Private Tales In the Pursuit of Power

[Kristen Pirian]

Contain the Heart it was then. The confidence in which Dauner had spoken was reassuring, indicative that he had in mind some manner of plan to safely deal with the Heart. If it had been solely up to her, Kristen's first thoughts were that she could perhaps use her Withering Chains to manipulate the Heart from a distance, but she was near certain that the Chains would have quickly burned and destroyed it (seeing how effective her Chains had been on the Desecrators, she thought it reasonable to think so). This would have rid Arethil of the vile Black Heart, but it likewise would have left them without that aforementioned, all-important chance at a lead. To be an effective hunter of the creatures and servants of Dark Ones in the future, Kristen knew she would have become more versatile.

And better prepared, though that very much went without saying after the ghastly incident yesterday.

With the squire's help, Kristen had her armor donned again, that familiar weight settling in. From the Order scouts she received directions to her horse and to her travel pack, and she procured some of her rations from there. Tight at first, her stomach, as if unwilling to receive sustenance, but after a few bites the yawning maw of hunger opened wide and she ate heartily. All the while she thought of various College Magic spells which might prove useful in investigating the Heart.

Then she came to the chapel. Red skies to the west seemed to paint one half of Yslan in blood, and the deep blues to the east painted the other half in twilight gloom.

"This time," Kristen said, "the Heart will yield to our will."

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

By the time Kristen would arrive, she'd find Dauner working with boards and blood. There were a total of six square boards, each board was 6 inches in length and width, and a quarter of an inch in thickness. To his side were five boards, all with what seemed to be runic inscriptions made in blood. In his left hand, he held the last board, and in his right, he held a quill. An ink bottle holding a bit of blood stood by him, and he used it to write inscriptions on the board. Even for someone versed in runic symbols, these would be hard to comprehend. Each board had complex and incomplete runes drawn on them, with relatively no use. That was in fact what Dauner wanted of them. They were useless alone, but when put together in the right way, their true use would be revealed.

One final stroke and Dauner was done. Satisfied with his work, he put down the final board to dry, and drank what was left of the blood in the ink bottle. It was then that he noticed Kristen. He put away the ink bottle and quill in his jacket.

"Oh! Kristen. Are you ready to go in?"

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Somehow, the evening gave the chapel an even more ominous atmosphere—as if the events of yesterday and the knowledge of what was inside were not enough. Still, to triumph over fear was courage, and here she needed to triumph. This would not be another Vel Acan. Another abject failure.

She noticed the boards. Noticed the sorts of designs that rune mages like Alistair or Ralene might make upon them. Only when she got close did the "ink" start to gain more clarity.

"Yes, I am re—"

It struck her then. She furrowed her brow in realization. Looked down to the boards.

"Is that..." she peered at it a little more closely, squinting her eyes some, "is that blood?"

She knew it the moment she said it. Magic of any sort which involved blood never sat very well in the pit of her stomach (if only she knew what that coppery taste had been in Dauner's remedy for the poison).

"I beg your pardon—I should not be so hasty to cast judgment." Hopefully, though, that blood was acquired from voluntary sources. More pressing, though: "Will it work?"

She looked to Dauner curiously. Such a method was outright novel to her, this truth plain to see in that curiosity.

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

It was pretty evident to Dauner how his methods would be viewed by anyone within the orthodox circles, or by people who come from them. After all, any magic that involves blood was most likely of the dark arts. However, none of them could deny the power contained within magics that would use such a medium, and since Dauner mostly only used his own blood, he felt free of any guilt. Even the minority of times when he uses the blood of slain enemies to cast powerful magic that would slay even more enemies, he felt no guild or stain on his conscience.

"You need not have worry or doubt. I tend to only my own blood for such delicate contraptions. Human blood just won't do, and the other more mortal alternative tends to lack the output power and conductivity I require" he'd reply reassuringly, which would explain why he drank the blood that was left after he was done. His blood was, after all, rather precious.

