Ascending Legends

[BookWyrm]

Dayn didn't want to lie to her or get her hopes up only to take them away. He sighed, trying to find the words to say. "It will take some work on my part to help repair the damage and nourish the muscles and tissue back to health, but if all goes well you should be able to wield a sword again." The smile that stretched across his face was almost ear to ear when Arryn cuddled up with her head under his chin. He gently tucked his head down protectively over her's and rubbed her back as he held her. "It will take a lot of work Arryn. Your muscles will need to be condition to hold a sword again, but I think we can do it."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled widely. "I don't mind the work. Once I can handle the weight of the sword, I should be able to pick up the moves easily enough, I think, once I shake off the rust." She lightly kissed his neck. "Thank you mo chroi." Teaching her how to cook, re-learning socializing, and now helping her retrain with a sword? Too wonderful for words.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn laughed. "Hmm, I think I liked that. Why'd you stop?" Dayn squeezed Arryn playfully before continuing. "I will lay the stipulation down right now. I will not have you jumping back into full on sword training right as soon as you can pick it up again. I want you to gain your strength back slowly so you don't re-injure yourself."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn thought for a few moments, then said, "Okay. Like how you'll go slow recovering from all of this?" She smiled and kissed his neck again. This silver really had her worried. Just when everything seemed fine, he'd have another episode; it was unpredictable.

 

[BookWyrm]

"Yes, to both." He knew she meant that question as a hint. "I will take my recovery slowly, I promise."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and nuzzled against his neck very lightly. "Good. You've been surprisingly active and clear-headed today, I don't want you pushing things. You need to rest a lot... You lost too much blood for anything else. When you wake, if you're okay, we can eat. Alright?" Arryn was tired, not just from her mana burn and barely letting herself sleep, but also as a remnant from the ritual. She had never really recovered her color after that, and the whole kidnapping didn't help.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn felt the drain begin to hit him as well. He yawned quietly as he held Arryn, the thought of eating still just unappetizing at the moment. "I think food would be nice after a good nap." Dayn fell asleep quicker than he had expected to. Luckily though he had a dreamless sleep.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn stayed awake longer than Dayn, thinking things over. They were to spend the winter here, then. On one hand the idea made her very happy, on the other, the risks had been proved. But Dayn seemed okay with it. She'd have to talk to Kalie about staying in the guest house over the winter, but she knew she wouldn't say no. Eventually she closed her eyes for sleep. When she woke up it was dark and Dayn was still sleeping. She didn't want to move, but she figured she should at least check his bandages. She lightly kissed his neck, then his cheek, then his lips, quietly saying, "Love, will you wake up just for a few moments? So I can check to see if we need to change your bandaging?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn opened his eyes, the sudden caress of Arryn's lips rousing him from his sleep. He slowly sat up and smiled. "Be my guest."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled back, taking his hands, turning them both over. "All good." She moved around to his back, looking at the bandaging before saying, "I have to replace a section - right around where I removed the silver." Arryn took off that section of the bandaging and then replaced the bandaging packing the puncture - she didn't have to replace the balms, they were still fresh enough that adding more might cause problems if the wound didn't get oxygen. She re-wrapped the bandages, then gently pushed him back down before cuddling up to him. "Do you want to go back to sleep now?"

 

[BookWyrm]

The bandaging process wasn't to painful. Some of the bandages pulled a little but over all he wasn't in much pain. Dayn smiled as Arryn gently pushed him back and then cuddled up against him. "I think it wouldn't hurt for a little while longer." Dayn had become so used to sleeping with Arryn cuddled against him that it would feel weird for her not to be there. Dayn gently kissed her lips before laying his head back and letting himself fall back too sleep for a while longer

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn pulled up the blankets and let herself drift off to sleep too. In her dreams, she was speaking to Alistair again. "So, what happened with the Guard?" "They didn't mind. However, we learned a few things.... Arryn.... Something slipped out. We don't know what it was, but something got through that portal. Now, more than likely it was nothing big at all - if it was big, we'd have known it. It was not the intended summon. It must have been something very weak. Chances are we'll have caught it before you run the chance of seeing it. So... let's change to a less dour subject... what happened to you two?" "Besides my getting poisoned with an alchemical acid with raw dark magic in it? Oh, and that's after Dayn was poisoned with a much stronger alchemical acid. And most recently, he was hurt by a skinwalker and tortured by a bounty hunter, who I went insane on and murdered." "Lovely. Arryn, you have to be careful with dark magic. With your mental weakness with mind magics and... well, it's a bad mix." "I'm more concrened about Dayn. He's got silver in his blood." "That could be very problematic.... Do you know why you were both poisoned?" "He was poisoned because he was seen with me in Ironcrest, I was because... I don't know, because i was here, I guess." "Maybe ask Dayn more about what he found out.... I was keeping an eye on him at one point, y'know." After they conversed a bit more, Arryn woke up slowly. The fire was still bright, meaning Lenza had thrown some wood onto it. Arryn glanced up a Dayn and smiled. She decided not to try to wake him, but just stay close.

