esp_dragon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
esp_dragon) wrote2011-11-25 10:37 pm
esp_dragon) wrote2011-11-25 10:37 pm
Chosen [Part 25]
Fandom: Original
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Contains a dead body.
You can find my commentary on this part here.
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 3,421
Total word count: 59,501
Status: Work in progress
As Ras scrambled to her feet, she belatedly remembered the advice Ceilha and Dracer had given her about how to deal with a geist's mind control. She tried to make sure that she didn't have eye contact with it, keeping her gaze fixed on the geist's mouth and her dagger that was still sticking outside its body - was sticking outside its body, Ras watching its hands yank the blade out in one smooth movement, a splash of blue blood showering from its body before swiftly stopping.
But she had been able to do get what she wanted, the geist turning to her and stalking closer. Ras backed away, hoping to lead the geist further from Aldran, so that he could have enough time to heal. She could hear his rasping breath, and she clung onto the sound.
"It would seem," the geist said slowly, and Ras closed her eyes, recognising the voice. The geist had chopped its hair shorter, "that the Gods want us to fight, seeing as this is the fourth time that we have met. It is obvious They are having a hand in this."
Ras pursed her lips but tried to not make a comment. She wanted to look up, to know what the geist was looking at so that she could be prepared for what it did next, but she knew that was a mistake, that that could possibly be the last thing she could do.
The giest took a languid step forward, and Ras mirrored it in the other direction. Right, good, if the geist would follow her away from Aldran - and Ras suddenly desperately hoped that the geist was alone and was not working with another group of geists, and that the geist was not herding her into their grasp.
"You're feeding on souls!" Ras yelled, hoping to keep it distracted. "Of course a khertan and psyven would be sent to kill you!"
The geist hummed, taking another step forward. "But the same khertan and psyven, four times in a row?" it asked, its tone musing, but dangerous. Five, Ras' mind corrected it, but she didn't say it out loud as she took a step back.
"The Gods must want me to devour your soul if They keep sending you to me." Ras could hear the smirk in its voice but she tried to keep her emotions calm.
"Or they want us to kill you if They keep sending us after you," Ras retorted.
There was a pause, and Ras could see the wide smirk that was spread across the geist's face.
"Hah. I see you still believe in the benevolence of your Gods." Its lips twisted into a sneer. "I'll make sure you know the truth about your Gods throughout your entire soul before I even take a taste," it hissed, and Ras gritted her teeth. She wasn't listening to it, and she wasn't going to - it was lying and every word it said was designed to hurt, prod, make her react in some sort of way.
"People would know!" Ras snapped. "Everything you've said, there would be people who knew! It can't be hidden!" She raised a hand to brush her bedraggled hair behind her ear again, wiping away the rain from her eyes.
The geist laughed, hard and harsh. "You think they don't?"
Ras froze at its words. What...?
"You don't think," the geist said slowly, approaching her again, and Ras only belated remembered to keep the distance between them after the second step, "that there are people who know? That know everything that I have said -possibly more, at least, in some areas- and the reason why they know is because they can keep it a secret?"
Ras gritted her teeth, glaring at the geist's lips. "More lies - it would be impossible to keep something like that hidden."
"Like the true reality of the fate of the khertan and psyvens?" the geist asked simply, and Ras' mind slammed to a halt.
"That - That's different," she said, her mind spinning at what it was saying. It was - and it wasn't, she could see that now. There was so much that everyone else thought was the norm for the life of a khertan and psyven, but the reality was it was the opposite, or far worse than the stories would ever tell. The people didn't know about it because the khertan and psyven kept it from them - Ras doubted they would be believed anyway, unless the other person thought they were telling tall tales to make themselves even more interesting. It...would make sense that another true reality would be kept hidden from the khertan and psyven.
Ras realised she had been distracted for far too long when she saw the geist move towards her again.
She hastily kept the distance between them, declaring, "That could be true, if the rest of it was also true, but I don't believe you."
