Ascending Legends

[BookWyrm]

"Okay." Dayn sighed quietly, thankful that he had been able to help her get better. Slowly, so as to try and not key her in to what he'd done, Dayn withdrew his mana current from Arryn. He'd been able to jump start her recovery, and for that he could allow himself some rest.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn returned with a thin vegetable broth and two spoons. Theodas was right about how she walked, like she was trying to keep her lower and middle back from moving. She carefully moved next to him, holding the bowl out to him. "I'll eat if you do. I... I don't think I could stomach too much, but I'll try."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn noticed her posture and grimaced. Must be the area they got to this time. Dayn had figured that the banshees probably got a hold of Arryn again. It upset him for sure, but at least both of them were alive. He took the bowl gratefully before kissing Arryn's cheek. "I don't know how much I'll be able to eat myself." Dayn opted to simply drink from the bowl instead of use the spoon. It hurt to move his arms, shoulders, and back. Seeing as how everything was in some way connected to his back, it pretty well just hurt to move, but Dayn still scooted over until he was pressed against Arryn before getting comfortable. "How is your back?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled slightly and shrugged a bit. "Not real bad." Lie. She nuzzled against him a bit before turning to her own food and grimacing. She drank from the bowl like Dayn, though she couldn't get more than a few mouthfuls down.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn eyed Arryn carefully before shaking his head, turning his attention back to his broth instead of pushing the issue. For several quiet minutes Dayn simply drank his broth and cuddled next to Arryn. It felt good to be beside her, even though both of them felt like trash. Dayn finally finished what he wanted of the broth and sat it on the table next to the bed before laying down and cuddling as close as he could to Arryn. "Even after going through Hel you still manage to be beautiful. And comfy."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and set the last of her broth aside, then laid down and cuddled up against him. She ran her fingers lightly over the bandaging on his arms, her smile fading a bit. How could she tell him what was carved on him? Or what had happened to her? "Thank you, mo chroi."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn moved to accommodate Arryn before nestling against her and laying his head gently on her chest. "I have a feeling that I am going to miss our bed, and our bath, soon." Dayn snuggled a little closer before smiling. "At least you are here. That is all the comfort I need." And it wasn't a lie. Dayn could have been anywhere in all of Trulane at that time and he would have been content just to have Arryn with him. Within just a matter of moments Dayn had fallen into a restful sleep.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and slowly ran her fingers through his hair. She very quietly whispered, "I love you, Dayn," before pulling the covers up over them and letting herself fall asleep as well.

 

[BookWyrm]

You are lucky to be alive. Dayn lay stretched out on a rock under the light of the ever full moon of the Hunting Grounds. I know. I have Arryn to thank for that. Dayn looked up at the White Wolf. I heard the healing song. Just about everyone in Rorich did. Luckily the healing song has a peaceful affect on anyone who listens to it. Dayn sighed quietly as he looked up at the moon. "Don't be filled with remorse Dayn." Dayn turned to the source of the voice, his tail wagging when he saw Lleuna. She smiled as she sat down beside him, her hands gentle caressing his head as she kissed his brow. Though she was smiling when she sat beside him, her features turned to concern when she moved her hands over his shoulders, back, and arms. "Oh Dayn, I am so sorry that you had to go through this." I am not alone. It happened to Arryn as well, for the second time. Tears started to stream down his muzzle. I couldn't protect her. I just..... Dayn whimpered as he buried his face against Lleuna, who wrapped her arms around him and gently stroked his neck. "It will be okay Dayn. Don't think on these things. Try to rest, you need to regain your strength."





Dayn woke up when he felt the dampness of his own tears against his face. He pulled away from Arryn and touched his cheek, realizing that he had actually been crying. He made sure to keep his sobs quiet as he wiped his face, though there seemed to be no end to the tears. After another attempt he finally laid his head beside Arryn's and wrapped his arms around, pulling her to him possessively.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn continued to sleep, though she wished she hadn't. The nightmares were terrible, making her feel like she was trapped and couldn't breathe. In her dreams she was caught by the hunter again, strung up and helpless. There was no blindfold though, and she could see Dayn hanging from the hooks, the banshees carving him up while he screamed in agony. As much as she struggled she couldn't even move, even when she felt the pain of a dagger cutting into her back. This went on for hours, until she woke up with a quiet cry. She was even more exhausted than when she had gone to sleep. She immediately buried her face against Dayn's chest as she started crying. It felt even worse because he was the one who needed help, she was supposed to be strong for him, but she just couldn't....

