Dreadlords Crime and Punishment[Fate]

[Samantha Black]

A muteness fell over Ralene as she listened to Edric explain himself.

She understood it, but it was hard to keep from scoffing at him. They were all someone's son, flesh and blood, given away for a bag of gold. Ralene couldn't figure if having known her father and met him face to face made any of it easier for her or harder to swallow. There wasn't any sense in brooding on the circumstances of her life that brought her to where she was today - the only thing that would have kept her from being her was if she'd not been born with the curse of magic.

Sure, her father could have tried to keep her secret. Could have left Vel Anir with her. Taken her to grow up somewhere else. Anywhere else to save her from this fate he surely knew awaited her.

That of pain, torturous suffering, sacrifice, death.

But this wasn't about her, she reminded herself. So rarely was it ever about her - by her own design. She was here to support Edric in a goal that even though she felt to be a waste of his time, it meant something to him.

"Suppose you kill Vanden and they love you for it?" Ralene asked, "What then?"

Was that the result he was hoping for? Or did he want them terrified? Either outcome was likely - she'd come to find that people had a tendency to be terribly disappointing in things like this.

 

[Edric]

It was a good question, one that Edric didn't really have an answer for.

He knew why he wanted to do this. Knew he wanted this city, his family to see him for what he was, what they had made him into. But he didn't know what result he sought. Whether he wanted love or ire. Hate or adoration. "I don't know."

Edric said honestly.

"I guess then I'll learn something about the city I'm from." He remarked dryly, though in truth he had no idea what he would do after the fight either way.

A part of him hoped that Ralene did find his mother. That he would get to see her, talk to her, but even then...his tongue found itself utterly tied in just what that conversation would be. Fingers curled against the table for a brief moment.

He was about to say something else when the waitress swept back into place at the side of their table.

"Well here we go Darlins! I got your meals right here."​

The woman said as from the crook of her arm swept two plates directly in front of Ralene and Edric.

 

[Samantha Black]

She was struggling to see the reasoning behind it all. Really, she was. Ralene furrowed her brow at Ed in a moment of vague concern. There were words to be said about this but she didn't feel like she could put them together properly enough to do it. Or more simply, it wasn't her place. Either way, the arrival of food was a welcome break from consternation.

Ral looked at the plate of food settled before her. It looked good, it smelled good, and frankly given all the shit they'd been forced to eat throughout their lives it really didn't matter too much either way. She offered the waitress a nod and took up fork and knife, cutting into it but holding off on taking her first bite.

Nope, she hovered over her plate mid cut to watch Ed take his.

A beat, a short half smile, "Well?"

 

[Edric]

Edric offered a brief thanks to the waitress, then glanced down at his plate.

It was odd, how much the smell of something struck a cord within the memory. The instant he scented the meal in front of him a flicker of his past reverberated within his mind. He could see himself, sitting at the shabby dining table. The very same meal in front of him, his father opposite, his mother to his left and his sister to the left.

He saw them. He felt them. He could hear them. It was as though he had snapped back in time for just a brief second. Edric's lips pressed into a thin line, hand shaking ever so slightly as he took a long breath.

Eyes closed as he took the first bite. A small drawing over his features as he tasted a meal he'd not had for nearly a decade of his life. "Just like how I remember."

He said softly.

Even if it wasn't exactly the way his mother had made it, the meal was close enough. Through the haze of time, all the awfulness they had endured. It was enough.

 

[Samantha Black]

Despite how hungry she was, Ralene could wait a few moments longer to watch Edric lose himself in a moment of nostalgia. Maybe she should have felt jealous, and it could be the pinch in her chest might've been that, but Ral had no such memories of home or family to think on. For a long while she was grateful for such things - it meant she had one less issue for the Proctors to aggressively adjust ... like she often witness with students who began their learning later in their childhood like Chasmine.

But now that she was at an age beyond reproach of such things, Ralene almost wished for a moment that she could remember her own mother. The woman who had wanted to keep her instead of giving her up to the academy. What a different life she would have lead if she'd gotten her wish.

Yet she found herself genuinely happy for Edric in that moment, witnessing a state of being in him she'd never seen before. Ralene smiled warmly at him, and gently nudged his leg with her boot.