"Will it work?" he repeated the question, as a smug grin appeared on his face. "The real question is, how well will it work? To which I'd answer, better than any isolation container you've ever seen in your life" he added. It was clear from the confidence in his voice that he truly believed that. He'd make a good sales pitcher if he ever thought of a career change.

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Human blood?

Kristen blinked, thrown quite off for a moment. It was somewhat difficult to believe. Dauner just...well, he looked human, and gave no outward sign to the contrary. Though he had said he was from a realm other than Arethil, still had come the tacit assumption in her mind: well of course he's human, look at him. It was as if the sterile stated fact withered to obscurity before the preeminence of his appearance. How could he not be? Yet it seemed to be so.

The word "mortal" had yet to throw off Kristen's estimation of his age, however. Another reassessment lying in wait there.

For now she put aside all of her surprise.

"Then I will say that this will set a rather high precedent, for no such containers have I seen before." Kristen smiled thinly. "A fact I will need to change, if I do indeed make a habit of encountering abhorrent artifacts of the Dark Ones."

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

Dauner got to his feet, his preparations finally ready, safe for one point. Kristen. He still needed to provide her with a way to protect herself from the toxic effect of the miasma around the heart. He'd proceed to take off his jacket, one of the only two artifacts he'd always bring around with him, and the reason he never needed to put on any armor, and could do battle freely while maintaining his aesthetic. Aside from its dimensional pocket, it also contained magic formulas and runes which granted its wearer some degree of protection from attacks, physical, magical, and cursed alike. But these obviously could not be seen at a glance. Most would only see a normal jacket, the only exception being those who had trained themselves to see through magic.

"Would you put this on?" he'd say, handing it over to her. In case she had any question as to why he was giving her his jacket, he'd continue with, "This way you'd have a reason to at least keep thinking of me" he'd speak in a whisper, close to her ear. Too close. Flirtatious in his teasing. Well, that was just typical Dauner. It was rather surprising he'd held himself back from flirting around with Kristen every other sentence.

He'd pick up the boards before turning back to her, and gesturing towards the ruined chapel. "Shall we?"

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Oh. His jacket? Was there something special about it? It did not appear to be so. Then again, the eye was proving to be a woefully inept tool when it came to Dauner, for he was full of surprises the sense of sight could not readily detect. Mayhap if matters were not so pressing she could inquire about the jacket's—

This way you'd have a reason to at least keep thinking of me.

His voice tickled her ear with its closeness. She froze, arrested with a blank mind for a moment, eyes wide with a sort of wandering wonder. Of all possible explanations, that was one which certainly caught her off guard.

It took her a moment longer to realize he was serious. About putting the jacket on.

"Y-Yes, a moment, please."

She shed her pauldrons and her gauntlets, making her upper profile amenable to wearing the jacket. She let out a steadying breath.

"Let us go."

Those tones of red and deep blue bisecting the evening sky made up the ceiling of the chapel through the ruin of its original roof. The shadows painted all across the interior of the structure were thick and oppressive.

And ahead, as they approached, that selfsame hole in the ground.

The soft and sinister beating in the quiet air.

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

As they approached the heart, Dauner was once again graced with that nostalgic sight. A sight only one with the ability to see beyond the physical could see. The pitch black fog of dark miasma surrounding the heart. The amalgamation of vile spirits, rife with resentments and hate. Distorted by the power of darkness, and voided of what had once made them human. Dauner suddenly began to feel homesick.

Crouching before the hole, Dauner then began doing his thing. He placed the first wooden board on the ground, adjusting its orientation, so it would align properly with the rest that were to come. He continued by adjusting the second board, and placing it vertically by the side of the first.

"Would you mind holding this for me?" he'd ask Kristen. "Make sure not to move it from that position"

He'd do the same for the third, fourth and fifth boards, such that it now looked like a box with the top side open. He'd leave the holding of all four sides to Kristen, while he proceeded to pick the heart up, bare handed. The heart would seem to have a reaction. Put up a bit of a resistance, hissing as it beat, and beating faster with every pulse. It would continue to do so as long as Dauner held it.

