Ascending Legends

[Dragongal]

Libro walked over to look at the weapons. He shuffled off and took out a rag and poured water on it from a glass before coming back to Dayn and Arryn and wiping the dried blood off the hooks. Arryn was waiting patiently beside Dayn with his hand in hers.

 

[BookWyrm]

It didn't take the old dwarf long to discover what the runes were. "Ha! It's a withering curse. I haven't seen one of these in..." When he looked up and noticed Dayn grimacing and squeezing Arryn's hand, clearly uncomfortable, he decided to get to the point. "A withering curse is designed to slowly weaken it's victim, causing them intense pain and injury until they are crippled or killed. Seeing as these weapons are silver, and that the curse was transcribed in blood runes, then you have been doubly cursed. I'm honestly surprised you are even standing at the moment. Come in out of the cold, I need to see your wounds."


Once they were inside Dayn took off his many layers before letting Libro examine his hands and back. "Hmm, I'd be willing to bet that since Miss Arryn has taken such care of these wounds that she has delayed the progression of the curse. For your sake that is a good thing." Dayn sighed in some relief. "The silver flecks in your blood was more than likely done to keep you down long enough for the curse to set in. And since the flecks have been removed your body was able to recover to some degree before the curse took full affect." Dayn reached out and squeezed Arryn's hand appreciatively. "Don't get too excited yet. Your life is still in danger."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn squeezed Dayn's hand back, trying to offer some comfort. "Libro, how do we fix it?" She couldn't kill a person. So she only had the problem to fix.

 

[BookWyrm]

"Oh, neither of you are going to enjoy it, though I'm not sure which will enjoy it less. Thankfully you've caught the curse at an early stage, and weakened to boot. The man that tried to kill you was planning on you being a lot worse off by the time the curse set in." Dayn gave the old dwarf a raised eyebrow and a sigh to move him along some. "The weapons must be smelted in a special process to remove the dark magic, and then they must be reforged and inscribed with counter acting blood runes." Dayn didn't like where this was going. He gave Libro a knowing look, to which the dwarf nodded before continuing. "Then, once they are finished, Dayn will have to endure the weapons a second time, and for the same duration and in the same injuries as the first to make sure the blood runes are activated and the curse is broken.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn shook her head. "That is insane, there has to be another way. I mean... really, there must be something else..." She was just in denial, and she knew it. She held Dayn's hand tightly and sighed. "Libro, you enchant ore. Can you do the reforging...? Who else would know the runes?"

 

[BookWyrm]

"I can do the smelting, disenchanting, reforging and reenchanting. I am a dwarf after all, and I know the proper runes to use the second time around. But, I will need some time to do this properly. A week, maybe ten days at the most, before they are completed." Dayn had stood up and clothed himself again. As he stood next to Arryn he couldn't help but shake. The thought of having to go through that pain again, even without the flecks, was terrifying.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn pulled Dayn into a tight embrace, trying to calm him and think things through. "Please do it swiftly then." She took Dayn's hands and reached up to brush his hair back. "Come in, let's get home, ok? "

 

[BookWyrm]

"Yeah, okay." Dayn felt like he was going to be sick the whole way home. Even after getting in the door as he sat down he crossed his arms over his knees, resting his chin on them in silence. He knew it had to be done, but having to go through it all again. Having to go through the pain of being hung from hooks again, having to deal with the burning silver again, having to do through days worth of recovery, all of it just to break a curse. Whomever had hired the hunter to kill him and truly meant for him to die in the most painful way possible. But had Arryn's situation been any different? The person who had tried to kill her had put the same amount of thought into it as the man who sought Dayn's life. Somehow that didn't make him feel any better.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn moved to Dayn's side and wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling against his neck. "I'm staying by your side for all of this, my love." While she knew that this worried him -and rightly so - she didn't like seeing him so upset. She needed to distract him, but all she could think of at the moment was being hear him.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn slowly turned, sitting cross legged, before leaning into Arryn's embrace as he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't want to have to go through this again, but do I have a choice?" No, now wasn't the time to get worked up about it. How could he get his mind off of it right now? Recall some story? No, he didn't feel like talking much right now, and that ruled out a song as well. Dayn finally just laid down, resting his head in Arryn's lap as he held her hand tightly.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn slowly ran her fingers through his hair with her free hand. She started to sing a pretty, slow song in Northern. He wouldn't understand, but it was a nice little song about growing up and being noble and just through the hardships of life. Even if he couldn't understand, it was pretty, and one of her favorites.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn closed his eyes as Arryn ran her finger's through his hair. He let himself drown out the world and focus on the feeling of her touch. When she started to sing he let himself focus on both her touch and her voice as he slowly ran his thumb over her palm. Within a matter of minutes Dayn had forgotten about his worries and fallen into a light sleep. He could still make out Arryn's voice, and somehow in his sleep his dreams put together the story despite him not knowing the language. A slightly smile played at the corners of his mouth as he slept. Here he was comfortable and happy and safe, free from the worries of what would come.

