This story takes place after the events in The Lost Child and Survivor's Guilt.

Madrion

It's been a year since Jaisea and I escaped from the Malek Mine. I spent a good part of that time in Elysea. My injuries were extreme and if not for the determination of Darien, I would have died. He is a songweaver and was there when Jaisea and I fell onto the Eltnen teleporter platform. He refused to give up on me and I could do no less than to live. With the kisks non-functional I had no option to resurrect. How much easier life would have been for all of us if that were so.

I have….changed. My body is not the sculpted masterpiece it once was. It now sports a fine tracing of new scars and I tire easily. The healers tell me that this will pass. In normal times, Daevas are healed completely after an injury occurs or they die and resurrect with a new body. Never before in the history of Atreia had the kisks or teleport stations failed to work. I should have died and come back completely healed. Unfortunately for me and others like me, we had to heal on our own. The healers were overtaxed and were not able to fully repair the flood of injuries they were confronted with. They did the best that they could and we, the survivors, are left to deal with the consequences.

It has been suggested to me, more than once I might add, that I could kill myself and resurrect with a whole body. But resurrection has its own risks. People who repeatedly die and resurrect begin to have issues. Eternal life is a lot to deal with on its own, being unable to die could drive anyone crazy. As far as I know, I haven't experienced resurrection. You see, 16 years ago I woke up with no memory of who or what I was. To this day, I haven't met anyone who knows me from before this time. I have no idea who my family is, or how old I am. I've managed to make a life for myself and rarely think about it, but now and again I wonder. Death is a risk I'm not willing to take. I can live with more scars on my body. The ladies don't seem to mind them, so why should I.

Today is the first time I've been home in over a year. Surprisingly, the yard looks manicured and the house looks lived in. Someone has been taking care of it in my absence. It must have been Wayne, my butler. I don't know who else it would be unless it is my best friend Herrel. When I open the front door all the good time memories sweep over me. My house has been the scene of many a good drinking and loving. I've had two girlfriends live here and plenty of my buddies have hung out here at one time or another. It's a small house with only one bedroom, a small kitchen and living room area. I don't need much. The only vanity I have is my clothes and I am something of a clothes hog. I have two wardrobes full of outfits. My armor is left out on its own but my weapons have a nice rack on the wall where I can reach them quickly if need be.

My house smells musty and when I check the kitchen, I find no evidence that anyone has lived here in quite some time. Wayne's things are gone, so it wasn't him looking after the yard. I toss my duffle on the kitchen table and strip out of my dusty travel clothes. After taking a quick bath, I changed into some casual clothes and head out to get some food.

First order of business is to restock the kitchen. Then I need to find out what's been going on in Pernon. After that, I'm going to pay Herrel a visit. He probably thinks I'm dead. I haven't been in contact with him at all. At first it was because I was unable to, then it was because I was ashamed. I thought Jaisea had died and it wasn't until recently that I found out she was alive. My feelings for Jaisea have been conflicted for several months. I love her and sometimes wish she hadn't married Herrel.

I met Jaisea while she was working at the Altgard Garrison. She was a new chanter, and got some of the really boring jobs. I was there to meet a couple of buddies for drinks in the local tavern. Jaisea was there and we hit it off. She was a cute little thing, with hair that was so blond, it was almost white. She is my height and a chatterbox to boot. Before I knew it, she had my life story out of me. I think I fell in love right that minute. It wasn't the same for her though. She looked upon me as a brother and as we got to know each other better, took it upon herself to keep an eye on me.

I was happy to oblige her. Jaisea can be a bit bossy sometimes, but she always means well, and would do anything for a friend. She does think that I can't look after myself and is always after me about eating properly and so on. She reminds me of my butler and in fact they just might be in cahoots. Wayne is a fussbudget and a great cook as well. He's kept my home from becoming a total disaster.

I am relieved to find that the teleport station is manned and I jump to Pernon. It is early morning and I can smell delicious food being prepped for breakfast. I hit up my favorite diner. I've really missed this place. I had eggs and karnif steaks with some hot tea. It is still a bit chilly out yet, so the tea helped warm me up. While I am there, I read the local paper to find out the news. It is mostly about the rebuilding efforts, which thank Aion are almost done.

There is also an article about the lepharists. Lepharists! My blood begins to boil at the thought. A lepharist kidnapped Jaisea and tortured her. I had a debt to repay there. I was going to hunt myself one female lepharist and kill her. And that's new for me. I don't really like killing people which is odd for an assassin. Most of the time, you can convince them to give up their ways with just the threat of death or bodily harm, but I'm going to make an exception in Julia's case. It's rare that I've had to actually kill any Asmodians, but I won't have any qualms about ending her life, especially after what she did to Jaisea.

And I had been working towards that goal. I've been back to the Malek Mine and scouted around. It has been destroyed and now resembles a giant crater in the earth. A few buildings still stand, but I couldn't find any evidence of Julia. It's possible she was killed in the attack, but knowing what a slime she is, I'm sure she escaped. She fled before the cavern we were in collapsed. She had time to get out. I'll have to be careful though because I don't want her to know I'm hunting her.

