Long, silent strides kept Kale going at a furious pace out of forbidding snake thing's mausoleum, and away from the giant smelly thing that might have once been human. The monstrosity's huge, booming footsteps grew more and more faint as he ran, but he didn't slow down in the least. The hulking monstrosity could probably take him apart rather simply with his gigantic hands. If the hulking brute managed to catch him, that is, which wasn't going to happen.
Looking at his surroundings as he bolted out of its lair, he began to despair as he realized that this strange labyrinth had changed itself since he had run into this place. Even though Melia had been able to give him warm or cold feelings to help lead him to Rosethorne unerringly, he had checked the path he had taken carefully. Now that he had found her, however, he had no such compass to find his way back out, and the labyrinth had changed. Kale gritted his teeth in frustration.
Seeing a large, column-like structure, Kale ducked behind it to get his bearings, and re-adjust the precious cargo in his arms. He didn't hear the great, shuddering footsteps of the fat behemoth anymore, so he hoped he was safe for now. Even so, he didn't rest for very long. Kale checked on Rosethorne, being gentle and careful, so as to not to jar or bump any wounded part of her. She was asleep now, for which he was thankful, though he couldn't get the image of her covered and filled with snakes out of his mind. He shuddered again at the thought, shaking his head. He didn't understand why she had been treated this way, but he didn't care what the reason was. Nobody should have to go through that.
Just to reassure himself, he felt for a pulse on her wrist. There was one, but very soft. He wondered worriedly if that was normal for her, being half-dead as she normally was plus being actually half-dead from her recent experiences. Her skin was cold, so very cold. Kale found himself hoping that she wasn't dying. Not after what he'd had to do to rescue her.
"Melia!" He shouted in his mind, hoping she could reply somehow in this deep place. He didn't hear or feel an answer from her other than a faint warm feeling, which didn't do anything to improve his mood. He took a few deep, slow breaths as he tried to calm and center himself, which worked somewhat. He adjusted his grip on the pale woman in his arms, making sure she was wrapped comfortably in his cloak before he took off again.
Long stone staircases illuminated with a hard, ominous light had replaced the long, gloomy, and dimly lit passageways of before. No matter which way he turned, he got the sneaking suspicion he had turned the wrong way, and was now hopelessly lost. He gave vent to his frustration and rising panic by kicking idly at an innocent rock, aiming for the yawning chasm nearby.
As the rock skipped out of the way, it seemed to rebound back in an arc, melding into a wall near Kale. He looked rather suspiciously at the rock-eating wall, noticing that lettering was beginning to appear.
"Give up one thing you call precious, and speak aloud your destination."
Kale glared at the inscription at first, and then relaxed as he thought. He frowned as he realized that he didn't necessarily have to give up on the woman he had tried so hard to rescue, but did have to give up something else he thought was precious. As he thought of the things he had on him that were precious, the list was depressingly short. There was Melia's strange sword, her trademark bow, and his bracer.
As he remembered Melia's bow, he sighed. It had helped him much more than once. Indeed, it had been partially responsible for travelling with the woman now in his arms. Kale remembered using it to lay low a good portion of her undead army as well, though he didn't know it was hers at the time. He smirked briefly at the thought, remembering their heated conversation about it afterward. His face quickly grew grim once again as his mind returned to the task at hand.
He ducked down to a crouch to rest Rosethorne's battered body partially on his lap as he took the bow quickly off his shoulder, and looked at it. He held it gently, and closed his eyes as he released the essence he had used to attune it to him. It seemed to dull and age as the essence left the bow, looking like a forlorn relic of a forgotten time. Which it was, but now it looked the part.
Shaking his head, he threw the bow over the side, and into a chasm. Kale called aloud, but not too loudly: "I name the throne room of the Mask of Winters!"
A low grinding noise filled his ears as one of the columns began to unwrap itself almost like an orange, changing into a spiral staircase to a door above. He gently picked Rosethorne's unconscious form up once more, and jogged quickly up the unwinding staircase. With relief, he saw the same arched doorway he had come into this place through, and began running toward it eagerly.
