IX: Barut pt. 2

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*This chapter holds dark elements that those sensitive to torture or rape may want to steer clear. Nothing graphic is depicted, but sensitive topics are suggested.*

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The act had barely finished when Lana registered the sounds of struggle. Barut certainly didn’t get to savor his moment as he left Lana to her misery. She curled up, shaking from head to foot. She had begun to dread the unknown torture that was still to come, but the commotion continued. Barut was marching toward the corridor, barking orders to his men. Surely that meant her cries were answered. So Lana sat up and shouted out a warning that Barut was coming. Whoever was out there, hopefully they would be a distraction enough to allow her an escape.

Lana got to her feet and proceeded to the bars. She began to squeeze through them, pushing past the pain of the bruises and bleeding welts that covered her torso. She was nearly through when a guard entered the room and spotted her trying to escape. Quickly Lana sent her ball of fire at the man. He was knocked off his feet as the fire devoured him. A thrill ran through Lana. She still had strength to defend herself.

Once she was free of the cage, Lana suddenly remembered the hag. She looked over and was thankful to find she had disappeared. No wonder my spell worked, Lana thought to herself.

Fighting could be heard echoing up the hallway. Lana crept closer to sneak a peek of a possible way out. She would try to get the little man too. Lana looked around the corner and saw no one. Without waiting another moment she took her first step into the passage when the blonde haired man appeared, running toward her.

“You!” Lana breathed. She wrapped her arms about her, suddenly feeling embarrassed by her state.

“Get behind that corner Lana!” he instructed. He ran into the room and hid around the opposite wall. Lana didn’t react as quickly and heard another man shout her way. She looked and saw it was another of Barut’s goonies. A quick bolt of fire shot out of her hand as she slid behind her portion of wall.

The man had managed to work through the pain of the burns and rounded the corner, grabbing onto Lana. His touch was like spiders crawling all over her skin. Her mind went wild as she tried to shake him off.

“Let go of me! Let go of me!” Lana screamed. Once more it felt as though her efforts would be futile, but the blonde man came to her aid. The sound of crossbow bolts piercing skin and a sudden stiffness in the goonie told Lana that he was dead. She quickly moved out of his grasp and looked back at her acquaintance.

“Thank you! Um- what’s your name?”

“Ha! Real funny Lana,” the man replied with an unamused look. Lana looked back confused. The man took note and added, “It’s Sylis babygirl.”

“Right,” Lana said, nodding quickly. She tightened her arms about herself protectively. “Do you know who the Halfling is?” she asked.

“Nope. Never seen him before,” Sylis replied, his expression firm. “Let’s get going.”

Lana followed after. Once they got to the room where Barut conducted his torture on the little man, she could see her captor fighting valiantly against a mechanical man. Barut was looking worse for wear, which filled her with some excitement.

“Get Lana out of here!” the Warforge ordered as he hit Barut in the side. Sylis made to pull Lana along, but she slipped his grasp and ran over to the Halfling.

“We can’t just leave him. He needs help!” Lana explained as she undid the restraints. Soon she had the little man off and shielded by the concrete table. Seeing that he was still breathing and as comfortable as one could be when near death, Lana looked up and found Barut was laying on the ground.

“Is he dead!?” she shouted.

“No, not yet,” the Warforge replied. Lana quickly hopped the table. She didn’t care that she was naked. She didn’t care if the men saw her. Something new was working into her mind. Something sinister that begged to be quenched.

Barut had fallen! He no longer was in control! She had power over him!!

Without looking at the men, she asked for a knife. The mechanical being quickly placed a dagger into her hand. Lana swung a leg over Barut, straddling his chest, and proceeded to wait. All the things she would do to him danced across her mind. He wouldn’t need his fingers, nor his tongue. A few slashes to represent how he had lashed her. Oh and in the end he would need a smile to help him remember to be happy. If he managed to survive all that, then a few puncture wounds to the lungs would seal his fate.

“Baaarrruuut,” Lana cooed, stroking his face, “It’s time to wake up.” Eventually his face began to twitch, jerking around sleepily. “WAKE UP!” Lana yelled at him when her patience ran out.

Barut’s eyes snapped open.

