Fantasy Primacy [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

Varick had read all the signs correctly. That didn’t surprise him, though it did please him to see Tamsin’s immediate understanding in her blush, and her easy agreement. Well, at least he wasn’t dealing with some maiden, then. Admittedly, he might have reconsidered that, given the way most viewed maidenhood – usually including the maiden herself. He wasn’t the sort who was sticking around, no matter what gentle feelings he tendered towards the women he’d spent time with.

“I’ve been told I can be quite warm,” Varick noted, playing along with play that didn’t really need to exist anymore. Still, it wasn’t a lie. He was warm, and he could certainly keep other people warm, although he knew it would mostly be their activity that kept both of them warm. At least, for a bit of time.

He watched Tamsin as she went away towards the bed, her gaze never leaving him as she walked backwards, before he chuckled as he shook his head and followed after her, closing the distance quickly and letting his hand go right back to her back, only this time his grip at her hip was more certain, firmer, as he stepped against her.

“Just say if I go too far,” the words were almost murmured before he’d press his lips to hers, firm, but not rough, not hard – not yet, anyways. He’d be testing those limits bit by bit, mindful of just how small and delicate she did seem…and more than aware some of the delicate sorts liked it a bit rougher than, well, the more savage-looking women.

Odd dualities, really.

~***~

The land was dead.

It wasn’t just that the grass wasn’t green, or the fact there were no trees at all. The fish were gone. Algae didn’t even tint the waters as Kirsikka looked back to the pool that had served as their portal. The water was stagnant. ‘Oh.’ This was a bit worse than even she was expecting, but nothing she couldn’t deal with. Sure, it meant growing plants and possibly drawing water from the air, but those were things she could do.

‘Will It notice?’ The It being whatever caused this.

Could monsters even live in this kind of environment?

She nodded to Drazhan as he came through, and the portal closed with a shimmer. “So, what kinds of fiends can live in this?” Kirsikka asked the monster master as she turned to Zephyr and moved up onto the saddle. A glance up at the sky gave her direction, so she knew which way she wanted to keep moving, and she would set Zephyr off on that path.

She wouldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that something was trying to pull at her strength. She felt it. Mostly, she felt it flow through her, rather than catch on her. Perhaps the perk of multiple channels, as the elves said…or perhaps whatever it was that had drained this area, just hadn’t decided to try and sink its teeth into her.

Yet.

She didn’t know if Drazhan could feel it, so she wouldn’t ask that yet, either.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin smiled. She could remember how much warmth he radiated that one night they spent in close proximity in the woods. Her, shivering on the forest floor, and Varick came over to sit next to her, to allow her some of his body heat to help warm her up so that she could actually sleep.

But any thoughts that traveled outside of the room ceased when Varick closed the distance between the two. His lips pressed against hers, and she pressed herself closer against him, if that was even possible. Her hands traveled up his torso to rest on the back of his neck, as she was more than happy with his firmness.

And the beard felt nice against her skin. Her thoughts wondered at how it would feel in other places as well.

Shame this was only going to be a one time event. Tamsin was already enjoying herself, and they hadn’t even really begun. Her eyes closed, and one hand wandered back down to feel at Varick’s torso and the sheer strength that laid underneath his clothes.

Oh, she was definitely going to have a good time.

~~~

The land was devoid of life. No greenery, no animals, nothing that hinted at something that may still be alive.

Drazhan didn’t have a good feeling about this. And that wasn’t just because something else just felt off about the land.

He couldn’t quite place what it was.

Following Kirsikka’s lead, Drazhan mounted Bear and moved in the same direction as her. He cocked his head at her question. “Well, certainly not your normal, everyday monsters such as noonwraiths and griffins.” Those required humans and life. Like most other creatures. “Not much that I know of can live out in these kinds of conditions, unless we face creatures I’ve never heard of before.”

Which was entirely possible. Whatever drained the area of life could certainly create new monsters to populate the area. He just hoped his sword would be enough to defeat anything they came across.

Even the great It they were chasing.

 

[Lucyfer]

Tamsin was almost immediately handsy once the kiss was initiated. Not that Varick minded in the least, somehow he’d expected otherwise despite the acknowledgment this was no maiden. Well, that was quite all right by him – he enjoyed the feel of her hands, even if it was still over his clothing.

Clothing always did get in the way.

He walked her back the rest of the way towards the bed, sensing the arrival of it when her legs bumped against the back of it. He didn’t let her fall back to it, of course, his grip remaining strong in holding her against him.

He broke the kiss, only to allow his lips to travel along her jaw, her cheek, nearer to her ear as his hands began to seek out any ties to her attire to get those undone so he could remove the irksome clothing, “Thank you,” he whispered, grinning impishly where she couldn’t quite see it as his cheek was against hers, “I was beginning to wonder what I was going to do for dessert.”

Clothes loosened, he let his teeth nip her ear before he’d press her down towards the bed. Clothing come off well enough lying down or standing up, really. Okay, not really – but there was an impatience to him to do as he promised about eating dessert, and he was famished for the taste, and to hear how she sung.

The night wouldn’t feel long, if Varick had any say about it.

~***~

Drazhan didn’t know anything, though he spoke of one creature she didn’t know. Not that it was a terrible surprise, but it made her think of creatures that could be in this area. “Noonwraith?” Obviously, some sort of ghost, right? Maybe, maybe not.

It at least brought to mind, “A wraith seems like exactly the sort of thing that would be in this area, now that you mention it. Or a lich, revenant, ghost…anything already dead.” Some of those things likely needed life to sustain their undead status, but the undead definitely seemed like the most likely thing they’d run across.

And they were known for draining life. ‘No, still no latch.’ Strange.

“I wasn’t…expecting it to be this far gone, anywhere in Pomachion,” she told Drazhan that much. “We can still get through. I can still grow plants for the horses to eat,” and they had rations, so they’d get by until those ran out. Then they’d figure something out. They could, in theory, use the two mirrors to portal back to the elf lands, and leave the other one behind to serve as a portal.

Hopefully that wouldn’t be necessary, though.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin sang for Varick.

She started off softly, worried about making too much noise, then she just did not give a fuck. Not with the way Varick treated her.

And treated her well did he.

Tamsin slept well that night, thanks to the Primal she shared the bed with. She was warm, satiated, and happy, but when morning came, she was almost a little sad, because that meant their time together was nearly over.

She laid by his side, curled up and with one hand resting on his chest. Already she could tell she was going to be sore when she stood up, but oh was the pain worth it for the evening of pleasure they shared. And she would do it again in a heartbeat.

Such a shame that wouldn’t be the case.

Tamsin silently basked in the morning light for a few more minutes, not daring to shift too much or make any noise lest Varick was still sleeping. She didn’t want to wake him up, if he was still asleep and not feigning it until she herself woke up.

~~~

Drazhan nodded at Kirsikka’s clueless restatement of the noonwraith. “Yes, they’re similar to wraiths, except they can attack during the day, while wraiths are only at night.” And in his experience, noonwraiths weren’t as common as wraiths, but they still appeared. They still attacked anyone who got too close.

“Most of those things need previous life and something physical to keep them bound to this world,” Drazhan told her. “I don’t think there is much here to keep those creatures bound to this realm.” Not unless there were abandoned towns that still held sentimental trinkets.

Those would be areas to avoid.

“But maybe the rules are different for the monsters here,” he added. Things just felt…stranger. Different. A very bad different.

And it seemed Kirsikka wasn’t quite expecting this either. “At least our horses can still eat.” And there was still water to be found, which was also good for their horses. Drazhan had his water flasks, as well as their rations, to live off of until they ran out. Then, he supposed, they would have to turn back.

