Completed Book Two. Nosdyn Saga.

[Deleted member 2578]

He hugs her tightly and pulls her close. "Where is Lyssa? Has she been here?" He was curious, he just had to know who could be trusted and who could not.

He was just making sure who could be his confidants when it mattered most. He never doubted Lady Tia it was Lyssa who drew suspicions his instinct, his gut.

He'd learned to trust his gut...

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

“She’s here somewhere, I just sent her to reshelve some returned books.” She said with confusion.

She turned and called out, “Lyssa!”

“Yes?” Came the response from the newest addition to his harem. She poked her head over the railing of the second floor. “Oh, Master Nosdyn. Do you have need of me?”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He nods at them both holding Lady Tia close. He motions for Lady Lyssa to join them.

"I just...needed to see for myself all was well here." He felt an unparalleled joy knowing they were all safe. When Morgana had betrayed them many had died. So he had to be certain, he had to be sure that no other situation like that ever occurred again. "I need you two to keep an eye on people for me." He tells them calmly. "We're facing an enemy who hides behind puppets." He is careful with the information at that point.

He waits for Lyssa to join their side, knowing full well the final battle could occur at any point and that might be their last moment of tranquility together.

Especially...should he fail.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

Lyssa joined them, and upon hearing the news of an enemy behind puppets she immediately got to thinking. “I can ask the Council of Hierarchs to keep an eye out. The impoverished tend to hear things they shouldn’t and they tend to share information amongst themselves. I can get information for you if you need it.”

Tia was quite upset about this knowledge. “Do you have any clues as to who he might be? Or know anyone who may know this enemy?”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He hugs Lady Tia and Lady Lyssa closely. "All I know for certain is our enemy is a Vampire Lord of some sort. And he keeps an army of spies." He sighs, the subterfuge game was getting to him. But he was glad he had people he could trust. He looks to Lady Lyssa. "Yes we may need outside help here."

"The only would-be traitor so far was Lady Ellsa, I'm not sure yet if she was acting alone or not." He paused for just a moment. "It is plausible more spies are in my ranks than we know though so we must be vigilant at all times."

He looks to Lady Lyssa at that point. "I need you two finding information on a prison known as The Abyss that the enemy uses as a weapon." He was concerned deeply about that and he actually believed Lady Ellsa's claims anyway. "I don't want anymore surprises we have to be as prepared as possible here." He kisses Lady Tia softly to reassure himself and her at the same time that they were safe in the library...at least for the time being.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

Lyssa nodded. “I will go to them immediately.”

She had long since mastered shadowstepping, and did just that to reach her people. Tia kissed him back and said, “I will see what I can find.”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He nods at that point.

He felt reassured his people were working with him.

They were not a network of spies and backstabbers like the enemy seemed to use...they were loyal and trusted allies by that point. One and all.

He stood there in the library by himself, much was on his mind at that point. As he sat down at a nearby table, he began to read. There were books and scrolls on the table already, it was a library, and so he carefully read in the mean time....reading was a good hobby and pass time for him.

When he was not occupied by other matters.

He found himself alone and that strangely bothered him...Where is Velera? He wonders but does not bother trying to find out people were entitled to privacy once in a while. So he stood at the table and read.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

Tia began looking through books. She found a number of references but nothing definitive, not immediately anyway. She did find a book on it eventually. And she brought it to Nosdyn with a pale face. “Here it is.”

Velera, as it turned out like last time, was taken captive, again. She was thrown to the ground, bound hand and foot, in front of the vampire lord who opposed her master. She looked up at him in terror. “Welcome Velera. It is good to finally meet you.”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

(I'm going to assume that Nos is not supposed to know right away about Velera so we will go it from there heheh. So you know The Abyss has to be a place physically on Chronicles world, i asked about this before and they don't like things like inter dimensional travel/etc. So just work it under the assumption that The Abyss is a physical prison someplace and we're probably okay like that. Just remindin ya.)

Nosdyn looked at the book that Lady Tia brought him and it was that that the intormation of the abyss prison was stated. He ready carefully, he wanted to know as much about his enemy as the research would provide him. The Abyss was indeed a prison, but not another dimension it was just a really horrible place in their world.

The Abyss was likely a fortress not too different from the Cerak Empire's home fortress.

He frowned and longed for a day he could just be a miner again. Is this rebellion really worth it? He begins to question himself and second guess himself.

He missed his sight by that point, they'd already lost so much...he knew he would loose more in that damned endless war.

He did not want to keep fighting anymore.

That part of him was there, he didn't want anybody else to suffer as he and Anya had.

