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After leaving Coley and Feria, Raleia felt only marginally better about the task at hand. If they were the only remaining wardens, then they would continue to do everything in their power to protect the lands that they had been entrusted… no matter how fathomless their goal might seem. But at the very least, she wasn't entirely on her own…
Predictably, Winnock was not far off from where she had left him, lazily swatting at the carcass of a small wood box from one of the carts. He looked up as she approached and made a small whining sound through his nostrils, but Raleia only shook her head and patting his snout, pressed a kiss to the very tip of it, "Come on, sweetie. Just a little bit longer, and then we'll be able to rest."
Rounding his side, she pulled herself up onto him and with a great sweep of his leathery wings, they were up in the air, angling towards the East... towards uncertainty.
Fog, as far as the eye could see… in great, sweeping clouds, pillars, spiraling like smoke… in translucent snakes that swirled slow and creeping around her ankles. The air was frigid, but a chill had crept into her bones that had entirely nothing to do with the season. All around her, in what seemed to be every direction, bodies littered the ground… fallen and still, empty shells of former lives and just out of the corner of her eye she could see phantoms of movement, but with each turn of her head, it was gone again - a trick of light, or not…
Her heart pounded within her chest, her mind racing, and overhead she could feel Winnock's anxiety, careening closer to panic. She wanted to tell him not to worry, but in truth, she was deeply concerned. Somewhere along the way, she had gained, or perhaps lost speed… lost the others, and then lost her path completely and when she had landed at the edge of the creeping wall of white, she had gone into it alone. Alone and very much unsure. And for what might have been minutes, or hours, or days, she had walked. Her fingers curled tightly around her necklace, until they turned pale white, and setting her eyes before her, Raleia continued onward.
And onward.
There was little telling how far she had gone - all was dark grey and pearlescent, and the sky overhead gave little indication as to the time of day. Her steps were the only sound, and for a while it seemed as though the entire world had vanished… leaving her abandoned and alone. Her isolation felt so complete, so absolute, that when she heard the sound of footfall ahead of her, she almost began to doubt her ears.
Then she saw the figure moving, and this time, it stayed in place as she directed her vision towards it… A dark shadow, moving through the mist, growing more resolute as it grew closer. A shapeless mask became limbs and torso, a head…
She could see the markings on his pale skin, even at a distant, his ethereal gaze piercing even in the paleness of their surroundings. Her heart, she was certain, froze in place, her mind refusing to process the figure's identity, refusing to accept it…
But the crashing sound of his steps, the harried, haggard commotion of a man wandering, lost and alone in so terrifying a place could not be ignored for long. Breathless, she stopped and stared, her voice barely rising above a doubt filled whisper. How could it be him? How… when he was dead?
"...Thannel?"
He heard his name again. Thannel shook his head as he fought against the whispers in the fog. He could have sworn he heard his name. The throbbing pain in his head did not help. His hand covered his eye where the wound presided, blood still wet on his palm where it pressed against his cheek. His perception was off kilter from the blow to his eye in an obvious altercation and turn towards the voice that called him.
"Raleia?" He knew it was strange to hear it so distantly and clearly. It wasn't like the whispers, and yet… this was the fog.
For a moment she said nothing - could think of nothing at all to say. It felt so real, yet she could still see him in her mind, clawing at the ground, ripped away by the shadowy tendrils into nothingness. Was this was the fog did, then? Would she soon begin to see the others...? Would she be dragged into oblivion by her own heart's desire not to be alone?
Tears burned, blurring her vision and shaking her head, Raleia looked away, her eyes moving past Thannel to the fog beyond, "Is this how it ends? I won't fight... I'm tired. Just please, no more phantoms."
"How did you get here?" he asked, though he did not move towards her. His free hand was ready to cast, resting at his side as he studied the familiar figure from a distance.
"...Don't you know?" She responded, and there a twinge of irritation in her voice, "Aren't you responsible for it? Why his face...? Is it not enough to kill me? You plan to torment me, first?"