Hearing footsteps from beyond the door, he skidded to a halt, looking wildly for a place to hide. Finding another column somewhat near the door, he raced behind it and flattened himself against the wall as much as he could with the woman in his arms. His eyes widened slightly as he saw a figure appear. The figure wore a long, grey cloak, and a metallic mask that covered the figure's entire face. The mask had the image of a grinning skull on it, slightly mis-shapen. Kale's eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened as he realized who this figure was. The Mask of Winters.
Kale observed the Mask of Winters glide down the stairs, going the direction Kale had come only a short time before. He realized with a sinking feeling that the Mask of Winters and that...thing were probably connected somehow. If this was the case, then he had even less time than he thought. However, he couldn't help but glare at the back of the being that had been responsible for so much going awry in his life. Someday, he thought. Someday, there will be a reckoning.
As soon as the Mask went down the last step, Kale dashed silently toward the open door, hoping the doorway wouldn't change before he got there. Thankfully it didn't, and he appeared behind the throne of the Mask of Winters. He peeked out from behind the throne carefully and in all directions, listening intently as well. Satisified that he had heard and seen nobody, he quietly made his way back out the way he had come.
There was nobody in the throne room itself, though his senses old him there were wraiths invisible to his normal vision. He closed his eyes, and shifted his vision. The lurch he felt made his stomach turn, but when he opened his eyes, he could perceive the wraiths by the doorway. He took a deep breath as he channeled a little more essence into masking his scent, any sound he made, and his life's energy. Kale hoped it would be enough to fool the wraiths.
Kale crept from behind the throne, and moved slowly to behind the nearby columns. He hadn't seen the wraiths move yet, which he hoped meant that they hadn't seen him. The rotes he was using depended upon him moving slowly to avoid being seen. He had to fight his natural impulse to grind his teeth in frustration at having to move so slowly, when he knew the Mask of Winters would most likely become aware that his former general was once again gone, and probably wouldn't be very pleased.
Like a gentle breeze in the dark, dismal place, he moved past the wraith guards, and down the stairs. To his rising frustration, he heard a patrol of guards coming toward his location. He darted into an alcove, and thought furiously. He gently stood Rosethorne up while holding his arms around her to keep her upright, covered she and he both with his long, dark cloak, and hoped that the group of heavily-armed guards that clanked by didn't see them. He breathed a long and silent sigh of relief as they marched right on by, allowing him to carefully pick up and cradle Rosethorne in his arms once more, dashing swiftly and silently out of the castle.
Soon, he had remembered the way he had come in well enough to leave via the side entrance. He stuck close to the castle walls as he crept as quickly as he dared back toward the Shadowland, and home. The large squadron of soldiers he had seen as he had swept silently into the castle were now gone, the grounds empty. Kale took another silent breath as he hoped that was a good sign. He kept himself flush against the castle walls as he moved as quickly as he dared without attracting attention.
Soon enough, he had run out of castle walls to hide behind. He knew that he would be searched for shortly, so he knew he had to hurry. What concerned him is that he was beginning to feel tired from all the essence he had channeled to make his escape successful. He knew he didn't have much left, and he most certainly didn't want to try drawing on the essence of this place to help him. Perhaps it was Melia's account of how the essence of this place had corrupted people she knew, but he was loathe to try, just in case.
Kale decided to simply keep his anima active slightly to stifle the senses of anyone looking for him, and hope it was enough. He took a few breaths to calm himself, and dashed into the open ashen plains, racing toward the Shadowland two miles away. As fast as he was running, he knew he had little time. This feeling was confirmed as he heard faint shouts of alarm, shortly followed by the angry buzzing sound of arrows flying through the air.
The first volley fell short, but he began to dodge and weave as he ran, hoping to evade his pursuers and continue not being hit. Angry buzzing noises like a flock of angry hornets grew louder as more arrows fell. Kale grunted as one of them found its mark in his lower back. The arrow seemed to be actually chewing deeper into his back as he ran, which nearly made him stumble in pain.
Kale felt that the arrow was moving slightly, and then felt it being yanked sharply out of his back, causing him to gasp in pain. With surprise, he saw Rosethorne's long, pale arm reached around him as he glanced down. Her eyes were still swollen closed, but her face was turned toward him. She made a hoarse croaking noise, which was the best she could manage under the circumstances, he figured. He noticed that she held her hand over the wound in his back. The wound hurt a bit more, and then a bit less before gradually fading away altogether.
