The Dragon & The Wolf

[Aspen Wynfrid]

Stupid, careless, a death wish.

These were just a few things that the people of her clan would say if they were to know of her ventures into Drach territory. But then, perhaps they'd also call her a fool who could only see the world through rose-colored glasses. Of course, they would not be right, but even still, it would not change their minds. Aspen knew well of the dark and horrid secrets that the world held in it's most hidden crevices. However, that didn't mean that at some point, someday, things could change for the better, right?

Despite it having been a few years since the Morelings were lost to the barbaric and unjustified actions of the Drach clan, the scene that Aspen had run head first into was still burned into her memory. It was forever ingrained within her being and, try as she might, there seemed to be no way to clean her conscious of the blood and stench of death that had encompassed their territory. They'd never stood a chance against such a massive clan. Begging her father to send aid and then taking matters into her own hands when he refused had led to a punishment she'd never truly thought to receive. He hadn't beat her senseless, no, but he'd been sure to publicly announce her borderline betrayal to their clan. She'd accepted the glares, let the people whisper and gossip as they pleased, but at the end of the day, she was still the chief's daughter and she still demanded the respect of her people. While it seemed that the destruction of the Morelings had been all but forgotten, Aspen could never forget. She had witnessed for herself in the aftermath just what the Drach were capable of. Perhaps that is why she had taken to spying on them so often. Or, perhaps she really did have a death wish.

She came to the same spot often, sitting just at the edge of the territory. She'd promptly ordered her canine companion, Khan - a massive, male grey wolf - to roam nearby as to not blow her cover, but there was an uneasiness resting in the pit of her stomach. Something about today was different.. Climbing the highest pine she could find, her blue eyes scanned the cold woods, happy to have the cover of the evergreen tree at her advantage, especially in such bright light that came with the evening sun. She could just spot the bright amber eyes of her companion who had tucked himself into a nearby thicket and felt more easy knowing that he'd remained close, even if it was closer than she would have liked. The brute was impressive in his size and surely a force to be reckoned with, though it didn't bring Aspen as much comfort as usual. Pulling her fur-lined leathers tighter against her, dagger at her hip, bow and arrow in hand, she waited and watched. If the Drach clan would attack smaller clans to claim their territory for themselves, surely her clan would be somewhere on their list. She only hoped that her observance would grant them some sort of upper hand. But then, if she really wanted to gather such information, she may have to make the reckless decision to go further into the territory.

[Lorcan Drach]

It was rare when Lorcan went on patrol. Even rarer when he went on a patrol by himself. He’d told his brother what he was doing and had essentially disappeared from the rest of the clan. Following the tracks of the earlier patrol with his large bay. He’d set off early that morning, and was just now on his way back to the clan.

Something had told him that morning he needed to get out and clear his head, and the only way Lorcan did that was from the back of his horse and being in the forest. Where all he had to do was let his mind wander and take in the natural lullaby of nature. He was dressed in his winter furs, adorning a black fur lined cloak to keep the chill out. His hair was longer than he normally kept it, but it still stood up from the countless times he had run his fingers through it that day. His bow was draped over his back with the quiver handing from the saddle in easy reach should he need it. The man was usually armed to the teeth, with various knives hidden on his person, and the two axes he kept in loops on his belt.

His blue eyes scanned the area ahead of him, but for the most part it had been a quiet patrol along the border of the Drach clan territory and Wynfried. He went back to what he’d been thinking about. Something was agitating his father as of late. Making him more irritable, and even more violent than he already was. Normally Kaige had a long patience with people. He was like a snake, coiling in wait and ready to strike whenever the opportunity arose, however this time the patience was growing thin. There was nothing worse than an angry dragon, but it was especially worse when the dragon was Kaige.

Lorcan reached up to run a hand through his beard. A habit he’d developed ever since he decided to grow it out. Did it have to do with Wynfried? Maybe one of the other clans? He thought. The only thing he could think of to put his father in such a piss poor mood was if something had happened with his plans to expand the territory. For the sake of the clan, Lorcan hoped that wasn’t the case.

Lorcan’s horse snorted then, giving a nervous winny. The alert instantly had the clansman on his own high alert, and he slowed the horse to a slow walk. His head was on a swivel, and his blue eyes scanned the area. He could feel the shift in the air as he and the horse fell downwind. It took only a second before the horse reacted to whatever smell it could sense, the large bay shook his head and pawed at the ground. Giving a snort.