 

[BookWyrm]

"The thought of this Skinwalker troubles me, but the thought of the bounty hunter bothers me more. How are you recovering?" Dayn had slipped into the Hunting Fields again. He was in his wolf form, the White Wolf next to him. Dayn had come to revere the wolf as a mentor, and any chance to speak with him was welcomed. "Not as well as I would like. The hunter used hollow bolts filled with fluid and silver flecks. Arryn managed to get a good portion of the flecks out, but there are still many more in my blood stream." The white wolf shook his head. "I am truly sorry that you must endure this. That method was developed to kill us slowly and painfully over months. I pray that you find respite soon Dayn." "We are waiting until I have regained enough strength and blood before trying the procedure. I'm not looking forward to it."





The white wolf looked at Dayn fondly. "I believe you can overcome it. Now, you need to regain your strength. She is waiting for you. Go to her. I have business to attend to. We have been called to aid the Guard in hunting down the fiend that was summoned at Ironcrest." Dayn looked at the wolf and smiled. "Give Alistair my regards." Dayn looked down at the grass, suddenly realizing that blood was dripping from his snout onto the grass at his feet.


He awoke in pain, though not nearly as much as he had before. It was a mild episode, lasting less than twenty seconds, but it was enough to ruin his sleep for a while. He had rolled over and held onto Arryn for the duration until the pain had ended. Slowly he unwrapped himself and sighed heavily. "Those are getting old."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn, though surprised, let Dayn hold her as he went through he pain. Once he was okay and speaking, she brushed back his hair and said, "Soon enough, they won't be a problem at all." She took his hand and slowly, gently rubbing his palm with her thumb, going up his fingers to make up for the bandages on the majority of his hand. "You sure you're okay now?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn nodded slightly. "Yeah. It was short, and rather mild." Dayn watched Arryn gently rubbing his hand and trace up his fingers. He smiled tiredly as he thought over his conversation with the wolf. "It would seem something did get through back in Ironcrest. The wolf said that they had been called to aid the Guard in hunting whatever it was down."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn looked up at Dayn with wide eyes. "Da said that too. Not about calling the pack in, but that something slipped through. He said it was small and weak, not the intended, it slipped without even the summoners noticing. He said we'd probably be fine though, they'll catch it soon. He also suggested I ask you about what you found out after I was poisoned....?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn looked at Arryn for a moment, his face twisted as he thought back on everything. "Alistair was right, you deserve to know." Dayn took her hands in his own before starting. "Kalie, Matthias, Theodas, and I got together and worked out the situation. Or well, they all kind of worked on the situation all at once. They said it was something all of you did as a team, but I might have snapped at them a little bit. I wasn't in the best condition that day." Dayn shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "Anyways, what was discovered was that Esclaire had slipped away after the match with you two, so Kalie tracked her down and brought her to the tree for an interrogation. We learned that she had been the one to slip the acid into your drink," Dayn held up his hand, "it wasn't originally her plan. Her mother is very sick, and she was trying to get money. She was paid to do it by a man. I was able to get a description from her of what he looks like, and we turned he loose. I.....might have crossed the line some. You were poisoned, love. I was barely holding it together, and I said some things. Well, I think Esclaire is more scared of me than any of you now."





Dayn still felt terrible for the interrogation. Esclaire seemed like she was a good girl, maybe a little misguided, but she was trying to save her mother. "I don't know if she got the money for her mum's medicine. I hope she was able to. Not that I'm justifying what she did to you at all love, it's just.....I understand what it is like to be pushed to the breaking point for the one you love. You'll do just about anything to save them, even if you regret it later."