Dauner would finally lower it into the box, placing the last piece of the board into place as soon as he did. The moment the last piece of the box would enter its position, a surge of energy would be felt, followed by a burst of that same energy. Dauner would make sure to get Kristen's hand out of the way before the burst would happen. The now complete box, would float, as the runic symbols on it would glow a bright, yet dark light. Blue and black colors would blend with each other along the outlines of the box, and sparks would burst out occasionally.

"Well, that looks about right!" Dauner would comment. "Kristen, would you mind helping me grab the box?" he'd ask. If she did try to grab it, he'd wait until the last second, and then grab her hand, pulling it away from it, saying, "On second thought, let's wait a little more". From that point, unless she pulled her hand away, he'd keep holding onto it, as though that prank had been orchestrated just for this result.

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen did as asked, holding the boards in position. As each new board was entered into the equation, Kristen adjusted her hands as necessary, by the end holding two boards with each hand at the corners.

Then the part that inescapably was the cause of the most trepidation. Dauner, reaching into that loathsome hole in the chapel floorboards and extracting the Black Heart. With his bare hands. However it was that he protected himself, it was a powerful ward against the invasive corruptions of the Dark Ones indeed.

Kristen was startled slightly by the sudden reaction of the box, with but a vague awareness that Dauner had snatched her hand away from it as it formed and sealed into a singular and solid prison for the Heart. A curious wonder colored her regard of the box when it floated of its own accord off the ground.

Well, that looks about right!

Kristen sighed. Pleased. "Good. And yes, whatever you require."

She reached out toward the hovering box. A little rush of elation coursed through her. This thing, this artifact of the highest order of profanity, had not only itself been stopped from causing more harm but was now furthermore removed from the grand and foul tapestry the perpetrator was trying—

Dauner grabbed her hand.

Kristen snapped her gaze over to him, brows arched. Concerned. "Is something wrong?"

On second thought, let's wait a little more.

And like that, frozen, her hand stayed by his own, they waited. The thought did enter Kristen's mind, after not so long, that mayhap they were waiting for a touch too long.

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

Slowly, the box lowered itself as the pulsating energy calmed down. Dauner reached out for it, taking hold of if, and handing it over to Kristen. The sealing was complete. The heart, would no longer be able to bring harm to anyone, but those the wielder of the box wanted harmed. A harmful and toxic artifact, weaponized, and leashed to a will. This wasn't the first occurrence of such a thing happening. History was riddled with people turning whatever had a danger factor into a weapon, the height of this having been the weaponization of humans themselves. Dauner left the handling of the artifact to Kristen, for he too was not above the temptation of such a weapon. Especially now that most of his abilities had yet to recover due to his injury.

"The heart's toxin now poses no danger, but the sealed heart could lead us to our query. Now, when-"

"My lord monarch!" Cassandra's voice interrupted him. She had felt the disappearance of the miasma, and thought it safe to enter the chapel now. "The scout team is done packing, and is ready to return to Sovereignty Castle"

"Great. Oh, by the way, deliver a message to the seat Gluttony for me. Tell them I want every information they can find about Duke Siegfried Von Grant. From his power, strength, holdings and influence to the color of his underwear. I want everything. And tell them if there are any free assassins and no major task for them, keep them on standby until I return" he'd finish.

Cassandra would salute him, and then Kristen, before leaving the ruin. With her, the rest of the order's forces in the ruins would begin to withdraw.

"I'd say, it would take the Kodan forces a day or two to get here, so how about we plan our next move in my tent?"

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

The very atmosphere of the chapel seemed different. Even casting aside the knowledge of the Heart's poisonous miasma now contained by the box, the air inside the chapel ruin lost a certain tension, something that was there in the background blending in like white noise, so subtle that it went unnoticed until the box cut off the Heart from affecting all that was close to it.