Lorcan stilled, steadying the horse as he slowly removed the bow from his back and reached for an arrow. The hair on the back of his next stood up, and he suddenly felt like he was being watched. His eyes narrowed. Taking the arrow and readying his box. He pressed his heels into the flanks of the horse, urging it forward slowly. He made a clicking noise and the horse responded. Lorcan looked to the border, wondering if the horse sensed a Wynfried patrol. His blue eyes scanned the treeline in search of any danger.

[Aspen Wynfrid]

She wasn't sure how long she'd sat perched within the tree. All that was certain was that it had been long enough for her to begin settling in and letting her guard down. The Drach clan seemed to be unusually quiet today. A patrol had yet to come through which almost made Aspen wonder if they were on the move.. But, just as her curiosity began to get the best of her and lead her to climbing from her perch to go further into Drach territory, a soft growl broke the silence, effectively stopping Aspen's descent. Placing her bow over her shoulder and returning her arrow to it's quiver, she whispered to Khan and as his eyes reached her, she held out a pale hand, palm face down, fingers together; his cue to remain silent and hidden.

As her eyes scanned the area, she could just make out the shape of a horse and rider in the distance. Close enough that the equine could sense their presence, but not so close that she would be seen immediately. If she were careful, she might be able to climb down and get to Khan before the Drach member's eyes found her. But then, he seemed to be just as alerted as his horse now was. She moved down a few branches, stopping when she noticed the equine was moving forward once more. With the sunlight in her eyes, it was difficult for her to tell whether or not the person in question was armed. But then, assuming a member of the Drach clan wasn't armed was a very dangerous assumption to make. She was on the very edge of their territories, which meant it would take her mere minutes to return to Wynfrid's side. However, what Drach would spot a Wynfrid, even in Wynfrid territory, and not take action?

Perhaps today was the day her luck ran out.

Silently as she could, she climbed down, making haste as she did so. Once her leather clad feet had touched the ground, she placed her back to the pine that had just before been her stake out place. She watched as Khan's eyes darted between her and the ever-growing threat. At this point, her top priority was getting Khan out of this territory safely. To hell with her own safety! That wolf meant everything to her. She scanned the ground for something, anything, before her eyes landed on a decently sized rock. Carefully, she peeked from the tree and towards the rider, judging their distance from her. With a flick of her delicate wrist, she sent the rock flying far to her left, hoping it caught the attention of both horse and rider long enough for Khan to make a getaway. Pointing back towards their territory, the wolf was quick to jump and run, his massive grey frame sprinting just for their border, disappearing into the thicket. There weren't many folks who'd see fit to let a wolf get this close to where they took up residence, and they certainly couldn't know Khan was a tame wolf - even if only at Aspen's side. But with her beloved companion safe from harm, she had one less worry, though she was certain the canine would not go far. He never did, especially when he sensed danger.

She peeked again, though horse and rider were now out of sight. Whether they'd gone to investigate the noise or she'd simply lost them among the sea of trees was not certain. It would be too high risk to make a mad dash for Wynfrid territory, but with the silence stretching out around her, she was beginning to feel she had no choice.

[Lorcan Drach]

There was a reason he was his father's second. Not only was Lorcan a great warrior, he exiled in other things as well. Like keen observation skills, hunting, and tracking, anything his father beat into him as a boy was what he excelled at. He was also a very patient man, and he liked to draw things out. He paid attention to his horse as well they moved, while also continuing to scan the treeline. The bay’s ear’s turned, listening to their surroundings, and one ear flicked. Lorcan looked ahead of them and scanned the area when he caught sudden movement and the sound of something hitting a fallen limb that had been in a thicket. He immediately reacted, pointing his arrow in the direction, when he saw a flash of what looked like a grey streak. It had moved too fast for his eyes to see, but it made his horse snort through his nose and winny again.

He dismounted then, swinging his large body off the animal, he took the reins, and quickly guided the horse behind several pines. Tethering it around a trunk quickly. He took his cloak off, wanting better movement and tossed it up on the saddle. He crouched low then as he quietly navigated himself to where he’d seen the flash of grey. Lifting one of his handaxes out of the loop in his belt. He gripped the handle firmly and came up behind a pine. He rested his hand against the bark and squatted down.

