The wetland roads were suitably muddy, and fittingly dug with tracks from carts and wagons or the like. The team made their way down and along the twisting road as it sought only the most stable and dry ground, but even that wasn't too great. Micheal had begun to pick out teams on boats fishing the river, and men on docks or hanging heavy poles over walls on the far side of town facing the river even as they descended into the valley. Every once in a while a pole would wiggle and jerk and a man would drag a shadowy shape up from the river to his spot on the wall or the teams on the boat would pull in a net or heavy hand line that seemed to struggle and shake violently against the men working inside.
Vivian once pointed out a shape in the sky that looked like an eagle riding a thermal wave. It turned out to be one of the so-called prairie hawks Dexter had warned about. As they came closer Micheal made out the spiked awnings that lined the top of the walls of Mayonn. They were like vicious pigeon strips made of full sized spears, and looked to only secondarily provide the wall guards shelter from the rain. Of which there were many patrolling its length. The alert from Rodust had come by horse and beaten them here by several hours. Men stood at attention in leather armor, and chainmail, with green and white tabards hanging down their fronts with a Hook and Spear emblem stitched in a pattern at the front. That same symbol flew on the matching flag of Mayonn.
Ahead the gate lay open with a dozen or so guards in uniform helping farmers work a horse or oxen pulled cart or wagon up the last incline to the city, or inspecting loads. As they came closer and joined with other roads leading to Mayonn the way quickly filled with people. Some carried spears as they walked or had boys with bows on wagons who sat back now looking relieved. Girls held dolls next to mothers and sometimes the older ones walked beside wagons or at the head of teams of horses or cattle with reins and sometimes these older girls held spear or bow in hand looking as familiar with them as any of the boys. Families waved to the adventurers sometimes and other times an old farmer would spit or a housewife glare as she held tight a possession or child.
Vivian stood close to him, still holding his hand all the while, and reacted friendly to those who did likewise and ignored the others as much to not even glance even when a ball of chew landed near her muddy boots. She stood tall and upright, and leaned against him sometimes as they let a wagon rumble on ahead of them on the ever crowding road. Once she took up his other hand to check the mark and frowned at the silvery outline before putting her solidly determined face back on and leading him down the road.
Thanks to their time made up by jogging that morning they got to the gates by mid afternoon. It surprised him that he didn't feel all that sore, but then again the marks did make them better and stronger at almost everything they did. 'Why wouldn't that count for running?' He asked himself reproachfully, but his focus was as it had been, upon the hand clutching his own. Dexter and Luna followed well behind in the crowd, but Dexter was keeping watch and raised his unstrung low bow in the air whenever he or Vivian looked back over the crowd.
Micheal overheard the complaints of farmers as they headed inside.
“First one camp and then another.” An old farmer said. “Them orcs will take over the whole country side if nobody stops 'em.”
A farmer on another wagon stood and pointed the end of his bow toward Vivian and Micheal.
“It's those adventurer's not doing their jobs is what it is. Get rid of the lot of them I say. The gods may grant the little ones protection, but those grown ones don't do half of what they should.” He shouted, but his wife pulled him down hurriedly and scolded him. The man seemed to regret his words as his wife tore into him with fierce whispers as the baby in her arms cried out.
After that there wasn't much directed at them, but clearly it made Vivian a little sad and uncomfortable to see the people forced to retreat to the city once again only days after they must have gotten back from the first time.
At the gate the guard saw the mark on Micheal's hand and raised his spear for them to stop.
“What do we have here?” He said. He came forward and looked them over, eyeing their packs and weapons, then once more up and down.
“We're here to report to the guild.” Vivian said. She smiled slightly as Jack passed between her spear and legs to worriedly spin and then sit sideways in front of her and Micheal. He panted and leaned his head against Micheal's legs.
Micheal had been surprised by how calmly people seemed to take Jack's presence once they saw his mark, but most still stayed clear or children who were walking climbed into wagon or carriage or made their way around the other side when they spotted the Bear Dog on his tail.
The guard jumped seeing Jack, but for Jack's part he just wiggled his tail as he looked up at the guard and laid his head down to pant at Micheal's feet.
“By the Gods...” The guard whispered looking down at the Bear Dog.
Micheal fetched his waterskin from his shoulder and prompted Jack to sit up so he could pour water into the creature's thirsty mouth. Jack lapped and guzzled down all the water Micheal poured into his mouth, hardly spilling much at all after having been watered so a few times already on their trip here and before.
“He's tame. He might even let you pet him.” Micheal said to the guard.
The guard nodded a few times and flexed his free hand, but then crouched and patted Jack on the head though he could have likely done so easily while standing. Jack turned his head so the guard found his ear and his tail started up full force once the guard found the good spot with seeming familiarity.
“Indeed it seems so. Likes the same spot as my old Great Hound...before he died.” The guard mused his eyes looking a little sad and happy all at once.
A small crowd slowly formed around them as the guards and the farmers alike marveled at the sight. A number of other guards came over looking worried at first, but then were coming to pet Jack one at a time. The first guard passed word of who they were and a small buzz took up the front of the crowd. 'Tamed Bear Dog' seemed to have become a rumor that spread through the traveling families, but before too long a voice boomed from closer to the gate.
“What's this? Keep the flow moving. We need these people in by nightfall.” The man who must have been the gate commander yelled. That sent the armored men around Jack stumbling over themselves to get back to their inspections and the flow picked up hurriedly as quick inspections of goods were made, travelers were brushed over, and then led inside with curt words and gestures.
The guard who had first approached them smiled as Jack passed at Micheal's side and after a short walk through the gate tunnel they were inside the sprawling, and crowded riverside city of Mayonn.
Micheal frowned seeing stuffed full inns and taverns, and farmers talking and unloading at houses where they seemed to meet with friends as their families mixed and mingled with familiar energy, all commenting on reuniting so soon. He was worried they wouldn't have a place to stay when Vivian led them through the shoulder to shoulder packed streets until they were suddenly wide open and alone.
Dexter popped out of the crowd near them, his arm still buried in the press there before he growled fiercely at a few people, his words drowned completely in the drone of voices, and then he managed to get Luna through. She looked half furious and had her harp case in hand over her wand case at her belt. She spat several words back at a few men and women with her ears tucked down low against her head. Her dress looked like she had gotten caught somewhere and as one of the men said something to her she raised a foot as if to kick him before he finally got the idea and faded back into the crowd.
