Untamed | Halsin x TAV One-Shots

Prologue III

A/N: Mature scenes to follow include graphic depictions of violence and sex. Please be aware if you choose to proceed.

If you've made it through all three prologues, you are amazing! I want to acknowledge that after this chapter plots will not always necessarily be linear, ideas will be tossed out there and trashed later, and maybe I'll even re-write some scenes to be Y/N. Thank you for taking the time to read these extra backstories for our TAV and I hope that they added at least some substance to the future short stories! 

• • •

EMLYN

I circled the familiar cliff face a few more times before forcing myself to dive into the sacred pool of the grove, feeling like a scolded puppy coming back to its mother with its tail between its legs.

I was simply returning to apologize for how I left, repay them for the kindness they showed me, then I would leave for good. My beak clicked as if to hammer that last point hard into my mind.

A few druids paused what they were doing to glance as I descended, but I did not see the Archdruid or his apprentice anywhere above ground.

My wings flapped as I landed on a boulder before allowing myself to shift, my feet finding the ground as I looked around for either one of them.

"Come back to take advantage of us once again, I see."

I rolled my eyes and turned to face Kagha, standing at the entrance to the inner sanctum.

"Actually, I came back to help repay the kindness that was given to me, to which you gave me none, so therefore it doesn't concern you," I snapped, my eyes narrowing on her. "Where is Halsin?"

"Oh, it very much concerns me," she snarled and stalked toward me like a predator ready to pounce. "If it weren't for me and Teela, your corpse would be rotting in the darkest pit where not even Silvanus can bless a hair on your pretty little head," she seethed, a sudden hiss echoing from her feet.

It was then I noticed a crimson viper that wound up her leg as if she were its favorite tree. Its yellow eyes glared at me in a permanent scowl, fangs bared in a warning.

I grit my teeth and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Fine. Thank you, Teela, for helping me."

Kagha opened her mouth in outrage when the door to the sanctum opened.

"Emlyn? When did you get back?" Nettie looked between us, confusion riddling her face.

"Excuse me." I used the opportunity to rush past Kagha and guide Nettie back down the stairs. "Nettie, I don't think you know what a blessing you are–"

"Did Halsin come in with you?" She searched my face, eyes filled to the brim with concern.

"What are you talking about?" My heart sank as her question settled between us.

"Master Halsin said that you left and he was worried so he left to find you. That was five days ago. He hasn't returned or sent word of his whereabouts," she recounted while gnawing on her lower lip.

My face flushed and my stomach suddenly felt full of rocks. This was my fault. "I'm so sorry, Nettie," I apologized. "I'm going to make things right, I will go and find him. Do you have a handle on things until we return?"

She nodded. "If anything I will keep Kahga at bay."

"The less she knows, the better," I grumbled, striding up the stairs two at a time. "I will come back, Nettie, I promise."  

• • •

For an Archdruid, he was rather easy to track. Well, I suppose a reason for that is because the brute chooses to be in bear form eighty percent of the time, which is bound to leave pretty big tracks.

I almost lost him a few times, mostly near rocky terrain as he roughly followed the route that I took to get into the mountains. Impressive, seeing as he would have had only a faint scent on the wind to go by.

After a full day and half a night relentlessly following his trail, I found exactly what caused him to be diverted. I knew those footprints anywhere.

Rance, I snarled. The fucking bastard.

At least four goblins, if not five, had ambushed Halsin before he could reach the mountain pass. The paw prints were buried in a mess of goblin tracks, but at least now the trail was easier to follow. I just hoped I wasn't too late.

My wings carried me under the darkness of night, with only the moon to light the trail. That was all I needed. I would catch up to those slimy fucks and end this if it was the last thing I did.

It must have been close to dawn by the time I saw the faint wafts of smoke rising from the treeline in the distance. Only goblins would be so foolish as to make such visible fires.

Oak Father, Silvanus, if you can hear me, guide my hand and keep him safe, I quietly prayed and swooped into the trees until I came across the camp of sleeping goblins, the fire all but smoking, hot embers.

I silently landed on a branch high above the camp and out of sight as I surveyed the beings below. Four of the goblins were passed out on bedrolls around the dying fire, while the last was slumped over his lap by a cart, breathing deeply as he snoozed.

My heart seized in my chest as I found the large brown bear, muzzled and chained so that his limbs were useless aside from walking. He lay on the ground, eyes opening periodically as if awaiting torment from the sleeping figures.

I floated down to a spot in the brush just behind Halsin and clicked my beak softly to announce my presence to him. With as much stillness as he could manage, he lifted his massive head and peeked in my direction, his green eyes almost glowing in the night with recognition.

Halsin, I cooed as low as I could, doubtful he could understand me but attempted to get the message across. I'm going to get you out of here.

Using my wings to hush my movements I landed between his paws and set to work using my talons on the lock that bound him. In my years of freeing animals from all sorts of traps, I had mastered lockpicking. I was drastically better at it with my knife and opposable thumbs, but in a pinch I had become quite handy with my talons.

This one was particularly stubborn. Rusted and probably jammed from Halsin throwing his weight into it, but surely not impossible. I felt the mechanism begin to give way as I twisted my claw, a huff of hot air puffing from his muzzle above.

I'm almost there, I clicked and tried a new angle, feeling the metal budge.

"Gotcha!"

Something grabbed me by my neck and yanked me away, my talon tearing from the lock causing me to screech.

