Author's Note: Next chapter, yay!

I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. Writer's block has been plaguing me nonstop for several months now, and it's only just beginning to retreat. Sort of. Well, enough for me to finish this chapter, at least.

Just so everyone is aware, I do not, as of yet, know exactly where this story is headed (no surprise there). As always, I have ideas of what I WANT to happen, but my stories tend to have a minds of their own, so who knows if those ideas will actually be used or not.

Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's a little shorter than I'd like it to be, but I enjoyed writing it.

Warnings for This Chapter: Other than Kael's bit of a potty mouth, nothing.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Dragonfable. It and all related games, plots, characters, settings, etc. is the property of Artix Entertainment. I am merely toying with its characters to suit my own fangirl-ish tendencies. Kael and Nirin, however, do belong to me.

Edit 2/24/2012: Fixed a tiny little plot hole that's been bugging me, as well as a few minor word changes here and there.

Chapter 2

Awakening

Kael forced herself awake at dawn the next morning. It had only been a few hours since she had fallen asleep, and she felt even more tired than she had felt the night before, if that was even possible. But, rather than sleep like she wanted, she had more important things to take care of.

The first thing on her list: make sure the man (she had decided that she would rather not call him by his name just yet) hadn't died during the night. Chances are he was still alive, as Aegis probably would have woken her up if something went wrong.

The second thing on her list: check on the kid.

The third thing on her list: food and a bath.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. Not caring that she was dressed in nothing but a ratty old nightshirt that was far too big for her and probably intended for a man, she wandered out of her room into the adjoining room.

All of the mess that had been created the night before had been cleaned up, probably courtesy of Aegis, though the stench of blood still hung thickly in the air.

As for Sepulchure, he was exactly as she had left him: lying flat on his back, unconscious and completely naked save for the bandages across his chest and the blankets drawn up to keep him from getting cold. Aegis was sitting at the man's bedside. Good. The cold that radiated from the spirit's skin would probably help keep the man's temperature down.

"How is he?" Kael asked sleepily.

"His skin is far too warm, though I believe he is better than he was last night," the spirit replied. "And you should still be asleep."

Kael shook her head. "I needed to check on him. And anyway, what about the kid?"

"Sleeping. I made the couch by the fireplace into a bed for her. She woke up crying about an hour after you went to bed. I gave her food like you said, but she refused to touch it and she would not go back to sleep until I told her that her father was still alive." He paused for a moment. "I think she is afraid of me," he added as an afterthought.

"Alright." Kael shooed the spirit out of the chair and took his place. Reaching over to feel the unconscious man's forehead, Kael found that Aegis had been right; his skin was still hot to the touch, though not as bad as it had been the night before.

"Aegis."

"Hmm?"

"Can you send Nirin into Falconreach? There are a few medicines that I need from Reens."

"You want to send the dragon into town alone?"

"He's smart. Just write a note explaining what I need, though don't say what it's for. Nirin knows where to go, and Reens knows what he looks like and who he belongs to. And I think he's still small enough to walk down the street…" Kael listed the medicines that she would need, as well as a few others to make it look like she was simply stocking up in preparation for a few weeks of traveling like she often did. Aegis nodded as he wrote them all down in his cramped handwriting.

Below the list, Aegis wrote:

"Reens—

"The list there are some things that Kael needs; she's running low on them and she thinks that she'll need more soon. Just give the supplies to him and he'll get it to Kael.

"Thank you,

"—Aegis.

"P.S. Kael will pay you for it the next time she's on town, same as always."

Note in hand, Aegis went outside to where the dragon Nirin was dozing in the sun. A large, blue eye opened halfway at his approach.

"Kael has a request for you," Aegis said in broken Draconic. He did not know very much of the arcane language, and what little he knew was what he had picked up from Kael over the past couple years through their contract. The bond between their souls allowed him little glimpses into Kael's memories, thoughts, and emotions, as well as a window into the things that Kael knew, such as languages. "She wants you to take this to Reens in Falconreach."

Nirin raised his head and looked down at Aegis with a scrutinizing gaze. Aegis had never been sure what the dragon thought about him. At the beginning of his contract with Kael, things had been tense between him and the dragon, almost as if Nirin had been worried that the spirit would take Kael away from him. It had been a contest of wills for a long time after that; who did Kael like best? Who was the better companion? Things had settled eventually, however, though some of the tension was still apparent in the dragon's eyes whenever Kael was alone with the spirit.