He proceeded to slowly peer around the tree, raising his ax up in case he needed to throw it while his eyes scanned the thicket ahead of him where the gray blur had gone.

[Aspen Wynfrid]

As soon as Khan had disappeared from her sight, it was as if her entire world began to move in slow motion. She anticipated every sound, every movement; even her own breath seemed to have slowed as she waited for something - anything - to happen. The horse snorted, letting out a nervous whinny. At this point, she was sure the rider would be far past alerted now, but if that were so, what came next? This person couldn't act on what they couldn't very well see. It wasn't common for the huntress to be fearful, yet her heart still began to pound against her chest. The Drachs were a vicious bunch, and she'd made the decision to come here, without backup no less. She only had herself to blame for her current predicament. A wiser woman may have stayed within the cover of the tree, but Aspen had left a valuable - at least to her - attachment exposed on the ground. The bond she shared with that wolf was sure to get her killed one day. Today seemed the most likely.

She was relieved when her distraction worked, but not so much when she heard the clank of tack as the rider stepped from his horse. Or, at least, that's what it sounded like. There was another wave of silence and this time, it lingered on the air. That is, until the sound of bark falling lightly to the ground alerted her to just how close the clan member now was. Her breath caught in her throat, blue eyes looking to either side of her for even the slightest hint of something coming around the tree. Shit.. She thought to herself, silently cursing her terrible timing.

The way it stood, she had two choices. Choice number one was attempting to flee. There were two reasons that was a bad decision. One, it gave her opponent a clear shot. Two, it left her vulnerable to attacks from any other Drach in the vicinity. Choice number two, stand her ground and fight. There were about a hundred reasons why that decision was an even worse one. Then, of course, there was a secret third option; attempt to reason with a Drach. The impossibility of that was nearly enough to make her scoff. Sure, her luck had seemed to have been dried up so far, but maybe, just maybe, he'd lose interest and leave.

[Lorcan Drach]

Lorcan staid still, listening for anything out of the unusual as he looked ahead in the thicket ahead of him. Blue eyes scanned the area and he slowly leaned forward, looking around the tree to his left, and didn’t see anything down that way. He looked to the right, and would have missed the leather clad foot if he hadn't been crouching down. Whoever the owner was, was about two tree’s down, and his body tensed.

He very carefully leaned back. Mindful to not make any noise. Who was it? More like who dared to be hiding in a forest at this time of day? More importantly, who the fuck dared to be in Drach territory hiding behind a tree? Someone who was not a part of the clan that’s who. And an idiot.  His lip curled up in a silent sneer. A scout? Spy? He was about to find out. If he let them live long enough to spill what he wanted before he spilled their guts. Both figuratively, and literally…

He turned, and pressed his own back against his tree. Looking to his left, he figured out the path he could take with the least amount of noise, and quickly moved. Making sure to stay low until his back was to the same tree the spy was behind. He stood up slowly then to his full height, taking the knife at the small of his back out he gripped it in the hand that wasn’t holding his axe. He took a moment to ready himself then. He didn’t know how tall the spy was, and he only sort of hoped he didn’t decapitate them with what he did next.

Lorcan swung the axe, outward. Straightening his arm as he used the momentum to turn himself around the trunk of the tree. He aimed high, intending to startle the person more than anything, as it THWACKED Into the bark of the tree several inches above his own head. He used the force of the action to plant himself in front of the spy, His knife hand ready as he placed the blade to their throat.

He was expecting a man. He was expecting as said man to be smart enough to be armed considering what territory they were in. What he wasn’t expecting was a short woman. What he wasn’t expecting was for her to have blue eyes as he towered above her. Looking down at her with his own blue gaze, he tightened his hold on the axe and dislodged it from above her head, only to swing it back down. This time about five inches from her face off to the side. The sound was almost deafening in the silence. “Hmpf.” Was the only sound he made as he glared down at her. The look he gave her was clear. What the fuck are you doing here?

[Aspen Wynfrid]

Her first mistake? Even hoping that a member of the Drach clan would just lose interest and leave. No, that was her second mistake. Her first mistake had been coming in the first place. Oh well, no use dwelling on whatever could have been done differently. Of course, that was her thought before the axe came hurling towards her, well above her small stature, but still too close for comfort and with an ear splitting sound that made her flinch.