“Do you know a little of what we’re looking for?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Morning was the unfortunate reality of all these situations. Varick felt the sun as it began to paint the sky in dawn’s hues, and yes, he was indeed awake before Tamsin, but he didn’t move. He wasn’t in a rush to get back to his duty of his questioning people and finding answers, or to consider that perhaps his night should have been spent on the hunt. If someone died in the night, that would be bad.

But it was hard to think of such things with Tamsin curled alongside him, her warmth, her scent, and her touch, invading all of his senses in quite a pleasant way. He didn’t dare to move and wake her earlier than need be.

Tamsin did begin to shift.

He could tell she was also reluctant to get up as her heart rate picked up to that of a waking person, but he allowed them both a few moments more of grace, before he finally broke it, stretching out and opening his eyes, turning onto his side so he was facing her.

Quite the nice sight to look at now.

Sadly few of his marks were visible, but he had left them, intentionally in places not to be visible. Tamsin did have a job, and men rarely liked to see such things if they hadn’t left them, on another woman.

But he was sure she would see them. Perhaps even still feel a few. And she’d remember, for a while longer. “Good morning,” he’d greet, lifting himself up from there, only to momentarily lean over her to place a kiss to her lips, and break it almost as quick. Lingering was never a good idea, but she wasn’t someone he’d just paid.

There were…enough emotions here, that he wasn’t going to be cold in the morning, even if he was going to leave the bed and start getting dressed.

~***~

“Mmm.” Kirsikka supposed that made sense. The name for noonwraiths was rather uninspired, then, but that wasn’t too surprising. It seemed most wraiths also had something more than mere memory that held them to an area. Given all of this…there really wasn’t likely to be much holding anything here, but she knew there would be ruins of towns along the way.

Definitely places to avoid.

“Loosely,” Kirsikka said, “I’m looking for a seal, or some evidence of…well, a bright white light.” However, as she looked at the ground, she had other ideas. “I think this is only going to get worse the closer we get, though.” Of that, she had little doubt, “Either the seal, or the White Sun, is draining the land. I rather hope it’s the seal.”

At least that would mean the White Sun wasn’t gaining additional power. “I don’t know what that means for what’s up ahead, so stay on guard,” he probably didn’t need to be told that, though. He was as out of his element as she was.

Except, she could feel one other thing: “I do know something is draining, or was draining, the area. I can feel it, the way I can feel the flow of magic,” so she was on the right track to something. What that was, was debatable.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin smiled at the chaste kiss, and her grin only widened as she watched Varick leave the bed to get dressed. “Good morning indeed,” she murmured, watching him and his backside for a few seconds before she sat up in bed and stretched, letting the blanket fall to her lap.

After their shared night, there was no reason to be bashful in front of him now.

“So you’re going back on the case now?” Tamsin stood up and walked over to her clothes, picking up a day dress she can walk through the city in. Nothing like the ones she performed in. “You should at least stay for breakfast. They make a nice porridge. Warm and flavorful.” It was spiced with cinnamon, that she was sure of, and it made all the difference to serving a filling meal.

She slipped on the dress and made quick work of the ties in the back. She had half a mind to ask Varick to ‘help’ her with the ties, but that would be lingering in touches they didn’t need to linger in. It would only make her disappointed that their journey together was at an end, except for maybe Varick stopping by to tell her the monster had been taken care of.

“But I understand if you can’t stay. There’s a woman-eating-monster to hunt down, after all.”

~~~

“A bright white light,” Drazhan murmured. “I suppose the one in the sky doesn’t count.” He chuckled at his own lame joke, shaking his head. A seal would be harder to find than a great white light, although he wondered if an increase in monsters would mean they were getting closer to the seal. Would monsters even protect the seal?

He certainly didn’t need to be told to stay on guard. “The thing about Primals,” he began, “is that we have been endued with a sort of a sixth sense for monsters and anything else that would want to kill us.” A blessing and a curse, really. He purposely failed to mention that sometimes the sixth sense came in literally seconds before the attack.

Just enough time to realize something was wrong and to draw his sword.

“If you can feel it like the flow of magic, can you tell which direction this something is draining the area?” Maybe then they would have a much better idea of which way this seal or bright white light was located, instead of just wandering aimlessly.

 

[Lucyfer]

If Tamsin wasn’t going to be shy, neither was Varick in looking at her when she sat up, or glancing at her as she also pulled herself together. He had already seen it all, although by candles, not sun. Sun did make a difference as it filtered through the windows and curtains. A pleasant difference, of course.

If only the dreams of settling into a normal day job were dreams Varick could have – to have someone to wake up to, to enjoy daytime pleasures. Like breakfast – porridge. “No thanks,” he didn’t really care for porridge. Or gruel. Or grits. Any of those things, really. He’d endure them, but he didn’t care for them. “Not much into porridge. Good in hard times, but while I’m in a town, I’ll take sturdier food.”

It was an easy way to reject it, without it being about her.

Although it was also, somewhat, about her, and lingering. “Besides, you’re right. I do need to get back into the investigation. Maybe someone died last night.”

What Varick didn’t know, was that someone had.

Because of course someone would die while he was enjoying himself. He wasn’t allowed nice things.

“But I’ll walk you down,” he promised.

~***~

Kirsikka didn’t bother to remind Drazhan she was aware enough of this talent. She had seen it in action enough, not just with him – but definitely with him – back in the forest. She also knew that sometimes it really wasn’t that much warning, unless Drazhan just loved to build up the suspense or pretend he didn’t notice something was happening…and not tell her. No, she wouldn’t call him out on that.

As for this draining thing, though…that was another matter. He didn’t indicate that he felt it, so she assumed it didn’t fall under Primal Sense. She shut her eyes. ‘No. It’s all around.’ Well, of course it was here, they were in the fucking deadlands.

But there was always a way. Kirsikka was nothing if not ingenious, and the creativity with magic had always lent itself to answers. If she could think of something, she could make it happen. “I can find out.” She stopped Zephyr, “but we’ll be stopping here for the night, because this is going to exhaust me.”

She would ignore any protest as she took some of the dried fruit from their pack of rations, knelt to the ground and placed her hand to it with the fruit.

‘Grow.’

The soil was dead.

The water was stale.

‘Grow.’

She could stir the water easily, move it, and stir minerals through it. Stir the fruit’s memories.

Sprouts came.

And she forced them to grow faster, to sprout outwards rather than upwards, to twist their natural form of trees to vines and creeping moss, looking for the draining line, or direction, as it spread out in a circle around her.

Waiting for it to pinch into her magical channels, or take the nutrients of the soil.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin shrugged. She couldn’t fault him for wanting something hardier. He was a big man, he needed more to eat than just porridge, while Tamsin was satisfied with just a small bowl.

It was what she would eat after Varick left, and it would keep her satisfied until later in the day.

She frowned at the thought of someone dying during the night. “Oh, that would just be terrible.” But wasn’t that their reality? And why Varick was in Ritherhithe to begin with? There was a monster killing women, and every day he doesn’t find the creature is another day of another potential victim.

Tamsin finished dressing and brushing out her hair. “I’m ready,” she said, walking towards the door once Varick was ready as well. She would enjoy their last few moments together, though try not to think too hard on the absence. She really had gotten too attached.

~~~

Drazhan did want to protest stopping so soon, when they had only just begun their journey, but Kirsikka knew her magical limitations better than he did. He’s seen what has happened to her when she overdid it. He would silently allow for them to stop for the night.

