Knives Out

[Malcolm Harper]

The moon was high in the sky, the air was cold, and it was the wolf’s hour. There had been something in the woods earlier that day when Malcolm Harper had been looking for his oldest son. An eeriness that had set the air on the back of his neck on edge, and given him a feeling he couldn’t shake. He didn’t like it, it made him uneasy and he didn’t like being uneasy. Especially when his boys were around and he didn’t have the comfort of a blade. Not that he needed one to deal with any threat, but he always liked to have on him, and tonight? Tonight he most certainly had his knives, and they were out.

After making sure the boys were taken care of with Grace, Malcolm had left the house well after bedtime. Most of the village was asleep, and a stupid man would have gone out in the dark to search for tracks or evidence of another person. Malcolm wasn’t a stupid man, he was a dangerous man. The best time to hunt for the monsters or the things that lurked in the dark, was well...In the dark.

Without a worry for children, Malcolm easily made up the time it would have taken him if the boys were with him as he reached that hill. Aidan had kept glancing towards it, and though at the time he hadn’t thought much of it, the more he replayed what had happened he began to think about it more. What had been over here? Or Who? He recalled that dark figure against the tree. One moment it was there and the next it was gone. As a Wynfrid clansman he had a duty to make sure none of the other clans had dared enter their territory. Especially so close to the main village, and especially if it was any of those wretched snakes. He thought the Drach’s were stupid, but not this stupid. As father, he had a duty to check and make sure whatever might have been out there didn’t harm his boys. Especially given the fact he knew one liked to come out here and play. He wouldn’t lose sleep over just checking to make sure it was safe. He could put his mind at ease, but if it hadn’t just been his imagination….

Let’s just say the man still had three years worth of pent up rage he was itching to take out on someone. Or Something. His movements were slow and purposeful as he made it quietly up that hill.

Talia Amras

[Talia Amras]

She shouldn't be out there. Still. Really, Talia didn't know why she had slipped back out of the caves at this time of night. Perhaps it was this sinking feeling in her gut that something was wrong, that something wasn't finished, yet that should have been her first clue to remain inside the darkness.

But she was back at that hill, gazing down at the hollowed out tree that her son liked to frequent. Talia knew that he wouldn't dare to come out at this time of night, and yet she was there anyway. She didn't know what she was waiting for or what to expect, but something was tugging at her, forcing her to remain there. The thing was, she couldn't be sure if it was out of fear or stupidity.

Then there was movement.

The Kotori's eyesight was better in the dark, it was used to the lack of light compared to any other clans, so she spotted him before he would probably spot her, even through that mask. What took her a few seconds, however, was realizing just who it was. The gasp that involuntarily escaped her lips was far too loud, and bright eyes widened in surprise and fright.

He came back. He was hunting her.

Her heart thundered as she spun on her heel to rush to the top of that hill as quickly but quietly as she possibly could. Not only would he kill her for being in Wynfrid territory...he would certainly kill her if he saw her face.

[Malcolm Harper]

As Malcolm moved up the hill, he was careful where he put his feet. He knew the territory well, but at night it could be disorienting. Looking completely different, so he was careful where he placed his boots not wanting to make much noise as he climbed that slope.

He kept his ears out for any sounds. For the most part, the forest was silent. Almost eerily so, and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck starting to stand up on end. Something didn't feel right. He was a seasoned hunter, he knew when to watch his prey, and he had that feeling something was watching him. He slowly reached behind him. His hand tightening around the hilt of the blade. He froze, listening...

His headshot in the direction of the sudden sound. It sounded like a gasp, and he was instantly unsheathing his hunting knife before he took off after the noise. He kept his head low, his eyes caught movement. The clouds above shifted suddenly and the hill was suddenly lit with moonlight. Providing him with just enough light to see the figure darting up the hill.