Her eyes had squeezed shut, her entire body tensing, freezing her in place as she prepared for the inevitable moment that her head would be lobbed right off her shoulders. Instead, there was a fraction of a moment where silence filled the void that had come with the loud crack of the axe as it's blade sank into the bark of the tall pine. Blue eyes opened cautiously and settled upon a broad chest, blade at her throat. Her eyes met his just as the axe was pulled from it's place, only to be hurled towards her again, this time to her right and even closer to her face than it had been moments earlier. This time, she did not flinch even though the sound was nearly enough to deafen in her right ear. Her expression grew hardened as he grunted at her. Barbarian... She spat silently as she glared at him with matched intensity.

She was surprised Khan had not sprung from the thicket. Maybe the beast had listened for once and actually gone home. It wouldn't have been the first time he listened, but the occasion was quite rare. Still, she said a silent thanks. She resisted the urge to smirk at him, not wanting to push her luck further. What could she do? She could pull a trump card, declare that she was the daughter of Wynfrid's chief. No, that would only guarantee that she ended up in more trouble. While it didn't seem like there could be more trouble to be in, there was always something worse when it came to the Drach clan.

Her eyes glanced down to the knife at her throat before meeting his blue eyes again, her chin lifting in an act of defiance. She forced herself to be braver than she felt on the inside. Never had a person been able to frighten her as much as she felt frightened right now. He towered over her, easily two or three times her size, possible more. Hand-to-hand combat wasn't her strongest suit, even when she wasn't at such a massive disadvantage. But still, she refused to let anyone see her cowar. She'd not be seen as weak, especially by a member of the Drach clan. "If you planned on killing me, you'd have done so by now." She hissed at him, the smirk she'd been holding back tugging at the corners of her rosy lips as she watched him closely, hands remaining at her sides, back pressed as tightly as she could manage against the trunk of the tree. "So then I guess you want an explanation, Drach?" The words sounded harsh, even in her silky voice.

[Lorcan Drach]

Though his face didn’t show it, Lorcan was surprised. If only for the fact the woman hadn’t screamed her head off and wasn't already begging for mercy. In Fact, he was impressed she had the nonexistent balls to glare right back at him.

He stared at her, unmoving. If anything he pressed the knife more against her throat. His eyes were cold as he looked down at her. He tilted his head ever so slightly when she spoke. Hissing at him. A feisty one huh? He thought. It wasn’t every day someone tried to go toe to toe with him. Especially a woman for that matter. “Thought you were a man.” He said simply. His voice was deep and deadpan. As if what she said to him held little to no meaning, and his response would answer everything.

He tilted his head to the other side as she smirked at him. Ballsy, cocky, or really stupid. He couldn’t decide which. He didn’t give her the reaction she probably wanted, and he just stared down at her. Waiting for her to answer her own question. He didn't too, but he could stand there all evening and deep into the night if he had too. He was not a man who talked a lot, so the fewer words he could say the better. And if he didn't have talk at all it made him one happy man.

She was lucky she got one sentence from him. While he waited, he took the moment to really look at her. Pale blond hair, bright blue eyes, sharp cheekbones. She was definitely beautiful, he’d give her that. Which made him wonder again why the hell she was out in his clan’s territory. He could only guess she was from Wynfrid given their location so close to the border. Had she just wandered over and hadn’t realized it? Not likely. Then why was a lone woman alone out here? What did she want?

[Aspen Wynfrid]

It was like staring down a wild animal. There was a need to maintain eye contact, to never turn one's back on the predator that sat poised to strike the moment it's prey diverted it's attention, even for a split second. He never moved as the blade began to sink into her pale skin, nearly threatening to draw blood from her delicate looking skin. She swallowed against the metal as she tried to move back further, knowing it was no use.

He tilted his head at her, further conveying his animalistic persona. The words he muttered were simple and seemed to come from deep within his chest. The deep rumble of his voice was enough to cause goosebumps to rise along her skin. Under different circumstances, she may had desired to reach up and touch him, to feel his muscles beneath her fingertips. A spark alighted in her eyes as a soft chuckle escaped her. "Surprised, dragon?" She growled, moving forward a fraction of an inch until the blade at her throat finally sank in, drawing the faintest hint of blood. If this were to be her last encounter ever, she would be a kill to remember. She'd be the woman who stood glaring into the eyes of the enemy, feigning fearlessness in a moment where fear may have been her only savior. If she died here, she'd die honorably.

