(Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board)

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Mon Oct 27, 2014 9:23 pm

Although she held herself upright strongly, her brows drawn in towards one another tightly in a scowl, Kassandra was deathly terrified. Her fingers buzzed with thick pins-and-needles feeling, the glow of her magic obvious against the dark of the night, her senses stretched to their utmost and shockingly sensitive. It seemed she was the only one with her full wits about her though, Rintho obviously suffering where he had been deposited against the ground by Armeno, unmoved from the spot he had been dropped, and the elf... Kassandra's face turned as white as a spirit to hear Rintho's words.
He was going to die? Rintho could kill him, just with that single touch? Kassandra believed it without a moment of hesistation or doubt, frozen in place with her gaze held by Rintho's. She could feel the tears start to bunch along her eyes again, even her breath stilled by the lich's ultimatum.

Of course, like before, he had complete control over her; she could threaten, she could fight, but he would win out without even taking a blow. He even held her so tightly she could barely breathe. Like a wanton god, he could crush her if he so wanted.
Her hand hovered for a moment more in the air before she swallowed away her confidence, slowly dropping it to her side and forcing back her magic. It was an increasingly difficult task, requiring too much concentration when her mind was already frayed. And Armeno... even from an outsider's perspective, it would have been obvious that he was not himself. She had no idea what it was that Rintho had done to him, but she feared greatly. Her mouth was pulled firmly down as he lurched and drooped closely over her- if it had been drunkness, she might have smiled, but the situation was so very different to that. She had to widen her feet as he leant his weight on her, steadying his body with her hands, opening her mouth to contradict his slurred affirmations of his health... but then she stopped herself. Rintho had staked Armeno's life on her speech as well as her magic, and she wasn't going to endanger him any more than he already was. She turned scared eyes back on Rintho, hating how he had turned the situation completely to his power, hating him.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:23 pm

Rintho had calmed down a little to see the woman deplete her powers, if only to the naked eye. He watched as she complied nicely, even though Rintho was never one to tell others what to do...he would if it prevented him finding death too soon. He breathed easier to see this, but was far from out of the woods.
The man was now a liability to her, rather than a weapon against him, which was just as well...Rintho might not be able to die by his hand if he did not use magic, but that didn't mean he wouldn't suffer.

It was clear to him however, he couldn't do much else for himself at all, and this would be his grave if he did not act soon. It was painfully regrettable that he would have to do this now and apologise in the future if it worked, but such was how it was to be.
"Good." He said restfully, "Thank you." He said, wondering if his tone was genuinely grateful for being spared, even if only by her fear of him. "I am...weak." He continued, though still confounded by how the words slipped from his mind or were lost from his tongue altogether. He let his left palm, free of the poison magic, slowly expose as he delicately uncurled his spider-like fingers. Then, he raised his hand shakily, the nails appearing black and dank green, holes seeming to have been gouged into his palm where the composition of the flesh had fallen apart through the effect on his spell. All of it was a putrid green as the rest of his body was; not a single part of it pale and "unwell", now it was simply unsettling and beastly. He would have to make the best of it however, and use it to his advantage.

"Take my...hand, please." He said quietly, his eyes relaxing their intense stare of before, looking to the woman's hand instead; unspoiled and restrained by fear. "If you want, to help. Him." And Rintho knew, however much she would hate him for it, it was her only option as much as his.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:49 pm

Armeno was a dead weight over her shoulders, and Kassandra could feel herself bowing a little under him. Even had she not been trapped like this for his safety, she doubted she could have moved him far anyway. The words from his lips were foolish nonsense, and it worried her terribly. Rintho may have been injured, but for him to be able to do this to an elf...
He really was a terrifying foe.

She flinched against Armeno as Rintho extended his hand towards them, pulling back as best she could. Her eyes moved unwillingly towards Rintho's hand, the sight of the ruined flesh and bone enough to make the bile rise in her throat in disgust. She had shivered at his touch before, when he had been 'well'; now it was the stuff of nightmares. The breath was refusing to draw properly into her lungs again at his ask... command, horrified. The stuff of nightmares, and worse in the powerlessness she was trapped in. She couldn't even begin to think of what horrors he might have planned for her.