Micheal looked around then not having much of an idea where they were to find they were inside some sort of manor gate building. A Bunnary man was waiting for them to approach at a booth set inside the wall of the gate house. It was the first male of the species or race or whatever he had been able to see up close. There had been a family or two of them heading inside the city walls, but none that he had gotten a good look at. His ears were fuzzy compared to Luna's, and one was bent where it seemed to have been struck and healed badly with a white scar.
There were no guards here, just the man in a stone booth connected to the wall and a thick iron gate. The path ahead cut through a short section of well kept grass that was populated with tents. Adventuring looking types milled about between them. Some were sharpening weapons or mending clothes, and others still were sparring and exercising. A few others were doing what was clearly and very obviously some type of magic practice. They were projecting elements and deflecting them with shield type spells or countering with an opposing magic type, all with friends and allies watching over them; each commenting and cheering as the displays went on.
The guard seemed to recognize Vivian easily, but the way she held Micheal's hand seemed to bemuse him greatly. He was middle aged and said little once Vivian said Micheal was here to sign up with the guild and the rest of them to follow up on a report they had sent ahead with the messenger that brought news of the new orc camp. They made their way inside and through the winding path filled with tents to either side until they got to a large rectangular brick building. The thick wooden double doors inside gave way easily and they were suddenly washed over with cool air. Jack snorted and sneezed at the sudden change, eyes darting to find the source. Micheal patted his head to let him know everything was okay. He was glad to see they had something of magical air conditioning. It was a comfort he wasn't expecting though it did make him realize how sweaty he was.
Vivian sighed and stopped for a moment as the cool air washed over her and then she went inside pulling him along. The adventurer's in the yard clearly recognized her, she seemed to be a regular sight for what they saw, but the recognition changed quickly to double takes and hushed whispers likely over him. Some magic practitioners had stopped to stare. Dexter and Luna caught up with them as they came into the building, no longer holding hands, and not exactly looking at one another. Dexter seemed to be trying a little too hard to not look at Luna, and Luna looked away from him as well, but her ear facing him seemed locked on. Vivian caught him looking at the two and she gave him a hard nudge with her elbow and a meaningful look before pulling him on ahead.
They came to an intersection past a few open desks on the right and left of the entrance. The clerks worked behind them sorting paperwork and reports and counting out coin here and there for adventurer's at various desks. It looked like a mix of a bank and hospital or office reception area. In fact there was a great vault of blue gray metal that hung open in the back beyond a few clerk desks. What he saw inside was only a brief glimpse of steel lock boxes built into the wall like safety deposit boxes. There were stairs at the end of each hall, and doors littered the wall opposite the clerks. The building looked huge from the outside and clearly the people who worked inside made the most of the space. Where there weren't doors, bulletin boards hung with what could only be adventuring notices. He had seen small boards like this in the village centers he passed through, but nothing so thoroughly edited and worked over.
Parties of adventurers like one would see in the stories or video games gathered round boards labeled for one village or another in the area. Rosebridge and Rodust shared a board under the title of Southwest Providence. From what he gathered from a glance the area around Mayonn was separated into six such Providences all labeled for their direction like a pie graph around the city.
Vivian still held him by the hand and walked him down the west hall until she reached a desk which sat below a sign that read LODGING AND REGISTRATION in full capital lettered print. A motherly looking Bunnary woman sat behind the desk and looked up with a smile at the two of them as Vivian let go of his hand and sat at the chair set across from her on the desk.
“Does the Unbroken Guard hold an apartment currently?” Vivian asked the woman before she could speak. The woman was a little surprised by Vivian's forward manner, but adjusted fine to it. She looked like a woman that could handle any sort of adventurer that came her way.
“Why yes. Are you a member of their number?” The woman asked as she pulled open a ledger and flipped her way to a page inside. She stuck a red wooden page keeper inside and set it aside.
“Yes my name is Vivian Talhalen. My rank in the guild is Captain. You will find my name in the first pages of the register.” She said confidently.
The woman smiled at that, seeming to either believe her or to have the best poker face Micheal had seen. Still she stood and went to one of the shelves behind her to fish out a large leather book. A green crest was emblazoned on the front of a shield with a crack like lightning running down its center. She came forward with it and Vivian stood to turn her back to the woman, pulling her braid out of the way as she did. The woman leaned forward with the book held open.
She ran her finger across the gilded text that depicted Vivian's name and silver light shown from the line.
Vivian sat right after the woman returned the large book to the shelf before she returned to the desk.
“Silver threat ranking.” The woman commented as she tapped her pen against the paper. Her eyes were serious on Vivian's. She had the page open to what looked to be a list of guests staying in the apartments Vivian had asked about.
Vivian looked around and sighed. “I was hoping it would go down just coming to the guild, but yeah we knew. We'll go to the temple right after this and ask for reprieve.” Vivian said, running her hand over her hair and giving Micheal what might have been an attempt at a reassuring look.
The Bunnary woman nodded and wrote down Vivian's name and arrival time into another book. “There's plenty of room left in the apartment up there and I suppose they won't mind their captain coming in to stay. Who's this tall young man with you?”
“Micheal umm...” She blinked and trailed off and then biting her lip looked up at him. “I did ask your full name at least once haven't I? I can't remember.”
Micheal chuckled at her innocent and guilt filled look. “Morrison.”
Vivian's expression changed slightly and she tilted her head like she usually did when she was interested in something. She looked him over once and then seemed to nod, but then also to have more questions.
“A northerner eh?” The Bunnary cackled. “It's your guild's apartment and you are a captain, but we should still register the man with his guild; he's not one of yours is he?” She asked.
Vivian looked up at him, but shook her head. “Not yet, no. I don't have the permission to just add him myself either. I need at least another two captains. Are two of that rank staying here?”
“Guildless. We'll register him as such then.” The woman said, writing down his name in her neat script. “Captains Dorrain, and Forgen are currently listed as present in the apartments. Please let us know if you'll be including the young man in your ranks.” With her note done she fetched another large leather bound book that looked plain and worn. She brought the book over and set it on the table to write down his name.
“Your mark please.” She asked.
Micheal held out his left hand. The script on the page next to so many others on the page began to glow, and lines of text filled out behind the name. Though it was upside down for him he could still easy read what played out on the page.
“Micheal Morrison. Male. Human Elder Kin. Age 28. Silver threat rank. Mayonn Adventurer's Guild. Late Summer. Year 1186.”
The woman's long ears drooped for the first time as she stared at the page. Before this they had been upright and straight, each turning just slightly to cover both Micheal and Vivian in their cones of hearing like Luna's did. Then she looked up at him and then to Vivian who was still seated. She sat up as she noticed the clerk's hesitation, and read the line.