He could act like the big, bad dragon he felt he was. It made no difference to her. At the end of the day, they were two rivals, each attempting to out macho the other. There were two outcomes to this story and Aspen was well aware of her role. Either they both walked away, or only one of them did. She'd already accepted her fate, but that didn't mean she wouldn't have a few tricks up her sleeve. Slowly, her hand reached for the blade at her hip. Her slender fingers curled around it's fabric wrapped handle, slowly removing the metal from it's leather hilt, never breaking eye contact except to blink. Her moves had to be slow until she could strike, otherwise, her most promising trick may be in vain and he may strike her down in a single, calculated move.

[Lorcan Drach]

Dragon. Ah yes. She was not from his clan. The way she growled it showed him she wasn’t a fan, but anyone outside of the Drach was not fan of them. It didn’t hurt his feelings one bit. His eyes drifted down to the small droplet of blood that was beginning to form from her pressing into his knife. Ah. There was the ballsiness. Or was it the cockiness? Maybe the stupidity... His eyes flicked back up to hers. He was still waiting for his answer.

He wasn’t going to sit there and play games all night, and he finally moved, bringing his head down so it was level with hers. His face inches from hers as he stared into her eyes. He turned his head to the side slightly to spit on the ground, never breaking eye contact. “Talk.” The word practically rumbled out of his chest as he angled the knife so its point was right under her chin. He lifted his head only slightly so he could look down his nose at her. His eyes slightly hooded.

“Unless you want death.” The words came out. Lorcan normally tried to have nothing to do with women in the way of physical harm, however, he knew it was necessary on occasion with enemy clans. If she wasn’t going to answer him he’d have to take her back to the clan for a proper interrogation. If that was the case she’d quickly realize she should have spoken to him when she had the chance. Lorcan thought quickly of his next steps. Knowing she probably wouldn’t go willingly, so he’d have to knock her out. If she told him what he wanted he’d still knock her out, but he might be nice enough to put her back where she belonged. She could consider it her warning. Next time he wouldn’t be so nice and allow her the opportunity to wake up. “Tick tock.” He growled.

[Aspen Wynfrid]

There was a long silence between the pair before he finally came to her level, his eyes boring into hers before he spit on the ground. Such a defiant, strong-willed man. Such a shame he had to be of the Drach clan. Such a waste. As his blade lightly skimmed her chin, she felt her body tense slightly, like a snake coiling into itself before it sank it's fangs into any who dared threaten it. With the blade firmly in her grip, she let her hand rest at her side. The threat of death was enough to make her scoff audibly at him. She reminded herself; if he wished to kill her, he'd have done so by now. No, he wanted information out of her. She was certain that the 'information' she gave would not suffice. It was likely he wouldn't even believe her if she did tell him. So then, what was the point of saying anything at all?

He stared down his nose at her and the next words he growled was nearly enough to send the woman into action, but not quite. She had to wait for the perfect opening. Just the right moment. She had a plan.

"No one sent me here, if that's what you're wanting to hear." The words were nearly hissed as they passed her lips. "I came of my own accord." Again, she lifted her chin in a display of her stubborn nature. She was hoping she done just enough to lure him into a false sense of having the upper hand. If she were going to escape her situation unscathed, she'd need finesse; she'd need to be careful and clever.

In a swift motion, her elbow found the hand that held the blade to her chin. It was likely she'd only managed enough strength to merely waver him. More than that, she knew he'd be able to recompose himself quickly. But her own blade, a long dagger with her clan's sigil engraved into both sides, was at his throat, lightly pressed against his skin. "Looks like mine's bigger." She said in a tone that could only be described as cheekily taunting. To anyone else, her statement may have been misread, but in the heat of this moment, it was just that; taunting.

[Lorcan Drach]

Interesting. Tell me more. He thought to hearing no one had sent her. Even more interesting was that she had apparently come here on her own. Yet again, the question he wanted answered was why. The who, what, when, where, why, and how was what he wanted from the woman. She raised her chin defiantly at him, and he had to again give her her props. She’d make a good Drach if she could stare down the chieftains' son without so much as flinching. But she didn’t know who he was, and he didn’t know who she was, which made her all the more dangerous.