Dayn shook his head, he'd gotten off track. "Sorry, where was I? Yes, so the man responsible for giving Esclaire the poison was a little taller than me, blonde, and tan. We hunted down the lead in the market to a man named O'Rourke. He had a house in the upper district. Well, we broke in, only to find the place gutted. There were some markings on the floor left by some Alchemical equipment." Dayn looked at Arryn, his hand moving up to cup her cheek. He knew this might be a touchy moment. "I found your old cloak, the one your wore on that night at the church, folded up on a desk in the house. We think that O'Rourke might have something to do with that as well, and that he left the cloak there for us to find."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn didnt know what to think. She laid her head on Dayn's chest and looked of at nothing, just thinking. She quietly said, "I... I don't blame you for what you did. I cannot hold losing temper against you - I mean... just look at me." She ran her hand absently over the bandage on her cheek, staying silent for a few moments. "I know someone poisoned you because of me and the Black Market, and that's probably why they poisoned me, but.... i don't think O'Rourke was the one to actually set the trap... I mean, to do the work himself...? But... thats not the point... he had my cloak... my old cloak...." She pulled the blankets overt hey head, taking Dayn’s have and curling against him, a few tears coming to her eyes. "Why won't they let me be?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn's heart felt like it would shatter at that moment. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as close to himself as he could. Right now he wanted her to feel safe and loved, not hunted and despised. "Fear and pain drive people to do terrible things love, and sometimes grudges will last a life time." He gently ran his fingers through her hair as he leaned down and nuzzled against her.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn snuggled against him, letting him hold her as she cried. She'd done the right thing, and she'd expected backlash, but she didn't like Dayn getting hurt and she wanted these people to leave her be. If she was still a fighter it'd make sense, but she dropped off the grid for two years. Yes, she'd cost them countless thousands of gold and killed countless of their men, but there was a reason she'd hidden herself for two years. "This is why I used a fake name," she said quietly. She let herself relax as he ran his fingers through her hair and nuzzled against her, enjoying the feeling.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn held Arryn, letting her cry out what tears would come, all the while running his fingers through her hair and gently rubbing his thumb over her palm. He hated seeing her upset, maybe even a little scared. For a few minutes he was silent as he contemplated things. "When we go to buy our property and build our home I am going to contact an old friend of the family. He can take care of things discreetly so that our home can remain a secret. I can also contact the rangers and see about setting up better patrol routes around Rorich and our property. It'll take some funding, though. But I should be able to speak with my father about that. He is in good standing with the local ranger captains, and I have done work with the rangers before, so we can get it taken care of. No one outside of us, the rest of your guild, and my family has to know anything about what we are doing."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn nodded slightly. "I don't know if people 'round here would like more Guards... they're sociable with the few who come through here once in a while, but that's because they know them. But like the idea.... our home being safe.... After the assassin was sent for me, I never felt entirely safe here again. He got the wrong house, yes, but still." Arryns snuggled up to Dayn, tucking her head under his chin. "I just... it's not fair. I know life not's fair, but... I mean, these people have no concept of fairness, only money. I hate them." She took his hand in hers, saying, "Why do they go after you... if not to hurt me? I've not hurt their loved ones, only them - why can they not do the same? Sometimes I have to pity them... What happened to them that they do not know honor? What could have blackened their souls so much? But other times, like now... I just want them all dead at the end of my blade." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Why do they have to do this?"

 

[BookWyrm]

"I wish I knew the answer love, but I don't." Dayn tried to find more encouraging words, but in truth he was right at the same point as Arryn. He could understand the separate attempts on their lives; the skinwalker for him and O'Rourke for her, but why did they have to pull the other into the fray? "They are using us against each other. The hunter took you to get at me, and the same was done when I was poisoned. If I didn't know better I'd say that the hunter was and O'Rourke were working together."





Dayn tucked a hand under her chin and lifted her to meet his lips. It was a delicate, reassuring kiss. "But I am not leaving your side no matter what. I don't care what they try to bring against us Arryn. I'm not leaving you. I will stand with you against the full forces of Hel if I must, and I know for certain these foes are nothing like that." Sure, it was more of a reassurance than an answer, but it felt right for the situation.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled. "I'm glad. I'd go through Hel and back for you, without being asked. I don't ant to be without you any more." She kissed him lightly, then snuggled up to him again, staying silent for a long while. When she finally spoke, she said, "We should focus on your injuries right now... How are you feeling?"

 

[BookWyrm]

"Honestly, like Hel. I feel defeated." Dayn felt like he had been physically and mentally defeated over the past several days. "You've been the one thing keeping me going, love."