Private Tales There Will Come A Reckoning

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

He would smile and nod off the crack about the elves. He had to kill some on missions, but he killed way more humans and he didn't hate all those, well.. he hated the half-breeds. The Forsaken that were just the result of humans and pets being nutty buddies.

Still they rode on in relative until he posed the question. He had figured she would shoot for Tar'shan, he just wanted her to say it, after all, it was her mission. "Yes, m'lady. Nothing but the best that Tar'shan has to offer." He teased with a shrug, before slowing his courser down some to stay in line with her. "Ya know, its a shame I missed that ball. I was on a mission when it happened. I had a suit picked, dance moves locked and loaded.." his gaze shifted to her. ".. thought about who I would even want to bring with."

Nope. That was a lame line. Gods be damned, he could be smoother then the butter initiates put on their pancakes, but with Kristen? Pure shit. Every damn time. "You uhh, go with anyone or been on like any dates or missions with anyone?" Fuck. Smooth, you're the living embodiment of the Spine.

Thankfully, the gods had been listening. He wouldn't be able to worry about any immediate answer as a faint whistle led to a jolt of pain as an bolt collided with his shoulder and forced him from his saddle. "FUCK!" He would curse as he hit the earth. Around.them, a group of bandits would emerge brandishing crossbows, clubs, one even had a sword, he must have had skill.

Drast would force himself to his feet, his arm pinned against his leather armor and his magick swirling around him.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

The words were in her mouth, poised right on the tip of her tongue, just a hair's breadth of time away from being said. And she would have been delighted to tell Drastus about the Ball, for while such a thing was by comparison commonplace for her, it was utterly novel to all of the Initiates who were her peers—even those of a noble background.

She didn't have the chance.

The bolt struck Drastus and he fell from his horse and at this Kristen gave a sharp yelp of shock. Her gaze whipped around as she heard them, the rustle of clothes and the small clamor of shifting armor and the crunch of boots on the ground. They emerged from their hiding spots from behind trees and ridges, weapons readied.

One among them, a man with a bushy mustache, said after a snicker, "Thought we'd catch you on the way back."

The two other men with loaded crossbows aimed. Kristen yelped again and threw herself from her horse. The bolts flew over her saddle, would've struck her had she been too slow in moving. The zip of the bolts startled her horse and it trotted away as she hit the ground belly-first. The wind vacated her lungs, and a tightness gripped her chest from the impact.

"Go!" encouraged one of the bandits to his brethren, and those with the melee weapons charged.

Kristen's fumbling fingers raced to unlatch her book of her verses from her belt. She started to recite the words to call forth her magic but didn't finish in time. One of the bandits swung at her while she lay on the ground and she swatted at his club with the book, deflecting it but at the cost of hideous reverberation in her hands, in her arms.

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

The gods had a sense of humor and right now he was their favorite target. He didn't want to save Kristen for the sake of liking her, but he did need to buy her space to work her magick. He would run through a volley of bolts, each one narrowly missing him, before closing on the bandit with the club.

One hand would touch the mans face, causing the skin to burn, boil, and then decay. Even with how short he touched the man, the necrosis would begin to take effect at an alarming rate. It wouldn't kill, yet. But it would buy her some much needed time. It also gave Kristen the choice to finish the job or let Drasts magick run its course, and if she chose the former, she could console the fact that it was a mercy.

Moving past him, he would slide under another crossbow bolt, and he would respond with one of the deadliest finger guns this side of the Jades. 'Blasting' the bandit with a beam of necrosis in his trigger hand, he would keep moving to draw fire.

Gods above he wished he had Rupert, but they didn't have time for that. So, he would have to settle for his muted powers. No flashy chains, quick and mass reanimations, nor draining the life force to heal.

Thankfullly, he had options: his magick sword, his normal magick, or a trusty dagger. "We need one alive!" He would shout to Kristen as he pulled the dagger free first. Eight total. Two crippled, one crossbow left. Two men with clubs rushed him and though he dodged the first club, the second connected with the bolt, sending a lancing pain up and down his body.

