#falruk

Battlefields were the same no matter where you were. The cries and shouts were all in different tongues, of course, but they were all the same things. Cries for courage, cries for help, cries in agony of the fallen. It was a certain kind of talent to be able to block all that out, one Falxian had never quite mastered. As they ran he glanced to make sure that Maruk was still at his side, and he flashed a grin, then dived into the next cluster of Imperial soldiers, a renewed vigor as he cried a wordless battle cry and his rapier sliced gracefully through the air. 

“Fal, your right,” Maruk shouted, and a blast of fire from his egi soared over Falxian’s shoulder as he whirled and tossed a spell of his own that blew the soldier back off his feet, allowing for a quick cast of Fire to set him alight in turn. As they moved together, a graceful dance across the battlefield, Falxian couldn’t keep the grin off his face. It was too loud for talk, the clamor of weapons and voices alike drowning out all but the other cries. 

As the last of the soldiers were felled or subdued, he twirled his sword habitually, and returned it to his side, glancing over at Maruk, and the weight of the battle finally caught up to him, suddenly his legs and arms feeling like weights. Something about the racket of battle always seemed to make it so far away. But they’d be getting back to camp to another kind of clamor, that of joyous voices and singing, the song of his homeland from some drunken soldiers that were celebrating their victory.

Maruk moved to his side and he looped an arm gratefully around the au ra, nuzzling against his shoulder around the armor he wore. “Exhausted,” he muttered, and let his tail twine with Maruk’s as they strode back towards their camp. Already the sound of victory came over the walls of the reclaimed imperial base at Baelsar’s wall, and Falxian joined in with the anthem as its chords rang into the clear evening air. 

“Do you want to celebrate with your countrymen?” Maruk asked as they came to a stop, tucking a strand of Falxian’s hair back behind his ear affectionately, then laughed at Fal’s emphatic head shake.

“No… Twelve knows I should be getting rest. All I want is a drink, a hot meal, and you for dessert,” he purred with a wink, though they both knew that mostly that meant he would be eating, drinking, and then sleeping as soon as he was able. They’d be lucky to have more than a few exhausted kisses before they were both tangled together in sleep.