Halsin growled, his head tearing side to side as he attempted to remove the leather muzzle.

"Ya see, gents, I told ya this lil trap would work, she just can't resist." Rance chuckled, squeezing my throat as the other goblins roused. "You are so predictable, little birdie," he chastised as a toothy grin overtook his face.

I writhed against his grip, my wings flapping for purchase.

"Now, with yer help, we're gonna have our biggest payday yet! 'Ow much ya think someone would pay for this lil cocksleeve and an Archdruid, Gordo?"

"Last I heard there was a drow in the unda'dark postin' a rewards for a druid who escaped her o'er a century ago, boss," one of them replied.

"Das right!" Rance feined surprise, giving me an extra squeeze. "I has a feelin' she'll pay us double for givin' 'er an extra whore to employ," he snickered.

Halsin snarled again, his muzzle muffling the intensity of his warning.

"It's a pity, really," Rance continued, inspecting my wing where he once pierced me. "Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happys to gets rid of ya's, little birdie." He ran a fingernail across my cheek. "But I will always wonder what it would have tasted like to tear that flesh of yours off ya bones wit' my teeth."

With a shrill cry I bit into his finger, crunching it as hard as I could with my beak until I tasted blood on my tongue. He wailed and tried to pull away, granting me the momentum to unite his ugly mug with my talons.

I didn't quite care what I scratched. I dug my claws into his flesh over and over again until he fell backward, hands clutching onto his face, writhing on the ground.

I bolted through the air until I reached Halsin and landed on the ground with a thud, my human legs catching me as I unsheathed my blade.

"Get out of here," I hissed, jamming my knife into the lock and freeing him. "I'm the reason they're here, the grove needs you, you have to go!"

I turned and leapt in the way of a goblin who was charging Halsin with a spear, slashing his throat with my blade and using his weapon to trip up his comrade before driving it into his spine.

"Go!" I roar at the stubborn bear, who hadn't moved hardly an inch.

Another goblin lunged over the coals, armed with a bone knife. He dove for my legs and I side-stepped him, pinning his chest under my boot and pressing him against the embers as his clothes and skin sizzle. He wails and writhes until I jam my knife into his throat to silence him, his corpse quickly catching flame.

A bolted arrow plunged into my thigh forcing me onto one knee, a painful cry expelling from my lips as Rance yanked my hair, poising a knife at my throat.

"I've had enough of ya, you birdie bitch," he growled in my ear. "Now yer just more trouble than you're worth."

"But I'm not."

I'm hardly able to turn my head in Rance's grasp as I catch a glimpse of Halsin dropping the leather muzzle onto the ground, face set as stone.

"Halsin, don't–"

"You are absolutely right about that Drow," he continued without acknowledging me. "If you take me to her, she will pay you handsomely. And if you let her go, I will come with you."

"Halsin!" A sob rose in my throat, begging for him to look at me with those warm, green eyes.

The knife at my neck dug into my skin as Rance thought it over. He eyed Halsin who now stepped forward with his hands raised.

"Willingly, no struggles. Just let her go."

My chest heaved as the pain in my thigh collided with the pain in my heart. I couldn't let him do this.

"No! No!" I pleaded, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Please, don't do this!" 

"Is'a Deal," Rance agreed, releasing the grip on my scalp. My head slumped forward as my leg burned, the arrow shaft sticking out like a broken bone.

My chest heaved as I sought a way out, some way that we could both walk out of this together. Halsin cautiously moved closer as the last goblin aimed a crossbow at his back, Rance positioning himself at my front. 

"Ya shoulda been wiser with yer words, Archdruid," he warned, abruptly driving his blade into my chest right beside the previous scar with a thwunk.

"Ya never said I couldn't kill her first."

I gaped like a dying fish, my chest seizing as I struggled to breathe with no purchase. The flood of pain was secondary to the pure shock of the knife handle that protruded from my chest.

I heard Halsin bellow a roar above me, but I couldn't see him. My eyes were locked on the bright red blood that was soaking through my shirt. It was as if I couldn't operate my limbs anymore. With another gasp, I collapsed backward into the dirt and leaves, my body contorting under the wear of my injuries.

There were cries, the sound of bones snapping, grunts, and squelches, but that was all I could register. My eyes were locked on the pink and purple hues that had begun to coat the sky in dawn's rays, the feeling of the dirt under my finger tips before they grew numb, the smell of the roasting corpse that lingered in the air.

"Emlyn!"

I took low, shallow breaths, conserving what oxygen I could as my eyes darted to Halsin, sliding into the dirt next to me. He was heaving as if he had sprinted up the mountain, blood splattered across his face and blending into his red tattoo.

"Emlyn– Oak Father, guide me–" he stammered, his anguished eyes scanning my body, assessing the damage.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "My- my fault."

"Shh." He brushed my hair out of my face and cupped my cheek. "I'm going to right this wrong, this is not the Oak Father's plan for you. It can't be."

I murmur and relish the intense warmth radiating from his palm against my cooling skin. "Is that...a promise?" I strained to get the words out, my chest and eyes becoming increasingly heavy.

"Emlyn, stay awake for me." He rubbed his thumb against my cheek. "Please."

His request made my heart clench as the beats slowed. His hand moved to my chest as a bright light emanated from his fingers.

I closed my eyes, unable to keep from slipping into the darkness any longer.