His eye narrowed at the strange game. It was his first encounter with a seemingly non hostile entity. He shook his head once again and continued on. Perhaps it was a side effect of that woman infiltrating his mind. He paid no further mind to Raleia as he returned his focus to finding a way out of the fog. Sometimes the land looked familiar, and other times it looked all the same.
"Hey!" She shouted, and the irritation bled into anger as she stepped forward, "What sort of trap is this? I won't chase after you, Shadow! You have taken too much, and I am done playing these ridiculous games!
"Then leave me alone!" he shouted back. Thannel began to wonder if he was even still on his world anymore. What twisted realm had the Shadow Casters dragged him into? Was he even alive?
Perhaps it was her exhaustion, or perhaps it was just the weight of all that had happened over the past few days, but the anger that pulsed through her was unrelenting, and as he wandered further into the thickening fog, her mind refused to accept it... to allow him to leave - to allow Thannel's memory to be so perverted.
Pulling free the small sword at her waist, Raleia started after him, "You cowards! All of you! Tricks and lies! Why don't you fight me, face to face!"
"Why does my brain focus so much on the fire of her character?" Thannel wondered out loud. He was sure she was a figment, and with his back toward her he could not see her advance. "Ignore it…"
But in his wandering through the fog and with his dampened perception he nearly stumbled over a body. His foot caught under the shoulder of the human lying face down in the grass. Thannel halted completely after regaining his footing and stared down at the lifeless woman. If he was dead, what did that make her?
"If you're going to follow me," Thannel said, "then may I at least have the comfort of a friend? Or just kill me. Whichever suits you."
He stumbled and Raleia paused, staring at him for a moment, while he contemplated the figure, prone in the grass. Her heart knit at the sight, and gave a painful jolt at the sound of his voice as he continued. It made no sense... None of it. Why wouldn't he fight? Why did he insist on this heart wrenching diversion...
Unless...
The sword dropped from her grasp without control and stepping closer, she reached out, her hand shaking as she grabbed his arm. Solid. Solid and strong... A little cool, but then... that was his atunement.
Yanking her arm back, she gasped, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at him, "...You... you're not... But..." Lowering her hands, her legs gave and she collapsed, "Thannel?"
He let his hand fall from his face and continued to stare at the unknown fallen. For a time he did not really care to speak. The whispers had grown silent in the stillness of the fog that surrounded them. He could feel the warmth of her touch as it brushed against his arm and let go.
"What is it?" he finally asked.
Raleia said nothing for a long moment as she knelt on the cold, hardened ground. It seemed so impossible, yet surely in her vulnerability, in her state of shock, a foul wielder of shadow would not allow her to live - not even for the sake of cruel tricks and mind games.
But if she was wrong...
Maybe she didn't care anymore. Maybe a part of her wanted to be wrong, so it could just... end.
Rather suddenly and with very little warning, Raleia sprung upright to her feet and without a word, she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He felt real, so real, and substantial, and for a moment, even if it were all a lie, she could rest in that sense...
The embrace took him by surprise. He, too, expected the worst and yet it did not come. Raleia wrapped her arms around him tightly, and he returned it in kind. "Where are we?" he whispered.
"A nightmare? A dream..." Sniffling, she released him, taking a short step back to look up at him, "I don't know, anymore. I... I thought... In the field, when it, when it took you... I thought you were dead." Hand quivering, she stretched upwards and hovered for a moment over his cheek, before laying her palm there, "I never thought I would see you again."
Her thumb brushed along the edge of the gash across his eyes as she shook her head, frowning, "What did they do to you?"
The wound was tender, and he twitched slightly at the touch before retracting from her hand. "An altercation," he said. "How did you get here?"
