The horses were frolicking playfully in the light breeze, enjoying a rare hot day in the Autumn lands. I had already fed and brushed the new foals, and there was nothing more to do for the morning other than sit beneath my favorite tree and watch the beautiful creatures enjoy themselves.

The family estate stretched for acres and acres of fields for the prized horses and a small orchard on the north end. The house was spacious and the lands were rich and lovely. I rarely left, and had little cause to. Why would I leave a paradise like this?

I yawned, stretching my long limbs out and resting my back against the tree, completely content.

"There you are, Ebbie."

Well, I was completely content.

"What do you want, Everil?" I drawled, crossing my arms on my chest as I gazed up at my sister.

Her hair was even redder than mine, if it were possible. Her grin held more than its fair share of mischief and her cinnamon complexion was almost reddish in the sunlight. She was also the black sheep of the family, clearly destined for the Summer court when she grew of age. There seemed to be one in our family that went summer for every ten that didn't.

"Mother wanted you to help me practice the violin," Everil gathered her skirts and sat down beside me.

"She did no such thing, you have a private tutor for that," I scoffed.

"Well then, can't I just want to spend time with my brother?" she asked.

"If you want to spend time with your brother, you'll have to settle for a nap under this old oak," I leaned my head back on the trunk and closed my eyes.

"You're no fun, Ebbie," she complained. "I'm so tired of my lessons, I just want a break today."

"You can't run from Mother's tutors forever," I said. "Eventually you'll need to go back."

The breeze ruffled my shirt and carried scents of the river that ran behind our lands. I sighed contentedly, leaning my head away from Everil when a peculiar scent hit me.

"I know I can't hide forever, Ebbie," she said. "But I was hoping for a day off."

"Everil, do you smell that?" I interrupted her train of thoughts and she paused, raising her face to the wind.

"Smell what? Horses? Grass?" she asked.

"No its... maple and something... feral," I shivered, but something in me liked it. "There's something powerful out there."

"In the Autumn lands?" Everil scooted closer to me and dropped her voice. "It's not something from the untamed Wyldes, is it?"

I raised my head again, trying to catch another piece of the scent that was fading fast. "I don't know. But I think I want to chase after it."

Everil looked at me as though I'd grown another head. "You what? My Ebbie would never do something so close to an adventure. What have you done with my brother?"

I stood, facing the direction the scent had come from. "I'll tell you what, Everil. I'm going after it, just to see it safely away from our estate. Why don't you brush the horses and tell mother you had to finish my chores for me."

"But you've already brushed them!" she protested.

"Then brush them again!" I shouted as I ran off, leaving a confused Everil behind.

I jumped the fence and ran through the unkempt grasses outside the horse fields. I was wearing my better riding leathers and they kept the stray thorny vines from pulling at my legs as I ran.

The enticing aroma had come from the river, so that was my first stop. The water was high after a week of recent rain. I pushed through the fields to the water's edge and took a deep breath of the crisp air.

It was still there, lightly. Whatever it was had left. I glanced up at the high sun. I didn't have any real plans today, a stroll a little further wouldn't hurt. Bedsides, something about this creature was too intriguing to let go.

I scanned the muddy banks for prints or markings, and I found none. The creature either ran through the water itself, or was a master at covering it's tracks.

My gut told me it traveled to the left of where I was standing now, but probably south of the river. I frowned at the deep water, but I waded in near a low hanging tree that I could hold onto most of the way across.

The current wasn't too bad today, and I crossed with no problem other than being soaked to my thighs in cold water. I grimaced as I reached the far bank, igniting fire in both hands and trying to dry my pants with heat.

I gave up after a while when I worried that the trail would fade if I didn't chase it soon.

Trudging through the Autumn forest, I picked up a stronger trail and actually found claw markings and signs of broken plants where something large had come through recently. I followed the trail for a while, but after a time I realized how far from home I really was.

