Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Pinned on his back, the mortalborn had little strength to move about on the bed. His muscles had finally relaxed, and his hands were no longer balled into fists, but his voice had not returned. The pillow under his calves kept his legs raised, and though his arms felt empty, as if he had been lifting hay-bales all day, Malcolm could feel some strength returning.
Elyna had opted to bring Elsie to bed with her, and Malcolm felt better for it, knowing the baby was tucked between mother and father where she was safe. His sleep, however, was broken, with the man flinching at the slightest sound. The house felt like a matchbox, street noise penetrating the stone walls as if they were no more than paper. His hyper-aware senses extended to touch too, any slight shift in weight on the mattress or caress of hands and feet saw him jolted from sleep. Malcolm's stamina burned away like a candle, and by the fourth break, the flame had gone out.
He awoke to the sound of birds, chatter, and wagon wheels dragged over cobblestones. It was easy to forget how noisy the city was after spending so much time in the countryside. Eyelids heavy, the man felt as if he could drift off again, but noticed Elsie, wide-eyed and staring at the world, watching the way the light hit the walls and lit up the ceiling beams. Malcolm smiled and tried to coo at the child, lips forming the right shape to make the sound of her name, for nothing but air to follow. The knight made a frustrated sound through his nose and felt his heart rate pick up as panic set in.
There was so much he couldn't do without his voice. He couldn't teach, communicate, or lead an army, a task he would be expected to take up again in a few days time. Malcolm closed his eyes and felt Elyna place a hand against his chest, the gesture enough to calm him. He touched his finger to the back of her hand and spelled out the words I love you with individual letters traced one over the other.
After some water and a quarter hour to wake up probably, he sat up on the bed, taking his time to do so, and pointed to the dresser where he had left his notebook, and made a movement with his hand that mimicked writing. With ink pen in hand and paper on his lap, Malcolm wrote down three things.

Sleep had found her quickly and pulled her deep into Emea. However with a young baby beside her the woman was awoken at points to feed and soothe Elsie. The baby wasn’t inclined to sleep easy after the events of the day and woke more than usual. She was tried though, her own body begging for rest and finally the child settled. It was then Malcolm who stirred. Sleeping with her arms around her family, Elyna blinked awake. Heart thumping in her chest. Her sword was laid under the bed, in reach. Knifes dotted around the room for easy access, just in case. How many times had she checked the door before crawling into bed?

The woman sat up, eyes dark and puffy from a lack of sleep but she smiled at the mortalborn. His fingers spelling out words on her arm. He gestured and she moved to obey, passing him the pad. Patience wasn’t necessarily one of her virtues and she leant forward, trying to read the words as they appeared on the page. At the first request she made sure Elise was comfortable, snoozing away beside her father. She slid her feet into warm socks and padded through the house. The fire stoked and water set to boil the young woman pulled at the supplies in the cupboard. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, she’d been unwell before Malcolm’s return and had used the house as a base. It was therefore stocked with at least a simple painkiller. Besides, it would be good for him to keep his fluids up. He had a lot of blood to replace.

Fingers shook as she ground a tiny amount of willow bark into Malcolm’s cup. She returned up the stairs balancing the mugs as they steamed. They warmed the backs of her fingers and she slid through the door, setting one beside the Mortalborn.

“Willow bark,” she explained, “probably best to let it cool…” She knelt on the other side of the bed and curled her fingers around the warm baked clay. The woman inspected his following requested and nodded, “I promise. I won’t,” she assured him and waited. What could he need to explain? What had happened with Ava? Why…why wasn’t he able to speak? Faith had been certain there was no problem with his vocal cords.

Malcolm offered Elyna a thankful smile upon her return to the bedroom, he had been watching Elsie, unsure if he should tell Elyna exactly what had happened. He took a sip of the tea, hoping it would take the edge off, and put pen to paper again. The point of the pen worked across the page with practiced efficiency, retelling the events of the day before.

Given the page of writing, Elyna scoured the words. It took her a long time to read and Malcolm’s script was cursive and curled so it took a concentrated effort to focus on the words and have them make sense. She touched her tongue to her teeth as she thought, pushing a hand through long hair. Her cheeks flushed first with anger before the colour drained from them once again. Elsie, Ava had tried to hurt Elise. The woman found herself pressing her hand to her chest. As though trying to hold her heart in place and stop it splintering. Why would Ava do that? She looked up, silent as she studied Malcolm and eyes filled with all the anger, frustration and sadness she could not express in those moments. Her own voice robbed from her.

I would do it again?

Do what again? The woman touched a hand to the parchment to those words, brow pulled in a puzzled frown. Malcolm didn’t go into any details but she could fill in the blanks. He’d taken the wound from the baby. Despite, the fact that Elsie was asleep. Elyna couldn’t help herself. She pulled the baby up from the bed and held her close to her chest. Arms wrapped around the baby she held her daughter close, protective.