"Good," she replied, smile persisting, "I'm glad."

Then, at the insistent growl of her own stomach, she dug in and took her first bite. No such magical revelation for her but ... "This is really good."

Could be that she was simply that hungry, but it certainly was unlike anything they'd ever been served at the academy. So instead of shoveling it down quickly as she was often want and trained to do in the militant style of life, Ral ate slowly and savored the meal.

 

[Edric]

Edric smiled as he glanced over towards his friend, one of the few that he had even now after the Revolution.

For a brief moment he allowed himself to sit in that nostalgia, ruminate within the ethos of his paste. The taste of the food in front of him, the calm that lay in the tavern surrounding them. He let himself stay within that calm.

"It is." He said with a slow nod, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the rest of his meal. "It really is."

The words seemed to echo even as he whispered them.

Edric knew that this meal meant nothing. Knew that this moment was just a brief blip of calm before an outburst of violence. Tomorrow he would fight another Dreadlord. Tomorrow he would force a wave through this city.

But for now there was calm. For now he didn't have to think about it.

That was enough.

 

[Samantha Black]

It was a quiet place, all things considered, and though Ralene had become accustomed to eating her meals while out on missions in busy and rowdy taverns, she didn't mind the slower pace of things here. Gave her an opportunity to slow down a bit from her usual hustle, though she suspected any more than a few days of this and she'd be downright bored out of her mind. At least with Edric's plan she had a goal to work towards.

Find his family.

With the meal gone from her plate, Ral eased back into her chair to luxuriate in the brief feeling of a full belly and the need to do nothing else this evening but find a hot tub to soak in and a bed to collapse on.

"Will that be all fer ye folks?" the waitress returned, "'nother round of ale mayhaps?"

Ral waved off the ale but looked to her, "Where do you recommend a pair of travelers go to stay for the night?"

"Got a flophouse down the way a bit," she replied and rubbed at her chin, "but if ye be wantin sumthin a bit more fancy-like, head back up-tin to Red Coach Inn. They'll set ye up nice for a pretty coin."

With a smirk Ralene looked across the table at Ed as she paid out for the meal with a few extra coppers for the waitress, "You feelin' fancy?"

 

[Edric]

For a moment Edric stared at the plate in front of him. A small smile appeared his face, though the expression didn't quite seem to reach his eyes. Fingers curled and uncurled on the table, and slowly he shook his head in answer to Ralene. "No."

Most Initiates would have jumped at the chance at any kind of luxury.

Before the Revolution the only time they'd ever really gotten any sort of comfort was on missions. Soft feather beds and blankets that weren't scratchy had been a blessing. Even now the paletts they slept on at the Academy hardly qualified as beds, though they were better than what they'd had before.

None of that was on Edric's mind though, not in that moment. Comfort and luxury wouldn't do for him on this night, and neither would sleep.

"You go get a room." Edric said as he slipped Ralene a few coins of his own. Knowing she was only staying here for him. "I'm going to wander around the city."

And take from It everything he would need to win tomorrow.

 

[Samantha Black]

Ral carefully masked the wash of disappointment at that answer from her expression. Luxury and pampering wasn't exactly her thing either, but if she was afforded a chance to do it in the company of someone she thought deserved it - that was quite another. To do so alone? How boring. Her blue eyes dropped to the coin he pushed over as another bout of emotions shifted through her mind equal parts surprised and annoyed at the gesture.

She pushed them back at him and promptly stood from her seat, "Not worth it to go alone," she'd find a bunk at the flop house and that'd be just fine for her. If Ed needed the evening to himself to prep for his show tomorrow and the possibility of finding his family, so be it. It wasn't as if Ral didn't understand the desire for solitude with one's thoughts. Working on her projects in the forge afforded her that much on a regular basis.

"Tomorrow, then," her parting words to him before the Initiate made her way to the tavern entrance and pressed out into the night air of the streets.

 

[Edric]

"Tomorrow." Edric said with a nod.

He saw the disappointment in her eyes of course, the slight annoyance, but Edric didn't let it settle too deep. He needed the night. He needed the time to collect himself, and more than that...he needed to take from this city everything he deserved.