"Then you are a fool," the geist huffed, shaking its head.
Ras sucked in a breath as she felt the link between her and Aldran burst open, his magic flowing into her. Without thinking, Ras threw a multitude of small bursts of magic, a number of them hitting the geist.
It howled, stumbling back a few steps under the barrage, trying to dodge the rest. It span on its heal, dashing away and Ras flung another blast of magic at it, catching it on the shoulder. It didn't slow down that much but Ras did feel some vindication at being able to hurt it without it healing soon after. The crashing of her energy came shortly after, the strength in her legs leaving her and the world began to tip.
The link between her and Aldran wavered and Ras stumbled to his side. He was clutching his side, his breathing shallow, and Ras could see the blood seeping through his fingers.
Ras bit back the question of if he was okay –of course he wasn't. Asking wasn't going to make a difference- and she grabbed his other hand and squeezed it instead.
"I'll be all right," he wheezed, a grimace of pain flitting across his face. "I'll heal."
Ras stifled the urge to nudge him for that, in case she made his wound worse. "That doesn't mean I don't worry about you," she said softly. She glanced at his wound again. "We need to have that seen."
Aldran's eyes flickered open, and there was guilt in them again. "Sorry," he rasped. "It got away."
"Well, we still hurt it," Ras said, trying to comfort him.
Aldran looked away, not looking reassured.
Ras stared in the direction that the geist had gone, but chasing after it wasn't plausible, not if Aldran was injured. But if it got away…
Ras clutched at her pendant, remembering what the geist had said. If she took it off, the geist could come back – to eat her soul, but it would come back.
But no, Ras wasn't going to do that, letting the pendant drop from her hand. It could be lying, and something else would happen (or another geist would be the one to come to them), or it would ignore its hunger in favour of getting away.
Aldran suddenly gripped her hand, and Ras turned her attention back to him. "We need to go," he grunted as he got to his feet, Ras helping him. "If it escapes again…"
Ras nodded, tugging his arm around her shoulder. "Are you…" No, there was no point in asking.
"I might have mostly healed by the time we find it again," he murmured, leaning against her.
If they found it again, the pessimistic part of Ras said, but she didn't say that out loud.
As they made their way through Norantaru, Aldran's footsteps became a little easier, leaning on her a little less, so they quickened their pace. It was hard to follow the trail of blue blood, the water almost washing it away, but it was just enough for them to be able to do it.
Ras could suddenly hear running footsteps towards them, and from the way Aldran's arm tightened, he had heard it too. The link between them opened, and Ras directed the magic to her hand just in time for a man to hurtle around one of the buildings. He looked vaguely familiar, even completely wet, and he stopped a few feet in front of them.
"You need – you need to come quickly," he gasped, pointing in the direction that they had already been going in. Ras' stomach sank, filled with dread. "I saw it attack – it attacked-!" The man broke down in a sob and Ras and Aldran hurried after the man as he led them around the back of the building. Ras already knew what they would find, feeling the tingle on her skin before she saw anything.
There, lying limp against a wall, her eyes still open, was another victim.
"Gods damn it," Ras hissed.
"I…" Aldran was staring hollowly at the woman, distress written clearly over his face.
"Aldran," Ras interrupted him, shaking her head, knowing what he was going to say. "Blame the geist, not yourself. It's the geist that fed on her soul, not you."
He didn't respond, his head bowed.
Ras snapped her head up at the baying of horses and there was the thundering of hooves moving quickly into the distance.
Another time where they failed to kill that geist. The next time they met, they would kill it, no matter what.
* * *
Ras started the fire with a grimace, feeling her clothes sticking to her uncomfortably. It didn't take very long to get the fire going and she glanced at Aldran, who was sitting on the side of his bed, his tail not even twitching.
"Hey," she said softly, going over and sitting next to him. There was no movement, no indication that he had even heard her. "Hey," she said again, nudging him. "You're going to catch a cold if you don't take your clothes off."