But that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

Drazhan dismounted his horse and watched Kirsikka with mild fascination. He’s seen magic in use enough times, but it still always mesmerized him to some degree. The ability to just…create. Or manipulate to a great degree, like Kirsikka was currently doing.

Turning dried fruit into something more fantastical, so that there was actual life in the lands.

But with the new life came a strange feeling Drazhan didn’t like. The feeling hummed inside of him, activating that sixth sense he just told Kirsikka about. Frowning, he turned his head and glanced around, but there was nothing else. Just he, Kirsikka, and the new life she sprouted underneath her hand.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick followed Tamsin out of the room, wondering if perhaps he should have left earlier, on his own. Sure, people would know he was there with Tamsin, but separation could make people conveniently ‘forget’. But, he didn’t. He had promised to walk her down, and so he did, both of them entering the tavern-esque area of the inn where some others were milling about, getting their breakfast and preparing for their day.

At least in the morning he couldn’t always tell if disgruntled looks towards him were just because the person wasn’t awake enough to deal with anything yet, or because he was a Primal. He could pretend it was the former and manage that not-quite warm but definitely not resting bitch face greeting in turn.

“I’ll let you know when everything’s been dealt with,” Varick said, promising at least one more visit before he was gone. Also because no one else was likely to tell Tamsin. Varick would get paid, and no one would be any wiser. There’d be no grand announcement the creature was dead, because that would be admitting there was a monster problem in the first place.

People didn’t like to do that, even where it was obvious.

But he still had to face the reality of it, and though he left Tamsin with a smile and fond look, the reality was not pretty: someone had died, in the area he’d told Tamsin of, and now the pressure was on.

~***~

Kirsikka sensed it a moment before it happened. Not enough to fully draw back – if she even could have considering she felt it even before now – but enough to start. The metaphorical fangs dug into the channel of magic within her, and pulled. It was an unpleasant experience, as she felt herself forced to draw more power out from around her, and from within herself, to satisfying that pull, all while trying to draw the strength to break the connection.

‘Fuck.’

Letting go, it would just drain her natural reserves.

Not letting go, and it’d use her to suck whatever power was still here, until it was gone, and there was just those natural reserves. ‘It could have done that at any moment, maybe it can’t if you let go.’ Easier said than done, as Kirsikka did, in fact, struggle to stop now that it was basically pulling the magic through her against her will.

She did not like this. At all. The plants began to quickly wither as she wasn’t contributing to their unnatural growth, but not in any discernible pattern. That didn’t matter much, Kirsikka felt the direction of the pull.

And she gathered enough strength to pull back as she murmured a few quick words, and gave up the decaying vegetation for kindling. Flame burst from her hands, and died just as suddenly as the channel shut, the fangs taking what little of that channel was left and closing it – and also losing their grasp on Kirsikka completely in the process.

She had known what she offered, knew it even as she felt that total blindness of one eye set in. Sure, it was shut, and behind a patch…but she still felt it, as if it had suddenly become ice, rather than dull embers still fighting for a spark.

‘Explain.’ She knew she ought to, Drazhan had no idea why she’d produced fire, had no idea what part of Magic this was to Track A Monster. So, she rose, as calm as if this was part of the entire plan, “It tried to drain me,” she told Drazhan, underlying anger impossible to mask. “I had to give it a dead limb to make it let go.” Metaphorically speaking. “But I know what direction it was coming from.” And she didn’t feel it anymore, either.

Next time she’d send something back it didn’t like.

 

[cleopat]

Varick left, and Tamsin felt the loneliness once again. Although she considered herself a people person, and could make a friend out of anyone, it was very different to actually have someone to travel with and talk to on those dark nights when she would normally have the company of her horse.

Not thinking about the parting, Tamsin set out for the town, eager to see more of Ritherhithe while careful of the part of town Varick warned her of. She wouldn’t go that way, Instead, she headed in the opposite direction, along the canal and the shops that were opening for the day.

She lingered for a while, perusing through the different shops and helping herself to a pastry from a bakery as she forgot to eat breakfast that morning.

It was when she was making her way back to the inn when she heard the most beautiful noise. It entranced her. Tamsin looked around, trying to find the source of the noise, but she couldn’t see anything. So she followed where the sound was coming from.

No one else seemed to notice the music, or if they did, they did not care. How could they not?! It had to be the most beautiful sound she ever heard! Tamsin wasn’t aware of where her feet were taking her, only that she had to find the source.

She wasn’t aware of how it led her to the entrance of the sewers. She wasn’t aware of the rapid change in smells as she entered the sewers. She was only aware that the

~~~

The feeling increased, but Drazhan didn’t see anything. Satisfied that nothing was about to sneak up on them, he turned back to watch Kirsikka, who seemed to be fighting something invisible.

Was it all purely magic? Was something in the dead earth attack her?

The plants she just grew began to wither. Fire burst from her hands, which confused Drazhan greatly. Wasn’t her powers based around ice and water? Was this just something more he didn’t understand about mages?

It all ended soon enough, and Kirsikka explained what had just occurred. “It tried to drain you?” he repeated, brows furrowing. “How are you faring?” He knew her magic could drain her. She didn’t outright pass out this time, but it was hard to gauge how exactly she felt. She had already mentioned that they stopped for the night because of this very reason.

“Which direction was it coming from?” he asked. Not a lead they could chase tonight, but tomorrow, it would be the first way they set out for. Finally, a potential lead to find whatever it was they were looking for.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick was informed by a not at all happy aide that someone had died when he returned to the inn. There was a brief argument over whether they could be sure it happened that night, or some night before, given the bodies weren’t always found immediately, but in the end, the point was clear: he needed to find this creature, fast.

So, Varick went back to work of questioning and figuring out all the possible locations. It was as he walked along the stream that flowed through Ritherhithe that he heard it. At first, he thought naught of it, until his instincts kicked back in. ‘But it’s day.’ He knew things got desperate. Was it desperate?

“Seems we have another somewhat decent bard in town,” Erik the Bard noted aloud, and Varick looked towards him. As he did, Erik’s expression changed, “That is no bard, is it?”

“No,” Varick said flatly.

“Then you may want to pursue faster. I saw Tamsin not long ago in a bit of a daze. I thought she was trying to spite me by following this pied piper and ignoring my calls to her.” Varick arched a brow at that, but their rivalry and anything to do with it were unimportant matters. The important mater was that the fiend had decided to lure Tamsin.

So Varick did make haste.

He already knew the directions towards the sewer, so finding shortcuts was a bit easier for him than Tamsin, who could only follow the sound without as much knowledge. As such, it was easy for Varick to catch up to her…but he wouldn’t stop her. ‘Sorry, Tamsin.’ He would follow her, because she was bound to lead him to where the melody was coming from, and then he could deal with this.

And lead she did, into the sewers, and not the clean water area. No, why couldn’t he be that fortunate? He did his best to ignore the scents as led to where much of the waste went, and there where a rather large, mutated and warty (and very poisonous by the colorings of black, red, and yellow) warbled its baritone song.

Well, at least things being turned into frogs wasn’t an uncommon curse, but the size of this one, and the power, were.

“Fair maiden—” it apparently spoke.

“Tamsin.” Varick snapped, stepping into the area, immediately causing the frog to puff up, its warts starting to ooze poison. Varick held up a hand, “Easy. You’re cursed. I’m here to help.” Maybe. He kept walking forward even so, until he was at Tamsin’s side.

~***~

“I’m fine,” the lie was easily said. It wasn’t as if Kirsikka was any worse than she expected. Sure the phantom limb thing, but that was a non-issue for now. And she was tired. Too tired. She hated this. She wanted to get right back up on her horse and pursue this lead, but she knew she wouldn’t get far.

Not far enough to matter.

‘Well, maybe.’ The horse would be doing most of the real work, right? The consideration of pushing it did occur to her. As did the reminder of what happened last time she did that, with the rakshasa. Her anger was impotent in the face of the fact she had to rest, again. So, she pointed towards the east, “That way, generally speaking, but I can keep us fairly exact,” she promised, before going to Zephyr, not to mount up.

“I’m getting too old for this,” she grumbled her complaint as she went to unpack Zephyr’s bag, as if the feats of magic and being literally drained, were things she should be able to recover from in ten minutes.

As if that had ever been possible.

As if 300-500 weren’t considered prime years for mages and power.

“The next time I want to do something to pause this mission, remind me it can wait until at least midday,” even if that could have risked them going in entirely the wrong direction. “But at least setting up camp is going to take a while with literally nothing to sustain even a fire.” Not that she wasn’t going to go search, and she suspected so would Drazhan. She’d have to use dried plants again to make an….

‘Oh.’

She paused as she set the pack on the ground.

It might try again if she grew plants for the animals to eat. She had no certainty it wouldn’t, nor did she have certainty it wouldn’t be prepared for her trick. Without speaking the concern to Drazhan, she took out another bit of dried fruit, but didn’t set it to the ground. That was just stupid.

Instead, she drew up the water from the not-too-far lake, and washed it into the fruit, sprouting it in her hand and letting life begin to grow down her arms, fairly certain it was a variety the horses could eat as it crept towards the ground, but never bound itself to it.

Water came from within the plants as well, drawn through and then drawn out, purified in that way. The only bit of magic she used on the land was to open a hole for the water, and that was very little, and very quickly, done.

 

[cleopat]

The bottom of Tamsin’s dress soiled in the sewer, though her feet managed to avoid the worst of what was causing the amalgamation of smells. The music continued to lure her deep, deeper still into the sewer in a deep trance. She didn’t even notice Varick following behind her.

All she could focus on was finding the source of the alluring music.

And so she continued into the sewers until she entered a larger room with the figure of a handsome man standing in the middle. Handsome wasn’t even the proper word for him. Ethereal, more like it.

He spoke to her, but he stopped as abruptly. She frowned, noting the voice that said her name was not the same voice that sung to her. And that same voice spoke again. Tamsin blinked, coming back to the present as the music stopped.

Her vision cleared, and a giant, hideous…frog stood before her, with something oozing from its warts all over its body. Was it poison?

She screamed at the sudden sight, nearly tripping on the skirt of her dress as she backed up hastily. It was then she noticed Varick was there as well. She couldn’t even muster the voice to ask questions. Every syllable remained stuck in her throat, watching the monster before them.