Lingering for only a brief moment more Edric took in a breath.

Then he made his way out the door.

Unlike Ralene however Edric didn't try to find a bed, no. He wouldn't need sleep on this night.

As soon as he stepped out into the streets his magic began to lash outward. Invisible tendrils grasped and reached towards pinpricks of light and life. He pulled at the vitality of everything living around him. He plucked just a little piece from all of it.

A slight sliver small enough that it would not even leave an ounce of fatigue. Every man, woman, child, and even rat within the city of Stratholm. Edric took every single one of them in, a small little piece, but enough that by the time the sun rose his veins were nearly bursting with power.

Throughout the night he wandered. Taking back the life that he had lost here, and watching the city which he would defend on the morrow. It was a poignant, dispassionate walk, and by the end of it Edric found he had no more answers than before.

Just beyond the small rickety door of the chamber the Guards had lead him to came the clamor of hundreds of voices.

He knew that beyond the ancient wooden door lay a dirty arena, and surrounding it were hundreds of viewers who had come to watch the match today. All of them were hidden from his sight, the small preparation room filled instead with empty benches and weapon racks carrying vicious steel of all sort.

A man stood in the room with him, his face somewhat impassive as he read from a large parchment.

"This is a fight to the death, the accused can only prove his innocence through victory which would of course mea-"​

Before he could finish Edric cut him off with a wave. "I've made my choice."

He said blankly, the other man simply nodding as he rolled up the parchment. A frown touched his face, and then he spoke again.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but...it is very brave. That man is a monster, he deserves to die."​

Edric stared at the man, his face blank as he heard another door open behind him.

 

[Samantha Black]

She hadn't gone straight for a bed, though that had been the initial intent. Wandering through the poor quarter afforded Ral a chance to inspect what had once been and could have remained Edric's home had the gift of magic never touched him. From her experience in travels, one could tell a lot about a city by its slums, and Stratholm was no exception.

Here, though the people struggled, there did not seem to be a presence of spite or malevolence she was accustomed to in other larger cities. These folks appeared to be farmers and workers - the bottom rung that worked the hardest for the smallest payouts, but no one turned her away when she nodded a greeting. Ral even found a few folks to talk to. One casual conversation lead to another and slowly Ralene began to find bread crumbs of the life of someone she believed to be connected to Edric.

It wasn't the story he'd want to hear, but it was something.