He glanced at her listlessly, his mouth at an unhappy tilt. "I'll heal," he said quietly.
Ras made some sort of mingled half-snort, half-laugh. "You haven't – no, you haven't been ill before," she realised, pausing her flow of thought. "It's an…unpleasant experience; not something you want to repeat if you don't have to."
Aldran's lips tightened. "I heal faster than you – you know that."
"And you're being stubborn," Ras felt the need to point out. "Do you really want to…" She wasn't sure what she wanted to say. 'Make himself ill to…' what? Because of what had happened?
"It's my fault that she was fed on!" Aldran suddenly burst out. "If I hadn't been hurt-"
"It could have still happened easily," Ras pressed. "It could have happened at any point while we were chasing it," she continued quietly. They hadn't taken that long to start moving again –far shorter than the first time Ras had been mind controlled- so it had to be able to be able to…to rip out a person's soul and feast on it.
"And even if you hadn't been hurt, we still may not have been able to kill it, not if I weakened myself too quickly."
Aldran huffed, his head still bowed.
"Come on," Ras said softly, tugging at his tunic. "You need to take this off. Even if you heal faster than I do, being sick is not pleasant, no matter how long you're ill for."
Aldran was silent before he slowly nodded, peeling himself out of his tunic. While he took off his leggings, Ras took his tunic to place next to the fire, where it would hopefully be somewhat drier in the morning. She heard the shift of the bed covers and when she looked back, Aldran was already in bed, his eyes fluttering shut. Almost instantly, his breathing deepened and evened out.
Ras watched him for a little while, making sure he truly was resting before undressing herself. She pulled the blanket from her own bed and dragged it over to the chair by the fire, picking up Aldran's leggings at the same time. After she had laid out their clothing, Ras bundled herself up in the blanket and settled down to watch the fire until the sun rose.
While the geist had fled, that didn't mean it couldn't come back while they were recuperating. Ras didn't doubt that it would do just that, to make a point.
* * *
Ras found herself nearly dozing off a few times during the night, but she was able to keep herself awake. Mostly by tending to the fire, turning hers and Aldran's clothes over, and trying to not think about what the giest had told them. In some ways, trying to think about it kept her awake, trying to understand, wondering if it really was true, but then in other ways, it made her sleepy, her mind trying to stop her from thinking about it because if she accepted that as truth, then what did that mean for everything else? For everything else that she knew?
Except, she had already accepted that most of what she knew from before she became a khertan wasn't the truth. Did it really make a difference, was it really that surprising that there were more lies to be known?
Not really.
There were blank periods as well, where Ras' mind was just blank as she stared into the flames, letting herself be drawn by the hypnotising movement.
There were no periods where her skin tingled, not after it had settled down from the heat of the fire. Ras was glad for that, but it then got past the point where she didn't think she would be able to sleep again. At least, not have a decent amount of sleep, not when she could hear the chirping of the birds and see the lightening of the sky. She wasn't sure when exactly the rain had tapered off, but she was sure that it hadn't actually lasted for long.
She slipped out of her nest of a blanket, padded over to her clothes and pulled them on. They were a little stiff, but they were definitely drier than they had been a couple of hours prior. When that was done, she went back to her chair and curled up again, waiting for Aldran to wake up.
* * *
There was a hand on her shoulder, and Ras jerked at the touch, her eyes flying open. The world was a dizzying mess of colour as her eyes tried to focus but then then hand held onto her fast, keeping her in place.
"Ras?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ras relaxed, closing her eyes again and hoping that the next time she opened them, her sight would be clearer and made her less want to throw up. She felt the chair hit the floor, and even though the world span, she peeked up at Aldran through her slitted eyes.
"You didn't make us tumble over," Ras observed, stretching and feeling every single pull of her muscles with a grimace. And that she was hungry. Far hungrier than she had been before she'd dozed off. Ras frowned when she realised that – when had that happened?
