"This is gonna hurt a bit." Ellia says as she held the knife against his palm. It was going to be a very long cut from the point of his palm, all the way to his elbow. "I'll do a slightly deep cut, all the way close to your elbow." She says before dropping the knife and deciding to to take a cloth and begin tying it very tightly against Celvic's elbow, this caused the man to raise his brow and Ellia noticed it.
"Turner kit." She replied before explaining more details to him. "I'm trying to restrict the blood flow to your arm so that it would limit blood loss. I am blood letting you, in order to to remove any trace amounts of venom in your blood stream." She says as she receives a satisfied hum from him. It's only been six hours since Celvic woke up and became conscious, and she wants to ask him whether or not he remembers anything or had she heard her speak at all, but nonetheless she has to proceed with this first.
"You sure know a lot about this Ellia." He asked.
She chuckles as she tightens the cloth around his elbow even more before taking the knife and pressing it against his palm. "This is part of our training as a priestess. We're not nurses or doctors that know everything about medical science, but we do know procedures to save a life." She says, putting some pressure on his arm. "This is going to hurt...but I'm going to stop the wound with my healing. I only have to let the blood flow a bit from your arm." She says as he nodded at her before pressing the knife to cut his skin. It caused a bit of a sounding pain from him, but she proceeded on as the sharp knife digs deeper to cut a slash, then she proceeded to trace the knife towards the knife, cutting a very large slash on his elbow as blood flow from his skin.
She puts a bowl under his arm and gently observed diligently, as she could see some of the blood has purple traces on it. Ellia looks briefly at Celvic who closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How much does it hurt?" She asks.
"It hurts, I'm used to this kind though." He said as Ellia lifts up his arm to stop the blood flow and let her hands glow. Celvic once protested on her using her powers just in case demons might sense that she had used magic, only to be rebuffed angrily by her, saying that she had spent how many days using her own powers to keep him alive, and with that, he can't say anything. Watching the very large cut closed before his eyes was always a spectacle to him no matter how many times he had been healed like this.
Ellia took the blooded cloth and gently takes a bowl of water and began rinsing it, squeezing the blood out from it before cleaning Celvic's healed arm. "Try moving your hand and arm Celvic." She instructs and Celvic does what she says with a bit of difficulty as she could see how the blood loss affected his arm. "Give it a a day, and the function of your arm turns back to normal."
She began to clean up as she puts the cloth and bloody water on the corner of the room before sitting down next to a table as she rests her head. Within one second, all of the stress and tiredness hits her like a kick from a horse. She felt dizzy the moment her head gently touched the table, her eyes were watery as she didn't realize that tears were already coming out from her as a full sob bursts inside her. She didn't care that Celvic was watching her, humiliating herself by showing such a weak side of her, it just doesn't matter for her right now.
And Celvic grant her that time as he watches her carefully. He doesn't know how to console a crying woman, much less of elvish descent. He had seen his mother cry but, this is new to him. He let her have the moment to sob in order to take the emotion out from her. He watched her wipe the tears from her face as she struggled to stop her tears.
Eventually she stopped when she looked at him, now a bit aware of his presence once more. She puts her composure back again and nods at him. "I'm sorry for this display Celvic." She says, wiping the rest from her face.
Celvic shakes his head. "No." He said as he stood up, though his left hand still hands like dead weight to his side. "In fact, I'm the one who should say sorry for this Ellia. I was reckless and-"
"I did what I have to do Celvic." She interrupts. "I had no choice-"
"Actually you do have a choice..." Celvic interrupts back, his voice was soft, and yet revealing as he came close to her. He looked at her in the eye, his lips eager to say his words. "When I went down to the poison, the thing inside the box was a hearthstone." He reveals, the widening of Ellia's eyes were apparent. It came of a shock to her that he knew.
"How did you know?" She asks, and then she stiffens in anger. "You were basically dead on your sleep to the point that I can't even wake you up when I scream at your face, and yet you know?!"