That dread, Kristen thought. That sense of quiet dread is gone.

What magic Dauner had employed worked. Aionus willing, Kristen would have to find her own means and methods. As a Dreadlord her duty was to Vel Anir, but as a Celestialist her duty was to the preservation of Arethil. Mayhap one day she could become ordained? More than merely a worshipper of Aionus, but a true priestess. Might this not serve her well against the wily incursions of Dark Ones?

Dauner delivered his orders to Cassandra (still the name of Gluttony was an odd one to Kristen). Duke Siegfried Von Grant. Likely a name that would prove to be a thorn in their side. With the wheels of war already in motion, Kristen doubted that sincere entreaties about the danger of the Desecrators would hold much sway. Worse, this Duke's potential hindrances could spell disaster for the commonfolk of Koda, delaying Kristen and Dauner's pursuit of the Desecrators just long enough mayhap for another—

No. Do not entertain mournful thoughts.

She looked to Dauner, cradling the box close to herself as if a jostle and a tumble might somehow empower the terrible artifact inside to break free.

"Yes," she agreed. "The way forward, I believe, must be traversed with care and forethought."

And with that they departed from the chapel.

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

Dauner would remain relatively silent throughout the walk to his tent. With his jacket on, safe for his good looks, he always looked plain in every other aspect. Although his jacket's sleeves were rather thin, there was never any obvious muscle definition showing on it. That was one of the reasons he was often looked down on by opponents who didn't know what he was capable of. That together with how young he looked. But now that the jacket was off, he looked like a completely different person. His muscles bulked, courtesy of several millennia of training. His arms no longer looked feebly weak, and now betrayed the strength that lay behind his grip. The outline of his abs on his shirt, clearly defined, as the shirt now looked rather tight on him.

As soon as they got back to the tent, Dauner turned to Kristen. "You can return my jacket now. You're no longer in danger of the heart" he smiled, reassuringly.

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen, to whom the mysteries of the rougher sex were still very much shrouded in fog, stole one...two...truth be told, a few peeks over on the way to the tent. Adolescent curiosity had its way of manifesting even through years of prim noble upbringing and the gravity of the overall situation.

Curiosity of a more general kind had its say as well. Dauner, beneath the superficial, was still a mystery in and of himself. Easy to look upon (yes, quite pleasing to the eye), but difficult to know. Every guess or assumption she had thus far about him had been incorrect. He had spoken of himself at length, of course, yet still surprises abounded.

Human blood.

Well...if he was not human, even one hailing from another realm as it might have been...then what? And how old was he? Thirty-three was the new fuzzy guess, but the voice of doubt in the back of her mind whispered that it was probably higher than that. Thirty-four?

This age arithmetic was going through her head when they stepped inside the tent. Carefully, Kristen set the box down on the nearest available surface.

"Oh! Right. Your jacket. I shall relinquish it."

She took it off, taking what small opportunity she had to peek inside of it without making it overly obvious that she was peeking inside of it (it was a remarkable item, full of mysteries like its owner), and handed it over to him.

"Well then, our perpetrator wishes for war between the Kingdom of Koda and the Sovereign Order, and this gift has been given to them." She tapped the top of the box. "But...here we have struck a blow. To what baleful end our villain aspires, I know not precisely, yet—blessedly—the realization of said end stands delayed."

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

Putting his jacket back on, All traces of his well toned body he had disappeared, returning the plain look, veiled in mystery, he was so used to carrying himself with. With that out of the way, he'd return to the matter at hand. They had struck the cult, yet again laying waste to one of their designs, just as he had done in Alliria. The problem here, though, was the area under which these designs were being implemented. In Alliria, there were multiple miasma refining artifacts as well, and since it was only a city, it wasn't hard finding all of them. This time, however, the scheme seemed to cover an entire kingdom. Needless to say, finding where the next artifact would be, was no easy feat. They didn't even know for sure whether the heart was the first artifact to have successfully been planted.