 

[Dragongal]

Seeing that Dayn was only lightly asleep, Arryn sang the song again, not wanting to risk him waking. Deep down she wished he'd stay like this until they could fix everything. He'd been so stressed lately, and now with this... he was in a bad shape. But he wasn't at the moment, and that was all she wanted, to provide some comfort for him. She longed for the days in Low Rock where both of them were healthy and nobody was after their blood... no stress, no worry....


A sudden idea occurred. Libro had said Dayn had to endure the pain a second time, in the same manner, but...what if Arryn could make a sleeping draught strong enough to keep him unconscious? Yes he'd be in pain for the recovery, but for the actual damage, he'd be okay. His body would almost certainly struggle, but that could be dealt with easily. He'd have to be in wolf form, so she'd have to test to see the potency of potions in his other form, but it could work. Something in his blood shouldn't matter since they don't have to put the flecks in him again.The runes only have to be activated by blood.


Arryn took a little hope from the idea, and a slight smile was on her face as she played with Dayn's hair and sang. When she felt he was in a deep enough sleep, Arryn took many blankets and wrapped them around him, (though she continued singing in fear that he'd wake at the sudden lack of noise) curling up next to him to keep him warm in the improvised blanket nest. She could have shifted, but then she couldn't keep singing to him and idly playing with his hair. All of her songs were in Northern, because they were from her childhood, and were her favorites. She sang a song about the forest hiding secrets, good and bad, and how nobody'd know unless someone was brave enough to try it. There was a song about "poor nobility", those who were poor but were as beloved as the kindest kings. One was about lost family, and how one needed to continue on their own journey, so they'd have stories to tell their family in the end. There was a song about an old story of the gods, how they decided to ban direct interaction with humans so that they could forge their own destiny.


Arryn only got half way through one of her absolute favorites, a song about a simple life, money was hard, but it was the free joys in life that made everything okay and those free joys that were worth living for, so there was no need to stress, because as long as one had love and the simple things everything would be okay. She'd have liked to finish it, especially if Dayn were awake - though she was still admittedly a good bit shy about her voice - but she fell asleep, holding Dayn close against her, both of them nearly buried in cozy blankets as she tried to keep him warm.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn couldn't exactly recall the dreams he had that night in detail, but he could recall them in feeling and emotion. Arryn's songs gave rise to dreams depicting the stories of which she sang of. All of them were fleshed out in vivid detail somehow, even though Dayn had little understanding of the Northern language. Even during his dreams, though, Dayn felt warm and safe and forgot about the stress and worries that had plagued him over the last month or so. His rest was uninterrupted by nightmare, pain, or disturbance, only ending when the sun finally broke through the slats and shined out on the blanket nest where he and Arryn were cuddled together. When the sun laid out on him he stirred, wrapping his arms around Arryn as he grumbled, longing for more sleep. Here he was comfortable and in peace, not a care in the world. Even in his sleep he seemed to know Arryn was close to him, a fact that made it so much easier to stay asleep.