So he hadn't been seeing things... The figure was cloaked and moving fast and quiet as it raced up the hill, but Malcolm wasn't going to make it easy as he hurried up after it. He moved in a crouch, his dark eyes not only trying to keep an on the figure as it neared the top but also to see if there was more than one. He wasn't that stupid to just charge on up after it. An idea struck up suddenly, and pushed off a tree, as he was suddenly running parallel on the hill. Running for cover, he hightailed it up an old deer trail. that would let him move quicker. Intending to reach the top of the hill before the figure did and cut it off at the top.

[Talia Amras]

In the dead of winter, the forest had less ambient noise at night. Even as precise as she was and careful as to where she stepped, she would still make some noise. It was far less than anyone else would make, even a seasoned hunter...but a seasoned hunter would also know a fleeing creature when he heard one.

And Malcolm had heard her.

Immediately, she was sent into a panic as she rushed to the top of that hill. When she chanced a look behind her, she lost sight of him, and that worry only heightened. If he was close, if he had truly seen her, then she was in trouble. He hadn't turned around or given up- she knew he was on her trail. The moon was not her friend now, illuminating the way easily for him, wherever he had gone.

All Talia could do was keep running, trying to find a thicket of trees to conceal herself in. The shadows were her safety, and she had to find them, to hide within them. She would begin to lose he breath rather quickly after the trudge of the hill, and eventually slowed down when she ran into the brush. Her chest heaved while she struggled to calm her pulse and quiet her breathing, pressing her back up against the nearest tree. Keen ears listened then for any movement, suddenly terrified to move.

[Malcolm Harper]

Malcolm's breath came out in low breaths as he moved quickly up the deer path. Pushing his legs as he moved uphill, and trying not to let the sounds of his legs brushing against the brush get him heard. He kept glancing to where he'd see the figure, seeing the moonlight act as a beacon as to where they were. It was hard to make out the gender of the figure from the mask they wore and the dark robes. He kept his eyes on them as they surge the last bit up the hill and into the brush. Concealed by the shadows. 

His pace only quickened, as he reached the top, but then he slowed it as he listened carefully for the slightest sounds. He kept himself low, putting one foot in front of the other as he moved forward. Moving in an arc around the upper part of the hill so he stayed in shadow. 

His eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, and he held his knife so the blade rested against the outer part of his forearm. It was silent, eerily so, and he couldn't hear any signs of movement. His eyes went to the edge of the brush, deciding to scan that area. They were hiding from him, not wanting to risk running and getting caught. He just had to find where they were hiding...

He continued to keep himself low, looking for any abnormalities in the darkness. He moved closer to the area he's seen the figure disappear too, and crouched on the ground. Resting a hand down on the cold earth as he listened.

[Talia Amras]

She wanted to run. Every nerve in her body was screaming for her to run, but instinct was warning her to stay still. Mal would spot her immediately if she moved an inch. Although, he was an expert hunter and would surely track her down if she remained where she was for too long anyway. It all came down to whether or not she thought she could outrun him.

Truth be told, she was far quicker than the Wynfrid, but it was difficult to tell just how close he was. If she got within his reach, he would overpower her, and he may not hesitate to strike. Even with knowing who was behind the hideous mask, Malcolm was likely to skewer her. She had lied to him, betrayed him in ways he didn't even know. It didn't matter that she had to, she would probably never get the chance to explain it.

Maybe she deserved to die, and she rather it be by his hand than the Kotori or Nero's.

Despite her thrumming heart, she knew he was there. You didn't live in the shadows for as long as she did and not know when there was a slight disturbance, even if he was expertly quiet. The panic began to rise, every muscle in her body tensed, and she made the mistake of looking to her right where the moon glinted off the skull mask and she spotted him. And he would surely see her.

Then she made another mistake. She decided to try and flee.

Talia was no longer the sly, sneaking fox, but a frightened doe fleeing for her very life from the man she had loved. From the man she still loved.

[Malcolm Harper]

He stayed as still as a mouse. Watching, waiting. Fully in his element, as the wolf hunted his prey. As that is what they were, and what they would realize they were. Soon enough he’d have them under his blade as he considered asking questions before skewering them, or pulling a Drach, and skewering before questions were asked. Malcolm hadn’t decided how much fun he wanted to have first. It had been a while since something like this had happened, and you could call him a sick fuck, or whatever you wanted.

