@Spicyspice The dream had lasted for thousands of years.
Ilona stood on the outer wall of the palace, knuckles white as she gripped the rampart and leaned out over the edge, a scream caught in her throat.
Her city was burning, burning, burning, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Cries for help and shrieks of agony echoed in her ears, and she could do
nothing! These were her people, they looked to her for guidance, for security, and she had failed them.
Then, with a great, rumbling boom, the walls collapsed beneath her and everything went black. An inhuman cry was torn from her as she fell into nothingness.
But it didn't last. A light slowly sparked into existence, a soft glow just above her, a single silver star, and she reached for it desperately, feeling its heat brush her fingers, but she could never...quite...touch...
Then the darkness set in, until it all started over again.
Deep in the ruins of Fell, she slept, hidden away in a decaying tower in the western wing of what had once been a grand, glittering palace. Though enchantment had saved the princess from the ravages of time, it had done nothing for the walls around her, several holes having opened in the stones. Her magnificent fourposter bed had nearly rotted away, sheer curtains long since replaced with thick layers of cobwebs.
But Ilona lay peacefully amidst the dust and decay, a silvery sort of glow just barely covering her body, preserving her from the ruin around her. Her hair was fanned artfully around her body, hands clasped over her stomach. Two silver cuffs and a collection of bangles graced her arms and wrists, a simple silver necklace hanging just past her breasts, and a thin, elegant circlet bearing the crest of her kingdom rested on her head.
Aside from the jewelry, there was no indication that the sleeping young woman was of noble birth, dressed as she was in a simple white nightdress in thin slippers that- without the benefit of enchantment- would never have protected her against the biting winds that howled through the chamber.
She slept, and she waited.
Black hair spiraled through the snow bitten wind. White puffed grunts escaped from shivering lips. He was as out of place here as the sun, that of which he was certain had been swallowed away by some sky beast who breathed out this cold, white ash into the world, a world he cursed.
He couldn't have know thats precisely what it was. Had he known he would have avoided this place all together. But it seems even bad luck has its reasons, and even though he wouldn't know his.... He would, however, come to know hers.
His footfalls were angry and heavy, even becoming more irrate and desperate when the winds picked up. If he could cut down those winds he would, but even when his temper got the better of him and stained his cheeks red from anger while his hair and clothing hung with layers of ice, his sword was useless. Yet still he tried, using all the strength he could muster and focused it against the icy winds.
He'd likely look a fool to those who knew better,but know better he did not. And when his rage came blinding and his anger peaked, the very ground he stomped on gave way- And down, down into the depths of the forgotten, his own cries strangled by the darkness and heard by no one,no one at all.
The dream, the dream that had haunted her for millennia, suddenly changed.
A voice. A voice she didn't recognize, shouting in anger that tore through her mind. For the first time in thousands of years, Ilona moved, just a slight frown and a shift on the bed, as though her nightmares were finally showing through her deceptively peaceful sleep.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to shift the magic in the ruins, corrupted as it was. Anyone sensitive to the arcane would feel it, perhaps even be able to track where it was coming from.
A long, wheezing groan of pain escaped him the second his breath returned, and he was clinging onto himself and cursing at the pain. Pissed after realizing he had simply fell, his body began to shake with rage and he scooped up his sword, making petty and feeble threats towards the sky from which he fell.
But he knew it was in vain, and his eyes watered in frustration. And just as he was about to throw another rotten tantrum, a strange, cat sized black figure rushed past his form. The young man jumped and turned to watch the creatures long tail disappear behind a large column that had since been greyed and cracked from age.
Not knowing what else to do or who to blame,he demanded, "Hey! You! Creature! Get back here and start explaining why the damn ground around here dared to break underneath my boots!" But when he got no response, his cheeks puffed out in an enraged breath before he stormed after the damned thing.
"Get back here you little demon shitter or I'll _" And just like that, he fell right through the ground again. And something... Or rather 'someone' broke his fall.
Well.
That certainly did the trick.
If she'd been able to think about it, Ilona might have found it ironic that, with all the stories she'd heard as a child of enchanted princesses being awakened by true love's kiss or some such silly prattle, what wound up working for her was being nearly flattened by a stranger.
Of course, she was far too disoriented to really think clearly at all, much less dissect the situation. Not to mention the fact that- well, she still seemed to be stuck half asleep. Her nightmare had vanished in a poof, but she couldn't quite open her eyes. She could feel the weight of a body of her hers, but it was so damned hard to move her limbs.
"What's happening? Who are you? Get off me!" she shouted.
Or, well...tried to shout. What actually came out was a rasping, wheezing sort of grunt, not becoming of a princess at all.
Any irony here was lost on the demon prince (or half demon, at least, as it were). He never truly grew up with any of those stories (not that he could remember much of anything- any thoughts past waking up in this cold unforgiving world was lost to him- a foggy, incomprehensible haze at best. So landing on a pretty girl (magical or not) was a bit lost on him as all kinds of parts of him hurt from that fall.
He groaned and moved to pick himself up, wincing as he felt a sharp cut bleed open on his cheek, and a stinging sensation burning in his hand. It seemed his second fall was a lot less ceremonious than the first, because his once (somewhat) pristine white suit was now dusted in aged cobwebs and what he's come to call 'ash'.
However, his words weren't lost on him because it was enough to draw his attention from his own pain down to her. And for a moment he paused, hand pressed to his forehead and half raked through his hair. He felt so dizzy that if he didn't hold his head like that, he feared it might roll off. So it was making it hard for him to figure out just exactly what was going on.....
Except when it registered it was some pretty yellow haired young woman...
He couldn't help but continue to stare, a bit wonderstruckly- but definitely a look of true confusion, appreciation was laced in with his nativity.
Almost painfully slowly, Ilona forced her eyes open and found herself staring into a stranger's face. Her throat worked, but no sound came out, and try as she might she couldn't seem to get her body to move beyond a few small wiggles.
"Who...who..." she croaked out, her voice raspy and barely even a whisper.
She coughed, cobwebs and dust billowing around them. "Wh-who are you?"
She wasn't the only one coughing as the dust kicked up. He winced.
"Who am I?" He kept his teeth gritted. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you?"
But he felt strange, something definitely felt off about this girl... about this place.
He felt so irritable, and impatient.
"Why are you here? Is this your home?" he began, unable to stop himself once he began. "This place is really shabby. I've fallen through three floors since I've gotten here, " (Though techincally it was two, but he didn't want his claims to sound lame.) , "I have to deal with these cold,w hite ash all over the place and you've been the only real person I've seen!"
But then his eyes narrowed on her as he finally moved to sit back and away from her.
"You... are real, aren't you?"
And he blinked, looking around at the place, the wreckage, the dust, the cobwebs...
Then the girl int he simple night shift. His face skewed.
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
Ilona blinked as he began to speak rapid fire- ash? What on earth was he talking about?- and finally found herself able to move, albeit only slightly. Groaning, she pushed herself up onto her elbows.
"My...home. Yes," she rasped out, and coughed violently again. She looked around as he did, taking in the ruin and decay.
Oh gods. How long had she been asleep?
"I- I live here," she whispered in answer to his question. Some of the hoarseness had left her voice, but she still didn't have much volume. "This is my...my bedchamber..."
Wide-eyed, she stared around again, then up at the hole in the ceiling- had he said he'd fallen through the floor?
"Heavens above," she breathed at the sight of snow drifting down into the chamber. Her eyes flicked back to him. So many questions, so many things she needed to say, she couldn't even think straight.
Her arms wrapped around her middle and she shivered violently. "Gods and demons, 'tis bloody freezing in here!"
Ehvren's face contorted into his own skewed emotion as she blonde girl looked around.
"Live here?" What, was she crazy? Yeah, she definitely was crazy. Who would choose this place to live? Certainly not him!
But at her comment about Gods and demons, he felt himself getting all riled up.
"Don't blame this on demons or Gods. It's your home. You chose to live here!"
Honestly! Why did she look so surprised!? Did she have a bad memory or something?
She shook her head, eyes wide as she still stared around. She seemed to ignore him, or perhaps she didn't hear him.
"This is wrong," she whispered, shivering. "Cold. It's so cold. If tis winter, there should be a fire in the great hall, and the pyromancers would be-"
She swallowed thickly. Suddenly her eyes snapped back to the man. "You." Her voice was suddenly sharp and commanding, though with a lilting quality to it that had earned her the moniker "Silvertongued".
"How did you get here? No, better yet- how did you wake me?"
Ehvren had no idea how to deal with this woman, but it irritated him to no end she was about as confused here as he was! But when she turned that tone towards him, he bared his teeth, not unlike a dog as his chest puffed.
"I told you," he growled, an almost dangerous nature to his words as he moved to give her some space. "I fell through your house." He sneered, teeth still bared. "The grounds here are week, the weather here is shitty and I just fell through some rotting, ash and cobwebbed covered house." His body was nearly shaking now as his voice was rumbling into a deeper growl.
"What you should be asking is how I managed to survive that fall and don't want to strangle you!"
And even he had to think about it and got pissed off at himself for not doing just that!
"Why are you even here? This place is awful!"
Ilona bristled at his tone. She sat up straighter.
"Mind your tongue," she warned coolly. Things may have changed, but... "I am still the Crown Princess, and you would do well to treat me as such."
Princess of a kingdom long since fallen to ruin, but she didn't realize that.
Carefully, she got to her feet. Body weak from too long disuse, she nearly stumbled but managed to right herself by catching at one of the bed posts. "And you still haven't answered my question. How did you wake me? What spell did you use?"
"Princess?" Scoffing wasn't his style, but he did sneer. "What, are you the Princess of Ashes?" But her bristling made him bristle more as his eyes narrowed upon her. And though obviously infuriated, there was something about his blue eyes that seemed..... far different than his outter irritation displayed.
"And what does a princess mean to me when she's not my princess at all?" His voice was almost a dangerous purr, but again, it seemed more like a dog guarding something as he added, "Besides, where I come from? You should bow to me."
He couldn't believe the audacity of this woman! But he refused to answer her question- but he also didn't have an answer because he didn't know exactly where she was going with it!
She scoffed at him and tossed her hair, necklace and bangles tinkling softly. "Very well. Do as you will, I'll not sink to your level to hold you in such contempt," she said with cool disinterest, though inside she was panicking a little.
Was he a prince? A lord? A king? She'd thought she'd known every foreign dignitary important enough to warrant her respect, but she didn't recognize him.
Just how long has she been asleep? Long enough for her bedchamber to become a dilapidated mess, her ceiling so covered by the snow outside he'd called it the floor.
Oh gods. Her parents...
She took a shaky breath, then held her hand out to him delicately. "Forgive me, I am quite out of sorts and I forget myself. I am Ilona Anastazia Corvinus, first of her name, Crown Princess and sole heir to the throne of-"
She stumbled, eyes widenening as as suddenly realized- she couldn't remember. "Of- of this land. Who are you, stranger?"
Could he act on his 'better' judgement, he should have just let her to rot here all alone. But apart of him, unfortunately, was just as lonely and confused as she. Not that he'd admit it.
Simmering blue eyes were taking in her surroundings. He wasn't stupid enough not to be able to figure out this was a fallen kingdom, so when she went on to introduce herself, he only looked at her when she mentioned that she ruled here.
"So you're a princess of Ruins?" He couldn't help but sass back that answer, but he felt more defensive, even as she was trying to be... well, 'nice'.
He sneered and looked her over.
"Well, I'm a Prince... Prince Envhren of-" But there he faltered, cheeks turning red with anger as he turned away. "Of one Hell of a better place than this." Or so he hoped. But he couldn't help but growl at his own frustration.
Was he a prince? Yes, that much he felt he knew. But everything else? It was so hazy... and trying to recall it...
Growling, he got to his feet.
"Look, I'm not supposed to be here. In fact, I don't even know where here is. And frankly, I don't really care." He looked her over then away. "If you're some royal, call out for your men and see them escort me out of this Gods forsaken sink hole of a kingdom."
He was so done here.
She glared at him, straightening her shoulders. "I would," she said, voice icy. "But, as you have so eloquently pointed out, my kingdom is in ruins."
For a moment she faltered, a threat of tears in her throat, then she swallowed it down. A princess must keep her composure. "I don't believe my people live anymore. At least not in this place."
Well this was infuriating! How useless was she!? The more he remained in her presence, the more he believed she was as useless as the rotting floorboards he fell through!
"So what, you're people are dead and you're only now realizing this?" How dumb was she!? "Are you sure you weren't just dropped on your head and were left here to rot?"
Ilona realized her hand was shaking and she clenched it into a first, trying to rein in her anger.
"Do you honestly believe I would sleep while my world fell to ruin around me?" she hissed. "I have a hard time believing someone so simple could be a prince."
Well. There went her resolution to be diplomatic. But she just couldn't keep the anger in, fueled by confusion, grief, and panic.
"I was enchanted you blockhead," she snapped. Her magic started to fizzle just under the surface of her skin, but she was so incensed she hardly noticed.
His expression flared at her attack.
"I don't even know you!" he barked. "For all I know you were the one who killed them all and lead this place into a waste land!"
That hit her like a physical blow, a punch in the gut, and she staggered back.
She just couldn't hold it in anymore, and tears that were a mix of rage and grief began spilling down her cheeks.
"You're right," she spat. "You don't know me. I did this to save them, I did everything I could! And now- and now..."
She put her back to him and burried her face in her hands, shoulders shaking with repressed sobs. It was a pointless gesture, but she did her best to keep her face hidden from him.
If he 'prince' was surprised before to be catapulted unwillingly (and unknowingly) into this sort of a world, and was surprised to have fallen so unceremoniously into a strange woman like this, he was completely confused and in shock when she started sobbing.
And something twisted deep within him that made him growl, and he couldn't help himself but snap out, "Why are you crying?"
But his harsh words only made that twisting feeling inside him worse.
She took a few deep breaths in an effort to pull herself together. She didn't feel confident enough to face him again, so she swiped at her eyes and answered haltingly, "Because I'm sad."
Another sniffle and she did turn, eyes downcast. "Forgive my outburst. I... There is a lot of information I am trying to digest very quickly. But that is not excuse- I was rude to you and I'm sorry."
In a few moments she was the elegant princess again, hands clasped in front of her body, though now her eyes were red-rimmed and hopelessly sad.
And Ehvren had NO idea how to respond to THAT change. His face skewed as he just stared at her, slack jawed and feeling numb and... (not that he'd admit it) 'dumb'.
