POV -> Corian

The chittering life had returned to the swamp after the beast was felled. It was a small comfort, but Corian was still strung high on his nerves as he watched the yappy child make his way back to safety with his twin. The one that didn't shut up, that was now loudly bragging about his assisted kill on the beast, was called Timber. His brother, still silently sitting on a tree branch and watching Corian with pale terror, was Sajus.

Corian had already picked a favourite of the two, and it wasn't the one playfully tossing stones in the muddy water while Corian surveyed the rest of the strange island. The creature that looked like Justin was nowhere to be seen. There were trees it could be standing behind, and the sense of being watched had never left him, but he had bigger fish to fry. He could feel a pang of hunger in his gut every time he eyed the deceased lizard. The sensation had come much quicker than he hoped.

He went about his business, trying to roughly tear some flesh loose. A small pebble interrupted him when it sailed across the lake and bounced off his helmet. Corian dead eyed Timber as the child waved his arms. "Can I have a souvenir too?!"

Corian turned his back on the children, pretending to look around for a 'souvenir' while he discretely shoved the meat under his helmet to chew on it. The meat had a grainy fight to it, but wasn't as terrible as he'd thought. And the guilt of killing and taking a bite out of it just wasn't there after it tried to take his arm. He could still feel a pinch whenever he moved it, but the gashes had mostly sorted themselves out.

A decent rock bounced off Corian's boot as he wandered the brush around the stone, pitch black like the twisting, almost metal stone that still melded with the sword in his hand. It was heavy, very off balance, and filthy. He eyed the rusted hilt, trying to guess how many swings it would last. It hardly mattered to him. The blade was coming with him so the mythical blade rumour could be put to rest.

He grabbed the small black stone he had kicked, and the tooth he had ripped from the beast's maw when it was still living, and made his way back across the water.

Timber watched him with awe as he came back out of the water, running circles around him to eye up his battered armour and the strange blade. As soon as Corian planted the sword in the grass he was quick to try and lift it, his little muscles straining to even jostle the weapon from its perch.

"I'm gonna be a hero just like you- just watch!" Timber said, leaning on the blade with a smug grin.

"Don't." Corian growled.

He leaned on the weapon harder. "Don't what?"

"Be a fucking hero."

"I almost had im." Timber snorted, copying how Corian had carried the odd blade by resting a stick on his shoulder. "Loosened that sword for ya too."

Corian stared at the small boy, every bit of empathy spent fighting a toothy monstrous bog beast. "You're a dumb kid. Keep it up and you'll end up like me."

"What? You mean hitting giant monster's to death with enchanted swords? Awesome!" Timber said, turning to Sajus and lifting his brother's arm for a forced high five.

"You should listen to your parents and not go wandering off."

Timber paid him a flat smile. "They're dead."

Corian swallowed his words, suffering the awkward silence. Timber seemed to be feeding off the reaction, a toothy grin returning to the energetic child. "What about your parents?"

He stopped himself from a snarky reply wishing Inprobus was dead. Then, he thought about his father's red eyes that he had seen that night. Perhaps there was some truth to his response. "Dead."

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Timber sized him up, then squinted. "Are you me from the future?"

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Positive. Time travelling spells aren't real." Corian replied. "And if I acted as dumb as you, I'd be dead by now."

"What's your name?"

Corian eyed the dead beast, still cautioned by the setup of the magical trap around him. "Nunya."

"Nunya?"

"Nunya business."

Corian walked over to Sajus, holding out the tooth and the rock. "You get to pick first."

"Hey!" Timber hollered. "The tooth! I want the tooth!"

Sajus moved his hand over the rock, content with his choice as he turned the weighty stone in his palms. Timber pounced at Corian's other hand, ripping the tooth from his grip and raising it to the sky with a cheer.

"Do I get a souvenir?" A voice piped, everyone swinging around to the small creature sitting on the hilt of the blade. Its little legs dangled in the air while its pinkish blue wings fluttered. "How about this sword?"

