The two men stared at her for a long moment, then Tao sighed and asked his friend lightly, "What is it that beautiful women keep wanting to kill you?"
Dar glanced at him with a frown, then looked back to Erell. "We have never met," he said softly. "What have I done to make you wish to kill me?"
Erell stepped back, creating a greater space between them, clearly preparing for a fight. "It's not what you've done," she answered. "It is who you are. Curupira took something very dear to me. I plan to return the favor."
Tao stood and moved slowly, trying to approach her. "Then I'm afraid you may have picked the wrong BeastMaster," he told her, attempting a humorous smile. It came out a bit stretched, as did his light tone. "Curupira threatens Dar at least once a day . . ."
Erell turned her head slightly, fixing him with a look that boded ill for any attempt to touch her. Tao swallowed at the coldness he saw in her eyes.
Dar lifted a hand and made a motion at his friend. "Tao," he said. "It's all right." He looked at Erell as she turned her gaze back to him. "I won't fight you," he told her softly.
Erell smiled slightly, the turn of her lips bitter. "You won't have a choice." She moved her foot, hooking it under her spear to toss the sturdy weapon into the air, where she caught it one handed. Dar would have found the similarity in their styles amusing, if the situation hadn't been so serious. Then Tao moved, and it became even worse.
Tao stepped towards the huntress, arms extended to try and grab her, make her stop and listen. Erell side-stepped and turned the spear sideways, using the added weight of it in her hand to double the force of impact as she slammed her fist upwards into the Eiron's jaw. Tao fell back and hit the ground, stunned. As soon as his friend had started to move, Dar had as well, anticipating trouble and fearing it. Erell sensed his approach behind her and turned with the motion of hitting Tao. Impetus spun her as she ducked and pushed the spear behind her, blunt end first. Dar dodged it, and swept the staff in a tight circle parallel to his body, knocking the spear away.
Caught by surprise, Erell lost her grip on the weapon. As it flew out of her hand, however, she rolled with the motion that her turning had begun. Dar stepped back as she tumbled past him, and glanced quickly at Tao to be certain he was all right. The Eiron was still a bit stunned, and rubbing his jaw, but he was essentially unharmed. Dar turned to find Erell on her feet again, spear in hand. Her eyes were still cold, but deep inside them the BeastMaster thought he could see anger and grim determination.
Dar carefully moved away from the campfire, keeping Tao out of harm's way. "It doesn't have to be like this," he told her.
But Erell shook her head. "Yes. It does."
She pressed her attack, the side of her spear colliding with Dar's staff as the BeastMaster defended himself. She was a huntress, but Alrin had been equally sure to teach her how to fight: even when she was a child, there were stories of the Terrons. Erell had not expected to meet the BeastMaster so soon, she had not expected him to have such kindness in his eyes, but she was committed to this now. And once the fight was begun, in earnest and as harshly fought as this one was becoming, there was only one way to end it: with instinct, and with death. And that was precisely what Erell was depending on, that instinct that would allow her to kill in defense of her life, regardless of who had started the fight.
He was good, even better than she had expected after seeing his practice. But that same glimpse of his practice had given her much needed information on his moves and preferences, as well as weaknesses. Erell had not had such practice in a long time, but anger and pain drove her now. It gave her energy, kept her moving . . . and slowly broke down the carefully built walls that had kept the grief at bay as she hunted for the thing that would grant her revenge on Curupira.
Erell fought, the calm of her motions breaking down into true instinct, driven by rage and grief, pain and fear. The BeastMaster did not truly wish to fight her, hurt her -- she could sense it in him, even as he parried her blows and pressed attacks of his own. She lost her weapon first, knocked out of her hand by a well-placed kick, but the staff soon followed as she ducked under the next blow. Erell came up with her back to Dar, her arm sweeping under his own and then up to push the staff away. Another blow, this one hitting just at the juncture of his wrist, loosened his hold on the weapon and allowed a kick of Erell's own to knock it into the shallow water of the nearby riverbank.
Under other circumstances, they might have been evenly matched -- barely. Under other circumstances, Dar would have won easily. But he was holding back, despite the growing intensity of the combat, and Erell was fighting with more and more rage-lent strength. The BeastMaster kept losing ground, then gaining it again, but what finally betrayed him was not skill or strength, but footing. The ground they had slowly moved onto was closer to the river-bank, making it soft and uneven. A loose, hidden rock slipped under the BeastMaster's foot and his arm swung wide as he tried to correct his balance.