“Hi!” she said sweetly, tapping the tip of his nose with a finger. “I hope you slept well. Looks like you had a rough night,” she pretended to console. Just as Lana expected, Barut’s eyes were filled with fear as he registered the predicament he was in. Lana’s smile broaden as she slid the blade of the dagger along her cheek thoughtfully.

“Remember how I said earlier... ‘at least I had the decency to kill you quickly?’” Lana asked rhetorically. Barut tried to speak, but Lana placed the dagger across his lips, “Shh, shh, shh. Let’s just say I’ve had a change of heart.”

A new cry filled the stone walls, a song that invigorated Lana and sent a ripple of excitement through her.

Sweet, sweet victory.

Next Chapter

VIII: Barut pt. 1

Previous Entry

*This chapter holds dark elements that those sensitive to torture or rape may want to steer clear. Nothing graphic is depicted, but sensitive topics are suggested.*

BARUT

“Baarruut,” Lana sung, “It’s time to wake up.”

Lana sat on top of Barut Mirehook, knife in hand, waiting for him to wake. She looked at his battered face, almost impatient for his eyes to flutter open. Oh the expression he would have once he saw that she came out the victor. And he would suffer as she had. But unlike her, Barut would meet death in the end.

The last thing Lana remembered before waking up in Barut’s prison, was walking about Sharn, hand in hand with some man. He had light blonde hair, like hers, and sky blue eyes. They had bickered off and on, though what about she couldn’t recall. She had also gotten two tattoos; a heart under her right eye and an intricate lace like design under her breast.

She and her friend had just left the tattoo parlor when a girl, maybe a year younger than Lana, ran past in hysterics. The look, the age, everything about the girl screamed Barut’s doings. Lana quickly instructed her companion to keep an eye out for anyone pursuing as she took off after the girl.

Lana entered into an abandoned church building. Caution had suggested otherwise, but when the blonde man caught up, he had said no one was coming. So into the building she went with the hopes to tack on another point toward Barut’s demise.

When she had nearly reached the sobbing girl, the young woman suddenly snapped her head up and yelled, “NOW!!” Instinctively Lana would have ran, but she found herself surrounded. She gained some courage when she heard the leader remind the five men to take her alive. Quickly Lana retrieved her daggers from her boots and maneuvered to the closest man. She figured she’d take out as many as she could, but she only managed to sink one of her daggers in before two arrows pierced her back.

When she woke, something wet and sticky covered her face. Lana reached up to wipe it away but found nothing was there. Instead she realized how cold her body was. She sat up, her back aching in the process. A shiver ran up her spine. For a moment she cursed her poorly chosen outfit as her thin night shirt hung off her shoulder and her waist high shorts left her legs bare.

Lana then heard his voice. She looked in the direction it came from and found Barut talking with a hag. He looked her way and curled his lips into a cruel smile. Barut returned his attention to the hag, bowing to her. She then extended a withered hand and placed it upon his head, her raspy voice saying, “Well done.”

Barut stood up right, the smile still there as he replied, “You’ve seen nothing yet.” He barely looked Lana’s way again as he left  the room.

Lana looked about the place. She was in a large cage that had iron bars extending to the ceiling. Cold stone surrounded her. Beyond her cage the room was littered with rugs and various trunks.

She began to shake. Cold and fear coursed through her. Lana had to escape... but how was the question. The thought of squeezing through the bars crossed her mind, but the hag in the corner made her hesitant. Lana scanned her surroundings trying to spot anything that might help her. Something that she could use as a weapon would have been well received, but nothing was accessible.

Barut’s voice then drew her from her plans for escape. An orb at the foot of her prison began to glow, emitting a rectangular shape that held an image of Barut and a Halfling strapped to a concrete slab. The little man looked inches from death and his bright eyes were full of fear and pain. Blood was everywhere in various stages of coagulation. Lana could only assume that this was a viewing of what would happen to her and it made her stomach churn.

“Do you know what she has done? You say she’s a good woman, but you know nothing of her!” Barut said, whipping the Halfling with a thick, scoring cane. The man yelped in pain, Lana flinching herself. “She has done this to you! She has brought you here!”

Had I brought the Halfling here?

The little man, who took shallow breaths, looked back at Barut. His face was racked with pain, but the look his eyes held was fierce.