She peered out the window and saw that the sun had fully risen, and she could hear people working so it had been some time since she was last aware of the time.
Aldran threw her a muted smile, turning to pick up a plate that Ras hadn't noticed before, handing it to her. "I thought you said I would wake up with a sore neck?" he said mildly, pointedly looking at where her hand was currently rubbing.
She paused, sending him a sheepish grin. "I did. And I'm proving my point." She kept kneading at the back of her neck as she ate.
Ras could see Aldran glance between her and the bed as he ate his own breakfast. "Why didn't you sleep in the bed?"
She used the fact that she was chewing to delay her answer. After she swallowed, she sighed. "It was in case the geist came back," she answered simply.
Aldran froze, fumbling with his spoon. "You – how long for?"
Ras cleared her throat, poking at her food. "Until sunrise…?"
Aldran gaped at her, his tail not moving. "Why did you-?"
"I had to make sure." Ras frowned, feeling her eyelids already beginning to droop.
"But what if the geist comes back now?" Aldran stressed, his eyes wide with worry.
"You're better now," Ras said, shaking her head, hoping that would clear it a little. It didn't, making her headache worse while also causing the world to spin slightly as well. Her frown deepened when she caught what she said.
"You…are feeling better now, aren't you?" she asked cautiously, studying him properly. He was sitting easily on the chair opposite her, the tip of his tail flicking under the chair in agitation, and through the hole of his tunic (of which the bloodstain around it was obvious, Ras saw with a grimace. They would need to wash that properly), Ras couldn't see a wound, his skin its usual tone.
"I am," Aldran said, nodding. "It's a little painful but it's ignorable." His gaze slid away before he flicked his eyes at her, his gaze admonishing. "Even if I'm better, if you cannot channel my magic, then it makes no difference!"
"If it's light out, I should be able to keep awake," Ras said stubbornly. Even if the headache didn't appear to be ceasing or abating.
Aldran sighed harshly, running a hand through his hair. "If you're sure…"
Ras wasn't, all she wanted to do was let her body have its way and sleep until she felt completely rested, but they didn't have the time to – if the geist came back now of all times (and knowing it, it probably would, especially after it would blatantly walk right into a village in daylight) they had to be ready.
"You could have woken me up," Aldran said as they brought the plates through to the kitchen. "So then you could have had more rest."
"And you needed more rest than I did," Ras pointed out, rubbing at her shoulder now.
Aldran hummed, looking away.
* * *
There wasn't another attack, so Ras and Aldran left, just before the cremation of the first victim began, the setting sun behind them. For which Ras was grateful for because her body was demanding that she sleep, whether it be in a bed or on her feet. The headache had gone by mid-morning, but that was replaced by a distinct lack in concentration and energy, no matter how much she ate.
As soon as the mages had been told what had happened, she and Aldran made their way (Ras mostly stumbling and shuffling her feet, more following Aldran's presence rather than knowing the route) to their bedroom.
As like a lot of previous times after being called to fight the geists, Ras promptly fell onto her bed and was asleep almost before she had pulled the blanket over her.
* * *
When Ras woke up, it was fully night time, the chittering of the nightlife obvious. She could easily hear Aldran's deep breathing from the other bed, telling her he was fast asleep. But she wasn't. She was wide awake as if it were morning. And thinking back to when she had gone to sleep, she had probably slept for that long.
Ras turned over and squinted at the small table by her bed. There was a bowl of food there so Ras sat herself up and ate from it. She felt better afterwards, but still no sleepier than when she had started.
Ras had the distinct feeling that she wouldn't be able to sleep for a while either. Sighing, Ras considered what she could do. She could continue to attempt to go back to sleep (which she knew would be a pointless exercise), wake Aldran up (which would be unfair on him), or… Ras sighed again, slumping her shoulders. There wasn't much else she could do.
Apart from read some more. Ras considered the thought, turning it over in her mind.