"What? You start attacking me with words and NOW you want to apologize!?" He continued to bristle. "Next you'll blame it on being sad." He was so upset, and he couldn't figure out WHY. "I hate being sad! It's... it's useless." He glared at her. "Stop being useless and and..."
And what?
He hadn't a clue to what to say. He was just as confused as she was.
Ilona felt her anger and magic stirring again, but she stamped it down.
"Very well." Her tone and expression were carefully blank. "You are lost, yes? I can guide you out of here."
Well...she hoped.
Ehvren made a look of pure disgust.
"You? I'd have better luck finding my way out by following a burned toad." He shook his head and finally stood up. "I'm going to find my own way out of this decaying hole."
She sighed and met his eyes exasperatedly. "You don't know where you are, and this place can be a maze of you are unused to its walls."
"And you look as lost as I do! Lady, if anything, having just stumbled upon you I think you're just crazy! This is not a home! Nobody with enough sense would stay around here! And you look even more confused than me!" He shook his head and took a step away.
"No, no.. I'm finding my own way out of here!"
Ilona sighed again and waved a hand at him. "Very well, do as you like. But at least tell me which direction you came from where the snows have lessened."
Hopefully a little magic would keep her warm until she could get further south or find some proper clothes.
What kind of question was that!?
"I told you the direction! I fell from the bloody ceiling!" Was this woman for real? She made his skin crawl and was driving him crazy, and he had only met her for less than ten minutes!
"If you want to crawl up there, be my guest!"
THough part of him wondered if he shouldn't try it.
She blinked at him, evidently genuinely surprised that he seemed confused by her question. "No- before that," she tried to explain. "Before you came to the palace."
She caught herself and corrected, a little bitterly, "The ruins. This land, if you will. Where did you come from?"
"Before? What? You mean when I traveled through that and of white ash and cold?"
There it was again. "White Ash". She shook her head.
"No, I mean- before that. Unless...you aren't from the tundra, are you?"
No one had lived so far north in her time, at least not enough people for anyone to claim to be a prince of the land.
He crinkled his nose.
"What? Why would I be from the tundra?"
Not that he even knew what the tundra was! But the idea made him even more upset, and it showed.
She frowned, completely confused by this strange man.
"I don't know, I just assumed, with the way you talk about how you got here." She shook her head. "Never mind. Where are you from then? I- I need to move south."
If any of her people survived, surely they would be in that direction.
"Okay, then go south!" he didn't know why she even bothered talking to him! As if he could help her. But of course, he found himself floundering as he tried to consider where HE was from, when finally he looked away and growled, "I... don't know."
And that made him even more angry that he himself as just as confused as this woman before him!
She blinked. "You don't know?"
A moment of silence. Then she sighed and murmured, "Then what harm is there in us attempting to travel south together?"
He wasn't exactly a personable sort of companion, but she knew it would be safer than traveling alone.
Ehvren turned to her, fury on his face. But his tongue was tied as he felt himself shake, body nearly ready to burst at the answer when something dropped down from the ceiling. It looked like a living pile of bones.
"What the Hell is that?"
And before he knew it, it was lunging at the girl- and he? Somehow he found a sword in his hand as he leapt clean after it, roaring angrily and shattering it's bone body in half. The creature more or less toppled into a useless heap, it's body eventually puffing into 'ash', leaving Ehvren standing there, just as confused as he was but a moment before.
And before he could even say something, two more of those bone creatures appeared behind Ilona and reached out for her with their wicked, bone fingers.
What the hell was going on!?
And why was he so quick to rush up there and drag the girl clean out of the fray? The bone men seemed easy enoguh to beat, they were just a little unnerving, but as he batted them off of her with his sword, he grabbed her by the wrist and yelled, "Why are you just standing there? Run!"
Because there wasn't just a few bones ready to fight them, a dozen more began to jump down from the hole in the ceiling!
Ilona's eyes widened and she froze, shocked motionless.
Then suddenly the- the thing was gone, Ehvren standing there with a sword in his hand.
Oh no. Oh no no no. She clenched her fists, body shaking as her mind began to race.
Her magic. Was this her fault. Had she created these things?
Then they were grabbing at her and she snapped out of her paralysis with a scream, lunging forward as Ehvren fought the things off.
He didn't need to tell her twice. Twisting her wrist in his hold to grab his hand, she bolted for the door, barely touching it before the rotted wood groaned and gave way. "This way, hurry!" she shouted, taking off down what had once been a hall but was now more of a half collapsed tunnel.
Ehvren didn't ask questions as he followed her, well... not at first but soon he was!
"I thought you didn't know where we are so where are you leading us!?" And he made sure to add, "And it better not be to more of those walking bones!"
"I may have been asleep for awhile," she replied quickly, "but the palace can't have changed that much." She hoped.
"We just need to get to the great hall." She was panting now, her body protesting the strain after centuries of disuse. "There- there has to be a way out there..."
"What!?" Though shocked, Ehvren kept on running. "You're not giving me good reasons to trust you!" came his growled reply.
"Do you have any better plans?" Ilona snapped back. Their path was blocked by a caved in ceiling and she paused a moment, then veered left down a side hall.
"No! I don't have a better plan!" he barked, keeping close. "Why else do you think I'm running!?"
She didn't respond, coming to a sudden halt as their path was blocked by yet another ruin- a partially collapsed wall this time.
Panting, Illna glanced over her shoulder down the hall. "Do you think those things are chasing us?" she asked as she started forward again, beginning to clamber over the broken stones. She'd lost a slipper somewhere in their mad dash and winced as rocks cut into the sole of her foot.
Chasing them? Oh right, neither bothered to look over their shoulder- but when he did, his heart made him choke as it leaped into his throat. And before he could think, he was slashing his sword at one heading their way.
And though he was able to turn that one into a pile of rubble he could see the other ones already making a swift advance upon them.
"Uh...." Shit. Sheathing his blade, he suddenly scooped up the princess and commanded, "Hold on!" As something inside of him stirred- he didn't know what, but some unknown, unseen power had risen and soon he was kicking in a heavy piece of debris in their way, his body used as an anchor as they crawled through it before he stumbled out the other side, the one blocked passage collapsing again and soon filling the air with blinding debris.
"What are you-" Ilona's voice choked off in a scream as she turned to look at him and saw the bone-things closing in, then she was swept up into his arms rather unceremoniously.
Not knowin what else to do, she clung onto him for all she was worth, gasping as he pulverized the debris in their way and then coughing as stone dust filled her mouth.
"L-left," she managed to gasp out between wretching coughs. "The turn up ahead- go left."
But he was choking on the air, too.
"Left?" he growled. "I can't bloody SEE which way is left!"
"Just- run!" Ilona choked out, fear straining her voice. "Please, hurry! I- I can guide us."
Gods, she hoped.
(Removed at the request of the thread author.)
Growling, he obeyed. It seemed the wiser choice, considering the alternative as he attempted to head to the left at the best of his ability.
"A flight of stairs," she gasped out. "There should be stairs, leading down- take a right at the bottom!"
At least now the dust was starting to clear. Or they were just getting further away from it, she honestly couldn't tell. But there was little to no light in the ruins, which certainly wasn't helping visibility.
Where as the dust was dampening his sight, the darkness did not, so when she mentioned the staircase he blurted out, "I see it!" And rushed towards it, woman still in tow.
Ilona clung to him for all she was worth. "Take care- I'm not sure what may have rotted away-"
She glanced over his shoulder and her voice cut off in a shriek, nails digging into him as her grip tightened. "M-more of them! Three- four! Hurry!"
Ehvren snarled.
"I'm running as fast as I can!" But the second he spotted the skeleton's from the corner of his eye, he was quick to set her down and in a whirl, was turned with his back to her, front to the creatures that were just about to lunge themselves at his head.
He didn't have a chance to pull out his blade, but his arm bracer managed to stop a heavy strike that would surely have lobbed off his head (or if not, at least had him seeing stars!) He grunted at the pain of the collision and shoved the skeleton back, clenching his fists together and using both arms to swing and smack another of the things away before finally being able to grab his blade and as he unsheathed it....
Another skeleton was crawling down the stairs, belly down, no legs, towards Ilona.
Another scream as the creatures attacked Ehvren, then Ilona's voice suddenly gave out when she caught sight of the skeleton crawling toward her. "No no no no no," she whispered, backing up a step. "St-stay away, don't touch me!"
She threw her hands out- a useless gesture, really, had it not been accompanied by a sudden blast of magic that literally blew the creature apart.
Ilona gasped, not having intended to use her magic. And since when had she been able to use spells like that?
She didn't have time to wonder; another surge of power rose up in her chest and blasted from her fingers, targeting the skeletons.
One of the blast nearly singed Ehvren's shoulder as he whirled around to eye her.
"Hey! Watch where you're aiming that!" he barked, which was a long enough distraction for a skeleton to lunge at him. He barely managed to catch the damned thing who was cackling something wicked before Ehvren was able to out strength it and shoved it back, but when it came at him again, he punched it's skeletal head clean off.
But still, the body had fight in it yet! And Evhren found himself trying to dig the boney fingers off of him that were trying to strangle him to death!
Struck speechless, Ilona found herself lunging forward, hands outstretched.
Words bubbled up out of her throat, a language half remembered, an old spell she'd learned as a child, meant to ward and protect. One hand grabbed Ehvren's shoulder and the other thrust forward into the skeleton's sternum.
Her voice cut off and another surge of that unintended magic. The bones started to glow, red hot, then shattered apart.
Ehvren was startled only briefly before he remembered they had to keep moving. He grabbed her by the hand and began to nearly drag her up the stairs.
"Come on! We gotta move!"
She nodded, stumbling a moment before she found her foot and pelted after him. "At- at the tip f their stairs- it's a tower," she gasped out. "A balcony. If you really fell through the roof, we should be able to get out there."
Ehvren nodded, and continued to his lead and took her advice as they wound their way through the wreckage towards the tower. So many things whisked by them in their rush- the story of a fallen kingdom....
ANd how a lot of it had turned to dust.
Once at the tower's door, however, Ehvren's expression crumpled.
They had made it only a few steps up before it was revealed - "The way up is blocked. Looks like this tower collapsed..." he growled.
Ilona swore. Colorfully. It even surprised her a bit, the words that were coming out of her mouth.
"The western tower then," she growled, whirling around to peer into the gloom the way they'd come. "It's the second highest point in the palace, but it's almost all the way on the other side."
Ehvren swore between his teeth.
"Isn't there a way that's closer!?"
"Of course, dozens- but if this whole place is buried in snow, I don't see how we can dig our way out," Ilona exclaimed, throwing her hands up.
"Snow? What are you going I'm about?! " he growled, stumbling to move in the direction she preached.
She blinked at him. What sort of game was he playing. "The cold, white stuff," she shouted exasperatedly. "You brought a bunch of it with you when you fell through my ceiling."
His face twisted. "You mean that cold, white ash?"
It suddenly clicked, all the times he'd said that. "Yes." She nodded quickly. "You'd never seen it before?"
"What? Why are you asking me this now of all times!" he snapped. "We're running for our lives!"
Right. Oh, right!
"This way." She grabbed his hand and dashed down a side hall. "To the main hall- there should be a way out, but it'll be covered in- white ash."
Finally feeling as if they were making some head way, the pair of them barely made it a few steps in before the very walls began to rumble, the stone working bulging up with a hiss as pieces cracked and tumbled downward before the swelling bulge began to roll and crack along the far end. Ehvren stumbled to stop in his tracks.
"What the hell! The way forward's blocked!"
But that seemed to be the least of their worries as he let out a scream the moment the massive head of a huge black serpent burst from the walls.
Ilona was frozen for a few long moments, utterly terrified. Until her brain finally kicked into action.
Snake. Animal. You can do this!
Swallowing thickly, she moved to stand in front of Ehvren and raised her hands. Calling on her magic, she spoke to the serpent, praying it was enough a part of the natural world to hear her.
"Brother, listen. We mean no harm, let us pass, please."
The snake paused for just a brief moment before opening it's mouth, baring it's fangs and...
Then swallowing Ehvren whole!
A scream caught in her throat and she pressed herself back against a wall. "Y-you..."
Steeling herself, she straightened her shoulders and shouted, "Sp-spit him out right now!"
But the large serpent did not take kindly to her commands. It's red eyes pierced the darkness like twin volcanoes before it bared it's fangs to her, poison dripping from it's fangs. And just as it reared back, ready to strike, a garbled noise of death tore through it's mouth before it's head fell sideways as it's open jaws were cut clean in half. The separating head fell around from the sticky form of the heaving prince's form, who was holding his sword with all of his might, and glaring down like a menace himself at the snake whom he just slayed.
Ilona's knees finally gave out, the exhaustion and shock overwhelming her as her vision tunneled.
No no no no no. She would not faint. She wouldn't. She forced the dizziness away and tried to get back to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall.
"A-are...are you alright?" she whispered, staring at Ehvren with wide eyes.
"Tch."
Was he alright?
He was arrogant about it, slipping his blade back into it's sheath, despite the goop and blood that stained it. But when he began to walk her way-
The room sudden swung out from under him as he collapsed, face first, onto the ground.
"Oh!"
Still shaky herself, she darted forward to kneel beside him and roll him onto his back, muttering, "Don't be dead, please don't be dead," under her breath.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt life from him- then her magic flickered warningly and she looked up, down the hall.
"Ehvren." She shook his shoulder. "Come on, get up. We have to keep moving." Could she use magic to carry him?
But he didn't stir, and the strange feeling that something's coming was getting stronger.
"Ehvren? Ehvren!" She was panicking now, shaking his shoulder and glancing back down the hall. "Come in, get up, get up!" Desperate, she grabbed his arm and started trying to drag him.
He still hadn't moved, nor awakened and the sensation grew intense. So intense that there was a sudden quietness that swept across the room.
Ilona froze, going silent as she felt the shift in the air. She had Ehvren's arm around er shoulder now, trying to pull him to his feet so they could get out of there.
And the quietness lingered, creating a heavy tension unseen. And even through it, and her pleas and shakes of his body, Ehvren remained unmoving- and the pair seemed to be cornered by the unseen.
And then a chill crossed the room, and something echoed down the way, growing louder, louder, louder as the ground began to shake.
"Oh gods." Ilona gave a terrified sob and threw herself over Ehvren's body. She couldn't leave him, it wasn't in her nature.
