “They sent you to hunt down what they thought were monsters,” Revan said. “Simply tell them you found none.”
Khazul considered this for a moment. “But we’re at war,” he said. “I can’t afford to let you two live.”
Revan appeared genuinely surprised as his brow raised. “War?”
Khazul tilted his head. “I - thought you knew. The demons declared war on the humans a few weeks ago.”
Revan sighed. “I had nothing to do with this. I did not know. I left before any such declaration was made.”
Khazul reached for his gun.
“If you attempt to kill me, Shrrgnien, know that it will go very bad for you.”
Khazul nodded and holstered his weapon as he stood. “That’s why I came here. Partially to scout out another way to get to the Haven than all the way across the plains, and partially to look for, well, you.”
Revan nodded. “Well, tell them not to come this way. Make up any excuse you have to. If the deactivation of technology isn’t reason enough for them, of course. I have killed armies at my doorstep before, Shrrgnien, and I will again.”
Khazul nodded. “What - that thing you keep calling me.”
“Shrrgnien?”
“Yes. What does it mean?”
Revan took a moment to translate in his mind, then said, “Although Vrenshrrgn, War Wolves, is your traditional name, that is, the names of the Humans, I do not believe you are deserving of that title. You are Wolf Heart. Now, get some sleep. You’ll have to leave early to get back on time, yes?”