Aegis held the note—which by then had little ice crystals creeping around the edges—up to the dragon. Nirin brought his head down to examine the note. Nostrils flared for a moment before huge jaws opened and delicately took the note from the spirit's hand. Nirin got to his feet.

As Aegis walked back into the house, he turned around in time to see the dragon unfurl enormous silvery wings and take to the sky. Thunder rumbled overhead, and a single drop of water landed on Aegis's arm. It froze instantly and fell to the ground where it quickly melted into the dirt. It would become a full-on thunderstorm before too long, he noted.

He had barely shut the door when he heard a small whimpering noise coming from the opposite end of the main room. There was the scuffle of blankets being shifted, and then a pair of tiny hands appeared on the top of the couch, followed by a pairing of sleepy-looking eyes. The child spotted him and ducked back behind the couch, though she forgot to hide her hands, too.

Quietly, Aegis made his way over to the child. Peering over the back of the couch, he caught a glimpse of the girl's face before she flung the blankets over herself with a startled squeak. Reaching down, he prodded the child's shoulder through the blanket.

"Do not be afraid of me," he told the girl. "I will not hurt you." He bent down closer as he nudged her shoulder again, more gently this time.

A pair of blue eyes peered out from under the blanket. A split second later, they widened in surprise at finding Aegis so close by. With a shriek of alarm, the child scuffled backwards on the couch as far as she could go. Aegis, also startled, instantly backpedaled in the same moment, accidentally knocking over one of the potted plants that sat on the mantle. It fell to the floor with a loud crash, sending dirt, pottery shards, and bits of vegetation everywhere.

And to top it all off, the little girl started to cry. Aegis was completely at a loss of what to do—dealing with children was more Kael's area of expertise than his. In fact, he couldn't remember a time when he had ever had to take care of a child. It's possible he had been around children all those centuries ago when he was still human, but that lifetime was so far gone that he couldn't even remember his original name, let alone whether he had had a family.

"Please do not cry," he said, trying to make his voice sound more human. He tentatively reached down to try and comfort her, but the sudden cold only served to make her cry harder. Bewildered, he backed away, treading on one of the broken pieces of pottery as he did so. It didn't cut through his boot, but it slid under his foot, knocking him off balance for the second time in as many minutes, only this time he wasn't able to catch himself before he went crashing to the floor.

"Aegis?" Kael's voice came from down the hall. "What was that?" She came to stand in the doorway, still dressed in the old nightshirt, though she had taken the time to tie her hair back and she was in the process of pulling on a robe. Upon seeing the little girl in tears with Aegis sprawled in a rather ungraceful heap on the floor, she rushed forward. "Are you alright?" she asked, taking the spirit's elbow as she helped him to his feet. Surveying the damage, she asked "What the hell happened?"

Aegis wanted to disappear. Had he been human, his face would have been bright red from embarrassment. "I was startled," he mumbled, adjusting his helm so that it was no longer askew. The corner's of Kael's mouth twitched in amusement, but before she could laugh, her eyes fell on the little girl who still sat on the couch, crying.

"Oh, dear." She quickly knelt down in front of the child, completely ignoring the mortified spirit behind her. "What's wrong, sweetie?" She brushed one of the girl's tears away with her thumb. "Did Aegis scare you?" The child nodded. "Oh, he didn't mean to. He's just useless, he can't help it." Ignoring the indignant snort behind her, she went on. "There's nothing to cry about, alright?" Again, the child nodded, sniffling. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Gravelyn," the girl replied in a little voice, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"That's a pretty name," Kael said, giving the girl a kind smile. "My name's Kael, and the blue idiot behind me is Aegis." Again, the so-called 'blue idiot' snorted irritably. "And he's not at all scary. Aegis is very nice, understand?" This last was directed towards the spirit. "So no more crying, alright?" She brushed another tear away as Gravelyn nodded again. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh-huh."

"Okay. Aegis is gonna make sure you get something to eat. Now, I'm gonna be busy taking care of your dad, so you won't see much of me for a while, but Aegis will be nearby if you need anything, alright?" Another nod. Kael smiled and got to her feet, but was stopped when Gravelyn caught hold of her sleeve.

"Is Daddy okay?" she asked.

Kael hesitated for a moment. For one blissful moment, she had completely forgotten the relation between the child and the man who still lay unconscious in the other room.

"Not yet..." she replied uncertainly. "But he will be."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Gravelyn let go of Kael's sleeve, and as the latter walked past Aegis, the spirit hissed in her ear: "Is he really going to recover?"