Besides, she wouldn't get fat on her own anyway.
One last desperate bid for her magic: she reached, and suddenly the stones beneath her cracked as long-dormant vines shot through the rock, wrapping around them like a protective nest.
Ilona sagged, utterly drained by the spell.
And that's when the cold breeze of the breath of something darker rattle through her vines, reaching the pair nested so deep within. The shadow moved without limitation, and the sudden unseen pawing at his form had him awaken.
Blood was spilling down his nose, there was a sudden pressure on his arms, and on his head. And he was blinded by the netting of vines that in his ignorance and panic, he shot up and tore off their forms.
And he was now exposed to the whirl wind of darkness that clawed at them from a form unseen, batting at them and rattling them with an eager, hungered power.
Ilona screamed and clutched at Ehvren's shoulders, trying to keep him in the protection of the vines but too late.
"Run!" She shrieked, though somehow her voice seemed very small in the darkness. "We have to run!"
"Run?!" Ehvren growled, baring his teeth dangerously at the whirling darkness. "I don't think so." His hand itched at his side as he gripped his blade. "These creature started a fight." He drew his blade. "And I intend to end this."
Ilona whimpered, shivering. She couldn't move. She wanted to, but she was literally frozen with fear.
"Please," she begged quietly, feeling like darkness was muffling her voice, cold panic gripping her throat. "We have to go, please."
"Run?" Ehvren scawled through a chuckle, eyes beginning to glow. "Why run when I can stay to fight?" And as Ehvren stepped forward he looked possessed.his blade began to glow with lines of shining runes.
Ilona shook her head, mute, but didn't move. The vines Ehvren had ripped through rippled and shivered, then started to slowly wrap around her.
She didn't notice, too focused on what was happening in front of her.
There was a moment of frozen tension-
And then the wall broke. A gust tore over them, splitting rocks and clawing at the very seams that barely held the wreckage together. It brought with it a malicious chill, and a darkness that enveloped their world.
But even in the darkness, Ehvren's eyes began to glow, the runes blazing with an electric like shock of light as a glow began to cast out of his body. And just as the roar of the darkness was nearly snuffing them out-
Ehvren raised his blade against the wall of power, then lashed forward, sword splicing into the darkening threat, and cut through it like a bolt of lightning. The darkness shook, trembling the room and sending some of the columns tumbling over. And as it drew back, Ehvren readied his blade again, snarling out words long forgotten in his primal tongue before he sprang again, cutting without mercy untilt he darkness itself bled away from it's blows and the pair were left standing there- the ruins trembling, and beginning to fall down in heavy stone pieces and pillows of dust all around.
The vines Ilona had summoned seemed to have been trying to save her, wrapping around her in a protective cocoon. But as the walls started to shake, then tumble down, rocks shattering, they became a hindrance rather than protection.
"Eh-Ehvren!" She managed to tear herself free, but the already nearly dead plants were darkening, writhing slowly on the shuddering stone floor.
She didn't notice. "Are you alright? Come on, we have to run!" She grabbed his arm and pulled, aiming for the newly created hole in the wall.
Ehvren was breathing hard and heavy, only being torn back into reality when some debris hit against his shoulders. Wincing, he bent down low, trying to avoid more debris and followed after the woman and into the darkness.
Even her adrenaline couldn't completely drown out the cold and Ilona gave a soft cry as her bare feet sunk into drifts of snow. She lurched desperately at Ehvren and did her best to move them forward, though between the shadows of the crumbling ruins and the blinding white of gusts of snow she could barely see.
He cursed relentlessly as the gust of winds cut over them, the sight more blinding than the dark. And it was cold, and made him bare his teeth that looked almost fang like. But even out here, the ground still rocked, and Ehvren was having a hard time keeping himself on his own two feet as the pair dashed away from the ruins.
He stumbled, catching himself against some fallen ruins as he caught his breath, and peered over his shoulder just enough to watch whatever spokes and spires from her home that lay beneath the earth, crumple in on itself and kick up a wall of blinding dust to join the flurry of snow.
Ilona paused when he did, looking back- a mistake as it turned out.
She was freezing, exhausted, and confused to the point of tears. Seeing her home collapse like so much rubble just about did her in. Her knees gave out and she buried her face in her hands, shivering as the wind whipped snow around her, tugging at her thin nightdress.
He was just about to keep moving on, when a few steps had him faltering and turning to see the woman collapse. He hissed a curse and stumbled to her side.
"Hey... hey... girl," he couldn't for the life of him, recall her name. "What are you doing? We can't stay here."
He shivered, teeth chattering as he looked around. The entire place reeked of something ancient, something dark and cold.
Drawing in shaky breaths in an effort to hold back tears, Ilona forced herself to her feet, shivering violently.
"Wh-where do we go?" She looked around. The entire landscape has changed from her memories, and the howling wind and snow certainly didn't help.
Irritated, Ehvren snapped back.
"I thought you knew the way!"
"I did!"
She looked around again. "But...but everything's different now. I don't..." Her shoulders were shaking and she was starting to lose feeling in her extremities. She looked up, trying to figure out where they were by the position of the nearly cloud-covered sun.
"South. We need to go south."
"South?" he looked around, but looked frazzled. "Which way would be south!?"
"Um..." She twisted one way, then the other, her attention focused on the weak light above as she tried to judge the setting sun's position.
"That way," she said after a moment, hoping she sounded more decisive than she felt.
He gave a snort, glad she finally chose a direction before he began to stomp through the ever steeping snow. This cold white ash sure was annoying, and he'd be glad to be done with it once they were far, far away from this dumb place.
"So.. how far will we have to travel," he grumbled. The sooner they were out of here, the better!
"I... I don't know." She shivered violently and wrapped her arms around her body. She was starting to lose feeling in her toes already. "I need to find my people. They must have gone south, but-"
Her eyes flicked back to the ruins they'd left behind. "I don't know how long ago that was."
"Long ago?" his own nose was beginning to burn, and run with snot. It was annoying, and he wiped the snot off on the back of his hand. "Well, how long had you been sleeping?" And why? But he didn't care to ask the second part.
"I don't know." Ilona shook her head. Gods she was getting sick of saying that. "It- it was only supposed to be until they found a cure. Evidently that didn't happen."
"Cure?" he made a face. "What's that?"
Asking questions at least helped him forget about the snow he was stomping through. It made an interesting nose, a nice heavy crunch beneath his boots. He decided he liked that, even if the snow itself was annoying.
"My- my magic." She could barely get the words out her teeth were chattering so hard. The wind felt like it was cutting into her bones.
Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to leave her in that castle in nothing but a nightgown?
"My m-magic is inf-f-fected."
"Infected?" Ehvren paused to look at her funny. "Is that why you're stuttering? You're sick?" She sounded silly if you asked him.
She glowered at him balefully. "I'm n-not sick. M-m-my magic is. I'm st-st-st-stuttering b-because it's c-cold." In fact, her already pale skin was starting to take on a bluish tint in the chill, though luckily it wasn't such a color that she was worried about frostbite quite yet.
"What?" he barked. "You're magic is sick?" He looked at her as if she were some kind of crazy person, and to add a little salt to it, he pointed at her clothing as she stuttered her last remark.
"Then why are you wearing that out here in this cold, white ash!?"
I mean he could see everything and knew just exactly how cold she was and oh....
but it wasn't too bad of a view, now that he kept looking at her.
"Well it's c-certainly n-not by ch-ch-choice!" Ilona snapped back, choosing not to respond to his question about her magic just yet. "I d-didn't exactly have t-time to-"
Her voice cut off as she realized he was staring at her. Competent diplomat she may be- usually- but she'd been sheltered enough growing up that she honestly didn't know what he was so fascinated by. "Wh-why are you looking at m-me like that?"
"What?" he blinked and looked at her face, then instantly turned red. He looked away.
"What? What are you talking about? I wasn't... I wasn't looking at anything!"
Even as he stole another quick glance at her....
"Y-yes you are," she persisted almost petulantly. "You're st-staring at m-m-me."
Another shiver ran through her and she closed her eyes, actually swaying on her feet. She was just so godsdamned cold, it was painful.
"That.. that's because you're.. you're.. you're talking funny!" came his deflated reply.
Ilona snapped back, "Of c-c-course I am!" She huddled in on herself as tight as she could and glared at him balefully. "G-gods and demons, h-how are you not bloody f-f-freezing?" she demanded in a combination of exasperation and a sort of envy for his apparent immunity to the cold.
"What?" he was taken back, but looked down at his attire, then at her. "That's because I've got way more clothing on.."
Oh, right, that much was obvious.
"I mean it's like you got nothing on."
Totally not what he wanted to say!
She suddenly flushed, realizing he was right. While of course she'd been aware of her lack of clothing, with the speed at which everything had been happening since she'd woken up it didn't dawn on her how inappropriate her attire was.
"I-I- well, that's- there's r-r-really not m-much I can do ab-bout that," she muttered, wrapping her arms tighter around her body. "Oh g-gods, just- please let's find sh-shelter. I'm so c-c-cold..."
Ehvren cringed, and couldn't believe what he was doing as he grabbed onto the smaller woman and yanked her up against his body, throwing his cloak around her.
"Fool," he growled lightly, holding her close. "You keep this up and you'll turn into a Cold Ash Princess." Rather than.. princess of whatever the hell she said she was princess of.
"Oh-!" Ilona gasped, eyes widening in surprise. No one had ever touched her so informally before except her parents- well, she supposed he had, when they were running for their lives, but that seemed a bit different.
But she was too damn cold to care. Her arms went around his middle, under the cloak, and she actually stepped up onto the toes of his boots to get her bare feet out of the snow. "Th-th-thank you," she murmured, pressing her freezing nose into his collar. Then a small, almost disjointed smile tugged at her lips.
"Snow. It's c-called snow."
She wasn't the only one feeling awkward. Ehvren tensed up to the point he stopped walking and just .. kind of held her there, not knowing what else to do. She was so cold. He cringed at knowing she was in distress. But why should he care? Growling a bit, he moved to rub his arms up and down he rback and arms.
"By the heartless, we need to get you like a suit of fire.. or something," he went on, lamely, but didn't stop trying to keep her close. She was shivering like some frightened animal.
But it was then he caught her statement.
He cocked a brow and peered down at her with a long frown.
"Snow?" he looked at her, then looked out before them, to where the cold, white ash fluttered down like heavy feathers from the sky.
"Yes." She smiled and tilted her head back a bit to see his face, still shivering violently but gradually feeling his shared warmth start to sink into her skin. "Snow. The...white ash. It's called sn-snow."
Another shiver and she ducked her head back against his chest, clutching at him for warmth with a shudder.
He went quiet and continued to hold her. And it seemed like he was doing that for forever. But she was still shivering.
"We can't travel like this," he murmured, looking back out to the white ash..... the snow.
"I know." At least her chattering had lessened somewhat. "If we can just...get somewhere where I can get p-proper clothes..."
She sighed, looking up at him again with flakes of snow catching in her silvery lashes. "I'm s-sorry. You should probably just go, go s-south. I'll only slow you down." Maybe her magic wasn't so far gone that she wouldn't be able to light a signal fire or something.
His face skewed at her suggestion.
"What? And let you freeze to death?"
Even he wasn't so heartless, and it pissed him off she'd suggest it.
"No." An dhis hands moved, and suddenly, she was scooped up into his arms.
"I'll just carry you."
He was getting tired of just waiting.
Ilona gasped softly and clutched at his shoulders. "Y-you don't have to-"
Oh what was the point? She'd die if he just left her on her own. She tucked her head against his chest and held on tighter. "Thank you."
She was quiet a moment, then murmured, "D-don't let me sleep." That was bad, right? She remembered learning that, if a person was too cold and they fell asleep they wouldn't wake up.
"What?" WHat kind of an order was that!? It made him irritable and he shifted her weight as he began to walk. "I'm already carrying you," he went on, grumpily before growling, "But fine, I guess I can try to make sure you don't sleep." Geeze, you think him just carrying her would have been enough....
"Thank you, Ehvren," she murmured, hearing the irritation in his voice but simply too tired and cold to care. "Thank you..."
Another few more moments of quiet, then in an effort to keep herself focused she piped up, "How did you find this place? Fine me?"
This snow stuff, he was beginning to realize, was really quite obnoxious, and part of him would rather deal with the terrors inside the broken down palace than this. At least his holding her seemed to help them both, after all, inside the confines of his cape they were both sharing some much needed warmth. Too bad it couldn't protect his face from the nasty, icy whipped winds that bit at his face.
Her question brought him away from his frustrations, if only temporarily as he frowned.
"I don't know." The reply came out as a sort of growl. "I just.. sort of... was here." He felt lame for saying it, but it was the truth. "I don't... remember much." Yeah, adding that bit made him feel even stupider.
"Oh." Suddenly a few things clicked into place. "You have amnesia? Memory loss?" A particularly strong gust made her cling to him a little tighter and she almost unconsciously twisted to hide her face against his chest.
"What do you remember?" she asked, voice slightly muffled.
Ehvren felt really uncomfortable over all of these questions, mostly due to the fact he didn't know the answers.
"No! I don't have any disease!" he snapped, growing irritated. "I'm just cold." As if that were the real reason....
"How long do you think we need to walk?"
Or he walk... He was doing all the work, after all.
Ilona rolled her eyes. "Amnesia is n-not a disease. It's nothing t-to be ashamed of."
How long did they need to walk? She had no idea how long it would take them to get out of...well, she supposed the lands they were traveling over were no longer considered part of her kingdom. Days, probably.
But there must be somewhere they could rest, get out of the cold... She twisted her neck to peer around, squinting through the wind. "W-wait."
She closed her eyes, then opened them again, looking at the land again, memory overlaying the ice and snow with grass and trees and...
"There." She pointed toward a small mound in the snow set under what looked like a dead willow tree, or at least a hibernating one. "Th-there should be a c-cave, we can get out of the cold for a b-bit."
"Cave?" he looked around dumbly, moving in a circle. "Where? I don't see anything." Which irritated him.
She wriggled out of his arms, squeezing his shoulder lightly in silent gratitude as she did. Gods, it was so cold out of his grip, she'd actually almost forgotten.
"H-here...I hope." She knelt and started digging in the snow, shuffling a few feet to the left until- "Ah!"
The snow gave way easily into what looked like little more than a large hole in the ground. Beaming, the frozen princess twisted to slide into the hole feet first. "Come on!"
Ehvren just stared, blinking as she dug at the snow.
