Ascending Legends

[Dragongal]

Arryn chuckled and kissed his forehead. "We'll make a Northerner out of you yet." A farl was easy enough to make for him. Once it was done she crawled back under the blankets, hoping to sleep a bit once Dayn finished eating.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn wolfed the farl down in moments, his hunger perhaps a bit stronger than he first thought. But it was settled easily enough by the farl and within no time he was cuddled with Arryn and comfortable once more. This time, though, he pulled her to him and let her rest her head against his chest.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled tiredly and nuzzled against his chest a bit as she got settled. While she knew she should probably wait until he fell asleep, she was already asleep moments later, her body finally getting to regenerate the mana she had been burning to help Dayn.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn was asleep moments after Arryn. They were both drained in some way from having to deal with this sickness. Despite hating to be bedridden and sleeping all day long, Dayn knew it was necessary to his recovery. It helped that Arryn was there with him, even if he felt guilty for keeping her home bound.

 

[Dragongal]

About a week later Dayn had healed fully and Arryn had regained all of her mana. They were in the kitchen, Arryn sitting on the counter and Dayn standing. She was excited to try her new magic out now that she didn't have to worry about conserving mana for Dayn. Freezing the glass of water was easy. Now for the trick she hadn't been able to do before: make a layer of ice on the counter.

 

[BookWyrm]

"Remember, just let it happen. Don't try to fight it when it starts." Dayn massaged Arryn's shoulders gently before moving to her side and giving a reassuring smile. "You've got this."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn returned the smile before focusing. It all went well at first as a thin layer of condensation appeared on the counter. As it began to freeze though, something... happened. Arryn quietly gasped and began shivering, her eyes fixed on the counter and a slightly shocked, maybe scared expression on her face. Her mind was elsewhere - not on the freezing spell she had cast or in the kitchen with her husband. It wasn't even recognizing that frost was slowly forming on her hands. No, her mind was someplace far, far worse.

Spoiler

To Arryn, she was back in the church again. It was so cold... it hadn't been so cold the first time, or even the second time. Where was Dayn? She looked around but couldn't find him. Oddly enough, she was caught in this vision but could still realize that she wasn't really in the church. A banshee appeared across from her. Time seemed to be skipping about, things appearing and disappearing suddenly. Next thing she knew the banshee was less than a foot in front of her, and she realized it was the beautiful banshee that she had seen before. The one who was not rotted with death, whose eyes still held on to life. Then... perspective switched. How can it be colder than it was...? She didn't know how it was possible, but she felt it. Was that...? That was her that she was facing. There was a pain in her arm and she reached out and grabbed Arryn's - her - throat, but it was unwillingly. She was being forced to do it.... Just as she was being forced to cast a freezing spell....

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn took Arryn by the shoulders and held her firmly. "Arryn!? Arryn come back to me!" When Arryn had stilled herself Dayn had wondered if she was thinking over the spell. "Hon, you can't think about it. It just has to..." He had stopped when he saw the expression on her face. "Arryn? Hello, Arryn?" He had waved a hand in front of her eyes and was startled when she froze, began staring off into nothing, and began to shiver.


Of all the things he knew how to do, getting Arryn out of a waking vision was not one of them. Dayn cursed as he reached up to cup her cheeks. "Please come back to me Arryn. Listen to my voice, come back to me!"

 

[Dragongal]

Warm. Distantly Arryn could feel the warmth of Dayn's hands on her cheeks. His voice was just barely reaching her, but she tried to focus on it. Anything to get out of that vision. Gods... anything to get away from the frozen blood.... To get away from the constant pain... and that cold.... After a few more moments she blinked and came to some, though she was still terrified by the vision, mentally stuck. Using pure will she looked at Dayn as tears started to well up in her eyes. "D-Dayn...?" She took Dayn's hands in hers and moved off the counter to try to stand but just fell to her knees. She felt so weak... so cold....

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn managed to catch Arryn in mid fall and wrap his arms around her. "Easy love, easy.", Dayn said as he helped her back to her feet. When he realized that she wasn't able to stand he scooped her into his arms and walked into the bedroom to lay her on the bed, joining her a moment later as he slid a hand behind her head before taking her hand in his other. "What happened?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn looked at Dayn for a few moments, almost like she was trying to memorize his face. She pressed her head against his neck, searching for warmth. This cold... it was like it had spread into her soul, and it wasn't going away. Tears froze the moment they fell off of her cheeks. "B-banshee.... b-but p-perspective switched... It hurt... so b-bad.... I was f-forced to do it.... S-so cold...."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn let his body heat up as he pulled Arryn against him. If it had been at night Dayn would have said it was just a dream. But...Arryn had been wide awake during this vision. He held her head against his chest to try and comfort her to a degree, but mostly to keep her from seeing the worried tears that streamed down Dayn's cheeks. He purposefully kept their connection closed to keep her from picking up on his distress. Gods above, any of you that care to listen. Please don't let me lose her.