Overhead, the once high sun had begun to dip low into the treetops.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "What am I doing?"

I looked around me at the empty trees, my only company the buzzing of insects.

Out of nowhere my heart began to race. My instincts were on edge from something unseen, and I snapped my head up to look around the path. I straightened, and a pulling feeling was screaming at me to move forward.

I ran. I nearly tripped several times over fallen branches and gnarled tree roots, but I ran.

I couldn't shake it, it demanded I hunt down the source of this feeling. My heart raced as I pushed my way through trees and vines and bushes. Wild things scraped at me as I tore through the brush.

I ran as the sun dipped down even more. I ran as the fireflies came out, and the night things called to the stars.

I slowed to a stop near a brook, not realizing I was getting short of breath until the moment my feet stopped. I inhaled deeply, catching another hint at the enticing scent. I glanced at the rising moon, momentarily wondering of the state my mother must be in by now.

Oh well, nothing Everil couldn't handle. Probably.

I crouched down to dip my hands into the clear water for a drink.

Then I heard the snapping twig.

I barely twisted my upper body around to see a dark shape before I was tackled, and we both fell into the water.

The icy brook shocked me, and I just managed to not open my mouth in surprise. But no sooner was I in the water than I was yanked back out of it, finding myself in the embrace of a large male fae.

My mouth gaped open as I realized what I had found. What we had found. Each other.

I hugged him back, my heart pounding.

"It's about damn time," he said in a low voice.

I shivered at his words. Whoever this was, he was powerful. Dangerous. Mine. My Triquetram. A missing part of me that I didn't know I was missing until now.

He pulled me back at arms length and took a good look at me. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him either. Who was this male? Who was my destined companion and partner?

His dark blue, almost black, hair was cropped short to his head. His silver eyes held a seriousness that I couldn't imagine looking any other way. His skin was midnight blue, with old scars laced up and down his arms.

As my eyes roamed him, his roamed me. Stars, I must look so young to him, not even two centuries yet and he was clearly my elder by a long shot.

"What is your name, brother?" he asked softly.

"Eberon," I said. "And you?"

His mouth formed a thin line, showing something almost sad, and then it was gone again.

"Thain," he answered.

I sucked in a breath. "Thainalan the Ravager?"

"Don't," he said, removing his hands from me and dropping them to his side. "Don't call me that name. Please. Just call me Thain."

I nodded slowly, stories of his triumphs and his fierceness in battle running through my head. But as renowned as he was, and Stars know why he would be given someone like me as a triquetram, I didn't fear him.

"Alright then, Thain," I said. "Would you, um, would you care to come back to my family estate to get to know one another?"

His face darkened at that. "I would, but I don't want to unsettle your family. I'm also on a mission from Baeleon."

My heart stopped. The king. Of course Thainalan the- er, of course Thain wouldn't be traipsing through my backyard on a leisurely stroll.

"I will come for you when I'm done," Thain promised. "Go back to your home, I will find you and we can do this properly then."

"I'll go with you." The words left my mouth before I realized I had even thought them up. I clenched my jaw shut, my heart beating fast as I waited for his response.

He looked at me for a long moment, those unsettling silver eyes assessing me. Assessing his triquetram.

"I just found you. I... I don't want to leave you yet. And I don't want to get in your way, but surely the Stars didn't put us together for no reason. Let me come with you."

"It will be dangerous." For you.

I heard his unspoken words and held my head a little higher. I wouldn't be useless, I was the son of Ebon of Granite Pass. The grandson of Elgar the Mountain. A long line of strong males, and I would not be left behind.

"I will not be swayed by a little danger," I said.

Thain held my gaze, and the smallest of smiles turned the corners of his mouth upward.

"Very well," he said. "Come, we are off to slay a lich."

My heart nearly stopped. A lich.

He gave me one last assessing look and turned back on his path. "On our way, tell me about yourself. I want to know everything."