She moved then, and the next second she elbow connected with his hand. The motion was enough to surprise him if only for a second. The unexpected force she’d used caused the knife to get dropped at their feet, and he quickly recovered to find her own blade now at his neck. Disarming him had been the ballsy. The words out of her mouth was the cocky, and the fact she held the knife against him was the stupidity.

His eyes flicked down to the blade. From his angle and the beard in his way, he couldn’t see what was on it but that didn’t mean he felt the cold metal against his skin. His lips twitched. Almost pulling into a smile as she taunted him. “Is it?” He asked.

Unlike her, Lorcan didn’t have a tree to his back. In the next moment he flung himself backwards. Letting go of his hold on the ax. One of his arms came up in a sweeping motion and he turned his hand, grabbing her wrist with the hand that held the dagger. He twisted her wrist sharply upwards at an angle to get to her to drop the dagger, while his other hand reached and wrapped itself around her delicate throat. His calloused hands could feel the softness of her skin, and he tightened his hold ever so slightly. He could feel her pulse and the blood flooding through her veins. One good squeeze was all it would take...The hand that had attempted to disarm her would hold her wrist up above her head on the tree.

Lorcan would then raise an eyebrow at her, looking to where the dagger laid if he had disarmed her and then would look back at her. This time seeing the sigil, and it made him all the more curious, but also more cautious. Why was Wynfrid in Drach territory?. “It is.” He spoke. “Why wolf?” He growled.

[Aspen Wynfrid]

Her success was a surprise, with his blade effectively on the ground, she felt like she finally had the upper hand in their entire exchange. He spoke up, causing her to smirk at him, the slightest hint of devious twinkling in her bright eyes. "We can measure if you want." She continued to taunt with a wink. However, her words were cut short as he suddenly moved from the reach of her blade, grabbing her wrist and twisting before she had time to react. A harsh sound escaped her, more of a rough groan than a cry for help. Her dagger dropped to the ground, close to where his now lay, but with his hand around her throat, and her only other weapon being the bow and arrow attached at her back, she was now more or less defenseless.

Her nostrils flared slightly, all humor gone from her expression with his next words. Rather than answer, she used the leverage of his hold to bring both of her leather clad feet from the ground, striking out towards him with her heels as she growled between gritted teeth, blue eyes betraying the bravado facade for the anger that was welling within her the longer their encounter continued. She continued to kick out with her legs, silently cursing herself for being so small. If she were going to go down, it wouldn't be without kicking and growling, dammit! A wolf did not back down from a threat. A wolf fought until it could no longer. A Wynfrid fought to the death.

Deciding it best to not use all of her energy on measly kicks - which she hadn't paid enough attention to, to know if they'd connected with the dragon or not, she stopped her 'onslaught.' As her feet rested back on the earth, her breath heaved ever so slightly. She'd expended more energy in that lowly 'attack' that she may have intended, but she refused to stop fighting, no matter what. As she calmed, breath settling and her heart rate slowly returning to normal, Aspen looked him up and down. "I'm clearly no threat for you, so what's it matter, dragon?"" She asked him in a rough voice, her left hand - her only free hand - going to the hand he had wrapped around her throat and tugging at his fingers in an attempt to relieve some of the tension so that she may take in more than a jagged breath. When it seemed to be of no avail, she spit at his feet before gritting her teeth against his grasp, again attempting to use her free arm to break his grip with her elbow. However, she was aware that trick would not work a second time, but she had to try.

She'd asked him a stupid question in response to his 'why.' Perhaps that was pushing her luck..

[Lorcan Drach]

Lorcan would have thought she’d have learned by now, but that wasn’t the case. He didn’t have all night to be out here, he had to get back to the clan before nightfall. Word would spread he was missing, and though he knew Turke could handle some damage control, he was worried about how his father might respond. He needed to leave, but first he had to get rid of the unwelcome visitor. Or pest. He should have called her a pest. H was expecting some form of retaliation given the fact he’d already pegged her for stupid. She hadn’t flinched away from him yet, nor was she begging for mercy. Meaning she had some fight in her.

He thought it was almost cute the way she kicked out at him. Trying to break his hold on her. One of her heels clipped a knee cap, but he easily maneuvered out of the way. It forced him to put more pressure on either her wrist or throat however. He didn’t want her unconscious yet so he opted for her wrist as he put most of his weight into pressing her hand into the bark. While he leaned his lower half away out of her reach. When she seemed done, he returned to the same amount of pressure he’d had before. He watched her struggle to catch her breath but his hold stayed tight. Not budging despite her feeble attempts at trying pry is fingers away.