~~~

Drazhan raised a brow at Kirsikka, sensing the easy lie she told, but he wouldn’t fight her on it. He wouldn’t say anything extra. He would just keep an eye on her until they went to sleep, to make sure she did nothing to exhaust herself even further.

He looked toward the direction Kirsikka pointed, and he nodded. The east. That would be easy enough to remember. Travel in the direction of where the sun rises.

How appropriate, since they’re supposed to find a light.

At her grumble of her age, Drazhan chuckled, “And here I thought you were young.” And in the scheme of mages, she was relatively young. In her prime. Did mages even die from old age? He didn’t know enough to know that answer exactly, but every mage he encountered in the past was easily several hundred years old.

Now Primals? Primals definitely didn’t die of old age, or lived as long as mages.

“I’ll be sure to remind you that you said that,” Drazhan vowed. Midday he could handle better, even if he preferred to travel until close to the dusk hours. But whatever laid ahead, they may need more energy to fight it. Spending all their energy on traveling wouldn’t be wise. And Kirsikka would need to try not to deplete all her magic doing…whatever it was she was doing.

Speaking of her magic, she began to bring life back to the dried fruit in her hands, and he watched as the life sprouted down her arms. “I take it that that takes less energy to produce than what you did earlier?”

 

[Lucyfer]

As Tamsin shrieked and backed up, Varick reached an arm out and wrapped it around her waist, drawing her back and against him. Safe, in theory. At least, she might feel that way, even if the poisonous frog was absolutely not a safe thing. “It’s okay,” it wasn’t, but he said it anyways, keeping his gaze at the frog.

“What happened to you?” Varick asked.

“I don’t know,” the frog croaked, “I lost everything all at once. I don’t know why.”

Varick doubted that. They always knew. They weren’t always keen to confess it. “Why are you luring women down here? Killing them?”

“It’s not intentional,” the frog croaked, “the poison…it does it.”

“You’re luring them.”

“Wouldn’t you?” The frog challenged, “if you knew you had to find someone to accept you, wouldn’t you keep trying?”

Varick scoffed. “I gave that up a long time ago. So that’s what breaks the curse, huh?” Varick wondered, “Just someone accepting you, huh? What part of you is it that needs accepting? That makes you so poisonous and ugly?”

The frog puffed up, obviously angered by the words, but Varick thought, a bit defensive, “I don’t know!”

“Really,” he canted his head, “you know the way to break the curse, but the bestower didn’t say what was so hideous about you that you deserved this kind of curse?” Varick clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, “doesn’t sound like any enchantress I know, and I know a few.” Several. Unfortunately.

He relaxed his grip on Tamsin, “That must be why it’s all failing if you don’t know what they need to accept. That, or,” the ‘or’ he left hanging, but the frog didn’t fill it in. Just deflated. Varick thought a bit…theatrically.

“It’s true. The woman who cursed me gave me few clues.”

“Who is this woman? I can go have a chat with her.”

“She’s dead.”

~***~

‘No.’ The ground, dead as it was, had given Kirsikka something more to work with. Pulling this solely from water and the plants, without grounding them in soil, was not easier, but the animals needed to eat probably more than she did, if she were honest about priorities here. The animals had a lot more work ahead of them for the foreseeable future. If she happened to exhaust herself a bit more for their sake, so be it.

But this could be a problem in the future; she acknowledged that without being certain how to manage it.

Of course, she wouldn’t answer Drazhan until the plants had satisfactorily grown, and she laid out the bundles where the horses could eat. “No,” and she shrugged, “but what choice did I have?” Not that Drazhan would have any ideas, but it should at least make it clear she had acted out of necessity and not recklessness.

“They have to eat. I have to not get drained by whatever’s out there.” And she’d resume setting up what bit of the campsite she needed to, noting, “We’re probably going to have to travel to find something to burn,” there was no way it wasn’t going to be cold at night. They would need a fire. Sure, she could produce more things if necessary, sprout a tree for wood, but that wasn’t ideal.

Nothing was ideal right now.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin was only vaguely aware of Varick’s arm around her as her gaze kept on the giant frog. She couldn’t quite bring herself to tear her gaze away from the grotesque creature as it glowed in the dark chambers on the sewers, emanating enough light to fill the room.

She almost preferred that it didn’t glow, so she wouldn’t have to look at it.

The creature and Varick spoke, and Tamsin didn’t quite hear what they were talking about. Only a few words, here and there, as her shock tried to dissipate. The shock of suddenly finding herself in the sewers. The shock of seeing a giant, glowing, poisonous frog. She was only briefly aware that they mentioned he needed to find acceptance to break the curse.

Oh, but how can anyone accept something so frightful that killed women!

As her fear didn’t quite abate, Tamsin felt something bubbling within her. She couldn’t quite describe the feeling. Maybe nausea? She swallowed, but it didn’t go away. If she vomited on Varick, then she would just have to apologize later.