What choice was there though? She had to extend her hand, shaking in fear, magic sparking unconsciously over her fingertips. Concentrating further to hold it back was a monumental task, her eyes scrunching shut in the effort- and her fear of seeing Rintho, holding back from the last centimetres of touching her hand to his. She couldn't do it, she couldn't. Two thick tears ran down her cheeks, cringing away from Rintho as most she could, but bound to her place for Armeno's sake.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:15 am

Nobody seemed particularly inclined to respond to him; certainly the man on the ground didn't even acknowledge his existence. Then again, he didn't look quite right... Come to that, something was definitely off with Kassie as well- she seemed to be shaking and breathing strangely. Alarmed enough to marshal his thoughts a little, Armeno stared at her for a moment before leaning forwards to squint at Rintho as the lich extended an arm towards Kassie, making some kind of noise Armeno couldn't interpret as a fuzz crawled over his hearing.

It took him a long moment to register that the green-black, pitted flesh was not entirely normal. His hand might have been purple, but that was faded almost completely now- to the extent that he wondered if he might have imagined it in the first place. But no. He wasn't insane, he didn't hallucinate. Either way, a purple hand was much less disturbing than this. And Kassie was about to touch it? She didn't look happy about it, either, tears streaming down a crumpled face. Hardly knowing what he was doing, Armeno swung a clumsy arm down to knock Rintho's arm away.
"No," he said, or maybe just "eurgh"- he wasn't too sure. It didn't matter, anyway. Some dim need to protect had lit up in the back of his mind and, swaying dangerously, he withdrew his arm from around Kassie's shoulders and held out his hands in a would-be warning manner at Rintho.
"Stay'way," he commanded uncertainly.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Tue Oct 28, 2014 1:11 pm

Unfortunately, neither of them were cooperating and it was all he could do not to curse to the highest strand of sky that she had hesitated at the last moment. He had felt the tingle of power at her finger tips as his starved spirit had sought to feed itself with the magic there. Rintho would simply have to try again, in spite of the lumbering fool that the man beside her had become.

"You stopped." He commented, narrowing his eyes in his weariness, before extending her hand in greater effort toward her. "Give me...your hand." Rintho said, his voice soft and free of malice. "I do not. Want, all of...this. Please." It was hard to speak and that frustrated him greatly when there was so much to say. He then shifted around with painstaking sloth so that he lay on the floor toward her now, and then he began to crawl a bit further forward, dragging himself only an inch further with his hands so his chest dragged on the ground.
"He'll then...be healed." He spoke. "You will go." He added further. "I will leave." So once more he offered his hand, this time focusing all that remained of his energy to expend to it, waiting for only a small moment of contact or closeness, to pull the magic from her body. Or at least part of it...most of it...he didn't know, but he needed it.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Tue Oct 28, 2014 3:44 pm

The trepidation of waiting for Rintho's slimy touch made Kassandra's head spin horribly, her body growing ever more tense with the seconds that ticked by without their touch connecting yet. She felt so vulnerable, bent over to give Rintho what he wanted, submitting.

She leapt back a pace as Armeno suddenly moved and batted away Rintho's arm; her eyes were tightly closed, and she didn't see, only felt the movement. Her eyes flew open, hands sparking up with magic again at the elf's movements, enough to spook her. She struggled to force her magic down, gripping with one hand on Armeno's sleeve as he wavered. He was a fool, still trying to keep her safe even now. But he couldn't, she had to do this, she had to do this or have him die in front of her. She couldn't have Rintho take him from her. She had to be strong. He looked like a corpse, crawling labourously towards them. Kassandra wished she could crush him under her boot like a worm, but she couldn't. Steeling herself again, locking her eyes with Rintho, she grasped his moist, rotting hand and tried to restrain her shuddering, sickened to the core.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Tue Oct 28, 2014 7:04 pm

In spite of all the difficulty getting to this, finally he could see his words had made their impact. Her fear of losing this man, for whatever reason, was greater than her fear of touching his wretched skin. Rintho all but completely ignored him now, but he would not be able to take his time...the poison magic was hardly strong enough to hold for a substantial amount of time.

Rintho slowly closed his fingers around her hand, and then his grip slowly tightened until it was very strong, not by his own power, but as the ravenous spirit that he was began to chew at his palm, pulling the force of the energy from her body to his. It was painful too, as it came in a mixture of neutral and lightning, but he made all of his senses attune to this one point in his body, to attempt to channel it in a careful way to feed his spirit.
He could feel the magic passing into him, white hot and painful, but he found his sense of pain somewhat subsiding as it always did; a lich body never felt it nearly so long as a mortal might.