I smiled at that. Somehow I didn't think Thain would have any trouble, even with a creature like a lich, and I didn't think he would let any harm come to me.

I took a step toward him, and we both headed toward the unclaimed Wyldes.

~

Thain was a quiet fae. That was fine, I did plenty of talking for both of us. My mother was always scolding me for it, but here it felt comfortable.

We had walked for a good portion of the night, and I honestly didn't notice it. I was too engrossed in the feeling of my triquetram. We had achieved a new level of completeness and I reveled in it. Even Thain seemed pleased, and he didn't seem like a fae who smiled often.

Thain radiated power. Stars only know how I was paired with him. It excited and frightened me that I had any kind of potential to belong with this beast of a male.

We were well into the night now, when Thain signaled for silence.

Even I knew when to shut up. I paused my movements, mimicking Thain, and listened.

A chill ran down my spine at the silence. Never had I heard the Autumn woods so silent. No insects, no night animals, just silence.

Thain took several quiet steps forward, his eyes turning this way and that as he looked for signs of his prey.

It thrilled me to watch a fae of Thain's stature to move so silently, his expression wild and predatory.

Then, his already feral features shifted and I realized he had been holding a glamour this whole time. His hands elongated, growing claws. His fangs grew impossibly longer. He moved with a catlike grace, Thain was on the hunt.

I stiffened at his sudden shift, and I wasn't even his prey.

A soft chill rolled through the trees, and I knew we had found the lich. Light footsteps from the trees ahead of us caught Thain's attention, and he crept toward them. I followed from a distance back, not wanting to get in the way but wanting to watch the legend before me fight such a terrible creature.

Bone white skin was pulled taught over the skeletal remains that made up the lich. It's frame was larger than I expected, and it was cloaked in a black mass that moved on it's own. Where it's empty eye sockets should have held eyes, it instead held eerie flickers of green light. It turned it's head slowly to Thain, who wasted no time in attacking.

Thain was ferocious in his assault.

I backed up, my eyes wide and my mouth parted in shock. I had never encountered something so terrifying as the lich in all my days.

Except maybe Thain. This was really turning into a record week for me.

Thain hurled himself into the lich tooth and nail. His claws raked across the taught skin, splitting it open to reveal puss and thick black blood.

The lich in turn threw a nasty black fog at Thain, the ghosts of hands reaching up from the ground and trying to grab at the fae.

The two creatures of the Wyldes tore at each other, filling the air with the sounds to traded blows.

I could only watch as Thain tore the thing apart, but I gasped when the second one came lurking from behind.

"No!" The word tore from my throat as I launched myself forward. My hands were ablaze as I reached forward, hurling my fiery claws at the new lich who had crept behind Thain.

We both tumbled to the ground, but the lich recovered with a hiss. He stood, grabbing me by the throat and tossing me away as though I weighed nothing. I landed hard against a tree, sliding down and extinguishing my flames.

A furious roar came from Thain as he finished off the first lich and hurled himself into the second. I could only watch with blurry vision as I peeled my back from the bark of the tree, my shirt in shreds and my back a bloody mess.

The last lich made a gurgling sound as Thain removed it's throat, and it sunk to the ground in a bubbling heap of corpse.

I focused my eyes upward at the concerned face of Thain. He leaned over me, his calloused hands gentle as he inspected my back. "You shouldn't have done that, you could have been killed."

I began to laugh until I quickly realized how much that hurt. "I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't let the other one get to you."

Thain gave a soft smirk as he helped me stand. "Thank you, I wasn't expecting a second."

"I'm sure you could have handled it without my interference," I mumbled.

"I appreciate it all the same." Thain pulled my arm over his shoulders and his other hand around my ribs. "Can you walk? We should probably leave the site for now."

I nodded. "Right, yes I can walk."

He began to lead us back the way we had come, glancing at the brightening sky. "You're probably tired, we should rest. We can get you back home after that."

"I can keep going," I insisted. "I'm not..."