He closed the book suddenly and looks at Lady Tia. "When our enemy reveals themselves I am going to step down as a Vampire Lord. I am tired of endlessly fighting. And for what my lady? Scraps? A right to sleep safely at night? None of that shit matters!" He suddenly slams his fist against the oak table. All his strength, all he had completed, for what why? There were enemies blindly fighting for The Empire there were Vampire Lords out to hurt him and his family.

He carefully considered his situation.

Maybe....maybe the rebellion in the mines had been a mistake.

He didn't want endless fighting.

He would surrender if their enemy offered him a chance to surrender, he was tired at that point. He was tired of endless war...that was not the reason he saved Lady Ellsa that night.

He stood up at that point and went to go arm himself....it was time.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

(I'm going to assume that Nos is not supposed to know right away about Velera so we will go it from there heheh. So you know The Abyss has to be a place physically on Chronicles world, i asked about this before and they don't like things like inter dimensional travel/etc. So just work it under the assumption that The Abyss is a physical prison someplace and we're probably okay like that. Just remindin ya.)

(Yea, I know, that was what I was going.)

He closed the book suddenly and looks at Lady Tia. "When our enemy reveals themselves I am going to step down as a Vampire Lord. I am tired of endlessly fighting. And for what my lady? Scraps? A right to sleep safely at night? None of that shit matters!" He suddenly slams his fist against the oak table. All his strength, all he had completed, for what why? There were enemies blindly fighting for The Empire there were Vampire Lords out to hurt him and his family.

“None of it matters?” She asked. “How doesn’t it matter? You gave countless people freedom, homes, hope and safety. How does that not matter? I think you underestimate exactly how much you’ve done for the people here. We all understand your desire to abdicate, which is not a problem. But please, don’t abandon the people you’ve worked so hard to save, if you do, then none of it would matter. Please, don’t make your struggle meaningless.”

Anya popped in right then. “She speaks truth.”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He was at a loss.

He looks at Lady Anya and Tia and he doesn't know what to say how to make any of it right.

He looks down for a moment staring at the floor, all he knew was he was tired.

The endless war, the endless fighting. That part of it he did know. He looks at the two of them. He simply nods and looks at Lady Anya. "What did you find out from Lady Ellsa?" He closes the subject, there is nothing more to say...they had their view he had his.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

“The prison is real. And from what she described, it truly is an earthly Hell. I also managed to glean a location from her. I’ve already directed some of our best soldiers to gather for some reconnaissance, they should be back within the hour with more information.”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

"All right."

He says calmly to them. He sighs after the seeds of doubt already in his heart.

Images plague his mind, the night he saved Ellsa in the mines. The night the slave drivers rejected his offer for surrender. He considers what he had learned. He knew what they would ask...do they attempt to storm the prison and rescue people from there. "We leave the prison intact." Nosdyn suddenly says. "Our enemy would use this as a distraction and one we cannot afford. Storming this place would put us at a disadvantage." He considers to them.

"I...we...need all our resources available to us when the time comes. If there is nothing else, I am going to go train." He says and walks off to the training center with his battle gauntlets already equipped. There he would train until it was time...and the hour was upon them for the final battle.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

Anya looked to Tia when he left. "So troubled has he been of late. He cannot cease to doubt himself, no matter how many times we state his accomplishments. I'm at a loss Tia. How do I help him?"

"I think you mean how do we help him. We are both his wives, and still more does he have. We need to support him, and help him to see his own worth. But it does not seem that doing it piecemeal is working, we all need to do it in union if we want him to truly see what he and his efforts mean to us and so many others."

"There is another matter. Velera, I fear they may have taken her."

 

[Deleted member 2578]

To state that he was frustrated would be beyond his capacity to explain.

He trained...harder than almost any other soldier in his rebel army...he sighed.

Why do we rebel? Freedom...? Hope...? Because I loved two women? He was training with his fists, he found weapons that were bladed unruly and difficult to trust. He hit the training dummy hard over and over, when the vision occurred.

Why do you fight...? The female asked of Nosdyn.

Because it is the way of our people. He looks at his mother's spirit...he'd seen her only a few other times.

You are a Blue Orc, you were raised on the battlefield. His mother said.

Is it always going to be like this? He needed a why, an explanation.

You were going to surrender that night. The woman said. Do you remember what happened?

He nods. I will never forget that they rejected my offer... He says calmly.

They are as much at fault as we are as you are. She said to Nosdyn. Do not doubt yourself. Your women are right.