“Rin know Lana is a good woman!”

He knows me? Lana’s thoughts questioned. She looked more closely at the figure. There was nothing about him that was familiar. Perhaps it was because he was so battered and swollen, but even the voice remained foreign.

The man quivered as he tried to lift himself up against his restraints. “Rin will see to it that you will pay!” and with that spat in Barut’s face.

“She will be your downfall!” the cruel man retorted, hitting the Halfling a few more times in his rage. Lana gripped herself as she winced. She then watched as Barut smoothed his hair back, taking a few deep breaths. He informed the little man that she was there and that he would get to watch him beat her.

With eyes wide, Lana watched Barut walk out of the scene. His footsteps soon echoed down the hall and back into her room. She backed into the far corner, keeping her eyes fixed to him, trying to think more quickly what she would do.

Burn him with fire!

Her simple fire spell was all she had at her disposal, but quickly she found that that did little to him with his hag friend watching over. Barut had begun to unlock the cage door when Lana sent her spell at him. It would have hit, but it suddenly veered away at the snap of a finger.

“There’ll be none of that,” the hag croaked.

Lana could feel her sanity slip away as hysterics threatened to take over. She doesn’t know how she managed to keep it together, but she did. Barut entered her prison with a cat o’ nine tails in hand. Lana threw insults his way, hoping to throw him off his game, but he seemed all the more humored in her desperate tactics. Barut looked up where the rectangular image once floated. It had been replaced by a new orb. All it did was shine a light toward them.

Barut smiled and positioned himself. It then registered to Lana that wherever the first orb went, someone was watching. No doubt it was the Halfling.

“You have know idea what you have done,” he began, walking closer and closer to Lana, tapping the whip handle in his hand. “Your friend,” Barut pointed to the orb, “that is what you’ve done to him.”

“I did nothing to him!”

“Your actions have done this to him!”

“What actions!? What have I done!?” Lana screamed.

Barut jerked the whip, lashing it across Lana’s face. She fell into the bars, gripping them as the pain coursed through her. When she managed to look back at Barut again, he was tossing a glowing object in his hand. He threw it toward her and a smaller, rectangular image appeared. She watched as she, the blonde hair man, and some other woman, attacked Barut and two other men.

“I did that?” Lana questioned, the memory far from her mind.

“Those were good men. They didn’t deserve what you did to them!”

“If they worked for you, then their death was earned!”

Barut pinned Lana in her corner spitting at her, “Women like you must be punished!”

The room was then rent with the sound of the whip again, followed by the ripping of clothes and the screams of Lana.  Though she couldn’t remember much of anything, she couldn’t help but wonder, would this hell end? Would the pain ever go away? Would the smell of sweat and rotten fish ever leave her nose. Would the memory of stone and Barut’s hot breath fade? Would the grip of his hands disappear? Would the feeling of him inside her vanish?

No amount of kicking or biting or thrashing could she do to thwart her attacker. Never had Lana felt so alone as the echoes of her cries went unanswered.

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VII: Jessie pt. 2

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Lana put on a bright smile, happy to see her lover, but surpassing his question. “Good morning- well afternoon by now,” she said, her voice a little too high. Sylis gave a warm smile, his seriousness breaking for a moment. Lana leaned over and gave him a kiss to play up her happy mood and not give him any room for worry.

As their lips broke, Sylis once more asked, “Who’s Jessie?” Lana pursed her lips and proceeded to ignore his question as she selected her outfit for the day. Sylis continued to poke and prod at the subject, but Lana refused to speak.

Jessie was a girl from Dr. Tomlund’s Asylum for Young Girls. It was located on the outskirts of Sharn, among the warehouses where the screams and cries were drowned out. From the outside, most would find it a rather eerie place, but once a person passed the threshold of the gates, it opened up to a rather calming atmosphere. Though the lighting was gray and gloomy, the courtyard had a few trees and a spacious lawn that the girls sometimes could go out on for fresh air. Inside the halls were white. It always felt too clean for Lana. Something about the whiteness bothered her.

