IceAndWave/LastWords

Last Words

In which a soul is saved, soldiers are tormented, discomfort appears eternal...

The 28th Day of Resplendent Fire, Realm Year 763

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Diamond screams loudly from her position on the floor, looking up at Sian and trying to push herself away from him, her feet scrabbling against the smooth wooden floor. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!"

Venia winces and reaches for one of the pillows, snapping it up in a quick hand and having it over Diamond's mouth, if not eyes, in moments. "Stop that. I'm in a bad mood already, and he's the nice one."

Sian is obviously startled out of his thoughts by this, looking around for the source of the commotion before he realizes who it is. He pauses, just staring at them.

Diamond struggles for a few seconds beneath Venia before she realises the futility of it, and she lies back in a resigned way. Her eyes remain wide and fearful, and her heart races.

Venia hauls her up to sit on the bed, tossing the pillow over to Sian.

He catches it out of reflex, sitting silently for a moment before placing it on the bed, and reaching over for his shirt. "I'll get another room."

"Will that do?" Venia says to her captive, "Or are you going to stay freaked out and ruin my night too?"

Sian just shrugs a little, and locates his pack, counting out enough for another night's stay.

A series of loud knocks from the door resound through the small room. Diamond starts at the sound and shrinks into the corner. Sian looks up, and goes to answer it.

Venia fixes her with a Look as if to suggest trying anything will mean the other arm.

A small group of soldiers waits behind the door, and when it opens they all stand at attention when they see Sian. "Sir," one says, "I was ordered to inform you that Councillor Sella has been taken into custody, but General Joster and the Winter Company seem to have escaped. Captain Dezcer was found dead at their empty barracks."

Sian sighs, and takes a moment to think, before nodding. "Take me to Sella."

"Sir," the soldier nods, before looking questioningly over Sian's shoulder.

Venia gives a little wave to him. "Not going to leave me alone, are you?"

Sian brushes past the man, and starts to wander out, hopefully getting the men's attention away from lingerie-clad women.

Venia just points at the prettiest one and makes the international come hither gesture.

The soldier in question, stumbles a little and after a look at his sergeant (who sighs and nods slightly), enters the room. The other soldiers, some of them muffling grins, follow Sian, forming up to escort him to a nearby guardhouse.

Venia points over at Diamond. "You see her?"

The soldier nods, two or three times.

"Good. Watch her. She's important." She leans down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks!" Said fluffy bathrobe lands on his head when he turns to follow her path as she slips unto bed with Cassia.

At guards at the station look somewhat shaken, and as the door opens the reason becomes apparent. A high-pitched keening wells up from the stairs, interspersed with loud clangs as if something heavy were throwing itself against metal bars.

Sian looks more than a little worried about this, and hurries down the stairs.

The sounds, unsurprisingly, come from Sella, throwing himself against the walls of the cell he has been thrown into, and occasionally wailing inhumanly. "We can't stop him," the sergeant in charge says to Sian, "He's too strong." He shakes his head sadly.

Sella shows the signs of his futile attempts to escape, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side, and his face is bloodied and scraped in several places. Sian watches him for a moment. "Get a few of the men, and just hold him down. It'll only be for a few minutes."

Orders are given, and several soldiers form up and move in to the cell. There is a flurry of movement from Sella, and one of the guards collapses to the ground clutching himself, while another spits blood and teeth onto the floor. Eventually the councillor is wrestled to the stony floor.

Sian tears off the remains of Sella's shirt, and puts a knee on his back just above where the spider is, starting to work on it with a knife from his pack. With remarkably little blood Sian managed to work the horrible spider construct out of Sella's back. When removed the unfortunate councillor goes into convulsions before falling unconscious, drooling slightly onto the cold stone floor.

Sian uses a scrap of shirt to wipe that up, and stands, nodding to the men. "Get him up with Iron Gull; the medic can look after them both."

The soldiers nod, salute, and a party of them carry Sella out of the guardhouse. The sergeant comes up, "Will he be alright? The Councillor is well-liked in Icehome."

