Stumbled Into (Taken)

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SaejiFine

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Darian Faben placed a bloody hand upon a tree trunk before stumbling forward, the pain he was feeling at the moment was intense. He'd never been to beaten in his life. The remains of his banking carriage were far behind him now, the edges of his eyes blackened with the ebb and flow of the pain he was feeling. There was no time to look back, no time to think, no time to guess, all that was left was to try and move forward. Try and find help. Blood dripped from an open wound across his chest. Lifting his hand from the wound he examined the blood and grimaced before looking at his now in tatters suit. Some would have called this ironic, he'd just bought this suit a few days ago. Now it was ruined...

Stumbling forwards he sighted a river, it didn't look very deep or very wide but his vision was failing him now. It would be soon that the darkness would overtake him. He would go to sleep but he wasn't sure if he would wake up from this one. No... that possibility left a long time ago. There would be nothing left but to die at this point. Coughing he tasted the dull iron of his own blood rising to his mouth. How had he gotten here?

He'd been returning from a nearby town, making a interbank trade of values and deeds which he'd sold to them. Darian was quite happy to get them off of his hands and the land would be put to good use. Now came the process of taking the money back. A simple less-then-a-day journey lay ahead of him... however the idea of a lone merchant seemed to great to resist for the three bandits which came upon him. They struck quickly and efficiently, taking out his legs and throwing him to the ground where they beat him. One of them slashed him across the chest before the leader found out what kind of cargo Darian had been transporting. They must have felt elated as they realized he was a banker. They took what they could and left him to his death. But Darian didn't give up quite that easy he began to try and make his way through the woods in a shortcut back to the town where he'd been.

Tripping on his own foot he fell at the water's edge his body no longer wishing to respond he lay there reaching out to the water. Touching it with his finger before letting the darkness begin it's final takeover. The form of a average height man lay in the warm grass of the river's edge. His black suit caked and torn with blood and dirt. Brown-blonde hair was cut short and his eyes were a crisp blue much like the water of the river for which he'd been reaching.
 
Ella had been sent out to fetch water for the village. They seemed to love to make the chained fairy do tasks for them. They dragged her down until she was a mere slave. The black metal clinked together as her brown hair fell in stringy bunches. She wished to dive into the river, wet her wings and clean the dirt of her skin and rags. as she carried the large jar, she saw a man. A human man with brown hair lying near dead on the ground. She discarded the jar, setting it on the ground and walked as quickly as she could with the chains limiting her movement. Her green eyes wandered over the man before flipping him over. She gasped at the cut on his chest. Her small frame shivering. She took a deep breath and put her hands on the man's chest. She started to sing quietly, magic flowing through the words. "Sanandum contritos. Infirma quæque sarcirent. Tolle illum dolore."
 
Passing between consciousness and the blackness Darian heard a noise, the sound of clinks, then there was a larger noise like something was dropped. There was too much pain for him to accurately assess where it might have been coming from. Was this how his life would play before his eyes? Through half-lidded sounds and muddled messages. It seemed more strange to him as he felt his body touched. The touch alone was strange, light, bringing him back from the darkness. He felt his body turn and the touch once again... it was more and more dragging him back from the depths. Had he finally come across someone? Had he gotten that lucky?

It was in that moment his body flooded with warmth as if the sun itself was pressing it's energy into him. It spread through his chest, down his legs, down his arms until he could feel it tingling in the very tips of his fingers. Pain was replaced by strength and his vision returned to behold the beautiful face of a woman. The wound on his chest began to regenerate itself, closing the gap, bruises returned slowly to their normal color. Taking a deep breath he gasped and then realized that he didn't know this woman and how did she have that kind of power.

Before he could think his body reacted and a hand placed itself over hers preparing to push it away out of surprise. Darian's mind caught up and he stopped at placing his hand over hers. "What... What did you do to me? What was that feeling?" He asked his voice strengthening as he spoke.
 
Ella flinched when he touched her. Her wings flew out from behind her back, trying to make herself look bigger. The wings shined blue and green, different markings circling around in black. She shook slightly, waiting for the human to kill her like her master told her they would. She shouldn't have helped him... but he was injured. She had to do something. Her green eyes shined with fear, concern, and curiosity. She grabbed his shirt, her wings fluttering a bit, making them sparkle. She didn't speak, almost afraid to.
 