“M-maybe think about what happened right before you were cursed,” Tamsin managed to say, her voice shaky. “That could g-give you clues.”

~~~

Kirsikka’s silence spoke volumes for Drazhan’s question. Even if she answered in the negative, he suspected the opposite was true. But he wouldn’t call her out on it. He would allow the little lie. If she expended all her energy so early in the day, then so be it.

But as she said, what choice did they have? Their horses needed to eat and drink to be able to continue on their journey.

But instead, they were in a desolate place, with no sight of any tree around them. At least there was some water to work with, as stagnant as it was.

“I suppose you can’t sprout a bush we could break down for kindling?” It was much smaller than a tree, so in Drazhan’s mind, that meant something much easier to grow from nothing. “But if not, we will need to travel more to find wood. I see nothing for miles.” Just…desolation. As empty as an arid desert, for now.

But that didn’t mean it would stay empty forever. The land used to be plentiful, after all, with forests and towns. Danger lurked ahead for them, and so Drazhan would maintain his silent task of keeping an eye out for anything that would try to kill them.

 

[Lucyfer]

Tamsin had a point with her suggestion, although Varick doubted they’d still get the full truth out of all of that, “My child died – miscarried. That’s the only significant thing I can think of. And their mother, with them,” she was spoken of almost like an afterthought, or perhaps one distracted, too distracted by it all. “Someone could blame me—she wouldn’t have died had I not gotten her pregnant.”

“Someone – you said a ‘her’ cursed you.”

“Right – they could have been friends, I don’t know.”

Varick didn’t believe that. He didn’t believe the cursed toad was being forthcoming at all. “You would accept me, right?” he spoke to Tamsin, “women die like this all the time, right? It’s unfortunate – truly – we ought to improve things – but…for me to be punished for the loss of my child….”

Varick grit his teeth, but didn’t interrupt. No, there was definitely something the frog wasn’t saying in all of this, but if Varick called him on it, there was the chance Tamsin could get hurt. “Tamsin, you should leave.”

~***~

Kirsikka sighed at the expected request. Of course, Drazhan didn’t want to just go wandering off into the unknown to try and find a tree – and apparently his own enhanced sight didn’t see any. She was hoping it would, otherwise they’d be wandering in a random direction and hope to be right. She assumed heading west would be right.

She didn’t know, of course.

She didn’t deny him. If he was going to ask, then fine. She just made sure her bedroll was spread, and she cut off a bit of the vining plant she’d already grown, and pulled at the water to once again cycle it through, and twist this into a woody plant. This had been an apple, after all, it was theoretically easier to grow a tree from that.

And it grew, of course.

The problem was, it didn’t want to be a little bush once she made it woodsy, and it became heavy, fast, as it grew, forcing her hands to the ground. She moved it out from under the roots as they spread over the ground without penetrating it, but kept her hand on some of the branching out parts, encouraging the growth further as the trunk fell onto its side.

And then Kirsikka fell to her side, dead asleep.

But there was at least something of a tree.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin didn’t quite hear Varick. She wanted to leave, but she couldn’t stop staring at the cursed toad. And she was afraid that if she turned her back on it, that was when it would attack her.

Maybe in some way, the toad was telling the truth in that the only significant thing he could think of was the death of his unborn child. That was a traumatic enough experience for the parents. But she hardly believed he was completely innocent of any wrongdoings.

A giant, cursed, poisonous frog hardly seemed like the innocent type.

Tamsin didn’t answer the monster’s question. She wouldn’t accept him, not as her fear still lingered. “You did something,” she started, slowly backing up. “I don’t think you’re as innocent as you claim to be.”

That feeling inside her didn’t quite abate, but it was ignored.

~~~

Kirsikka didn’t answer his question in any vocal way. Instead, she set off to do the task, after putting down her bedroll. Drazhan sighed, knowing what to expect after she was done with bringing more life from an apple.

And grow a tree she did, much more than the bush he had wondered about. As expected, Kirsikka passed out once the tree grew. How long would she be out this time? A few minutes? Hours? Until the next day?

Drazhan would make himself useful in the meantime. He set upon removing some of the branches and putting them together in a pile. Soon, he had a fire started to keep them warm as the evening slowly approached.

If there were any enemies in the vicinity, they would certainly see the smoke from the fire.

Frowning, Drazhan sat on the ground and waited for something to happen. For Kirsikka to wake up. For any hint of a living creature in the lands.

 

[Lucyfer]

As Tamsin backed up, Varick shifted so he could be in front of her. It wasn’t subtle, it couldn’t be, when the frog’s focus was as sharp as it was. “No,” the pleading tone burbled forth as the frog ventured closer, “no, you can’t go, please, you must accept me! Nothing strange happened! Women die because of pregnancy all the time!”

Varick noticed what he wasn’t saying, “Yeah, they do,” Varick agreed. “But was it your fault?”

“Wha—I mean, yes. I got her pregnant, if I hadn’t…if I hadn’t, she’d be alive.” Oh, he was good at this, but not good enough to have found acceptance.

“Fine, I could accept you, if you tell me how it happened.”

“I—” he broke off.

He could have said ‘I don’t know’. Varick knew that. It would even be convincing, few people could explain why one child died in the womb and another didn’t. Yet, the frog didn’t – because it had to gain acceptance for the truth, try to obscure it as it did with half-truths.

Yes, a man could blame himself for getting a woman pregnant, and that pregnancy killing her. That wasn’t abnormal.

The frog knew the jig was up as Tamsin had ventured further away. It wasn’t Varick that had to accept him, anyways – it was a woman, and apparently, this was another loss. Another woman refused, and now he had a Primal to deal with.

So, in his frustration, he jumped up as high as the sewer would let him, and vomited up poison in Varick’s direction, intending to hop over him and go after Tamsin. Another plea or two might work, if she’d just listen.

~***~

It was night before Kirsikka woke. Not even the flickers of the sun graced the horizon in fading colors, only the stars above, and the flicker of a flame that Drazhan had started. Kirsikka was still cold, but not as cold as she could have been. She stretched herself out, before sitting up, rubbing at her eye to clear its sight.

It was the only one she had left, after all.

Thankfully, the blurriness was just the temporary companion to waking, and she was able to see Drazhan there, and the horses. Nothing looked dead or disturbed. No corpses of monsters drawn by fire and warmth littered the field.

Still, Kirsikka ventured to ask, “What did I miss?” though the words were interrupted slightly by a yawn, as she regrouped, still not feeling recharged enough. That didn’t matter. She’d have to take a shift. They’d have to continue on. She knew when she left the fae, she wasn’t leaving at hundred percent.

A hundred percent was now a dream, anyways.

 

[cleopat]

The creature was still desperate for Tamsin’s acceptance. She may even entertain the request if he’d only tell the truth, instead of insisting that nothing more happened. That it was only an unfortunately accident that resulted in his lover’s miscarriage and subsequent death.

Sure, many women die because of pregnancy all the time. But also, many of those reasons had outside factors, such as men doing something horrible. Abuse, stress, neglect.

And Tamsin had high suspicion that he fell under one of those categories.

“You may not be lying,” she spoke, still backing up, “but you’re also not telling the full truth.” And if he wanted to break the curse, he would need to start doing just that.

Tamsin hadn’t ventured much further, nor far away from Varick, when the frog suddenly lurched upward and vomited poison in his direction. “Varick!” she screamed, reaching out one hand in his direction as if she could do something.

As if she was fast enough to pull him away.