The effect upon him was powerful and he then opened his eyes wide, as if he were being rejuvenated, albeit with great risk. It would prevent him from dying and give food for his spirit until he could perform a ritual, but it would not, however, fix the appalling state of his husk of a body which was now a truly gruesome sight.
Nor would it correct the cloudiness of his mind or the numbness in his emotions, but it would give him just enough power so that he could get away and preserve himself for the true regeneration.

His nails gripped into her skin tightly, involuntarily, as he then shut his eyes tightly to feel the surge of energy and then the same lack of feeling as before. Rintho pulled on her arm and felt his upper body able to rise from the floor as he pulled the neutral magic from her. It was almost out of his control; the spirit stealing it away so easily, his other arm now reached to grip onto her as he began to rise from the floor.

He had power now, but strips and patches of skin were raw or missing from his face, what was left there was a blend of dark and green, flaking or marred with the clots of what seemed to be congealed blood that had not seen true life in a very long time. Letting go of his breath heavily, he then looked up to meet her eyes, his focus from his hands subsiding...though his grip did not relinquish.
"Thank you." He said, his voice sounding hoarse and completely removed from its usual tone. "I can help him...before his time is all but spent...so do not worry, my lady." Finally he could speak more clearly, though he then coughed loudly, the sound raking the air. "It would not be polite however, for me to not warn you...I have more than enough knowledge to see to it that neither of you will ever sleep in death." He spoke in a kind manner, sincere and to some degree, he spoke the truth. "So please, let us be honest now and not try each other."
He let go of her arm with both hands slowly and set his view to the man that had become a true fool.

"Pardon me, but I do not understand what you see in him. Are you sure he must be saved?" Rintho spoke, behaving as if the ordeal had never begun at all, even though his state and the sickness he felt inside told otherwise. He smiled from behind his mask, his eyes softening mirthlessly in turn. "Or maybe, you deserve each other. What would I know?"

Moving away from his distracted moment, he then fixed her with a more serious look.
"Tell him to be calm, I would rather not almost die for a second time. I will not be forgetting this soon."

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:59 pm

Kassandra had tried to stay still as her hand touched against Rintho's, but she couldn't help her shudders as his grip tightened around her fingers. She had been holding back her magic as he had commanded, and to save herself from accidentally shocking Armeno, but now she felt it pour from her, powerless to stop the flow. It felt like he was ripping something out of her, shredding the skin off her fingers and sucking out the magic from her very bones. Her eyes scrunched shut in pain as she subconsciously tried to gather it back from him, hand burning with fire. Small noises of pain escaped from her as she felt pulses of magic leaving her, reluctant to let Rintho have it, but taken anyway. She didn't want to see Rintho as he stole away her magic, drained the energy from her like water from a glass. Her free hand was tight around Armeno's sleeve, but as the energy was sucked from her, she felt her grip weakening.

Her mind was too full of fear to think straight, and this only grew as she felt herself dwindling. She bent over as Rintho's strength returned to him, a thin wordless cry coming from her lips as he took hold of her more. He was like a leech, sucking the life out of her, stealing away all her magic and leaving her feeling fragile and vulnerable. Tears ran freely down her face the whole time, and even more to hear Rintho speak. My lady... those were words she never wanted to hear again as long as she lived, and even less so from those lips.
When the magic no longer flowed between their bodies, Rintho's spirit sated by all that he had taken from her, Kassandra's arm felt numb and tingled unpleasantly along its whole length; the rest of her body was sluggish with the sudden decrease in magic. Her head swam sickeningly. She was so used to brimming with magic, having too much for her to control, that the opposite felt draining, as if she had been awake for days on end with no sleep. She desperately wanted to draw her arm back towards her, but forced herself to be still; she would not break this pact between them and endanger Armeno any more than he already was. The bile rose in her throat again and she felt light-headed at Rintho's following threats, as if he needed any more leverage to get her to do what he wanted. Already he had her completely powerless, and this was just another reminder that he could crush her like a fly if he so pleased.

Relief washed over Kassandra along with fatigue as he let her go finally, her figure drooping towards Armeno now instead of the lich being the one without energy. Her arm dropped to her side, hand still painful and sensitive, her skin feeling raw, then drew it in to feel her good hand over her arm. Every touch was painful, and she wanted to howl with misery over what Rintho had done.

Hunched over and cradling her hand to her chest, she tentatively pressed on Armeno's shoulder to get his attention. Her movements were slow, her limbs so heavy she felt like she was moving through water. As she spoke her voice felt high and unnatural, choked by her tears and thick nose.
"Armeno? You have to... be. Listen and... don't fight. Please, you can't."

