FailIng boundaries..

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"You are my accomplice. Same as my wizard. You are not just a mere soldier. A soldier wouldn't help me in the least." As they got to the outskirts of the small city, Adelenta stopped. She quickly went over to a tree and purged, the smell of the burnt flesh was unbearable. After she regained herself, she straightened herself, and her white dress. She went back to where she stood, looking at the city. There was bodies everywhere, and there seemed to be a grey tint to everything. "After they burn their dead, they spread the ashes through their conquered area, so that their spirits may continue to keep the area clear even after death, plaguing the area."

She started to slowly walk down to the city, stepping lightly. She hated the thought of stepping on the ashes of a soldier. "Why don't you go to the left, and I'll go to the right. Lets see what we can find. Maybe the good spirits left a survivor." She doubted that they would, but she could only hope.
 
Once they reached the outskirts, Aragon heard Adelenta go and purge somewhere nearby. He gave her privacy and waited for her to return. Once she came back he waited for her instructions. "Alright, accomplice. Got it."

Once they entered the city, he noticed that everything had a grey coating on it.

"After they burn their dead, they spread the ashes through their conquered area, so that their spirits may continue to keep the area clear even after death, plaguing the area."

"That explains the coating of ashes. I'm not sure anyone will have survived this, but I'll meet you back here in thirty minutes"

Aragon went off in his direction. The smell of death and the heat of recent fires both made the air difficult to breathe. He searched inside of ruined homes and other wrecked buildings but found nothing but death. Those D'haran bastards were going to pay for this.
 
Adelenta walked slowly inspecting everything. She didn't open any doors. She went straight to the small castle that was home to the jarl of the city. As she walked up the stairs, the door was broken open. She looked around the great all. Everything was smashed, everything was broken and thrown. Food was thrown on the walls, feces were everywhere. She walked up the stairs slowly. She guessed this was where the higher ranking officers stayed. She noticed that every door was opened. She walked into the first one, and saw a young girl tied to the bed, pure fear frozen on her dead face. She was completely naked, and it was obvious she fought hard before her death.

Feeling numb, Adelenta walked to the girl, and closed her eyes, saying a prayer to the spirits to grant her peace. She left the room, and to the next. She saw the same thing, so repeated the process over and over, until every girls eyes were closed. She left the castle and looked on the ground. The troops had to have only left no more than 4 days ago. She kept walking, feeling like a hallow shell.
 
Aragon could hear soft weeping somewhere a short distance ahead of him. He quickly moved to the source of the noise inside of a destroyed house. The sound of soft cries were clearer now and Aragon followed it to find a young boy pinned to the ground with wooden supports stabbing through him. There was one going through his arm and two going through his torso. Aragon was surprised that the child was still alive but he knew that the young boy was going to bleed out and he would die if Aragon tried to move him.

He walked over and kneeled down next to the boy. "Hey, can you hear me?" He asked trying to asses how much longer the boy may have. "My name is Aragon, I'm going to get someone to help you. Don't move or the wood will kill you, I'll be right back." Aragon met eyes with the boy and gave him a light nod.

Aragon went outside of the house and called out "Adelenta! I found a survivor, help!" His voice echoed throughout the dead and burning city.
 
As Adelenta walked the ash ridden streets, assessing everything, she heard her name being called. At first she thought that she was hearing things, especially so since the voice told her it found a survivor. In all the cities there hadn't ever been a survivor. Once she realized that it was Aragon, she went running towards the voice. Maybe the army was finally getting too cocky for their own good. That would be a step in their direction. Once people got cocky, they usually started slipping up. When she reached him. She was out of breath once again, but didn't care. "You found a survivor..." As much as she tried to hide it, she couldn't fully hide her excitement, though she was scared for what the person saw or had been through.

She looked into the house that he was close to, and walked inside slowly. When she saw the little boy she nearly fell to tears. When he saw her, she could see the fear in his eyes and he attempted to squirm. "I won't touch you, I promise. Please don't move.. Let us help you.." She said softly, her sultry voice sounded even more soothing when it was low. She looked at Aragon, the confessors face back on as she fought back tears for the boy. "What are we to do...?"
 