Within the first week at the asylum, Lana knew that she was truly around some crazy people. There were girls who felt compelled to burn things, hurt themselves, talk to inanimate objects, or just stand and stare off into space. There was one girl, Callie, who was magically inept but insisted she was on a quest to slay a dragon. Another girl, Georji, loved everyone and everything, going around helping and giving hugs whether one wanted it or not. She certainly wasn’t very bright.

However, the most interesting of all was Jessie. At first glance, Jessie seemed like one of the spaced out girls. She was the youngest at the asylum, eight years of age, with long, mousy hair that was slightly unkempt. Her skin was very pale and her eyes a light blue-gray. Often she was seen just standing off to the side. Sometimes she’d be interacting with an object, like a doll or blocks, but for the most part she’d just be standing silently.

Jessie was rather aware too. Lana would catch her looking at people, but everyone gave her a wide berth. It became clear why that was when Georji tried to hug her. The seemingly harmless eight year old grabbed hold of the girl and became something feral. She clawed and bit and pulled hair. Adults soon swarmed Jessie, pulling her off the sobbing Georji.

Lana made it a point to keep a sharpened pencil on her at all times. It paid off when a few weeks later she found herself alone in a hallway with the eight year old. Lana tried to bypass her, hoping whatever triggered Jessie wouldn’t happen, only for the girl to strike. For something so small, she pushed Lana hard into the wall. Quickly Lana reached for the pencil as Jessie continued to go into her feral tactics. What felt like an eternity suddenly ended as Lana rammed the pencil into the girl’s neck.

The look Jessie gave her was eerie. Lana was mildly disappointed that the blow didn’t kill her for she was certain the girl would have it out for her afterward. But that was the curious thing; Jessie became a sort of pet to Lana. When the eight year old returned to the core group, she surprised Lana by hugging her. She had been looking at the bookshelf looking for a book to read when little arms wrapped around her. Lana turned and found Jessie looking at her with adoration. It took awhile for Lana to trust her, but soon she became a crucial piece to Jessie’s improvement.

The little girl who was unpredictable, who never talked and found enjoyment in hurting others, suddenly was progressing toward stability. Lana was the only one she listened to. By the end of Lana’s fourth year, Jessie had improved to being able to care for herself and managing a schedule. She still doesn’t speak, but her outbursts were next to none.

Lana missed Jessie and felt a bit bad that she had nearly forgotten her in the four months she had been free.

When Sylis wouldn’t let up on who she was, Lana finally answered. “Oh she’s just a girl from the Boarding School I went to.” She then changed the subject. “I was thinking we should go visit Rin. I want to see how his job went, let alone tell him about our wild night.”

“I didn’t know you went to Boarding School. Where at?” Sylis pestered, seeing past her distraction.

“In Sharn,” Lana replied thoughtlessly.

“Oh neat! Maybe we can go pay a visit to Jessie then,” Sylis the suggested. Lana slammed the trunk lid down.

“No!” she said more curtly than she had intended, “It’s- it’s rather busy there. And we shouldn’t interrupt her studies-”

“Lana,” Sylis cut in, "don’t lie to me.” Lana furrowed her brows. She felt mildly embarrassed he caught her half truth.

“I don’t understand why you’re so interested in her. How do you even know that name!?”

Sylis took Lana’s hands and explained last night. “When you woke up after your fall, you were... acting very strange. You were eating blood and wood and anything you could get your hands on. You attacked those who tried to stop you. Then, when you began to come off of the high you were on, you began to ramble about being Jessie. You were rather insistent at points. I was just curious as to who she might be.”

Lana shrugged, confused by all that Sylis said. In the back of her mind, it explained the taste of blood and the anger toward him, but at the same time, it sounded farfetched. She touched Sylis's cheek where scratch marks lingered.

“Sorry about that...” she said absent mindedly, “It really was quite the night.” Then with a flirtatious tone, “I can assure you one thing, I am very much Lana May." She then wrapped her arms about Sylis, giving him a passionate kiss.

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VI: Jessie pt. 1

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JESSIE

What the hell has happened to me?

Lana stood in the hot water that nearly scalded her skin. The steam rose around her in great waves as she took in deep breathes. The night was restless and her head was still in a fog. Water dripped off her nose, little streams cascading down her cheeks and through her partially opened mouth. She felt different, but why she couldn’t place. Something wasn’t right and it left her with a pit in her stomach.