Eventually finding her way to the flophouse, Ralene exchanged a few coins for a mediocre bunk and slept dreamlessly.

~~~

The next day she was up with the sun and back to that tavern for breakfast. A chat with a local merchant who was old enough to have history and still young enough to remember it all with clarity gave her a solid testimonial to back up what she'd learned last night. It still hadn't provided her with a lot of details, but it was enough to know that what Edric had hoped to find here wasn't here to be found.

Knowing Ed likely wouldn't take the time to eat this morning (and likely didn't need to if he was doing all night what she suspected him to be doing), Ral ordered some bread, cheese, and meat packed to go and headed out. By the time her boots hit the streets they had grown quite crowded. Stratholm buzzed with anticipation for what likely would be the event of the year.

Apparently not a lot of interesting things happened here.

Ral had no idea where the match would be held, but she instinctively knew that following the crowds would lead her there. When she arrived to the perimeter of the arena there was yet any movement within the walls below. At some point in time Stratholm hosted Knightly festivals and matches, but it looked as if the arena hadn't been used for that in a while. She made her way up into the wooden bleachers and took a seat between two strangers.

A tiger among the sheep, calmly and quietly awaiting the moment the fight was over.

 

[Edric]

Inside stepped one of the Guard of Stratholm. His uniform differed slightly from other Guardsmen that Edric had met, though only in the slashes of color that decorated him and not in the quality of armor he wore. On his shoulder the Initiate noticed the three marks setting him as a Commander.

"Are you ready, lad?"​

The man asked, his voice calm and yet holding not a small amount of tension. "I am."

Edric frowned for a moment, trying to remember where he had seen the man before. Luckily he did not having to think too hard, the man nodding at him and then slowly beginning to speak again. The hesitation only adding to the tension in his voice.

"Vanden Urr is a monster. His whole House is full of monsters. Always have been. Don't let him walk from this, don't let him win."​

A frown touched the Initiate face, but he slowly nodded his head.

He had never heard of Vanden Urr before this, had never heard of House Urr. As far as he knew it was a minor House, and the dreadlord had once been a Noble like Eli. The Commander frowned, looking Edric up and down one last time, and then nodded.

Out beyond the door the raucous crowd began to chant, and the anouncer could barely be heard over the sound of their cheers. Edric heard his name echo out, and the Commander motioned towards the door which would lead towards the Arena.

Edric frowned for a moment, and then slowly turned.

"No weapon, lad?"​

The Commander asked, confusion evident within his tone. "No. He'll give me one."

Edric said as he departed, pushing open the door and entering a long stone tunnel with a floor of sand. Slowly he made his way through the depths of the arena, the chanting and cheering growing louder as he stepped into a cascade of sunlight.

The arena came into life before him. A ring of sand and stone surrounded by a mewling crowd. Hundreds of people watching, all staring down into the pit below. Across from his stood Vanden Urr. His clothes were decrepit, and yet there was something regal about the man. He carried himself like a Prince, the sneer on his face clear as Edric stepped into the ring.

 

[Samantha Black]

Listening to the crowds cheer and holler, boo and hiss, Ralene was struck with the notion of how utterly irresponsible it was of the city of Stratholm to hold this sort of contest. Vanden Urr was a dangerous man who cared not about the people he killed along his path to ... whatever it was he was after. A Dreadlord of both intellect, power, and notoriety, leaving him loose in this rather pitiful excuse for a fighting arena screamed of careless stupidity.

The man should have been beheaded before he turned Stratholm into another Wissburg or Vel Teniel. She could only hope that Edric would be smart enough not to let the fight carry on for too long. Ralene's eyes shifted as her fellow initiate exited the holding chamber and strode out into the morning light to meet his opponent on the field. As the thunder of the crowd rose in excitement, Ralene couldn't help the rise of baited nerves in herself. It wasn't fear that ebbed its way up her spine and spread into her chest, tightening her ribs around her lungs as if in preparation for sudden violence.

It was the expectation of battle that made her fingers curl into fists over her thighs and the needling of adrenalin that drew a steady intensity over her gaze. Ralene had fought both of the men below, and though she knew with absolute certainty that Edric had the upper hand, she could not help the feeling that Vanden would do something excessive in the name of his freedom.

Don't fuck around Ed, she thought to herself, they aren't here.

 

[Edric]

The crowd boomed, the announcer called over them, doing his best to let his voice be heard. Charges were read, laws were overseen, and some sort of oath was taken. Edric did not hear any of it, instead he only stared at his opponent.