"True. This put a wrench in their plans, but we must not be complacent" Dauner said, taking out a map of Koda. "We don't know how much of an effect our actions here have had ion their plans. It may be big, but it may also be insignificant. We don't know exactly how many such hearts there are out there, or how close to completion our enemies plans are. We must put our efforts into finding where the true mastermind behind all this is before he puts his plans into action and blights the land. If a blight breaks out here, then not even Vel Anir will be safe. Our enemy also has an advantage over us since we're in the light, and they're in the shadows. We should expect retaliation at any time"

Dauner picked up a charcoal marker, and looking down at the map on the table, but before he could do anything, the box holding the heart began to have a reaction. First shook slowly, but soon began to shake violently.

"Speak of the devil"

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Fair points all," Kristen said in agreeance. And what he said nearer to the end held the most weight over Kristen, and worry stood poised like a scythe before wheat. What happened here could very well matter back home. Evil allowed to pervaded even on a continent far removed would seep in time to the homefront, for malevolence was never content with its lot.

Kristen, in the image of Aionus, wished to be a shield against the dark. And all who stood behind such an aegis were protected, those who were near like the Allirians, and those who were far like her own people of Vel Anir. Yes. What happened here mattered greatly.

The box rattled. Rumbled. To the unknowing eye it might appear as though not an artifact was housed inside, but a wild animal struggling to escape.

She did not ask if the box would hold. She trusted in Dauner's knowledge on that front.

Instead, a different question: "Are they...trying something? Our perpetrators? Mayhap they are testing their network of magic. Or mayhap they know that the Black Heart has gone silent from them."

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

Dauner realized he'd yet to explain that part to Kristen. He remembered having tried to, but then Cassandra interrupted, and he didn't make mention of it anymore after that.

"Right. I believe there's still knowledge I have yet to share with you concerning the boxed heart" he began. "The runes I drew on the box, aside from sealing the heart and its energy, cause a reaction from the heart whenever a source of the same kind of energy used in its creation is detected. That means, whenever a desecrator or other cursed artifact is near to us, we'll know. But the downside is, they'll know too" he explained. From his words it was obvious that there was either a desecrator, or another artifact approaching them. The latter was very unlikely to be the case, though, meaning there was only one conclusion.

"I fear our enemies may have already found out what conspired here. But for their reaction to be so quick, can only mean they have a base not too far from here. Which in our situation, I believe, is most welcome news"

Dauner would proceed to turning off the lamp, letting the darkness of night, which had already fallen over the ruins, fill the tent. The quiet that ensued was enough to send chills down anyone's spine. Dauner crouched by the entrance to the tent, scanning the parts of the ruins visible to him.

"I suggest we find him. Capture him before he can escape, and the answers we seek shall be ours." Realizing he had yet to see what Kristen was truly capable of, and what level of martial prowess she commanded, he turned to her, his grin shadowed by the darkness.

"Would you care to handle this, Kristen?" he asked.

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen's eyes brightened with the implications. A most useful property of the box! And it highlighted another area upon which she needed to bolster her skills. Protection was of course a vital component against the Dark Ones' twisted power, but a means by which to hunt them was also necessary. They would not always so blatantly present themselves as they had in the Chapel in Alliria.

Which in our situation, I believe, is most welcome news.

"Let them come," Kristen said, gaining an edge of resolution. She would have been lying if she said that there was not a small tinge of revenge in those words, this for what the Black Heart almost did to her.

Kristen laid a hand to the hilt of her sheathed sword, taking up the side of the tent's entrance opposite to Dauner. She looked to him. Smiled.

"Nothing would please me greater than to—"

A crow landed right at the tent's entrance. The bird cocked its about in a typically avian way. Then its eyes glowed with a teal light. The bird's head arched back, beak open, not entirely unlike the babies of its kind awaiting their mothers to regurgitate food into their squawking maws. Kristen regarded it with suspicious apprehension.

And from its open beak sprouting an image, bathed in that same teal light. It was the vague upper profile of a woman with long dark hair, her face difficult to discern.