 

[Dragongal]

The cold slowly subsided to some extent, thanks to Dayn's warmth. As the time passed her shivering subsided to trembling as her tears stopped flowing. Now she was just cold, scared, and exhausted. Not to mention confused. "D-Dayn... mo chroi, Tá mé chomh fuar, agus mar sin scanraithe...."

 

[BookWyrm]

"It's..." Dayn choked on the sentence as he fought to hold back the sobbing. I've got to be strong for her. The real question was....could he lie to her and tell her everything was going to be alright when he didn't know if it would be?

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn seemed to sense his meaning, since she cuddled just a little closer to him and whispered, "Níl saoire dom. Beidh mé ceart go leor, chomh fada agus nach bhfuil tú fág mé."

 

[BookWyrm]

Though he thought he might be able to get the gist of what she had said, Dayn didn't have the heart to tell Arryn that he couldn't understand her. Please, gods please don't let her be losing her memory, or worse.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn moved her head just enough so she could look up at him and give him a kiss on the cheek before nestling her head under his chin again. His tears didn't go unnoticed, but her mind still wasn't exactly clear. She wanted to be warm, to stop trembling, and to feel safe, but she also wanted him to be okay too. "I love you."

 

[BookWyrm]

Those words alone were enough to fell Dayn's armor. His body shook with each sob as he held Arryn close, possessively close, against him. "I love you too Arryn, and I won't let anything happen to you. Yr wvf yn tynguei fod."

 

[Dragongal]

"I know you wont, mo chroi." Arryn nuzzled weakly against his neck. She didn't mind that he held her so close, even though a vague feeling of worry reached her exhausted mind in response to his sobs.

 

[BookWyrm]

When Dayn finally relaxed he felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion overtake him. After rearranging the pillows and blankets he curled up beside Arryn, still clutching her against himself, and tried to rest. He slowly started to play with Arryn's hair to try and take his mind off of the events that had just transpired.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn was still lightly trembling, an effect that, like the cold, refused to fade. The memories and images of the vision kept popping into her head no matter how much she hated it. She was just so exhausted, she wanted to sleep, but almost every time the images would come back to mock her and scare her so she had to open her eyes. Gods... this was almost like when she had started going insane the first time.... but now she had Dayn, but what could he do for something like this? She was too exhausted and scared to think straight, it was like her mind was foggy.


She could tell that Dayn was trying to rest, though. It felt... wrong to disturb him, or keep him awake. She relaxed her body against his as he started playing with her hair. In truth it felt nice having him hold her so possessively. Though she didn't know why he was so protective and possessive at the moment, she wasn't going to complain. There was a small glimmer of hope when she closed her eyes for a few minutes and focused on his heartbeat, breathing, and the feeling of his fingers in her hair, but then she would see another memory from the vision - or even something connected, and have to force herself awake again. She just wanted to sleep and pretend that it had never happened....

 

[BookWyrm]

Despite his best efforts to relax Dayn found sleep evading him at every turn. Arryn was even worse off as far as he could tell. Whatever had caused that vision appeared to be clinging to her in any way it could. Of course this made the situation for Dayn a bit more stressful. Now he needed to find out what was plaguing her, and not a week before she had been doing the same for him. Finally after minutes of struggling to rest Dayn threw a glamour up around them of the untarnished night sky, though he hadn't expected to see this particular section of it ever again. He hadn't given much thought to the glamour, and he now looked up at the sky that hung above his head during the campaign. Yet, he didn't feel the misery or horror of battle like he had back then. Instead he found himself marveling at the sheer beauty that he hadn't given much heed. How had he not taken the time to appreciate this back then? It might have saved him from some heartache.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn was hesitant to look up from Dayn's chest. She was glad that she did, though, since the stars above were so beautiful. Gradually her trembling eased off, and she could fully relax against Dayn. Sleep still was out of her reach, but her body wasn't tense in fear. She nuzzled against him lightly, a silent compliment for his glamour.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn kissed Arryn's cheek in return as he resumed playing with her hair. The night sky above was peaceful and stunning. Dayn's heart suddenly ached to be back at Riverbend under the sky on a summer's night with music and fragrances in the air. They would return there once the last of the snows had melted, and at this rate it wouldn't take too long before they could make the trip.


Suddenly Dayn realized that he had tightened his grip on Arryn and relaxed to a degree. He still held her close, just as protectively as he had before, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable. Oddly enough the glamour shifted, changing scenery to place them on a river bank under the night sky. Beautiful orchids bloomed around them in the glade, and Dayn found himself thinking about romance.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled a bit and closed her eyes. Dayn was truly getting very good with the glamours. She closed her eyes and sighed. After a few moments, she searched for their connection and found it. She drew on Dayn's peace and forced her mind and body to copy that feeling as best as possible. She smiled a bit and nuzzled against him before finally falling asleep. As she slept, she would occasionally stir or whine a bit, but even nightmares could only barely reach her in her completely exhausted sleep.