Faerdin
Rune Knight
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He arrived in the nick of time. Wind itself inhabited Faerdin as he cast the whole of his weight into Aurauris’ path, catching the icy spires on his shield -- its runes alight through a flurry of splintering ice and snow. While the wind-caught vapor dissipated, he glanced back to the golden-haired woman and barked, “Are you alright?” Her meek nod was answer enough. So the warrior returned his eyes to his quarry. In the instant he was tending to Aurauris, the vapor had swelled outward. A cloak of bitter cold had curled around and swallowed their forms as a snake does its prey. It was not long before a torrent of frost-kissed wind tore and ripped against his shield -- a blizzard had erupted from nothing. From that moment on, Faerdin knew he was dealing with no mere elemental. No sooner had the revelation struck that the Rune Knight saw a pair of cold, blue eyes returning his gaze from behind the veil. The creature stepped forward and Faerdin nearly lost his footing. Aequival rang through the howling gale as he ripped it from its sheathe. He muttered “Stay behind me,” to Aurauris as he rallied his strength and pushed through the current. With narrowed eyes -- both to see through the storm and that visage his former colleague wore -- he inquired, “You… Why are you doing this?” What stepped from the veil appeared to be no elemental or monster. They were an ordinary human save for the wild, crazed desperation that clawed from those white-blue eyes. If this one was the same as the others, Faerdin knew that this creature must be feeling immense pain. And if that was the case, the time had arrived for its eternal relief. Tears welled in Faerdin’s eyes. His arms shook. He could not follow through with the blow he intended to deal. “Gredal… Please, remember who you are. You are stronger than this. Of all people, you are stronger than this!” Another column erupted from the earth and tore through Faerdin -- batting him away like a ragdoll before the roaring blizzard and tearing directly toward the wide-eyed woman who stood behind him. “NO! AURAURIS!” Faerdin awoke with a start. He was pouring from head to toe in sweat. Another nightmare. The third one he had since yesterday. With a furrowed brow, he thought, The fasting… It must be the fasting that is doing this to me. We just started it yesterday, right? The young man rolled to the side to smack the arm of an orcish man in the cot next to him. “Agh, what?” “The Trial --” “It’s in two days, Fae! Stop making me say it, I still need to study.” Half-asleep, he grumbled something about “stupid magic” and “freaking runes” before succumbing again to his slumber. So Faerdin laid back, eyes peering through the stone brick ceiling and yet seeing nothing. Perhaps tomorrow would offer some better rest.
< Message edited by Faerdin -- 11/1/2015 14:37:36 >
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