She looked up at him, her eyes clear, but unable to hide the startled reaction to what she had read. She found his hand and held it for a moment after reading something in his face. He looked into her eyes and squeezed her hand before she let go. There was light and relief there, and just a little bit of apology mixed in with her soft determination that was always in the background of her eyes. But something more was there and she suddenly seemed very impatient. Her expression tightened hiding or perhaps controlling her expression, but even then the way she looked up at him suddenly made him gulp. The woman across the counter was gathering herself and nodded several times before she finally closed the book and returned it to the shelf. Her eyes darted to Micheal, seeming unsettled for the first time in their short interaction.
“Not a northerner. A little too clean shaven anyway.” She said as she returned to her seat. She took a ceramic looking card from the back of her ledger and pressed it lightly to the book where Vivian's name was. “Is this your party?” The woman said as Luna and Dexter appeared behind them. Micheal hadn't seen when they fell behind, but they were here now and standing close. Luna waved to someone down the hall who he couldn't see. Perhaps they had run into friends?
Vivian nodded and got up from the seat as the woman handed her the little stiff card now with a glowing green cracked shield across its face.
“Yes I'll leave you with them to get checked in. Thank you. The legion bath will be ready by sundown won't it?” The woman behind the counter nodded affirmatively. For some reason the mention of the bath made Luna and Dexter both turn a little red as they came to the counter, but before he could see why Vivian had him by the hand and was leading him toward the stairs. He paused for a moment, or tried, before he was reminded of just how strong Vivian was and followed rather than lose the hand she held.
He could hardly keep up as Vivian took the stairs two at a time in long strides, but he managed to do so even while she held his hand tight. They were on the second floor, and then round a short corner and on another set of stairs before he could think. They went up into a short hall toward a number of rooms until Vivian found the one with the same cracked shield crest on its plaque beside the door. Micheal barely caught the motion of Vivian's hand against the plaque next to the door as she pressed the card to it like an RF ID tag. The door swung wide easily at her touch to reveal a sitting or common room of some kind littered with doors and a number of surprised people.
“Vivian?” A few startled people said aloud as she stormed into the room with him behind, his hand in an iron grip.
He was pulled in after her, still trying to get his bearings, catch his breath, or at least get a word in between Vivian and whatever she was dragging him into. He watched unsure of what to do as each of the people in the room took in the fact that they still held hands as they came to a stop. One woman in robes looked to be on the verge of saying something several times, but couldn't seem to look away from their interlaced fingers.
Vivian raised her spear at a dark skinned elf across the room wearing a skimpy silken dress.
“Dorrain.” She called out at the woman who rose with a curious look on her face to Vivian after removing a frankly predatory gaze from Micheal. “He's mine.” She said almost in a growl. “Touch him and I'll cut off your breasts and feed them to you.”
Micheal's face matched those of most of the others in the room for pure astonishment.
“What?” The human woman in dark robes said aloud looking between Micheal and Vivian. It came out half as a gasp and laughter.
The others had various reactions from being stunned to immediately whispering to each other, but the dark skinned High Elf Dorrain seemed just shocked and surprised as she was taken aback and stunned into inaction.
Vivian's gaze took in the room, opened doors to bedrooms, and those held shut. She took Micheal by the hand to one of them and pressed her keycard thing to the plaque beside it and pushed her way inside the empty room with Micheal quickly pulled in behind. He noticed the same design as what was on Vivian's mark flash on the doorway and blink as if it was being set to her.
She threw off her pack and tossed her spear onto the bed and then ran her hands through her hair standing before the large four poster. She seemed to shake and take a number of deep breaths. The tension in her was suddenly unsettling. He didn't know what to make of it. He'd never seen her lose her cool like that in his short time with her.
Micheal very carefully set his staff against the door and set his pack down beside the small dining table as he took in the room. It was mostly just a bedroom with a few windows. Everything inside was as fine as anything he had seen since he first came here. The glass of the windows was crystal clear, the four poster bed was wide and covered in what looked like silk and fine linen sheets. The pillows looked plump and full, the bed even and soft with no obvious lumps. A door at the end of the room opened to a wash chamber that had something like an actual toilet! AN ACTUAL TOILET! No crouching over a pot and then dragging it out to a latrine! There was even something that looked like some kind toilet paper on a little stand near it. Oh it wasn't in the familiar roll, but laid out next to the toilet like little towelettes of some kind, but still better than an odd sponge on a stick or vulgar looking rag for certain!
It was then that Micheal noticed that there was no sound coming from the room outside as he peered around the small, but very fine room. The air was still cool, and the room, and that of the washroom was lit with small glowing stones set into the ceiling. He was amazed at how nice it was and wondered just how the magic worked and how they were made and maintained. The door had a small gap below it where it met the floor so there must be some sound able to come through, but as he went back and put his ear to the door he heard nothing.
Vivian had her head in her hands standing before the bed. Occasionally she would brush back her hair and breathe, but the more it went on the more she looked to be in distress. He thought maybe she had just been stressed about the mark or something, but she turned to him with heat in her eyes. It softened immediately, and she sighed and looked away. She stomped one of her feet on the ground and turned away completely again.
Micheal carefully took his waterskin from his pack and took a swig, feeling a little parched from the heat of the day and the effort of coming up the stairs after Vivian without being dragged.
“I hope Luna is with Jack.” He said softly as he handed her the skin.
She started and turned to him, but he waved down her almost panicked apology gently and with a smile before she got a word out. Her eyes were distraught and distracted, the determination he had seen only moments earlier buried in worry and embarrassment. She took the skin and took a drink before handing it back to him. She crossed her arms and then ran her hands over her hair again and along her ears.
“They should be up soon.” Vivian said into her hands as she brought them down over her face. “Here.” She said, handing the card to him.
He took it and waited for her to say more, but she didn't.
“I would like it if you talked to me if something is bothering you Vivian.” He said in as careful a tone as he could manage. “You're all I have here. Well you and Jack I suppose.” He said with a casual laugh. “You're pretty much my only friend and rock I have to lean on. If you need help or just someone to listen, I will , no matter what the problem is.” He went on doing his best to sound as reassuring as he meant to be.
Feeling a bit nervous he stepped close to where she covered her face with her hands. He wanted to hug her, or hold her hand again, but he wasn't sure just then if that would be right. He didn't want to force anything if some thought of hers was making her this uncomfortable already. She didn't say anything however.
