Errant Eternal

[Unwavering Knight]

"Ah, okay." Syrann answered without a moment's hesitation, dutifully turning his back on Polaris devoid of further question. Only Kaatl showed signs of hesitation, head uncertainly turned back to look at the woman with question in her eyes, before she too emphatically averted her gaze.


"Do you think the trap will persist? Is it still dangerous for any other would-be traveler? Why was it set up here?" the knight asked, still looking into the opposite direction of Polaris. Too entrenched in his mind was the time he beheld a glove removed from a hand, to prevent the precious leather from dirtying as iron disciplined unruly flesh. As the sound of the cloth being pulled from the charred hand rang quietly, Syrann's armored frame gave a nigh-imperceptible twitch.


Kaatl soothingly patted the knight's helmeted head.

 

[Dragongal]

Though Polaris's sight was still darkened, she could tell the knight and the fae had turned around. "i believe we found the bandits' old camp. A secondary trap is quite possible. I'll check for it once my sight has returned." With a silent sigh, she removed her glove.

Spoiler

Her sleeve cuff ended half way up her forearm, revealing why she wore such long leather gloves. The skin that showed was scarred with the designs of a broken chain, the design clearly of Northern origins. Scarring that was to look like a braided bracelet wrapped around her wrist, and a four-pointed star was etched into the back of her hand, accompanying a few old burn scars and scars from cuts that weren't carved on her skin on purpose.


She didn't look at the back of her hand and did her best to ignore the rest of her skin. The burn was what mattered. She ran her gloved hand over her bared palm. Blisters were already forming, meaning it was second degree, but she was lucky; it could easily have been third. One of Polaris's many little quirks was that she had an absolute abhorrence to magically healing burns, and, overall, had a fair reason for it. Magic sometimes had odd quirks of its own, in a way similar to how reflexes might. A very bad experience might lead to some odd habits that the person doesn't even notice at first. But she needed her sword-hand. Who knows, maybe it'll be okay this time, she thought, before focusing her magic on healing the burn slowly. Burns were tricky, because if they healed too fast, scarring formed very badly and could restrict skin movement.


Alright, just focus on fixing the blisters first.... Polaris stiffened suddenly. Where had that scream come from? No, wait, that had been in her head. Right. Stay in the moment, don't get dragged - Suddenly it felt hot, like she was near flames. Not controlled fire like a forge, but ravenous, untamable fire bent on devouring everything and leaving ashes in its wake. She wasn't healing her own hand anymore, in her mind, though in reality her hand was healing slowly and correctly. Not again, please. Pain returned to old wounds, bruises long healed ached again, and she gasped in pain. She closed her eyes, wincing, but didn't open her eyes again, distracted by the images in her mind. The loam underneath her was replaced by hard patchy stone and the open air around her disappeared, cheap wooden walls and darkness taking its place. She could almost feel Matthias trying to pull her away again, and could almost hear him telling her it was too late, they had to escape. But she couldn't leave, she was the healer, she had to heal him, even though she knew she couldn't. Was that blood she felt on her cheeks, or tears? Not real, it's not happening again. Despite what she tried to convince herself of, she could smell the scorched flesh and her lungs hurt from the memory of breathing the smoke. Her hands hurt, touching the freshly scorched ground and the fires’ leftovers. She gasped in pain again as her hand accidentally encountered hot metal in her memories. She unwittingly voiced her thoughts quietly, “Dammit, no… stop, please.”

 

[Unwavering Knight]

At the vocal sounds of pain and misery, the knight's head gave a twitch, instinctively turning halfway to look back before stopping himself, just barely before his gaze could inspect her. Rigidly he affixed himself into the opposite direction again. After a moment of silence, his voice quietly, carefully intoned "Do you... need help?"


Kaatl, reclining on his shoulder, looked up at the sky in thought.

 

[Dragongal]

Why would Matthias ask something so stupid? Couldn't he see their friend was dying and she couldn't stop it? Of course she needed help, she needed someone to make sure no more traps went off, that the fire didn't spread, to make sure nobody else got hurt, she needed considerably more mana than she had, and really the help of a god. Distractedly, she replied, "Yes," focusing on healing Tomlain. Matthias should know what to do, round up the others. Why wasn't her healing working right? It felt odd, like she wasn't healing him. Her hands were burnt, but she could fix that later, if she didn't fix Tomlain now... she'd never be able to. In the distance she heard a few screams. DId they find more fire, or encounter more traps? If they were injured, she'd have to heal them, but she'd burned so much mana on healing Tomlain.... It didn't seem like it'd even matter in the long run how much mana she used on him...

 

[Unwavering Knight]

"Ah... okay..." rang the knight's voice with noted hesitation, remaining still for a few more moments before slowly turning around, Kaatl's gaze lowering to look at Polaris with a quirked eyebrow. Completing the motion, the knight appeared to give no sign of recognition at the supposed sight before him, instead only raising his left hand on eye-level with the fairy. Hopping off his shoulder, Kaatl took flight, grasping Syrann's offered hand with her own as she gently pulled him towards Polaris, the knight's other hand stretched out with care, giving the impression of a blind man being led by their supportive aidé.


"No worries, my eyes are closed!" he quickly yelped as he neared. The fairy halted, hovering mid-air before Polaris, releasing the knight's hand. Syrann in turn slowly knelt down before his companion as he asked "How can I help?"

 

[Dragongal]

Eyes closed? It must have been one of her other teammate's voices, why would Matthias close his eyes? Gods, what if there were Lux traps now too? And her team was caught in them? She focused on healing Tomlain again. Why did it feel so odd? Must be because of the extent of the damage. She refused to give up on him before there was no other choice, though. "Gather the team, lead them out. Get some of our stronger lads to help me get Tomlain out of here." Wasn't that the obvious answer? She figured he had to be in shock at the horrendous turn of events. She shifted her position so she could see past some smoke better while healing Tomlain, and accidentally put her hand on a nail, the long-past pain lancing through her again. "Ah! Dammit! I can't heal two people and the rest of the injured from our team, Matthias, get them out of here!" Why wasn't he gone, and why had he even waited for her orders?

 

[Unwavering Knight]

"Ah..." Syrann's helmeted head tilted from side to side as he tried to make sense of Polaris's words, visor brought to eye-level with the woman. Kaatl's puzzlement was evident on her own face, eyes intently focused on their most recent companion. "I think... I don't quite understand, good madam Polaris- ah, I mean, just Polaris, there is no Matthias here, I think, can't quite say since my eyes are closed, but Kaatl doesn't see one either, or anyone for that matter, so I am pretty sure... unless you would prefer to call me Matthias instead of Syrann?"


A moment of silence passed before the knight added "... would that really be necessary?"

 

[Dragongal]

Syrann? Who...the knight. My partner, on Aric's mission... Matthias isn't here. I'm South. The vision faded and she opened her eyes, confused for a moment by the sight. "Syrann... no, I, I made a mistake. I am sorry." She glanced at her hand, which was now healed. With a start, she pulled on her glove. She looked to Kaatl, then away, trying to avoid eye contact. She'd seen. She had to have. So, did she know what the scarring meant...?


Polaris put her hand on Syrann's shoulder, saying quietly, "I'm fine now, thank you. My glove is back on. You may look. "