He glared at her when she asked why it mattered. She was really stupid then if she didn’t see the importance, no the danger, of coming into Drach territory. She spat at the ground much like he had before, and now she was trying to use her elbow again to break his hold. It was annoying and he was losing patience and time. He became angry then, his blue eyes darkened to that of stormy dark blue hues. He tightened his hold around her neck and then pulled her towards him. The hand on her wrist brought her wrist down so he could hold against her chest and then he forcibly slammed her back into the tree with enough force she hopefully got the point he was not fucking around. His nostrils Flared slightly as he released her throat to grab her free arm and pin it to her chest like her other one. He took both wrist in one and lifted them above her head. To make sure she didn’t kick him again, he close the distance between them. Pressing his large frame against her, he kept her pressed into the tree with his hips and his free hand gripped her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

“You’re a Woman in Drach Territory. It fucking matters” he hissed at her. His voice was low and he said more in that one sentence then he had since getting there. Did she not realize how lucky she was it was him who had found her? Had it been anyone else in a patrol party they would have either killed her before asking questions first or worse... Possibly rape her and then ask questions or take mercy on her and put her out of her misery. This close to an enemy border, and Wynfrids of all the clans it could be, made the Drachs more prone to kill those that didn’t identify as a member of their clan. The Drach were ruthless in more than one case. “Came on your own accord, why? What business would you have here? What does a Wynfrid,” he practically snarled the name, “Want with Drach territory?” He asked again. “Speak, and speak now Wolf. Depending on what you say depends on if you walk away alive.” He threatened. His voice had been low the entire time, strangely calm despite his anger and annoyance that was easily read in his eyes.

[Aspen Wynfrid]

She'd ruffled some feathers, that much became clear. He didn't like her response either, which she had already assumed would be the case. However, the clear annoyance he now held within his expression seemed to only cause the situation to escalate. He adjusted his hold, slamming her back into the tree with such force that it knocked the wind out of her. For the first time, she cried out in pain while simultaneously trying to catch her breath, but it wouldn't come. As she gasped, her body's natural reaction to draw air back into her exercised lungs, he spoke up again, his voice low; clearly irritated.

She wasn't able to answer immediately as her eyes watered and she began to cough in her desperate attempt to just breathe. It didn't help that his large, warm body was pressed against her, not allowing much room for her to adjust as she needed. It was all she could manage to squeak out her next words. "I want nothing with your territory!" The words may have been growled if she had any ability to speak properly. Then, between broken breaths "I heard-" The sentence couldn't even be finished as she tilted her head slightly back against his hold on her chin. She used the spare moment to get her shaken thoughts together and take a calculated breath that allowed her just enough air. "I heard a rumor." The words were barely above a whisper. But she forced her next words to come out stronger, even though the heave in her chest made her cough again. "You think you're the only threat to me?" She hissed. A rough chuckle escaped her, a sound that conveyed how blind she thought he was to her clan's way.

Finally, her breathing returned and she steadied herself, taking a few deep breaths before continuing. "I was there that night, Dragon. I saw the aftermath of what you barbarians-" The word was laced with disgust, "-did to those Morelings." She finished, choosing her words carefully as not to reveal too much. She only needed to give him enough to satisfy his curiosity. With the evening sun beginning to set, she had to be quick about it. Someone from her clan may come looking for her soon; Khan may come soon. "It's been how many years since that? Three?" She spat. "And yet the Drach clan has been eerily quiet.." The words trailed off in a soft growl. "I wanted to know why. I wanted to protect my people!" She sneered. Then, more calmly, as if attempting to invoke a thoughtful response from him. "I come here often, Dragon. Do you know how many times I've seen a lone Drach on patrol? How many times I've had every opportunity to pick off your clan one by one?" She glared at him, her eyes like cold, blue stone as they peered into his, a soft smirk twisting across her lips. "If I'd remained hidden, do you know how easily I could have claimed your life?" Her voice was low, almost threatingly so. She decided it best not to reveal just why she'd left herself so out in the open. "All it would have taken was a single arrow." She laughed then, suddenly aware of the string of misjudgements she'd made this evening. But just as her mouth opened again to speak, her thoughts were cut off, broken by a soft howl in the distance. Khan.