Drast dropped to a knee reflexively, then thrust the dagger upwards, giving one of the bandits a free sex change. The man would scream bloody murder as he collapsed, with Drast twisting the dagger and yanking it free to slash it across the other bandits knees.

He wasn't dead, but he would be moving much slower now. One dead, one crippled, two injured. He didn't like his chances with the remaining half.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

One deflection of the club, and then Drastus came from nowhere, his arm plunging into Kristen's narrowed field of vision like a spear and latching to her assailant's face. His magic did its work. Hideous, gruesome—so she might have thought in different circumstances. Yet here there was naught but a rush of gratitude.

The club bandit fell to his knees, hollering in pain and horror, clutching at his face. Kristen scrambled away, up to her feet. Her book of verses floated in her hand and paging flipped as she began to recite.

"He didn't say they had magic!" cried the bandit who'd spoken earlier. His eyes were wide. A beam of necrosis hit the man next to him and he flinched, ducked low, then threw himself behind a tree.

Kristen finished her recitation.

Withering Chains burst from the ground around the four bandits who were neither injured nor killed. Like snakes they wrapped around their legs, their arms, their torsos and their necks. All at once when the magical chains touched them their muscles felt ancient and atrophied, their bones brittle with old age, their very lungs wheezing for air. The man trying to reload his crossbow, his foot currently in the claw, no longer had the strength to pull the string up to rest the tension. The movements of them all were sluggish, like those of infirm old men.

She looked to Drastus. Saw the blood they'd drawn on him.

And she drew her mace. Stalked forward, muscles trembling with shock and stress against the bedrock of a new determination. Her eyes were also wide, and they told a queerly contradictory story: both I'm going to do this and I can't believe I'm going to do this.

She approached the first debilitated bandit. Sidestepped a feeble swing of his club and struck low. Her mace shattered his shin with a sharp crack, and he hollered and toppled over. She brought it down on the shoulder of his right arm, breaking bone there as well and forcing him to drop his weapon.

And on towards the next she walked. Mace in one hand, book of verses floating above the other.

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

As the bandit dropped to his knees in pain, Drast came up behind him and slid the dagger across his throat, giving him a line to run parallel with the knees. That was when he heard the panic, the shock, the... screams?

He didn't rightly know what Kristen could do, but seeing it in play was eye opening. His chains could only constrict, but hers.. they did so much more. And it made it so much easier for her to not kill anyone. Then he saw the mace.

If he didn't know it before, he definitely knew it now. He was in love. The way she put the beat down on the bandits. Just something about her being so damn aggressive.. it made his knees weak. "Kress damn, girl." He said with a wry grin.

He would turn to the leader and one of the other bandits, flicking his dagger into the thigh of the companion. "Yeah, bud.. we got magick.. now tell us what we want to know, or it will be.. very painful."

The leader faltered a moment. "I ain't saying shit, runt." He would ready his club and rush Drastus, the first swings causing the initiate to duck and roll beneath him and out of the way. The next swing as aimed at the good arm, as if to decommission the cannon.

Drast would twist, cursing as the club impacted his side. His arm closed around the club to try to keep it out of play. He would love nothing more than to melt this man's face, but they needed answers.

The leader didn't miss a beat. The free hand would grab ahold of the bolt in Drast's arm and twist, causing the younger Tal'deneshaar to curse.

He would wrench the club from his hand, and drove it into the side of the leaders head, shattering the club. That only served to piss him off. Another curse from Drast as the leader lifted him heavenward and slammed him back down into the ground and onto his back.

Vision blurred, oxygen caught, Drast could not believe he was letting a bloody goober beat his ass. There was no way in any hell, that he was going out like this.

"I got ya now, bo-gah!" The leader began to draw his sword, yelping out as Drast swept his leg. One hit the deck, while the other rolled away. "You got spunk, kid. Ill give ya that. Pains me to have to do this." He would finish pulling his sword free of its scabbard, tapering it off with a flourish.