"Do you know who I am, Boy?"​

Somehow the Dreadlord's voice cut through the din of the crowd. His words seemed to echo almost directly besides Edric's hears. A flicker of confusion rolled over the Initiate's features before he pulled himself together, head shaking. "No."

His opponent scoffed.

"Of course you don't you fucking rabble."​

Disgust clung to the man's tone.

"I am Vanden Urr of House Urr. Remember that name as you die."​

Edric opened his mouth to answer, the words dying on his tongue and the crowd suddenly gasping in horror as the tip of a spear sprouted from Edric's chest. Blood spewing from his skin as the silvery steel impaled him, eyes bulging from the shock of pain at his back. A dead silence reigned over the crowd, shock rolling through the observers, a wailing cry of horror escaping those more dramatic.

It was a quiet broken only by Vanden's laughter.

"THIS?! This was your champion? A welp? Did in a second! He did not even ward himself! The simplest trick would have saved his li-"​

The loud crack of bone and ripping of flesh cut Urr's words off, his head immediately twisting towards Edric. A wicked, cheshire grin spread over the Initiate's lips, blood soaked teeth flashed as his hand slowly pulled the steel lance through his chest.

Slowly he took a step forward as she last of the spear was torn from his chest. "No one is going to remember that name."

Edric said, the words ringing out in horrified silence.

 

[Samantha Black]

This visceral display that brought the crowds to gasp and pale was nothing short of an almost routine spectacle for the one Initiate in the stands. Ralene had witness Edric run the gamut of gruesome wounds by multitudes of nefarious weapons and magics, but she knew how this ended and couldn't help the curious sense of deja vu settling into her gut.

Even still, as jaded as an Academy Initiate could be to such violence, it still made her lip twinge. Moments passed in near slow motion as her eyes shifted to Urr as he proclaimed his disgust. She didn't have to watch Ed to know what was happening - it was far more prudent she kept her attention locked on Urr.

Sure enough, Ed's voice rang out and the crowds gasped in awe and shock as what should have been a fatal attack had done nothing but make a hideous mess. The fight had only just begun but she found herself wondering just how long he meant to draw it out. Ralene could be patient on her bad days, but today she found that patience quickly slipping away.

Just kill him already.

 

[Edric]

"An illusion? Really?"​

The son of House Urr spoke loudly enough for those in the arena to hear, the gruesome silence still lingering in the crowd as Edric stepped forward. The Initiate could hear fear in the other man's voice, the assurance that had been there mere moments ago replaced with quiet horror.

"Fine fine. I'll take care of this."​

A snap of the finger rang out.

The air seemed to shimmer and shift, dozens upon dozens of blades and knives appearing as if torn from reality itself. Longswords, daggers, kunai, even the eastern Kukri appeared from nothing. They floated in place as Vanden bellowed out, spittle flying.

"I'll pin you to the fucking wall!"​

The blades launched themselves forward in a relentless assault. Most darted in a perfectly straight line, not aimed at Edric directly but simply flying close enough to slice his flesh. He felt the bite of steel a dozen times, cutting into him and marring him again and again. Knives left great gashes that began to heal almost instantly, swords cut tendons and slices muscle, each sowing and stitching back into place almost as soon as they had been cut.

Pain flowed through Edric, but he hardly seemed to notice it. He stalked forward, slow, agonizing steps as the relentless assault of blades continued to cut into him.

"DIE! DIE ALREADY DIE!"​

The scion of House Urr shouted, conjuring more blades and hurling them at Edric until the young Initiate was assaulted by a wall of knives.

It was only then that Edric moved differently. He suddenly darted to the left and swung around Vanden's blades, his movements cloaked with a blur of speed as the life he had taken form Vel Stratholm surged through him. With a flicker of movement, Edric dashed past the wall of knives, darting to the side and closing the distance between himself and Urr.

The spear in his hand flickered, and then impaled the other Dreadlord's shoulder. A yelp of pain escaped from Vanden's mouth, but before he could speak Edric was upon him. His fist clashed into the man's jaw, the crack of bone ringing out as Vanden Urr was sent tumbling to the ground.

A guttural cry of pain preceding a small cheer that suddenly started up in the quiet crowd.

 

[Samantha Black]

Urr's question of illusion sent a shiver of whispers through the crowds. No one here knew the nature of Edric's powers, not even Vanden Urr, so it left them to guess at what they were witnessing.

Who could survive such an attack like that? they said.

It had to be illusion magic.

Ralene's brow furrowed even deeper. This was nothing close to illusion magic - something she'd seen plenty of the true thing as an Initiate. That no one could see Edric's body remained the same from one movement to the next. That his blood now stained the ground and the weapons discarded in the wake of his new path.

There was no false Edric here.