"I wasn't able to do anything!" He yells back, his fists curls as he breathes heavily, he took a second for himself to call down so that he would explain himself, their struggles really put a dent on their patience. "I heard you... and you were contemplating that you'll leave. But you didn't." He says as he puts his good arm unto her shoulder. "I just want to say thank you, Ellia. For saving my life and being there for me."
Ellia smiled. She doesn't know what her emotions are, genuine happiness or anger because she wants to kiss him on the cheek and slap on him on the cheek at the same time. But with a gentle nod at him, she take the hand on her shoulder and gently squeezes it. "Didn't I say you were my friend Celvic? We elves don't leave friends behind." She says before adding. "And besides, you would have done the same to me. I don't doubt that."
Celvic didn't say anything about what she remarked. He can't say that he could have done the same to her. He couldn't say that he was as brave as her during that point, that she didn't want to leave doubt, to destroy the hearthstone to make sure that she won't leave, to avoid any temptations to going walking towards the easier road of safety. And with it, he will forever be indebted to her and he can't change that. He could only nod as if to agree to what she had said.
Celvic look back at the entrance door, the symbol of their imprisonment, it has been awhile since he last looked at that door. When Ellia said she had been using her abilities as a priestess to heal him and no demons came, he wondered if its time to finally think about escaping. It is just unfortunate that his arm is injured andstill needs time to heal from the blood loss, but the opportunity is there for them. "Ellia, we are getting out of here. I promise you that." Celvic suddenly said out of the blue.
He gestures at his arm to say that it will be delayed for a bit, but he assures. "A few days...just a few days more to heal and rest up and we are out of here." He said before adding. "I had enough, whatever the hell is inside this room that is out to get us, I want us out from it. I had enough."
"I'm with you." She says as she walks over to the corner where their equipment and clothes were and began to organize them in place.
"No, we leave them." Celvic says. "We can't carry baggage or anything, just the weapons and staffs that we have and the clothes on our back. I can't even wear armor knowing that it's better to be faster on our feet." He said before going over to the closet where locked in their food supplies, even they can't take any food with them if they could even get out of this place. They would have to rely on their sheer physical ability of their feet to escape this place.
He opened the closet and just start running through the supplies and getting everything out, it had been four days since he ate when he was half-dead in his sleep. His body was starving, he could see that his body just thinned out fast in those last few days. He could remember the amount of risk he took in order to bring such amount of food all the way back to their place, he was just lucky that it wasn't so far away from the room.
"Don't eat all of it like a madman." Ellia advised as Celvic organized the amount of food that they had. It seems like they ate more than half of it from the looks of what remained, the fruits were still fresh because Ellia doused it with an oil that she brewed to make the fruits immune to the passage of time and decomposition. "You'll get sick, I know you're hungry but ease on eating." She says as she kneel next to him, looking at the food that they have. Drinkable water, fruits that were covered in oil, but at least fresh still from it, modified bread that the blood elves brought so that it won't rot or mold, dried meat and fish.
And along with the stash of alcohol and wine that they had found, they have more than enough food and liquids for them to eat and drink that they no longer need to ration it if they are finally going to escape in a few days.
Celvic just took a fresh ripe mango and began peeling fast on it before gorging himself on the fruit, it's juices spilling on his hand. "I'm so hungry right now, I can't control myself for now." He reasoned.
Ellia handed out a bread to him along with a dry meat. "Here, eat these. Just don't gorge yourself on eating a lot, you'll make yourself sick. It will satiate you for now. I'll prepare what we can to eat. We'll prepare for whats to come when we're going to attempt on getting out of here." She says as she stood up and moves a table near the food. They will have a few days on healing the arm, and then a full day of just warming up whatever they need to do in order to prepare. That is the plan, few days of gathering Celvic's and her own strength then a day for themselves to sleep on.
