Ascending Legends

[Dragongal]

All three friends looked at Dayn with wide eyes. "What?" "That's why you two -" "When?" "Okay, wait. You guys left after the games, so she must have gotten poisoned right after. Yes? Yes. So, someone could have easily slipped it into her drink while she was fighting. Yes? Yes." "Nobody was watching the table, they were only watching the fight. Unless - " "Nobody'd think twice about one of the losers looking away. Otherwise, if someone wasn't watching, it'd be odd!" Kalie smiled to Dayn, explaining, "We used to do this in the city, make a game of it, only there wasn't a real poison - it had to be one of the twenty in our team, and they'd dye the drink." "Who do you think, out of the ten who faced her and lost?" "Well, I had to patch up only three of her opponents - and I know they all went right back to watch. So, figure the first... five? I saw Avy and Rena watching the fight." "But Esclaire, I lost sight of her until the end when she came back to ask if I wanted to bet - that was always her thing, gambling." Matthias looked to Dayn and said, ""I believe an interrogation is in order - would you like to join us?"


Back in her old home, Arryn was not having the best time. Her body was fighting off both the poison and Lenza's treatments, and the poison was wearing on her. "I hate treating mages," Lenza muttered, still working.

 

[BookWyrm]

The three of them talking among themselves was just about enough to push Dayn over the edge. Too many voices talking at the same time in an already stressful situation was enough to irritate Dayn.


"Enough already!"


Dayn's eyes flashed green, his demeanor becoming slightly more intimidating for a brief moment as a slight growl crept into his voice. Dayn shut his eyes as he rubbed his temples, trying to compose himself. "Sorry, sorry. I," Dayn shook his head, "Alright. Where did that bitch disappear to?"

 

[Dragongal]

Kalie grinned at Matthias, who nodded. "Alright, you can fetch. Meet by the oak, ok?" Kalie nodded and ran off. Matthias looked back to Dayn and said, "No need to apologize - that normally happens when we work with someone, we're just used to all sharing ideas at once to get the solution. So, interrogations are generally held by the old oak. Out of sight of the party. Es has never been part of an interrogation. Kalie is going to lure her out, and find out what she can jovially before we get to go at her." Theodas nodded confirmation, and the two men led Dayn a little ways from the party to a large oak tree. "No wounds that can be seen, ok? No marks, then she can hold it against us and we can't say she's lying. She's a bit notorious for lying. The only reason she got on the team really, was she could fight, and she was damn good at seducing information out of guys." Kalie soon returned, holding Esclaire's wrists behind her, a gag around her mouth. The once sweet young lady tossed Esclair to the ground in front of them.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn looked down at the girl. He could see how she might seduce some guys. Not my type. Dayn squatted down in front of Esclaire, studying her carefully. Judging by her smell, let alone the fact that Dayn could sense her anxiety, she was obvious bothered by her sudden kidnapping. He smiled. Good, she needs to be scared. He stood back up and turned to Kalie, "Be my guest." Because I'll rip her heart out if I go first.

 

[Dragongal]

Kalie smiled widely to him, then hauled Esclaire up and pinned her up against the tree. She puled off her belt knife with a flourish, then edged it slowly, carefully along Escalire's cheek, before cutting the gag. No blood was shed, but that alone was enough to keep Esclaire from screaming - this wasn't the gambling, drinking, master-archer Kalie she knew, this was some crazy, cold bitch with a knife. Matthias muttered to Dayn, "Now you see why I was scared of her?" Kalie still held the knife where it could be seen, smiling sweetly, but there was venom in her eyes. ""Did you slip Atria a poison? Don't lie, because we know the truth. She's back at her mother's all healed up. We have a witness, too." Bluff, bluff, and more bluff. Esclaire was too scared to notice the incongruities, though - Kalie was scary. "Well- I mean, no, but I did, no, I mean - " The smile faded from Kalie's face, replaced with a blank look of annoyance. She spun her dagger until it came to a stop an inch in front of Es's eye. "YES!" Kalie pulled the knife back. "Where did you get the poison?" "I-I don't know his name! He's one of the newer ones, I swear - " The knife go close to her eye again - "I SWEAR IT I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME HE SAID I WOULDN'T GET CAUGHT AND HE'D PAY ME! I'M DESPERATE FOR THE MONEY, PLEASE - "