Just the one and only, biding his time to put on a show. The delay was slowly killing her sensibilities inside, but at least he was now on the offensive and making damage instead of taking it.

 

[Edric]

Edric's wrist twisted, and the spear he held shifted within Urr's shoulder.

A cry of pain escaped from the man's throat, his voice echoing out within the ring as the Crowd continued to watch. A blubbering cry flew into the air as the other Dreadlord looked up at Edric, his one remaining hand raising as if it might stop the Initiate.

"Yo-you should be dead. It doesn't make any sense. You should be dead."​

Edric peered down at Urr, his face a mask of disgust.

The man's suddenly closed into a fist, and the air around them once again became shrouded in blades. They turned, launching themselves down at Edric and stabbing into him again and again. Piercing his flesh and pressing through his ribs, impaling him as though he were a pin cushion. Running him through until nearly no more space remained.

Pain shot through every fiber of his being. Flaring agony that rushed into his bones and lanced from the wounds being continually drawn upon him.

Yet throughout it all Edric's face remained impassive, dead. Staring down at the other man as he sat over the man. "I was going to draw this out."

His voice was cold, quiet, only loud enough for Urr to hear.

"But there's really no point, is there?" Fear flickered over the man's face. Terror as he began to shout something else, but it was already too late. Edric reached out, his arms slowed by the blades stabbed through them. Hands wrapped around the Dreadlord's skull, and then he began to press.

A horrid, guttural, terrifying scream echoed out from the sandy pit as Edric broke the man's skull. His face an impassive mask as Urr cried out in despair.

Hundreds, thousands of blades began to form within the air. They ruptured into being, crawling from the depths of wherever they were summoned. Brought forth spinning and standing still. They moved in every which way, darting towards Edric, into the sand, towards the crowd. They shot forward, and then suddenly fell to the ground as a sickening crunch echoed in the pit.

 

[Samantha Black]

There was a strange sense of trepidation spreading throughout the crowds. While the fight's entertainment certainly had given them a good show, it seemed it was over when it had only just begun. The impossible had happened before their very eyes: a young man who should have rightly been dead a hundred hundred times over had cheated death and ignored the impossible number of blades in his body ...

To crush the skull of his opponent in a brutal and savage display.

The hush fell from uncertainty, confusion, fear from the threat of Vanden's magic blades, and horror of the unknown powers on display before them.

Edric looked like a terrible heathen, covered in blood and bearing countless points of countless weapons as if he were some monster brought forth from the depths of whatever hell they believed in here. Was he truly today's hero?

Ralene sat in the quiet, breathing steadily within the mundane. It wasn't that the fight hadn't provided a thrill - there was always some sense of that no matter what. It was simply her mixed feelings toward the entire event, having known the outcome all along, and knowing well it was for naught. She could tell the crowds were waiting for a sign of how to react, what to do.

Should they cheer or should they be mortified?

Closing her eyes, Ral took a slow and deep breath through her nose and then let it out through a forced cheer, "Yaaaaah!" and stood from her seat with a fist in the air.

That was all it took. The crowd's atmosphere shifted in an instant from quelled to chaotic exuberance.

 

[Edric]

Edric’s chest slowly rose and fell, his eyes locked on the dead man which now lay upon the ground sprawled before him.

Pain flickered in some distant body, not his own in that moment. He stared down at the eyeless corpse, his expression grim as slowly he pulled himself up and off Vanden Urr. Blades pierced his body at nearly every angle, and as the cheers of the crowd thundered out in the arena Edric couldn’t help the bitterness that swelled in his chest.

The Initiate gave no rousing speech. Offered not a single glance to the crowd.

He turned instead on his heel, kicking up a small cloud of sand as he began to trod back towards where he had entered the arena.

As he walked, ignoring the crowd, Edric grasped the blades which pierced his flesh. Slowly he began to pull those he could reach free, dropping them bloody on the ground as the vitality he had taken from the citizens of Vel Stratholm sustained his life.

“My boy that was…Remarkable! Terrifying but remarkable, you sho-”

”No.” Edric said, continuing to make his escape as one of the officials stormed onto the sands and did his best to speak to the wayward Initiate. The man blinked, confused, but said nothing as Edric stalked past him and out of the arena.

 

[Samantha Black]

She didn't wait in the stands. The moment Edric turned from his lifeless quarry she was on her feet and pressing through the chaotic crowds. There was no way to know what came next, but she'd said she would see this through, help him uncover the truth of his family, and Ral had no intentions of breaking her word.