Erell stepped in close and struck with one hand, the heel of her palm landing squarely just under Dar's jaw, throwing him completely off-balance. He fell backwards and she moved in as he landed on his back. Before he could move out of the way, she came down on top of him, her knees on either side of his arms, pinning them to his side as she reached for the knife in her boot. Dar's breath caught as the blade came out, well-honed bone like the knife he himself carried, glinting in the sunlight. Erell raised it for a killing blow, her position above him perfect for a heart-wound. Distantly, Dar heard Tao yell out a plea or a denial of what was to come. Their eyes met.
Erell's eyes were wild, glowing with rage and bloodlust and need. It was like looking into the eyes of an animal driven beyond thought, its mind taken over by the intense instinct to kill. Except he couldn't communicate with this animal. Dar's heart thundered in his chest as he waited for the killing blow, and watched Erell raise the blade high above her head. Her chest was heaving, but something shifted slowly in her eyes, changed ever so slightly. She stayed frozen for a moment, then a low scream emerged from her throat. Dar stared in shock as she threw back her head and screamed again, then tossed the blade away from her into the high grasses beside them.
It took less than a heartbeat for her to move off of him, pushing to the side with one leg until she cleared his body completely and knelt heavily in the soft earth. Her fists slammed into the ground and she curled in on herself, her body shaking with emotion and reaction. Dar slowly sat up and moved onto his own knees. He hesitated for only a moment, then reached for her. He couldn't quite explain the instinct, but his mind recalled her words before the fight: Curupira took something very dear to me.
No, not something, Dar thought. Someone.
He knew it with every fiber of his being, his soul feeling an echo of his own grief in the pain he sensed in her now. Gently, he touched her shoulders and pulled her forward. She fought him, tried to push him away, but there was no strength in her now. Her body's tremors grew, and Dar felt her tears against his skin as he pulled her into his arms. He was aware of Tao approaching them, clearly as stunned by this sudden reversal as Dar had been, but he didn't pay his friend true attention.
"Who did she take from you?" Dar asked softly, little more than a murmur into her sweat-dampened hair.
Erell was silent for a moment, the only sound her sobs, each one seeming to be torn out of her. Then, hoarsely, she answered. "My brother. My baby brother."
Tao had reached them now, though he kept a "safe" distance away. Dar's attention was on Erell, but he didn't need to see the widening of the Eiron's eyes to know that his friend had heard -- and that he now understood as Dar did. Tao remained silent, letting Erell speak.
Grief that had been carefully locked away, pain so deeply buried to allow her to continue to function, now burst to the surface. The words tumbled from her lips almost without conscious thought behind them. "He made a mistake," the huntress told them. "A stupid, foolish mistake. But he was just a boy! Fifteen winters old -- fifteen! He would have learned . . . he could have learned." Her fists clenched against Dar's arms and she gritted out, "She didn't have to kill him!"
Dar's eyes closed, and Tao looked away. Curupira's rules and choices were still a mystery to both men, despite their recent interactions with her. This story, for all that they might wish to believe otherwise, did not surprise them. Erell said softly, bitterly, "I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to make her feel that kind of pain. It was the only way I could think of to avenge Liro. And the only things Curupira cares about are her animals, and her BeastMaster." Dar tensed at the implication that she had sought out revenge on the beasts of the Mydlands, but Erell continued, "I tried to go after the animals first. I am a huntress, the best in my tribe. I can track anything that moves, and my aim is always true. But when I tried to kill them . . . I couldn't. I just . . . couldn’t." She gave a bitter laugh. "So I decided to come after you, BeastMaster. I thought . . . made myself think . . . that if it was a fight, if I was defending myself, then I could . . ." She shook her head helplessly.
It was Tao who answered her. "But you're not a killer," he said softly.
Erell finally looked up, her eyes meeting his. "Neither was Liro."
A voice interrupted abruptly, its tone cold despite the child-like sound of it. A voice they all knew far too well. "Oh, but he was."