"What.. what are you doing?!" he asked, looking around then bending over her. When he saw the hole she made, his face twisted quizzically. And then, she was all happy and..
"Hey wait!" His eyes went wide. Did she just jump into some icy hole in the ground!?
He grit his teeth, looking down.
"HEY!" his voice echoed, and he shivered. "Where... Where the hell did you go!?"
"Come on, get in! It's warm in here- the drop's not far, just bend your knees," Ilona tried to urge him to follow her.
Against what seemed to her like all odds, the hot springs buried underground had remained all these years. The relatively small hole that served as an entrance and led to a sort of downward slope of stone was set in the ceiling of the caverns, the gently steaming pools and streams that laced the floor heated the place to an almost comfortable temperature.
Certainly livable, at least.
With almost a sob of relief, Ilona hurried to the water and slipped her toes in, crying out in pain as her numb feet started to regain feeling.
He couldn't see, nor really believe, that things were okay or it was a good idea to just go inside!
"You.. hey!" He thought he heard her screaming.. in pain? "HEY!" he growled. "What's going on? Get.. you get out of there! What if the earth just swallows you up!?"
Would it be his fault if it did? He bit his fist at the thought.
Sighing softly as the warmth started to seep through her, Ilona forced herself away from the spring and moved back toward the hole. She clambered awkwardly halfway up the slope so she could peer up at Ehvren and offer a reassuring smile.
"Really, it's fine. This place has lasted...a long time, it won't just collapse on us." She reached out into the cold to him. "Come on. Trust me."
Trust? He bristled, but then shivered as a sharp wind cut through his clothes. What did he have to lose? And she ... seemed okay. so he closed his eyes and jumped- dropping clean into the opening and unceremoniously tumbling down ontop of her, and as they came to a stop at the foot of the springs, their heads cracked together as he moaned in pain.
Ilona's eyes widened and she tried to scramble out of the way, but she wasn't quick enough. They tumbled across the stone and she gave a rather undignified shriek when their heads clonked together.
She tried to twist out from under him, rubbing her forehead and blinking in an effort to clear the tears out of her eye. "Owowowowow- you okay?"
Ehvren groaned and rubbed at his head and pushed himself up.
"Does it look like I'm alright? Your thick head bashed off of mine!" he growled, not realizing he was kinda pinned over her like a dog.
"And that's my fault? You jumped on top of me!" Ilona glowered at him and wriggled again, but she realized he had her rather effectively pinned without even seeming to notice. "My head hurts too, you know," she added in a rather petulant mumbled.
"Yeah but.. You.. you told me too!"
Why would she say to do that and then intentionally keep herself in the way?!
"I thought you'd just slide gently down- would you please get off of me?" she finally exclaimed in exasperation, giving up her efforts to free herself and pouting up at him unconsciously.
He scowled and moved to get off of her.
"You didn't say to be gentle!" he growled. "Getting down here seemed urgent." He continued to scowl, rubbing at his head as he looked around. The place felt... strangely hot and his skin was growing sweaty and clammy, quick.
"What is this place... why is it so different than the cold ash.. er I mean snow up there?"
"It's a hot spring." Ilona shuffled back from him, then twisted to sink her feet back into the warm water with a happy sigh. "A spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater that rises from the crust- er, the deeper earth."
She was essentially quoting her classes- she'd asked her tutor once how the water here was warm and that was the answer she'd been given. "Some of them can be too hot- dangerously hot- but this one is a good temperature for bathing."
Ehvren made a face.
"What... what do you mean? Geo-therma... what?"
"Er...the..." She frowned, trying to think of how best to explain it. "Well, the further underground you go, the hotter it gets. Water underground gets heated, and then travels back up to the surface quickly enough that it...stays warm. Ah, I'm pretty sure that's how it works anyway."
She gave him a rather sheepish smile and slipped a little further into the water, hiking the skirt of her nightgown up around her thighs. "Now, if you'd be so kind, could you turn away for a bit, Prince Ehvren? I don't think I've had a proper bath in- I don't know how long."
He was still making a face, lower lip jutting out.
"What? Why?" Did she think she could just boss him around. She said it herself, he was a prince! He folded his arms over his chest. "I'm fine right where I am."
Ilona's cheeks went pink and she frowned at him. "While I appreciate all your help, I'm not so appreciative that I'd offer you a...peep show, or whatever."
It felt weird even just saying that.
Unorthodox as the situation may have been- and despite the fact that her kingdom appeared to have dissolved into snow- she was still a princess, and held the moral values of one.
But she also really wanted that bath. She glanced around, searching for an outcropping of rock that may hide her from view.
"Peep show?" Ehvren's face was one of true confusion and disgust. "What are you going on about? Just talk normal!" He was growing impatient and gave a stomp of his foot.
Oh fine! If he wanted to take things so literally, she'd be literal.
"I'm not stripping in front of you!" Ilona exclaimed, exasperated. "I need to take my nightgown off to bathe, and I don't want you to see me naked!" Her face was positively scarlet now.
Her face was scarlet...
and now, so was his.
"What!?" he barked, eyes going wide. "Why would you- Why would I-"
ARGH! He turned around abruptly.
"Just hurry up and get naked then!"
"Thank you," she snapped, still blushing. She waited until his back was turned before she quickly pulled her nightdress over her head and tossed it onto the dryer rocks, followed by the clinks and chiming of her jewelry, then slipped into the water and hurried behind a small outcropping.
It wasn't a perfect cover, she could still see Ehvren and he could probably see her, at least from the shoulders up, but it was better than nothing.
"Alright, you can look now," she mumbled.
"What?" he was going to look, but didn't. "What do you mean? Did you get undressed, bathed and dressed again already?" He made a face. "What kinda magic do you have anyway?"
She rolled her eyes heavenward and muttered, "Gods give me strength." Louder, she said, "It will take me a while to bathe, I can't expect you to keep standing there the whole time. I'm...mostly hidden, just don't- don't stare at me or anything and we'll be fine."
"What?" his face went scarlet. "If you're not done.. why should I turn around? I mean if I turn around, I'm going to end up looking at you." He felt so hot. Why was it so damn hot in here. he shifted where he stood. "I'd rather be up in the cold," he muttered. He felt like even if he were to shed his clothing, he'd still be too hot in a place like this.
"Suit yourself." She shrugged and ducked her head to scrub at her hair, then surfaced with a sharp breath and added, "But things will go faster if you get your bath now too. At least then you'll be focused on getting clean, not me."
"Bath?" his face skewed again as he was taken back. "What do you mean... you expect me... Are you expecting me to bath in that.. that... water... with ... you?"
Aaaaaaand her blush was back. "Not with me! There's plenty of space in here, find your own outcropping to hide behind and...wash up."
"What? Why would I hide when I wash?" This girl was crazy. "There's nothing to hide! I'm not some repulsive gollum!" And he began to furiously work at the ties of his cape.
"Oh-!" Ilona turned, putting her back to him with flaming cheeks. "Fine, lets just- hurry up. Please."
She scrubbed at her hair and skin, cleaning what felt like centuries off her body.
He tossed his cape away and saw her looking away.
"HEY! WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AWAY!? YOU'D BETTER NOT FIND ME REPULSIVE!" And angrily he began to yank off the rest of his clothing, tripping over his pants before he fell, face first into the water.
"I don't! I'm trying to afford you some modesty- Ehvren!"
She whirled when she heard the splash and quickly splashed through the water to his side. Oh gods- if he had no memory what if he couldn't swim? What if he drowned. "Oh no oh no oh no," she muttered, grabbing his shoulders and trying to pull his head up out of the water.
He stumbled with her help. The waters weren't that deep, but enough that their lower halves were basically covered in the steaming waters. And as he coughed out water, he groaned and lifted his head, face now in her chest as he paused a moment, eyes going big.
Then he jerked away suddenly, finding himself shoving her aside, and as a result, she'd be thrown under the water herself. His eyes were wild now, his posture stiff, and it took him a moment to realize what he just did before he stomped forward, grabbed at her wrists and yanked her out of the water.
"What- what are you trying to do now?" he growled, face red as he felt himself getting riled up and frustrated. "You ran away from me, afraid of being naked but now you're all over me? Do you want to mate with me or something?"
And his face turned even redder after asking the question-
and if she'd look down...
She'd see he was clearly ready and wanting such a suggestion!
But hey, it wasn't his fault! She came to him naked! And let him get so close he could almost taste her tits!
Ilona was shoved underwater and pulled back up too quickly to really realize what was happening, sputtering and gasping. It was only when they were standing practically nose to nose that what had just happened actually registered and- oh dear gods!
"M-mate?! No!" She tried to skitter back, crossing her arms over her chest and blushing down to her navel. She really didn't want to, but her eyes flickered down-
Gulp.
"I just- I thought maybe you'd hurt yourself- I didn't mean to-" she slammed her eyes shut and whipped around. "Oh gods oh gods oh gods..."
And then he got red because he got angry.
"HEY! WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AWAY!? I'M NOT UGLY, DAMN IT!" he roared, and grabbed her by her shoulder and forced her to turn around and look at him. "AND LOOK WHAT YOU MADE HAPPEN!" And he pointed down to his erection, which, on occasion, would curiously poke it's head out from the waters. "Now I need to mate, and you got me all like this.... So we should do it!" He gave her a shake, and that's when he smelled....
"And I can smell it on you!" he went on, pointing an accused finger at her face. "You want it too!"
"I did no such thing!" Ilona squirmed in his grip, a little afraid now. "And you don't need to do anything! I'm not going to- to mate just because you can't handle yourself!"
She squirmed again, but honestly he was too strong for her. And by now her blush had spread to her toes, because as much as she wanted to deny it- he was right. When he wasn't yelling at her, he was actually very attractive, very...male.
Not to mention very, very naked.
He snarled in her face, but could feel the fear as well. He didn't like fear. It was a sign of weakness, and not a good scent when it mingled with desire. He shoved her away and stood back, scowling.
How long had it been since he'd had a good mate?
Grumbling, he turned around and folded his arms.
"Fine, we won't mate." But his body was protesting at that. "You don't smell like the good kind of mating smell anyway," he added in a mutter.
"Excuse you?" Now it was her turn to be perhaps irrationally offended. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"
It wasn't like she wanted him to "mate" her, as he put it, but the implication that she was not desirable enough to do so made her rather disproportionately angry.
Which was ridiculous. A princess dos not behave in such a manner.
"Your pheromones are all wrong," he told her angrily. "I can't mate with some woman who smells as fearful as you do!" Bleck! That was just a gross notion!
"Of course I'm afraid!" She was shaking a bit now as she stumbled back through the water. "You- you could- I don't know you! If you really wanted me, you could just...take me. I'm not strong enough to stop you."
Magic crackled in her veins and she clenched her hands in an effort to calm it.
Ehvren glared at her now, feeling his own veins race with rage.
"Yeah? Well of course I could! But who would want to mate with someone so weak?!" He looked her over, giving a sniff. "I bet you don't even know how to do it, either! I bet you're still a virgin anyhow!"
And for some reason, that pissed him off more than it should have.
So red she was certain she could melt the snow outside in her cheeks, Ilina snapped back, "Well what do you expect?! I'm a princess, I can't just go around- mating with whomever I please."
The magic refused to calm, racing just under her skin, and she shouted, "And I am NOT WEAK!"
The water around her exploded, up and out, covering her in a protective wall of liquid before splashing back to the stone. Ilona gasped, drained, and staggered toward the shore, swaying with sudden fatigue.
"Yeah!? Princess!? You know you're supposed to mate with a prince anyway!"
And before he could say anything else, a wave of her magic nearly bowled him over, but something unseen deflected it, and it simply rushed passed him.
He paused a moment in his confusion before staring at her as she swooned towards the water's edge.
Ilona pulled herself out of the water and had to pause, curled in on herself while she panted.
"I'm...supposed to only mate with...my husband," she gasped out eventually. "Which you...most certainly are not."
His expression fell a little at how she was reacting. Was she that repulsed by him? It irked him, but then at her comment, he was taken aback.
"Your husband?"
So she was married.
"Yes." Shivering despite the heat of the gentle steam, she pulled her nightgown on- ignoring her still damp skin- and tried to wring out her hair. "My husband. The position for which there are- were- many candidates," she added grumpily.
That had always been her least favorite part of royal duty.
Ehvren made a face, not quite getting what she meant.
"How many husbands do you have!?"
Ilona glanced up at him, surprised. "None. My marriage will be- would have been a political alliance. My parents were waiting to judge the best match when..."
She trailed off and glanced away, gathering up the cuffs and bangles she'd discarded when she got in the water.
He turned to her and grit his teeth.
"So what are you getting all upset about?!"
She stared at him. "Seriously? I'm upset because you are perfectly capable of raping me!" she shouted in exasperation and mild panic. "I'm upset because you don't seem to understand that mating as you put it is not a simple act. I'm upset because I don't know who you are or what happened to my home. I'm upset because I'm tired, and cold, and hurt, and the only person I can turn to seems to only be able to think about his- his many impulses and I just want to go home!"
Ilona backed a few paces away and folded her arms, chin up defiantly. Her voice still shook in a way that made her wince internally, but her eyes were steely.
Ehvren grit his teeth. Flustered, he could only stutter the response, "you're not the only one cold! This white ash is So cold it feels like its biting me and makes me itch all over!" which he was easily demonstrating by scratching furiously at his neck then arm.
"Then build a damn fire!" Ilona spat back.
Realizing there were no materials available to do that, she huffed out a breath and relented, "Fine, I'll do it. Move back."
She cupped her hands and summoned her magic, calling a small flame into being between her palms. Once she was satisfied, she murmured a barrier spell under her breath and set the fireball down on the stone. The light and heat spread until the flame touched her small, green-glowing barrier, then calmed into a cheery little blaze.
And though mesmerized (a little!), Ehvren wasted no time getting as close to the fire as he could, shaking all the while.
Ilona blinked at him as she huddled on the other side of the fire. "You really were cold," she murmured almost absently.
"Who wouldn't be?!" He snapped. Teeth chatter, he shook his head as if to shake off the cold. "This place is awful." He wrinkled his nose. It tingled as it began to thaw, when suddenly...
"Ahhh chooooo!!!" - a mighty sneeze.
The princess jumped slightly, startled by the noise.
"Well- why aren't you wearing warmer clothes?" she asked, head tilted and brow furrowed. "There should be plenty of villages where you could stop and purchase gear for the snow."
