[14 turns]

A lumbering force of nature, Ecan grew up tall (for Crag) and broad. Not to mention, he was deceptively quick for his size- as he let out a shout and ran full force into Naeris. The undersized Crag let out an indignant squawk as he barrelled the girl over.

Ecan opted for the classic sibling pinning tactic of sitting on her back and smushing her face into the dirt a little bit.

“What that I hear?” he smirked, “Is someone here the biggest loser in all history?”

They were outside, now both old enough to be allowed to roam free. They were playing in their family’s hops field on the southern side of the mountain. Ecan was babysitting Naeris, though no one had bothered to pay him to do so.

When he was her age he hadn’t needed a watcher, but seeing as Naeris was irregular and on written to boot…

She tried to berate him through the dirt in her mouth, “Ea-Mra!”

“Un-uh,” He ground his stone plate a bit, “I don’t think those are the words you’re looking for.” He loosened up his hold on the back of her head, letting her spit some of the dirt out of her mouth.

She glared up at him, “You’re a rotten nell Ecan Farken.”

He gasped, putting the hand not pinning her to the ground to his chest, gaping in mock offense, “A nell?” Someone had finally taught her those curse words, “Why I never, such an insult!” Ecan let his hand rest daintily above his brow, “from my own sister no less!”

The tiny terror rolled her eyes, “You giant-acgh!” Ecan shoved her face back into the dirt, patting her gently.

“No, no, don’t speak,” he clucked disapprovingly, “Unless it is to tell me about how fantastic a brother I am,” the boy nodded to himself, “how you are just a sore baby loser, and a nell yourself on top of all that.”

She glared at him from the ground “ent you almost forty?”

“Mmm,” Ecan pursed his lips, “I don’t think those were the words we were looking for.” He wiggled his butt, grinding his stone plating onto her back, “Guess I’ll just get comfy right here then, on my brand new seat.”

Beneath him, Naeris groaned, thumping her head on the ground, “I en’t saying it.”

“I’m not saying it, is what you mean” Ecan corrected delicately. His sister has maintained some truly abysmal speech patterns and habits. The tiny monster grumbled at him, burying her own head in the dirt, and apparently resolving herself to life as a stool. Ecan laughed brightly at her evident resolve.

“Well…” He geared up, “If I can’t wait you out….”

His hands posed above her sides, “I guess I’ll have to use another tactic.”

Thus Ecan began torture. His little sister cackled painfully, desperately trying to scrabble away while he kept her pinned.

Tickling, in Ecan’s opinion, was the best way to deal with the constant headache that was Naeris Farken.

“Ecan” His little sister growled between bouts of laughter, “Stop.”

The older boy snorted, “Mmm, not unless you’re ready to admit that I’m the better cooler sibling.” He increased the tickling.

In the dirt, Naeris growled, “Ecan Farken I tell you one, twice,” she gasped for breath, “thrice. Stop.”

They were words from stories, words wizards used to invoke curses.Words of power which came to life only in the mouths of those cursed with the horror of magicks. Ecan found himself as unable to fight them as any peasant in any tall tale. He froze,as each of his muscles locked in place against his will. There was a heavy pause in the rough housing as Naeris pushed him off her and stood up.

As he broke contact with his sister, Ecan found himself once more able to move. He shuddered, resisting the urge to dry heave as he looked at his sister, knowing there would be horror on his face.

Naeris snorted, looking away, “Still afraid I’ve got evil magiks huh?”

“No.” His reply was too fast, and his heart was beating out of his chest.

She hadn’t even realized that she’d done it. His sister cast a spell that had famously been used to assassinate kings and she hadn’t even realized she’d done it.

Ecan stood up from the dirt, brushing himself off, “You’re lucky I am a merciful brother,” He tried to act normal, but found it hard to look her in the eyes, “And you should stop saying things like that.”

“Things like what?” Naeris smirked at him as she raised her arms in pantomime of spell casting, “Like…

Air, wind, earth, dirt,

I beseech thee,

render unto mine own

my enemies to fall before me?”

Ecan shivered, glad he did not count amongst her enemies, “Yes Naeris. Things like that.”

The air had seemed to ripple when she said it, the ground quaked just a bit. There was power in her words and she didn’t even realize it.

Ecan kept his gaze to the side of her head. In the stories, that was how wizards got you. They looked you in the eyes and you were bespelled.

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“It was a joke, Ecan.” Naeris seemed pissed now, “I can’t even do anything anymore.”

“Bad joke.” the older boy muttered, too low to hear, before continuing louder, more stern, “There’s nothing humorous about it. You need to get over this… obsession.”

“I’m interested, not obsessed.” Naeris bit back.

“You’re covetous.”

“Wow, splendid word, which of your tutors taught you that one?”

Ecan wasn’t sure how this had escalated so quickly, she was so sweet sometimes. Still normal, not…

He just wanted to go for a walk outside. They were supposed to go for a walk, roughhouse, run through the fields, etc.

Ecan breathed out a shaky breath, shook his head, “I’m going home. You-” he sighed, avoiding Naeris’ eyes, “You’re old enough to walk yourself back.”

Naeris snorted,”Not concerned I’ll turn to sorcery while you’re gone?”

Ecan scowled at her and turned sharply. Around them, the hops swayed, and the older boy thought vengefully that there was no way Naeris would be able to make it home alone. As he passed into the next row, he knew his sister would lose sight of him almost immediately. Then it would just be her and the hops and the wastes.