She watched Celvic moved away and sat on the edge of the bed, just focused on eating the food, albeit controlled as he was careful that his fruits might stain the bed. He had said that he had known he destroyed the hearthstone, and with that he is indebted to her. She wonders if he heard more than just that, had he heard the rest or everything to what she had said during the entire ordeal. Now it is stuck in the back of her mind if she had said too much during that time. Ellia looks back at him, still seeing that he's focused on eating, only to glance back at her after a moments notice before focusing back to eating.
She tries to shake it off and focused on arranging their supplies, properly putting it over the table in an arranged manner, just trying to put her mind on something else in order to not worry. After all, if indeed Celvic had known and heard her, what would have it? There is no consequence, she had said it herself she might have given time to love him if he is an elf, but he isn't. It's something that you have no control of.
Just as she finished arranging, Celvic also finished his meal, walking over to the corner where a bag is and puts the trash inside. Ellia mentally take note on to summon her pet Fel Ravager Marmon again to eat the trash, they had been using the Fel Dog as a dispenser for trash throughout their meals, it would eat anything for some reason, from paper to rotten trash, it had helped them kept the room clean of accumulative trash.
Celvic shakes his injured hand and then curls to a fist then to an open palm. He could feel the stiffness of his muscles and nerves from the lack of blood. "Just a few days..." He said to himself before walking over to a mirror and undressed his shirt to see the state of his body. The some scars here and there that he sustained from his previous battles and the battle in the black temple, a bit of thinning on his body, slightly seeing the diminishing of his muscles because of the lack of exercise and training. It had been quite sometime since he and Ellia trained, he wondered if its a good idea to train themselves in the last few days before attempting the escape.
That is, if its a good idea for her as he noticed Ellia going over to a her bag and finding a bandage and began wrapping it around her left hand. He walks over to her, purposely thudding his steps for her to nice that he is approaching her, but she paid him no heed as she continued on wrapping it. He watched her left hand, seeing the bluish hue and the swelling on it. "Did I cause that?" Celvic asked all of a sudden, Ellia finally glanced back at him before standing up.
"Oh, this is just nothing." She says, pretending that her injury didn't bother her, but Celvic knew better as he held out his hand. "Let me check." He says.
"You know, you should check yourself first Celvic, you need to eat." She said.
Celvic gently uncovers the wraps on her. "I'm indebted to you, I think this is a good way to start." He said as the wraps were finally removed from her hand. Celvic observed the damage that she might have took, her hand was swelling and bruised, the ring finger were stiff, he is sure that there is a few fractures here on her arm. "Can you move your fingers?"
She softly nods. "I can, it just hurts a lot. I'm sure a we can still do it, I still have my right hand to work on."
"I caused that didn't I?"
"One of your seizures, the most severe, I held your hand to make you calm but by impulse you squeezed hard." She flatly explains as gently takes her hand from his. "It's not your fault Celvic. You have no control to the circumstance."
Celvic shakes his head, he felt guilty that he had put her in such a situation. Had he been more careful both of them wouldn't be so filled with injuries illness, it would have gone far better for them and they would have planned ahead more or even escaped at this day on. He wonders if he could afford to put more days on hold to the escape. "Ellia, we could hold our escape until your arm is healed."
She narrows her brow. "What? No! we sh-"
"We can't escape right now with your condition. It's too-"
"Dangerous? Celvic, do you see the circumstance in the past few days since you were sick to your head and puking all over the place for me to clean up?" Ellia exclaims out of the blue as she as she raised her hands in the air with disbelief. " Three days I've been using my powers and there were no demons around to kill us, and you know so well how demons react when they sense holy magic. This is the perfect time! We don't know whether or not there might be some rogue demons seeking refuge here in the future." She watched him fall silent, what she said is right, there is doubt about it, yet he felt to wait it out for the sake of health, as if it their health concerns in here, if she has to fight her way out injured, then she will gladly fight it head on.
Celvic sharpens his brows as he looked at his dangling arm and her injured hand. "Four days..." Celvic warned, his voice was rough and deep. Had it always been that deep when he is angry? "A few days to rest and heal and one more day for ourselves to do whatever we want in this light forsaken place."