But her voice came through clearly, low and silky, pleasant, the kind of voice that might send warm shivers down one's spine merely by hearing it:

"You have something which belongs to...a friend...of mine."

A smile in the vague image.

"Don't you?"

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

Well, that was unexpected. Dauner thought, as he gazed upon the figure of the woman. Though only half of her figure was on display, and her face was hard to discern, her silhouette and voice betrayed a charm that got Dauner considering many things. Anyone who knew Dauner enough knew that he was relatively weak to feminine charm. That didn't mean he wouldn't kill a beautiful lady. However, it meant he'd have a much harder time deciding to do it, than with a man. He also usually gave off an air of someone who could be easily charmed and swayed by the honeyed words of a beauty.

Dauner would be the first to step up, sharing words with the projection. "I have many things that once belonged not to myself, but nothing I now possess is not mine by right of claim. If you would, please do elaborate, on what this item of mine, that once belonged to a friend of yours is" he said, eloquently, and with implication that he was trying to initiate a civil discourse.

Dauner had not spent years in several courts for nothing. He knew how to employ diplomatic conversations to achieve his goals. He just believed most things are easiest to achieve through might of arms. This however didn't mean he didn't use his silver tongue to instigate others into open conflict.

The war with Koda was one such situation. Koda didn't only declare war because the cult was instigating them to do so. Dauner too had, through eloquence and wile, instigated Koda into this course of action during the initial diplomatic exchanges that followed the occupation of Sovereignty castle. The end result was Koda declaring war, while believing it was their choice to do so, and failing to realize they had just been played by a master of the game.

Similarly, his initial choice of word with the lady in the projection, was one that laid a basis for their conversation, that anything he now had with him, was his. Minor though it may seem to many who have never dipped into politics, and many an amateur in the field, this initial premise was an important point in swaying the direction of the entire conversation that was to ensue. That was, assuming the other party wanted to keep things civil as well. Else, they would have to defer to the intrinsic law of the jungle, where might makes right!

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Coy," said the image.

"Who are you?" Kristen said, an edge to her tone that differentiated her from Dauner. "What are you?"

Soft, gentle laughter from the image, a hand even rising to cover her mouth as she did. "Introductions, yes. The first step toward intimacy."

Kristen narrowed her brow.

"Khorvayne," the image said, the name rolling off of her tongue slow and measured. "Khorvayne Contra. You might consider me to be a seeker of knowledge."

"Was it you?" Kristen demanded. "Several days ago, a band of mercenaries in the Allir Reach called Rudim's Riders was attacked and killed nearly to a man. Was such your typical manner of 'seeking knowledge?'"

Khorvayne gasped lightly. "Oh? My dear, you have been given wrongful information. It was they who came after me, their hearts shimmering with the desire for gold."

She focused back onto Dauner. "Is it not magnificent? Beauty, encapsulated into flesh. A Heart as black as the darkness which dwells within all who live and breathe."

Kristen's brow gave a small but telltale twitch at this. There was a truth she held deeply in her heart, locked away now but felt with stunning clarity while she was held captive on the Isle of the Blades. That day, that moment, when she looked up to Dominic Foresend, the pirate Warlord, her captor, and wished pure malice upon him. And the simple, ugly truth born of this feeling going on to spur her decision to enroll into the Academy of Vel Anir. The seed from which her present virtue sprouted was a dark and selfish one.

Mayhap it was a trick of the eye, but her face seemed to become a little more defined in the teal image. "What is it that you desire?"

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

There were times when Dauner just didn't care to beat around the bush. At those times, he'd dive directly into the topic, and wouldn't give the other party a chance to play games around him. Well, this was not one of those times. Looking to the projection of the woman, he'd offer a smile.

"Khorvayne" he'd repeat the name, as though trying to savor it as he would fine wine. "A rather peculiar name, with a beauty of its own" he'd comment.

