A Kelpie of Rowan

Chapter 62

Rowan clutches her bag close as she heads toward the river, something seems off. The forest is too still, too quiet. Something isn't right. She angles toward the clearing. She'll have a better chance of staying safe near there than she would elsewhere in the forest. A branch cracks from behind her and she whirls. The Seelie Lord is moving toward her, his eyes fixed on the trees in front of her. He's heading for the clearing.

She steps to the side, giving him a clear path. If he doesn't see her right now, she isn't going to let him. Once he has passed her, she lets out a relieved exhale. In front of her, the Seelie Lord freezes. Rowan starts to back away from him, one hand going to her bag to open the pouch of runes. She grips one of the stones just before he turns around all the way. He smiles at her and she gulps. She was so close to avoiding him.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

Rowan bolts for the river. It takes him a moment to start running, but each heartbeat that passes before he starts moving is a bit more of a headstart for her. She's nimble as she runs, he seems to be crashing through every tree. But then, she knows these woods like the back of her hand, he doesn't. He's been coming here more often, that is true, but he certainly hasn't been moving around these woods for the past seventeen years.

He is gaining speed. No, she is slowing. She risks a glance back. He has something held in his palm, a stone. His other hand is bleeding from a thin gash. She can see the red smears on the top of the stone. She gulps. When did he have the time to write a rune in his own blood? And what rune is it? His hand tilts slightly and the rune comes into view. It's reminiscent of a butterfly, an x with a three on either side. The air rune.

He's manipulating the wind to slow her. Well, she can combat that. Rowan tucks her arms into her sides and pushes forward, clutching one of her rune stones in her hand. It becomes easier to move now that she is using an air rune as well, combatting his own attempt to manipulate the air. She can see the river in front of her and she almost lets out a gasp of relief. So close.

When she hits the water she releases the runestone and breaks into a swim immediately, not even bothering to wade. She spears for the centre of the river, swimming with all her strength. But she doesn't seem to be getting any closer. Rowan looks back. The water around her looks like it is streaming back towards the shore and she curses.

He's using a water rune. She moves to grab one of her own runes, but it costs her. In the same moment her fingers wrap around a runestone, she is whisked back to the shore. The Seelie Lord bends down to grab her arm before she can dart away again. He harshly pulls her to her feet.

"You can't get away now. I may not be skilled in runes, but I can manipulate the elements well enough with them to catch you."

Her runestone is still clutched in her free hand. She swings her arm around to touch him with the stone and the rune freezes him. She moves to pull back but the stone moves with him. She adds the bind rune to it and lets go. The runestone sticks to him, bound to his skin. Her eyes flicker up to his face and she swallows at his dark expression. He may be frozen, but he is still aware of her.

She grabs a flat stone from the riverbank and pulls out her runepen. The memory rune pours out of it, a hexagon atop a trapezoid. Inside the trapezoid is a U overlapped by an x, while the trapezoid contains a circle with a line running from its centre to the outside of the circle. The bind rune goes over the memory rune and she pulls back. Rowan grabs the stone from the bottom and lifts it. She raises it to the Seelie Lord's eye level and his eyes widen.

"What are you doing?!"

"You won't be so intent on taking me if you don't remember why. I'm taking your memories of me, of Oriana, of my family away."

He snarls. "You can't take those!"

"Well it's that or something worse and I can't kill you. I wouldn't know how. So this is what I'm going to do. If you want your memories back, you'll have to go get them."

Rowan presses the stone to his forehead, the runes making contact with his skin. The Seelie Lord screams in pain. Rowan winces at the unpleasant sound and takes a shuddering breath. She thinks of all the memories she wants the runes to take from him and pulls the stone back with a gasp. His skin is surprisingly unblemished but his eyes have gone blank. Distant, even. Rowan takes a shuddering breath just before he speaks.

"Give me those memories back! They are mine!"

"Do you remember why I took them?"

He scowls. "No, but I know they are important. Give them back!"

Rowan shakes her head. "If you want them, you need to find them."

She turns and tosses the stone towards the woods. The Seelie Lord gasps. Rowan reaches for the runestone bound to his chest and releases the runes from it. She pushes away from him and goes for the river, fording through the shallow water.
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Do you think Rowan stopped him the right way, taking his memories? Do you think she should have done something else? What should she have done instead? Will he find his memories? What's going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Here's the question from the last chapter, I'm going to keep asking it until I get a response. Should I make a rune alphabet/dictionary?

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.