Looking into her eyes he sensed something, what was the look in her eyes? However in that moment something new distracted him completely. Beautiful wings stretched forth from her back like a strange halo of blues and greens. They were like a butterfly's wings only the size of a human and more transparent. The thought occurred to him that in lieu of the magic healing which she had previously performed these wings should be nothing shocking. And yet in that moment he feared what might happen. Taking his hand away from her hand he tried to back away but she grasped hold of his shirt the same feelings of fear written into her face as he was sure were written into his.

She said nothing still as if trying to intimidate him, it was a rather poor effort however. She was far to lithe and beautiful of a creature to create an intimidating feel. Especially with the same look of fear evident in her eyes. As if she were expecting him to swing at her. Or run away. Perhaps she thought he'd kill her for being some strange supernatural creature. What was she? The body of a woman, wings of a butterfly, and chains? He didn't remember those in the nursery rhymes but the rest seemed to fit with the idea of a faery. How?

"What are you?" Those kid stories were just that stories, there wasn't an ounce of truth in them and yet here she was before him. He'd already felt the power of her magic and seen the wings. Still trying to wrap his mind around what he saw he realized this was probably not getting any easier on her. "Please, I'm sorry to have startled you I just... have never seen something like you before or... felt... something like that before." He was trying to express something he didn't fully understand himself. "Either way I was almost dead and you saved me thank you." As he said this he placed his hand much more gently over hers trying to help her understand that he would do her no harm.
 
Ella was about to speak when she heard something. "Ella!" A harsh voice yelled. She froze, recognizing the voice of her master. She then started to pull the human up, pushing him toward a tree. It had a large screen of moss hiding a large hiding place. She pushed him into it.

"Hide. Don't let him see you." She told the man before runninga off to grab the jar and put it in the water. Her master walked toward her, large wings the colors of red and orange. They were pointed and made him look almost like a devil. He grabbed her hair before starting to speak in a strange language to her. She responded before getting hit. The master hit her to the ground, spilling the water she had gathered. He yelled at her before kicking her and flying off.
 
It took him by surprise when she grabbed him, he suddenly thought that maybe this creature was not as benevolent as this girl was. She seemed to fear this one voice above even Darian. That was when he remembered the chains which draped over her body. Perhaps this was her master or controller? She didn't give him an opportunity to find out as she pushed him towards a tree. Only at the last moment did he see the cavity behind the moss curtain. It would provide a great hiding spot unless the person knew it was there. Whoever this was she did not want Darian seen. He soon found out why.

All Darian was able to do was sit an watch as she was physically beaten by this man. Clenching his fists Darian could do little as the scene played out before him. It was all seeming to become quite clear. His savior was a slave, this was her master. Which meant she could do nothing it seemed against him. At the point where Darian could take no more of the physical abuse the man flew away. His wings like the wings of demons which he'd seen in storybooks. Running out to the woman's side he knelt down at her side. "Are you alright?" He asked as he placed his hand on her arm and then touched her cheek. "Was that your master? Why do you let him do that?!" He asked his voice belaying his emotions of anger towards the man.

Calming for a moment he shook his head, "I can't stand seeing stuff like that." Helping her up he looked her over, finally getting a chance to look at her. She was strange that was certain but she had a sad beauty about her. Tearing a scrap from his ratty shirt he began to wipe her face clean from the dirt and mud that she'd picked up from the ground. "Are you alright?" He asked her once again.
 
"A servant lives to serve her master..." Ella said simply, moving away from him and grabbing the jar. She put it into the water, filling it up before taking a drink herself, pouring a bit of water from the jar into her mouth then filling it back up. "You are human... yet you are benevolent... why is that?" She looked over at him, confused. "Humans are horrible creatures to the fae, yet you cleaned my face..." She watched him with strange green eyes, taking in the form of the strange, handsome human. Realizing she was staring, she quickly looked down in fear of getting hit.
 
Darian's blood began to boil once more as she said that she lived to serve a man. "No one deserves service after what he did to you... no one lives just to be hit." He told her his anger no longer with her but with the doctrines which her 'master', if such a pitiful excuse for a creature could be called that, had ingrained in her. "I'm sorry... I just can't believe something like that." He watched as she poured herself a drink and asked him why he was benevolent it struck him as odd.

Looking down at his hands for a moment he tried to cup some water for himself realizing very quickly that he hadn't drank anything for quite some time. Lifting his hands to his mouth he sipped at the water. "I'll admit we're not the best people in the world, but to be honest I've never even seen a fae. Is that what you are?" Taking another drink he smiled, "I don't know what reason I would have to hurt you. You healed me, I owe you my life. I make it a habit to pay back debts that I owe. Why would you think that humans are bad?"