Aragon could clearly see the excitement in her when he called out to her and told her that he had found a survivor, then watched her excitement turn into sadness as she saw the condition that the boy was in. He watched her expressions turn back to that of a serious confessor but he could tell that she was fighting back the urge to cry.

The boy looked fearful when he saw Adelenta but calmed down once she promised not to touch him. "I was hoping you could tell me. If we move the wood he'll bleed to death and if we move the boy he'll die. I won't leave him here like this, there has to be something we can do."
 
"If there is anything... You will have to be the one to do most of it.. If I touch him.. Then it might only end how we are trying to prevent." Adelenta hated more than anything that she was pushed away by everyone. She would turn a person just by touching them.. She had to release her power, just like any other being with power. But people saw her as a monster.. Even though she was born to be a servant to the people, though they didn't think it that way.

She raised her eyes to look at Aragon "I have one idea.. But it will be painful for him... And there must not be any hesitation on your part. Do you have any ideas. Cause I would choose any over this.."
 
"We don't have time for second guessing. What's your idea?" He turned to her and gave her a look of urgency. He looked back down on the boy and could see that he was frightened by everything that was happening. "Hey, we're going to get you out. You probably heard that this is going to hurt but I need you to work with me, ok?" Aragon reached down and grabbed the boys hand. "My father always taught me, no man left behind. You're gonna be ok." He released the boys hand and looked back at Adelenta. "Whatever we're gonna do, we have to do it now."
 
Adelenta hated the idea of this, but he was right. The boy was bleeding out already. They needed to be quick. "With your powers you can keep a blade hot right? Because I can pull on the wood, and as it pulls, you can cauterize it to stop the bleeding. It won't fix the enteral stuff, but if we are quick, then we can make it to the town to the west by dusk. They have a great healer there that can heal him without having to reopen his wounds."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a sack and opened it. It was filled with green leaves. "If he keeps chewing these, it will take the edge off the pain. Not all of it, but enough so that he shouldn't scream. Then as we go I have enough chocolate and cookies to keep his blood supply up." She set the leaves down and pulled out another bag filled with miscellaneous sweets. They were her weakness, so she carried them everywhere. She found some chocolate and broke a piece off and ate it, to make sure the boy knew it wasn't going to hurt him.

"I know I scare you.. But please don't be afraid. I will not hurt you. I promise to the good spirits." She handed the chocolate to Aragon, then a handful of leaves. "Chocolate first, then two leaves at a time. Don't let him swallow them, they will make him throw up if he does. Just chew them. We start with his arm. Start with the back. Once it's done, then we finish pulling it through." She wiped her hands on her dress, getting the sweat off. She was on the verge of a panic attack of doing this.
 
"Yeah, I can keep it hot enough. But we need to move fast. We've got about fifteen minutes to make a twenty four minute journey. Let's hope everything goes smoothly." Aragon took the chocolate and leaves from Adelenta. "Here, these are going to help."

Aragon fed the ingredients to the boy to avoid having him move. He took the blade from Adelenta and used his powers to heat it. "Okay, it's heated. Let's get him out of here." Aragon gave the boy an assuring nod and readied himself. "Alright, pull it." He said to Adelenta
 
Adelenta watched the boy, and even though he was scared of her, she still have him a small smile. Something very little people other than confessors have seen. "There might be some horses still here. This city lets them roam free. So there might be some that survived. I will call once we finish."

She got behind the wood that was in his arm and carefully started to pull it out, making sure it wasn't too quick that Aragon couldn't close the wound as she pulled for the least amount of blood loss. She held her breath, hoping that this plan worked.
 
Aragon's eyes closed for a moment as a blood curdling scream escaped the child while Aragon pressed the heated blade against the open wound. "I know kid, it'll be over soon." Said Aragon as he removed the blade and made sure that the wound was closed. He repeated this process every time Adelenta pulled out a piece of wood. Eventually they got the boy free of the wood that was pinning him down. Aragon laid the boy gently on the ground in the center of the room and gave him more leaves.