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn felt his heart breaking as Arryn buried her face against his chest and cried. He knew the reaction had to be from a nightmare, she just wasn't the type to cry for no reason at all. He gently tucked his head over her's and started to play with her hair while he held her both protectively and possessively. Dayn had gotten used to caring for Arryn after her nightmares, so this didn't feel any different other than the fact that both of them were in rough shape now. "Arryn my love, my joy, I'm here for you."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn slowly calmed down as Dayn held her. After she stopped crying, she moved so she could kiss his cheek, then hide her face against his neck. "Thank you...." She ran her hand lightly over the bandaging on his arm, focusing on medical things to try to keep herself from crying again. "I'll change your bandages later, and if you can take a bath, if you're very careful...." That meant he would see what was carved on his upper arms....

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn looked down at Arryn's hand as she rubbed against his arm. He closed his eyes and tried to steady himself for what was coming. He knew he would find out what was there eventually, but was he ready to find out yet? It may lessen the impact if she tells me. But would she be willing to? "Arryn, I have to know." Dayn moved his arms and gently took both of Arryn's hands in his own, squeezing them gently before bringing them to his lips. "I have to know what they did to me. I don't know what it is going to be like to see it when the bandages are removed. If it'll help lessen the impact, would you tell me? I don't want to upset you any more than you already are, but if you could do this for me I would be grateful."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn pulled back to look him in the eyes for a moment before nestling against his shoulder again. She didn't want to tell him, but... she had to. When he asked like that, she had to. "On your upper arms are scales. Across your shoulders are the moon phases, like mine. On your back is... it's... it's a wolf on its hind legs... And there's a sword and shield too...." Arryn wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry, Dayn."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn leaned into Arryn' embrace and pressed his face against her neck as he slowly wrapped his arms around her. He understood, at least to some degree, what the markings meant. For a long while Dayn said nothing, but it didn't last. He could feel his heartbeat quickening as the burning started to return. His breathing rose steadily, his body shaking as the panic started. It felt like the silver flecks where in his blood again. The wounds began to ooze right on time with the tears that started to fall. By the time he realized what was happening he had already started to hyperventilate, and within moments he passed out in Arryn's arms.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn hadn't anticipated Dayn reacting like that. She pulled him close to her, then pulled the blankets up over them both ans sighed as she tucked her head down over his. I shouldn't have told him.... After a while she dozed off, still holding him protectively close.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn felt a sharp pain in his stomach, dragging him out of his coma. The world was phased in a shade of red, not that a second blow to the temple helped. "Beast!" He felt someone spit on him, but the smell of burning wood brought his senses to attention. He looked around, seeing his home burning before his eyes. Please no. The screaming rent his heart in two. "Shut that whore up now!" Dayn could hear the repeated sounds of someone beating another person, and the quiet whimpering told him it was a woman. Gods, please no. Dayn felt a firm hand grasp his face and force his eyes open. "You will watch this beast!" Dayn forced his eyes closed again despite the tears. He couldn't bring himself to face what was happening. A sharp pain registered across his eyes as he screamed. Silver, it was far too obvious. "You will watch dammit! Watch and know that she is actually getting something you, a beast, could never give her. I don't know what she saw in you, but at least her in the end she will know what it is like to know a real man."


The torture went on for hours, and Dayn had to witness every bit of it. He knew these men. They were Kara's brothers and their men, but what hurt him most was seeing Japhet, Hamish, Geoff, and the men of his own house participating in the horrid defilement that befell his eyes. In the end, after they had finished with her, they strung her up by a noose and set fire to her. Dayn screamed, howled even, as he watched her burn. There was nothing he could do, and that knowledge alone defeated him. When it finally came time for his own end they stretched him out and tied him onto a table with a deep groove carved into it. Over the table hung a steaming iron bucket, and as it tipped over molten silver poured out on top of Dayn's body. The last thing that Dayn saw in his mind's eye was the image of Arryn hanging there, her body burning before his eyes.


Dayn woke up screaming louder than he had before in his entire life. Flecks of blood spattered out with his spit from a raw throat that finally closed off from the pain. Dayn choked, coughing and retching as the smell of burning flesh fled his nose. Tears streamed down his face as his body shook from uncontrollable sobs. His scars were oozing again, and his whole body hurt as if the dream had truly been reality. His hands sought her out, tried to make sure Arryn was whole, but he couldn't move. Dayn found himself paralyzed by fear and sorrow, curled in upon himself as he cried and whimpered, begging for the nightmare to not be reality.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn woke up immediately. How could she not have? In fact she was too startled to feel her heart breaking, she just had to deal with calming Dayn down as soon as possible. She put her arms around his shoulders, trying to pull him free from the hold hold the dreams. "Dayn! Dayn it's okay, I'm right here. Please, everything is okay, please just... relax. Everything's okay, I promise." She moved so that he would be able to see her eyes when he opened his. She slowly ran one hand through his hair and brushed along his cheek with the other. "Shh, I promise, it's okay. Shh, please, it's all okay."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn flinched, tried to back away from the hands that moved towards him, but when he felt the familiar touch, that familiar sensation as they wrapped around him, his body stilled some. Slowly Dayn raised his head, carefully opening his eyes. Was it really her? He reached out a shaking hand and touched the tips of his fingers to Arryn's face. She was alive, she was whole. Dayn wrapped his arms around Arryn, pulling her close as he pressed his head against her neck, and cried. He held Arryn possessively, as if letting her go would be to lose her, but to what? It had all been a nightmare, albeit the worst nightmare he had ever experienced. Dayn could ignore the lasting pain from the dream and the burning of his scars, but the thought of having to watch Arryn being tortured, defiled, and murdered before his eyes? Knowing what the banshees had carved into his flesh was one thing, but knowing that it put them both at risk if someone else were to see it was completely different. He was marked now, his lycanthropy bared on his very skin. If the wrong person saw what was on his back....