Finally Dayn opened up his eyes, the morning sun now shining down on both him and Arryn as his sight adjusted. Arryn was still asleep, her head leaning against his chest as she remained in the peaceful embrace. Dayn smiled lovingly towards her, perhaps unconsciously knowing that she had sang and watched over him the previous night. Gently he leaned in and rested his head lightly against hers as he rubbed his hand over her back. He didn't want to disturbed her out of her rest, but he did want to love on her in some way, so this seemed like the best option. He held her in his arms as he closed his eyes, letting the quiet love they shared between them speak for him as he waited for her to wake.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn woke up with a smile on her face, recognizing the feeling of Dayn's hand on her back and his head pressed against hers. She opened her eyes and leaned forward ever so slightly, kissing him lightly. "Morning, mo chroi." She adjusted her position slightly and nuzzled against his neck. "Did you sleep well?" Arryn had hardly gotten any sleep, and this was the third night in a row that she hadn't slept much, but she could continue like this for many days before needing a break.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn smiled, gently moving his hand from Arryn's back to her neck as he worked his fingers in circles on either side of her neck. "That was probably the best night I've had in a while now. Thank you love." Dayn held her tight against him. They were warm and comfortable, and for the time being he didn't feel like going anywhere or moving at all. "What about you?"

 

[Dragongal]

"Good night," she said simply, enjoying the feeling as he massaged her neck. She didn't want to bring up her idea now, because of the pain attached to it; it could ruin his good mood. "I guess I should sing more often, then?" She was content with the idea of not doing a damn thing all day. That sounded nice.

 

[BookWyrm]

"Mhm, you should. You have a beautiful voice." Dayn gently rested his head against Arryn's as he continued to massage her, now having worked down to her shoulders. "I say we stay home today. There is nothing pressing on us that we have to get out and do, so why not just spend a relaxing day together, hmm?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled at the compliment. "Yes, please." She cuddled up closer to him and pulled the blankets higher, sighing contentedly. They spent the day relaxing and cuddling, not worrying about what was to come, and Arryn thought it an absolute godssend. For dinner they made a simple shepherd's pie, but Arryn noticed something odd. She smiled slightly to Dayn, saying, "Love, the food was delicious, but... I'm starving." She'd eaten what was probably more than her fair share, but she was still hungry, and she wanted meat. She remembered what had happened when Dayn had gotten like this, and she was ready for it.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn laughed, returning the smile after he leaned in and kissed her lips. "I didn't want to sound rude, before, but now that you mention it, I am too." Dayn helped clean up the dishes before taking Arryn's hands. He smiled at her, tilting his head to the side slightly as his eyes played over her face. "Would you like to go on our first hunt together?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn grinned widely and nodded. "Honestly, anything to stop this hunger. I haven't been hungry all day until I started eating. You'll have to show me how to hunt as a wolf, but I'm all for it." Arryn grabbed her pack and took his hands. "We'll shift in the forests. Don't let the elk see you, though. They'll charge if they think you're a risk. We can outrun them, but it's not going to be fun then." Once they both had their jackets and boots on, she led him out into the woods to an area of fertile hunting grounds. "We should try for a buck or a large boar."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn was amazed at the wide variety of smells he could already detect. He looked around the area to make sure it was safe before giving Arryn a nod to get undressed. "You still won't be able to communicate verbally, but seeing as how you did well enough the other day we shouldn't have to worry." Once he had laid his clothes by Arryn's pack he focused, closed his eyes, and shifted before watching Arryn to make sure she shifted okay. When she had wolfed he walked over to her, his tail wagging slightly, and nuzzled against her lovingly. <Take a moment and stretch out. You will always be a stiff after a shift.> Dayn showed Arryn the right ways to stretch out before taking a moment to watch her.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn copied Dayn's stretched, taking her time despite her excitement. Her tail was wagging ridiculously fast. She was hungry, and they were going to hunt. It sounded fun. She could smell so many things in the large forest that she had never noticed before. Including a deer. She looked at him, waiting for him to lead. She still had no clue how to hunt as a wolf, she was too scared to let instinct rule.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn put his nose to the ground, searching out something that wouldn't possible fight back if cornered. From the scent trail's left Dayn managed to catch wind of a buck. He turned back to Arryn and yipped before leading her off down the scent trail. <Stay close, don't exhaust yourself by putting everything into a run just yet. We can travel much further in a short jog, and we'll still have the energy to run the deer down. When we do finally get into the chase we will work together. One will take the back leg, the other will shot for the throat.>

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn followed closely. When she saw the buck in the distance, she started getting low to the ground, but remembered to stay behind Dayn and let him lead her in this.