"Winnock." Her eyes trailed upwards, briefly, before she shook her head, "After you... after everyone disappeared, Drau'zul agreed the best course of action was to investigate the fog... to try and stop the Shadow Army from further encroaching." Lowering her gaze, she touched Valnir's necklace, "Feria, Coley and I... We all have one. I can only assume it's why we were left behind. I suggested to Drau'zul that we might be able to get through the fog and scout ahead, but I arrived earlier than the others... and I... I got lost."
Frowning again, she gestured to his wounded eye, "Will you... can I help?"
He brought his hand up as he noticed her necklace and its familiar design. It hovered in the air as he reflected upon its presence. If this was an illusion, it was a rather detailed one, and if it were a Shadow Caster, they nulled their magic by wearing the pendant.
"The way you came," he said as he pointed behind Raleia. "What did you come across? We can track your steps back. There's enough moisture in the air to keep the earth damp."
"...Bodies." She whispered the word, and her hand dropped away from the necklace, falling, back to her side, "They're all dead. Everywhere. Feels like there's no one left in the whole world..."
Looking up at him again, she studied him for a moment, her eyes moving slowly across his features, roving over the injury... How dedicated could an agent of Shadow possibly be?
"...I want to believe it's you. But it would be... it would be so easy for them to get into my head, right now. And I'm afraid to trust." Frowning, she stepped forward again, "Tell me something. Something only Thannel would know... Something personal."
"No," he said as he studied the tracks Raleia had left behind her. He began to follow her steps back. "If you're not going to trust me as I am, there is nothing I can say that won't still cause doubt."
"You... you don't know what it was like. Watching it happen. Watching them... watching you, dragged away by it. Seeing the aftermath. Seeing what it did to everyone left behind, I don't know what to believe, anymore. Their dragons. They... they were left, too. Ancalgon, Thannel... He threw himself right to the ground. He's dead. Because of it. You're asking me to trust you, but look where we are! Look around... You just... appeared, out of the fog, in a place no one is exactly known for leaving."
Frowning softly, she dropped her gaze, "Please... The Thannel I know, he was kind and warm... A man of peace. He wouldn't leave me to wonder. If you're him, I need to know... I just... everything is mist and shadow, here. I need something solid to hold on to."
"Don't rely on others to anchor you," Thannel said turning back towards her. "Vuaturi pride themselves in intellect. And we see intelligence in others. If you would only just… You need to calm down and think. Find the anchor yourself. Then you know with absolution."
He shook his head, his hand cradling the wound that lined his face in red. It stung like fire and he felt his pulse pounding in his head as he turned back to tracking her footsteps.
"Anyone with intelligence knows there's never real absolution, Thannel... And it's not easy being calm in such a damnably depressing place." Shaking her head, Raleia followed after him. Whether she believed who he was or not didn't matter. If he really was alive, she would discover as much eventually and if not? Well, she supposed she would find out, either way...
Looking over at him, as he cupped his eye, she sighed, "Stop... Just..." Catching his arm, she met him with a small frown, "Stay still. Let me patch it up. It won't take but a few minutes, and it's stupid to keep traipsing around like that... You'll bleed to death before we get out of this miserable fog."
"I think you're trying to justify your fear," he said as he turned back to her. His hand lowered from the bloody gash and he heaved a sigh, more in relief than exasperation as Raleia seemed to come around. "It's not easy to be calm, but it can be done. Absolution is viable. So, to argue your point, you're telling yourself absolution isn't obtainable to justify your fear. There's nothing shameful in it, though. Even in that you found absolution. You've calmed down."
"That's quite a lecture, coming from a man who's very lucky he's not half blind. And it's not like you trust I am who I said I am, either..." With the very edge of a smile at the corner of her lips, Raleia bent down and grabbed the frayed end of her cloak. It had been torn once before, when she had injured her shoulder... By the end of this horrendous journey she was likely to come away with no cloak at all. Tearing another strip, she straightened and met Thannel with another frown, eyeing the wound in thought, "We ought to clean it..."
Unhooking the cloak entirely, she spread it on the ground, "Can you conjure a bit of ice on that? I'll melt it down... It's not perfect, but it'll do until we can get out of here."