Theodas stepped forward. "Why were you so desperate for money that you'd do that?" Escalire wouldn't answer until Kalie pulled the knife farther from her face. "My ma's sick, and I kept on losing at gambling, but it's the only way I can get the money - she dn't want any'un notin'!" In her misery, Esclaire had reverted to Northern slurred, uneducated speech.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn growled in frustration. He stepped forward, laying a hand on Theodas and Kalie's shoulders. When they stepped back Dayn stood and looked at Esclaire as she cowered slightly before him. Dayn took a breath before reaching out and grabbing her, using only his left arm, picked her up and pinned her forcefully against the tree before unsheathing his dagger and stabbing it into the oak, mere inches away from her neck. "I'm going to get this out of the way real quick like. I'm not as forgiving as they are, especially right now." Dayn moved closer, letting himself get within inches of her face as his canines grew out slightly, his voice getting a rough, gravely edge to it. "You say your desperate for money? Bullshit. A pretty girl like you could earn the money easily if you had the skill for it." In his anger Dayn had passed the point of caring about what he said, even if it was downright degrading.





"You've always been jealous of her haven't you? Always wanted to be the center of attention, the important one? Well, how does it feel now bitch? You have my undivided attention, is it what you expected? Isn't it always what you wanted?"





Dayn could feel her shaking as he pinned her against the tree. "If you met with this man than you had to have seen his face. What did he look like, and don't you dare try to lie to me."

 

[Dragongal]

As scared as she'd been of Kalie, she was significantly more scared of this man. In the background, Theodas shifted on his feet slightly, concerned that Arryn hadn't been right about Dayn - and that Dayn might lose it and go wolf. Esclaire said, "B-blonde, short hair, t-tan, uh, shorter than Theodas, taller than you, no scars I saw. C-can I please go now, I promise I won't tell," she whimpered with tears in her eyes.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn glared at Esclaire before yanking his dagger out of the tree. He watched her jump slightly as the blade passed by her face before he slid it back into it's sheath. He backed off some, honestly feeling pity for the poor girl. He loosened up his grip some, letting her slid down the tree slightly. "How do I know you aren't lying to me, hmm? How do I know that you haven't given us false information and plan on trying to finish what you started? Or what if you've lied to us and plan on running away to the real person?" Dayn hated what he said next, but intimidation was the name of the game, and with Arryn's life on the line he wasn't in the mood to play nice. "You said your mother is sick, that you were trying to get money for medicine. Well, you know, sometimes apothecaries make mistakes.It can be hard to tell the difference from medicine and poison some times, especially some of those refined poisons that kill really slowly...."

 

[Dragongal]

Es shook her head, crying and begging, "I don't know how to prove it to you! He was at the party, but left very early! I don't know where he lives or anything! Please, kill me if you want, leave my ma out of this She's never hurt anybody! Please! I'll leave the village if it'll make you happy, but don't hurt her!" Matthias and theodas exchanged glances - Dayn seemed to be going a bit far, but neither was about to stop him.

 

[BookWyrm]

As Dayn held Esclaire against the tree his disposition changed slightly. His posture relaxed as he slowly lowered her back to the ground, his face stone cold but not aggressive like it had been. He was content with the answer. He turned her lose and stared at her, truly feeling pity for the poor girl. Desperation pushed people to extremes, but so did anger and hatred. "I am not going to kill you, nor am I going to condemn you. But, I'm not going to let you leave just yet." Dayn turned to the other three, though he made sure to keep an eye on Es. "I think she is telling the truth. And, despite what my emotions are towards this, I don't think she would have done it if it wasn't for her mother. But you three know her better than I do, so it's your call to make." Dayn crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at the ground. He knew he had gone too far. He was just glad he hadn't given into the desire to bite out her throat.

 

[Dragongal]

Kalie leaned back against Matthias, literally using him as a prop without his permission. He didn't react, clearly used to it. She said, "She's a gambler yeah, but she ain't all bad. And I personally know that she is very close to her mother. I think she'd telling the truth." "I think I agree." ""I'd be amazed if she had the composure to act the way Dayn scared her. I think it's truth." "Alright now, git out of here, don't mention this or we'll let him," she gestured to Dayn as she walked over and released the bonds on Es's hands, "loose on you. Git!" Es got up and ran as fast as she could, entirely bypassing her house and going toward her home. Matthias walked up to Dyn and put his hand on his shoulder, quietly saying, "If Kalie were in Atria's position, I'd have done the same. What would you like to do now? check Arryn or try to find the man? If we let him go for a bit, he might settle down.. slip up. We can find more info rather than chasing our tails. Up to you. But at least one of use four is always going ot be keeping watch over Atria's house."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn watched Es run off as a nasty feeling sank into his gut. If it hadn't been for the others he might have lost it, and the thought of what he would have done to Es made his skin crawl. Needless to say he jumped slightly when Matthias laid a hand on his shoulder. Dayn looked at Matthias, his eyes weary and tears threatening to fall again. He opened his mouth to speak only to get choked up. He looked down, his arm covering his mouth slightly as he tried to regain his composure. For a tense few moments Dayn stood there, his body trembling, as he fought to hold back all of the emotions running through him. He took a deep, shuddering breath as he tried to steady himself, though it didn't do much to help him. He tried again to speak. "I....we........I...I'm......" Dayn gave up on it all, leaned forward, his head against Matthias chest, and just let himself cry.