Even afterward, she kept that arm held around him, looking sightlessly up at him. "Thanks, I needed that," Kale gasped as he kept running as fast as he could. She made another croaking noise in reply. More arrows fell around him, but thankfully he hadn't been hit by this volley. The Shadowland became visible in the distance, looking mostly like the surrounding ashen dark place, except for the uncomfortable and rather scary fact that the entire area seemed to move, shimmer, and twist. It's darkness seemed to undulate not unlike a heart beating. He shuddered again as he was reminded of what had lain within that large coffin, and shook his head to clear his mind of the memory. He couldn't afford to be distracted. Not now.
As he neared the inky, sparkling blackness of the Shadowland, he noticed that quite a few troops were stationed around it. He frowned as he saw them, and decided that the best and quickest route around them was through them. Reaching this decision, he pushed himself to run just a little bit faster, adjusting his grip around Rosethorne's body to keep a good grip on her. He saw with growing concern that the gem in his bracer was glowing only weakly and flickering intermittently, the essence needed to power it nearly gone. That meant that he was nearly exhausted as well. As if to punctuate this depressing discovery, a stitch of pain began growing in his side as he began panting for breath. The troops noticed him, pointing and shouting as he approached, but he was able to dart swiftly by the confused troops before they could try to stop him properly. The angry shouts rose in volume behind him, but faded away quickly as he outpaced them. Just a few more long strides, and he entered the Shadowland.
The life-stealing cold surrounded him as he fought his way through the tangible darkness. It seemed to give way reluctantly as he pushed through. He grimly kept running, pushing against the shadowy place. It seemed to push back, trying to push him back the way he had come, but he was running too fast to be slowed down too much. He fought down a triumphant shout as he saw the light on the other side of the Shadowland appearing distantly. It grew larger as he pressed on, giving him enough hope to push that much harder as he ran. Soon enough, he darted out the other side, right outside the walls of Thorns.
Kale immediately heard shouts of alarm, but he didn't slow down in the slightest. He darted into the smaller crevasses of the canyon, using them for cover as he navigated his way away from the fallen city. However, the stitch in his side had spread, causing his chest to feel like a fiery cavern of agony as he gasped for breath. However, he didn't dare stop until he was in a place where he could see people coming from all sides. He ran directly near the grove of cherry trees on the hill nearby. He smiled grimly as he remembered what had happened the last time he had been here, despite the growing numbness in his limbs.
For the second time in recent memory, he set Rosethorne carefully down near the trees. Had it only been two weeks ago? This time however, all she was wearing over her battered and horribly wounded body was his cloak, though he did smirk at the thought of not having to relieve her of her weapons this time. He gasped for breath for a minute or two, the stitch in his side slowly growing less insistent. When he had caught his breath, he checked on Rosethorne, making sure she wasn't hurt any more than she was when he found her.
Her eyes were still swollen shut, though the swelling had gone down somewhat. The wounds in her hands and feet were slowly healing. The blood from her ears had dried, the blood retreating back into her ears. Despite his concern, he didn't check the rest of her. Might as well leave her some dignity, he thought. He admitted that he felt the temptation deep down, but it would be dishonorable to do so.
She looked sightlessly toward him, and made another croaking noise, one of her arms mimicking the sign for drinking. Taking his canteen from around his neck, he gently poured a little water into her mouth. She swallowed, and grimaced before smacking her lips slightly. She seemed to relax a little, her head tilting to she side limply. Kale shook his head, smirking. At least she wasn't asking for blood.
His smirk vanished as she moved her head to look at him blindly once more, making another croaking noise that sounded something like "lud." Kale closed his eyes and shook his head, sighing. The things he did for dead damsels in distress. He looked and listened carefully all around him, and didn't see or hear anything nearby. There was a patrol of Immaculate soldiers arguing in the distance with a group of the undead soldiers. He hoped the Immaculate guard would stall the undead.