Why not? She was definitely going to be up for some time, and she may as well use it for something useful.
Nodding to herself, Ras swung herself out of bed.
* * *
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Contains a dead body.
You can find my commentary on this part here.
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 3,421
Total word count: 59,501
Status: Work in progress
As Ras scrambled to her feet, she belatedly remembered the advice Ceilha and Dracer had given her about how to deal with a geist's mind control. She tried to make sure that she didn't have eye contact with it, keeping her gaze fixed on the geist's mouth and her dagger that was still sticking outside its body - was sticking outside its body, Ras watching its hands yank the blade out in one smooth movement, a splash of blue blood showering from its body before swiftly stopping.
But she had been able to do get what she wanted, the geist turning to her and stalking closer. Ras backed away, hoping to lead the geist further from Aldran, so that he could have enough time to heal. She could hear his rasping breath, and she clung onto the sound.
"It would seem," the geist said slowly, and Ras closed her eyes, recognising the voice. The geist had chopped its hair shorter, "that the Gods want us to fight, seeing as this is the fourth time that we have met. It is obvious They are having a hand in this."
Ras pursed her lips but tried to not make a comment. She wanted to look up, to know what the geist was looking at so that she could be prepared for what it did next, but she knew that was a mistake, that that could possibly be the last thing she could do.
The giest took a languid step forward, and Ras mirrored it in the other direction. Right, good, if the geist would follow her away from Aldran - and Ras suddenly desperately hoped that the geist was alone and was not working with another group of geists, and that the geist was not herding her into their grasp.
"You're feeding on souls!" Ras yelled, hoping to keep it distracted. "Of course a khertan and psyven would be sent to kill you!"
The geist hummed, taking another step forward. "But the same khertan and psyven, four times in a row?" it asked, its tone musing, but dangerous. Five, Ras' mind corrected it, but she didn't say it out loud as she took a step back.
"The Gods must want me to devour your soul if They keep sending you to me." Ras could hear the smirk in its voice but she tried to keep her emotions calm.
"Or they want us to kill you if They keep sending us after you," Ras retorted.
There was a pause, and Ras could see the wide smirk that was spread across the geist's face.
"Hah. I see you still believe in the benevolence of your Gods." Its lips twisted into a sneer. "I'll make sure you know the truth about your Gods throughout your entire soul before I even take a taste," it hissed, and Ras gritted her teeth. She wasn't listening to it, and she wasn't going to - it was lying and every word it said was designed to hurt, prod, make her react in some sort of way.
"People would know!" Ras snapped. "Everything you've said, there would be people who knew! It can't be hidden!" She raised a hand to brush her bedraggled hair behind her ear again, wiping away the rain from her eyes.
The geist laughed, hard and harsh. "You think they don't?"
Ras froze at its words. What...?
"You don't think," the geist said slowly, approaching her again, and Ras only belated remembered to keep the distance between them after the second step, "that there are people who know? That know everything that I have said -possibly more, at least, in some areas- and the reason why they know is because they can keep it a secret?"
Ras gritted her teeth, glaring at the geist's lips. "More lies - it would be impossible to keep something like that hidden."
"Like the true reality of the fate of the khertan and psyvens?" the geist asked simply, and Ras' mind slammed to a halt.
"That - That's different," she said, her mind spinning at what it was saying. It was - and it wasn't, she could see that now. There was so much that everyone else thought was the norm for the life of a khertan and psyven, but the reality was it was the opposite, or far worse than the stories would ever tell. The people didn't know about it because the khertan and psyven kept it from them - Ras doubted they would be believed anyway, unless the other person thought they were telling tall tales to make themselves even more interesting. It...would make sense that another true reality would be kept hidden from the khertan and psyven.
Ras realised she had been distracted for far too long when she saw the geist move towards her again.
She hastily kept the distance between them, declaring, "That could be true, if the rest of it was also true, but I don't believe you."
"Then you are a fool," the geist huffed, shaking its head.