 

[Dragongal]

Matthias nodded solemnly, though of course Dayn couldn't see it. "I was the same after my first few interrogations and raids. Don't worry about it. I'd be in much worse condition if it was my girl who'd been hurt." Kalie walked over and gently relieved her husband of Dayn, taking his shoulders and gently pulling him towards her. She softly said, "Hey, you did what you had to, okay? You got the information fast, that's what mattered in the end. Alright? Do you want to go back and see Arryn now, or wait? I'll stay with you if you do." Kalie had always been like a mother with the team, in a different way than Arryn. This wasn't different. Theodas was able to breathe a sigh of relief, seeing as how Dayn wasn't about to wolf out anymore.

 

[BookWyrm]

When Kalie came over to relieve Matthias Dayn found himself relax into her embrace. He didn't understand why he seemed to trust these three so much, but right now he didn't really care to try. He stood there, his breaths coming in shallow sobs as he slowly regained his composure. "Ye-yeah..lets go...I need to see her........I'm...useless for......t-tr-tracking right now."





Dayn finally stood back up and wiped the mess off his face with his sleeve. He really didn't care what he looked like at the moment. His heart hurt from the volatile cocktail of emotions that had exploded out from inside him. "At least I....." Dayn stopped, looking to Theodas for a second as he caught himself, "At least I found the lead we needed." Not yet. "Lets get back to Mum and see how Arryn's doing."

 

[Dragongal]

"Mum? Either yeh've already adjusted to her being your mother-in-law, or you got a Southern accent." Kalie laughed, then nodded to Matthias and Theodas. They began to move, bringing Dayn back to Arryn's old house. When they got there, Theodas and Matthias took their leave, going inside of Matthias's house to begin their watch. Lenza glanced into the main room when they arrived, then returned to working. Kalie nodded to Dayn and left, closing the dorr behind her before going to her home with the other two.


Arryn had finally stopped unconsciously struggling, her body finally giving in to the treatments. Every once in a while she'd still twitch or spasm a bit, but overall she was finally laying still. Her dreams were messed up, like fever dreams, unclear, each blending into the next. She could hardly make sense of them if she'd tried - the fact that she wasn't didn't help. The only one that vaguely made sense involved a griffin... then she moverd to the next dream.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn smiled and nodded as Kalie left before slowly turning his attention to Arryn. He reached down and gently stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. She seemed so fitful in her sleep. He frowned as he watched her twitch and jerk. He wanted to lay down next to her and hold her, but he knew Mum would more than likely beat him if he did. His other thought was to shift and lay next to her, but that wasn't an option yet. Finally Dayn just succumbed to the inevitable and sat down next to her bed and slumped against the wall before nodding off.

 

[Dragongal]

Normally Lenza wouldn't have allowed for this type of thing, taking up space like Dayn did, but she saw no other option for the tormented lad. She continued working, occasionally pouring different potions down her throat. When Arryn did wake up, a little over an hour before dawn, it was with a silent jolt. She tried to sit up, but leaned back, gritting her teeth with pain. Lenza walked over to her, saying, "Sore?" Arryn nodded stiffly. Every part of her body hurt. "That's what you get for being a mage." She gently nudged Dayn with her boot as she gave Arryn a vial to drink to ease the pain.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn rolled his head up from his restless sleep, his eyes slightly sunken in and dark as he looked up at Lenza, then to the bed where Arryn lay awake. "Hey love.", he groaned as he stood up and took her hand gently. "Good to see you awake." He bent down and kissed her forehead before turning to Lenza. "Thanks. Keep me updated, I think I'm going to try and actually sleep now." He was content to see her awake, and he knew Mum was practically ready to beat him if he didn't get out of her way, so he walked out and into the spare bedroom before flopping onto the bed and finally falling asleep.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled slightly as Dayn kissed her forehead, glad to see him. Lenza looked at her and said, "Muscles still hurt?" Arryn nodded in the slightest. "Sleep's all that will help, I'm afraid." Arryn nodded and tried to shift about a bit before she slipped from consciousness. Lenza continued to work; she had to transition from potion to potion every few hours, or else Arryn's body would counter it; that was how any healer mage's body (or most innate mages, really) worked, if something unknown and foreign entered their body, their body fought it. This was why Arryn's potions worked on herself: not only did they have a slight trace of her magic on them merely from her not noticing when she was working, but she knew she was taking them. Her body would have fought the poison, but of course lost.