"Why?" Ellia asks, referring to the final day that they have.
Celvic calmly answers, smirking as he does so. "So that when we die, we don't have any regrets." He replied. Celvic briefly studied her expression, hoping to catch a glimpse of what she is thinking, but all he sees is the dark circles around her eyes as she remained quiet to what he had said. Too tired to even just respond when just a moment a go she had been angry, her emotions are all over the place at the moment, for one second she is apologetic, then the other she's fury incarnate.
He just moved over to the bed and began arranging the pillows to prepare for her, it caused a raised brow to sprout form the corner of Ellia's brow. "What are you doing?" She asks with deadpan expression.
"Preparing a bed for you." He said as Ellia shakes her head, already rejecting his offer.
"I'm fine." Ellia yawns. Her eyes were half lidded, a little bit of slight protruding red veins around her usually pearly white eyes. "It's you the one who should rest." She says as Celvic just casually walks up to her and puts his arm around her shoulders and slowly walked her towards the neatly readied bed. "I insist Ellia Suneyes." She heard him say. It's odd to hear him say her entire name, but she concedes as she laid her head down gently with her back against the soft mat.
"What are you going to do?" She asks.
"Preparing." He answered as she closed her eyes and lets her sleep. She deserved the rest that she desperately needed. Ellia saved her life, at least he would just put all the brunt on planning for their escape while she rests easy. It is a small price compared to what she did for him. And now he has to make sure that their lives are assured, he could lie to her face and say that he had just slept but he heard and listen to everything she had said and experienced in the dire situation.
At a different place and at a different time, there could have been us...
When she said those words, Celvic tried with all his might to move in order to assure her that there is a chance for them both to be together. There is a chance that they would live and after this, they would decide to just damn the customs of the Horde and Alliance and just let loose together, somewhere hidden from the world. He now knows that the feeling is mutual, but yet he cannot seem to voice that to her. In the future, perhaps. That is if there is a future for them both in the four days that they have to prepare.
'Four days' Celvic repeats. Four days to escape, it sent chills down on him. They had spent an unknown amount of days trapped in here and they would finally have the chance on getting out, but at the cost of them being compromised with a broken hand, and a sickly body with his. He wonders if they can actually do it in four days, to rest enough to be successful. They don't know how many demons are there outside, but they both won't risk going outside just to see how many. He could vaguely remember the areas around Black Temple when he went outside to search for food in the, where his feet was light as an air to make sure that there were no sound.
He was lucky during that time, the time of day was night when he looked up and see the windows. Most of the demons and nagas were sleeping, as if no force would be able to fight them and they are content with the fact, though he still had seen a few demons and nagas here and there in the distance in their patrols, he avoided them till he was back to their room where a concerned Ellia waited, jumping at him with kisses on his cheeks and forehead. He could vaguely remember a corridor leading somewhere when he looked at the distance in alert to patrolling demons, he could definitely see it as something to explore when they would get out. He wouldn't take a chance to not look at every possible exit.
He went over to the table and grabbed a quill and a bottle of ink before approaching a bookshelf and ripping a few pages from one of the books. Celvic remembers Maiev leading them to the temple after being imprisoned for so long, wanting vengeance. He couldn't even remember the names of the fellow raiders he had been with because of how hastily the group was created, because Maiev reached out, only for her to leave instantly once Illidan was dead. Fucking elves.
He wouldn't want to curse at elves, but sometimes his inner Garithos tends to come out. Settling down to table after grabbing a chair, he carefully places the paper as he dipped the quill and leaving it there for a moment as he looked back at the sleeping form of Ellia. She would likely be sleeping through the whole day and she deserves that enough as he has to brainstorm his way into making a passage for them to get out from the maze. Maiev had been their navigator in this place that lead them inside, now it is just them both alone in this giant maze of a temple.