After noticing no immediate danger, he moved his wrist over by her mouth, making a grimace of distaste. He felt his wrist touch her cool lips, and he felt those lips open in response. He looked away, trying not to notice the feeling of her mouth opening slowly wider, and feeling fangs pressing against the skin of his wrist. He supressed a shudder as he felt her fangs sink into his wrist, followed swiftly by her suckling gently. She stopped after only a few seconds, which surprised him. Kale's eyes grew a bit wider as he felt her cool tongue touching his wrist, gently licking where her fangs had been. He looked back at her, in time to see the last hint of her fangs disappearing into her mouth once more. She murmured a croaking "ank oo" before her head gently fell to the side.
Kale looked at his wrist wonderingly, seeing no scars or puncture wounds, though it was a little pale. He looked at her once again, smirking again as he noticed no blood around her mouth. Her breathing seemed to be becoming regular and steady, which made him feel more relieved. He gently picked her limp form up once more as he prepared to dash off once again. Now that he had caught his breath and Rosethorne seemed to be okay, it was time to leave.
But where would he take her that would be safe? "Hi, could you take care of this woman? I know she's stark naked and a bloody mess, and I can't tell you why, but could you treat her anyway?" He rolled his eyes as he jogged swiftly. Yeah, that would go over well.
Kale almost jumped out of his skin as he felt a cool hand lay gently on top of his arm. He glanced down as he ran, seeing Rosethorne looking sightlessly toward him once more. She tried speaking once more, coughed, and then said in a very hoarse voice, "Jus' take me to a quiet place, please. I'll heal."
He shook his head slightly in wonderment. Damn, this woman healed fast. "Alright. The inn at Ayodha should be quiet. Will you be okay there?"
She shook her head slowly, and somewhat painfully, it appeared. She coughed painfully once more before trying to speak once more. He ducked behind a few trees as he gently laid a finger over her lips. "It's okay, I remember. The resonance thing, right?"
She nodded gratefully, and squeezed his arm gently. He lifted her once more, exhaling slightly. Despite being an Abyssal and therefore half dead, she was a tall woman; only a few inches shy of being as tall as he was. He had to adjust his cloak around her feet once more to make sure they were covered, both for warmth and to keep her paleness hidden.
Kale frowned as he thought further. His cabin was probably out of the way enough, though Immaculates might still be in the area. He reasoned that they probably wouldn't be especially sympathetic to the situation either. He grumbled to himself as he thought, his list of options growing quite short. "If it's clear, what about my cabin?"
Rosethorne nodded slightly. "'S'fine." Her head rolled to the side once more, looking like she was resting once more. However, Kale noticed that she hadn't removed her cool, pale hand from his arm. He hoped that was a good sign. He didn't run at top speed through the woods he had grown up within, despite his knowledge of every shrub and tree in the area. Kale moved at a cautious, silent jog, making sure to look all around and above him.
Reaching his cabin was the work of only a few minutes, scouting around it cautiously the work of a few more. Satisifed that there seemed to be nobody around at all, he crept inside his cabin, his eyes searching the cabin for anything out of place. Satisfied once more at seeing nothing out of the ordinary anywhere in the cabin, he tried to get her attention with a soft voice. "Rosethorne?"
At first, she didn't move. After a moment though, she slowly turned her head to look at him sightlessly, her eyes still swollen shut. "Mm?"
Kale took a deep breath, hoping she would be okay with someone helping her with her wounds. "I should to look your wounds over, and see if you'll be okay before I go to sleep."
She nodded to him, which set his mind at rest. Somewhat. He gently laid her down on top of the covers of the big bed, and began making a mostly smokeless fire in the fireplace, as he didn't want to attract any undue attention. He checked on her periodically, satisfied that she was dozing. Once the fire was hot enough, he began heating some water for a bath.
Soon enough, the large tub was filled with hot water. He gently grabbed her hand to try waking her gently. "Rosethorne? I need to wake you to tell me if the water is too hot for you."
She moved her head to face him, even though her eyes were still closed. She nodded, and squeezed his hand gently. He removed his hand, and gently picked her up, still wrapped in his cloak, and carried her over by the tub. "Okay. stick out your left arm, and let it drop. Tell me if that's too hot for you."
Her long, pale arm slowly emerged from the depths of the cloak, and she squinted her closed eyes slightly in concentration as she moved it slowly downward, until it met the water. She jerked her hand back up much faster, and turned her head toward him. "'S'hot."