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Oct 29, 2014 8:04 pm

There was nothing Armeno could do as Kassie reached out to the man on the ground once more- he'd thought she was scared, what she playing at?
"Kassie, stop," he said, tugging weakly at her arm- but the man seemed to have her in a vicelike grip; she didn't move an inch. Nor did she seem to notice him, doubled over and crying out. In frustration, he turned to Rintho, intending to do something- anything- to make him stop whatever he was doing, but clearly he was too late as the lich released Kassie and she swayed towards Armeno; his fear for her had burnt away some of the fog which hung over his mind and he felt stronger in himself as he looped an arm around her. The tables had turned abruptly from her supporting him to the other way around; he had no idea what had just happened, but Kassie's energy seemed to have been transferred to Rintho.

"M'not letting him get 'way with this," he spat, words still slurred but forming more cohesive sentences. A slow sense of what Rintho had done was coming back to him- well, he didn't know what specifically, but he knew that he'd done something unforgivable. Armeno had a vague memory of shaking him. But guilt notwithstanding, Kassie was right about one thing- Armeno couldn't fight right now. He was managing standing, thinking and talking a lot better than just a minute ago, but he wasn't sure he was even up to walking. Something in his coordination was still badly off. For now, all he could do was try to stall Rintho and hope that he recovered enough to beat him up in a minute.

"I won' forget either... what did you do to her? T'me?"

The 'you bastard' was implied in his tone.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Oct 29, 2014 8:32 pm

"Only enough, to have you see sense." Rintho spoke plainly, squinting his eyes with displeasure to behold the man speaking again. "So enough to kill you, fool." He then said in another moment of his outspokenness, but corrected himself thereafter. He was not going to leave them without resolution, as he did not fancy being followed back when he so direly needed to attend to his wounds. "But your lady wishes for...to heal you, so I will." He then spluttered again, putting a fist to his mouth as he coughed into it, grimacing as he did so.

"Open your hand." He said calmly, while he then sent a hand of his own to rifle about in a deep pocket of his for something, anything. "You'll need to rub this, into your palm, steady and slow." He advised as he found one of his powders in a pouch within his pocket...His clumsy fingers struggled to get into it but he had just enough between them to seem substantial. Rintho pulled it from the pocket and beheld it for the first time, unsure of what the powder was himself, having forgotten it was even there until now.

Unable to put it back, in spite of it looking either to be fire dust, sleeping powder or simply a water thickener, Rintho offered his hand to the man, waiting for him to accept the dust.
Once this was done, he knew he would be leaving quickly, and then he would "race" home to rescue himself from any further effects and Syru from both the Surahnians and now these two...should they come looking for him if they realised they were duped.

"And that will be that." He murmured.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Oct 29, 2014 9:31 pm

Feeling light-headed and unnatural, Kassandra leaned into Armeno as he put his arm around her. Fatigue was really setting in now, although her fear still kept her alert enough, resting her eyes shut for only a moment before forcing them open to look at Rintho again. She wished he would stop threatening over and over, shredding her taunt nerves even further than they already were, but it seemed he enjoyed this power over her, at least, even if Armeno would not submit. Her strong-willed elf. She didn't have the courage to speak out against him.

"Armeno, please," she said quietly, feeling small against his solid form. "Do as he says." There was no point in not, no way they could not. She hated Rintho to the base of her heart, but there was nothing either of them could do like this, her magic drained and Armeno's strength stolen. She had never even wanted this confrontation, just to try and forget Rintho even existed. As he extended his hand, even with an offering of cure for Armeno, she couldn't help but flinch away from him, trying to draw on some of her magic, but only finding the smallest of reserves left. It was unnerving.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:16 pm

"You're the fool... for hurting Kassie."
Rintho was clearly trying to act as if he held all the power and was fully recovered, but it was plain to see that he wasn't as he coughed into his hand. And terrified as Kassie might be, Armeno still wasn't convinced by how dangerous the lich was; he'd already undergone one attack and it hadn't exactly killed him. He almost felt back to normal. He was sure he'd be able to fight soon.

Absolutely.

When Rintho proposed to heal him- pulling out a powder from his pocket, had this attack been planned then, if he had something in reserve?- Armeno drew back instantly, unable to decide if he should be horrified or simply surprised that Rintho possibly thought they'd accept anything from him now. Armeno spoke through clenched teeth, with a monumental effort to keep his words distinct.
"I won't. Take anything from you." He took a fumbling step away from Rintho, pulling Kassie with him, muttering to her,
"Could be anything he's giving me."