"I never said I trust who you say you are," he said, a small huff of a laugh escaping him as he raised his hand back up to his injury. It hurt to smile, and he winced as soon as it came. Adding to the throbbing pain and headache was rather unpleasant and spoiled his minorly lifted spirits. "The eye… I'm not sure it works. I don't know if the blade…"
His voice trailed off as his mind became stuck on the prospects of being half blind. He was impaired, and losing that much range in an already murky setting made it all the more difficult to overcome any obstacle he may face in the fog. He drew from the moisture around them, crystallizing the vapors as they collected within his palm and onto his skin. The air around them turned frigid in his conjuring, and his breath released from his lips in thick puffs.
"Do you think you should cauterize it?" he asked, though hoped the answer was no.
His words drew a cringe, as she considered the possibilities of what he was saying. It was certainly safer to assume that he was all a part of the Shadow, the Fog... a trick of her mind, but in her heart she needed it to be him. Whatever he said about anchors, Raleia believed no man could make it alone, and in such a dire time, she desperately needed a friend. But if it was him... someone had hurt him. Badly. And that did not sit well with her.
Shivering, though it had little to do with the temperature so much as his grim suggestion, Raleia shook her head, "I don't think so... Unless the bleeding won't stop."
She worked quietly, but quickly, first to melt down the ice into a small pool on the cloak, then dabbing the cloth in the water. She touched the damp edge to the wound, gingerly as she dared, her free hand cupping his chin to keep his head steady, "Seems we're both destined for scars, my dear friend."
Squeezing out the scrap of cloak, pink running down her arms to make a puddle at her feet, she wet it a second time, then continued the progress along his eye, "How long has it been like this? And what happened? You said it was an altercation? Where did you go, after... after the field?"
Thannel stared out at the nothing beyond Raleia as he fought the urge to twitch or move in his pain. "I've been with Wallace Savere," he said. "I don't know how I got there. I just… woke up in chains. They know about the necklaces. They know about the Sur joining the orcs and their plans to take back Folhath. They had a woman who got into my head and pulled out information. And then they were gone and I weakened the chain with ice and broke free. I got attacked by… I don't know what I saw. It did this to me and I killed it. I've never had to kill so many things until I left my people…"
Straightening, Raleia met his eyes, her own widening ever so slightly, "Savere?"
That he had escaped at all was something of a small miracle. She wasn't sorry he got away, but knowing what it had cost him... and knowing why he had been taken at all was unnerving. If Savere knew about their plans, knew about the necklaces, there was little question in her mind he was already moving to strike.
"...I... I'm so sorry. I can't understand what that's like." Frowning, she lowered her gaze again, "Somehow, I've yet to have to, but I don't know that I'll remain so lucky. It seems we can't escape it. War." Meeting his eyes, she resumed her work, "Do you still feel the same way? About this fight, Thannel? You told me that you couldn't walk away... that you had your reason for staying. Do you still feel that way?"
"Of course," he said without hesitation. "Do you doubt it of me now?"
Smiling faintly, Raleia met his gaze, "No. Not at all." The smile faded, and she concentrated instead on the cloth, "I doubt it in myself, though. I considered it, Thannel. Running... leaving. I actually considered it... and it makes me so ashamed. I just... I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting. My whole purpose, my existence was to find peace. But no one wants it. And I don't know where to go from here."
Thannel gently grasped Raleia's forearm and pulled her hand away from his face. "I don't want to stay here any longer," he said to her quietly. "I'm leaving the fog. Thank you for tending to my wound."
Closing her eyes for a moment, Raleia shook her head, "You really don't trust that it's me, do you. I thought maybe... Hm." Trailing off, she bent down to pick up her cloak, fastening it on again, before she nodded, "Let's go, then. And put this over the wound..." She offered the cloth to him, with a small frown, "But if it's still bleeding in an hour, we'll need to stop it."