"He will. Tell me when either of them wakes, would you?"

"A message will be sent," the sergeant nods, and then sighs, "I'll miss Captain Dezcer, he was one of the better officers."

"Make sure he gets a proper burial, then. And see if you can find out where Joster has gone."

"The general and his men have already fled the city. One of the airships has been stolen." The sergeant shrugs, "We've kept that part quiet."

Sian nods slightly. "If you hear anything about them in future, I can be reached in Tideholme or Whitewall."

"I'll recommend to the officers that we do that. You seem to be the expert on these things, after all."

"I know enough." Sian shrugs. "If that's all?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Sian bows slightly, and exits, heading back to the inn. Not up to the room; he accosts the innkeeper on the way in and gets one for himself. The guard who went into Venia's room leaves just as Sian arrives, looking sweaty and wild-eyed as he does so. "How... how do you...?" he shakes his head and walks off quickly, apparently having sworn off women forever.

Sian rolls his eyes, and pauses to look into the room.

Venia is relaxing! Diamond is likely not.

Diamond lies on the bed, her head buried beneath pillows that she uses her remaining hand to pull down, as she tries to get some genuine sleep while the sounds of Cassia and Venia in the bed next to her fill the room.

Sian just sort of waves the situation off, and goes down to his own room for non-sleep. The trouble with Venia trying to be considerate is that she's not very good at it. In this case, trying to be quiet only means the faint sounds require filling in with your own imagination.

A knock at his door some hours later rouses Sian from his solitary meditation (read, "sulk").

Sian is roused! And he wasn't sulking, much. He answers the door, naturally.

There is a soldier at the door. "Sir," he salutes, "I was sent to tell you that Oligarch Gull has woken up."

"Ah... thank you." He grabs his coat, and lets the man lead him back.

Still in the bed that he was left in at the Palace of the Oligarchs, Iron Gull lies barely moving. The medick comes up and whispers quietly to Sian, "He's still very weak, but I think he will pull through in time."

Sian nods slightly, and hands her a few coins for her trouble. "Thank you."

The medick nods back and returns to the bedside, taking a cloth from an icebox and laying it on Gull's forehead. He moves restlessly and his gaze catches Sian. Barely visibly he beckons for the Dragon-Blood to approach him.

Sian does so, pulling a chair over to sit, and be closer to the man's level. He nods slightly. "Oligarch."

The man's lips move slowly, and it becomes apparent that he is trying to say, "Thank you."

Sian just sort of waves it off, but not heavily. "It was for everyone's safety, including your own."

The medick gives Gull some water, and it appears to give him some new energy. "You saved... " he speaks with difficulty still, "my life, and... my soul."

"Perhaps. I apologize for how rough I was, but you understand why I did it."

Gull nods slowly, "I couldn't... do anything, you know..." he takes a deep breath, "I wanted... to warn you, but... I couldn't."

"I know. That is what the spiders are designed to do."

"Yes... but..." he swallows hard and some more water is given to him, "It was me doing it..." He lies back for a moment, "Joster got away... didn't he?"

"Mhrm. Sella is here, in the other bed, but he's still unconscious."

"That was... why I wanted you... here. There was... a place, I never saw... where it was, but it was called... Bone Keep. I think... that they have gone there..."

Sian pays rather more attention now. "Do you know anything about it? Anything that could help me find it?"

"Sorry," Gull shakes his head slowly, as if the very act causes him pain, "I never did... It is some... distance away, I think."

"Mmm. At least we have a name." He nods to the man. "Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Gull's reaches out and he takes Sian's hand in his, "Find them!" he hisses, "Kill them!"

Sian squeezes the man's hand. "I will. I promise."

Gull lies back on the bed, and the medick says, "I'm sorry - the Oligarch needs to rest. I'm going to have to ask you to leave for now."

"It's fine." He pats the man on the shoulder, and nods to him, before exiting.

