"Never Again"

Myra turned her attention from Jadikar, who was at her home visiting with the baby he'd given into Myra's care a short time past. Outside a figure was knelt down at the base of her home. Almost immediately she recognized the mane of flaming red hair... Hurrying past Jadikar, who sat rocking the babe in his arms on her bed, she stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind her. She didn't want to alarm Jadikar.

Hesitantly she stepped around the side of her home, afraid of what she might see. Or rather, who. And there he was. Trenton Sythe. He rose from where he knelt and walked toward her, only to stop an arm's length from her and kneel once more. "What are you doing." He continued as if she weren't there, as if she hadn't spoken. Pricking his finger, he wrote out a symbol onto the foundation of her home. In just moments, the blood burned the image into the stone.

"...why... What are you doing at my home." Myra insisted. Trenton brushed off his hands and turned toward her.

His eyes narrowed into a glare. "I've no time for your questions. There is work to be done and I have been idle for far too long." With that he turned and walked away, into the nearby trees.

"I'll chisel them out. Damn you!" Myra's hands clenched into fists at her sides and she took a few short strides in the direction he'd gone. But she stopped. There was no point chasing him...

She rushed back inside and up the stairs. Jadikar looked up from the sleeping visage of the child in his arms. "Do you have a safe place for the child?" Myra was a bit paler than usual.

Finally she convinced Jadikar to take the child. A sense of urgency washed over her, along with a sense of dread. Reading the spellwords from a scroll, she returned to the Glade. To the Temple. Kneeling down, she looked carefully....and found a mark. One at each corner of the foundation. The sense of dread began to grow... The Silver Arrow - marked. The Great Hall - marked. The Ostar Tower - Myra let out a sigh of relief; The Ostar tower was unmarked... But how many of the other buildings in the Glade were marked that she hadn't looked at. And why was he marking them? The questions danced around her mind, tormenting her.

There was one other spot she needed to check... Khellenduras' Temple on Dagger Isle. She looked at her last recall scroll. That is what it would take to get there... She'd have to find another way home. Good enough. Without any further hesitation, she cast the spell and found herself outside the Temple. She shivered; a storm was blowing across the snow dusted island.

Just as she made her way around the corner of the building, a cloaked figure approached through the storm. It was him again. She'd beaten him here, apparently. Nothing she could say or do, however, deterred him from marking the foundations of this building either. He continued to ignore her presence.

Trenton walked up to the doors of the temple. Vinson, the sentry, moved to stop him, but Trenton merely waved a hand at the man and walked past. Myra followed him closely.

He moved upstairs and sat at the desk there, opening a book to read. Myra'd had enough. Gathering what courage she could, she stepped over next to the chair and put one hand in the very center of the book he was reading. Finally he looked over at her.

"You said all ties were sundered." Her voice was low, to keep it controlled, but it held all the weight of an accusation. "Why can't you just releast me then. The note... The marks on my home... The.. ..." She left the rest unsaid.

Trenton stood, stepping around the chair to stand in front of her. Myra lifted her chin just in the slightest in a show of defiance, even though she wanted to back away from him. He lifted a hand, cupping her chin and tilting her head up a bit more.

"My dear Miss Sunveil. There is nothing more that I desire... than to see all ties severed."

Her lips trembled very slightly as his hand drifted downward, over her neck. She quickly regained control.

"However..." His voice was warm and smooth. Just as she started to relax marginally, his hand gripped her throat fiercely, choking her. "YOU KEEP PLACING YOURSELF IN THE PATH!"

Myra shut her eyes, fending off a moment of panic, her hands grabbing his arm. His voice settled back to its normal civility and he continued...

"You think for a moment that I do not understand you? You think that I do not know that you wish all of us dead? There are no ties between us that you yourself have not made!"

Myra gave up all pretenses of struggle. She couldn't breathe. Her hands fell to her sides and she just stared at him, tears welling in her eyes. Her vision began to blur around the edges.

"I tried to be rid of you! I tried to cast you aside! Yet here you are! You are like a shadow! I cannot be rid of you! When I wrote you that note... I thought that, perhaps, when you had run your course, I might ascend you. Make you into a creature of shadows, like myself. I thought you might become like me! But even now, I know that I could not let such a thing happen. For you would embrace the gift long enough to destroy us all!"

She wanted desperately to believe him, but she didn't know why. Darkness began to settle around her. It was at that moment, almost if he'd planned it so, that he released his grip, setting her back down. He'd lifted her from her feet.

"Damn you Sunveil."