Walking over to her he caught her staring at him, he looked down at himself and assumed it was because his clothes were in tatters. He laughed lightly, "Sorry, I don't make a habit of appearing like this in front of women." Walking over to her he took her hands away from the jar and hoisted it up onto his shoulder. "To my knowledge humans don't even know your kind exists, you're in our children's story books as nothing more than fiction."
 
"We all live on one Earth, yet humans believe the earth is there's to do what they will..." She replied, pulling the jar up and standing. "I should tell you to leave but..." She looked up. "You're nice to me, even though I'm something you thought was fake. I don't want you to leave just yet..." She looked down into the jar, unable to sort through her conflicting thoughts. She looked down at the water in the jar, tempted to take another drink. Her throat was very parched. Her master would want her back soon though... But if she left with the human...
 
She seemed to have a lot on her mind at the moment, she was asking him to come with her. Something told him that her master would have something to say about that. At least only if her master found out about him. "I have a debt to repay, I owe you my life... the least I could do was stick around. Perhaps I could even help you out." Smiling he watched as she took a drink from the jar. "Your master won't even know I'm here. I'll stay out of sight in the woods, only you'll know I'm there." Once she was done taking a drink he took the jar from her and walked off the way that her master had gone.

Thinking back to her statement about humans he had to admit that there was a bit of truth to that. "I cannot speak for humankind, but perhaps I can show you that we are not all bad." The jar was nothing that Darian couldn't handle with ease, however this girl could use a break. "Here you are asking me to stay and we don't even know each others names." Turning to her he set the jar down and extended his hand. "I'm Darian."
 
The faerie hesitated before taking his hand. She tried to curtsy while holding his hand. "Ella." She greeted. "The village would kill you if you went with me..." She looked down at her chains. "But I can't just leave without breaking these chains." She looked up Darian, innocent and troubled. "I need you to leave so you can be safe." She wanted to know more about the human, wanted to know what living in a normal human society was like. She was curious and wanted to learn. She couldn't, however, as long as she remained a slave to the faeries of the pure.
 
Taking her hand he marveled at just how soft it really was, it seemed life had been so hard on her and yet her hands were soft. Looking into her eyes she looked away from him and down at her chains. She remarked about them and then she remarked about how he needed to leave. That was when he realized just how stupid he'd been so far. She wanted to escape, perhaps that was how he could repay his debt. Reaching out he touched her chains and smiled, "You saved me from death, I'll save you from these." Looking around and then back at the chains he began trying to figure out what he could do. "I am a banker... forgive me for not noticing sooner. I'm much better with money then people."

Taking her hand he began to lead her back to the river which they'd drawn water from, there seemed to be a pin on the sides. Much like shackles that humans had made. Perhaps the faeries were not so different from humans after all. Darian began to figure that if he could just lift the pin from it's slot with a bit of force he might be able to pull it free. "Dip your hands into the mud, it will make them more slick." Searching the river rocks he found one that looked somewhat like a wedge. "I'm going to try and wedge the pin loose on the sides of your shackles. Unless there is some magic spell which faeries know to get out of their own shackles... if this doesn't work we'll have to take you to a blacksmith, it's a metal worker. Will they sense that you're gone if we try and run with your shackles still on?"
 
"Not all fae can use magic, the fae of pure can only use magic of their wings." She told Darian as she slid her hands into the mud, getting them covered. "They have inbred themselves so that they feel no need for the magic of old." She looked up at him. "Would you really free me, a simple slave?" She watched him carefully as she waited for him to help. She was going to be free! Her wings fluttered in excitement, and a smile tried to force its way onto her face. This man, a human, brought new hope to her eyes.
 
"Aha!" He grasped a stone, it's edge had been whittled down by eons of running water and the elements. It would be just enough to slip through the edge of the shackles and hopefully wedge the bolt up enough. Looking around he sighted another rock, it was large and flat. "Good," Moving over to her he smiled at her, she seemed to be excited. Who wouldn't be? She was hopefully going to leave this world behind. But what would she do then? Looking into her eyes he wondered if she wished to stay with him he could teach her... but what did he know about the human race? Perhaps not as much as she would want to know but he could at least guide her in the right direction.

Slipping the wedge-stone into place in the small tightening gap he angled the stone up. Hefting the rock into his other hand he took aim for just a moment before hammering away at the back of the stone. The mud kept things slick and the gap widened. It took minutes of work but it was much more loose now. "Try and slip your hand free, it should come out." Once one hand was free he moved onto the others around her body. "There!" He said happily and then realizing how much time had passed he took her hand. Sensing something he heard the sound of wings like he had before, tossing the shackles into the river he ran with her into the cavity of the tree. Wrapping his arms around her he watched as the former master arrived once more.
 
