Ascending Legends

[Dragongal]

Arryn slowly combed her fingers through Dayn's hair as he leaned on her. "Yes. You were, mo chroi. Look, I don't know about having kids. And clearly, being with you has not transmitted it to me, we went through a full moon since we had sex, I'm fine. I don't not want kids because you're a lycnathrope, it's more of... I just... not at this time, it just wouldn't work for us. We'll just... deal with things as they come, okay? At the moment our hands are full enough with you having silver in your blood.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn sighed with relief. "I know, love. I'm not trying to rush into that. I wouldn't have brought it up if it wasn't for the dream." As Dayn rested his head against her chest he had a thought cross his mind at about the same time the mischievous smile spread across his face. "Hey, love, are you sure that infertility charm worked?" He pressed his head against her chest. "You are feeling a little fuller today than you did last time."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and laughed in astonishment, lightly pushing him off of her. "Dayn! You disgusting old man! If you think that's supposed to be a compliment, you're terribly wrong!"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn laughed as Arryn pushed him. "So I'm a disgusting old man for giving an assessment of my dear beloved's bosom? Ah, I'm hurt love." Dayn laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. "I just wanted to see you laugh, love. With everything we've both been through lately it gives me strength to see you smile and laugh and forget about it all, even for just a moment."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled back to him. "There's better ways to do it than speaking about my bosom, love. Really." She gave him a quick kiss then said, "I'd offer you food, but you shouldn't eat if we're going to get the silver out of you today."

 

[BookWyrm]

"I'm sorry if I offended you love. That really wasn't my intent." Dayn cupped her cheek as he gave her a sheepish smile. "I think very highly of you. You are my equal in many ways, my better in others. I consider myself lucky to call you mine, if you really want to know how I feel." Dayn chuckled slightly. "Your beautiful bosom were just a perk that came with the rest of you."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn rolled her eyes. "You didn't offend me. I will let that last bosom comment slip because of your eloquent compliments before that. Of course, I think I'm the lucky one. I didn't just find my soul mate with you, I found my sanity." She kissed him softly, then held him close, running her thumb over his cheek slowly.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the moment. In truth part of his ridiculous humor was to try and brighten the mood, but deep down, if he was being truthful, the humor was fed by his gnawing anxiety. He knew what he was going to face that night was going to be painful, maybe even lethal if something went wrong. The thought of leaving Arryn alone in the world ate at him worse than the dread that had consumed him after Kara and Lia had died. He loved Arryn more than he could ever express to her. She had become his driving force, his purpose to continue living. He wondered if he should tell her about the weeks after Kara and Lia's death, his various suicide attempts and his brief time spent on the border between this life and the next. "Arryn....love......I...." Dayn realized that he couldn't tell her, that he couldn't confess even now. His shame was still so heavy upon him from that dark time. "What do I need to do to get ready for the procedure?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn pulled back a bit and took his hand, lightly rubbing her thumb over his palm as she thought. "No food. You can drink, but no food. Keep calm overall. Rest. try not to worry. We can do it any time you feel like it...." Arryn looked at him with clear hesitation. Her next offer was risky, but she felt that she had to make it. "Do you want a sleeping draught for it? There's some slight risks if you do, but I mean...."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn took her hand in his before looking her in the eye. "What do you want me to do?" He would have stayed awake for it, but he knew Arryn would be bothered if he cried out in pain. So, he would let her decide.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn looked at him searchingly. "It's going to hurt. I don't like seeing you in pain. However, it's safer if you don't. I don't want you thinking you have to struggle to hide your pain during the bleeding - you don't have to. i'm probably going to be so focused I might not even hear anything. I would say no draught. But it's ultimately up to you." She didn't want to see Dayn in pain, but the extra risk was not worth it in her view. She didn't want him to hold back and make it worse for himself for her, either.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn knew that this was going to be excruciating, and whether Arryn wanted to think about it or not, there was no way should could avoid paying attention to what would come. If it was like the incident with his heart then he knew it was going to be horrible, but he would submit to her for this. "Alright, I'll pass on the draught."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn nodded slightly. "The trick will be keeping you still, then. I have a vague recollection of you struggling quite a bit in the barn."Arryn reached out and gently pulled him close before kissing him softly, hoping to try to ease some of his nerves. When she was done, she looked at him and said, "It's going to be okay. It's going to hurt, but it's going to be okay. I promise, beloved."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn smiled and chuckled slightly. "I don't recall struggling much, but I'll take your word for it." Dayn relaxed some when she kissed him, but he could still feel his heart pounding. "I am ready when you are love."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled to him, then kissed him slowly again. When she pulled away, she smiled slightly at him, then nodded. "I'm ready now. I'll go get Mom, and we'll do it. And everything will be fine." Arryn gave him another quick smile before getting out of the bed (with some reluctance) and going to find her mother. She explained it and talked things over with her before they returned to the room. Lenza set about bandaging Dayn's forearm to prevent the flecks from touching his skin, and then tied a tight bandage over his upper arm. Arryn stood next to him while Lenza stood aside in case she was needed - she was no mage. Arryn laid her hand on Dayn's arm, saying, "I need to get the flecks moving. This may hurt a bit," before starting to find the flecks and move them toward his arm.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn leaned his head back and closed his eyes when Arryn began moving the flecks through his body. He kept his composure better than he had before other than the muscles and veins that slowly bulged against his skin when the flecks moved through an area. Dayn knew that she would eventually have to move them through his heart again. Just the thought caused him to start breathing heavy. He wanted to calm down and keep it together for Arryn's sake, but he found himself getting worked up again.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn focused, the flecks were spread throughout his body, the point now was to get them all in one place. This was difficult, but nor impossible. The real fun started as she had to move them through his heart. She did it as quickly as possible without allowing for excess risk. When that was finally ovre, she took a steel knife she'd set out earlier and made a cut across his forearm, just about the bandaging, and started to coax out the silver.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn groaned, trying to suppress the scream that wanted to break out as the flecks moved through his heart again. His vision began to dim slightly as they passed through, and he thought there might have been a slight stutter, but thankfully his heart wasn't affected nearly as bad as the last time. Dayn winced as Arryn made the cut across his forearm. Out of all of it that was probably the least painful though. As the silver began to move closer to the open wound Dayn's arm began to shake. All of the flecks in one place caused the pain to grow significantly. He clinched his eyes shut as the tears began to fall, and as the flecks began to come out of his arm he felt a strange ripple move through his body. His face shifted slightly, his teeth elongating as he snarled in pain. His body had been trying to reject the silver ever since it entered him, and now that it had a way out his own healing mechanics were pushing into overdrive to get out, though that proved to be a problem. His blood stopped coagulating as his body fought to rid itself of the silver, causing it to run towards the wound to flush the silver out. With so much loss of blood from the trap, Dayn suddenly felt himself getting light headed. "Arryn....somethings wrong."