He leaned in on impulse and touched his forehead to hers. She remained quiet, but didn't pull away. After a moment she actually leaned into him a little. That was enough for now he thought.
“I'm going to go check on Jack. I'll get him settled and then I'll come back in here so we can talk if you want to. I—” He cut off the words before he said too much. He didn't want to blurt that out when she was unbalanced like this, but his feelings and old family habits were coming together and making him want to tell her how he felt about her. “I'll be back soon.” He finished instead.
He turned away from her and pressed the keycard thing to the door plaque. It looked and felt like ceramic, but it was hard and cool as steel in his hand. And though it looked smooth his fingers found good grip on it. Nothing changed when he pressed it to the plaque until he put a finger to the door. Then the expected sound of chatter erupted from the sitting room outside and he slipped out without showing much of the room behind him.
The room of course went quiet as he stepped out.
More than half a dozen faces turned his way. The robed human woman looked eager and ready to question him, the Dorrain woman was gone and another one of the dozen or so doors was shut tight. Of their number Dorrain seemed to be the only other elf, or High Elf rather, he had to remember that or be lectured by Vivian again or maybe this Dorrain. Three were Bunnary and all men. Each of them had a different color to their hair and ears. Black and brown, brown and black, and gray and brown. And they all looked somewhat alike with rounded features and somewhat stout frames. They all wore casual clothes and nothing like the fancy sort of dress Luna sported. They eyed him as he came out like the new guy on the prison block.
A sturdy looking male human of average height rolled the highest of the group's initiative it seemed and was the first to move after the silence. He was handsome and little roguish with a light in his eye that suggested he had a sense of humor. His dark hair was brushed back in an easy wave, and the robed woman sitting at the table hopped up beside him as he came forward with a hand outstretched.
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“Mike Hanigan.” He said. “This is my wife Lindsey.” He said with a certain, easy, and proud smile that seemed to fill the room and was easily mimicked with girlish flare by Lindsey.
He was a little more than average height unlike his wife, but for that matter it made both of them at least a head shorter than Micheal like everyone else in the room. The smiles and giddiness of the two made them both out to be newlyweds, but Micheal spotted Mike's mark on his forearm as he held out his right hand to shake. Lindsey's seemed to peak out iron gray designs from the open neck of her robe attire; it looked to be a tiny mark on her collarbone. Her robes however looked something like Micheal might have imagined for the mages guild apprentice robes though she was marked in black where it was not red instead of white. That could of course mean she was an apprentice mage still. So maybe she hadn't finished her training before the mark showed up? There were supposed to be two orders of sorts to the apprentice mages, one being red for power, and the other being blue for control.
“Mike. Lindsey.” Micheal said, holding out a hand to each. They too noticed his mark, and Lindsey at least blinked at the silver. She even stepped back after taking his hand to peak into her robes and crane her neck a little to read hers. “I'm Micheal. Micheal Morrison.”
“Northern.” Mike nodded and took in Micheal's height. “Explains the height maybe. You go by Mike too or just Micheal?”
“Micheal.” He answered. There were always Micheal's wherever he ended up it seemed. He let the man think what he would about his origins for now. There would be time enough to correct that at need. “Sorry, but I've got to check after my dog.” Micheal said.
Mike's eyes went wide and Lindsey stopped looking at her mark to jump and look around.
“Your dog?” Lindsey almost yelped.
Micheal nodded and headed to the door and almost reached it when it opened.
A somewhat flustered Dexter appeared in the doorway and immediately took him in and nodded.
“Come on. Vivian forgot to register your fur ball as a familiar.” Dexter said with a sigh and an annoyed glare for Micheal.
“Dexter Farren!” Lindsey said happily in greeting.
Dexter gave her a wry look and confident smile. “You sound too happy Lindsey. Come on ya big oaf back downstairs before the lady at the desk gets out her broom.”
With that Micheal followed after Dexter and went back downstairs at a good pace. Dexter watched him as they went down the first flight and then spoke as they turned on the second floor.
“What was that about?” He asked somehow, conveying clearly to Micheal that he meant Vivian.
Micheal shrugged a little helplessly. “I'm not sure. She's upset for some reason all of a sudden. She stormed into the sitting room of the apartment and shouted some claim on me to someone, Darrain I think, before dragging me into a room.”
Dexter's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he even stopped in place for a moment. “Seriously?”
Micheal nodded worriedly.
“Well shit that's uh.. well...” He scratched his head. “Evatain Darrain is a man eater of sorts. Not real bad, she has standards, but she'll take a bite out of any guy she think is worth the time.” He gave Micheal a playful wink at that, but quickly grew serious after. “Might be a problem getting you into the guild if Vivian called her out like that. I'm not sure why she'd do something like that, but it puts pretty plain to everyone what you are to her. Embarrassing though. For the both of them.” He explained.
Dexter stopped mid flight on the way to the first floor as they went on and grabbed Micheal's arm. His gaze was serious though he seemed to struggle to find the words.
“You know you're the first guy she's...” Dexter said trailing off as someone passed them on the stairs. He watched them go until they were around the corner, but Micheal nodded as he looked back.
“Men have tried too. Vivian just laughs or brushes them off. Darrain even tried to find her a suitor once, some High Elven thing both of their societies do or something. Not out of spite, but like some sort of friend thing.” Dexter said. Micheal nodded and moved to go down the stairs, but Dexter held his arm in an iron grip and didn't budge.
Micheal gave him a look for that, but Dexter stared him down as he fought for the words he wanted to say.
“You put her off balance.” He said with a somewhat careful tone in his voice. “I don't know why, but you do. Whatever your mark did it won't only be Vivian who takes a piece of your hide if your spell is messing with her head.” He said in a more aggressive tone. “Likely you don't know what you're doing with it, but if we find it's doing something we're going to fix it and by the Gods we are going to train you to use it right, understand?”
Micheal remembered the breakfast he had shared with Vivian where she had said much the same about that mark. He felt that it didn't do anything of the like. Actually he was half positive that the mark was the reason Vivian no longer seemed to get tired. She slept fine, but since the mark appeared she was wide awake and alert until her head hit the pillow.
Micheal gently took Dexter's hand from his arm and nodded solemnly.
“Do you honestly think I would want whatever abilities I have to mess with her like that or anyone for that matter?” He asked in a hurt tone. “She saved me. She fought for me and carried me out of that camp on her shoulders. I have nothing but love and admiration for her.” He said letting the honesty pour out on his tongue even if saying it so boldly after denying it to Luna made his face grow a little warm.