"Ella!" The master yelled. "Ella! Cune!" Ella shivered at the curse, hiding her head in the man's chest. She couldn't believe her chains were gone. The master noticed the chains and screamed. "Mive kugnesh!" Grabbing the pot, he threw it to the ground, braking it. Ella winced at the noise, shivering in Darian's arms. With another curse, the master flew off to find his missing slave.

Ella kept still. "Is he gone?" She asked in a whisper, now extremely close to the human man she saved. Her wings were stock still, not daring to make even the lightest flutter that might alert her former master of her whereabouts.
 
Darian had no idea what the man had said, it was in a language completely foreign to him but the words were spat with such venom and hatred that Darian didn't have to guess that they were curses of some kind. Cursing his luck, cursing his slave, and cursing the situation he found himself in. A certain sense of pride filled Darian at the task which had been accomplished. When the man found the shackles a smirk showed on Darian's face, a dark part of Darian wished as much pain upon the man as he'd inflicted upon Ella. It was then that he felt something burying itself further into his chest.

Looking down he could tell she was in pain at the man's words, she was scared, he wasn't sure what this meant for her if she was found. If it was anything like what humans would do to a slave he shuddered at the thought and held onto her tighter as if his arms would somehow hide her away from anyone and everyone. Turning his attention to the man once more he watched as he flew away. Her words floated up to his ears gently, "Hold on..." Darian looked towards the sky where the man had been for just a few moments longer. Wanting to make sure that he wasn't coming back. Then once he was absolutely sure he slackened his grip slightly. "He's gone." He whispered to her and then peered into her face with a smile.

Taking her hand once more Darian cautiously led the way out of the cavity before taking in where he was at. This river was on the edge of his map, he tried to recall the map in his mind. Tried to recall where he might be. Judging by the sun's position he determined the way to the town he'd come from. It would be closer, they could get clothes and a place to sleep for the night. Then they could head to his mansion tomorrow. "This way Ella, there is a town nearby we can stay for the night." He began to run through the woods hoping that she could keep up, he didn't want to risk running across that man again so the quicker they could get to town the better.

As the sun was beginning to set there was no sign of the man and the lantern lights of the town were before them, a smile was on Darian's face as he tried to catch his breath. "Ella, we can stay at the inn here in town... but there is one problem." He pointed at her wings, "Humans don't have those and I don't know how comfortable other humans will be with a faery around. I find them beautiful, but is there a way to hide them?"
 
Ella shook her head. "I don't know how to create a glamour yet. I can't hide them." She said, looking back at her wings. "Do we need to part ways?" She looked up at Darian, a gust of wind blowing her hair from her face. The sounds of trumpets started to sound in the distance. Another set of flutes sounded near by. They were standing right in the no man's land between the two faerie kingdoms. Ella flinched as the two instruments sounded. Her ears sensitive to the clashing notes. If they didn't move, they would be caught right in the middle of a war in between two of the largest factions of fae.
 
A glamour? It seemed there was a lot to learn about these faeries... Well whatever it was they needed to get into the town and looking like she was. That was when he heard the sound of trumpets and the sound of flutes. Looking around he had never heard them before. At least not around this town watching Ella though it seemed she'd heard these trumpets and flutes before. Perhaps that meant it was the faeries coming. They knew that she was gone, perhaps they would try to reclaim her. It seemed time was not on his side tonight.

Grasping the edges of his coat he pulled it over his shoulders and placed it over he shoulders. The jacket was obviously too big for her, his broad shoulders gave her the appearance of swimming in his coat. However this way she could at least pass as a normal human. He could simply tell them that they'd been attacked by bandits. Which was only partially a lie. "If anyone asks you we were attacked by bandits, the coat should hide your wings from the other humans." Taking her hand he began to walk towards the village. "You seemed to recognize those trumpets what do they mean? Are they following us already?"
 
"Battle will commence..." Ella said. "The royal fae will take back what they lost and the pure fae will capture more." Her voice trembled as she pulled the coat closer around her body. Her wings laid flat against her body, keeping any bumps from appearing in the coat. She looked up at Darian, wondering what the human town would be like. "We must go." She whispered, looking frail in the oversized coat. The trumpets and flutes grew closer, their sounds clashing in an unpleasant way.
 
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