"What? What are you going on about? I just got here! I wasn't prepared for.. for this!" he snarled between chattering teeth.
She stared at him. "You came here from somewhere didn't you? It's not as though you just fell from the sky."
That idea made him mad because he didn't know! He could have fallen from the sky! Growling, he ruffled his hair angrily.
"If I knew that much I'd probably have a better idea what the hell this place even is!" he snapped. "Why would I make up being ignorant?! I'm not some idiot!"
Ilona sighed. She was starting to understand that, at least.
"I never said you were." She settled herself in her damp clothes, tilting her head at him. "Ehvren, what do you remember before the snow? The...white ash?"
Ehvren pursed his lips as he thought, but after a moment he shook his head with a growl.
"Not much of anything...A name... a big castle.... a lot of darkness, maybe just a night time sky... maybe I came from a place where it's always night time..."
It bothered him he couldn't remember! How infuriating!
Her eyes widened slightly. A place where it was always night?
Even in her time, there had been stories of such lands, fae kingdoms and the like, but she'd never put much stock in them. Now...
Well.
"Here." She shifted to the side slightly and patted the ground beside her. "Come sit, and tell me what you remember, from the beginning, properly." At least he wasn't shouting at her anymore.
He shifted from her and gave her an irritable glare.
"What beginning!? I told you, I don't remember much of anything!"
He continued to shiver.
"If you want to talk.. can't we at least get out of this damn cold place!?"
Surely there had to be a place of warmth and no cold ash around here!
"Ehvren..." She sighed and rubbed at her temples. "It's miles to get to the nearest village." At least she thought it was. "It was already getting dark when we came down here. This is the safest place to spend the night."
Her head tilted. "And I'm not asking you what happened before your memories start- I just want to know what you do remember."
He paused a moment to consider that, but the evidence was clear upon his face. And he hated not knowing much of anything.
"I don't know!" he snapped in reply, turning his back to her. "Anything I can think of doesn't make sense and is all jumbled. It makes my head hurt!" Ugh, was he getting a head ache!?
Not knowing what else to do, she reached a hand out to him placatingly. "Then tell me what doesn't make sense," she urged quietly. "Maybe if you talk through it, it'll help."
It was oddly helpful to her to be focusing on someone else's troubles, but she didn't dwell on that.
He bristled at her touch, jerking away.
"Everything! Nothing is familiar and I don't like it! I feel blind or as if I'm choking, but clearly I can see and I'm able to talk so..." He gave a frustrated noise and kept his back to her, body shaking as he tried to swallow it all down but it was so much...
There was so much.
"White.. there's too much white here." he cringed, eyes closed. "And white." His hands were in fists at his side.
"Ehvern, please." She continued to hold her hand out to him, her heart aching just a bit. She hated to see someone in pain- even if he had been difficult to deal with at first. She supposed she could understand it, if that was how he felt.
"Come here, please. Just talk to me."
He didn't see her hand, but he could hear the way she urged him with her voice. He simply shook his head and grew quiet, just a moment before muttering, "I think... I think I came from some place full of darkness.... no sun, no.... snow."
Ilona stood and took a cautious step toward him. "No sun?" she repeated, brow furrowing slightly. "That's...oh, Ehvren, I'm sorry."
Warily, as though approaching a wild animal, she reached her hand out to touch his shoulder, her nightdress clutched tight to her body with her other hand.
Ehvren tensed and jerked away from the touch.
"What? Why are you sorry?"
Ilona snatched her hand back, not wanting to anger him. "I just... That sounds terrible. If you can't remember sunlight, I can't even imagine-"
She shook her head, anticipating anger. "I'm not trying to pity you, Ehvren. I just wish I could help."
Miffed, he simply replied, "Why would it be terrible!? It's just what I remember! Maybe this white stuff is what is really terrible. And you choose to live in it!" he was growling now, and also teeth chattery cold. UGH, he'd never get used to the arctic.
"Ehvren." She sighed tiredly. "Can you just...stop picking a fight for a few minutes?" she begged.
Without thinking, she moved forward to wrap her arms around from behind, sharing warmth. She was tired, and cold, and it was really starting to set in, just what had happened to her.
Just how lon g had she been asleep?
Spirits, she needed human contact.
Ehvren tensed. He had NO idea what was going on. The sensation was strange, and it did things to his body that helped bring out the heat. He didn't mind the heat, but the uncomfortable sensation with it made him growl. But it was a small, petty growl, as he didn't really fight her hug. He bared his teeth.
"I'm not fighting."
He probably sounded like a child. Why was she holding him like that!?
"It's just... cold!"
She couldn't help smiling a bit at that. "I know. That's why I'm hugging you," she chuckled, squeezing him gently for a moment before relaxing her grip again.
With a sigh, she stepped back. "We should get some sleep. Stone isn't exactly comfortable, but if we can wait it out until sunrise, we should be able to get to a town tomorrow."
Hopefully. Who knew how much geography had changed in the time she'd been asleep. Not to mention she was still clad only in a nightgown and a few family heirlooms.
Gods' beards he felt awkward. He hated feeling so out of place. It made him feel vulnerable, and no matter how much he tried to shake it, the feeling stuck like shit to your shoe. When she pulled away, he bared his teeth like an animal, and growled at her suggestion.
"Sleep!?" he scoffed. "What kind of animal could even sleep in this!?"
"Us, apparently." Ilona had decided to take the highroad with this man- with any luck, they could make their way to a town and hopefully part ways as unlikely friends.
Or at least not kill each other.
That would be good.
So she tapped into all her etiquette training, determined to be pleasant. "Just come lay down, okay? It's only a few hours until dawn, we can get moving then"
"What!?" he looked at her as if she were crazy. Then again, he truly thought she was! "I'm not sleeping in this!" He gave broad gestures. There was snow, snow, EVERYWHERE had snow. "It's cold and unpleasant and..." He shook his head as if to shake off the idea. "NO!" came his growled reply, hands shaking into fists. "I refuse to sleep in such a place!"
[Errr...they're in the hot springs still, right? Did I miss something? 0.0]
Ilona closed her eyes. "Look, I know stone isn't exactly comfortable, but if you get closer to the water it's actually pretty warm."
He had almost forgotten he wasn't in the snow, how blind he was in his anger. Pausing, he looked around, angered, but sheepish as well. He gave the water a smack.
"I'm not sleeping in a lake, either!" What if he were to drown!?
"Ehvren, please." She closed her eyes and took a breath. "You don't even have to be near the water. Sleep on the other side of me if you'd prefer." She indicated the open patch of stone on her other side- her body would block the water.
He stood up with an angry slap to the water.
"I don't sleep on water! I'm not some crude fish!" And he stormed his way towards the water's edge.
Another sigh, another bitten back retort. "As you like." With a sharp breath, she rolled onto her side, back to him as she let her eyes slide closed.
"Sleep well, Prince Ehvren," she murmured.
But he couldn't sleep, let alone well. Water was... it wasn't comfortable. And she'd only be able to hear him splash around irritably before he finally moved towards the bank and pulled himself out, uncaring if he was clothed or not. Water spilled everywhere and he found himself growling as he looked down at his pruney hands. He hated the sensation of it, and also the fact his wet body was getting cold by the air.
"This place is the worst," he grumbled, rubbing his hands up and down his arms and looking around, as if to find some sort of magical towel nearby to dry himself off with.
His splashing and grumbling kept her awake, and Ilona sat up slightly with a sigh, glancing at him before realizing he was still naked and ducking her head quickly.
"Sleep on the other side of me, it's drier," she offered quietly. Her hands itched, magic longing to jump from her fingers, but she curled her hands into fists and resisted the urge. Who knew if her magic would burst into chaos again?
"Why do we have to sleep here?" came his complaint again. "Doesn't this place have anywhere that's not wet or freezing?"
"This is the warmest place within a dozen miles," she murmured tiredly. She honestly couldn't understand how he could complain of cold when they had been out in the snow before. And the rock wasn't that damp, not further from the hot springs.
"We can't travel in the dark. We'll get lost, and we'll freeze. Just wait a few more hours."
He kept his arms folded and asked childishly, "Why can't we travel when it's dark? I can see just fine without daylight."
"This is the tundra," she replied sleepily. Well, at least from what she'd seen since waking up that's what it appeared to be now.
"It's not about seeing- if it's dark, it's too cold. We'd freeze to death."
He gave a grumpy grunt.
"Tundra?" he wrinkled his nose. "Well I hate the tundra."
So.. so there!
"That's unfortunate," Ilona muttered. "Maybe you'll feel better after some sleep."
And she was out, exhausted both physically and mentally after the ridiculousness of the past day.
He was going off, muttering about how he didn't like the cold, he shouldn't sleep when...
He blinked over at her as she had grown quite quiet.
"Are you.. are you sleeping?" he asked, daring to approach as he gave her still form a sharp poke.
Utterly exhausted, Ilona barely so much as stirred, murmuring in her sleep and rolling onto her side. Her brow furrowed and she mumbled something unintelligible, one arm tossed over her face.
He could not BELIEVE the woman's audacity! How could she simply fall asleep on him!?
"hey!" he angrily poked her again. "How.. are you really just going to sleep.. Just like that!?"
The princess blinked and groaned. "What? What's wrong?" she mumbled sleepily.
He growled, frustrated.
"You.. you fell asleep!" he accused.
Ilona stared at him. "Yes. I did."
Oh, the nerve of her not to care! He bristled and gave a huff.
"You shouldn't be asleep. In fact, you ought to fall asleep after me!" came his next words, though even he wasn't sure if he meant it. He was in a foul mood, and it seemed he just wanted to be childish.
Didn't he have a right to, though? To be.. childish?
Dear gods.
Was he incapable of thinking of anyone but himself?!
“I am tired,” Ilona snapped. “I am cold, I am hungry, and I am tired. I woke up today to learn that everything—everyone I ever knew or loved is gone. My world is ashes and snow and grief, and I am so fucking tired.”
She rolled onto her side, away from him. “Just...please. Let me sleep.” Her voice was thick with tears, but she refused to let them fall. Princesses didn’t cry in front of strangers.
Well...was he still? If not, close enough.
Ehvren went quiet. His face slowly softened, though he still clung to some of his bristly stiffness. It seemed her words finally struck something within him and he grew quiet as it seemed something was playing within his mind.
When he didn't say anything else, Ilona chances a glance back at him over her shoulder.
He looked...thoughtful.
That was new.
With a quiet sigh, she rolled onto her other side to face him, pillowing her head on her arm as she let her eyes drift closed again. "You should try to get some sleep, too," she whispered, her voice considerably softer now—though the grief and exhaustion were still present beneath the words. She was just too tired to hide it.
He snorted at her suggestion.
"Sleep if you must."
It wasn't that he didn't need it but... he drew his knees closer to his body and stared out distantly.
"I'll keep watch. This place...I don't know if it's safe enough to simply sleep in."
He shifted uncomfortably, looking around, checking out any shadow just in case it might be....
Might be who? Things were a bit foggy. But he wasn't going to admit to her that he too...
Lacked some memories of things.
Perhaps even... much less than she.
This woman? She... (although it a claim) came from another time it seems and what..
he's supposed to just believe it?
He peered over at her.
She had to be lying.
It made the most sense. Perhaps she was toying with him.
But were those... tears?
He looked away, swearing internally.
If she was...
She was a crying liar.
He felt... weird.
Ilona slept fitfully, but at least she slept. And for the first time in thousands of years, she didn't dream.
She still woke with tears on her face, her throat tight and her breath coming in shallow gasps. It took her a moment to realize she'd been crying in her sleep. Perfect.
She sat up quickly, swiping at her eyes and trying to swallow back sniffles. It would be just her luck if her ornery companion was still awake.
Wait.
How long had she slept?
Sudden panic overtook her and she scrambled clumsily to her feet. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as he breathing tiptoed toward a frantic panting. What if--what if the spell wasn't fully broken? What if she had been entombed in this place, trapped again? What if--what if--
"Ehvren?" Her voice shook as she spun, trying to find him. He was surly and inappropriate and sometimes a little terrifying, but in that moment she desperately needed to see something, anything to reassure her that she had not been lost again.
He stayed awake.
The. Whole. Night.
Yep, didn't get one single wink of sleep.
How could he? He was tense, on edge, in some location he'd never been before and...
There was some helpless woman sleeping beside him.
At first he watched her angrily, but he spposed she looked nice enough. Better to look at her than the boring cold stuff. But then...
She started to snore. Just an HOUR before she woke up...
and being he hadn't slept all night...
"OH THANK GOD YOu'RE AWAKE!" he snapped, eyes red from lack of sleep.
"You were snoring like a horse."
He would ignore the fact she sounded afraid upon waking up. Or rather.. be simply ignorant to it all together.
Well.
He was still there.
She supposed that was a relief. Of sorts.
Ilona swallowed back a long, heavy sigh and closed her eyes for a moment, then shook her head and opened them. "I apologize if I kept you up," she said with careful, cool blandness, not bothering to correct him. She'd rather he think she was snoring than weeping pathetically in her sleep.
His eyes narrowed at her remark.
"Keep me up? I chose to stay awake." He looked away from her, arms folded across his chest. "We're in a foreign land," he muttered. "Something could have tried to eat our hearts as we slept."
Ilona shot him an arch look, eyebrows raised. "Eat...our hearts," she repeated dubiously. "Well that's certainly...vivid."
And ridiculous. Wasn't it? Or was that just—just something that happened now?
What world had she woken to?
Ehvren snorted. Did she honestly not know? Perhaps she was better off had she continued to sleep! Either way, her reply irritated him as she growled beneath his breath and gave a roll of his shoulders, only to casually catch a moving shadow from the corner of his eye.
At first he thought he was seeing things, as the sun was rising and shadows were slowly dissolving in their length. But then it twitched and moved, not unlike an insect whose antennae were perusing the air. At first he didn't think much of it, but then it began to creep a little closer, and what seemed to be some kind of an insect looked... well.. quite a lot worse!
Without thinking, he grabbed the closest thing to him and THREW it clean at the creature- only to hear an ear splitting shriek as a blur of black lunged at him, and the shadowy mandibles of some creature of dark bit clean INTO his hand!
Yowling, Ehvren shot to his feet, a hand moving to grab at the creature only it dusted clean out of his grip. He swore, scrambling to grab the thing as it suddenly burrowed into a gaping wound the damn thing tore into his hand and was now-
"IT'S IN MY ARM!!!!!!!!!!!" his shriek came as the little insect like creature burrowed beneath his skin and up his arm!