He looked at Dexter who seemed a bit relaxed and a bit worried now. He nodded slowly as if he understood, but still didn't like what he was hearing exactly. Micheal had long since felt and reasoned out that Dexter had once held a certain affection for Vivian at one time or another, but clearly that feeling was gone at least to some point. Perhaps Dexter thought Micheal wasn't quite worthy of his guild mate just yet, or maybe he just didn't like the idea of Vivian taking a man other than him. He wasn't certain, but if things didn't change somehow they were bound to bump heads.
Micheal sighed and went down the last of the stairs to return to the desk.
The Bunnary woman frowned as he came back, but opened a small book with designs of birds, small animals, crystal orbs, books, and all sorts of other small things arranged artfully over the front.
“The familiar's name is Jack, correct Mr. Morrison?” She asked without preamble.
Micheal nodded as Jack found his way under his hand and licked at him.
“It is a bonded creature, correct?”
Micheal looked to Luna who nodded at him though Dexter eyed him and shrugged.
“I believe so. He was tamed by an ability I manifested.”
“Do you know the nature of the magic?”
Micheal looked to Luna again who shook her head after a glance at his hand.
“No idea. I've only just begun to learn what I can do. My friends here have been helping me as they can.” He explained.
The guild lady nodded and jotted down a few notes.
“No matter.” She said as she set down the pen and looked up at him. “The registration process will identify the basic nature of the spell, but just so you know then the guild advises that you find an expert in the field so as to ascertain the full nature of the bond, its true duration, its effects and reliability. I'm sure your experienced companions will have you do just as much, but the guild association can provide you with services to identify such things and abilities for a small fee or against the reward of your next contract to be completed in the next three weeks. Upon your death during a contract your debt will be forgiven however and no expense made to your family or guild. As the life of an adventurer is both blessing and curse we only ask that you do the best you can for yourself and everyone around you.” She went on as if by rout, but not unkindly.
She looked at Jack and motioned him forward.
Jack looked at Micheal and Luna before he stepped forward to the desk.
The clerk leaned over with a tape measure in hand and slipped it around his neck to measure. Jack went a bit still, but let her. The Bunnary woman seemed not to have the same fear Luna had once had of Jack, but Micheal was pretty sure she dealt with strange things like this often enough to not let them bother her. For that fact Micheal had no idea what exactly could be bound as a familiar. He had not finished writing all of the magic lore, and there was room for some pretty wild things in the setting he had made as it was. He almost smiled thinking of all the strange wildlife he had seen outside. It almost made him want to detail each species and define their role in the ecology of the local system. There was so much to learn and see, a whole new world for him to be a part of. That flicker of hope shone in his heart again filling him with a warmth that was more than just heat.
“One moment please.” She said as she got up from her desk. She returned only a short while later coming out from a door near the stairs at the end of the hall. She walked over with the little book of familiars in hand and looped the belt around in her hands until she held the small white plaque, just like the card he had been given only smaller, that was riveted to the belt. She looped it around Jack's neck who bore a somewhat startled expression. His eyes rolled in his head as he watched the Lady work and pull the collar snugly around his neck.
“There. Your mark please.” She asked, holding out the book over Jack's head.
Micheal was curious, but did as he was told. Again light shown from the pages of the book and information filled out the line behind Jack's name.
“Jack. Eastern Ruldanjan Black Bear Dog. Familiar to Micheal Morrison, Guildless. Beast Bind Familiar. Type: Companion Creature.”
Luna blinked at the writing and grabbed Micheal's hand to look at the mark.
“A Beast Bind huh?” Dexter mused actually seeming impressed. “I thought he was a little too well behaved. He's not just tame, he's actually bound to you Soul to Soul. Explains why he's so smart maybe.” Jack turned and smiled up at Dexter almost smugly. Dexter frowned at Jack as he leaned happily against Luna who laughed as he made his way under her arm. “Still a furball.” Dexter muttered though he couldn't totally keep the smile off his face.
The guild clerk nodded at Dexter's comment.
“It's been some time since I've seen a Beast Bind in this building, but I suppose that makes sense.” She said her eyes flashing to Micheal. “I'm sure Jack is well behaved as you say. Binders are among the best at controlling and managing large monsters as familiars. Even better than their charisma focused counterparts if they have the magic for it. The trade off is what happens when the familiar dies.” She turned and gave a little bow to Micheal. “I'm sure you Mr. Morrison have great things ahead of you and are so lucky to be counted among the Unbroken Guard. Take a care and watch carefully as your friends teach you. You won't like what you will experience if you lose this one.” With that she bowed to them all again, paused to pat Jack on the head, and then returned to the door and then her desk as they moved off toward the stairs again.
Luna immediately took Micheal's arm at the stairs as they turned to ascend the stairs as they came away from the desk, but in an almost unconscious gesture with her touch so light as to be barely upon him at all. She watched her steps, but didn't seem to think holding his arm was anything out of the ordinary. In fact she looked very near lady-like as she took delicate steps up the stairs. Micheal wondered about what the clerk had said and why anything like that had somehow made sense to her. Something nagged at him about Elder Kin too, like he should know, but he hadn't written anything about that.
“Is Vivian alright?” She asked as they went up.
“Not sure.” Micheal answered honestly. “I'm going to talk to her when we get back to the room. Should I send her your way instead? You've known her a lot longer.”
Luna thought for a while as they came up to the second floor and made their way to the third.
“I am not very sure of that.” She said in a somewhat odd and almost royal sounding cadence as she seemed lost in thought. Her delicate, measured steps, her dress, her manners while eating, and a few odds and ends added up here and there in Micheal's mind after hearing her speak like that. Micheal left her to her thoughts for a few moments and gave Dexter a glance before once more taking in Luna's dress and clear presence of education.
Micheal bumped his arm in her grip to get her attention and she looked wide eyed up at him.
“Are you some kind of princess or something?” He asked on impulse.
Dexter laughed while Luna's ears shot to full attention at Micheal.
“Sorry.” He said immediately. “That's the last thing I should be asking about. Vivian's upset and I think one of us should talk to her.” He said forcing the conversation back on topic. “She shouted some claim over me to that Darrain woman.”
Luna's eyes managed to go even wider somehow and her ears stayed locked on him even as the gears in her head kicked on full behind her gaze.
“Evatain?” Luna said aloud in disbelief. “And shouted it?”