With a short nod, Thannel continued on the path laid out by the subtle footprints left behind by Raleia in her trek through the fog. "It's more that I'm not sure of too much right now," he explained. "What if they can fabricate visions just as easily as tapping into my memories? I'm mostly certain it's you. But I would just feel better outside of this fog."
The act of looking down to look for her footprints caused him to feel dizzy, and he stumbled a bit with his steps every now and again. Despite this, he was stubbornly persistent and focused. "Don't you want out? Just… no matter what? Have you heard the whispers?"
Frowning, Raleia moved closer, offering him support as much as he would allow. She understood… she did. It was hard for her not to suspect there was Shadow magic everywhere, and in her mind she was certain it was a trick, even if her heart wanted to trust that it was him. She was used to the disappointment of her own expectations failing her…
But whoever he was, Thannel or not, she was simply too tired to care, anymore not to lend aid where it was needed.
As he continued, her expression shifted and pausing, catching his arm to halt his steps as well, she nodded, "I didn't think about it, until now… I'm sorry. All you've gone through, and now this fog." Taking a breath, she reached for her necklace and pulled it off, pressing up on her toes to loop it around his neck, "...This should help."
His hand reached out quickly, partially fumbling over her forearm before completely grasping her wrist to halt her action. He was a bit more forceful than before as he worked against her. "If that really is real," he said to her, "then you need to wear it. Put it back on, Raleia."
"You need it more than I do, right now! If... if you don't make it..." Jaw tightening, she shook her head, "Wear it for a little while. I'll be fine."
A smile flickered on his lips at her stubbornness, but he slowly pushed her arm back towards her. "If you aren't real, you're pretty convincing," he joked. "Put it back on. Tactically speaking, it's better if you have it."
"Tactics..." She muttered, sliding the necklace back on, "You sound like Val. Come here... Arm over my shoulder. You'll stumble less. Let me watch the path, you keep a lookout for any trouble. And try not to listen to them... the whispers. Concentrate on something else. Anything else."
"It's a spell," Thannel said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "I just… I don't know when it was cast."
As they traveled through the fog, Thannel did his best to scan the area, or at least what could be seen. The world looked like murky gray water where trees and buildings looked like strange silhouettes. A cluster of trees appeared ahead of them, ever so faintly at first. But with each step they neared, one of the smaller bushes, narrow and more distinct than the other silhouettes that framed it, caused Thannel a moment of pause.
"Raleia, wait," he whispered as he gripped her shoulder. "Something doesn't feel right…"
As Thannel stopped, and his grip on her shoulder tightened, Raleia froze, following his eyeline, "...What is it? What are you seeing?"
He stared at it. The dark mass below the canopy of the tree did not move. He couldn't be sure if it was even a person, but it did not look like a bush to him anymore. And just as he opened his mouth to answer Raleia, the figure vanished into the fog behind it in a swift motion.
She straightened as the thing... the figure moved in haste, a hand braced against Thannel's side, her heart racing in her chest, "That I saw..." Reaching for her blade, she pulled it free, "Can you fight, if we have to?"
"Yes," he assured, but he did not move just yet. Looking up into the fog, Thannel leaned against Raleia to keep his balance as he thought. "Raleia, where is Winnock? We could leave…"
Craning her eyes skyward, Raleia frowned. She hated the idea of bringing Winnock down into the fog, but leaving him up there put Thannel at risk. There was no more room to doubt that Thannel was who he said… She needed to act. Needed to decide.
"He's close…" Stepping aside, she nodded and not a few seconds passed before the massive shadow appeared overhead, the rush of wind from Winnock's descent stirred fog and dust from beneath their feet.
He was anxious, and she could see it… rippling through his shoulders and spine, dark eyes flickering around him as his jaw opened, a nervous chattering rattle escaping his throat.
"...Easy, sweetheart… Almost out." He loomed over them as Raleia approached, watchful, and he lowered down for her to mount.
"Ready?" Raleia asked Thannel.
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