Ilona whipped around toward him, then shrieked.
"What is that thing?!"
The chaos plague in her blood boiled and rose with her magic as the power instinctively sought to protect its host. She cried out, trying to force it down even as she leapt forward to grab Evhren's arm and snatch up the nearest sharp stone.
Whimpering, she drove the point of the rock into his skin just above where the horrid creature was burrowing and dug it out with a sharp jerk of her wrist, sending the thing flying in a spurt of blood.
Her magic roiled again and she staggered back, gasping, arms wrapped around her middle as she struggled to contain the curse and simultaneously rasped, "Kill it, whatever it is, kill it!"
What was that thing!? How DARE she ask him as if he were some expert on-
"HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW!? IT WAS JUST CRAWLING INSIDE my arm!" he shrieked, scrambling off his feet and reaching to pull out the-
What the- when did he have...
A shimmering light and a blade was yanked from a once empty scabbard on his back and, he swung a massive, shimmering dark sword before him.
Confused but enraged, he roared and lunged at the little critter, smashing his sword into the rock and cracking it, while puffs of hot ash seered up from where he hit and the little creature hissed out of the way.
Ilona cried out and stumbled back, catching the tattered hem of her nightgown with one heel and going down hard on her hip. She whimpered in pain, one hand pressed to her lips to try to muffle the sound as she just stared at him with wide eyes.
To her immense relief, the chaos magic seemed to have died down, at least for the moment.
But apparently they had other issues.
"What...what's going on?" she whispered, wide eyed. "Evhren, what is... Who are you?"
Whatever she was squawking, he surely didn't know. He was hell bent on destroying that damned THING that dove into his arm that after he smashed into a few rocks with a hissing, ash inducing puffs- and missed. With a mighty roar, he tore after the thing as it continued to skirt away, and when it made a sharp turn and made a quick charge towards Ilona, Ehvren cried out, "Oh the HELL YOU Don'T." And threw the entire blade at the zooming creature, the dark as night, glittering blade slamming clean throuhg the thing and smashing a crack into the ground just at Ilona's side.
And all that was left of the creature was a writhing split body that snuffed out into a nothingness of dark purple smoke.
The princess gasped, so shocked she genuinely couldn't even scream as she stared at the blade embedded in the stone beside her, and the remains of the creature. She was shaking—certainly not from a chill, the hot springs made sure of that—and her eyes welled up no matter how hard she told them not to.
"That...that..." She gulped in air, feeling her heart racing in her chest. She couldn't take her eyes off the sword. "What...how did...how did you even...?"
She couldn't even form a proper question, unable to process everything that had happened in really o Ly a handful of seconds.
It wasn't until the creature was gone did Ehvren come back to his senses, blinking and staring down at what was once before him. Then his eyes slowly moved onto the sword in his hands, glistening as if made from a thousand nightmare diamonds, shimmering as if created from the very nighttime skies. He turned the blade over, mesmerized by all the unique details- and the fact the shimmering details that the blade was constructed were moving.
If he heard the princess's blubbering, he didn't reply, simply stared for a long moment before the pain in his arm reminded him he had been injured. He looked at his arm, sticky with the flow of blood. Without thinking, he moved to sheath his blade, which, upon the very action it completely disappeared and he was standing there, gripping his arm with a growl.
"You.. you cut me!" came his words, sounding most indignant.
Ilona continued to gape at him.
"Wha— yes! I did! Would you rather I had let it burrow into you?!" she exclaimed after a moment, voice edging toward hysteria.
"Yes!" Came his scream. He grit his teeth... soon realizing, "I mean, No! That thing..." He gripped at his chest, feeling the frantic beating of his heart. "It was..." His face scrunched in confusion. "I don't know." He grimaced. "But something about it..." it was darkly familiar.
"...Ehvren?"
Ilona was watching him warily from several steps away, leaning heavily into her uninjured hip in an effort to alleviate some of the discomfort.
At part of her very much wanted to help him, but she didn't know how; if her magic wasn't infected, it would have been simple enough to heal the wounds to his arm and hand. As it was...
"Ae you alright?" she asked quietly after a few moments, unsure what else she could do or say.
Ehvren tried to shake it off.
"Give me something. There," he pointed at her skirts. "Tear some of that clothe. I need to wrap my wound," he barked.
She stared at him a moment longer, debating, considering. Then she sighed and shook her head, looking away from him.
"I have a better idea. Sit," she said softly, gesturing toward the rock she'd been using to hold herself up as she pushed away from it to limp toward the nearest pool and kneel beside it. Not looking at him, she continued quietly, "Ehvren, I want to help you. I do. If for no other reason than that the two of us seem to be rather stuck with one another for the foreseeable future. You cannot keep demanding things of me. It's unkind."
She gathered up a few handfuls of soft, bluish green moss and sat back. Her magic may not be an option, but years of training under the best herbalists in her kingdom wouldn't be in vain. Glancing back over her shoulder at him, she exhaled slowly and added, "Just ask for my help. I want to give it."
She tore a few strips of fabric from the end of her nightgown as she got to her feet and approached him again with a quiet, "Hold our your arm, let me see."
What she demanded of him made him bristle. It was strange. Here she was admitting to him she wanted to help, and he was at a loss of words. It was as if he only knew how to react to arguments and it was evident internally there was a struggle.
"Why should I sit?" He just had to be difficult. "Can't you see the wound just fine as I stand?!"
Even though he snapped at her, he awkwardly kept his eyes away as he approached and shoved his hand unceremoniously towards her face.
"It hurts and it bleeds." What more did she need to know!
"Shhh." Ilona took his wrist delicately between her fingers and pressed some of the moss into the wound in his hand, then set about wrapping it with one of the strips of cloth. "The moss may sting—its supposed to, it will kill any infection. And it will stop the bleeding better than just cloth. Here."
She pulled him forward slightly so she could get at the incision in his arm and repeat the process. "If you sat, you'd be more comfortable," she noted quietly.
Not to mention her hip was aching, and she much would have rather taken the weight off. She was fairly sure she'd bruised the bone—but she doubted Ehvren would care even if she said it, so she had to hope she could appeal to common sense.
Ehvren grumbled, "Fine. " And sat down abruptly, making his angle to her awkward, which he pretended wasn't as he looked away.
Gritting her teeth, Ilona carefully lowered herself so she could kneel in front of him as she finished bandaging his arm. Her hip and ribs twinged painfully with the movement--wonderful, she hadn't even noticed the bruising to her ribs until that moment--but she tried not to let it show on her face.
"There." She sat back when she'd finished, a quiet sigh of relief escaping her as she leaned into her uninjured side. "If I could use my magic I could have done more, but..." She shrugged. "It will stop the bleeding and prevent infection from setting in."
Ehvren examine to top then underside of his arm with a frown. Then he eyed her suspiciously. "Your magic just completely gone or something?" He asked, wriggling his fingers then fidgeted with the bandages.
"I—"
She paused. Swallowed. Her impulse was to lie—it was what she'd been doing from the moment she learned she was infected—but... Hells, the world had clearly moved on. Did anyone even remember the plague?
"No." She took a breath. "No, I still have it, but it's...sick. Infected. I can't use it." She knew as time went on her magic would begin acting without her input, but she decided not to mention that just yet. And clearly Ehvren wasn't a mage—or at least not precisely a mage—or his magic would have been infected by now.
He made a face.
"And resting for a few thousand years didn't fix it?" Or whatever her excuse was.
Ilona took a slow, intentional breath. “No,” she murmured, looking away from him. “It didn’t. There—“ She bit her lip. How much should she say? She didn’t even really know if…
“There was a…a theory, one of our court sorcerers had. A way to end the chaos plague. But I have no idea if anything ever came of it.”
Although…well, her kingdom may have fallen, but clearly there was still a world that existed, right? Even if all she’d seen of it thus far was snow and ash… But there must be something else out there, if Evhren’s mere existence was any indication. Which meant the plague must have been stopped somehow, eventually.
Didn’t it?
Ehvren snorted and muttered, "Only thing that happened is your kingdom is gone and in ruins." He frowned. "At least you can remember it."
She flinched back as though the words were a physical blow, then jerked her face away in an effort to hide the welling of tears in her eyes.
"Why--" She gritted her teeth, hating the way her voice shook when she wanted it to hold firm, to be angry. "Why do you have to do that? Why do you have to say the cruelest thing you can think of--"
She cut herself off and turned to put her shoulder to him, dashing angrily at her eyes with the back of her hand. One breath, another, and she somehow managed to regain enough control of herself to say quietly, "Well, seeing as I have no other options available to me...I suppose I will be going to see if there was any truth to that theory. If that answers your question."
He didn't like the way she made him feel. His insides felt wormy, sour and it reflected easily on his face. He was about to tell her he only spoke truth, but the feeling made him Ill again and he stilled his tongue.
He turned from her, burning in an unknown shame.
"Atleast you have memories." He muttered. He felt useless here and sadly, as confused as she. But part of him was actually jealous. she atleast had some semblance of memories.
Ilona didn’t respond to that. She was still hurt, and grieving, and she knew if she tried to keep talking about this she was either going to start crying properly or say something cutting. And that was no behavior for a princess.
Even one without a kingdom.
“Do you think you can travel?” she asked quietly, sniffing a bit and swiping away another few trickling tears. “We should begin moving soon.”
Ehvren bristled at the thought, frown deepening.
"Travel? Out there?" he asked, voice growing louder.
Ilona had to physically bite her tongue to keep from shouting.
"Yes," she said, forcing herself to speak slowly and calmly. "Because our other option is to starve to death in this cave. So, travel. Out there."
He wasn't a fan of this idea, but what other choice did they have?
"Do you even know where we would be going?" He asked, still bristly.
Ilona sighed and started running her fingers through her hair, pulling the flaxen mass of it over one shoulder so she could begin braiding it loosely. "Vaguely? South. I know where the natural landmarks to guide us should be, but...clearly the world has changed."
She sighed again and glanced up at the small bit of light that filtered down through the hole they'd used to get down to the hot springs. "With any luck we will be able to find a town before too long, and I can acquire a proper map."
And maybe learn a bit about just what had happened in the time she'd been asleep.
He didn't like it, but what other choice did they have? And that strange creature that attacked them... if more lived near this place, the further from it ,he told himself, the safer he'd be.
"Fine. Whatever. Let's go while we have daylight." He'd rather not trudge in the cold, white ash in the dark. Who knew what monsters might be lurking beneath.
"We need to prepare anything... for travel?"
Ilona drew her bottom lip between her teeth, shaking her head. "Unless you have anything...no."
All she had was her tattered nightdress. She didn't even have shoes.
Damnit.
With a sharp sigh, she bent to rip a few more strips of fabric from her hem, then wrapped them as best she could around her feet. It would have to do.
As she straightened up, her eyes caught on the strange moss she'd used to help bandage Ehvren's arm. Her stomach dropped. In a matter of minutes, the moss had started to die.
I have to get out of here.
"We should hurry," she said, hoping she didn't sound as panicky as she felt. She tried to lock down her magic, but there was only so much she could do to contain the curse.
It was only then that Ehvren really noticed (or cared) how poorly dressed she really was.
"Hey wait a minute..." He placed a hand to her shoulder to halt her. "We can't travel like this. " He gestured to her from. "You'll freeze!" Atleast he had his armor and leathers underneath- he tensed. "You.. you dont have anything?" Akrhough it was obvious she did not, he sounded angry as he growled. "Just.. hold up a second," and he began to work at removing the armored pieces along his arm, which caused the moss to fall completely off and reveal the wound had completely vanished.
Ilona flinched under his touch, then watched in mute bemusement a he started to remove his armor.
What in the name of the heavens was he doing? They didn't have time for this!
"Ehvren, what--?" she started, but cut herself off quickly. Whatever he was doing, she'd grown wary enough of his temper not to try to argue with him.
"Just look away", he grumbled, armor quickly dumping into a pile, leaving him in slim robes lined over leather that hugged tightly to his thick, muscled body. "Unless you're planning to glimpse me naked, " he added, mocking her as if she'd dared. A second later he was half undressed and tossing some leather breeches and the top half of his robe her way.
"Put those on," he grumbled, redressing in what underclothes he had left. "Its not much but it better than nothing." He turned his back to her and reached for his armor.
She was momentarily tempted to point out that she had already seen him naked--inadvertent as it might have been--with their dip in the springs, but she again held her tongue.
When he tossed the pile of fabric at her she stared at it in confusion for a moment before his offer actually processed. She blinked.
"Oh. Thank...thank you."
As quickly as she could, she pulled the clothes on. They were too big, and smelled very distinctly of moss and sweat and something that she assumed was just Ehvren, but they were warm, and she didn't exactly have the opportunity to be picky.
"I'm ready," she murmured, offering him a small smile when he turned back again and repeating, "Thank you. Really. I mean it, thank you."
Yeah.. sure. It was a nice thing that he'd done. But he wasn't prepared for the consequences. She kinda looked cute with his clothes half hanging off of her slimmer form. And then she was thanking him and he felt even more out of place, out of his skin.
He turned away with a scowl.
"We're just helping each other out," his words, sounded almost protesting. He readjusted his own clothing and armor, which was a lot less comfortable now without all of the layers yet-
Well...
Okay.. so he wasn't completely heartless. There was no way they would both survive the cold, let alone she- in just her night shift dress!
Ilona found herself smiling a bit, despite how close she still felt to tears, and she ducked her head to hide it.
Maybe...maybe he wasn't so bad.
"Alright. Ready to move?" She glanced up at their way out again and frowned. "I think...you may have to lift me out. And then I can help pull you up?"
Ehvren blinked. He looked up to where they needed to go then back down to her.
"Don't take offense to it, Princess, but I doubt you could pull me up."
"Well...no, probably not," she admitted, frowning in thought. "But I could, um...fashion a rope? Use that."
Though the only thing she had to use for such a purpose was her already tattered nightgown... Still, it was better than nothing, and she didn't have to rip it apart to use it to help pull him up, right? She could always just...use it as an outer layer.
Gods. How had this become her life?
Ehvren sighed, irritably.
"Look, you're obviously much weaker than I. I'll have to just carry you out of here," he said, as if it was an obvious answer. He looked for the best spot to climb as he was informing her of this great plan, before turning to her and tossing her over his back like a sack of potatoes.