Ras sucked in a breath as she felt the link between her and Aldran burst open, his magic flowing into her. Without thinking, Ras threw a multitude of small bursts of magic, a number of them hitting the geist.
It howled, stumbling back a few steps under the barrage, trying to dodge the rest. It span on its heal, dashing away and Ras flung another blast of magic at it, catching it on the shoulder. It didn't slow down that much but Ras did feel some vindication at being able to hurt it without it healing soon after. The crashing of her energy came shortly after, the strength in her legs leaving her and the world began to tip.
The link between her and Aldran wavered and Ras stumbled to his side. He was clutching his side, his breathing shallow, and Ras could see the blood seeping through his fingers.
Ras bit back the question of if he was okay –of course he wasn't. Asking wasn't going to make a difference- and she grabbed his other hand and squeezed it instead.
"I'll be all right," he wheezed, a grimace of pain flitting across his face. "I'll heal."
Ras stifled the urge to nudge him for that, in case she made his wound worse. "That doesn't mean I don't worry about you," she said softly. She glanced at his wound again. "We need to have that seen."
Aldran's eyes flickered open, and there was guilt in them again. "Sorry," he rasped. "It got away."
"Well, we still hurt it," Ras said, trying to comfort him.
Aldran looked away, not looking reassured.
Ras stared in the direction that the geist had gone, but chasing after it wasn't plausible, not if Aldran was injured. But if it got away…
Ras clutched at her pendant, remembering what the geist had said. If she took it off, the geist could come back – to eat her soul, but it would come back.
But no, Ras wasn't going to do that, letting the pendant drop from her hand. It could be lying, and something else would happen (or another geist would be the one to come to them), or it would ignore its hunger in favour of getting away.
Aldran suddenly gripped her hand, and Ras turned her attention back to him. "We need to go," he grunted as he got to his feet, Ras helping him. "If it escapes again…"
Ras nodded, tugging his arm around her shoulder. "Are you…" No, there was no point in asking.
"I might have mostly healed by the time we find it again," he murmured, leaning against her.
If they found it again, the pessimistic part of Ras said, but she didn't say that out loud.
As they made their way through Norantaru, Aldran's footsteps became a little easier, leaning on her a little less, so they quickened their pace. It was hard to follow the trail of blue blood, the water almost washing it away, but it was just enough for them to be able to do it.
Ras could suddenly hear running footsteps towards them, and from the way Aldran's arm tightened, he had heard it too. The link between them opened, and Ras directed the magic to her hand just in time for a man to hurtle around one of the buildings. He looked vaguely familiar, even completely wet, and he stopped a few feet in front of them.
"You need – you need to come quickly," he gasped, pointing in the direction that they had already been going in. Ras' stomach sank, filled with dread. "I saw it attack – it attacked-!" The man broke down in a sob and Ras and Aldran hurried after the man as he led them around the back of the building. Ras already knew what they would find, feeling the tingle on her skin before she saw anything.
There, lying limp against a wall, her eyes still open, was another victim.
"Gods damn it," Ras hissed.
"I…" Aldran was staring hollowly at the woman, distress written clearly over his face.
"Aldran," Ras interrupted him, shaking her head, knowing what he was going to say. "Blame the geist, not yourself. It's the geist that fed on her soul, not you."
He didn't respond, his head bowed.
Ras snapped her head up at the baying of horses and there was the thundering of hooves moving quickly into the distance.
Another time where they failed to kill that geist. The next time they met, they would kill it, no matter what.
Ras started the fire with a grimace, feeling her clothes sticking to her uncomfortably. It didn't take very long to get the fire going and she glanced at Aldran, who was sitting on the side of his bed, his tail not even twitching.
"Hey," she said softly, going over and sitting next to him. There was no movement, no indication that he had even heard her. "Hey," she said again, nudging him. "You're going to catch a cold if you don't take your clothes off."