Curupira stepped out of the air a few feet away from them; Dar and Tao automatically stood to face her, as did Erell, the latter's expression turning hard as stone. The golden-haired demon looked at them scathingly and continued, "He killed three of my animals without need. Solely out of pride. Humans are selfish, vicious, concerned only for their own interests --"
Erell's eyes glittered brightly with anger. "As opposed to the wealth of compassion and mercy you show so often?" she spat.
Curupira growled and moved forward. Dar and Tao automatically moved between the two, neither certain whom they were seeking to shield: Erell or Curupira. The answer was forced on them as Curupira made a motion with her hands, a current of energy throwing the men to either side and leaving Erell standing alone. The huntress never flinched.
"My compassion and mercy are reserved for those who deserve them: my animals," Curupira growled. "Not for worthless humans who destroy simply for the sake of destroying!"
Erell refused to back down, her anger roaring inside of her. "And what do you call what you did?" she demanded. "Justice?" Her voice rose and grew choked with tears as she continued. "He was a child, Curupira! Children make mistakes! And they can learn from those mistakes, if they are not slaughtered by self-centered, judgmental little---!"
Curupira hissed and lunged forward with speed that could not be avoided. She had arrived only in time to hear the woman's confession of her plans, not the cause for them. Her anger at those overheard words, combined with this fresh assault, brought her fury to a boiling point now and she hissed, "You dare--!!"
One talon-nailed hand wrapped about the human woman's throat. She turned the huntress towards the forest, then launched her through the air. Erell's mind had a moment to reflect that this was becoming a familiar sensation around the demon, and then she was landing by the campfire several feet away. Curupira advanced with a low growling hiss, stalking forward impossibly fast, then reaching down to grab the huntress about the throat. Curupira plucked the woman up from where she had fallen and backed her up against a tree.
Erell didn't struggle, only glared with equal fury. "Is this how you prove yourself worthy of respect?" the huntress asked venomously. "By refusing even to listen? Or are humans too lowly to be worth even that?"
Curupira hissed again. "Humans are not worth anything to me! I care nothing for them!" She brought her face close to Erell's, readying herself to draw the life from this upstart human who dared to insult her. "Selfish, worthless creatures ---"
"Curupira, no!" Dar's voice intruded, a shout from closer than the demon expected.
Curupira turned her head slightly to find the BeastMaster and Tao running towards them. She frowned. "Why not?" she demanded. "You heard her, BeastMaster. She would have killed my animals, and my BeastMaster -- just to get at me! She is no better than Ketzwayo!"
"Would have," Dar agreed, keeping his tone soft and level. The tone that always guaranteed Curupira would listen, even as it drove her batty. "But she didn't, Curupira. She didn't. Haven't you wondered why?"
"It doesn't matter why!"
"Doesn't it?" Dar asked quietly. There was a note of disappointment in his voice, and Curupira tried desperately to not let it affect her. "Don't you question if killing her now would be justified? Even you must care whether something is right or wrong."
Curupira glared at him, growling softly, then looked back at Erell. She stared at her for a moment, then finally asked, "All right, then, tell me. Why didn't you? Why didn't you kill my animals, huntress?"
Erell glared at her, but the pain was overwhelming her now. Tears finally came to her eyes as she gritted out her answer, each word seeming to be dragged from her soul. "I couldn't. I couldn't. Because no matter how much I hated you for what you did to Liro . . . I couldn't kill without need. The animals had not harmed me, the BeastMaster had not harmed me. You did that. And if I had hurt them to hurt you . . . I would have been just as bad."
Perhaps it was Dar's influence of late, or perhaps it was something more, but Curupira had been unable to forget the face of the boy who had set these events in motion. His eyes as she leaned forward to kiss his life away, the complete acceptance and lingering regret in his expression and in his voice as he murmured, "I'm sorry."
Those eyes, that voice, the question of what he had meant and felt, had stayed with her these past days. It was almost as if he were haunting her, making her question her choice to kill him. It was a new experience to Curupira, and terrible in its way for Curupira never questioned her actions -- certainly not because of a human boy who had had no qualms over killing her animals for his own pride!
The young-seeming demon shook her head and frowned fiercely at the huntress. "Why do you care?" she asked abruptly. "Why did his death make you hate me so much?"