Malcolm Harper loved a good chase, and getting his hands on enemies.

He caught a glint as the moon reflected off bone, and his dark eyes looked towards it just in time to see that hideous mask staring at him, before the person under it decided to throw out whatever was left of their sanity and made a run for it.

It was their first mistake. Malcolm came out of the bushes like a raging bear, crashing through the shrubs and underbrush as his long legs ate up the distance. He had to admit they were faster then him, but he was counting on the fact they were running away so desperately that they’d sure make a mistake. The moment they did….He’d be there.

Normally, he might have thrown his knife, but if he missed, he wouldn’t be able to find it. Instead, he had to run them down in the woods that he’d grown up in. He pushed himself as he chased after the person in the mask, wondering who they were, and why they were in their territory. Wondering why they had been watching his son. Malcolm could only assume they’d also seen Aiden, and it caused his over protectiveness to go into high gear.

An insane idea occurred to him suddenly, and with a rush of speed, and minding where his knife was, he leaped. Lunging forward in an attempt to wrap his arms around the figure and knock them to the ground.

[Talia Amras]

Talia knew this was wrong, knew it was a mistake, and yet despite all of her years of training, she still fled. Out of all of the things she had ever dealt with and faced, Malcolm was the scariest thing.

A heavy gasp fled her throat as she heard him charge through the foliage after her, and the fear was already trying to take hold to make her falter and make a mistake, a bigger one than she already had done. She shouldn't have come back here, she shouldn't have taken such a risk to see her son no matter how desperate she had been, how much she missed all of them.

She was going to die here without her babies knowing just how much she truly loved them.

And suddenly, as she felt herself trip over an uplifted root, there was a heavy weight against her that brought her straight to the ground. The wolf managed to catch up to her, despite how quick she was on her feet normally, and Talia was aware that there was no getting away now.

Still, she growled out in protest, flailing and doing whatever she could to break free.

[Malcolm Harper]

Malcolm did his best not to shout his triumph as he tackled the fleeing figure. Feeling their wiggling and flailing body beneath his, he realized it was either a very thin man, or a woman. Their gender did nothing to stop him, however, as he quickly maneuvered his body up theirs. His fingers dug into the fabric of their cloak, keeping a strong hold on the fabric long enough for him to jam a knee into their lower back as he applied pressure. Trying to keep them on the ground.

Their flailing was certainly cumbersome, and it was clear they didn't want to get caught, but it was too late. They were in the wolf's jaws, and it had been a long time since Malcolm had any sort of fun like this. The man had a lot of pent-up anger at the world, and he'd just found someone he might be able to take it out on.

Mindful of the knife, he leaned down over the soon-to-be prisoner, and quickly made to bring his arm forward and around them. Pressing his forearm hard onto their windpipe as he tried to get them into a sleeper hold with their head in the crook of his elbow where he'd then start applying pressure. He wasn't going to kill them. Yet. He wanted info first, and to do that, he needed them to not run away.

He wanted to play first...

[Talia Amras]

Talia was faster, quicker on her feet...but Malcolm had brute strength. She made the mistake, she took that wrong step and allowed him the opening to catch her. Now, she feared the worst. Maybe a small part of her wanted him to catch her, wanted him to end her life and the misery she led. It would only be befitting, no?

She deserved it.

For a brief second, she thought she could wiggle free, but the moment his knee pressed against her back, she was firmly crushed beneath his weight and unable to move. Talia couldn't even reach around to claw at his face or knock him off of her. She prayed Nero wasn't around, prayed he hadn't seen her leave because she didn't want him to stop this. She'd be too afraid Malcolm would kill him, too.

Feeling his strong arm snake around her neck, he'd only moved her enough to allow her to dig fingers into his forearm. It wasn't enough, it wouldn't enough to free herself and she already felt herself giving in. She should just completely give in. The thoughts going through her head were that of her boys...and wondering if Mal would even bother removing her mask to see who he had killed. Would he even care, did it even matter?