I'll have to expand my search and check all the villages and towns where she could have fled to. There aren't many left after the Balaur attacks. Most of the people had moved back to Beluslan Fortress, for it offers security and shelter. I don't believe that any of the lepharists would go there though. The Archons wouldn't allow it and any who did would be thrown in jail or executed. There are a couple of areas where they hold the land and she could be there. It will make finding her more difficult as they guard their territory well.

I have a few friends that I can trust, so I put the word out that I'm looking for a dark haired assassin, who is a lepharist. In the meantime I continued to scout out the villages closest to the Malek Mine. Several months go by and no one has seen a woman matching Julia's description. I will have to head further south soon. There are a couple of garrisons down south to keep watch on various enemies of the Asmodians. Red Mane Cavern is one of the biggest ones, so I think I'll start there first. I can also live there as they have a small inn. I still have enough kinah, so I don't have to take any jobs for a while.

A hand on my shoulder brings me back to the present. It is Allan, one of the waiters working at the diner. He clears my plate and takes my kinah. And now it is time to go see Herrel. This is a visit I have been anxious to make and dreading to make at the same time. I'm not sure how they'll take my returning into their lives, especially Jaisea. I kissed her when I thought we were going to die. I shouldn't have but I did and now I feel foolish and guilty, as though I have stolen something precious from my best friend Herrel. I can't in good conscious keep my returning a secret from them. At some point, someone will mention seeing me and now I suspect that it is Herrel or Jaisea who has been looking after my home.

A light rain is falling in Pernon, so I dig out my cloak and put it on. Herrel lives fairly close to Pernon so I elect to fly there instead of taking the teleporter. The flight relaxes me and by the time I reach their home, I am calm. Their house looks about the same. I can see that someone has been working in the garden, as there is freshly turned earth near the house. I walk up to the door then take a minute before knocking on it. It opens and there is Jaisea, just as lovely as ever. She looks much thinner though and there are worry lines on her face that weren't there before. Herrel comes up behind her. My friend looks so much older. My heart begins to pound and I feel that I might be responsible for some of this. Fear crosses Jaisea's face as I stand there silently watching them.

Reaching up, I pull the hood away from my face. Jaisea gasps, then screams "Maddie, oh my god Maddie you're still alive!" Her face turns as pale as death and she faints. Herrel catches her before she can fall onto the floor. He looks incredulous, his mouth hanging open. I'm not sure if he is happy to see me or not. He scoops Jaisea up and lays her on the couch. I just stand in the open doorway, shocked into silence. This is not going as planned. Herrel gently pats Jaisea's cheek until she gasps and opens her eyes. Herrel pulls her into him, holding her tightly. She stares at me wide-eyed from the safety of Herrel's embrace.

She looks scared to death, almost like she's seen a ghost. My first instinct is to flee, but I hold my ground. My heart sings anew to see her again, and it aches to see the fear on her face. She finally pushes Herrel away and gets up off the couch. We stare at each other for a moment and then she shrieks at me, "I thought you were dead! They told me you were dead! Where have you been all this time! How dare you come back here!" She flew at me then, fists beating on my chest. I caught her in my arms and let her rail at me. She bursts into tears and clutches me. I wrap my arms around her gently, softly murmuring apologies into her hair.

Herrel just stands there, watching in that calm and quiet way of his. At last, Jaisea stops crying and pushes away from me. She points at the couch with that look on her face. I'm in for it now. I know that look and it isn't a good one. She's going to interrogate me until she knows everything that happened. I almost roll my eyes at her, but the look on her face stops me. She is furious.

Herrel waves me into the house and closes the door. I notice there are picnic items on the floor and a basket with delicious smells emanating from it. I look at my best friend in all of Asmodae and am taken aback by the tears in his eyes. He steps forward and pulls me into a hug. He at least, is glad to see me. Jaisea, on the other hand, still looks angry. "It's good to see you man," Herrel says. "Gods, where the hell have you been? We thought you were dead." "I've been….a long time coming home," I replied. "It's a long story, but I wanted to tell you in person, instead of you finding out from someone else."

Jaisea is getting impatient and finally stamps her foot on the floor. She points at the couch again and commands me to sit. I slowly walk over and sit down. She pulls a chair over and sits right in front of me, so I can't escape. And right now I want too. I can see thunderclouds brewing in her eyes. She crosses her arms over her breasts and says, "Start talking!" So I talk. I tell them about my recovery and about Darien. I told them about my search for any trace of Julia. Herrel and Jaisea look at each other at that. She has a guilty look on her face, and Herrel looks unhappy.

They don't share anything and both turn back to me. The tension in the air is palpable at this point. Something is going on with those two and it has something to do with the lepharists. I shrug to myself. None of my business I tell myself. Finally Jaisea stands up and moves the chair back. She leaves the room and Herrel and I stare at each other in uncomfortable silence. He reaches into his cube and pulls out a worn piece of parchment and hands it to me. It's the note I wrote a year ago, the one detailing my intent to find Jaisea.

I look up at Herrel in surprise. "How did you get this?" I ask him. "From my cousin Vallyon," he replies. "Care to share how you found out about Jaisea and I didn't?" Herrel folds his arms across his chest and watches me intently. Oh Gods, he's angry too. I sigh. It's a long story Herrel and I…. He interrupts me. "We have plenty of time Madrion. Plenty of time." Oh boy.

To be continued…