“Well it wasn't a shout, but it might as well have been for the way she said it. She said she'd cut her breasts off and feed them to her if she touched me. Even used her spear to point.”
Dexter actually tripped up the stairs only catching himself on his hands and the railing, and Luna stopped dead in her tracks.
Something seemed to click in Luna's mind and she locked her attention on Micheal. Her focus was unlike before, clear as her ears as they kept pinned straight at him.
“It would make sense if...” She said looking him up and down before she trailed off. “No I shouldn't talk about that. It's not proper. Not even a little bit. Not here. You go to her.” She said firmly. “Jack.” She said, patting her leg atop her dress.
Jack looked at her, wiggling his tail.
“You're staying in my room okay?” She said to him, his response was to tilt his head in confusion, but he came to her side anyway. “I'll buy you lots of carrots and those red belly tubers you liked the other day if you're a good boy.”
Jack gave a soft excited bark and nuzzled her arm. She smiled at him and turned her firm gaze back on Micheal. She even put her fists on her hips.
“You go in there and take care of her, you hear me?” She said to him in a firm voice of command.
Micheal raised his hands in innocence and nodded his reply as Luna charged around the back of him and began pushing him up the stairs.
Micheal looked at Dexter for help, but Dexter only shrugged as he straightened himself and his gear out after slipping on the stairs.
Micheal was pushed like that until he was able to get the key card thing back out from his pouch and get into the room with Luna pushing him past everyone else saying she would take care of introductions tomorrow.
So it was that Micheal stumbled back into the room he was sharing with Vivian with a gentle, but firm push from Luna and the door closed behind him.
His gaze flitted around the room before he felt her hands on his back, and wind their way gently around his middle. Her face pressed softly into his back and she whispered to him.
“You got Jack registered, and he's okay?” She asked. Her boots and stockings were on the floor next to the bed and her belt and short swords hung off the head board with a sword on each side to balance it. Her spear was up against the wall near the close side as well. Her pack laid by the foot of the bed with fresh stocking and her dress laid on top of the sheets.
“Yeah. He's fine.” Micheal answered.
He laid his hands on top of hers. Her grip tightened in response to his touch and she pushed the cloth of his shirt up against his back as she pressed into him on her toes. He nearly stumbled forward with the strength of her lithe body put against him even casually like that.
“Everyone is worried about you. I told them you got upset after what you said, but I still don't have any idea what's going on. Are you okay?” He asked.
In response her hands shifted and went up his shirt from the back where it was pulled free from his belt. Her arms snaked around his middle again and pressed tight to him, her face still on his bunched up and travel stained shirt.
He wanted to see her, to turn around, and touch and talk to her that way, but she kept pressing into him. She was still clothed for now, but he wasn't sure how long that would last with the way her hands were feeling through the remnants of loose skin at his abs beneath. He had lost what extra weight he had during the first months of the camp, but his skin still felt in some areas like an old sock with the elastic worn out. He had been heavy before the accident at work before this whole thing happened to him though he couldn't recommend it as a weight loss plan even given its effectiveness. Her fingers lingered over scars on his back and hips too as she no longer kept just holding his middle as she pushed him from behind.
He stumbled a few steps toward the bed with her hands following the lines of scars made by whips of orc slave masters back in the camp. She had his shirt up nearly around his head by the time he came to a stop. He struggled with her being so quick and behind him so instead pulled the shirt free himself, and as she went for his belt he turned and managed to catch her in his arms as she was momentarily caught off guard.
Her hair was loose about her shoulders and her blouse completely undone, and able to be pulled free with little effort. Her short shift showed through the opening covering her breasts, and she was barefoot in her fitting leather breeches that hung loose around her knees where they had been untied. She kept her head down and snaked her arms around him before he could face her. She buried her face into his chest while lowering her center of gravity and pushing up against him, setting him off balance and stumbling back once again.
His legs hit the bed and only then did he manage to get his hands on her wrists as she went again for his belt. Her hair hung loose and draped over her shining green eyes hiding them from him, and it took a great deal of his strength to hold her arms where they were. She was pushing with all her might it seemed to force him over into the bed, but he resisted as much as he wanted to let her. She was still clearly upset and overwhelmed by something he just had to figure out what.
After a long moment of silent struggle she slowly stopped pushing and just panted as he held her hands up by her wrists.
“This...this need in me...” She said choking over the words as she struggled to get them out. “I need you.” She whispered. “I've been fine since Rodust, but after hearing that Darrain was here... Thinking that she might be interested in you....” She growled. Her ears were low and just barely peeking from her hair and it seemed they only really wilted like that when she was truly upset. With her hair loose and about her shoulders, and barefoot Vivian almost appeared to be like some wild thing as she pressed against him. Her emerald eyes glowed with anger, emotion, and heat under the amber strands of her hair caught the last of the day's sunlight.
“I couldn't even think with that thought in my head.” She said in a husky almost growl. She laughed suddenly then, a definite wild light in her eyes as she looked up at him. “I can't really think right now.”
She fell against him then softly. She put her face to his chest and closed her eyes. She was breathing hard and her hands wrapped once again around his middle in a gentle desperate hug.
He was able to regain his balance, and was thankful that the bed was as tall as it was or she would have knocked him clear over into it. He touched her back and ran his hands through her long silky auburn hair. He leaned down and laid his head against hers.
“Was it this bad before?” He asked softly.
“No.” She answered immediately, her voice full of emotion. “I didn't let men come near me the last time this happened. I was only sixteen. I barely knew the world of men and the harems of my kin disgusted me.” She explained with a world of contempt added in at the end.
He remained quiet for some time then while patting her back and touching her arms. Doing that seemed to ease her little by little as the muscles he touched relaxed one by one. After a time he spoke.
“And you're sure you're okay with me?” He asked just as softly as he had before.
She immediately turned her head up toward him in shock. Her eyes showed wide, full and green like jewels reflecting the light of fresh grass. Emotion shown in those seas of lovely verdant radiance, hurt, confusion, and desire mixing all together. She gulped looking up into his eyes, any closer and they could kiss, and her eyes shifted from his left to right one after the other.
“Don't you want me?” She asked, her voice strained with the emotion it contained.
He brushed her loose hair from her eyes and ran a hand along her chin as he smiled down at her.
“Of course I do. You're my hero after all.” He said to her. “But you're also a hero to the people out there. To Luna and Dexter, and the others. I can see it already. You've been around for years guiding and teaching all of them. You've never been troubled by love and have traveled all around Ruldanja following your guild and teaching people who are lost to get on their feet and how they can survive as adventurer's.” He touched her face and her soft ears.