Corian stopped Timber from approaching the guest. He carefully eyed the surrounding trees for more fluttering creatures, expecting a pack. But this one sat in solitude, playing with the frayed ends of its skirt that was filled with dead grass and wilted leaves instead of vibrant flower petals. Corian had never seen a Klare Blume in person, but this one looked far from the textbook.

Run down and ragged, the only dainty thing about it was its pitched voice.

"I can handle this one." Timber said, ducking under Corian's arm. He took a few quick steps towards the creature, both of them stopping when she rose to stand on the sword with her hands at her hips.

"A duel then?" She mused, pulling a small thorn from her belt to wield like a sword. "Can I have your name if we are to fight?"

Corian lurched forwards and cupped his hand over Timber's mouth before a syllable could sound, driving a glare into the fairy. "You can't have anything. Leave us alone."

"Just leave the sword here, and I'll leave you alone." She replied.

Corian eyed the creature, her glare spurring a similar reaction on his face. He approached the weapon, the Klare Blume taking to the air when he grabbed its hilt and lifted it away. He rested the heavy weapon on his shoulder, catching the frustration growing on the small fairy's face. "I'm confiscating this."

"It's scrap covered in the Night Mother's tears. Horribly heavy, you can't even sheath it!"

Corian bounced the blade off his shoulder to rest it in his hand and appraise the black stone stuck to it in jagged chunks. "This is a chunk of Noctra's tears?"

The Klare Blume blinked. "Put it back."

"No."

"My domain is useless without it!"

Corian gave the swamp an obvious skim. "What domain?"

The Klare Blume bit it's tongue, looking around the swamp on the verge of tears.

"If this is your domain, you're the one that lost my sword. Consider it a trade." Corian replied, waving for the two children to follow him on his trek back to town.

But the fairy was not intent to give up. She fluttered alongside him, her voice reaching a new pitch of anger that stabbed his ears. "Look at that thing! It's not even shaped like a proper weapon!"

"Killed the frog fine."

"That was a crocodile." She fumed, buzzing up close to Corian's face to stop him in his tracks. "I raised him from a little pup. He was the biggest sweetheart, he didn't deserve that!"

The Klare Blume retreated as soon as Corian raised his hand, still fluttering at his eye level and just out of Timber's grabby hands.

Timber raised the bloody tooth tauntingly. "Just admit defeat, we beat you!"

"Ohh the swamp chum can talk?" The fairy bit back, dodging Timber's hand to buzz close to his eye and give it a kick. The child cried out in pain, holding his eye while he foraged around for a weapon with more reach.

Corian - completely detached from the scuffle - let out a sharp sigh when he saw the fairy pass his visor and disappear. The Klare Blume's taunting voice returned as she stood on his helmet to taunt the child.

"Oi, bend down a bit." Timber ordered, poised with a rock as he eyed the fairy.

Corian kept walking. Even as Timber ran up to block his path he brushed past the child with ease.

"We gotta deal with that monster, or it'll attack the town again!" Timber yelled, latching onto Corian's arm only to be dragged along.

"Which monster?" The Klare Blume hummed. "Me? Or this undead you keep calling a hero?"

Corian's pace slowed for a moment. Fairy's had a keen sense of smell in most cases. Even with mixed blood, Justin could smell rain before there were clouds in the sky, and hunt freshly baked treats from his front door. He hated the thought that he was potentially giving off an aroma.

"Yeah right." Timber scoffed. "My dad told me all about you lieing fairy folk. You're not tricking me. He's a hero!"

"I'm not a hero." Corian sighed, stopping to face the two curious children. "Someone promised me a map to drag you two back to town. And so long as I don't see any of you following me out of Stonesong we won't have a problem."

Timber frowned. "Yeah but you're not undead."

Corian walked away, Timber's voice piping up with worry behind him.

"Are you?"

"Do you care? Or do you want to go back to your town?" Corian grumbled, hearing the tiniest snicker from the fairy still sat upon his shoulder. And then, footsteps, as the now very quiet children rejoined his side to follow him.

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