Elyna leant forward and read the final notes from the mortalborn. Head bowed she pressed kisses to Elsie’s cheeks and brow. Enjoying that soft smell of baby. Tears again? They lined the corners of her eyes until she wiped them away.

“No Malcolm,” the Skyrider straightened. “We both keep trying to do these things alone. You said, you said that you thought we were a team. A partnership. If you’re going to find Ava then I’m coming with you. It’s our family and I’ll be damned before I let her hurt you or Elsie again,” she let out a slow breath. Elsie screwed her face up, protesting the attention and so Elyna set her back down again tucked against Malcolm’s leg. She waited for his answer. "You are not responsible for Avari's actions."

“What did you mean, do it again? What- what abilities does Avari have, Mal?” The woman had always felt dangerous. ELyna felt a pique of frustration that the mortalborn had been able to flee the day before. The Skyrider had just needed the time to return downstairs before Faith spoke, but the young woman had acted in the best way she knew. She’d seen an injustice and tried to see it righted. Faith hadn’t know the danger she’d faced. Another secret, another risk.

“Has…she done something to your voice?” She searched his expression.

Malcolm didn't write anything more, he merely sat and watched Elyna with the baby, thinking how different today would have been if Avari had been successful in her attempt to take the light from their lives. Elsie meant the world to Malcolm, and he knew she meant the same to Elyna, everything would be too different without her now. That's why he had tried to sacrifice his own life in place of her’s, it was the same reason he would do it again without thought.
Elyna asked if Avari had done something to his voice and the man nodded. He wasn't to sure what her powers were, nor who her immortal parent was, both being secrets the woman had never shared with him. In regards to such questions, he would only shrug.
In bed he felt useless. It seemed too often he found himself here, his luck always down, trouble waiting around every corner. Malcolm set the papers and ink aside and lay down, lifting poor Elsie against his chest. She screwed her hands up against her face and puckered her lips, as fond of sleep as her father, Elsie quickly became displeased with any who tried to cut it short. He ducked his head to kiss the top of Elsie’s, and held his hand to her back, rubbing it with care.
It was then Malcolm heard a knock at the door, and his eyes found Elyna’s. He shook his head, brow knotted, he didn't want her to answer the door. Just ignore it, he mouthed. Another knock, loud and demanding, saw the mortalborn hand his daughter over before he got to his feet. Malcolm took a few steps down the stairs and found himself reaching out to grab the rail. It was okay going down but he couldn't see himself climbing them again, not without considerable help.
He knew Elyna would not sit still and wait, and so he tried to block her off at the bottom of the stairs, giving another slow shake of his head, pinning her with a worrisome look.
Bang, bang, bang! “Malcolm!” a familiar voice, that belonging to Avari, called. “Malcolm please, I need to talk to you.”
The mortalborn’s body went rigid, and he crossed the living room to take up his sword, but felt winded and had to hold onto the kitchen counter just to stay upright.
“Please!”

Elyna ended up settled beside the mortalborn as Elise dozed on his chest. She felt exhausted, drained and ready to fall asleep again. There was so many questions unanswered though. When would Malcolm’s voice return? Would it? What had Ava done, and how were they going to find her. Despite all of the questions, the Skyrider found herself drifting off. The light came in through half-open curtains and warmed the end of the bed. About to pull the blankets up and over them all as they rested, wide brown eyes flew open at the knock on the door.

Malcolm shook his head and her frown returned. She wasn’t going to live in fear of Ava. Arms curled around Elise before she set the child in her cradle and followed at Malcolm’s heels, sword in hand. He was quite right to assume that she wasn’t just going to wait.

Ava’s shadow spilled under the door and Elyna was content to wait at the bottom step. She returned Malcolm’s look with one of her own. Stubborn and completely immovable. He was in no condition to face the mortalborn alone. He’d lost a lot of blood and he could barely stand. The skyrider would have preferred him to stay in bed, and rest. Even as she watched him take up his sword, she was sure that the colour drained from his face. Ava. Ava though malicious intent or pure stupidity was determined to kill him.

Top lip bared back in a scowl, Elyna shot Malcolm a glare and moved forward herself. She opened the door, and lifted her weapon. The sword levelled at Avari’s throat. Pressed against the pale and delicate skin.

“Speak,” Elyna didn’t take her eyes of Ava and the sword remained ready in her hand. Outside they gained a few looks from passers-by. She refrained from adding an insult, or curse. Instead she held her fury tight and trapped within her chest. Grant me strength, great lady, Elyna offered another silent prayer to Pre. Grant me the power to protect and serve.