 

[Dragongal]

"I've already got it, don't worry love." Arryn could feel his body shift into overdrive - in a way, she was connected, she could feel his heartbeat, his temperature, his blood pressure, she just knew all of it. So when Dayn's body started reacting, she was already changing her approach. She adjusted his blood pressure slightly to keep it from running from the wound at such a rate, and lowered his heartrate slightly as well, trying to keep his bloodloss down. After a few moments, she could see some of the silver in the blood that flower, staying on the top of the bandages as the blood soaked into them. "Just a bit more."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn felt one of the strangest sensations of his life as Arryn slowly began to control the involuntarily reactions his body had begun. It didn't feel wrong, though. Dayn could sense her touch, her love, even in such a way that it flooded his body with an overwhelming peace. His whole body relaxed as he leaned his head back again, letting the tension ease out of his system as Arryn finished her work.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn's vision had begun to dim, but she was only half-way done. She focused, forcing herself to push on as the flecks glimmered crimson, exposed to the light as they came out with his blood. By three quarters of the way, she couldn't hear anything that was happening around herself, she was focusing on keeping his blood pressure and heart rate consistent and ushering the silver out. Finally she was done, and she broke off the connection as she stumbled back, grabbing onto the table as her vision dimmed. She let herself slide down to the floor as she started to fade from consciousness. Lenza moved to her side and helped her up, making her lay down on the empty bed next to Dayn's before she passed out. Lenza then set about removing Dayn's bandaging and the silver and wrapping a clean bandage over the cut, then wiping off the excess blood with a wet rag.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn felt relief flood his system with the silver gone, though it was short lived. Now that the silver was gone his body needed to completely recover, something the silver had been keeping it from doing. "Thanks.....Len.." Dayn's body shut down, putting him into a temporary coma in order to heal the damage and recover from the significant blood loss.

 

[Dragongal]

It was dark when Arryn woke slowly. She registered the pain in her body first, then the exhaustion. Her hands hurt especially but overall she was sore. Obvious signs of mana drain, except for the pain in her hands. She could hear the logs crackling on a fire, opening her eyes to find it dim and nearly dead. She slowly, painfully sat up. Every muscles was complaining about her decision to burn all of her mana.She looked at her arms, pausing for a few moments. Sleeveless? Why in hel... oh, right.... Arryn looked to the next bed over, seeing Dayn. It didn't seem like he'd moved much since everything that happened. Silently, she got out of her bed, pausing as her knees adjusted to taking on her weight, then crossed over to his bed and crawled under the covers, snuggling up against his side as she took his hand in both of hers and fell asleep.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn opened his eyes slowly. It took him a few moments to realize that his body was no longer aching or feeling pain of any kind. He blinked, trying to figure out what was going on. Had he died? No, he was still breathing. He had a heartbeat. Wait, something else was....He looked over to Arryn and smiled. She was cuddled against him, his hand in hers. He sighed as he laid his head back down on his pillow. "It worked. Thank the gods."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn opened her eyes slightly, having heard Dayn's voice. She smiled a bit, closed her eyes again and quietly muttered, "I'm not a god, love, but thanks for the compliment."