Myra gasped for breath, rubbing her neck. "You'd... only use me..."

"You were, at once, my salvation and my damnation. I would have treated you ... nearly as an equal."

"I cannot... be free of you... I have tried... You ...would throw me away..." Myra took slow deep breaths.

Trenton was not one to display any emotion, but he seemed to have lost his customary control. He gritted his teeth as she spoke. "WHY DO YOU WISH TO REMAIN?!? K'ryn sought for years to be free of me! Why do you remain?!?"

Myra narrowed her eyes at him. "My waking and sleeping moments are filled with YOU!" She quickly pursed her lips shut. She hadn't meant to say that. She frowned.

Trenton's eyes glazed over with an anger she'd never seen. In fact, she'd never seen him display his anger... ever. She backed up half of a step, but his hand shot out quickly and grabbed her throat and pulled her face close to his. She could feel his breath against her skin as he spoke, each word carefully formed and full of malice...

"Then. Let. Me. Fill. Your. Dreams. No. More!!!"

A sinking despair began to fill the pit of her stomach and solidified into fear as he bit fiercely into his free hand, drawing blood from his index finger. She could do nothing as he traced a symbol onto her forehead with his blood.

Then came the burning. The burning she'd tried to put out of her mind for so long. The same burning she'd felt on her arms. The blood trickled down. She squeezed her eyes shut. Using savage force, Trenton forced her eyelids open and the blood dribbled from his finger into her eyes. Then he turned her head from one side to the other, allowing more blood to flow into her ears.

Myra blinked through the burning, and a sob rose from within her, knowing somehow what he was doing. She couldn't see him anymore. She felt his hand, rough on her throat... but she couldn't see it. Her entire being began to tremble and she shook her head in denial. The grip moved from her neck to her arm as she was hauled down the stairs by the now invisible Trenton. The door opened and she found herself tossed into the familiar snowdrift outside Khellenduras' temple. In the snow before her words appeared, written in blood

NEVER AGAIN

The sobs finally escaped her and she called his name into the roaring snowstorm. "...Trenton!..." But she knew he was gone...

How long she laid there in that snowdrift, sobbing... her shattered mind couldn't comprehend. Her fingers were numb with cold, red and raw. Her ears ached from the harsh cold snow she'd rubbed frantically against them, trying to wash away the blood. Her eyes were no better off. The snow stung them when she'd tried to 'wash' them out as well.

She just lay there. Sobbing. The snow piled up around her.

The next thing she knew, someone was standing over her. His voice was formal as he said something about the temple and elves. Myra either didn't hear him, or wasn't in any shape to comprehend and care about his words. She lifted her face from the snow upon which it rested. The blood had tinted it all pink. Slowly she lifted a hand to touch her forehead. His words seemed to pause.

And at once, whoever it was had his hands on her, helping her to her feet. She stood there numbly, some part of her mind acknowledging that it was Andrew Do'Kora at her side. He lifted her to her feet by her arms, very gently. Somewhere inside she was glad it was Andrew and not someone else from the temple.

There was blood on her face and she was half frozen. Her hair was damn and refreezing, as was her dress. But he lead her to the doors of the temple. With an angry look at Vinson and a low "I'll speak with you later" he moved her into the temple and helped her up the stairs.

A gasp sounded from the other stairwell as Joseph came down into the room. "Warm water..!" Andrew ordered the sage. Joseph stammered, clearly upset at the presence of the elf in his Lord's temple. "NOW!" Andrew's tone left no room for argument. He helped Myra to the chair.

He tried to get information from her but her mind was lying in pieces somewhere. She stared at him, but it was as if she were staring through him. She touched her forehead as he spoke. Unmindful of his questions, she spoke quietly, "There's a mark, isn't there."

Andrew frowned. "There is."

When Joseph'd brought the bowl of warm water, Andrew wrung out a cloth and began to clean off Myra's face. She flinched at first but then lapsed back into her apathetic state. Her throat was bruised where Trenton had grabbed her. Her mind fought with itself to be rational, but somehow she just couldn't.

"Myra." Andrew's voice came to her again through her inner abyss. "You need to leave here." He set out a rune and pressed an arcane scroll into her hands with some urgency. "Get to your home... rest." She didn't need any other urging. She used the scroll.

She appeared outside her home, but couldn't bare to enter to find out if she could see the painting hanging on her wall or not. So instead she turned and walked off into the forests. Eventually she found herself at the Temple. She pulled her hat down over her forehead, to at least partially cover the mark on her forehead and sat on one of the benches, staring at nothing.

