Fable - Ask Aftermath

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

The red haired barbarian woman would approach a familiar sight. A towering castle of Grey Granite surrounded by two walls ringing around an octagonal keep of the same grey granite, with towers on each corner, and the main structure holding five storeys, while each tower reached seven. The crenelations and machicolations along all the battlements were complete with the men manning the walls. Men she knew.

Inside Eberwolf and his captains were discussing next moves. It had been a long time since He and Kyla had stormed this very keep and slain it's Castilian, and a long while since they'd parted ways for a while. He had set her free so that she might pursue her sister, while he cleaned up the remnants of the vampires. It had been a couple of years since last he saw her. But he'd been busy in those two years, and now there were only three remaining vampiric fiefdoms that resisted them.

He had taken Castle Greywatch as his base, a place to return to after conquests, and the stronghold of the Duchy on the warfront. Dare he say, it was just as grand and just as well fortified as Castle Kinniger. And it certainly felt more like home to him than the castle of his father. He had also told Kyla that if she should desire to return, to go to Castle Greywatch, and he'd come to her with all possible speed. Of course, he was now in the castle, and would be with her as soon as she came in.

As the red haired woman approached, a guard would leave his post and enter the keep. And as she approached the gates they'd open for her, and she'd see him waiting for her on the other side. wearing his arming doublet and pants only, no armor. "Kyla, it's been a long time."

Kyla Scathach

 

[Kyla Scathach]

“Yes..I suppose it has..” The red wolf of the north smiled slightly.

Her pace was slow. She would lightly fall into his arms and allow him to hold her for a moment before simply turning to plop down where they had stood.

A deep sigh escaping her.

Endurance was a trait people of her kind had in spades and yet she felt..tired. An ache in her soul no one could fill but the one she had lost.

Her eyes wandered the stone around her. How much blood had she spilt when she had reached this area? Gallons no doubt..She recognized the faces around her.

Some at least..

Another sigh...

Though she and Heike had left that day..She still felt as if she had lost...Hers eyes would seem to stair millions of miles away.

“She’s gone my love. My sister did not survive the cleansing...” She said finally after a moment.

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

He had caught her and held her close. Something was wrong, he knew instantly. This wasn't like her, to be so, lifeless almost. He helped her down as she plopped onto a nearby stone, something was very, very wrong. Her gaze so distant, so empty, it was worrying. Then she told him what he so dreaded that she'd say.

“She’s gone my love. My sister did not survive the cleansing...” She said finally after a moment.

His own heart stopped cold. Her sister, Ferelith, so full of life and free, someone he had grown to care for, dead. Gone. Kyla, he had no way of knowing how hard this must have hit her. He dropped to one knee to bring his head to her level, and after a moment he pulled her into a hug. "Was she cleansed? Was she at least herself when she died?"

Kyla Scathach

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

Kyla Scathach

 

[Kyla Scathach]

“I don’t know..I think she was..” Kyla said softly.

The death was something coming at her now. The traveling done. The fighting as well. She could not remain distracted at least for the time being.

“Common Kyla..This place is boring!”

“Kyla! I bet I can beat you up the top of this hill!”

“Kywa. I hurt my knee and Jenny won’t stop laughing!” The warm thoughts halted abruptly as a flash of her in her final days...

“Kyla...Please..”

She closed her eyes inhaling deeply shoving it all back inside. This was not the time or place. In front of her loves people.

So she laughed. It wasn’t something people that heard would want to stick around and hear the joke.

“That would be my luck though eh” She asked giggling between words. It was a broken sounding laugh that came from someone who simply couldn’t cry anymore. “ I’m sure it was all for nothing..” Kyla said with another chuckle.

This was a woman begging for something to poke her right now. Hoping a soldier or an monster would finally pick a fight and win already. A wolf that would kill until it was put down. The death had broken Kyla almost completely.

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

Eberwolf felt his heart freeze. She had worked so hard, done so much, for her sister only to have her ripped away. He couldn't imagine what sort of pain she must be feeling, to have fought so hard and so long, to have endured so much, only to fail. He couldn't even speak. nothing he could say would make it any better. So he just sat next to her and held her for a little while, providing silent support, unsure of how to respond.

Appropriately thunder boomed from above, and rain began to fall. He brought an arm around her and pulled her to her feet, he swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "Let's get you inside."

He brought her into the main keep, through the gate that they had stormed together, the gate she'd won for him, now it would provide her with shelter in her time of need. He brought her to one of the castle's bedrooms and set her down on the padded place of sleep, then stood in front of her, he opened his mouth as if to talk, but he didn't, what could he say? He sighed. kissed her forehead and said. "You need rest. Please, sleep."

It would be visible, his desperation to help her, to comfort her, but his utter incapability to do so. He couldn't help, how? How could he help her after what she just lost? "What of your children? Are they still okay?"

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

Kyla Scathach