The feeling bubbling inside her burst forth. A faint blue translucent shield wrapped around them both, and the poisonous vomit hit the shield, which left them safe and dry.

~~~

The day drug on as Drazhan had nothing left to do after he built them a fire. The horses were fed, they had food stashed away, and everything was ready for more traveling in the morning.

So Drazhan relaxed on his own bedroll as Kirsikka slept on.

Day turned to dusk turned to night. The stars became visible in the night sky. Even though the land around them was dead, the stars seemed to twinkle brilliantly with life, painting the horizon with constellations.

Finally, Kirsikka rose from her magically exhausted slumber, and he looked over at her with a crooked smile. “She finally wakes,” he lightly teased, poking at the fire with a stick to stimulate further flames.

Fortunately, he had no interesting stories to tell her. “I think the most exciting thing that happened while you were asleep was listening to Bear’s snores.” Drazhan shook his head, “Other than that, absolutely fucking nothing happened.”

If something were to happen, he would rather wait until both of them were ready to fight. Not just one, while making sure the other one didn’t get hurt during their unconscious state.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick expected to get coated in frog poison, at least partially, as he moved to roll away. At least covered in the sewer water, which was gross enough – and that he did end up feeling soak his clothes, but what didn’t soak him was the poison. He saw the glint of the translucent shield and was momentarily confused, until he noticed it by Tamsin as well as the frog landed, splashing water all around.

‘What the fuck.’

Tamsin wasn’t a mage.

He was pretty fucking sure of that.

For one, he didn’t hear any incantations or see any movements, nor did he think she had anything to quickly sacrifice or transform – he was pretty sure mages needed these things, though he supposed there were exceptions. Still – ‘What the fuck.’

The frog had also paused in bug-eyed surprise. “What are you?” its voice warbled as it started to creep towards Tamsin, a new tentativeness to its approach – but far more hunger.

‘Yeah, no.’ Varick pulled his blade and approached the beast from behind as it was distracted by Tamsin. It didn’t even seem to notice, or care, about the sloshing. Well, maybe it noticed – it tried to grab Tamsin with its tongue at the last minute, but that was interrupted by Varick cutting his blade through its back leg and severing that leg.

The tongue snapped back in fairly quickly as the acidic blood ran into the sewer water.

~***~

Kirsikka was cold. That was expected, but she still wasn’t quite prepared for it. At least she was too tired to think much on it, just move out of her bedroll and closer to the flames as Drazhan let her know she hadn’t missed anything other than a horse snoring. Well, that was at least a nice bit of good news. Boredom was better than monsters.

Or anything else.

She knew she should probably eat. Drink. Her appetite hadn’t caught up with her yet, but it would. “Good. I guess everything around here really is dead,” which was unfortunate for everything around here, but great for herself and Drazhan. Anything not dead would have tried to kill them, after all.

“I can take over watch soon. I won’t be going back to sleep for a bit,” her schedule was all kinds of fucked up. “but you do still owe me the story of Sophia before we go too far,” she reminded, her tone a bit softer. She knew she wasn’t asking for anything nice – but she had gotten that out of Drazhan back with the fae, and she hadn’t forgotten.

Even if he probably would have preferred it if she did.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin had no fucking idea what just happened.

At first, she believed somehow Varick created the shield. Could Primals wield magic?

It certainly couldn’t be her. She was just a human with no magical training at all. It was impossible for her to use magic! Didn’t mages use incantations or sacrifice to wield their magic?

Tamsin shook out of her stupor when the frog crept towards her, asking her the same question that went through her head. She backed up slowly, and released another scream when he tried to grab her with his tongue.

She instinctively tried to shield herself with her arms, and a crackle of energy pulsed from one hand, hitting the frog and shocking him.

Okay, fuck, that was me then. What is going on?

Tamsin just wanted to run away from everything. Run back to the surface and bury herself back into her music so all other thoughts went away. Or maybe run to get a bath first. Sewer water that ran red with the blood of the creature did not make for great smells.

~~~

Drazhan hummed in agreement that everything around there was dead. Not even a bird or a bug was sighted. It was so tragic to think that the lands used to bustle with life, like any other part of the continent. Then thanks to some great power, it was just…gone.

Did it happen overnight? Over the course of years or centuries? Drazhan didn’t know, nor did he really care to know. All that mattered was the mission ahead, to kill whatever caused this, then maybe life could slowly come back.

He nodded when she said she could take over the watch. Now that it began to grow late, Drazhan started to get tired. Trying to find ways to entertain oneself could be exhausting.

And she remembered that he owed her a story about Sophia. He wanted to scowl. No, he was certainly not in the mood for that tonight, if he would ever be in the mood.

Why did he have to tell Kirsikka the story again?

“Maybe tomorrow,” he mumbled, laying down on his bedroll, but not closing his eyes. Or maybe the day after. If ever.

 

[Lucyfer]

The frog froze up with the shock. Well, froze wasn’t the right word – it was paralyzed all at once, and Varick found it fairly easy to finish it off in those few moments, moving quicker than any human could (perhaps not Tamsin?) and letting its acidic blood hiss into the water. The water itself would need cleansed, no doubt, but that wasn’t something he did. They’d have to hire a mage for that.

He'd mention it.

But he wouldn’t mention Tamsin possibly needing a teacher, because he knew mages didn’t…teach the way Tamsin just used magic. Well – one – but she wasn’t exactly in any Trifflehem schools, and Varick wasn’t even sure she was still alive. Or if all he heard was bullshit anyways. It wasn’t like he knew. He just heard the stories.

He wouldn’t speak immediately, just sheathe his sword, approach Tamsin, and grab one of her arms to drag her away from the corpse of a cursed man, who’s crime (or innocence) they would now never truly know. That didn’t matter, in the end. The beast was dead, and Varick would be paid. ‘Proof.’ Right. Fuck. He stopped, put both hands on Tamsin’s shoulders. “Stay.” And then went back into the area where the frog had been cut to ribbons to seek that proof.

No, part of an arm wouldn’t work.

Cursed fiends usually had some mark within them, and it didn’t take long for Varick to dig it, quite literally, out of the frog’s heart. Sure, the acid stung his knuckles a bit, but that wasn’t bothersome. This proved there had been some malevolently cursed entity. ‘Curse Seed.’ Such a strange name, but familiar across many forms of curses, usually embedded in an organ.

Sadly just removing the seed never removed the curse. Another would just grow back. He was sure someone out there farmed them; they were potent enough. He pocketed the black thing and went right back to Tamsin, but didn’t grab her this time. Just hummed, and walked.

She would follow.

He didn’t doubt that.

“So. I guess you’ve never done that before.”

~***~

‘Oh.’

No, Kirsikka didn’t expect Drazhan to give away the story with any happiness. What he chose to do wasn’t even a great surprise, but she heard the insincerity in his tone. He had no plans to tell her at all, ever. True, it likely wasn’t important enough to pursue. She could even create the story in her head, much worse than it probably was.

And what right did she have to demand anything when she started out hiding everything, down to the color of her hair? None. Yet, Kirsikka had never been a reasonable or fair woman. Magic had made her unfair her entire life, really, since she never had to pay the price for it until very recently.

“If you go to sleep without telling me, I hope you know you’re giving me a greater weapon than all my magic can ever amount to.” He’d be a fool to trust her with a weapon. “And also I’ll be shipping you right back to the elves in your sleep.” That was said half-heartedly, but no less sincere. She had mirrors again. And water, currently.

But she wasn’t merciless.

“You can make stipulations.” That she be silent. That she make no comments. That she tell him something in turn – hells, that she cut off an arm, if he wanted to make her reconsider this completely. Of course, she might just cut off an arm. He didn’t know that, though. And he’d probably take it back the second she grabbed a blade to do so.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin was in shock, that she hardly registered that the frog monster was now dead. She stood frozen, looking down at her hands as if they were a foreign object. Well, they might as well have been with what they just did. The magic that they created.