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> Myra turned her attention from Jadikar, who was at her home visiting with the baby he'd given into Myra's care a short time past. Outside a figure was knelt down at the base of her home. Almost immediately she recognized the mane of flaming red hair... Hurrying past Jadikar, who sat rocking the babe in his arms on her bed, she stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind her. She didn't want to alarm Jadikar. > Hesitantly she stepped around the side of her home, afraid of what she might see. Or rather, who. And there he was. Trenton Sythe. He rose from where he knelt and walked toward her, only to stop an arm's length from her and kneel once more. "What are you doing." He continued as if she weren't there, as if she hadn't spoken. Pricking his finger, he wrote out a symbol onto the foundation of her home. In just moments, the blood burned the image into the stone. > "...why... What are you doing at my home." Myra insisted. Trenton brushed off his hands and turned toward her. > His eyes narrowed into a glare. "I've no time for your questions. There is work to be done and I have been idle for far too long." With that he turned and walked away, into the nearby trees. > "I'll chisel them out. Damn you!" Myra's hands clenched into fists at her sides and she took a few short strides in the direction he'd gone. But she stopped. There was no point chasing him... > She rushed back inside and up the stairs. Jadikar looked up from the sleeping visage of the child in his arms. "Do you have a safe place for the child?" Myra was a bit paler than usual. > Finally she convinced Jadikar to take the child. A sense of urgency washed over her, along with a sense of dread. Reading the spellwords from a scroll, she returned to the Glade. To the Temple. Kneeling down, she looked carefully....and found a mark. One at each corner of the foundation. The sense of dread began to grow... The Silver Arrow - marked. The Great Hall - marked. The Ostar Tower - Myra let out a sigh of relief; The Ostar tower was unmarked... But how many of the other buildings in the Glade were marked that she hadn't looked at. And why was he marking them? The questions danced around her mind, tormenting her. > There was one other spot she needed to check... Khellenduras' Temple on Dagger Isle. She looked at her last recall scroll. That is what it would take to get there... She'd have to find another way home. Good enough. Without any further hesitation, she cast the spell and found herself outside the Temple. She shivered; a storm was blowing across the snow dusted island. > Just as she made her way around the corner of the building, a cloaked figure approached through the storm. It was him again. She'd beaten him here, apparently. Nothing she could say or do, however, deterred him from marking the foundations of this building either. He continued to ignore her presence. > Trenton walked up to the doors of the temple. Vinson, the sentry, moved to stop him, but Trenton merely waved a hand at the man and walked past. Myra followed him closely. > He moved upstairs and sat at the desk there, opening a book to read. Myra'd had enough. Gathering what courage she could, she stepped over next to the chair and put one hand in the very center of the book he was reading. Finally he looked over at her. > "You said all ties were sundered." Her voice was low, to keep it controlled, but it held all the weight of an accusation. "Why can't you just releast me then. The note... The marks on my home... The.. ..." She left the rest unsaid. > Trenton stood, stepping around the chair to stand in front of her. Myra lifted her chin just in the slightest in a show of defiance, even though she wanted to back away from him. He lifted a hand, cupping her chin and tilting her head up a bit more. > "My dear Miss Sunveil. There is nothing more that I desire... than to see all ties severed." > Her lips trembled very slightly as his hand drifted downward, over her neck. She quickly regained control. > "However..." His voice was warm and smooth. Just as she started to relax marginally, his hand gripped her throat fiercely, choking her. "YOU KEEP PLACING YOURSELF IN THE PATH!" > Myra shut her eyes, fending off a moment of panic, her hands grabbing his arm. His voice settled back to its normal civility and he continued... > "You think for a moment that I do not understand you? You think that I do not know that you wish all of us dead? There are no ties between us that you yourself have not made!" > Myra gave up all pretenses of struggle. She couldn't breathe. Her hands fell to her sides and she just stared at him, tears welling in her eyes. Her vision began to blur around the edges. > "I tried to be rid of you! I tried to cast you aside! Yet here you are! You are like a shadow! I cannot be rid of you! When I wrote you that note... I thought that, perhaps, when you had run your course, I might ascend you. Make you into a creature of shadows, like myself. I thought you might become like me! But even now, I know that I could not let such a thing happen. For you would embrace the gift long enough to destroy us all!" > She wanted desperately to believe him, but she didn't know why. Darkness began to settle around her. It was at that moment, almost if he'd planned it so, that he released his grip, setting