Anise

The beautiful sights of Tir Na Lia did nothing to stay the horrible nightmares, and Anise reeled through one dream after another, until she sat up sharply—feeling her stomach turn over at the lingering images. A cold sweat dripped down the side of her face as she hyperventilated for a moment, not recognizing the bed she'd woken up in—nor the small, constricting room. It took a moment for the recollection to settle, though the nausea hardly abates.

Quickly, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and conjured a simple robe. Throwing it over her shoulders and tightening the sash over her waist, Anise flew out the door and down the stairs. The fire dimmed, and she barely caught a glance of Avallac'h laying on the couch, stirring in the darkness at the sudden movement in his home.

Clasping a hand over her robe, she burst from the front door and staggered toward a nearby fountain, throwing herself over the cold, stone railing as her heart raced against her chest.

Calm, calm, calm! Her inner voice repeated. The Elder Blood flickered in her veins, but Anise had long since learned to control it—her body's response to the terrifying dreams were another story.

Torture and experiments that bordered on mutilation… Oh yes, they'd taught her control—taught her to withstand the harshest of bodily harms. But the effects they'd had on her mind were harsher and longer lasting, and she never learned to fully cast them aside. Instead, she shuffled them to the depths of her thoughts, and in turn, her body learned to react to their rare resurfacing. The combined effort to control the Elder Blood and draw herself from this state made it an exhausting affair.

Tears welled in her eyes as she gripped the stone, not caring a bit about the way it tore at her fingernails. One shallow pant after another, the panic slowly subsided, draining all her energy with it.

"Anise?" she heard Avallac'h's voice behind her, and barely turned her head in his direction, before feeling her vision fade.

"Av…llac'h," she whispered, waving a hand through the air, vaguely in his direction.

It fell to her side, and she lifted it up again—this time, it was caught by another hand. The elven sage kneeled beside her, and another appeared behind her back.

"I'm… sorry," Anise murmured in a haze, as he lifted her silently. She protested as Avallac'h hand disappeared from around her wrist, to take her by the knees and lift her up. His steady breath fanned her neck as he froze, peering at her intently. "No," she sighed, and laid a hand on his shoulder, pushing him away slightly. "I can walk," Anise nods, trying to convince herself of the fact more than him.

—Avallac'h—

Anise was like a ghost, the way she fled from the house. It took Avallac'h a moment to realize what was happening, and he barely had a moment to throw on the topmost layers of his robes before embarking after her out the door.

It didn't take long to spot her crouched over the nearby fountain, her pale, golden robe splayed out behind her slender form against the ground. Avallac'h approached her slowly at first, assessing the extent of her stability, before nearing her more comfortably.

"Av…llac'h," he heard her murmur his name, and was stricken by the desolate countenance as she slowly turned to look at him—never in all his travels and encounters had he seen such age-worn weariness in any creature's eyes.

A moment passed before he recollected his purpose, watching as her hand rose and dropped before him. He quickly kneeled beside her, catching her wrist as it fell again, and lifted her slowly. Avallac'h looked over her once for signs of injury, expressly ensuring not to note the looseness of her robe—as well as how delicate she felt within his grasp—as he released her hand to lift her off her feet.

"No," her hand reappeared on his shoulder, pushing him back, and Avallac'h was stunted. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but her eyes remained cold and distant as she steadied herself. "I can walk," she mumbled, though her voice was frail.

"What is the meaning of this?" he inquires darkly, watching as she stumbled a few steps away from him.

She stopped. The moonlight cast a shadow against her cheekbones as she turned and peered at him, the waves of her light brown hair cascading about her. Avallac'h pressed his lips together as an instinct plucked at his chest, urging the admittance that the woman was beautiful, in the most ethereal way that she possibly could be.

"I had a nightmare," she mumbled, and the resolve faded from her eyes as she turned away.

Just one step later, she fell to the ground, and Avallac'h strode to her side. Wisps of green light flickered around her forearms, and she let out a sharp exhale as she tensed—suppressing them back into nothingness. Suppressing the Elder Blood, which, no doubt, was throbbing to whisk her away through reasonless self-defense.

Pity settled in his chest as he peered down at her. Once again, Avallac'h knelt at her side, reaching under her shoulders as he laid a hand atop her back. He closed his eyes as an incantation rose deep in his throat. "Gvaed, gvaed m'corth," he muttered. "S'vylthaen."

Anise let out a breath of relief as her body relaxed, and she fell against his support, clutching the forearm that was stretched across her shoulders. For a moment, she merely caught her breath, and leaned her head against his upper arm. Even Avallac'h could sense her pain abating, her racing heartbeat slowing to a calmed state.

Finally, she rose—and he rose with her. She spared him an embarrassed, sidelong glance as she trailed her eyes down to the ground. "Th—thank you," she murmured, raising her hands up to cradle her arms.

Avallac'h nodded—the only response he could muster.

"I'm so sorry," her eyes flickered back to him as he stepped away, looking over his disheveled robes. "I woke you up—I didn't mean to."

"It's alright," he shakes his head. "Though I have trouble believing that a nightmare instigated all this."

Shame coiled in the woman's eyes as she peered at him, and without so much as a nod, she turned away pointedly—hiding her face as she strode back to the home. A few steps in, she stopped and looked back at him. "Are you coming?" she asked, uncertainty and hesitation steeping in her tone.

Avallac'h narrowed his eyes at her slightly, reading the utter unwillingness in her expression to discuss what happened. He sighed, dropping his shoulders as he shook his head reproachfully, and the woman turned away again.

All was silent for the rest of the night.