"Funny.. I was just thinking about all the pain you were going to experience after this.." Drast hissed out, spitting some blood to the grass. His good hand would move to pull his own sword free. This one, he had never actually used before. He just knew it was magick. He would get ready, no flourish, holding his blade in a reverse grip, like a dagger.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen went from one debilitated bandit to the next, striking them with her mace and leaving them howling on the ground with broken bones and frayed, bleeding skin. It didn't even occur to her that this was the first time she'd actually managed to become a legitimate combatant in a fight. She hadn't crumbled to her knees like she did in Vel Acan, and her contributions were worth something substantial, unlike the poor results she'd had whilst lost in the desert or during the Canal campaign.

By the time she was finished, she stopped for a moment. Turned back after that pause. Saw the line of bandits, their faces twisted in agony, each of them broken upon the ground. And with a kind of fascination she looked to her hand, to the mace it wielded, and she could hardly believe it.

Yet it was so. It was like Noel, and it was like Edric, the injuring of them both. She had brought her will upon these men, and they had been laid low by it.

Drastus's voice brought her back to focus. Her gaze whipped around, and she saw him facing off with the leader.

Again, no time was spared for considered thought.

Kristen only started to circle around, to position herself to the leader's back, such that he'd have a foe to his front and rear.

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

The leader surged forward, swinging his sword in a wide arc, forcing Drast to either step inside the swing or step into it. He would step inside the swing, his blade lifting to catch the bandits. The clang was loud as edge sparked along the flat, and the leader would try to glide his sword along the flat to catch Drast from the side.

Drast rotated his wrist so that the crossguard would shift ninety degrees to catch the blade. It was his turn, and he would drive his head forward with a snarl, headbutting the leader. His vision blurred, but the leader staggered with all the blows to his head.

Drast would press his advantage, driving the crossguard screeching along the length of the blade before another twist locked the blade in place. He would yank it back, but with the man being much larger, it probably wouldn't have gone his way. Thats why Drast took it a step further.

He would leap forward, the quarrel protruding from his arm aimed for the leaders eye. He'd miss the fleshy bit, but the pain was enough for the leader to curse as he pulled his head back. It took every part of his being to keep moving with the pain that shot up his arm. Using that shift, Drast would yank down with his blade, ripping the leaders sword free in a fluid motion.

The leader swung a fist for Drast's skull and it nearly connected, save for a timely stumble. No matter, the initiate would drive the pommel of the sword into the leaders knee, forcing him to drop roughly. "Kris!" He would shout as he shoved the leader backwards, hoping for that knockout bonk.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Drastus fought with the leader of the bandits, a whirl of motion which last but a few scant seconds but seemed to Kristen to last far longer. Time contorted in strange ways when in perilous situations, when the heart between with the fury of fear for the sake of oneself or for the sake of friends.

Her opportunity came when the leader went stumbling backward after a harsh shove from Drastus.

Kris!

Even in the days which followed, even all the way up to the festival of Festum Libertatis and a little beyond, Kristen had no idea how she was able to do it or where the capacity had even come from. But in that moment, a fluke of martial clarity, a spark of fluid skill that she'd not be able to capture again until much later, occurred.

Kristen delivered a solid sweeping strike to the back of the leader's knee and took him clean off of his feet, his legs flying up higher than his head for a moment before he crashed to the ground altogether, and in the same motion she arced her mace up and, as she kneeled down, slammed the butt of it right between his eyes.

She blinked. Now caught in the wonder she would hold onto for all those days to come.

And she looked back. Saw the leader with his jaw slack and a touch of spittle coming out, his eyes closed and his consciousness absent from Arethil for at least the next couple of minutes.

"I...I did it. I got him." She spoke as if she'd just woke from a dream, recounting some fanciful happening therein.

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

Drast had heard from other Initiates about how incompetent Kristen was (which normally led to a fight they weren't ready for and some necrotic scarring for the other student) but in this moment he had no idea what of Chas's catalog those asshats were smoking.

She was a badass. From start to finish of the fight, she was in it kicking ass and taking names. His gaze settled on her. "Damn girl, you whooped all their asses. I was just emotional support." He said with a pained laugh.

His knees shook and before he could collapse in front of her, he would drop into a seated position. "Start collecting weapons from the living.. I'll help tie them up and strip em down. Just gotta.." he gestured to the quarrel. "May want to look away, Lady Pirian." He would say trying to assuage any concern she might have had with a smile. There was pressure on his lung, he needed to fix that. He grit his teeth and one hand grabbed the quarrel, just beneath the fletching. A quick shake of the head and he pulled his flask free and removed the stopper before taking a very long pull from it. "C'mon you dirty little bastard.." he mused to himself.