Following Khorvayne's praise for the heart, Dauner would honestly feel nothing about it. No hatred or malice, or resentment for the harm it had caused, like Kristen. He was very used to harm, both the ones he inflicted, and the ones he suffered. He knew better than to judge another for what they choose to do. Perhaps a younger, less experienced, and much weaker him would have walked the same path as her.

He also felt no awe at what she described. The heart may have been beautiful to her, but Dauner had seen many more of its ilk, and several much worse than it. His own sword was an artifact, bath in the blood of hundreds of thousands. A cursed artifact, that had absorbed not only the blood of countless foes, but also his resentments and hatreds for tens of thousands of years. A sword that had gained a consciousness of its own, and now sought to devour all, in fulfillment of the wish he once held, for the destruction of the human race. That was why he didn't use it much anymore, and why he'd left it behind at Sovereignty castle for this trip. He could already imagine the masterminds behind this drooling at the sight of it. Those who commanded the Alliria incident certainly did.

"Of course. It does indeed have its own distinct beauty. But… I'm afraid such beauty is lost on me."

Whatever it was he was originally planning on saying, it all got thrown out the window midway, for as her visage became clearer, the flirty side of Dauner also sprung up into action.

"After all, it is hard to pay attention to the little things in the presence of one as resplendent as you" he'd finish.

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Hearing Dauner's reply to the sorceress, Kristen had to fight to keep her expression level and her gaze centered on the image instead of darting his way. She wouldn't call it jealousy...well...alright, in truth, there was a little bit of jealousy, an unrefined and possessive feminine impulse which was inescapably some of the reason why she felt a touch slighted. But girlish notions, as Mother would have called them, needed to be put aside, and Kristen did so. Instead, a better foundation for concern: she hoped that Dauner's silken tongue was a strategy, and that he had not been taken in by Khorvayne.

"Speak my name aloud," Khorvayne said invitingly to Dauner, "if ever you wish to talk...privately." A luxurious sigh. "But now, there is little time."

"And why is that?"

"Desecrators are on their way to you. Nine of them, to be precise. They seek what you have."

"They shall not claim it," Kristen said. "And neither will you."

"Are we not having a civil discourse?"

Her face in the image stood out in clear definition now. Fair skin, perhaps on the pale side. Gray eyes like secretive clouds watching all that transpires on the ground below. Black hair like thick strands of manifest midnight.

And she favored Dauner with her attention then as she said, "I was hoping that we could come to an accord."

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

It wasn't unfamiliar to Dauner, the feeling of feminine possessiveness that that drove many. That wasn't because he was a little too full of himself, but rather, mostly because he was an incubus. This was especially a problem in his younger days, when he was yet to invent a means by which to 'mask' his charm. One could argue that most of his battles back then, were against agents sent by rich noble women who had been taken by his charms, and wanted to make him into their boy toy, than against the church and the more anti-demon radicalists in the various races. His first two wives almost had him cover up his face every time he was out in public. That was how bad it was back in the days old.

"I shall keep your words to heart" Dauner would reply to Khorvayne's inviting temptation. "And, unwilling though we are to part with this artifact, I am willing to compromise" he'd steal a glance from Kristen as he said this. He'd imagined she wouldn't be too pleased by what his words insinuated. "But the real question is, What are you bringing to the table. You see. This… artifact, is of little value to me. Why, should I choose to, I could make ten more of its ilk before the sun next sets" he continued Whether his words were laced with exaggerations, or not, he would leave that to the thinking minds to figure for themselves.

"However, I understand that is not the case for those behind its creation. So what is it that you're willing to offer, in exchange for the heart?" he'd pose his question, as he now toyed with the box in his hands. When exactly he'd got it from the table in the tent, was a fact that would elude most.

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Compromise. The word made Kristen uneasy. The whole idea of coming to an accord with this sorceress made her uneasy. Doubtful was it that her lips paid homage to Astra or Nykios or any of the gods of Celestialism, to say the least. And it was all but certain that it was she who planted the evidence here in Yslan that tipped the Kingdom of Koda to war.