Vivian leaned into each touch as he laid them on her. Her mouth opened and she followed his hand as his fingers traced her face and touched the scar on her cheek. She sighed as he drew his hand away and slid them down her shoulders once more, but she did hear his words and she held tight to him as she listened.
“You're Vivian Talhalen. Guide, and friend to new adventurer's, even at the rank of Captain in your guild. You're loved, and respected by so many people. I asked if you wanted me, not the other way around.” He said though it did pain him somewhat at the thought of her turning away from him. Frustrations sated or not he wanted to be her friend, not just her lover.
She looked up at him again. The edges of her eyes glistened with tears. She stared into his eyes once more, doubt, and even shame washing through them as she did. She pulled away her arms reflexively and stopped leaning against him. She took a step back while meeting his eyes.
He sat back on the bed and sighed heavily.
“I'm here.” He gestured around the room. “But you hardly know me.”
She stared at him, meeting his eyes on the same level now that he was seated on the bed. She brushed back her hair from her face and met him gaze for gaze.
“You've taught me so much and I've hardly been able to give back at all.” He added to what he had been saying.
Vivian ran her hand down her other arm and stepped forward as she spoke.
“You saved Luna. You and Jack.” Vivian said to him. “You were there when I wasn't able to be. I owe you for that. And you saved me, remember.” She said stubbornly with the light in her eyes beginning to show their usual determination. “You clubbed that orc before he could do the same to me.” She stepped forward almost to where she had been before.
There was a harsh light in her eyes as she stared at him with a mix of determination and emotion boiling in her eyes as she clung to her own arm. There was a moment where he could have spoken, but he failed to put together the right words in time. She shuddered and shut her eyes.
“They would have taken me.” She whispered her green eyes showing with a fierce inner light as they opened once again. Even then they shone with tears as she spoke. “They would have dragged me off as they ran with the ones I was able to slay after you rose up against them. They would have taken us both to another camp and then they would have raped me just like you saw happen to dozens of women in that camp. You were there long enough. You know what they are. What they do. You saved me from unimaginable wrongs.” She continued in a harsh whisper.
Micheal was unable to answer as images rolled through his mind. Sounds and screams. The smell of blood, sweat, and the even fouler scents. His body convulsed as a wave of rage and shame washed over him as again in his mind he relived what must have been countless moments where his only defense was to look away and try to plug his ears. He felt the whip against his back again then. It had stung and tore at his flesh. He heard the screams and watched in his mind a woman being dragged away and taken again and again by a gang of foul orc and later left to goblins.
He shuddered feeling once again the rough boot of the orc against his head, its hand on his jaw thumbing open his eyes, as it made him watch and he remembered the women as they used again and again day after day right up until the horrid green skinned offspring spilled from her ruined body one after another. As many as five of things could come from any woman at a time, and it was the one charge the goblins took with any care. They watered the women after and washed them down roughly recognizing their value as breeding stock. He wretched as his imagination put Vivian in those women's place and barely managed to keep his last meal down as he sat against the bed.
Vivian was watching him as it rolled over him. Her eyes shining with a mix of anguish, anger, and quiet determination.
“I never would have gone if I had known my cycle was so close, but once it started happening I would have gone mad. Birthing those things! My body used by whatever careless orc could get a hold of me, and I would have been helpless!” She growled at him near to shouting at the end. “I've seen the human women recovered from those camps. They're ruined, but they have at least something. They hate them with all their might! Every part of their soul resents what was done to them! At least they have that! At least they wouldn't be filled with the helpless desire to mate again and again and again!” She screamed, shaking with anger and outrage. “My kind cannot resist once the cycle starts! Once our bodies know what's happening it goes on and on pushing us to mate with crazed ambition to get the attention of our males and carry on our kind. Our instincts cannot tell what an orc is! Our bodies don't understand that we're being used as breeding stock for the filthiest of monsters! We go mad! Curse every God and whoever created this forsaken realm we go mad!” She screamed until she was hoarse and spittle was flying.
Micheal watched as she convulsed and shuddered in disgust as her own words washed over her. Still somehow she looked at him with incredible longing in her eyes though it was mixed with her fury now. And in his heart he knew shame deeper than even what he had experienced in the camp. In his writing he had made the choice to have the orcs appear as they were. He wondered if Vivian knew of what he had written of their beginnings as first beastmen to take captive the harem of an ancient Elven Lord during his women's cycles. It was probably the source of her knowledge on the topic, and the source of her hate for their kind. The aftermath, however, was here and before him. Her anger in truth wasn't directed at him entirely to her knowledge, but it should have been.
His feet slipped and he skidded down with the sheets on the side of the bed. He struggled to keep himself from falling full on his back. Vivian stared at him in the midst of her rage trying to fight it down. She came forward in jerky steps crying as she did. She found his hand and pulled it to her chest to hold it tight as she cried. He was just doing his best to stave off the panic attack rising in his chest as the memories of the camp continued in his mind.
“Just make me laugh please.” She said drawing his arm in and holding it against her chest. She sobbed and her face was twisted with emotion, but she pulled herself in beside him. She cuddled into his arm and her fingers laced into his. “Do silly things. Flirt with me.” She demanded, her voice wracked with emotion.
“I don't think I could manage that right now.” He said to her honestly. He felt hollow inside. He remembered her asking him if she could trust him, but how could he ever tell her the truth? How could he ever explain that he had somehow, someway, written at least part of this world's foundation? That he had designed the cruel suffering of her people at the hands of first the beast men and then the orcs? How could he ever ask forgiveness for something that affected so many? Not only the Elves of the Forest, but all the people of Ruldanja and beyond who had to deal with orcs in this world. What about the monsters he had created? The forces made to put against the valiant heroes? He had made a great deal of them. He had run into little of his own work so far, but he had suffered first hand and seen what the orcs did to people when he first found himself in the world he had begun to write and create in his mind and now that horror was before him. So much for the grim dark atmosphere he wanted now that he was stuck in it.
It just made him feel terribly sorry for himself. What right did he have to a beautiful heroine like Vivian? How could he even be fit to speak her name?
“Not now!” Vivian cried out, choking out what might have been a laugh. “Any time but now. Make me laugh when you can and be warm and sweet with me. That's all I need from you.” She explained through her tears and sobs. “I'll love you and be with you...” She choked out before coughing and sniveling. “Just stay with me. Be by my side and make me laugh. You have no one so just stay with me. You'll never get called away or need to return home so your home can just be with me.” She said sniveling and wiping hurriedly at her eyes.