His mind seemed to be recovering from Rintho's magic a lot faster than his body; he could hold himself upright now, but his limbs felt like concrete, deathly fatigue setting in. He'd thought he was tired before, but now he was impressed he didn't fall asleep as he stood there.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:23 pm

He stared blankly at Armeno through his refusal. Well, that was not a part of the 'plan' at all, and would not be helpful to any of them, whether the fool knew it or not.
"I did not hurt her." He said lowly, though his words were stout. "She's more powerful than....you know. Because, of what...I did." Rintho let his free hand draw up to his forehead, feeling a pounding ache there now. This was all going quite disastrously wrong. "But, if you must force me like this," He sighed heavily, but only half due to his fatigue. "I am sorry, for any suffering I might have...caused."

She was a fragile looking woman, whatever her fierce facade was. It was clear she was not made of the mental strength to wield the lightning magic in any particularly effective way, so much as in a dangerous way. Apparently he had not calculated that the ritual itself might have unsettled her ability.
"Then what, would you like done, now? Refusing my healing...refusing my leave..." He then sighed yet again, at length this time in the weariness of this conversation. "What, you wish for a fight?" He was spoiling for one, and the odds were increasingly falling into the man's favour, however stupid his behaviour was. "You won't find one, from me." Rintho said, not believing he would find much luck on that count. "Do all I can, but you won't accept it. A shame, for you." He tutted to himself, quietly cursing his luck again.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:44 pm

Armeno shook his head, hardly bothering to listen to what Rintho was saying.
“S’it really seem like you didn’t hurt her? Forget whatever cuts left those scars… S’not the worst thing you did to her.” He tightened his arm around Kassie, teeth gritted as he fought to stand his ground and not show Rintho his weakness. Yet even as he spat out the condemning words, something of what the lich was saying rang true with him. Kassie’s powers did seem stronger than he remembered them to be… Could Rintho have somehow made them more powerful? Not for the first time, Armeno wished that he had taken more interest in the theory of magic when he was younger. Just because he was no good with the practical side of things didn’t mean he couldn’t acquaint himself with what was known about its workings. Was it even possible to augment somebody’s power like that? And if it was… why on earth would Rintho have done it to a clearly unwilling Kassie? What could it possibly earn him?

Rintho didn’t seem to have stopped talking; still scattered as Armeno’s thoughts were, he got lost between his anger at the “apology” and his confusion at the question of what he wanted to do. Well, that was a good question. More than anything he wanted to lay into the man, but that didn’t seem like an option, and the longer they stood here having their slurred argument, the less he was feeling like simple violence was a reasonable next step. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to just let the man walk away after what he had done. If only he could find him again, perhaps find out exactly what he had done to Kassie… and then devise a more appropriate course of action? With a shake of his head, he spoke whatever came into his head, trying to distract Rintho while he made an attempt at covertly patting down his pockets to find what he’d done with his arcanics.
“You don’t have any fight in you… just underhand attacks… hiding… cowardly…”

Goddammit, where had he put them? He’d had them in the stables just earlier, hadn’t he? He just couldn’t remember… and why did he have what felt to be a largely disintegrated biscuit in one of his pockets?

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Thu Dec 04, 2014 9:22 am

Kassandra wanted to cry for everything that had happened; Armeno's stubbornness, Rintho's terrifying presence and magic-stealing, how weak and utterly pathetic and useless she felt. But, it was all too much to even squeeze more emotion from her, so fearful in the lich's presence that all her movements were robotic. She pressed her face to his side as he spoke, closing her eyes and wishing an end to the nightmare, wishing that Armeno would just take what Rintho proffered and reverse whatever hellish potion it was that he was poisoned with.
A fruitless hope though, when the elf always knew better.

Her mind rebelled against Rintho's every laboured word as he spoke, but she couldn't make her tongue work to choke speech from her own lips. More powerful, but I cannot control it; the possible cause of suffering, not that it was obvious from the way she cowered, the way her magic throbbed and wavered like a fainting lady at court. It was his fault she couldn't deal with the surge of power, when she hadn't asked for any of his meddling, then had been left to deal with the unpleasant consequences without an iota of guidance or advice. Not that she ever would have accepted it, but she knew (even if she did not admit it) that the wild spikes and surges of lightning magic were beyond her breadth of knowledge.
She didn't want to fight any more; just have Rintho leave and try and forgot about his crawling, ghastly presence. Before she might have wanted to get 'revenge', to destroy some of her fears through besting him, but it was impossible now. Had been impossible, always would be impossible. And now, Armeno was inexorably tied up with it all, when she had been vague about her ordeal before, trying to bury it away under lethe.