Thain gave me a look of bored disbelief and I shut my mouth.

"Or we could rest I suppose," I said under my breath.

After a short walk, Thain brought us to another branch of stream that would eventually lead us back to the river behind my home estate. There, he no less than ordered me to sit against a large curved oak root while he started a fire.

"I can light that you know," I said, bringing a flicker to my raised palm.

"I know," he grunted. "But so can I."

"You don't rely on other's much, do you?" I murmured.

But not quietly enough. Thain met my gaze and raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't."

He went back to making the fire, and once it was lit he went off to find something to eat. I couldn't really argue with that, since I now hadn't eaten since yesterday's noon meal and it was nearly time for breakfast again anyway. I contented myself with remembering all the brave tales I had heard about Thainalan the Ravager and trying to fit this new image of a quiet and caring fae into them.

My nose twitched at the smell of walnuts and fish, and I turned my head to see a somewhat wet Thain coming back to the riverbank from downstream.

"I hope you like fish," he said. I nodded happily and watched as he sliced open the fish and ground up the walnuts to stuff inside after cleaning out the entrails. He skewered them and set them by the fire to cook.

He leaned back against a log near me with a sigh.

"So, you live on your family estate. Have you even been to Thanantholl?" Thain asked.

"A few times, yes," I answered. "We have a small house there, but mother never was one for the social seasons and we rarely visit. I made my formal submission to King Baeleon maybe a hundred or so years ago, and I don't think I've been back since."

Thain nodded. "I live in Thanantholl until Baeleon calls on me for something. I have to stay close by. I should be able to take some time away though, under the circumstances."

I gave him a half smile. "I suppose I could get away as well. What do you propose?"

"You are rough around the edges," Thain said as he removed the fish from the fire. "But you were ready to jump into the fight back there. Have you ever considered becoming a warrior?"

I swallowed hard. Of course I had. I came from a long line of them. But after my father was slain in battle my mother was never the same and I dropped the idea long ago.

Thain observed my silence for a while, then continued quietly. "It's entirely up to you, but any triquetram of mine is welcome to Baeleon's court. I'd... I'd like to think we could stay somewhat close to each other. If you want that is."

I nodded and took my share of the fish that Thain handed me. "I do. That is, I think I would like to try. If you'll have me."

Thain laughed, and my heart lit up. Somehow I knew it was a sound that didn't come often.

"Of course I will. Come back with me to Thanantholl. I'll take some time off from Baeleon's errands and we can figure our balance out together."

A grin spread across my face and I held my head high. "That sounds perfect."

~

I was content for the rest of the morning. We ate, we slept for a couple hours, and we headed back to the estate. There was a comfortable silence between us which lasted the whole way back.

We had just crossed the river and I was trying to dry my clothes when Thain's head snapped up, watching behind me.

"Ebbie!" I heard my sister call from far away.

I sighed and closed my eyes. "That would be Everil."

Thain simply nodded, I had already told him of my family.

Bounding forward with her fearless energy, Everil actually slowed down and stared when she drew closer to us.

"Um, Ebbie, who is this?" she asked.

"Everil, this is Thain. My triquetram." I smirked at her wide-eyed expression.

"It's nice to meet you," Thain said, a rumble in his chest.

"Oh," Everil breathed. "OH!"

"What is it?" I asked, worried by her sudden change in mood.

She frowned and punched me in the arm. "You've been gone for a whole day, dummy! Mother is in a panic!"

"Oh no," I rubbed my temples with a sigh."

"She set the dining room on fire again," Everil said.

"Again?" Thain asked.

"Let's go get this over with," I said, turning to Thain. "I have a request of you, Thain."

He raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

"Don't let my mother kill me," I said.

Everil laughed and Thain smirked. "Very well."

And just like that, we were off on another dangerous mission. Eberon of the Autumn lands, and Thainalan the Ravager.

Triquetram at last.