Gasping for breath, Talia stopped trying to free herself as her body was going slack. A whimpered cry slipped passed her lips before his name followed in a last resort, in pleading desperation, "Malcolm...please..."

[Malcolm Harper]

From the feel of the person under him, the slender form, the delicate neck he was currently crushing with his forearm, Malcolm had hunted down a woman. That didn’t make her any less dangerous however, and his grip only tightened as she struggled. He could feel her nails on his forearm, and a small giddy thrill went down his spine. It’d been too long since he had a real fight. Something to spark his interest. The managed wolf was bored even if he didn’t want to admit it. And he was going to enjoy this…

That feeling dampened as the person no longer fought him. He could feel their defeat as they accepted their fate, and he wanted to snarl. To demand they fight him, if only for more of the adrenaline. So he could get his fix that craved the potential of life or death. He heard that whimpered cry, and then…

Malcolm...please.

For a horrifying moment, he thought he was dreaming. He had to be right? She only came to him in his dreams. It was the only place he could see her, the only place he could touch her and see that smile. The only place where she couldn’t hurt him like she had in the real world. This-, No, no, no NO! His mind screamed at him. It couldn’t be.

And yet he knew that voice anywhere.

That mask was abruptly ripped from her face. His movements quick, almost desperate as his grip suddenly loosened but it was merely to roll her under him. He had to release his sleeper hold, as he kneeled over her, confident she was weak enough at the moment at least not to fight back, and it was as if the lunar goddess herself had a role to play. The moonlight suddenly broke through the tree limbs, casting her in the glow, and Malcolm felt the air escape through his lungs. Three years he hadn’t seen her, and yet she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. The woman he had claimed as his own, and who would be his forever until his dying breath. Even after the hell she put him through. It didn’t make sense. For her to cheat on him. Claim that there was a chance Cohen wasn’t his when it was clear looking at the boy Malcolm was his father. She’d run from him that night. Into the darkness, and his cries had filled the air like the wolf he was.

He didn’t realize his hands were shaking. The knife had dropped from his grasp as he slowly reached down. The shock was clear on his face. He had to be dreaming. There was no way- It wasn’t possible. Yet, as his calloused fingers touched her skin, that same electric feeling he always felt with her in his arms snaked it’s way up his arm. He knew.

This was not a dream.

His hands were hesitant at first, but they cupped her cheeks as he stared down at her. Searching her eyes for an answer he didn’t know he desperately needed. He just stared at her, and then slowly bent down to so he was resting his forehead against hers. “Talia?” His voice cracked. It was pained, as his body tensed with the overwhelming emotions he tried to hide and keep under control every day. He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut before his hands drifted from her cheeks, and wound their way around the delicate Colum of her neck. “What are you doing here?” His voice came out hurried and rushed in disbelief, but the anger was clear. The shock was wearing off, replaced by that adrenaline, as his hands slightly applied pressure to her throat.

[Talia Amras]

This was it, this was how she would finally die. By his hands, and in all honesty, she wouldn't have it any other way. She had lied to him, she had broken him...it was only fair. Despite not having a choice, she did not blame him, she did not hate him for this; Talia just wished she could somehow explain it before she drew her last breath.

Suddenly, the mask was pulled from her face and she was gasping as he temporarily released his hold. In a daze, her lungs desperately trying to take in air, she realized she was on her back then as the night around her brightened from the moon's light. He was right there, his head against hers, and the tears stung at her eyes as, for that brief moment, she wondered if she was dreaming. If, by chance, he was somehow forgiving her in that moment.

Talia swallowed hard, trying to find her voice to speak, but before she could, those fingers were once again wrapping around her throat. Her hands went to his, desperately trying to pry him off as she managed to find the words to say, coming out in a harsh whisper. "I...I never left..." She clutched his wrists now tightly, her whole body beginning to buck as that need to survive, her own adrenaline was kicking in. In the midst of her struggle, though, a particular bone necklace slipped out from the neckline of her tunic.