About six hours later, Lenza walked into the room Dayn was sleeping in, setting down a tray of food - all Southern, for the most part, except for some soda farls and jam - and leaned on the doorframe, like Arryn liked to, and tapped the wall. "Mornin' Dayn, I've made you breakfast. She woke a few times asking for you, but refused to let me wake you once she realized. She's coming to now. Be gentle, her body is very sore for her. Bloody innate magics messed with my potions, ended up hurting herself in the end."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn groaned as he pushed himself up off his stomach before sitting up and turning around. He hadn't bothered to change out of his clothes before, the only thing he took off being his boots and his weapons belt. "Thanks." He smiled as he stretched out his far too stiff body before picking up the tray. "I'll be in there to see her shortly." Unusually Dayn ate at a slow pace, his body still feeling tired from everything that had happened over the previous day. The food tasted exquisite though, and as he ate he found himself slowly feeling better. "Now if I just had some coffee.", he laughed as he nibbled on his last soda farl before walking over into the room where Arryn was. He walked in the door and smiled, crumbs clinging to his stubble as he chewed on the breakfast bread. He walked over and sat down on the edge of her bed and took her hand in his. "Morning love. How are you feeling?"

 

[Dragongal]

She smiled up at him, holding his hand, running her fingers light over his hand, seemingly readjusting to having feeling in her hands. She laughed before slowly reaching up and brushing the crumbs off his face before gently pulling him down for a quick kiss. "I think you need to shave, love," she laughed quietly. "So, what did you do after I passed out the first time?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn frowned, looking away slightly as if he didn't want Arryn to read the expression on his face. "We found out who poisoned you." He wasn't going to mention Esclaire right now. He figured it could wait for a bit. He stuffed the rest of the farl into his mouth to keep from having to say anything else about that for the moment. After he swallowed he brushed his face off and laughed. "I guess I do need to shave don't I." He looked back at Arryn and smiled. "I'm just glad to see you are awake." The realization of what the day was, and what would happen the next night was enough to make him choke slightly. "Arryn, I'm going to have to leave soon. I need to meet up with everyone again, but I'll be back after a while." He leaned down and kissed her lips gently before pressing his forehead against her own. "I love you." He carefully stood up and returned to his room, put on his belt and boots, before walking towards the door. He stopped when he walked by Lenza. "I'll be back after a while." He smiled before walking out of the door and over to Matthias and Kalie's house before knocking on the door.

 

[Dragongal]

"Love you too," was all Arryn could get out before he left. Well, he was awful rushed, wasn't he? She couldn't quite recall why he needed to meet up with everyone but figured it couldn't be bad, before falling asleep again.


Kalie answered the door, inviting Dayn in. Both Matthias and Theodas were sitting in large chairs by the main room, and they both smiled when he walked in. "How is she?" Theodas asked, the question had been on everyone's minds.

 

[BookWyrm]

"She's alive, and she's been awake some, but she'll take some time to heal. Something about innate mages and all that." Dayn walked into the main room and found a chair before sitting down. Now, how to start this off? Dayn didn't want to just jump into this head first, but he didn't need to beat around the bush with the looming full moon on the horizon for the next night. "I actually need to talk with you all about something. Its very important, but we didn't want to address this until after I had chance to get to know all of you. Seeing as how situations have changed, I feel like it needs to be discussed now." Dayn felt his throat catch. He looked at Theodas, knowing he had probably caught on by now. "I....I uh......I don't really know how to go about saying this actually."

 

[Dragongal]

Theodas shrugged; this was on Dayn's shoulders. "Just tell them. I'll vouch for you." "Tell us what?" Matthias had come to trust Dayn. What were they talking about and why did Theodas know?


Across the street, Arryn was nearly screaming, though not loud enough to be heard through the walls, luckily. Her back was arched and her muscles locked, until Lenza managed to force a potion down her throat. Her body relaxed slowly, get breath coming in short gasps. When she could, she paned out, "Don't tell Dayn, " before passing out again.