He wonders what would likely face them outside, he is sure that they'll likely face a few demons here and there, something that is manageable if their skills are sharpened before going out which is a doubt. Celvic wonders back if the people that put them in a nightmare would be present to cut off their escape. Ellia mentioned a succubus that she had encountered, and the demon he encountered claimed to be a Pit Lord yet it was a Fel Guard. Though he doesn't know who they are, but one thins is for sure for them that they wouldn't just let them get out through that door and let them escape. There must have been an ulterior motive to why they are hounding them like this to the point that they once both thought that perhaps they were just ghosts making pranks towards them.
Celvic shoves the thoughts at the back of his head. There is no point in dwelling to them right now, he could go back to that once she's rested and they can plan on for them on what to do just in case they are faced with them. They still don't know if they are ghosts or demons because Ellia's magical elven eyes thought their spirits lead them to a stash of alcohol and a tiny box that poisoned him for how many days. Celvic dipped the quill once more as he began drawing a line, there is no way he could draw the outline of the entire section of the area inside the black temple, but at least he could draw something where they could follow.
He focused all of his mind to his memory.
Day 1.
Celvic moved around the room with great athleticism through the speed of which his feet can take him, stopping briefly to him to punch in the air, shadow boxing to warm up his body, though his his left hand was still stiff , it was fluid enough to not hinder him from training once again, he was dressed down to only his linen and underwear to cover his entirety. Ellia trained along side him though her broken left hand prevented her to do anything related to using her hands in fighting, but she used her legs as she squats, dressed down only to her underwear and bra which she had always had when it comes to training inside the room.
Judging from the sweat that drips down from their shiny skin, it had been sometime that they had trained and traded no words to each other, putting all their focus on just being able to adapt as much as possible for the goal that they have determinedly set three days down the line.
It was Celvic that stopped first. He had enough as walked over and sat down on a chair, leaning over and resting his both his elbows on his knees, panting as exhaustion took toll on his body, it had been sometime since he last trained and it imprinted it. He looked at Ellia who continued on to her training, squatting with great form, bending down with a firm core as her knees bend and catch the weight of her body as she put herself in a squatting postion. Celvic couldn't help himself but admire her training routine. 'This is how elves probably took care of themselves.' Celvic thought to himself as he stared at a distance, not noticing the sudden glance that Ellia gave which he quickly looked at the other direction with a very slight blush to his cheeks.
After a moment of assurance that she is no longer watching, Celvic then puts himself back to admiring her, this time no longer in her training routine, but to her entirely. He could no longer lie to himself anymore 'though I can continue to keep quiet for now' she is beautiful. The way the sweat trickles down to her alabaster skin, the way her rear ripples to the movements of her training took him out of breath. It intensifies his yearning for her. It couldn't have been just lust from the days of pent of frustration, he didn't find her attractive when they had met, it must have been something more, Celvic tries to convince himself that.
And the thought of her actually having the same mutual feelings for him made it all more appeasing to him.
"Are you finished?" Ellia asked, snapping Celvic from his day dreaming. Ellia approached the table to take more bandages to wrap around her hand as it began to come loose. "Well. Are you?" Celvic replied with a question.
Ellia shakes her head. "No." She replies, her answer seemed to rouse Celvic from his own exhaustion as he stood up.
"Well, I am not either."
I know you guys are waiting for this, I'm sure. You thought I'm gone once again and would let this rot for 3 years only to come back at some random time and make an update? You thought wrong!
Anyways, just a filler for what you guys are probably waiting for. Not gonna spoil it though. Anyways, you know the drill, review, and gimme reviews.
And shout out to Bashfulray02 for that 1 review on March 29. It inspired me to finish this story knowing that there are those fans of my story that wanted to see where this ends. Since June 29, 2016 the story had not gotten an update until April 3 of 2020, because of that 1 review of from a reader that loved my story, I am very much inspired to to finish this and see where Celvic and Ellia's roads are.
Though I had to admit, the story had swayed from its original plot and I had to renew the ending from here on because of the time constraints that I have. But nonetheless, I would be glad to see it through.
Anyways, thank you once again guys, and especially to Bashfulray02 for giving me the inspiration to finish this.