Hand gripping the quarrel again, he would pull back on it, moving his arm with it, until it pull free from his leather cuirass. A small chunk of flesh from his side clung to the barb and he almost lost consciousness as his vision blurred. His hand moved to the fire glyph and then he put those fingers into the wound in his side. The smell of burning flesh would begin to waft into the air and he winced in pain as the wound burned and sealed.

Next, came the quarrel. He took the flask and poured it over the entry point and this time grabbed the quarrel just above the tip. Heavy breaths would pump in preparation and while holding the affected arm out, Drast yanked downwards, pulling the bolt slowly through his arm. "You fucking son of a mongrel bitch..." The hardest part was the fletching and during that whole phase, he cursed. The flask was used once more on the wounded arm and Drast then fired up the glyph with his fingers and used it to flash seal the injury. More burning flesh, more hushed growls of pain.

Drast then wrapped his arm and shoved padding beneath his leathers to staunch any blood loss from the side wound. Any attempt to get up, was cut short with a curse. "I... I'll help in a bit, Kris.." he felt exhausted, maybe that was from blood loss, he couldn't tell. The only thing that made him happy was the men he hit with the necrotic blasts had finished writhing in pain and were now, lifeless, including the bastard who shot him.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

May want to look away, Lady Pirian.

And it was here that the horrors of violence—the blood and the pain and the twisted flesh which was as it should not be—overtook the euphoric delight of victory. Here it wasn't even any of the bandits who were suffering, but Drastus. Drastus. Her friend. Someone she actually cared about. Just looking at him, at the quarrel impaling his body, ignited an empathic connection that spawned a phantom pain all her own.

She did look away. But it did not help much. Over the flowing of the river she could still hear his repressed grunts and growls as he worked the quarrel out, and she pinched her eyes shut and pursed her lips terribly in that moment. The pain he must be suffering! Oh how she wished to Aionus that she could be granted healing magic, if not from Him then on loan from Astra or Metisa mayhap, anything to help assuage that agony.

"You mustn't tax yourself overmuch, Drastus," she said, hearing the exhaustion in his voice and feeling terrible for it. "I shall take care of it."

She went about to those bandits who still lived, those who had legs and arms broken and howled their own agonies—which fell onto Kristen's deaf ears. If this had been her first mission instead of Vel Acan, she probably would have crumpled into a pile of horror and tears at what she'd done (if she had even been capable of doing it). But not now. Not here.

As she went to one of the bandits, chucking his weapon hard so it flew into the river and taking his own rope bindings to tie his hands behind his back, he said indignantly to her, "What're you gonna do? Just leave us here like this!?"

"'Tis not my concern," Kristen said, tying the bindings a little tighter than necessary as she said it. "And I shan't even mention at length the sheer gall you possess for even speaking so."

She stood.

"What mercies you are shown you hardly deserve."

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

After a few moments, Drastus had decided he'd been resting enough. Any more and he feared he would get lethargic and become useless the rest of the day. Everything about his left arm hurt. Everything. They would need to reach Tar'shan for real healing for it.

He would collect one if his daggers and using rope, he would tie the leader up first. It was a slow process due to one arm, but use of a boot or his mouth would lead to a successful tie once weapons were stripped. To make it even more embarrassing for the large man, his trousers were removed and a branch wedged between his cheeks as if he were surrendering. With a curse and a groan, Drast would pull him so he was sitting up and smack him roughly to wake him up. "Get up. We're playing a game."

The man groaned in pain, first for his injuries and then for the sudden realization his ass was on fire. "Fuck you.. I'm not saying nothing."

"Ooh a double negative. That means you're going to talk." Drast mused, tracing his dagger down the mans cheek. By this point, Kristen had gotten the survivors bound, unarmored, and situated in a circle. They could all see what would happen to each other.

"Fuck. You. I hope your soul goes to Pandemonium."