her back down. He'd lifted her from her feet. > "Damn you Sunveil." > Myra gasped for breath, rubbing her neck. "You'd... only use me..." > "You were, at once, my salvation and my damnation. I would have treated you ... nearly as an equal." > "I cannot... be free of you... I have tried... You ...would throw me away..." Myra took slow deep breaths. > Trenton was not one to display any emotion, but he seemed to have lost his customary control. He gritted his teeth as she spoke. "WHY DO YOU WISH TO REMAIN?!? K'ryn sought for years to be free of me! Why do you remain?!?" > Myra narrowed her eyes at him. "My waking and sleeping moments are filled with YOU!" She quickly pursed her lips shut. She hadn't meant to say that. She frowned. > Trenton's eyes glazed over with an anger she'd never seen. In fact, she'd never seen him display his anger... ever. She backed up half of a step, but his hand shot out quickly and grabbed her throat and pulled her face close to his. She could feel his breath against her skin as he spoke, each word carefully formed and full of malice... > "Then. Let. Me. Fill. Your. Dreams. No. More!!!" > A sinking despair began to fill the pit of her stomach and solidified into fear as he bit fiercely into his free hand, drawing blood from his index finger. She could do nothing as he traced a symbol onto her forehead with his blood. > Then came the burning. The burning she'd tried to put out of her mind for so long. The same burning she'd felt on her arms. The blood trickled down. She squeezed her eyes shut. Using savage force, Trenton forced her eyelids open and the blood dribbled from his finger into her eyes. Then he turned her head from one side to the other, allowing more blood to flow into her ears. > Myra blinked through the burning, and a sob rose from within her, knowing somehow what he was doing. She couldn't see him anymore. She felt his hand, rough on her throat... but she couldn't see it. Her entire being began to tremble and she shook her head in denial. The grip moved from her neck to her arm as she was hauled down the stairs by the now invisible Trenton. The door opened and she found herself tossed into the familiar snowdrift outside Khellenduras' temple. In the snow before her words appeared, written in blood > <b><i>NEVER AGAIN</b></i> > The sobs finally escaped her and she called his name into the roaring snowstorm. "...Trenton!..." But she knew he was gone... > How long she laid there in that snowdrift, sobbing... her shattered mind couldn't comprehend. Her fingers were numb with cold, red and raw. Her ears ached from the harsh cold snow she'd rubbed frantically against them, trying to wash away the blood. Her eyes were no better off. The snow stung them when she'd tried to 'wash' them out as well. > She just lay there. Sobbing. The snow piled up around her. > The next thing she knew, someone was standing over her. His voice was formal as he said something about the temple and elves. Myra either didn't hear him, or wasn't in any shape to comprehend and care about his words. She lifted her face from the snow upon which it rested. The blood had tinted it all pink. Slowly she lifted a hand to touch her forehead. His words seemed to pause. > And at once, whoever it was had his hands on her, helping her to her feet. She stood there numbly, some part of her mind acknowledging that it was Andrew Do'Kora at her side. He lifted her to her feet by her arms, very gently. Somewhere inside she was glad it was Andrew and not someone else from the temple. > There was blood on her face and she was half frozen. Her hair was damn and refreezing, as was her dress. But he lead her to the doors of the temple. With an angry look at Vinson and a low "I'll speak with you later" he moved her into the temple and helped her up the stairs. > A gasp sounded from the other stairwell as Joseph came down into the room. "Warm water..!" Andrew ordered the sage. Joseph stammered, clearly upset at the presence of the elf in his Lord's temple. "NOW!" Andrew's tone left no room for argument. He helped Myra to the chair. > He tried to get information from her but her mind was lying in pieces somewhere. She stared at him, but it was as if she were staring through him. She touched her forehead as he spoke. Unmindful of his questions, she spoke quietly, "There's a mark, isn't there." > Andrew frowned. "There is." > When Joseph'd brought the bowl of warm water, Andrew wrung out a cloth and began to clean off Myra's face. She flinched at first but then lapsed back into her apathetic state. Her throat was bruised where Trenton had grabbed her. Her mind fought with itself to be rational, but somehow she just couldn't. > "Myra." Andrew's voice came to her again through her inner abyss. "You need to leave here." He set out a rune and pressed an arcane scroll into her hands with some urgency. "Get to your home... rest." She didn't need any other urging. She used the scroll. > She appeared outside her home, but couldn't bare to enter to find out if she could see the painting hanging on her wall or not. So instead she turned and walked off into the forests. Eventually she found herself at the Temple. She pulled her hat down over her forehead, to at least partially cover the mark on her forehead and sat on one of the benches, staring at nothing.
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