He glanced at her listlessly, his mouth at an unhappy tilt. "I'll heal," he said quietly.
Ras made some sort of mingled half-snort, half-laugh. "You haven't – no, you haven't been ill before," she realised, pausing her flow of thought. "It's an…unpleasant experience; not something you want to repeat if you don't have to."
Aldran's lips tightened. "I heal faster than you – you know that."
"And you're being stubborn," Ras felt the need to point out. "Do you really want to…" She wasn't sure what she wanted to say. 'Make himself ill to…' what? Because of what had happened?
"It's my fault that she was fed on!" Aldran suddenly burst out. "If I hadn't been hurt-"
"It could have still happened easily," Ras pressed. "It could have happened at any point while we were chasing it," she continued quietly. They hadn't taken that long to start moving again –far shorter than the first time Ras had been mind controlled- so it had to be able to be able to…to rip out a person's soul and feast on it.
"And even if you hadn't been hurt, we still may not have been able to kill it, not if I weakened myself too quickly."
Aldran huffed, his head still bowed.
"Come on," Ras said softly, tugging at his tunic. "You need to take this off. Even if you heal faster than I do, being sick is not pleasant, no matter how long you're ill for."
Aldran was silent before he slowly nodded, peeling himself out of his tunic. While he took off his leggings, Ras took his tunic to place next to the fire, where it would hopefully be somewhat drier in the morning. She heard the shift of the bed covers and when she looked back, Aldran was already in bed, his eyes fluttering shut. Almost instantly, his breathing deepened and evened out.
Ras watched him for a little while, making sure he truly was resting before undressing herself. She pulled the blanket from her own bed and dragged it over to the chair by the fire, picking up Aldran's leggings at the same time. After she had laid out their clothing, Ras bundled herself up in the blanket and settled down to watch the fire until the sun rose.
While the geist had fled, that didn't mean it couldn't come back while they were recuperating. Ras didn't doubt that it would do just that, to make a point.
Ras found herself nearly dozing off a few times during the night, but she was able to keep herself awake. Mostly by tending to the fire, turning hers and Aldran's clothes over, and trying to not think about what the giest had told them. In some ways, trying to think about it kept her awake, trying to understand, wondering if it really was true, but then in other ways, it made her sleepy, her mind trying to stop her from thinking about it because if she accepted that as truth, then what did that mean for everything else? For everything else that she knew?
Except, she had already accepted that most of what she knew from before she became a khertan wasn't the truth. Did it really make a difference, was it really that surprising that there were more lies to be known?
Not really.
There were blank periods as well, where Ras' mind was just blank as she stared into the flames, letting herself be drawn by the hypnotising movement.
There were no periods where her skin tingled, not after it had settled down from the heat of the fire. Ras was glad for that, but it then got past the point where she didn't think she would be able to sleep again. At least, not have a decent amount of sleep, not when she could hear the chirping of the birds and see the lightening of the sky. She wasn't sure when exactly the rain had tapered off, but she was sure that it hadn't actually lasted for long.
She slipped out of her nest of a blanket, padded over to her clothes and pulled them on. They were a little stiff, but they were definitely drier than they had been a couple of hours prior. When that was done, she went back to her chair and curled up again, waiting for Aldran to wake up.
There was a hand on her shoulder, and Ras jerked at the touch, her eyes flying open. The world was a dizzying mess of colour as her eyes tried to focus but then then hand held onto her fast, keeping her in place.
"Ras?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ras relaxed, closing her eyes again and hoping that the next time she opened them, her sight would be clearer and made her less want to throw up. She felt the chair hit the floor, and even though the world span, she peeked up at Aldran through her slitted eyes.
"You didn't make us tumble over," Ras observed, stretching and feeling every single pull of her muscles with a grimace. And that she was hungry. Far hungrier than she had been before she'd dozed off. Ras frowned when she realised that – when had that happened?
She peered out the window and saw that the sun had fully risen, and she could hear people working so it had been some time since she was last aware of the time.
