Work Text:
They couldn’t afford to stop.
Dead trees loomed in the surrounding darkness, barely visible to Mentras as he sprinted. Not at all to Tali, who followed on his heels, led along by a tight grip around her wrist. They couldn’t afford to stop, nor could he afford to take even a few seconds to pause and check on her.
Not with the increasing calls of search parties behind them.
The torches or whatever other light sources their pursuers used were too far away to be of any help in navigating the forest, but every time Mentras needed to duck to one side and haul Tali around an obstacle, he caught glimpses of a distant, orange glow, steadily growing. With any luck, the search parties would also be on foot, and left behind the further he and Tali managed to run.
Without luck, as seemed more likely, mounted warriors would catch up sooner than later. If that happened- if worst came to worst- Mentras already knew what he would do. Shove the still-stunned Tali up a likely tree, get her settled out of sight from the ground, and then take off himself once more to lay a false trail.
Get her out of here, Crant had snarled. Get my sister and GO!
Just the three of them weren’t nearly enough to take on an unexpected army. Mentras got Tali and went. And no matter what, he would make certain she escaped alive, or else the goblin would die trying.
He owed Crant that much.
He owed her that at the very least.
A fallen branch lay across the ground in their path; Mentras spotted it and leapt in the same moment. Tali tried to follow, but didn’t quite make it - he felt the girl stumble, and even though she managed to stay upright, it still threw him off. Their breakneck speed faltered.
Elsewhere in the darkness, something roared.
Not Crant; she’d already gone down under heavy, impossibly powerful spellfire even as Mentras dragged the screaming Tali after him into the cover of the trees, long beforehand. And yet, Mentras still recognized the sound of that roar as something definitely dangerous.
Tali stumbled again, a cracked sob tearing free from her throat. In a split second, Mentras decided on a new course of action. He slowed down even further, peering up towards the leafless branches overhead, until a perfect specimen came into view. Hurrying towards it, he rearranged his grip on Tali, got her in front of him, arms nudged forward so she wouldn’t smack nose-first into the trunk. Mentras could see her eyes wide open, but even if there’d been a half decent light source, he doubted the human girl would see and register anything.
Still. She cooperated when he pushed her to start climbing. Lifting one of her feet and getting his cupped hands underneath the boot prompted some sort of instinct, and Tali scrambled higher, digging her fingers into the wide gaps between strips of petrified bark. As soon as she moved high enough, Mentras followed.
Further and further they climbed, large, ancient branches splitting off from the main trunk, until it separated into three roughly equal segments. Just as Mentras hoped, a decent sized bowl sat between them. He nudged Tali to lay down, before undoing the clasps of his bulky coat and yanking it off. Goblins didn’t grow all that large, true, but Tali wasn’t yet fifteen years old, and they were about the same size. When Mentras curled himself down next to her and draped his coat, it just managed to cover the both of them. A whispered word activated the embedded enchantments for concealment, and then- well. At that point, there wasn’t anything to do but lay still, stay silent, and pray to any god that might be listening.
Another roar rang out nearby.
Soon, distant voices came close enough to vaguely make out. They grew louder, alarmed, as whatever monstrous occupant of the forest had been awakened roared a third time, and a great cacophony of wood striking wood rang out, followed by a massive CRASH. At least one tree getting knocked over, Mentras figured, if not more.
It proved to be enough of a deterrent. The sounds of their pursuers receded again; the faint orange glow he’d watched creep in under the edge of his coat faded away. A few more crashes rang out, but further off, and no more roars split the night air.
Only when all fell truly quiet once more did Mentras dare breathe a sigh relief.
That seemed to be a signal Tali was waiting on; snugged up next to Mentras, he felt it the moment her body went from small trembles to full on shaking. More choked, barely audible noises came out of her, the shock finally wearing off enough to grieve.
Keeping the coat spread over them, Mentras shifted so he could get an arm around the girl, and just held on as she silently cried.