Erell fought back tears. Quietly, she answered, "Because he was my little brother."
Curupira stared at her, processing the information and all its implications. Animals did not kill for pleasure, but they did kill to protect their young, their mates, and sometimes to avenge their family. If humans did the same, then she could no longer argue as easily that they were worthless or selfish. Especially if the human in question could put off that revenge because it would necessitate the deaths of innocents.
Curupira stared at the huntress before her, and for the first time began to see the depth of the woman's pain. It was the same pain Curupira had felt when the Umpatra had hunted her animals, and then later when she had been helpless to stop Ketzwayo's magic from driving the beasts of the Mydlands mad. The same pain she could now recall having seen in this same woman's eyes many days ago, when she had killed the boy for his trespass.
The pain she had caused. The pain she herself would have felt had any harm ever come to Maya. . . . . And what would Curupira have done to anyone who dared harm her sibling? If someone had hurt Maya, let alone killed her, would Curupira have been able to stop herself from destroying everything that someone held dear in order to avenge her beloved sister's death?
Her thoughts and reactions confused her, worried her, and Curupira, who was not accustomed to dealing with such emotions, covered them as she did her reactions to Dar: with anger. It rushed over her now, for looking into this woman's eyes, seeing that pain, she remembered the boy. And for a moment, she could almost feel the boy's presence, see an echo of him in the hazel eyes of the huntress. The demigoddess could almost hate this woman for that alone. Curupira did not make mistakes!
She growled and released the woman abruptly, leaving her to stumble slightly and catch herself against the tree trunk. She didn't understand the emotions and questions flooding her mind, and she desperately needed time to figure them out. But she would not let these humans believe they had bested her in any way; Curupira needed to have control, always.
"This time, human," Curupira hissed at the woman. "This time you have not trespassed. But have a care not to do so in the future -- or I will take your life's breath."
She turned and stalked towards the forest, disappearing in a rush of wind that made the three humans cover their faces. As calm descended once more, Dar looked anxiously at Erell. "Are you all right?" he questioned gently.
The huntress let out a shaky breath, looking in the direction where Curupira had vanished, and nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, then let out a short laugh and shook her head. "Well," she said softly, deprecatingly. "This certainly didn't turn out at all the way I planned."
"If it is any consolation to you," Tao said quietly, "I don't think that when dealing with powers such as these, there is any way to win. At least, not without great cost."
Erell remained silent, and Dar added gently, "Too great a cost. Sometimes, the greater struggle is in realizing that."
Erell looked at him. Their gazes met for a long moment, then she looked away again. She pushed away from the tree-trunk and stepped around the two men. "I am sorry for the trouble I've caused you," she said quietly, heading for the weapons she had laid on the ground by the campfire. She looked over her shoulder at them and added, "And for the pain."
The two men exchanged a look as she picked up her bow and the quiver of arrows. As she went towards the riverbank to retrieve her spear and knife, Dar said softly, "We can't just let her walk away . . ."
Tao nodded. "She needs to process everything that's happened, allow herself to grieve. And with a heart as sore as that . . ."
Dar looked at him, and they both nodded in silent agreement. Dar headed for the riverbank as Erell bent to pick up her knife. Her spear was just a short distance from him; he picked it up and approached her, to find that she had paid the same courtesy by retrieving his staff. They both smiled slightly as they exchanged weapons, but Dar held onto the spear for a moment when she tried to take it back, forcing her to look at him. "Stay a while," he told her. "We both need to tend our wounds, and you need to rest."
Erell shook her head. "I couldn't --"
"Please." He looked down briefly, then back up into her eyes. "I know what it is to lose those you love, Erell. Stay a while. A night, before you begin your journey."
Erell studied him for a long moment, impulses warring one another. Finally, she nodded. "A night," she agreed.
Dar smiled. "Good. Tao's been complaining that there's no one else to appreciate his attempts at cooking."
Erell laughed. The sound clearly surprised her. She shook her head slightly. "I think that might be the first time I've laughed since . . ." She shook her head again, and suddenly she looked impossibly weary. "A night," she repeated. "I'm . . . I'm too tired to do much walking right now."
Dar nodded, understanding completely. "Then come," he told her gently. "Sit and rest. Tonight, you will not be alone."
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