A twitch jerked her left shoulder up, startling Lana a moment. That was part of the the reason she felt unsettled. Her hands kept shaking. Tremors that wouldn’t leave. Last night was bad, but surely not the worst thing she’s experienced. The minotaurs that broke into the guild certainly did a number on her, a faint line of the ax visible near her neck. Still, pain doesn’t seem like something that would weigh upon her mind. Maybe it was because she had passed out, like she had when fighting Barut.

With shaking fingers, Lana put them to work. She was grimy from yesterday’s events. Dried blood covered her hands and torso, while her hair seemed to have been saturated in it. There was also something else, something thick and clear that she remembered waking up to after blacking out in the fight. It was like molasses had been rubbed all over her face.

Damn it! What happened!?

Lana worked aggressively at her matted and grubby hair. As the filth finally began to loosen its hold, Lana could see clumps of the blood and goo fall off in the murky brown streams.

Another deep breath and with calmer determination, Lana retraced the night’s events.

It was early morning, two or three am. Sylis and Lana had scarcely scrapped a nap when the ship had returned. Quickly dressing and joining the group as they disembarked, they were immediately approached by one of their guild representatives. They were then rushed back to the guild hall where Rasuvius, their guild leader, waited anxiously.

Lana furrowed her brow. She could hear the shrill voice of the hag from the message Rasuvius played for them. A chill ran through her as the memory replayed. They were discussing, bickering, over what the message could mean, what it was the hags could possibly want with them, when the threat broke through the guild doors. Lana tried her best to harm the minotaurs, but they were too strong for her. In two- or was it three? hits, Lana’s knees buckled as the ax tried to sever her head. That’s the part that made the pit in her belly grow heavier. That gap in time. How much time had passed?

When Lana woke, everything was in a blur. The taste of wood and blood filled her mouth. A frenzy of emotions rushed so rapidly that Lana could only feel confused by what was happening. Was she angry? Scared? Desperate? Happy? Why was she fighting against Sylis?

Lana worked the last of the debris from her hair. She then began to lather it in soap. It was like a bad dream that she couldn’t remember. Just bits and pieces that seeped into her bones and filled her with dread. It was rather silly to allow such a thing to take hold of her. With the scent of soap in her nose and the steam caressing all around her, Lana turned her thoughts to more pleasant ones.

The cruise Wendalin had taken them on wouldn’t be forgotten soon. The beautiful skies they flew among, the rich food that the wealthy abound in, her first kiss from Sylis as the day came to an end, and having her best friend, Rin, with her for the fun.

Rin!

As she rinsed her hair of the soap, Lana couldn’t help but remember how Rin had taken such good care of her. He hid her when she was running from Barut. Calmed her when she was shaken by the ghost of her mother. Washed her back with no strings attached. Rin’s quiet and simple care pierced through the walls Lana kept up, so much she now longed for him. She needed to tell him about last night and perhaps enjoy some of the tea he had made her once before.

However Rin had told Lana that he was taking up a job to pay off his debts. If she was lucky, maybe he had already finished. Quickly she wiped away the last of the dirt that covered her body. It was in that moment that Lana also noticed her hands had stopped trembling.

With a bit of excitement, she hurried back into her room, to dry off and dress. It surprised her a brief moment to see Sylis watching her from the bed. He had a curious look on his face and a few scratch marks on his left cheek. It was as though he was studying her, or admiring her nakedness. Then he said something very unexpected.

“So tell me baby girl, who’s Jessie?”

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V: Sylis pt. 2

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In her excitement, Lana broke from the kiss she gave Sylis. He wanted to live and she would show him how. Moments prior she was batting away at her fire bolts and Sy’s ice balls, knocking them over the edge of the airship. The idea of going up to the crowsnest, to resume their sport, popped to mind. Likely they weren’t allowed up there, but Lana stuck with the saying, ‘better to ask forgiveness than for permission.’

The view was spectacular as the wind continued to whip around them. The airship was over a great ocean, returning to the city of Sharn. The stars were dotting the sky as the sun set behind them. Lana added her fire bolts to the twilight, hitting them in great archs that disappeared well beyond the ship. Sy added in his ice balls once more, bits of ice sailing across the darkening sky.