"Armeno, please," she said in a small voice, clawing her way upright to lean less heavily against him, show her wide-eyed face again. "Let him go... I can't." Can't deal with this any more. Can't stand the anxiety, too much to process things properly. Rintho might have used cowardly, underhand tactics, but they worked, but he always came out on top with his goals met. "I can't control my magic any more, and you think I'm not hurt."

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:31 pm

Armeno was distracted from his fruitless search by Kassandra’s plea, her hand pawing at his arm. It was her face which finally brought him down to earth. He was in no fit state to fight this man, who didn’t seem particularly cowed by the prospect anyway, and he couldn’t even find his arcanics. What was he hoping to achieve here? There was nothing left to be gained from this situation, seeing as he certainly didn’t trust the man to fix what he had done to Kassandra. If it could even be fixed. He didn’t know what was going on with this situation anymore- what had happened to her magic?

“Fine,” he exhaled, sagging visibly and running a hand through his hair. “Go, then. But just know… If you ever show your face again, I will make sure you pay for what you did.” His words came out as a mumble, low and barely audible, but distinct all the same. He didn’t know if he managed to make it sound threatening, but hopefully Rintho didn’t doubt the conviction behind his words either way.

“Kassie… c’mon.” Bone tired now, Armeno was past the point of trying to make a dramatic exit. Turning, they half-limped into the inn, pausing only to order a meal to their room before making their way upstairs and sinking into the rickety chairs provided with relief.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:33 pm

Kassandra wanted to flee from the whole situation, but magic depleted as it was, her body and senses were too sluggish to get anywhere. She would have added her own threats to Armeno’s, but they would have been empty and more pathetic than anything else. Hanging on to the elf for support, her steps were stumbling and in turn slow, then rapid, as she tried to keep her balance while half-drunk with lack of magic. Her fingers grasped at the doorframe of the inn as they stumbled inside, turning her head back to look at the shape of Rintho left by the wall and shuddering. She slammed the door behind them, her hand fumbling for a key and lock without even realising that there wouldn’t be one, when it was a public building.

Armeno thankfully took care of all the work to get them a room, and all she had to do was follow him blindly up the stairs, the next door crashing shut behind her too with no thought for other people in the building. Fear had gotten into her, and she was paranoid. She checked the window to make sure Rintho was gone, setting her elbows against the frame and leaning her forehead against the cold glass. She tried to hold back her fear, but it was too much for her and a heavy sob hiccuped out of her mouth without warning.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:47 pm

For a moment, Armeno just sat, head tilted back and eyes closed in utter exhaustion. It took a second for him to entirely remember that Kassie was there. With a great exertion of will, he lifted his head, staring at her in silence for a moment before the quiet was broken by Kassandra's sob over the hum from the pub below.

"Hey..." His voice was a murmur as he stood heavily, moving over to place an arm around her shoulders, trying to guide her away from the window. "It's okay. It's over now." He still couldn't quite believe the extent of the effect this man had on Kassandra- well, perhaps it shouldn't have been surprising, given her temperament, but what could he have done to her that she couldn't have overcome? If there was one thing Kassie was capable of doing, it was physically defending herself. Armeno had been on the receiving end of a few of her weaker shocks, and he wouldn't like to get in the way of her more powerful attacks. "Just... try to forget about it. He won't be back."

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:56 pm

The jerk of Kassandra's shoulders was unconscious at Armeno's touch, twisting to grab at his hand with fear. Her face was tight, teeth clenched together to try and stop herself from completely breaking apart. Half of her wanted to dive against him and press her face to his chest, but she was angry too at the way the elf still seemed to disregard Rintho as a danger.

"It's not okay," she said, her voice trying to be insistent, but she was fearful it was a little more of a whine. "He's still out there and what if he comes back and he can just do what he wants and how can I just forget about that and you're so stupid." Kassandra's words became higher and higher, blurring into one as she weakly hit out at Armeno's chest, shivering at the streak of pain up her arm it caused. It was the icing on the cake for how much she could take, and she pressed her face forward against Armeno, curling her hands around his neck. "What if he comes back? He knows where we are and he... he, he..." she lowered her voice to the best whisper she could manage, "he took my magic."