"Here you take the boy and find a horse. I'm going to fly ahead and get the healer ready."

Aragon reached into his pack and pulled out some wrapping for Adelenta's hands. He wrapped her hands to the point where she could still use her hands but would not be able to feel anything.

"This should stop your powers from affecting the boy. I'm not sure he would be well enough to fly with me, so you'll have to take him."

Aragon walked over and kneeled down by the boy. "The confessor is going to take you to get help now. Don't worry, her powers won't hurt you I promise. I'm going to get the healers ready for you."

Aragon walked over to a pile of wood and set it on fire. He opened his arms and fell backward into the fire, allowing the flames to consume his body. He then stood up and spread a pair of black wings with traces of embers on the tips. He flicked his wings, dousing the flames and embers.

"I will have the healers prepared by the time you get there." He said to Adelenta then walked outside. He crouched down then pushed off of the ground with his wings.
 
Adelenta watching as he used the flames to almost transform, gaining his wings. She wondered if he could change into other things with the fire or if he could only gain his wings. She made a mental note to ask him later. As he flew into the air she took the wrappings off her hands muttering to herself. She was the mother confessor. She had complete control of her powers and it had never even crossed her mind of using them on the boy.

She went out the door, and quickly whistled as loud as she could, the little tune that she remember hearing the towns people do. She did it a few times, and waited. After a few minutes she started to loose hope of one being around. She couldn't wait much longer. She went in and picked the boy up carefully, too weak to fight her touch. "We gotta go now. We can't wait.." She turned, and came face to face with a young chestnut mare. Adelenta had never been so releved. She put the boy on it's back, and climbed behind him. They were going to have to go bareback.

Grabbing the horses hair between her fingers she walked it the few steps out of the house, and then urged it forward. The horse took off as quick as it could, and she just kept urging it forward. Within only a few minutes the next city was in view. "We're almost there..."
 
Aragon dropped down into a city square with one knee down and one hand on the ground to brace himself. The people of the city all stopped and stared at him as he stood and looked around. "I'm looking for the city's healer, My partner, the mother confessor is on her way way with a child that is badly hurt." Aragon looked around for a bit, then saw a woman walk out of the crowd. She had long dark hair that trailed down her back. She was tall and lean, wearing a light blue dress that complimented her figure perfectly. "Hello, my name is Helandra, I am the great healer." She stood near Aragon and raised a hand to the people, gesturing them to move on.

"My name is Aragon, Naveron guardian of the midlands and the mother confessor. Will you please help us?" She looked Aragon over for a moment before responding. "Where is the mother confessor and the wounded child?"

"They're on their way here, they came on horseback. The child was hurt in a D'haran attack and is in critical condition." Aragon was beginning to grow impatient with her seeing as she was trying to make small talk and a child was bleeding out. They were running out of time
 
Adelenta kept urging the horse forward, but it was quickly reaching its max. She figured the D'haran army chased the horses out of town as they left and this was one of who knows how many. Hopefully the horses survived. Or travelers who passed through that new how the city worked would call the horses as she did.

She raced into the city, and headed towards the middle. All the guards tensed as they saw her. This city was one that least liked her. Years ago as she went on her first solo request, just her and her wizard, no other confessors, she discovered that their great king was planning on starting a Great War with the town that was destroyed. And as confessors law is, she forced him to tell her everything. Instead of her wizard turning him into an animal to loosen the magic on him, he and all who worked with him were executed in the middle of the town, for treason against the midlands. She often wondered about the new queen and her overly spoiled daughter.

She saw Aragon and the healer, she pulled the horse to a quick stop and handed the boy to him as she got down. "He passed out only a few minutes ago. We must hurry."
 
Aragon waited anxiously for Adelenta to show up with the boy. He didn't say much to the healer, unless he was addressed directly; he wasn't exposed to higher ranking positions very often.