Boots clamped across worn wooden steps as she descended the stands and made way for the building that Edric disappeared into. At the open archway entrance Ralene found herself stopped by Guards.

"You're not permitted to enter this building, citizen."

A glare of annoyance pressed itself onto her face, but Ral gave no argument. Even if she wasn't a citizen, she also wasn't anyone who would hold any claim to any rights of entry. Her job of capturing Vanden Urr had been complete the moment he'd been turned over to the local authority. Laws, rules - things she'd been trained to respect, to follow, wouldn't be so easily contested by the Initiate.

So she stood there, waiting, watching for any sign of Edric inside. He most likely wouldn't accept medical help from them, not that he'd really need it, but Ral wouldn't be surprised if he stormed out looking like a blood-soaked pin cushion full of Urr's blades.

 

[Edric]

It was a good ten minutes before the rickety door in the courtyard was yanked open and Edric stalked out. In his hand he clutches a shirt, his torso still slick with blood though seemingly not a single wound remained. Behind him ran a woman dressed in white garb, marked with the symbol of the Anirian Guard’s medical corps.

“Sir! You can’t just-your wounds-they-“

”Don’t worry about it.” Edric grunted as he waved her off, clearly already having had his discussion over the previous ten minutes. The Guards who had kept Ralene at bay half turned their heads, both marveling at the fact that Edric was in the courtyard, much less still standing at all. In his left hand he carried one of the blades that had been stabbed into his back.

The medic let out a curse, and then said something about fool-brained men before turning on her heel and storming off in the other direction.

Edric paid her no mind at all, moving through the archway and motioning towards Ral. ”Did you find anything?”

He asked, not bothering to put on his already ruined shirt. Pointedly not addressing what had happened in the arena.

 

[Samantha Black]

She was actually more surprised that he showed up without any of the blades remaining in him. The fuss from the medic had been expected and would have garnered amusement from Ral had the current situation not been a little ... dour. Ralene met Ed with a stony expression, stared at him for a moment beyond his question, then shook her head.

"I learned about a girl with eyes like yours. I got a few different stories but they all seemed to agree her family was well-liked and that they don't live here anymore. No one seems to know where they went."

Felt a bit like a failure on her part. Ral wasn't accustomed to reporting with what felt like useless information.

 

[Edric]

The words echoed in Edric's mind as Ralene spoke.

For a brief moment his eyes fell shut, chest rising and falling. He tried to remember. Tried to picture, see something...anything. The memories were a distant haze, obscured by years of beatings, violence, and lessons of war.

A breath slowly filled his lungs, and a scent caught within his nose. It was distant, nearly gone. Just a single tickle of a floral glade coming from a flower held by some member of the distant audience. That was enough though. The moment he caught it Edric's mind seemed to spark, and for a very brief moment he found himself sitting within field.

Behind him he heard his mother, her voice distant. His head turned, and there he saw them.

A woman, who must have been his mom, and in her lap a small girl. Her dark hair barely passed down to her shoulders, eyes just like his own.

"My sister." Edric said, the lids of his eyes suddenly snapping open. An odd look of confusion and concern dragging over his features. Quickly replaced by an implacable mask which stared straight ahead and past Ralene.

For a moment he stood there, still, not a clue what else to say.

 

[Samantha Black]

They'd all had their pasts beaten out of them, some more than others. Ral perhaps less than most. Try as she might now, had she not met her father while in the isolation chamber, she would have nothing to go by. But even then, his face had jogged nothing in her mind of the few short years before he'd given her up. It was impossible to say if those memories simply never existed, or if she'd willingly given them up to save herself from further punishment at the hands of the Proctor's when she was younger.

Either way wouldn't surprise her. She'd not been very brave to start, but that changed quickly enough.

Ed still held those memories, or rather - had memories to recall. A favorite dish. His mother and sister. The god his mother once worshipped. Ral wasn't sure if she envied him or pitied him, but neither emotion were particularly welcome and quickly pushed aside for more relevant things. Like what they were supposed to do with this information.

Brow furrowed, her gaze cast around in a stupid hope that magically his sister would appear now that the spectacle of Vanden Urr's sentence was over. No such luck, but she could hear the sound of the crowds leaving the stands and Ral was willing to bet they'd flock to Edric if they found him standing out here. She wasn't sure how he'd take something like that: being an icon of the masses.

"The people are coming," Ral shifted on her feet, "what do you want to do, Ed? Your fame might help find her if she's still alive..."