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:41 pm

Armeno couldn't help but start slightly at Kassandra's sudden movement, his hand twitching in an over-tired reflex before relaxing against her shoulder, fingers curling slightly to hold her hand gently where she clutched his. The words seemed to pour out of her in a torrent of nervous energy; he let her babble, let her beat weakened fists against his chest, before slipping his arms around in her in an embrace which felt achingly familiar and yet quite alien at the same time.

"Maybe... Maybe you can't forget," he began somewhat hesitantly, trying to think through the thick fog of fatigue which clouded his mind. "But Kassie, he can't do whatever he wants. Okay? He left, he doesn't want to come back. Even if he did- we can protect ourselves. I know not to get too close to him now, I'll know how to deal with him another time. And he didn't take your magic, that's for sure. I've seen you use it, Kassie." Stroking curls of hair back from her face, he tilted her chin up to make eye contact, his gaze earnest with his concern. "We should try to get to sleep... once we've got some rest, we can move on; we don't have to stay in Jiluria long at all if you don't want to risk running into him again."

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:39 pm

Kassandra let out a heavy sigh as Armeno wrapped her close again, exhausted even from her small efforts. She shoved her hands into him at his words though, angry that he never seemed to understand her fear or point.
"You don't get it, do you?" Her voice was shrill. "You can't deal with him, he just always is better." So spoke the sharp tingle and unpleasant pain in her hand. She felt tainted by his touch. Pulling her head out of Armeno's grip, she shook herself free of him and massaged at her fingers, too anxious to stand still for long. Her gaze kept getting pulled back towards the window, and she stepped a couple of paces towards it before twisting back towards a bowl of water. Kassandra rolled her sleeves up and dunked her hands, her fingers curling at the chill and sting of the water.

"I'm not staying here. First thing, I'm going. We're going." Her voice wobbled a little, but she was firm on this fact. If it weren't for the Surahnians having a lockdown on Jiluria, she would have tried to leave already, exhaustion or not. What if he came back in the night? Her eyes scoured the water in front of her at that awful thought, darting up towards the window again, then back to her hands to scrub them harder.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Sun May 31, 2015 12:08 pm

It seemed Armeno had barely touched Kassandra, wilting slightly in relief at the thought that he might actually be able to sleep now, before she was pushing him away again, standing and moving restlessly about the room. Armeno's brow creased in upset as he watched her, at a loss for what to say- as usual, anything he tried only seemed to make her angrier. Perhaps it was a good thing that he was so tired; no doubt at any other time, his frustration would have turned to anger and they would have fought, but he didn't have the energy for that now.
"Fine." His voice rasped over the words, as he sank down to sit on the edge of the bed, face buried in his hands, where he still felt a slight bone-ache in his joints from their poisoning. Maybe the effects had been a little more long-lasting than he had thought. But his mind was wandering- he needed to calm Kassandra.
"Come and sit," he entreated feebly. "You can still watch, keep guard, if you need to... but at least give your body some rest." It was all he could think of to stop her rattling around the room like some kind of restless ghost; it was looking unlikely that she would close her eyes for so much as a second tonight, but maybe he could persuade her to take it easy, at the very least.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Aug 05, 2015 4:23 pm

The water stung at Kassandra's raw fingers, then they stung again when she drew them out of the water to look at them in the light. Ugh, she was convinced she could still feel Rintho's filthy touch on her. Her head swung round over one shoulder as she heard the creak of the bed behind her, Armeno looking worn down. Was that her fault, or Rintho's, or travelling, or her? Or just... everything? Suddenly guilt welled within her to add to the myriad of other unpleasant feelings inside her gut, and she shifted uncomfortably.

Everything was wrong, and here she was, ignoring the elf, when they should have been working together to solve the problems battering at them from every direction. Swiping the water from her hands, she slammed the shutters of the window shut, making them rattle in their frames. Come and sit. For her benefit, or for his?

The door followed suit, making sure that the latch was fully bolted, shoving a chair under the handle as well. She was paranoid, and felt it. The temptation to re-check the windows again was there, but she forced herself down to Armeno's side instead.
You're being ridiculous. How she hated it. Her hands balled in her lap, then she lightly curled her hands around Armeno's nearest arm, sitting rigidly before bending over towards him to press her face into his shoulder. A breath escaped her, then she waylaid him with a torrent of words before she could stop herself again.
"Oh gods, I feel so helpless. You can't underestimate him, because that's what I did, and then he just does what he wants to, and it's like there's nothing even there." She took another deep breath. "Can't we go north and... go to Didienne, or Yarrowitz, and be away from all this blasted war, and him, and these Surahnian monsters?" Head through Plurith, towards the deep jungle and take refuge. It would never last, of course; not given either of their lifestyles, but she was rattled.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:38 pm

The whole ordeal was exhausting to a life-threatening degree. Usually he would slink away, watching his back at every other moment, but this couldn't be permitted to happen again. It was one thing having your home ransacked by Lord Straten's thugs and another thing entirely to have known enemies lurking in one's own space. Moreover, ones left sour like this.