Kale smirked. Figures. He gently set her down on the bed once more, and began stirring the bathwater with a large cooking ladle to help it cool faster. He stopped once it was only a little more than lukewarm, and carried her back over to test it. She reached down to test it once more, and nodded this time.
He carried her back over onto the bed, and began unwrapping his cloak, now somewhat sticky with coagulated blood. The smell of decayed and dead things attacked his nostrils as the last fold of the cloak was pulled away, revealing her battered body in the darkness of the cabin.
Kale lit a lantern to look at her more carefully, shuddering as he saw what had happened to her in much better light than before. He saw the many wounds the snake-things had done to her, and a couple older ones as well. There was a barely-healed wound above her navel that seemed to bubble angrily with the same black substance he saw within her badly-wounded right thigh, which seemed to be broken. With a sinking feeling, he doubted the black stuff was there to facilitate healing.
He decided to take off his jacket, setting it on the wooden peg by the door. He gently picked her up once more, the coolness of her skin being more apparent now. He slowly crouched over the tub, letting her feet touch the water first. At first, they jerked back, but extended into the water. He gently lowered the rest of her into the tub, causing the water to begin swirling with red and black after she had settled.
Reaching for a sponge, he began bathing her. A tear formed in his eye as he helped clean her many wounds, his jaw tightening at the thought of even some of this being done to anyone, let alone all that had happened to her. He noticed she winced slightly sometimes as he gently moved the sponge over some of her wounds, so he made sure to be more gentle over those parts, especially her thigh. Now that it was clean, he could tell that a part of her thighbone was missing, and not just broken. He closed his eyes and shook his head, suppressing the urge to grind his teeth in anger at the thought of someone being so heartless and cruel to do this to someone, no matter the reason.
Kale felt her cool hand gently lay on his arm once more, causing him to open his eyes and shake off his reverie. She had her face turned toward him, smiling slightly. She spoke hoarsely. "Bad, huh?"
He nodded, before feeling like an idiot for realizing she couldn't see him. "Yeah. There's actually a part of the bone missing."
Rosethorne nodded slowly, though she didn't remove the hand from atop his arm. "I'll be fine," she said with a gentle squeeze of her hand.
Kale hoped she wasn't just putting on a brave face. Anyway, she was done now. "Now for the fun part: I'm going to grab your hands and help pull you up, but you'll have to help with your good leg. Okay?"
She nodded, and reached out her arms as he got up. He gently but firmly grabbed ahold of her hands, and pulled her slowly upright. Her leg shook slightly as she began standing upright, and began collapsing underneath her. He swiftly moved forward and held her upright with his arms around her waist, and helped her to stand.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still as their faces were inches apart. She moved her head forward and slightly to the side, softly rubbing his cheek with hers before laying her head on his shoulder. He took a silent breath as he gently picked her up once more, and dried her off before carrying her back to the bed. Pulling back the goosedown comforter and blue cotton sheet, he helped her lay down as softly and gently as he could, to avoid hurting her leg any more. Once she had laid down completely, Kale walked over to one of the chests of drawers, pulling out a few bandages.
He walked over to her, and gently wrapped her thigh, covering both the huge and deep bite marks left by the snakes, as well as the large gap where part of the bone had been removed, and replaced with the black, oozing liquid that burned his finger terribly when he had barely touched it. He turned his attention to her other thigh, noticing that it had the two large holes as well, though at least it wasn't broken like her right thighbone was. He finished his work by wrapping smaller bandages around her hands and feet.
Kale looked at her face for a moment before getting up once more, surprised to see that she was smiling slightly. He wondered about that as he got up to get a large green nightshirt for her, and carried it back to the bed before crouching at its side. "Rosethorne, I'm going to need to help you stand once more, so I can put a nightshirt on you. Okay?"
She nodded slightly, and extended her arms to him again. He clasped her hands, gently pulling her upright, and helped her into the shirt before helping her back underneath the covers. Her head hit the pillow softly, and her face seemed to relax peacefully. He smiled softly as he saw this, taking a deep breath as he realized that his mission was completely over. Making himself some tea as he sat down in the large, comfortable armchair, he thought about what the hell he had just done, and what the repercussions would be. As he finished his tea and set it on the table beside the chair, he settled himself back into the chair, losing himself in thought, and finally, in dreams.