"Just.. hold on," he said, and attempting the climb with one arm. Well, one arm and his elbow that was part of the arm holding onto her- occasionally he'd use that for purchase. But somehow he managed to move, climbing not unlike a spider- as if he were built to move and climb against such odds.
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on one sec--Ehvren!"
Ilona protested--loudly--but she knew better than to struggle once he'd started climbing. She had no idea how he was doing this, but she didn't want to wriggle and cause them both to fall.
That didn't stop her from sighing heavily and muttering reproachfully, "You could have asked you know, instead of just grabbing me."
He growled.
"Can you stop yelling in my ear? How in the seven Gods am I supposed to focus on climbing if I can't even hear myself think!"
She wanted to protest that she hadn't been yelling, but was absolutely positive that he would just take that as further distracting noise. So she just hugged and folded her arms, looking down at the rock beneath them and praying silently that he would be able to pull them both out.
He growled lower in his throat, muscles tense, pulling but he was determined. Perhaps that was all that was needed, the purity, the clear cut desire- and it felt as if the weight was lifted and his climb came much more with ease. He couldn't have known he had tapped into something deeper, a strangeness seeming to eminante him as he fell into a heap once they reached the top.
"Oh!"
Ilona just barely managed to roll clear as Ehvren collapsed, then quickly scrambled over to him and reached toward him automatically. "Holy hells, are you alright?"
There was a subtle lapping of black flames around his body that, in the same moment they might have been seen, were gone.
Ehvren growled and sat up, looking confused as he raked a hand through his mismatched colored hair.
"Yeah... actually I feel just fine. " He looked down, noting he should have felt more exhausted from his efforts, but he wasnt even winded.
Ilona's eyes widened as black flame nearly bit her fingers—and her own magic suddenly roiled in her gut, then lashed out.
She fell back with a small cry, desperately trying to redirect the power, but she had no control. Her Magic's natural impulse to protect itself combined with the chaos curse in her blood was a potent combination. There was a bright flash of blue-green light, then—
Nothing.
Ilona blinked, looking around. There was...nothing. No effect from her magic or Ehvren's that she could see.
Huh.
Okay...
"Are—" She cleared her throat and looked to her companion, wide-eyed. "Are you sure? That wasn't—I've never seen magic like that before." In several ways.
And perhaps she was the only one that had. He made a face at her own light display and shrugged.
"Well don't look at me. I'm not the one with cursed sleeping powers."
Any warm, fond feelings Ilona may have been developing quickly cooled. She took a breath, closed her eyes, bit her tongue, then forced herself to her feet.
“Right. Of course. Well then.” She looked out over the snow, trying to judge the time and direction by the sunlight filtering down through clouds. “South is…that way. We should try to cover as much ground as we can before dark.”
Ehvren nodded. Although he wasn't familiar with this place, he naturally moved into the lead, trudging through heavy snow with long strides. The skies were cloudy and the winds were wicked, whipping at their bodies like stinging needles of ice.
They hadn't gotten far before Ehvren took a step and suddenly fell face forward into a deep pit of snow. A moment later, he was snarling as he stood up, brushing off the cold snow clinging to his body frantically.
"Ugh, I think this weird ash went up my nose!"
"Snow, Ehvren," Ilona sighed as she moved toward him. "It's called snow. Not ash."
She brushed the dusting of white off his shoulders, then paused to show him how the little white flakes melted into droplets on her fingertips.
"It's just frozen water, see?"
Ehvren made a face at her. "Frozen water?" And he watched her with interest as it melted into droplets of water in the palm of her hand.
"No way!" He grabbed her wrist and studied her hand, sprinkling more flakes onto it, which also eventually melted and disappeared. So he did it again, this time with a large handful of snow and watched it with interest. Naturally, the larger pile did not melt so fast!
"Ehvren!"
Ilona squeaked at the cold, but there was a laugh in her voice as she cupped her hands around the tiny snowball and allowed her body heat to warm it. "It's cold enough out here that big chunks of it won't melt, you know. And now my fingers are freezing!"
Still, she raised her cupped hands slightly to show him the icy water trickling between her fingers as the handful of snow started to melt, before the cold became too uncomfortable and she had to shake it away. She brought her hands to her mouth, blowing briskly and rubbing her palms together for a few moments.
"Come on, we should keep moving," she urged softly. Again, her voice was softer than it had been, and maybe just a little bit less sad.
Ehvren was still confused and curious.
"So if this stuff is frozen water... how come it's soft and not hard, like ice?" He asked his question as he followed behind her, eyes studying the world around them with great interest.
"Well..."
Ilona eyed him sidelong as they walked, debating how invested he was in a real answer.
Oh, she wasn't even fooling herself. She needed a distraction—from everything—and a lifetime of royal tutoring had to be worth something, right?
"Have you ever seen rain?" she asked. "If it's cold enough, the rain freezes before it reaches the ground. So each individual droplet becomes one tiny crystal of ice."
If she could have used her magic, she would have tried to manipulate the flurries around them to show him. She sighed quietly, but then shook her head and tried to put the thought from her mind. "Anyway. The ice crystals cluster together when they settle on the ground, but water that freezes when it's already on the ground—a liquid—it freezes in a solid sheet."
At her description he grew thoughtful.
"I.. can't remember much. Rain.. I know it but even the sky..." he craned his neck up towards the clouds. "Even this.. doesn't feel like my sky." He frowned, eyes going distant as he tried to read through whatever memory was bubbling forth.
Not his sky.
Ilona suddenly paused, turning to face him properly. "Ehvren..."
Her curse hadn't affected his power. Which meant he wasn't a mage, wasn't a mortal with magic.
"Ehvren are you...fae? Or—" She licked her lips a little nervously. "Or demonic, maybe?"
It would make sense. It might also be incredibly inconvenient. An immortal being with no real memories and a forgotten princess millennia out of her own time? How the hells were they supposed to get anywhere?
Ehvren's red eyes flared at her accusation.
"Really? You would label me a demon, " he growled. "If I were a devil, you think I'd be bothered to help you out?,!" Tge nerve!! And he stalked in front to take the lead to nowhere.
"Ehvren."
She caught his arm to halt him as he passed her. This was important. And she'd gradually begun to grow used to his temper, so she didn't think he would actually hurt her if she pressed.
"I also thought you might be a faerie of some kind," she reminded him calmly. "As far as I know, only the Fae and demons exist in...other realms. If this sky doesn't feel like your sky, maybe that's because it isn't. Not really."
He was agitated. He didn't like this and his memory, clouded by his growing irritation.
At her pressing, he turned and snapped, "But it doesn't make sense. I know the sky but it... it's not what I remember. What I remember..." he went pale, then red. Growling, he turned away in frustration. "It doesn't make sense... it was like..." and he paused a moment, the words just coming out. "Like my sky was a ceiling of glass..."
"Glass?" Ilona repeated, a confused frown pulling at her brows. "That...hm."
That didn't sound like any demon realm she knew. Or even the land of the Folk, at least not from what her godmother had told her—
Wait.
"South! My godmother! I remember!" Suddenly energetic, she grabbed Ehvren's hands and beamed up into his face, bouncing on her toes. "That's why I've been feeling like we need to go south! We can find my godmother—she's a faerie, she'll be able to help us!"
Ehvren blinked, not sure how to react to her sudden enthusiasm.
"Err.. how exactly can she help? And how do you know she'd still be alive?" He eyed her. "Haven't you been asleep for... well, for a long time?"
That made her expression tremble slightly, but she pushed on. "Well, yes. But the Fae are nigh-immortal. It almost doesn't matter how long I've been asleep, chances are my godmother hasn't aged a day."
She shivered as the wind picked up, dusting snow over her shoulders, but quickly tried to brush it off. "But I don't—there are places where the faerie realm and the mortal realm come into contact, but I'm not sure... Things may have changed. We still need to move south to find a place to contact her."
Ehvren persed his lips, the chilly wind sending his doubt out with it. At least they had a plan, and one to get out of this place.
"I guess it couldn't hurt," he admitted. The next wind that came by was stronger and forced his eyes to close, leaving him unable to speak until it died down. He shivered.
"Anywhere is better than this place " he muttered. "Come on. Southward we go."
Ilona was shaking almost violently by the time that second gust had died down, arms wrapped tight around herself as she desperately tried to conserve some heat.
"R-r-right," she chattered, glancing up again to get her bearings by the angle of weak sunlight through the clouds. "South. Th-this way."
She set off into the snow.
Travel was slow, and the winds were sharp. Only a few hours had passed before Ehvren grew iirritated from it all and required a break. He moved to stand within an alcove of trees, which shielded them somewhat from the winds, which only seemed to pick up as they walked.
Ehvren shivered, his cheeks pink and painful as he moved to sit between two thick pine trees with an over dramatic sigh.
Gods names...did he ever hate this place.
Ilona was hardly faring any better than her companion, and was privately grateful when he demanded a break. She followed him into the tiny copse of stubborn, scrubby trees.
"You sh-shouldn't sit," she murmured when she saw him moving to do so. "The ground is f-frozen, it'll just chill you more." She glanced around, trying to judge how climbable the trees were. Unconsciously, she moved a little closer to Ehvren as she did, her body instinctively seeking warmth.
"We could...try to squeeze in there," she said consideringly, pointing to a relatively clear spot on a sturdy, lower branch. If they sat side by side, they could probably both fit...
Ehvren followd her gaze and made a face.
He grabbed her arm roughly, nearly pulling her ontop of him.
"The ground is just fine." He sighed. "I'm tired." He turned away from her, blushing a little as he hand't meant to be so rough when handling her but- he did kinda force her down beside him.
"Just.. sit in close. We... can keep each other warm."
"Ow!"
Ilona glared at him as he pulled her nearly into his lap. She wanted to tell him she would go sit in the tree by herself, but she was too cold to pass up the warmth she could get by sitting next to him.
"Don't do that," she muttered as she drew her knees in toward her chest. "You have to stop grabbing me like that. I don't like it, and sometimes you misjudge your strength and it hurts."
Ehvren glowered and grew flustered, annoyed.
"I was trying to help!" he snapped. He had no strength left to make himself sound nice. And it irritated him she would be upset at THIS.
"And we're both freezing! Why would we climb a tree when we're tired, irritable and the ground is right here!?"
No. He wouldn't apologize.
He was too selfish and stubborn for that.
Ilona had gone very stiff beside him, proud--but not so proud that she wanted to move away from his body heat.
"I'm distinctly not asking for an apology, though it would not be unwarranted," she said coolly. "I am merely telling you not to continue doing that. It is uncomfortable and demeaning and more than that, I have told you that I do not like it. Which, really, should be all that's needed for common decency to dictate that you cease doing it."
She kept jabbing at his wounded pride.
And he hated it.
Hated that he responded to it- felt bad for it.
He truly hadn't meant to hurt her!
And part of him hated that she was right.
So instead of saying anything, he stared away into the snowing abyss and sulked.
Deciding that pouting silence was better than him yelling at her, Ilona sighed and allowed herself to relax just enough for her shoulder to brush his--then she gave up any pretense of dignity and scooted in close to his side, shivering.
"We probably can't risk too long of a break," she sighed. "We want to cover as much ground as we can before it gets dark and the temperature drops even more."
Ehvren grimaced.
"Must you remind me? Besides, we only just stopped for a break..."
He sighed irritably and closed his eyes.
He could fall asleep.
He was irritable.. exhausted..
and wanted more than anything to be anywhere else.
"I know, but--hey." She nudged his shoulder lightly as his eyes closed. "Don't sleep. You can't sleep out here, you'll catch your death of chill."
Well...maybe. Honestly, if he wasn't human, that might have been up for debate. But she didn't think he should risk it, all the same.
He flashed a glare at her upon opening his eyes.
"Death seems more inviting than this. " A wind managed to cut a little through the trees. His teeth chattered in response.
"I hate this place, " he muttered , sourly.
Ilona sighed and dropped her head onto her knees. "Me too," she admitted in a mumble toward the ground.
Whatever this place was...it wasn't her home anymore. It hadn't been for long time. Now it was cold and bare and dead, and she wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else.
After the longest of moments he resigned himself to his fate.
"We.. we should probably keep going." He took a moment to examine her, to make sure she was alright before exiting out beneath the trees.
"Yes," Ilona sighed in agreement, reluctantly lifting her head. "Yes, I suppose we must."
The rest of the day's walk was much the same; there was only so much variety to be bad in a tundra landscape, she supposed. And Ilona was confident enough in her navigational skills that she kept them going south—that was all she had for a heading, so she clung to it desperately.
As it started to get dark though, she began to worry. Where were they going to spend the night? She highly doubted they'd be lucky enough to just stumble upon another set of underground hot springs where they could sleep.
"I can't believe the sun is setting already! What kind of hell is this place?" He complained as he continued to take the lead as they walked, letting the woman guide him, but the snow was waist deep here and it felt wrong to force her in front, even if his torso felt like an icicle. "And how can there be so much of this white shit everywhere!? This whole valley is like a white ash lake!"
"I keep telling you, it's snow," the ex-Princess sighed, too tired to be truly annoyed. She was shivering badly now, her lips starting to tinge blue. "It's f-f-f-frozen rain th-that...collects. On th-the g-g-ground. And the s-s-sun sets early th-this time of year, it's w-w-w-winter..."
At least, she assumed it was. Surely her homeland could not have become this sort of tundra even in summer, not even in thousands of years? The turn of the skies could not have changed that much...
"Yeah.. well, either way it's stupid," he muttered. "How much longer before we can get out of this place?"
"I d-don't know." Ilona was struggling to put one foot in front of the other by now. She was cold, so tired... Thankfully her infected magic hadn't lashed out again yet, but she knew that was only a matter of time too.
"I don't...know..." she repeated blearily. Her vision was starting to shift, blurring at the edges. Was that...light ahead? A house maybe? A village?
Or was she imagining it?
Ehvren blinked and happened to catch what she saw. His lips parted and.. did he smile?
"Yeah! A town! It must be a town!"
A town was good.. right?
However, turning to face his companion...
He frowned.
"Hey, princess... you..don't look so good. Your lips are kinda sky colored."
"I'm...c-cold," Ilona tried to explain, though she was now shivering so badly that just speaking put her at risk of severely biting her own tongue. "M-m-most people...d-don't handle c-c-c-cold well...for very l-long..."
She nodded shakily toward the lights in the distance and managed to force out, "T-town...should have...sh-sh-shelter..."