---

The 3rd Day of Descending Fire, Realm Year 763

The airship Cloud Cutter rises smoothly into the morning sky, provided by the grateful Haslanti military to get the three Dragon-Bloods (and their quiet assistant) back to their home. The early chill was almost entirely absent this morning, leading to a rapid warm-up of the ship and a take-off some 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Large sails unfold from around the gasbag as it rises, catching southerly winds and beginning the long journey to Tideholme.

Sian stands up the front, letting the chill air blow across him and keep him alert, unlike the other two terrestrials who immediately fled into a bed.

The golden sun of the morning rises slowly into the sky, the eastern horizon rippling beneath the glowing orb. The crew of the airship keep to themselves, mostly, Icehome has few Exalted in its navy, and having three at once on a single vessel is worrisome.

The sun has risen fully above the horizon when movement from the hatch catches Sian's eye: it is Diamond, and she climbs up onto the deck slowly. Looking around she sees Sian and walks, shivering, to the stern of the ship.

Sian looks somewhat unhappy at that, continuing to stand at the prow of the ship for a few minutes, before he sighs slightly and wanders after her. Slowly, and as non-threateningly as he can manage.

Diamond looks up and draws her breath in sharply when she sees who it is, inching unconsciously away, and holding her missing arm.

Sian stops, and puts his hands up in the universal gesture of, "I mean no harm."

She relaxes, barely, her breath steaming in the chill morning. "They're at it, again."

"I can ask the captain to loan you his cabin for a while, if you need sleep."

"I don't need sleep. I just need to get out of this cold," she shivers again.

"The cabin will do, then. Your poultice probably needs to be changed, anyway."

Diamond nods shortly, then returns to staring out to the rear of the ship.

Sian does indeed find the captain, and humbly requests the use of his cabin for a few hours. The captain's response, while somewhat churlish, is in the affirmative and so Diamond and Sian find themselves in a small room remarkably similar to the one in which she was recently mutiliated.

Sian tries not to note that, offering her a seat on the bed as he takes out another wrapping from his pack.

Diamond sits down meekly, swallowing as she looks around, and still slightly shrinking away from Sian as he gets close.

Sian tries to just be as calming as possible, which is not very much given the situation. He nods slightly. "Open your shirt, and I'll change this. I'll try not to be long."

Reluctantly she obeys, letting Sian get at the wound which, although healing, is still far from completely sealed. Sian is very, very careful as he removes the previous poultice, looking at the wound he inflicted for a moment before he shakes his head, and moves onto applying the bandages in his hand.

Diamond hisses softly as the bandages are replaced, resolutely refusing to look at the wound or at Sian.

Sian places a hand on her shoulder to keep them in place while he tucks the end of the wrapping over the edge of the seal, and pins it in place. "It's done."

"Thank you," she whispers.

He nods, very slightly. "Does it hurt much?"

Diamond just looks at Sian, "What do you think?"

"I meant, can you bear it? Or would you like me to find you something to dull it? There are plenty of herbalists in Tideholme, if you need."

"I can bear it. The leaves I have dull the pain quite enough."

"And your clothes? Are you warm enough, once out of the weather?"

"I'm fine."

"Hungry, thirsty?"

"I could do with something to drink," she shrug, "Otherwise I'm fine."

Sian rummages around in his pack for the small bottle of wine he always keeps with him, and passes it across to her.

"Thank you," she says again, drinking some of the wine.

Sian just sits silently, not watching her, since she would probably feel yet more uncomfortable.

Diamond breaks the silence, "Why are you doing this?"

"I feel responsible for you."

"Why? You're responsible for this," she waves her stump with more than a hint of bitterness, "but not for me."

"No. I reduced you to that, and now I will pay for it."

"Pay?" she laughs shortly, "You're not the one with only one arm."

"I may be able to fix that, but it will not be for some time." He busies himself with tidying up the mess in the room, whether or not the captain wants it.

Diamond sits up, "Look... thank-you... for the bandage and the wine, but I don't think I'm ready to spend any time alone with you. Can you... please leave?"

Sian nods slightly. "I can understand that. Keep the drink." He bows, almost formally, and exits.