Aldran threw her a muted smile, turning to pick up a plate that Ras hadn't noticed before, handing it to her. "I thought you said I would wake up with a sore neck?" he said mildly, pointedly looking at where her hand was currently rubbing.
She paused, sending him a sheepish grin. "I did. And I'm proving my point." She kept kneading at the back of her neck as she ate.
Ras could see Aldran glance between her and the bed as he ate his own breakfast. "Why didn't you sleep in the bed?"
She used the fact that she was chewing to delay her answer. After she swallowed, she sighed. "It was in case the geist came back," she answered simply.
Aldran froze, fumbling with his spoon. "You – how long for?"
Ras cleared her throat, poking at her food. "Until sunrise…?"
Aldran gaped at her, his tail not moving. "Why did you-?"
"I had to make sure." Ras frowned, feeling her eyelids already beginning to droop.
"But what if the geist comes back now?" Aldran stressed, his eyes wide with worry.
"You're better now," Ras said, shaking her head, hoping that would clear it a little. It didn't, making her headache worse while also causing the world to spin slightly as well. Her frown deepened when she caught what she said.
"You…are feeling better now, aren't you?" she asked cautiously, studying him properly. He was sitting easily on the chair opposite her, the tip of his tail flicking under the chair in agitation, and through the hole of his tunic (of which the bloodstain around it was obvious, Ras saw with a grimace. They would need to wash that properly), Ras couldn't see a wound, his skin its usual tone.
"I am," Aldran said, nodding. "It's a little painful but it's ignorable." His gaze slid away before he flicked his eyes at her, his gaze admonishing. "Even if I'm better, if you cannot channel my magic, then it makes no difference!"
"If it's light out, I should be able to keep awake," Ras said stubbornly. Even if the headache didn't appear to be ceasing or abating.
Aldran sighed harshly, running a hand through his hair. "If you're sure…"
Ras wasn't, all she wanted to do was let her body have its way and sleep until she felt completely rested, but they didn't have the time to – if the geist came back now of all times (and knowing it, it probably would, especially after it would blatantly walk right into a village in daylight) they had to be ready.
"You could have woken me up," Aldran said as they brought the plates through to the kitchen. "So then you could have had more rest."
"And you needed more rest than I did," Ras pointed out, rubbing at her shoulder now.
Aldran hummed, looking away.
There wasn't another attack, so Ras and Aldran left, just before the cremation of the first victim began, the setting sun behind them. For which Ras was grateful for because her body was demanding that she sleep, whether it be in a bed or on her feet. The headache had gone by mid-morning, but that was replaced by a distinct lack in concentration and energy, no matter how much she ate.
As soon as the mages had been told what had happened, she and Aldran made their way (Ras mostly stumbling and shuffling her feet, more following Aldran's presence rather than knowing the route) to their bedroom.
As like a lot of previous times after being called to fight the geists, Ras promptly fell onto her bed and was asleep almost before she had pulled the blanket over her.
When Ras woke up, it was fully night time, the chittering of the nightlife obvious. She could easily hear Aldran's deep breathing from the other bed, telling her he was fast asleep. But she wasn't. She was wide awake as if it were morning. And thinking back to when she had gone to sleep, she had probably slept for that long.
Ras turned over and squinted at the small table by her bed. There was a bowl of food there so Ras sat herself up and ate from it. She felt better afterwards, but still no sleepier than when she had started.
Ras had the distinct feeling that she wouldn't be able to sleep for a while either. Sighing, Ras considered what she could do. She could continue to attempt to go back to sleep (which she knew would be a pointless exercise), wake Aldran up (which would be unfair on him), or… Ras sighed again, slumping her shoulders. There wasn't much else she could do.
Apart from read some more. Ras considered the thought, turning it over in her mind.
Why not? She was definitely going to be up for some time, and she may as well use it for something useful.
Nodding to herself, Ras swung herself out of bed.