Afraid he would kill her, and suddenly not wanting to simply relent as the images of her sons entered her mind, Talia let go with one hand to blindly grope the ground beside her to find a stone.

[Malcolm Harper]

Malcolm’s hands had a mind of their own as they tightened. His anger at her showing through, as he glared down at her. The rage and pain, and torment she’d caused him showed in his eyes, as she soon became blurry in his vision. The tears were warm as they fell down his cheeks, and he watched her hands desperately claw at his wrist to try and get him to release his grip. His grip did not falter, as that crueler part of him wanted her to suffer. To feel the air leave her lungs, to feel that burning sensation of not breathing, as that’s what felt every day with her absence. He wanted her to hurt as he hurt.

Her words shocked him. Nearly falling on deaf ears as his heart was trying desperately to pound its way out of his chest. But for a moment, his hands loosened. “I never left.” Had weaseled its way through the cracks of his mind long enough for that grip to falter. What did she mean she never left? Had she been watching them this entire time? More questions entered his brain, and he wondered if she was messing with him. Playing a game to try and get him to stop trying to kill her, but that sense of being watched earlier had crept on him. He knew then, he knew it had been her.

He should kill her, she deserved it didn’t she? And yet in her thrashing, there was movement as an all too familiar piece of jewelry showed itself. His eyes zeroed in on it, and every memory of the two of them together came flooding back. It shook him and made him wonder why, once more. Just as the boys entered her mind, they entered his. Being his voice of reason suddenly, that he couldn’t murder his children’s mother in a blind rage. Not when he didn’t have his answers.

His hands let her go as if she burned him, and he flung himself backward. Nearly crawling away as he struggled to breathe. Not realizing he had been holding his breath the entire time. It was as if he was strangling himself along with her. “Why then? Why?!” he cried out. Malcolm rarely ever allowed himself to be vulnerable. To show that vulnerability he felt so fiercely, at that moment. The only person he’d ever shown that side of himself to was laying right there. “If you’ve been here this entire time, why didn’t you come home?” He hated how weak he sounded. How his voice cracked, and he hated those warm tears. He loved this woman more than she could ever imagine. More then she realized, despite everything she’d done. A naïve part of him wanted to forgive her, but the realistic part of him knew she’d abandoned not only him but their children as well. What sort of mother would be so willing to leave her children behind? He wanted to make excuses for her, think something else was at play, but the grief was too much. He needed to hear her reasoning so he could make his judgments. So he could know if she was a threat to Wynfried, but also to know if she was going to take his boys away. And that….He’d like to see her try.

[Talia Amras]

Fingers curled around a cold stone, as big as her palm while her other hand still tried to pry both of his from around her throat. Talia's struggling had begun to slow, she was beginning to give up because she feared there was no way out of this. Just as she was about to resort to slamming that rock against the side of his head, he was letting her go.

It was frightening how cold her neck suddenly felt. Her entire body shivered from it and the realization that he had been ready to kill her. And there was a chance he still might, she knew.

Talia was suddenly gasping for air and coughing, immediately rolling over onto her side as she struggled to get up. She only managed to lean up onto an elbow, hearing his words in a daze, as though he wasn't literally there next to her. Like he was so far away, just as she always saw in her dreams. Those blue eyes blinked, trying to clear her vision and rid herself of the tears that continued to plague her.

This wasn't supposed to happen. She shouldn't have come back. Now, she was putting him in danger if her clan found out.

"I...I couldn't..." she whispered, her voice hoarse and sore. "Please keep quiet...they...they might be near..." Talia was beginning to get frantic, but her body wasn't waking up fast enough to enable her to explain it to him easily. Despite this all, she heard the pain in his voice, and it only broke her down further.

She shouldn't tell him anything. She wasn't allowed to tell him anything...but how could she not? He wasn't likely to let her go if she didn't. Maybe he would still try and kill her even if she did explain the truth.

Managing to climb up to her knees, her palms planted onto the earth, she was finally starting to breathe properly as she lifted her head to look at him in the dark. "I wanted to...I wanted to come back, but...I had to leave..."