Ehvren made a face.
"Why any people would choose to be here.." he grumbled as they moved towards the little town. The snow was so thick and heavy the nearer they got, some drifts were up to his chest! But he continued to push through, taking on the lead, for he didn't have patience to allow the princess to help.
They had nearly made it. Ilona's vision was going hazy, but she could start to make out the shapes of houses through the snow and the gloom.
And then it all caught up to her. The cold, the exhaustion, the grief. Her knees buckled and she went down in the snow, lashes fluttering against her cheeks as she desperately struggled to keep her eyes open.
Had he not turned around to complain more to her he might not have realized she had fallen. Her form almost blended in, the snow was so thick and deep.
He grit his teeth and swore.
"Shit."
Trampling back through the thickening snow, he dropped down beside her form to give her a shake.
"Hey! Hey! Don't sleep on me now!"
But despite him wanting to believe she collapsed helplessly out of simple sleepiness, a fear it was truthfully something much worse bubbled up through his belly and veins. He grimaced, his fear prickling and shooting him through of adrenaline.
"Come on.. you can't be..."
But what did he know of this world? Maybe this damn snow was harmful to her. He grit his teeth, and scooped her up suddenly into his arms, groaning and grunting as he plowed through the last trek of the tremendous snow banks and began to race towards the nearest building with light.
He flung the door open, eyes immediately going to the source of heat, and dropped both himself and Ilona beside low, crackling fire. He shivered and got as close to the flames until it hurt, then began to sit there, thawing out.
But after a few moments, he frowned and noticed Ilona hadn't moved.
"Hey, come on," he pressed, giving her a shake. 'We're by warmth! A fire!" But he frowned as she didn't move.. and was so very very cold.
He tried again to awaken her..
But nothing.
He began to panic, scooping her up and all but tossing her into the flames as he held her before the hearth..
"Come on.." he nearly whimpered now. 'Wake up. "
Cold. So cold. Darkness crashing over her. Staring out at the abyss as her kingdom fell away before her, endless nothing nothing nothing...
Slowly, the heat of the fire began to thaw Ilona's frozen extremities. She groaned weakly as the prickling sensation spread through her body.
Her brow furrowed, breath shallow and quick as she lay limp in his arms.
"Please..." She begged the nightmare that had claimed her, her voice the barest rasp of a whisper. "Please...no more..."
It took some time for his own shivering to subside, and as they sat there, warming by the fire, the fire itself began to dwindle further, causing the prince to curse; panicked. Especially as Ilona began to stir.
He knew enough that fire needed fuel, typically wood, timber and the likes. The first wooden thing he spotted was a nearby table, of which he promptly tore off one of the legs and tossed unceremoniously into the fire.
When the fire crackled with more heat and light, he felt relieved. He moved to kneel beside Ilona's form, frowning as she trembled and murmured in her sleep. She looked.. awful....
Like death. He shivered involuntarily, eyes locked on her form as worry for her, and their fate, plagued him.
At some point he had drawn closer to her, resting her head upon his lap and beginning to doze off when a gruff voice exclaimed behind them.
"The fuck is this?"
Ehvren woke abruptly, spotting a large, burly man towering nearby the door way, half covered in snow. He moved to stand.. which was his first mistake. Ehvren's form was large and imposing in its own right, seemingly taller, or atleast equal, to the stranger who had just arrived, carrying in snow covered skins and wood.
The bearded man reached for his hunting bow, growling out as he aimed the thing at Ehvren. The prince either hadn't noticed or realized the danger fast enough, had continued moving towards the stranger when a sharp pain suddenly erruoted into his shoulder. Ehvren howled in pain and turned towards the protruding arrow, the pain such a surprise he didn't think twice before yanking the damn thing out as he exclaimed, "You shot me!"
The man, clearly a veteran of the art, already had a fresh arrow loaded.
"Next one's in you'd head. Now stay the fuck right where you are."
Ehvren growled and gave a challenging step forward, hand over his wound as he growled, "Who the hell are you?"
"The owner of this fucking house. And you're trespassing. "
It was the cry of pain that truly roused her. Ilona had be creeping ever closer to consciousness the longer they sat by the fire, to the point where she was even blearily aware of Ehvren moving her head into his lap.
Then when he stood she found herself stirring, trying to force herself awake enough to ask what was wrong.
Then he cried out and she say up as fast as she could—clumsily—and desperately tried to focus the world around her into something that made sense.
Where...? They were in a house, by a hearth. When—how—?
No time. Ehvren was facing off against a stranger, who was armed. Ilona scrambled frantically to her feet, but she was still so weak that her knees buckled almost immediately. She grabbed desperately for Ehvren's good arm, throwing out her other hand toward the stranger in supplication.
"Wait—wait, please...we...don't mean any harm..."
"Like hell we don't!" Ehvren growled.
"I said next one's in your head!" The man warned, the bow becoming more taught.
"You can't command me!"
"Then you'll forfeit her life!" The man barked, snapping the arrow at Ilona's head.
If Ehvren was pissed, now he was seeing red. His voice took on a monstrous growl, eyes flashing to red, as a presence seemed to ghost around his form.
"You will not harm her!" He roared, tearing across the room like a raging bull, just as the arrow loosed and
Snatch.
Ehvren had whirled about in mid stride and caught the arrow with his bare hands. For a moment, both men were stunned before Ehvren howled and tore after him, smashing into the off kilter table and throwing it clear at the other man's head.
"Wait, wait, stop, please--!"
Ilona's desperate plea cut off in a startled shriek as the arrow loosed and Ehvren suddenly...changed.
What...in...?
She didn't have time to process what she'd just seen before Ehvren was launching himself at the man again--and though a part of her vaguely recognized that it seemed to be some sort of protective impulse that had triggered when she'd been threatened, she certainly didn't want to see a man dead over it.
A man whose house they had apparently broken into.
"Ehvren, stop!"
Without thinking, she flung herself at his back, wrapping her arms around his middle and holding tight. She had to hope she was right, that this...whatever it was, had triggered when she was threatened. That it would mean he didn't want to harm her. "I'm alright," she whispered against his back. "It's alright. Please, calm down a moment..."
The man went down beneath the force of the sudden table thrust upon him and crashed into the stack of belongings beside the door. He lost his bow in the chaos, groaning as he tried to figure out what just happened.
Ehvren was livid. He was all ready to tear the man to pieces when Ilona's arms caught around him, catching him off guard as he stumbled to a scowling hault.
"He was about to kill you! I will not stop until he's torn to pieces,:" he roared, trying to pry her loose from his berserking form.
"Ehvren."
She ducked around in front of him, reaching up to take his face in her hands and force his eyes to meet hers.
"I'm alright," she repeated softly. "Look at me. See? I'm alright..."
Her eyes fluttered. The burst of adrenaline that had allowed her to get to her feet was rapidly fading, and her exhausted body was protesting. Loudly.
She slumped into Ehvren's chest, unable to keep herself upright any longer, slurring, "I'm...alright..."
Her reaction to him, to calm him had him stunned, taken a back as he side eyed her but then was swearing as he was catching her deflating form.
"Like hell you're alright. " He bristled, trying to shuffle supporting her and focusing back on tearing towards the fallen man.
"I'm gonna make him pay!"
"Ehvren...please..."
She clung to him, both in an effort to support herself and to try to hold him back.
"It's...his house. He's just..." She tried to peer over at the man, though even that much movement made her eyes flutter treacherously. "Please, I'm sorry...we were out in the cold, we didn't know what else to do..."
Ehvren was held back long enough the older man had scrambled free of the table. He had gotten a hold of his hatchet and held it out threateningly. His forehead was bleeding and he bared his teeth.
"I don't care what your story is. This is my home!" He bellowed.
The man's anger sparked Ehvren's and he equally spat back in rage.
"Don't apologize! He's trying to hurt you!" Ehvren growled. "But I don't need a weapon to rip your skin off you ape!"
And Ilona would be able to feel the power radiating from his form, a near palpable fire.
"Stop...please...stop..."
It was happening again.
Maybe it was Ehvren's sudden surge power, triggering a response in her own magic. Or maybe she had just been lucky so far.
It didn't matter why. She could feel the curse welling in her, chaos threatening to erupt.
"We--I need to get out of here," she gasped, staggered back from Ehvren and toward the door. She had to get away, had to get far from other people...
"What?" Ehvren barked. "Why would we leave now?"
It would show weakness. And weak he was not.
"I can't...I can't...the curse..."
Unable to say anything else, Ilona staggered to the door, legs trembling as she tried to force herself back out again into the snow.
Ehvren jerked in her direction.
"What are doing?!"
"The curse," Ilona panted again, nearly double over as her stomachs suddenly churned with raw magic. "I can't..."
She stumbled back through the door and went down on her knees in the snow, crying out as chaos-touched magic exploded out of her in a tangle of sickly briars, needle-sharp thorns slicing through her skin even as the bizarre plants rose up around her to cage her in.
The briar is crept over the lip of the doorway before the burst of magic stopped, several vibes stretching toward the hapless resident of the house they had unwittingly trespassed.
It all happened so fast. One second he was rabid to protect his princess and the next...
The only thing that saved the other man was that Ehvren had chased after Ilona, and so when the sudden strike of power came lashing their way, a raw force sprung out from his arm, it moving with natural precision as if weilding a blade. But what power that cast out from his hands was no sword, as it cut back her attack as if the strange briars were nothing but paper.
And as the pieces fell away, it left both men, stunned.
Ilona was left shivering and bleeding in the snow, eyes clenched shut against the waves of nausea that rolled through her.
Slowly, the briars around her crumbled to ash, dark against the moonlit snow. Ilona curled in on herself tighter, whimpering quietly.
"What the hell.."
For a few moments, Ehvren stared, stunned. But then instincts had him rushing out to her side where he dropped down beside her.
"Hey, hey, hey.. you alright? What.. what just happened?"
"C-curse," Ilona managed to groan out. She tried to push herself up onto her hands and knees, but she nearly collapsed against Ehvren's side before she was halfway there. "My magic...is infected. It's why--why I was...the way you found me. Back at the castle. It was supposed to...slow the spread, but now..."
She looked around blearily at the ash that surrounded them. "I didn't...d-did I hurt anyone?"
Behind them, the old man yelled a threat before slamming his door closed, leaving the pair alone. Ehvren remained at her side, supportive, and frowned at her words.
"No, but you did seem to try."
Ehvren continued to study her.
"What was that? What do you mean a curse?"
Them he noticed his own body, with a ghostly haze swirling around it like steam. He blinked, taken a back by this before looking at Ilona.
"Is... your curse.. contagious?" He asked.
Oh gods.
Ilona stared at the mist of power that swirled around him, eyes haunted as they slowly moved to his.
"...Yes," she whispered, guilt choking her voice. "It is..."
She scrambled back from him abruptly, swallowing a cry as the myriad of cuts from the briars wept in protest and her bare hands and feet absolute burned with the cold of the snow.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you have to get away from me, I'm not safe, I'm so sorry," she all but wailed, struggling to put distance between them.
She didn't get far before Ehvren seized her by the arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" He growled. "You think you're just gonna curse me then run off!?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ilona sobbed, going limp in the snow. "It's--it's like a plague, I didn't think--it's not supposed to affect people who aren't mages!"
Some semblance of reasoning began to reassert itself in her head. She glanced down at his hand on her arm. "...Ehvren. Let go."
Ehvren growled, "No." And she'd feel his grip tighten.
"You and I just hauled our asses out of some wastelands and cold, white ash.. and now you think it's a good time to run off on your own? "
She looked at him, tear tracks still marking her cheeks though her panic seemed to be subsiding.
"...I know you're angry," she said quietly, working to keep calm through a storm of conflicting emotions, "but really. Let go."
She held his gaze. "We need...to trust each other, right? Trust me. Let go."
"Angry!? I'm well past angry! You could have died back there. I could have died back there!" And at her next words he seemed absolutely livid.
"Let you go!?"
Ehvren was positively shaking with anger, the power inside him bubbling up from within.
"Do you even realize how crazy you sound? And not even an hour ago you weren't even awake!"
Evhren was so prickling, so worked up he made a hedge hog look soft and inviting.
"Ehvren, you're scaring me," Ilona told him bluntly, struggling to keep her voice even. "I know. I know, this is all...confusing, and terrifying, but I need you to trust me. Just for a minute. Please. Trust me."
She slowly started to pull her arm back, struggling desperately to keep a lock on her own--temporarily subsided--chaotic power while at the same time trying to sense just what exactly was happening to him.
Scaring her!?
"Good!" he snarled, practically in her face.
But then her next words caused his face to scrunch up, his eyes still blazing like a flame.
"Trust!?"
The word gave him a moment to pause...
something tickling at the back of his mind. A thought.. a twist in a sentence...
'Trust me for this...'
A thick man's voice. A shroud of darkness. Then.. this cold world.
Trust.
Is that how he came to be here?
Trust.
He studied Ilona's face, she was so scared.. so terrified...
And he had made her this way.
He set his jaw, eyes still burning. Then he grabbed her, none too gently by the jaw and forced their eyes to meet. He studied her eyes, so deep and pure and ...
the terror- to see it again made something crack. Something primal within to surge as he growled, not unlike a feral animal before crashing his lips against hers, devouring her with such emotion, so raw a feeling he couldn't tame it-
And in that flame, something inside him flittered-
thoughts, feelings, emotions.. memories. It flooded him in such a rush he felt nauseated, off-kilter, but also still raw- like smoke. There were diamonds, glass like ice, swells of kingdoms in the deepest of darkness... and those without beating hearts. His own was beating so rapidly, as if his heart itself was taking a drink of her, his body tingling, as if electrical, inside- churning with a raw excitement that peaked and-
And he pulled himself away savagely and growled,
"If you must be rid of me then trust me..." he panted, eyes still wild, still captured on hers. "we can now part ways."
And he didn't give her a second glance as he stormed away from her, to only the gods knew where.
She had no idea what was happening to him, but she did not like it.
Ilona was frozen as he kissed her, and by the time she'd recovered enough to react—preferably to slap him—he was already walking away.
She was left shivering in the snow, filled with a sickening combination of anger and confusion over what in all hells had just happened.
So distracted she must have been, that the figure in the shadows would truly be missed. It slunk along, moving like a hunting cat, low and with a purpose. The power the pair radiated together was too alluring to ignore. So even if in the open, such as this, did the shadow stalk nearer, pressing down and ready to strike.