Every part of him wanted to retire back to his home and mend his wounds, but by then it would be too late. One of his achievements would have slipped away, still with the wrong image of him in her mind, and with a disturbed and overly protective lover to boot. Trying to make amends before had not worked well, but then, fighting with ghastly magic wasn't good for ameliorating problems at any point.
He would have to go back and stop the madness before it caught up to him and finished him off, even if that did mean going back into the fire for a moment more.

Following in the last direction he had seen them go was painstakingly slow as he tried to gather himself up, beyond any shock and the piercing sensation of magic disrupting him.
In spite of his hobbled pace, me made it to the couple of inns he knew nearby. One was without a stable, highly improbable for them to be there, and so that left him with the one other he could get to with his time so short.
Even 'nearby' took a long time.

When he finally made his way in, footsteps uncharacteristically heavy and flat, after only a few words with the keeper, he then bumbled into the next room and looked up to see a staircase twisting to a couple of other floors. There was a door right here however so he leaned in, listening closely. Door number one.
Of course, they might not be here. Of course, they could be sleeping by now. Of course, they might even be leaving Jiluria.
No sound answered from the door and as he peered closer with one eye, he could only make out that the lock was obscured by the key left in the other side.
Gritting his teeth, he turned away and rounded himself on to the staircase to begin his ascent, worn floorboards whining with every footfall.

Subject: Re: (Jiluria) Fate Without Magic (30th Board) Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:52 pm

There didn’t seem to be anything else to say; silence hung in the air for a long moment as Armeno stared at Kassandra in bleary desperation. Finally, she moved, banging the windows closed and locking the door with an aggression which spoke volumes. Armeno couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at her apparent decision to take his advice, even the slamming of shutters producing no more reaction than a faint grimace.

She was so tense as she sat down that he hardly felt the bed move under her weight. For a moment, he thought she might hover there, ready to leap up at any second, all night; then she leaned into him almost without warning, her breath warming his skin through the thin fabric of his shirt. Slowly, not wanting to spook her, he raised his arms to embrace her, massaging her shoulders as he planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. He could still hardly believe that that sallow, feeble- looking man could be as dangerous as Kassandra was making out; and yet, he was clearly a fool not to believe it. He himself had certainly been overcome easily enough; off-guard or not, there was some power there. And he had known enough mages in his time to appreciate that appearances were not necessarily an indicator of magical ability. And that was all notwithstanding the fact that this mage had done something to elicit this response in Kassandra.

Armeno sat quietly for a moment after she finished speaking, thinking over their options, before blowing out a heavy breath.
“Okay. I swear to you, I won’t underestimate him again. What we can do is… We’ll rest for a few hours, because neither of us are in a fit state to travel. And then… at dawn, I suppose, when the Surahnians won’t suspect anything from us leaving, we’ll set out and get well away from Jiluria. And then…” He didn’t know how she would respond to his assertion that he would return to the DDC; and yet, what else could he tell her? Lies had never got them far before, and he couldn’t abandon his faction at this point, especially now he was carrying intelligence- meagre as it was- from Siofra.
“Kassie, I can’t abandon the war. Truly, I don’t think there’s any part of the island where we can avoid it now. If the Surahnians gain control… well, they won’t leave any corner unexploited. I think… even the elves and other remote communities will have to get involved.” A chill ran down his spine as he spoke; he’d hardly admitted it to himself before, but how could he avoid the fact now? “North… I hear there are dragons there, raiding Plurith and other villages… I don’t think it’s wise to head that way. Didienne, though… that’s a possibility. We could head east for the time being, and just see how things lie when we get there. Just… get away from Jiluria for now. What do you think?” He’d run on a bit, babbling in his exhaustion and anxiety; now, as he fell silent rather abruptly, he heard a faint creak in the corridor outside. Just somebody heading to their room, surely… but the pacing sounded slow, as if searching for something; not the haphazard stumble of a drunkard, nor the purposeful stride of somebody retiring to bed. But he couldn’t afford to be paranoid; not when Kassandra was already so on edge. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he turned his attention- and ears- back towards Kassandra, waiting for her response.

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