“I don't deserve that.” Micheal said. It's all he could imagine saying. It was all he felt he could do. He should die a lonely death in the world for helping to create its suffering.
“Don't say that.” She said immediately. “You started this whole thing with my cycle driving me nuts and By. The. Gods. you're going to deal with me when I'm unreasonably horny and emotional.” She said with a wry and shameless laugh. She leaned in against his arm and sobbed immediately after too though. “Please...” She whispered, her voice cracking even then. She went on while squeezing his hand tight in hers.
“What about that spirit mark?” He asked, feeling the hollowness in his voice as much as he did in the seeming hole in his chest. It had only been a few days with her, but already he felt as though he was having his heart torn out by his own hands. He let the depressive thoughts roll over him anyway. Why had he made this place? Why had he felt he could even care enough for Vivian to make up for what hells he had made here? “What if it's messed with your head and this is all just my doing? What if I don't even know I'm doing it? What if we fix it and there's nothing you feel for me?”
She twitched, but then her grip grew even stronger on his hand. She even forced his fingers down over top hers as they laced together with the help of her other hand.
“I wanted you before that. We talked about that.” she said a little more calmly. “And that night...” She croaked out fighting to keep her voice even. “You ran out of mana completely. You wouldn't have been able to channel anything.”
He listened, suddenly curious about exactly what she meant. It shouldn't matter, but he remembered only barely making it to the bed with his head feeling like it was being pulled into sleep by an anchor the size of his truck back home.
“What does that have to do with anything?” He asked, trying to sound gentle, but it came out dry and a little harsh.
She sniffed and held tight to his arm before she spoke.
“You said you loved me.” She managed somehow to rein herself in as she said it. The determined light shone in her eyes as she sat up still holding his hand.
“You were half asleep, but you looked me in the eyes and said it with all your heart behind it.” She went on even managing to smile at him.
He looked at her somewhat amazed at what she was saying. He didn't understand why, but the determined light was back again, and it shot straight into his heart.
“I felt it then. I knew what it was like. Knew what feeling was growing inside my own heart. You're kind and gentle and wear your heart out in the open almost all the time. You make me laugh when you can. You want me with all of what you are.” She said more clearly with each word. She leaned forward and gently put her nose to his. She closed her eyes and gently moved her nose side to side against his as he had done when they had laid in bed together.
The hollow feeling of his guilt burned and boiled with the rush of love he felt for the woman and her tender touch. Pain and agony welled up in him. Emotional damage from his time in the camp came through the cracks of his memory like a sewage back up making him fill sick with it all the same.
His eyes filled with tears and he couldn't fight them back. His body trembled with the pains he remembered. Shuddered at the memory of days spent in fever and agony, being healed by the orc shamans horridly painful magic, being whipped and worked until he broke again and again. His horror as the orcs realized what disgusted him most in the camp. The days he seemed to spend screaming and trying to look away from what was done to the women and children of the camp by the goblins. He wanted to scream until he fell in on himself, scream and weep until the world washed away in a tide of fire and tears. He remembered the hunger, the beatings, the endless work, and the difference he had felt after. The way his mind had fought away the memories from his consciousness to protect him had been a blessing. It had somehow kept him sane for a time. A time he had spent in the care of this lovely woman.
She leaned against him, one hand on one of his knees, the other caught up together with his fingers with her nose gently pressed to his.
He thought about how silly it must be for him to love her this much after so short a time. Was this meant to teach him something? Did the Goddess of Branching Fates weave him here somehow to be shown what he had done? To suffer pain and have love given to him greater than any of either he had known before? Just to leave him ridden with guilt that would tear her away? Tears spilled from both their eyes.
“It's okay.” She said softly to him. “Everyone has their hurts, but it's going to be okay. I'll be here. Everyone will be here. And you'll be here for me and we will make it through.” She whispered to him and for a long time after they just sat together quietly letting out their misery in each other's company. “Things happen. We live on. We take care of each other.” She whispered, her hands accompanying the touch of her face against his as they sat against the soft sheets of the bed.
Vivian somehow got him to stand after that. A sober catharsis coming over them both after their talk had broken down into argument and emotional discharges. Vivian sat him down in a chair and wiped his face and cleaned his hands that came away with more sweat and dirt than he thought they would have. She did the same for herself before she undressed and called him over to the bed.
After he got out of what was left of his clothes he lay with her for a time just on top of the sheets. They entangled arms and legs, and held each other close under the fading afternoon light coming through the curtains. Vivian touched something on the wall and the stones lighting the room faded to darkness.
They were left in the fading amber light of sunset holding each other tight. They snuggled and cuddled one another. Ran their hands down and across an arm or along the back or sides of one another. Hands stroked hair, and touched ear, cheek, jaw, and lips as they both relaxed in one an-other's touch. Vivian sighed heavily and pulled in close to his chest. Micheal tried his best not to shake or shudder as more memories washed through his mind like stains tempting to soil the moment. When he shook and winced from the lash of memory she was there to touch and hold him close. After a time, like he had before, he began to break down. Months of pain, terror, and anxiety seeping through his mind now that he knew he was somewhere safe. At least safer than he had ever been since he came to this world.
She just pressed close against him and held him tight and comforting as he shook with the terrors that plagued his memory. The pain of the camp was deep in him now. Deeper than he could explain. Perhaps deep enough for him to begin to understand what his writing had done to the people of this world, to know and have endured pains such as what they might experience in their lives because of what he had written. Had he known the world beyond the page was real, would he have changed it? Would he have made something different? Maybe made a world that was boring and safe, or maybe he should have just written simpler tales of love and heroism? Was there true heroism without the terror of nightmarish monsters and creatures hungry for the flesh of the innocent? Or was that all just madness? A way to make the real monsters out to be something so easy to point out like a dragon or demon? The real monsters were always people in most stories, but here there were monsters that were less than people and just as cruel or worse.
He wept in Vivian's embrace letting all the pain and shame he felt just leak out and she held him. Her body was warm and soft under his touch, and her eyes blazed with deep felt emotion as she stroked his hair or touched his arm to guide his hand along her body. He didn't deserve her even after all that, but she was there now. The pain of wondering if she would understand if she knew what he wrote, what he had made of this world, of trying to decide if she would blame him kept him crying miserably for what felt like endless hours in her arms. How could he tell her? How could he explain himself? What pain could he suffer so that maybe she would understand he now knew what he had done?