For now though, Kristen held her tongue and guarded her heart.

"I cannot stop the Desecrators coming to you now," Khorvayne said. And then she smiled. "But I can deliver the man who sent them into your hands."

"Do—" Kristen noticed then that Dauner had the box in his hands, and after an involuntary double-take she refocused and continued, "Do you think that we will be unable to find him ourselves?"

"I have faith that you can," Khorvayne said pleasantly. "Just as I have faith that you will dispatch those Desecrators." She tittered, again covering her mouth in elegant fashion as she did. "My friend was dearly vexed when his Desecrators in Alliria were slain, and I was the one soul to whom he could voice his frustrations. Pity."

Then to the point: "Your problem, of course, is time."

Dauner

 

[Dauner]

Indeed, time. The one thing every wanted more of, but couldn't even if they died trying to get it. Dauner knew it, and Khorvayne knew it too. If Dauner and Kristen were to find the mastermind on their own, there was no telling how long it would take. A few days? Weeks? Months? What was to say that it wouldn't be too late when they did. At the end of the day, compromise was always a necessary sacrifice.

"You keep speaking of this friend of yours, who holds dear the desecrators. And yet, you would readily deliver in our hands the one responsible for this mess?" Dauner questioned.

Of course, he was one who loved beauty. Treasured it. And held it most dear to his heart. However, that did not imply that he'd lose his rationality in the presence of one. If Khorvayne's desire was to help the desecrators, then it was hard to believe she would deliver the mastermind of the plan. Dauner could only think of a few reasons why she'd offer such. Either there was an even higher mastermind than the one she was offering to deliver, or she was confident their plan would succeed even without the mastermind. That or the heart he held in his hand had greater value to them than he'd first anticipated. If so, then it would explain that she was willing to give up the plan for the heart. But he still had his doubts.

"Before our discussion proceeds any further, please shed light on a question of mine. I have noticed that… you feel human, and yet more than just human. Like two auras mingling in one vessel. I assume you have some relation to a higher being. I shan't intrude on your personal information, but it makes me wonder. This friend of yours, are they one of the infamous Dark ones mentioned in the Celestialist texts, or are they one who lives on in service of one such being?" he posed. He could feel the air itself listen with attention to his question, as though he'd picked the curiosity of the world itself. But that could just be because of the quiet that had enveloped the ruins of Yslan.

---

Kristen Pirian​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Oh," Khorvayne touched a hand to her breast, just above her heart, and mused, "the Dark Ones. How fascinating it would be to truly commune with such as them."

She shook her head, sounding a little disappointed. "No, my friend is but one born of Arethil, pursuing their favor."

"And how quick you are to slip a dagger into his back, for all this talk of friendship."

Unperturbed, Khorvayne answered, "Suffice it to say we had a disagreement. I did mention that he was quite vexed about Alliria—enough to burn the last bridge to his lonely island. And even through his rage over this setback, he fancies himself invincible. Well, I should not disappoint him by leaving this claim untested, should I?"

"Have you not the time to attend to this matter yourself? Is that your problem as well?"

"And deny you, Kristen Pirian, your own desire to end him? I would never be so cruel."

Kristen felt a queasiness in her gut. Vastly would she have preferred Khorvayne to be like her unnamed friend, outright malevolent and with all doubts removed as to such. Rage, hatred, arrogance, any of these in their destructive excesses would have made her a clear and undisputed foe. But Khorvayne was just so...cordial. She wasn't making much effort to hide her involvement in this whole scheme, she wasn't claiming innocence either, her end goals might well be as nefarious as those of her erstwhile friend, but...by the Holy Sentinel, why did she have to be so affable?

Wait, Khorvayne just said her name. Kristen blinked rapidly in surprise. Glanced to Dauner and then back to her, "How...?"

Anticipating it, the sorceress responded coolly, "I have many ways of knowing things from afar."

Dauner