The two had come to be on such a ship as a sort of reward for cleaning up the graveyard. When Lana ran away from the terrors of the crypt, she found herself at her friend’s place. She was in hysterics, caused by seeing the ghost of her mother, and Rin helped calm her down with some tea. He offered to help her and sure enough, a few hours later, some of the slimiest of people came out of the woodwork and helped destroy the demon a cult had summoned. Lana could only hope whatever favors he had to pull to get that gang to lend a hand was something he could repay.

With the graveyard restored, the woman, an Elf named Wendelin, came to the guild to seek the men who had slain the ghost. Her family had been long haunted by the one they had released from the well of holy water. It nearly killed Wendelin because of that, but Lana and the men managed to end the apparition. Though they had been paid, the woman extended another offer to the men: If one would marry her, she would, in exchange, cure the men who had suffered from the aging curse within the crypt. Sy was one of them who had suffered.

It miffed Lana some that she had no say in who Wendelin wedded, but it all came down to Shadar convincing the woman that his brother had acted on his behalf. And so, a few days later, Sylis, Lana, and their other guild mates Shard, Shadar, and Emmerick, were whisked away on a cruise airship to attend Wendelin’s wedding to Shadar’s brother.

The cruise had been relaxing and carefree. The food was rich, the dancing gay, and the company merry. The day slipped by so quickly and part of Lana didn’t want it to end. However, she had a new focus waiting with her. Sylis. What adventures would they do together? What fun would they find?

“Oh the things I’ve got planned for ya,” Lana mused as she leaned on the railing of the crowsnest.

“Don’t think I’m going to be some pushover,” Sy retorted. Lana smirked.

“Ya already are. Ya see this finger here?” Lana twirled her pointer finger in the air, “I’m pretty sure ya’re wrapped around it.”

Sylis smiled in spite of himself and agreed. His face then softened as he took her hand that held up the spinning finger. “Perhaps I am,” he admitted, “but it’s not around that one.” He paused a moment before reaching into his pack and pulled out a long crimson string.

“What’s that for?” Lana asked. Sylis looked at Lana for a long time, pondering what he wanted to say.

“Well,” he finally spoke, taking Lana’s right hand again, “where I come from, it is said that the Gods linked together spirits with a red cord that could stretch throughout the fabric of time until the two spirits in mortality met. And when you find that bonded spirit, you are to remain together always. So it is tradition that we tie a piece of red string around the little finger of the person we want to remain forever with,” Sylis explained, slowly wrapping the material around her pinky.

“Forever?” Lana asked incredulously. It was one thing that he wanted her to influence him, but surely he didn’t want just her. No one ever wanted just her.

“I know, it sounds crazy, but I can’t shake this feeling Lana. These past many days, ever since I saw you, I feel like you are that other spirit I’ve been searching for. I feel complete around you and hell, that was before tonight,” Sy answered. He proceeded to tie the string around his little finger before saying, “Uil æaer birolor eed olor. Will you be my forever and ever?”

Wasn’t I father’s forever and ever?

With the uncertainty that is life, one thing crept to the surface of Lana’s forethoughts, painful and angry. A hot tear spilled down her cheek. Her hand collided with Sy’s as she tried to swipe it away, but he beat her. She then pulled away from his touch.

“But what if we’re separated? Won’t ya replace me if we were apart for years?” Lana challenged. It had been months since she killed her father, but the betrayal still stung. She had thought he only loved her, but after being in the Asylum for four years, her father had taken a new lover. Surely no one would ever want her forever.

Sy pulled out a knife and cut the red string linking them. “You see this?” he wiggled his little finger that was bound in red, “This is my promise to you; Never will I seek for anyone else. I may be a  lot of things, but I don’t lie to those I love. You are my forever and ever. Even if you die, I will find you again in the next life and I will happily wait for that day.”

Lana eyed Sylis suspiciously. There was nothing there that would suggest he was being insincere. She wanted to disbelieve him desperately. She wanted to hate him for lying to her. Damn you Sylis, she cursed to herself. Once more he gave her her space as she sifted through her thoughts. He was being genuine and she hate him for that.