Once he saw Adelenta ride in on the horse. He quickly jogged over to meet her with the healer. He took the child and helped her down from the horse. "Where do we go now?" He asked the healer in an urgent tone. "Follow me, we need to be quick. I'm not sure how great his injuries are but I'm certain they could be life threatening." Aragon followed Helandra to a small building that was more or less a single large room for medical purposes.

"Lay him there." Said Helandra pointing to a table in the center of the room as she went to gather her medicines and other supplies. Aragon laid him gently on the table and gently slapped his cheeks. "Hey, come on wake up. We found help, but I need you to hang on a little bit longer." The boy gave no response. Aragon grabbed the boys hand and squeezed it lightly. "Come on, show us something." Aragon said desperately but again getting no response. Aragon hesitantly put his ear against the boy's chest. When he heard nothing he looked at Adelenta with a look of defeat.
 
Adelenta jumped forward when there was no reply from the boy. She thought that he had passed out from pain not because he passed. "No..." She grabbed the boys other hand and squeezed it. She leaned down and her rose lips touched his forehead "you were a brave little man. May you be with your parents spirits now and help us.." She straightened up and wiped the tears from her cheek. There was nothing more painful then having hope and it being taken.

She set the boys hand down on his chest and turned quickly. She was going to pay the queen a visit. She was going to look for a reason to get angry at her. Adelenta didn't know what else to do. She felt like she was just running circles. She didn't know where to actually go. Everything was just guessing. She couldn't keep guessing. As she marched through the streets' anger in her face, people bowed whispering blessings and acknowledgments to her. She started to contemplate whether she should just start doing things the easy way compared to the way to keep as many happy. People already feared and hated her.
 
"Dammit!" Yelled Aragon as he punched the side of the table. He put his head down on the boy's chest for a moment, then when he looked up, his eyes were glowing a deep red. These bastards are going to die for this. "Thank you for your help" said Aragon as he gave Helandra a pouch of coins.

He then went to follow Adelenta. "They must pay for that boy's life." He said as he followed her. He could feel the fire inside of him growing hotter by the second. He could feel the heat from his body beginning to burn the fabric of his clothing.
 
Adelenta stopped where she was, the wind blowing her white dress, for once taking it away from her curves. She turned and faced Aragon "just that boys? Do you know what I saw when we were in that city. In the castle. All the under study's ... Tied to their bed. Looks of fear frozen on their faces as the D'haran took their turned with them. Then as they finished, they were killed. Some of those girls no more than 7. But you want to jus to just do it for that one boy?"

She let her anger take over, it was written over her entire face and body. She had seen many cities that were only worse than the one that they had seen. More people, more atrocities that only grew with the bigger cities. People fighting trying to keep the forces from their women in the castles. Old men and even young boys helping to keep the forces back as long as possible, because they knew either way they would die as the rest. The only mercy that the D'haraians had on them was that they killed them quick unlike most of the women.

"Once you see more, the boy will be out of your mind as you start to see the full picture. Up north there was a city, Postich, where me and Giller ventured upon on before he was killed. The trail there was littered with women of all ages, naked and frozen in huddles. They would rather venture the cold and freeze as they did, then to be with D'hara forces. We figured out that there was a last force hiding in the cellers, and as they came up to fight the Army, they ran. Knowing that both was death, but they chose that as their end. Does that not tell you something?"

She started at him, the anger mixed with saddness, and the exhaustion came forward from her lack of sleep and food. Everything had taken such toll on her that her dreams were only nightmares, and anytime she tried to eat she felt sick to her stomach.
 
Aragon's body heat grew even more as Adelenta snapped on him. His shirt burned off of his body and the spots on his shoulder blades, where his wings grew and retracted, began to glow as small embers emitted from them.

"I know the extent of D'haran terror, I know how much destruction and anarchy they have brought to cities all over the world. My father died because of them! Men, woman, children have died at the hands of D'hara and every day that they are still active, more die. I understand all of it, but that boy; that boy marks the beginning of their downfall. He will be the life that gave the spark to take D'hara down."
 
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