What was she? How did she even do it? As far as she knew, not even mages created magic in the same way she just did.

She stumbled out of her thoughts when Varick pulled her away from the now corpse. Tragic, really. If he had just told the truth, then maybe he would still be alive, with the opportunity to turn back into a human. But he continued to deny, deny, deny.

Tamsin had little patience for men who treated women unjustly.

Varick paused before telling her to stay. She frowned, but obeyed, if not just because with the frog dead, she was having a harder time seeing in the sewers and required guidance. Varick soon returned before Tamsin got too antsy and turned back to find him. He was filthier, with more of the monster’s acidic blood covering him.

She frowned. Surely neither of them smelled pleasant right then.

Tamsin was quick to follow after him. “No, I haven’t.” That was an understatement. “What the fuck was that even back there? I-” she trailed off and looked down at her hands, squinting slightly in the dark to see them. What was she even looking for? Some magical residue?

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on. What am I?”

~~~

Kirsikka seemed that she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Drazhan sighed, staring up at the stars as he tried to hold back his anger. Some of his anger may be directed at her, sure, but most of it was directed at the fact Sophia had an unfair death. And that he wasn’t there when she died.

There were many unpleasant memories stirring back up thanks to Kirsikka’s insistence to a story, so that she may know the level of involvement between him, Malina, and the Council of Light.

With a heavy sigh, Drazhans sat back up and glared at Kirsikka. “Okay then, stipulations,” he said, pointing at her. “I want to make a stipulation. A story for a story.” That seemed fair. He would ask for a sentimental story out of her, and he would offer one in return.

“Tell me about Dravon, and I’ll tell you the story behind Sophia.” Was that fair? He thought so. Both of them had lovers that died, and he could tell that Dravon didn’t meet his end in a natural way. Something had happened there, just as something dreadful had happened to Sophia.

 

[Lucyfer]

“I don’t know what you are. I know monsters, Tamsin,” Varick stated, his one attempt to reassure her it wasn’t bad. Couldn’t be bad. He didn’t know what she was, so it was fine! He only knew monsters! She couldn’t be one of those if he didn’t know about it! He knew that wasn’t entirely reassuring, and internally he was panicking.

What the fuck was Tamsin?

“Ordinarily, I’d say a mage. Or that you had fae blood and didn’t know it. That could happen. Not sure how to prove it,” and that didn’t seem right, either. He wasn’t an expert, but that magic wasn’t mage magic. Mage magic was elemental in some respect, and that…didn’t seem to be. That just seemed like energy.

“Might want to talk to the Council of Light,” the Ordo Sors was gone, which meant this group had answers, although…well, he wasn’t a fan of them, “or a stray mage. Or fae.” He wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with the fae, nor was he sure how to find a stray mage for Tamsin to speak with.

He had an idea of someone who might know something more, and he sighed. “Or we can see my friend I told you about – the other musician,” he reminded, “she has more insight into oddities than I do. She might have an idea, but it’s a long trip to Tresse,” which might not appeal to her, but he wasn’t sure what else to suggest.

“Unless you have a better idea?”

‘Maybe find another despoina.’ Varick didn’t say that, although now he understood…Tamsin was the baby she had been looking for, way back then. He wouldn’t say that now. Tamsin was adjusting to this sudden revelation, and he was adjusting to the scent of fresh air mingled with stink, as they came out of the sewers.

~***~

“I’d rather cut my arm off,” Kirsikka said dryly when Drazhan asked about Dravon. “Of course, you’d probably prefer that, as well, to talking about Sophia.” Like didn’t often attract like. How strange it was, then, that they both had the same sad story about loved ones. No doubt, not the same in details, because…well, it was unlikely Sophia was an ancient mage who died in a surrender.

It would have been easy to wave it away. To give the bare minimum – but then that’s all she’d get in turn. “Once upon a time, having magic was something real, not the bullshit nowadays where anyone with money can have their child taught how to do potions, or other nonsense,” Kirsikka said. Those potion-mages couldn’t channel magic like Dravon or Malina.

And none like her.

“I caught the interest of the Ordo Sors by spying on it – spying on Dravon, through mirrors. I didn’t understand it, but I did it, and he came to see my parents and arranged for me to be taken to the Ordo Sors to be a student. He was a major part of my growth in the Ordo Sors. I suppose it was only natural my foolish heart wanted more than that.” She sighed.

“It was about as stable as my relationship with the Ordo Sors, but I love him,” never past tense. “I always will. I always did. I was shit at showing it,” and she had to live with that. Live with knowing she had sabotaged it several times, and made him doubt it often enough. False accusations of him grooming her had been a theme of their arguments when it was good and she couldn’t handle that.

“No surprise, I’m sure,” Drazhan saw how she was. She was far worse now than she had been, then. At least then, she’d still…well…had warmth seemed the most terribly ironic way of putting it, but it was true. “He dragged me back to the Ordo Sors at the last. I wouldn’t have given a damn if it was destroyed by Trifflehem, but he was fighting, and he reminded me what was really at stake, so I returned to help.”

“We were still losing,” she chuckled, a bit sorrowfully, “but he planned to surrender. He did surrender.” That was the worst of it, “I would run off to find another way to destroy them, and he’d play the subservient and repentant Visionary…we both knew no one would ever believe I surrendered to anyone or anything.” It really made the arguments about grooming moot.

Dravon never truly had her.

No one did. “You want to know the real story of the Boreal Wind?” because there it was, “It wasn’t to protect anyone, or win the battle. I’m not a hero, no matter how good my intentions are, and were,” she had meant to save the fucking world by dealing with the Council of Light, “Dravon went to negotiate surrender and I watched him get cut down for no reason. Just like that. A simple felling. No magic, just a blade he wasn’t prepared for. He was 800 years old, and that’s all it took.” A terrible reminder of how mortal she was, too.

“I felt…everything leave me. Which is stupid, because I was planning to go on without the Ordo Sors and everything before he….”

She paused, just a moment to figure it out. What really needed to be said, though?

Only a sigh at the pointlessness of it all.

“It’s a fathomless hole, Drazhan. That’s what the ice is, what the Boreal Wind, is. It’s not a wind. It’s a vacuum, that pulls every bit of warmth into it – but it’s never full, and slipping into that mindset…perhaps you know it,” perhaps not, but she had an idea, “you don’t want to come out of it even though it’s hell, because somehow it’s better.”

She swallowed, “That’s what Dravon was to me. He found me. He mentored me, and figured out how to help when every other fucking teacher gave up. He went to the fae, for me. And he let me love him in my way, let me hate him in my way, and let me roam, to him, away from him. He was just…always there. No matter what state we were in, he was always there. Even when we’d had the fight to end all fights, months later, either one of us could go to the other for help….” The parallel to Drazhan’s refusal to leave wasn’t lost to her.

Another reason she wanted him gone, of course.

Dravon’s presence had mattered more than anything else, no matter what state their relationship was in. Loved, hated, angry, happy – he was there…and now, he wasn’t. “300 years, and he’s just not here. Nothing prepares you for that.” Despite it all, there were no tears. That terrible vacuum feeling didn’t allow for such tears, and that feeling still consumed her in telling the story. The words were drained of the emotion she’d spent long, long ago.

 

[cleopat]

Varick knew monsters. At least he was confident she wasn’t a monster, right? Somehow, that wasn’t a reassuring thought as it was supposed to be. What if she was some kind of new monster he had no idea about? What if she was a danger to herself and others?

Too many fucking ‘ifs’.

“Fae blood, that has to be it, right?” She didn’t know her family’s history, on either side. Her mother didn’t have the best relationship with her family, and her father never talked about his family, so she never learned anything about cousins or grandparents. That was a possibility, right?

Yet that didn’t feel quite right. Nothing felt quite right.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk to the Council of Light. They didn’t exactly have the best reputation, and Tamsin didn’t want to be put on their radar if any of the rumors about them were true.

And she didn’t know any mages or faes.

That left one option, as she had no ideas of her own. Of course she didn’t! She was just a normal, traveling minstrel who wanted to spread music. She was human. She was normal.

She breathed in the fresh air, still mingled with the sewage stink, but that didn’t matter. The sun painted the sky with the deep red and pink hues of the dusk hours. “Of course I don’t have a better idea. I’m still not sure what is going on!” Tamsin took a deep breath to calm herself down before hysteria creeped in.

It was very, very close.

“If you don’t mind sticking with me for a while longer, I’d like to see this friend of yours.” She wanted answers before something else happened. What if she accidentally hurt someone? She didn’t even know how to activate the powers, as the feeling that built up inside the sewer was now gone.