He slapped the leader with the flat of the dagger. "Kris, I don't know what they taught you in torture so far.. so consider this an accelerated course." He mused as he turned to the other bandits. "Now then.. where to start."

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen averted her gaze the moment Drastus said torture. "I have..." she swallowed a thick bundle of nervousness, "...not had such courses yet."

She knew that this might well be necessary. She knew that, given the positioning of these bandits and what they had said, that this was no ordinary robbery upon the road but a premeditated attack aimed precisely at them. The people who concealed the note in the ghoul's tooth? Maybe. But they wouldn't know unless one of these bandits talked.

It didn't mean that she liked what was to be done.

She peeked back, a tiny glancing over her shoulder to the leader, just enough to catch him in the corner of her eye. "I implore you, consider sparing yourself this. Are you not a shrewd man? Wherefore do you have now these staunch scruples which solely benefit and protect your employer?"

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

At her response, Drast felt an immediate pang of self-loathing. At himself. She abhorred it by the very look on her features and here he was, bragging about it. If she didn't before, she must now surely think him a monster.

That would have to wait. He went to the bandit directly across from the leader in the circle. "Who hired you to target us?" Kristen made a plea and the leader paused.

"First off, lady. I've no idea what the hell you're saying. Second, ya don't have the hair on you-"

He was cut off by the torrent of blood that followed Drast dragging the blade quickly across the bandits throat. There was a sickening gurgle before the fountain burst. Drast held his head back so the blood squire further into his direction. When the blood stopped spewing, Drast kicked the body over, moving to the next man, who began to grovel for his life.

Again, Drast looked to the leader. "Who hired you?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen again averted her gaze, staring terribly down into the rustic-hued metal of her pauldrons. This was the same kind of dilemma she'd faced with Henk, only this time far more magnified. Much worse. It was one thing to be facing a foe who was on his feet, weapon in hand, ready to accost you. It was another entirely to menace and brutalize men, even those who were scum, who were defeated and entirely in your mercy. There was an unshakably ugly, predatory character to it, despite the extenuating circumstances.

Would you want Selene to have had these reservations? Would you have wanted her to have this same sort of hesitancy against the pirates occupying the Blades?

Kristen looked back.

"Holding to foolish loyalty will grant you no second chance at life," she said, trying to keep her voice as level as possible but knowing that there had to be irksome tremble in it somewhere.

The tremble, at least, was replaced by frustration. "Of all the times to forego your unscrupulous nature!" She tossed her hands up. "Surely you must see reason!"

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

The leader looked between the groveller and Drast. "Do it. I'll never talk, not to scum like you." He would spit on the ground.

The grovels and pleaded ended with a sickening gasp and the blood spewed forth from the open jugular before the bandit slumped to the side. There weren't many survivors left, not that it mattered to him.

He avoided Kristen's gaze as he stalked over to where the leader was. "Two strikes.." he crouched before the leader. "Answer the question." The dagger was now hovering over his inner thigh.

The leader went to spit, only for Drast's hand to cover the mouth before the spittle flew. Dagger drove downwards, piercing soft flesh and illiciting a muffled scream from the leader. Leaving the dagger in his thigh, the hand lifted, glowing with necrotic energy.

"Last chance." He pulled the hand away from his mouth and yanked the dagger free after a twist, causing another screaming howl. Drast then shoved a glowing pointer finger into the wound. "Feel that? That's necrosis.. I am going to send it north to your prized boys. You will feel them wither and die.. its most excruciating.. tell us what we want to know and I'll reverse it." He hissed.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Scum.

That word cut through the accumulated horror and nervousness of the situation, briefly replacing it all with indignation. Kristen scoffed, felt a warm, bubbling flash of anger that rose up out of the chill in her blood, and gave the bandit leader a cross look.

But it didn't last.

Drastus plunged his dagger into the man's thigh, and this time Kristen did not look away. She grimaced, but not for the leader, no, not one ounce for him. For Drastus. For the necessary sullying of his hands in business as ghoulish as this.

One last chance.

"Were you not knowingly sent here to your doom? You said it yourself: you were not told that we had magic. Why hold loyalty to an employer who has shown such callous disregard for you?"