Dayn felt weak, broken even. His hands slowly moved over her back, down her sides, slowly checking his wife to make sure she was whole and that what he had just witnessed was only a bad dream. His face held a look of utter concern and fear until he finally arrived at her face, his hands cupping her cheeks as he broke down again, pressing his forehead against her's as the tears streamed down his cheeks, though these were from relief instead of pain or fear. "It f-f-felt s-s-s-s...so real. I don't want t-t-t-to lose you again."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled a bit for him, nuzzling lightly against his cheek. She'd have been lying if she said she hadn't liked how close he'd held her. It meant she offered him some comfort. "Shh, mo chroi, you never lost me. I don't know what scared you so mcuh, but don't worry. We're safe. If I ever encountered what scared you this badly, I'd lose it instantly. Anything to keep you from being so upset, beloved. Now just relax. I'm okay, you're okay, we're together. That's all that matters."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn pulled Arryn into another tight, possessive embrace. He had calmed down enough to put an end to the tears, but the lingering affects of the nightmare still pulled at him. In the end it only made him hold Arryn that much tighter. After a fey minutes Dayn's breathing evened out along with his heart rate. His hold slacked off some, but he still kept her close. He slowly turned his head and gave a gentle, loving kiss against Arryn's neck. "I....I don't want to think about it again. I don't want to be scared any more." He pressed in against her neck, one hand embracing her head as the other wrapped around her waist. "I just want to be alone with you."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn nuzzled against his neck a bit. "Okay, mo chroi. It's just us. I'm not going to leave, I promise."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn took comfort from that, even though it was such a simple statement. He didn't want to divulge the dream to Arryn, but...she had shared even her darkest dreams with him before. Would it pain him that much to open up to her? Besides, she had been working so hard to try and help him open up more. In a way he had her to thank for helping him discover his Thaumaturgy. "I dreamed our home was burning.", he quietly started. His voice wavered slightly, as if he were still unsure of whether or not he wanted to go on. "We were attacked by....Kara's brothers, and their men. But...Japhet, Hamish, and Geoff were there as well, with men from my house. I don't know how long they had been beating me, but they...."


Dayn looked up at Arryn, tears welling up in his eyes despite him having thought that he had finally cried them all out. "They had been...defiling you....over...and over....for hours it felt. I couldn't tell with it being a dream and all, but it was like what they did to Kara the night she was murder. Whenever you cried they would beat you, and once they had finished with you they hung you from a noose and burned you alive, all because they knew you had loved me....a wolf...a beast." Dayn tucked his head under Arryn's chin as his lips quivered. "It was the most horrible thing I have ever seen. They tied me to a table and finally poured molten silver over me...I woke up screaming...but not because I was dying. I woke up screaming because of what they did to you Arryn."





Dayn felt a few tears fall. Thankfully the floods had subsided before now. "I know it was a dream...but it felt so real. I don't ever want to lose you. I can't stand to think of someone doing any of that to you. It broke me to see you being tortured and not being able to do anything."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn had been chilled by Dayn's dream, but her heart broke for him. She gently nuzzled against him repeatedly. "Sh, it's a dream. It's obviously a dream, because you'd have beaten them in a fight, my brave knight. And if you did fall, if they caught you, I would make sure they never saw their families again." Even she had to admit that these were odd words for comfort. Bit she knew that if anyone tried anything like that she would murder them, especially if they hurt Dayn. She tucked her head down over his and started gently running her fingers through his hair.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn took comfort from Arryn's words, despite the slightly morbid nature of them. He nuzzled against her neck appreciatively, his body completely relaxing against her as he finally found the peace he was looking for. "I never understood what it meant in the wedding vows that a wife was to be the strength in her husband's weakness. That is, until I met you." Dayn leaded up and kissed Arryn on the lips. "You are the strength in my weakness, just as I am for you. Now that we are together it all makes sense. You complete me."