Maybe she'd walk the wrong direction, away from the mountain instead of towards. She was a bit thoughtless like that sometimes. She might just forget to look up at the mountain and head towards it. Then she’d be roadless, lost in the nonexistence that was the land around but not of Bestat. His parents would be upset, though not too upset (Naeris presented a bit of a problem after all.)

In a few years they’d all look back on the whole affair and say ‘Oh but she was a lovely child underneath all the magiking.’ In a few hundred years maybe she’d wander back, repentant and cured of it all, weeping and crying and apologizing for ever having cast spells. They’d all be so happy that she was alive that they’d forgive her of that whole nasty magick business, and Ecan would hug her and get to know her again.

Not that there’d be anyone to teach Naeris how to apologize in the wastes. Ecan turned to his left, half expecting Naeris to have followed after him. But no, not his petulantly stubborn younger sister. She’d actually let him walk off, leaving her alone in the massive field.

He stopped abruptly, a cloud of dirt kicking up around him. Glancing around at the green stalks which surrounded him, he figured that he really ought to go back. She was his sister, after all. He did love her, even if…

Ecan sighed, cooling off in his anger and coming back a bit to his surroundings. The hops were deadly still around him, bent at odd angles as if caught swaying in the breeze, there was no moment in the fields as far as the eye could see. The boy, noting the unnatural stillness of the plants, froze with wide eyes. Nothing, no one, jumped out at him and Ecan took a raggedy breath.

He’d forgotten, he was an idiot, he was a terrible older brother and a poor representative of his folk.

Ecan turned, and sprinted back towards Naeris, feet pounding on the packed dirt and ragged breaths too loud in the field's unnatural stillness.

It didn’t take long to get back to her, but it was still too much time by far. Each footbeat on hard packed dirt echoed too loudly, and the boy discovered it was hard to run with his heart in his throat. Ecan found himself skidding to a stop and hiding a row back as he finally caught sight of his sister. His sister and what was quickly forming around her.

His breath stuttered, and he flinched back into hiding.

Fallen stems stirred, and hard packed dirt began to rise in chunks.

Someone not yet visible chuckled warmly, and Ecan watched as Naeris looked about with weary caution. She looked more angry than afraid.

Around the girl, the wind picked up, howling as it formed. The hops swirled violently now, in an unnaturally contained tornado. The bracts were torn from the cones, and a mixture of dirt, sand, stems, and leaves swirled together into an unnatural form. The vague shape of a tall human-esque woman formed amongst the detritus.

The plant woman smiled at his little sister, and her teeth were made of seeds.

Nadia, the dryad of the fields.

“How small your brother is.” The woman’s voice had a musical quality to it, and drifted in with the wind instead of echoing from her mouth. Ecan shivered in his hiding spot.

“Uh, Hello” Naeris breathed out, small in speech herself, seemingly enchanted by the creature.

The plant woman chuckled, and again the sound came across through the air itself, “Hello. Naeris.”

“Ah, you,” his sister was blushing for some reason, “know my name?”

“Of course, I am the dryad of these fields in which you have been playing. I have watched.”

“Right, that’s…” his sister blinked, “a little creepy to be honest.”

Ecan agreed silently, and prayed that Naeris would have the good sense to get out of there.

Of course, it was his sister, and there was no such luck or sense. The air around Naeris laughed, and the dryad smiled warmly. His sister grinned back, a small almost shy smile. It was very… strange.

“Did I…” the dryad seemed to hesitate, bobbing apprehensively in the air, “Did I hear you casting spells just now?”

Ecan felt the bottom of his stomach drop, and shivered as he waited for Naeris to respond.

Naeris flushed, gray skin darling to black beneath her eyes, “No, uh..” she turned away, and Ecan couldn’t see her face, “I was just messin’ with my brother. Sorry. I know it’s, “ Naeris sounded guilty, “an inappropriate joke t’be making.”

Around the young crag girl, the dirt and wind froze, and the dryad cocked her head to the side, “Well that’s not true.”

Ecan was sweating now, cold and stinking of fear. In the dirt row beyond, his sister was shaking her head, “No, I mean, uh” he’d never heard her sound this sy, “sometimes.. No. Sorry, just one spell.”

“One Spell?”

“No-!” His sister fumbled, and Ecan cursed before biting the words back, praying the dryad hadn’t heard him.

“It’s alright child, I already know about your line in the sand. Heard your parents discussing it as they toured their crops.”

His sister looked at the ground, shamefaced, and the warm air of the dryads form echoed with breathy chuckling.

“No need to look so, it’s quite alright by me.” The dirt crept in closer to his sister, “I quite approve in fact. Perhaps, if you wanted me to teach you a few more spells…”

“No!” and his sister sounded so panicked as she said it. Ecan felt some small relief of his fear for her.

“No, of course.” the dirt withdrew, “there is the family to think of after all.”

“Yeah,” Naeris was nodding, “Sorry, I have to…” Naeris took a step back, “thank you.”

“Of course.” The dryad watched unmoving, and when she next spoke the wind carried itself behind Ecan’s ear as well, “If you ever change your mind you know where to find me.”

“I won’t.” The young Crag snapped back,

That was more like the sister he knew. He breathed a sigh of relief.

The dryad turned to look where he was standing, at him, and smiled, “Well then, run along now Farken siblings. It's getting late, and we wouldn’t want mummy and daddy to be missing you.”