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

It would quickly become evident that the leader cared for none more than himself. He didn't bat a single eye when his men suffered, and despite the wound to his leg, it wasn't entirely serious. The facade of loyalty, bravery, immediately shattered when the threat of real harm to his miniature counterparts was levied.

Panicked eyes flicked from Drastus to Kristen, as if pleading with her. "Okay! Okay! Just get him to stop it, please!" He cried out, the evident pain racking his voice as he called out to her. "Bleesk! Vel Poro! Hes a go-between! Just make it stop!"

Drast looked at Kristen, he'd never heard of either before. Turning to the remaining survivors, he would toss a dagger at the boot of one them. "Rest of you can live. You can either use that to free yourselves and end him for his betrayal, or wait and let him perish, basking in the justice that is meted out. Oh, and if I ever see any of you again, you'll share his fate."

"Wait! You said you'd stop it! Don't. Leave. Me. Like. This!! Bastards! Scum!" He shouted out to Drast whilst writhing in pain.

"I lied, dick face." Drast said with a shrug. "Come on, let's put some distance between us and them." He would say to Kristen before heading for their horses.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Bleesk? A most...unfortunate name, even if it was possibly a pseudonym. And Vel Poro? Kristen was familiar with a good many villages and towns spread throughout the Republic. Many, but not all. Though it did not immediately come to mind, this Vel Poro, she felt like she had certainly heard of the name before. Had she a standard Anirian scale map before her, she might've been able to jostle her memory.

A worry for another time. At present, the ugly business of this ambush and obtaining that information was done.

Kristen might have felt queasy about the torture, but she felt no sympathy for the woeful state in which she and Drastus were leaving these men. If they had had their way, such mercy would not have been shown to them. On this note she was resolute.

Only when they had ridden further down the path, further alongside the river, leaving those men behind, did Kristen speak.

"Drastus...thank you." She wet her lips. "For doing what I could not."

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

Drast felt faint as he climbed into his saddle. He had lost a lot of blood during the fighting and the adrenaline had pumped a good deal more out of his wound to his disadvantage.

Was it mercy to the others? Or was it a lack of energy? He couldn't tell if it was noble or lazy, what he did. All he knew was that he could summoned Rupert, drained the life from each of them and heal his injury somewhat, but he didn't. Perhaps he didn't want Kristen to see the monster that he could be.

They made it some ways in silence, listening for sounds of being tracked or followed. Nothing. They had lost the bandits.

"Drastus...thank you. For doing what I could not."

His gaze shifted to Kristen, his face looking a little less vibrant in color. "Not a problem, happy to do for you. Besides, it's not a skill for everyone, some just have an easier time of doing it. I'd prefer you not to like it." He would say with a gentle tone. "As long as it doesn't muddy the image of me." He teased, but his eyes held a hint of worry.

From where they were they could see Paravel seated at the base of the Jades with its port sitting in the lake. "Paravel.. we head south. Follow the curve of the lake, it'll lead to Tar'shan."

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

I'd prefer you not to like it.

At this she smiled. Weakly, but it was nonetheless a smile. Those words, the sentiment behind them, made her think that, yes, this was exactly the way she thought of Evangeline. In the case of Selene and Zana she held no such qualms, but all three of her Dreadlord idols were all different in discrete ways from one another. And Eva had a goodness of spirit that the other two simply could not match.

"I have come to realize...to accept...a certain grim character inherent to the business of being a Dreadlord. Worry not, Drastus. I shall not begrudge you nor anyone who does what must be done."

Yet that wasn't entirely true, was it? Or, at least, the precise definition of "what must be done" was in question. For Kristen thought back to Salesia, of the unprecedented lengths she had gone to try to save the life of a stranger from Edric. Was he...right? To do what he had done? Her heart said no, and still to this day she was appalled...yet she knew a quaver of uncertainty when she felt it. And it suggested that she might be wrong.

Wrong and dead, had it not been for the monster who had dragged her battered and crossbow-bolted body away to safety.

What would Evangeline have done, if she were in Kristen's position there in Salesia?

Kristen glanced over to Drastus again when he spoke of their path, past Paravel and onward to Tar'shan. It wasn't what she was most concerned about. A worried sweep of her eyes over him as they rode, the blood on his clothes, and she said, "Are you well, Drastus? Are you okay? Will you be able to reach Tar'shan?"