I just needed my why. He hugs his mother and the world returns to normal, and he is once again hitting the training dummy.

He hit harder, he trained hard than almost anybody else in that group of rebels. But he suddenly stops hitting the training dummy at that point when he hears Velera's call in the back of his mind. He heard the cry for help.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

It was quiet, and it was weak. But it was there, and it said one thing.

help

The voice was doubtlessly Velera's. And it sounded pained. Anya heard it too, and blinked to her husband's side.

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He has a grim expression on his face at that point when Anya saw him.

"We must get Velera back. We fight." He says to her, rage on his face.

If this is the way it must be so be it....but I WILL get Velera back. He looks at Anya. "Why do we fight?" He asks of her, to reassure himself of something. Of the nature of his people...he already knew the answer but he wanted to hear it from her. "We fight for a reason now...to get Velera back...but beyond that why do we fight? I need to hear it from you." He asks of her.

He knew she would never lie to him, she always tell him the truth no matter how painful.

And sometimes because it was so painful...because it hurt more than anything.

All he wanted was to be a miner and find the riches of their world buried in caves and mountains...

But fate was an unkind mistress.

The question lingered between the two of them. Why do we fight...?

He was desperate for an answer, he just wanted a why.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

"Why do we fight?" He asks of her, to reassure himself of something. Of the nature of his people...he already knew the answer but he wanted to hear it from her. "We fight for a reason now...to get Velera back...but beyond that why do we fight? I need to hear it from you." He asks of her.

Anya walked up and hugged him. "We fight to keep our people safe. We fight to keep our family safe. We fight to keep them free. We fight to keep them alive. We fight because we love the people who will suffer and die if we don't. I fight because I love you Nos. I fight because I love our son. I fight because our new child will need a home, safe and warm, for them to live in. For all these reasons and more, we fight. So long as we find it to be worth fighting for."

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He nods and holds his wife close, embracing her.

"When we rescue Velera we will save the ones who are being kept in that place and tear it down with our bear hands...maybe we can stop them." He says calmly.

He considered the situation carefully.

"And...thank you." He tells her. "You've already saved me in many ways too."

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

"When we rescue Velera we will save the ones who are being kept in that place and tear it down with our bear hands...maybe we can stop them." He says calmly.

He considered the situation carefully.

"And...thank you." He tells her. "You've already saved me in many ways too."

Anya hugged him back. “We’ll try master. We will get her out, that I promise. I love you nos. I love you very much.”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He nods. "I love you too Anya." He says to her in response.

"I am sorry if I worry you at points. The fighting is getting to me is all." He says to her.

"We rescue Velera and do the best we can there." He frowns after a moment. "Maybe we can throw a wrench in that jerk's plans too that hunts us now." He says grimly. He looks at Anya. "We should go quietly tonight a small group of us and storm that gods damn place."

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

"We rescue Velera and do the best we can there." He frowns after a moment. "Maybe we can throw a wrench in that jerk's plans too that hunts us now." He says grimly. He looks at Anya. "We should go quietly tonight a small group of us and storm that gods damn place."

“There’s already a unit ready and waiting.” She said calmly. “We will go as soon as you are ready.”

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He kissed her deeply at that point. "We will save what is ours." He says to her. "I swear to you."

He clenches his fists tightly he is already wearing his battle gauntlets.

"We ride now." He goes with her to the location of the combat unit and prepares for battle. Lady Ellsa was on her mind, but the real Lady Ellsa, his friend from the mines. His original lover, she'd once been his reason for fighting. Now...Anya and Velera were...he had a grim expression on his face.

He had his fighting spirit back.

 

[Ser Anya Kinniger]

He kissed her deeply at that point. "We will save what is ours." He says to her. "I swear to you."

He clenches his fists tightly he is already wearing his battle gauntlets.

"We ride now." He goes with her to the location of the combat unit and prepares for battle. Lady Ellsa was on her mind, but the real Lady Ellsa, his friend from the mines. His original lover, she'd once been his reason for fighting. Now...Anya and Velera were...he had a grim expression on his face.

He had his fighting spirit back.

Anya kissed back. “I’ll get my armor and estoc.”

She shadowstepped away, and shadowstepped to the unit. She mounted her horse, and the six others with them mounted theirs, and they followed him out.

 

[Deleted member 2578]

He sat atop his own horse.

Taking point.

Why do we fight?

The question lingers in my mind....

For now, we must save Velera and stop an enemy...

He rides alongside his wife, Anya. He knows they must save the woman who turned him. On that all depends. Soon, they make it to the fortress called The Abyss...