~~~

Kirsikka ended up telling the story behind Dravon, in much more detail than Drazhan expected. He sighed and muttered, “Damn it.” That meant he would have to recount the story of Sophia’s last moments, or face the ire of a mage. He didn’t want to intentionally upset Kirsikka in any way.

“Once upon a time,” he mimicked the way Kirsikka began her own story, “There were two little girls who were best friends growing up. They loved getting into trouble together and causing mischief amongst the people of their little village in eastern Trifflehem. One was Sophia, the other was a girl by the name of Ekaterina.

“I don’t know too much about their childhoods together, only that they were close.” Sophia told him the occasional story about the antics they got into together, but that was about it. “Then one day, Ekaterina disappeared. Sophia didn’t know what happened to her until she overheard their parents talking. Ekaterina was now with the Council of Light.”

Ekaterina’s family had apparently been in that category of those having money and ‘wanting better’ for her daughter stuck in a provincial village.

“Years later, we met. Sophia moved on from her small village to Langfell, and I came to that city to find some business.” It was early in his years as a mercenary. Drazhan was still trying to find himself after leaving the Primals, and trying to find some gold.

“I guess you could say it was love at first sight, if you believe in that sort of thing.” He didn’t quite believe it himself, but he was definitely enamored with Sophia at first sight. Maybe it was simply lust. Who could blame him? Sophia was simply ethereal. “Anyways, blah blah blah, we ended up together for several years.”

Kirsikka didn’t need the details of those years.

“One day, the Council of Light came to Langfell. Among those that came were Ekaterina. The two ran into each other, and promised to meet for dinner that night.” As if they were never separated years earlier. Sophia forgot and forgave so much easier than most people, Drazhan included. It was one of the many things he loved about her. Still do.

“Apparently some unpleasant topics were discussed at that dinner. Ekaterina told Sophia all about the Council of Light, including their devotion to the Ineffable One, and their plan with Trifflehem to ‘help rid the world of the blasphemers.’” Which included invasion of the entire continent. Which was why the Council of Light was in Langfell, to stake it out for Trifflehem.

“Sophia tried to persuade her friend to leave. There was a fight, it escalated some, and the two never spoke again after that. If Sophia was heartbroken over it, she never showed it to me. Instead, she spent her waking moments trying to warn people about the dangers of the Council of Light, including rallies and pamphlets. I think the Council would have just disregarded her as a hysterical insurgent, but the people were beginning to believe her. That’s what scared them.”

By this time, the stories of Trifflehem’s ambitions were beginning to spread across the lands. It wasn’t that difficult to convince the people of what was happening with the appearance of the Council of Light.

“Then one day Malina showed up.” Their mutual enemy. “She threatened Sophia to stop this proliferation of false rumors, or else. I was there when this happened. I tried to get Sophia to stop, because I selfishly wanted her to stay safe, but she refused.”

And then he made the single biggest mistake that he still regretted to this day. “The next week, I had to leave town for a job. It was only going to be a few days, and the pay was too good to refuse. It would’ve kept both of us fed for several months.” A few days was nothing, right? Nothing would happen during that time.

How wrong he was.

Drazhan laid back down and stared up at the stars. “When I returned to town, there was a gathering in the town square. I was curious, and thinking nothing of it, followed the crowds.” he paused a moment, recollecting the next moment seared in his memory. “There was Sophia, and two others who had been helping her, hanging from the noose. I had just missed it by a few minutes.”

If he had been faster, if he had been quicker on the mission, hell, if he hadn’t taken the mission. Would anything be different?

“And Malina was there, up on the platform. She directly looked at me and warned everyone that this is what happens to ‘those who spread lies about the Council of Light.’”

And his Sophia was gone forever, because she stood up for what she believed in. Drazhan hated her for it, he loved her for it, but most of all, he just wished he could have saved her from such a fate.

“There you go. There’s the story of what happened to Sophia.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick managed a shrug as Tamsin cried out that she didn’t know anyone else, “You might,” he encouraged, gently, “I know travelers like yourself run into all sorts. You might think of it later,” he wasn’t expecting her to think of much of anything right now, although it seemed determined that she was going to see Calliope in Tresse.

Which meant, he was probably taking her.

He had known that when he offered, but it still felt strange when she asked, and he could say ‘no’. He wouldn’t. He was worried for her, and understood her own worry all too well. She was suddenly not who she always thought she was. Existential crises were a bitch. He’d seen it enough with ghosts who hadn’t realized they were dead.

“My job’s done here,” he said, “I don’t have another lead. I’ve no issues heading to Tresse,” he agreed. “Go back to your room. Get cleaned up. Be ready to leave tomorrow,” Varick advised, stopping once the were actually on dry ground. “I need to get cleaned up myself and get paid. I won’t be going anywhere until tomorrow morning.”

Perhaps he could have offered to stay with her that night.

Perhaps he should have.

He didn’t. He wouldn’t. That one-night stand was just that, he wasn’t going to make this more awkward just because she had now…sort of…become his next job. This was awkward enough as it was.

~***~

Kirsikka almost smirked at Drazhan’s curse. At least he would be a man of his word and tell the story. She listened, silently, not interrupting as he explained who Sophia was, and what her ties to the Council of Light were – how she had been among the first to try and oppose it. ‘Shame she wasn’t successful.’ Then Kirsikka would have never lost Dravon, or the Ordo Sors, for that matter.

But she had failed.

She had been hung.

“I would have destroyed that town,” easily said, and perhaps Drazhan had done something…but doubtful. He was here, alive, after all. Malina would have ended him if he had tried to do anything. At least, while she was there. Still, that explained how Malina knew him, too. And she could imagine his grief and his helplessness too easily. She felt her own wave of sorrow for it. What a horror.

“But then I would have died.” Her acknowledgment, as well, of the position he’d been in. She would have passed out around no friends, no allies, and been killed. The reason she kept surviving the damn ice when it overcame her was that people kept dragging her to safety afterwards.

“Sophia sounds amazing,” she did consent that much, at least. “I’m glad you had some years with her.” She wouldn’t ask more, not that night. Perhaps another, she’d beg his happier stories from him. Vicarious happiness was at least…something. Even if it was gone for Drazhan, he had the memories. He had reasons to still…well, be who he was. A mercenary, against the Council of Light, who had some annoying chipperness to him.

“I’ll take watch now,” he could go silent and rest – or pretend to – if he liked.