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

She smiled at his initial response and he offered a smile back. He wanted to preserve her innocence for as long as possible, at least until she knew full well who she wanted to be.

Worry not, Drastus. I shall not begrudge you nor anyone who does what must be done.

That was a relief, albeit minor. What was left unsaid by him was what if they had enjoyed the pain they caused? What if they enjoyed the breaking of people? He did, sometimes. It was a reality that made him sick of himself.

When next she looked his way, she could see sweat at his brow, an unsteady position as he rode along. His gaze would shift her way and he offered an unconvincing nod. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Tar'shan will be a piece of cake!" He hoped his tone was convincing because even he couldn't buy the bullshit coming out of his mouth. "No reason to worry about me, m'lady."

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen frowned, her meagers efforts unable to stop it. But she gigged her horse closer to Drastus's own, their steeds walking in stride with one another.

And said, "Just...tell me if you begin to feel faint. I, um...I, regrettably, am able to say that I know what it is like to be shot with a crossbow. And I know it is thoroughly unpleasant."

All she could truly do was hope that if Drastus did topple over the side of his saddle, that it would be towards her, and that she would be able to catch him before he fell completely over. There was no way she'd be able to lift him up and place him back in the saddle, and she doubted that she had the physical strength to carry him on foot very far.

If they made it Paravel at the very least, things could be much better.

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

Though she was only a meter or two away at the start of her shift, to him she sounded a mile away. It wasnt until she spoke that he realized she had moved to be very close to him. He noted her concern and tried to put on a brave face, but he knew he had to look like shit.

His grin, now bloodied from the battle, would greet her worried expression. "Not the first time I had nine hard inches penetrate my body." He laughed weakly. "Last mission before this one, was tortured heavily. And uhh.. a few years back, took two arrows from some elves." He did a one arm shrug. "Guess I should learn how to block, yeah?" Another pained laugh.

This one ended with a wince, and he leaned towards her, his hand gripping her saddle horn for stability. "Sorry." He leaned back the other way in his saddle so he was sitting upright. His good arm reached into a saddle bag and pulled some rope free before he began to tie himself to the saddle. "If I pass out, this should hold me." He explained. "Tell them.. I have marrow in the blood stream.. I can feel it."

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

It was endearing how Drastus tried to play it off. No cause for concern, no need to worry. Everything was going to be alright. Yet Kristen just couldn't bring herself to smile at his lighthearted jokes. Maybe it was his intent to reassure her, and it was a noble one, but the anxious feelings simply would not depart from the core of her chest.

"I won't tell anyone, for it shall be you who does so," Kristen said. Her turn to reassure. She didn't know if he as well held a worry—a more secret worry—in his chest, and if it too would be resilient to such reassurances, but she tried anyway.

"We're but a short ride away from Paravel, and there we shall find all the succor we need to continue on to Tar'shan. I can see the lake from here! My, I should like to see it up close—mayhap it will rival the majesty of Pinewood's own namesake Lake! Surely you'll join me?"

Keep him talking. If it was one thing she could do, lacking any healing magic and with only the most basic of aid supplies at hand, it was to keep him talking as they rode.

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

Injuries had an odd effect on the body. Sometimes, you would have great clarity and others you would have a great fog. He was presently experiencing both end of the spectrums.

She wasn't laughing at his jokes, which even his most crass had pulled some sort of laugh from her. She must still have been worried. He would have to try later. Really lay it on thick. She was even trying to reverse reassure him!

Drast mustered his best grin which quickly gave way as she spoke again. Paravel? That fog of confusion rolled over his features quickly. "But.. y-you said you wanted to Tar'shan tonight?"

Pinewood lake? That was back a ways. Oh no, Paravel had a lake. And she wanted to see it with him? Another date. He grinned in his spot, briefly. "Well.. if you want, we can go there.. but I'll need healing badly. We go.. to the Chapter House.. have them send a rider to Tar'shan to get... to get a healer and bring em back to Paravel.." he swayed a bit in his saddle.

Kristen Pirian