Malcolm couldn't even growl at Elyna for disobeying him, so he balled his right fist and slammed it against the countertop. The woman at the door raised her hands and took a slow step backwards. Her hair was a mess, fingers and brow smeared with dirt, and her clothes had never looked so ill-worn. “Oh, Elyna,” she blinked, startled. “I was hoping to talk to Malcolm.”
The mortalborn moved within range, his own sword drawn. “Malcolm, you're not going to believe me when I say this but… I'm not Avari! I know it sounds crazy! Yesterday she took my face and I haven't been able to find her since! I have no idea who I'm looking for. I had nothing to do with any of this mess,” the woman raked her fingers through her hair and covered her mouth. “I don't know what to do.”
Malcolm pulled Elyna inside and slammed the door before pushing the lock shut. There was a light knocked, followed by the low murmur of Avari’s voice. “Malcolm, please, just tell me what I can do. I promise I'm on your side.”
The knight made the few steps to the table where his body forced him to sit down, threatening to collapse if he refused the demand of his floaty limps and spinning vision. He bowed his head and tried to decide what was best, but he had never been put in a situation quite like this before.

The crash of Malcolm's hand against the worktop still wasn't enough to break Elyna's attention at she stared at the face most hated. She listened with all her attention on the blonde before being pulled aside. She steadied Malcolm by resting a hand on his shoulder and pressing a kiss to his brow.

"It's not Ava," Elyna murmered, "she stole Faiths appearance and swapped it with Godrics... Whoever it is outside Mal, by Pre they are telling the truth." She kept her voice to a whisper and returned to the door and opened it up. "Who are you then?" She asked as she stepped aside letting Avari fake walk past her. She kept her sword in her hand, just in case.

"Ava did something to Malcolm's voice, so I'm not going anywhere and you'd better start talking before I slide my sword into that place the sun don't shine." She smiled sweetly but her gaze remained as hard as a pebble on a beach. Unyielding as she waited for the answers she had demanded and made certain the door was closed and sealed behind their guest.

"If your Godric, give me my ring back," she added as an afterthought and held out an open hand.

Godric wasn’t keen on passing Elyna by when she had that sword in her hand, but he did eventually get by her and move to sit at the table, trapped in a body that wasn't his own. “Your ring…” his hand reached up to his collar and he was reminded that the ring had long been taken from him. “I lost it… that night at the tavern before we left for the Burning Mountains. I was quite intoxicated, Avari walked me back to the barracks,” he admitted, perhaps she had taken it and off of him when she helped him into bed?
Malcolm was white as a ghost, but he still didn't trust that this was Godric and not Avari. Elyna powers of perception were substantially enhanced by his aunt’s blessing, but Avari had fooled him in the past, never like this though; he hadn't known she could change forms. The mortalborn rubbed his temple, and appeared deep in thought. The reality, however, was that his head was pounding, and he was struggling to make sense of any of it.
After a moment to think, Malcolm signaled for Elyna to fetch the ink and paper. When she returned he stared at the woman sat across from him, one he was still struggling to believe housed the pirate, and thought about something he could ask the man that only Godric would know the answer to. Malcolm scribbled something down and held up the paper.
Godric smiled, or rather… Avari did, and the man answered with haste. “You wanted wine, you gave me two silver and instead of buying wine with it, I rented a woman for the night.”
Malcolm shook his head slowly, the person in front of him was most certainly Godric. He nodded to Elyna, then jotted down something else.
Godric squinted to read the messy penmanship and frowned. “I have no idea where she might have gone, nor why my body has not been returned to me. Maybe she does no plan to come out of hiding anytime soon?”

Elyna almost felt guilty as Godric skirted by her sword point, afraid she was going to plunge it through his fleshy bits at any moment. Almost, but not enough to lower the tip. Their baby was safe asleep upstairs and she was damned if she would let any further harm come to Elsie. She stood ready and watching him. Face contorted with regret as she realised he had lost her ring, Malcolm's ring. Until she had made the decision to accept her whole heart she hadn't felt compelled to ask for it back. She has wanted it though. The Skyrider had missed its weight on her hand for too long and the feel of it against her neck. The woman blinked back quick tears because after all it was her own fault. She had wanted Elsie to have it, the only reason she'd left it behind.

Signalled by Mal she returned with the paper and ink, and Elsie held snug in her arms. Resulting have the child out of her sight. The baby slept on, snuggled into her blankets without a care in the whole of Idalos. Elyna kept her in one hand and a dagger drawn in the other; just in case. She watched what passed between the two men like a circling hawk. Focused on their movements.

It seemed as though Godric had fewer answers than Malcolm. The woman let out a sigh of frustration. "Why did you come here Godric?" Surely he could tell them that?! "Can you tell us anything about her powers? A way we can track her?" She searched his expression for any sign of hope.