After minutes of deep reflecting, Lana felt a foreign sensation. She was cornered, but it wasn’t the wolf staring back at her. It was Sylis. He reached out daringly to wipe another tear away. This time she reached up and held his hand there, leaning into it.

“Sure,” she whispered into his hand. Lana then looked Sylis in the eyes, the light blue catching the final rays of daylight, “I’ll be your forever and ever.” Sy let out a breath of air as though he’d been holding it. It was a victory for him, a joy Lana hoped to share with him one day.

And so when the call to disembark came, Lana continued to eye the crimson string around her little finger. Was the man next to her truly hers forever? She doesn’t know and she may never know.

Forever is a very, very long time.

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IV: Sylis pt. 1

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SYLIS

His forever and ever?

Lana looked at the crimson string wrapped around her little finger. Sylis had gifted it to her, a token of his promise. “You are my everything,” he had told her last night in the crowsnest. Now she laid next to him, like she had days past, but this morning seemed different. Sy looked different. He wasn’t just an infatuated man.

When they had first met, Sylis was nothing shy of a charmer. He certainly was handsome enough with his blonde hair and bright blue eyes. One might even mistake him for an Elf. His eyes had locked on her as she stood in her thin undershirt. Lana worked her magic, asking if he and his companion would help her. Of course Sy accepted, thinking his favor would win her over. The chase had begun and Lana would let him think he was about to get her. He would never catch her. Of course if he did, it would be on her terms and to her advantage.

Yet she managed to get cornered. Sylis had kissed her last night for the first time after a week of their games. It wasn’t awful. It was rather natural, though the drinks they had could have clouded her judgement. Still, she couldn’t ignore the red flag in the back of her mind. Don’t forget! He only wants one thing from ya and ya will utilize that to get back at Barut!

Barut Mirehook was a cruel man that Lana has taken upon herself to assassinate. He had raped a woman (and surely there were many others) and chances were justice would never be seen to him. That was what Lana persuaded Sylis to help with.

One kiss doesn’t mean he controls me. Let him have his fun, Lana told herself. What must have seemed a long two seconds were ended as Lana replied, “I’m impressed, I thought ya’d’ve kissed me sooner.” Immediately Lana regretted the tease. What was that!? Are ya trying to encourage him!? she scolded herself. If she wasn’t careful, she would become trapped.

Sylis then scowled at her, as though she had wounded him with her words. “I don’t want just a one and done thing Lana,” he said, “I really care about you.” It was the most serious she had seen him and immediately she found herself back to being twelve under her father’s scrutiny. The week’s events flooded back. His talk was showy and he was always trying to impress her, but she couldn’t deny that he had been gentlemanly. Even when they shared the bed, he never pressed her for anything romantic. Only a secure arm about her as the ghost of her mother and the demon she encountered continued to haunt her thoughts. The kiss was the most forward he had been.

Lana unfortunately didn’t have Rin’s tea to keep her nerves calm. She felt cornered and it made her stomach knot up unpleasant like. It didn’t help that he took her hands and pressed them to his lips.

“I know,” she ended up replying before pushing away and reapplying her smirk. “But this here,” she pointed to herself, “this is all crazy,” and dangerous, Lana warned. Sy gave her her space, beaming as he looked off over the railing at the twilight sky that engulfed them. Lana took a few deep breaths, letting the cool air dampen the heat of her nerves.

“I really need some crazy in my life,” he began, Lana rolling her eyes thinking he was just saying words again. “I’ve been way too controlled,” Sylis continued, “Then you show up and don’t seem to care what people think. For heaven sakes you prance around in your nightgown! And if someone tells you to do something one way, you go and do it your own way anyways!” Sylis let out an envious sigh, “To me, you’re full of life. I want that. I just need to learn to let go and live for once.”

Lana didn’t realize she was staring, even when the icy blue eyes connected with hers. Her head was swimming. He wants chaos? He wants to be like me? she wondered. It lit her mind up, as though he had set a spark to wood shavings. As the thoughts swirled, suddenly Sy was right there, an inch from her lips, a hand around her head, as he whispered, “Lana, I want to be crazy with you.”

Oh the euphoria that filled Lana. Here was someone who embraced her crazy. Someone who wasn’t trying to control her. Someone who wanted to be like her.

✻  ✻  ✻  ✻  ✻

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