Kael sighed. "I have no idea," she replied truthfully. "If he does, then he'll be lucky. Or unlucky, as the case may be." And with that, she left the room.

An hour later, Kael sat down in the chair beside Sepulchure's bed with a heavy sigh. Bending her head back, she stared out the window behind her, watching as clouds gathered in her upside-down line of vision.

"Gonna rain," she mumbled to herself. "Hope Nirin gets back before it gets too bad. He hates getting wet."

She brought her head forward again and tossed her hair—still dripping slightly from her recent bath—back over her shoulder. Without her realizing it, her eyes fell upon the unconscious Doom Knight. She just couldn't get over the fact that Sepulchure actually had a face other than the grotesque red skull helm that he always wore. But, then, thinking that the helm was his face with childish and silly.

Reaching out, she traced the thin scar that rain from his hairline down past his left ear to his jawbone. The edge of the scar just barely avoided touching the outside corner of his left eye before curving away.

"Wonder how he got that," she mused quietly. His skin was still far too warm, but hopefully Nirin would be back soon with the medicines that would help.

A light tapping on the roof signaled the arrival of the rain. Kael couldn't remember the last time it had rained; a lot of the time, all the magic used in wars messed with the weather, what with its tendency to send all of the elements out of whack for a few days. And seeing as the elemental orbs had all been destroyed (save for the elemental orb of bacon, but Kael had never really considered that one an element), things were going to be messed up for a long time to come.

Kael leaned back in the chair, feeling her shoulders slump. Her eyelids drooped as she listened to the calming sound of the rain, and before long, she had fallen asleep.

Slowly, Sepulchure opened heavy-lidded eyes to see… a ceiling. An ordinary wooden ceiling. There was the sound of a heavy rain coming from somewhere, as well as the feeling of scratchy bed linens against his skin.

A muffled noise off to one side drew his attention. Sitting in a chair next to the bed he was lying in was a person he knew all too well. She was leaning back in the chair, arms crossed across her chest, head drooping, apparently asleep.

It was… her. That Soulweaver. That… annoyance. Why was she here?

Or, better yet, why was he here? This wasn't any place that he recognized.

He turned his head to look around, not that he could see much, as his vision kept blurring over every few seconds. What he could see, however, was entirely unremarkable. Plain walls, unadorned save for a banner depicting the insignia of the Dragon Lords, a table in the corner with an empty washbasin, and a small potted plant resting on the windowsill. There was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees outside, which meant that the window was open. An unlit lamp sat on a little table next to the bed.

The wind suddenly picked up outside, and there was a loud thud and the rumbling of some large beast. A few minutes later, a door slammed shut somewhere close by, and footsteps approached.

The door to the room he was in opened and a slender, blue-skinned figure entered, accompanied by an unnatural chill. It was that spirit that made killing the Soulweaver so irritatingly difficult. Before the spirit had first showed up, it had been so easy to beat the woman down, make her flee from him, make her fear him. But after she had formed an alliance with it, her strength had grown exponentially. How that was possible, he had no idea. It was worth investigating, that was certain.

He watched the spirit cross the room in a few short strides, carrying a good-sized parcel under one arm. Reaching out with its other hand, it jabbed the sleeping woman between the eyes. She frowned and mumbled something under her breath. Again, the spirit poked her in the face. The woman's dark eyes opened halfway as she glared sleepily at it.

"What?" she grumbled.

"You fell asleep," the spirit replied in a voice that brought images of ice and frost to mind.

"Yeah, so? I'm tired." She closed her eyes again, clearly with the intention of falling back asleep, but the spirit simply poked her again, this time directly in the eye.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. "Aegis! What was that for! And do you have any idea how painful it is for your eye to suddenly become really, really cold? No, of course, you don't."

"Kael."

"I mean, you're always cold, what with you being an ice spirit, and all, so it's not like sudden cold would even be noticeable to you."

"Kael!"

The woman stopped talking abruptly. It seemed she was even more of an idiot than he had already assumed…

"What?"

"Nirin came back with everything you asked for. He will not stop complaining about the rain." The spirit dropped the parcel unceremoniously into her lap. "Also, he is awake." The spirit jabbed a thumb in his direction to emphasis its point.

The woman's gaze snapped in his direction and her dark eyes widened ever so slightly for a moment before settling back into neutral.

"So it seems."

The spirit stepped back as the woman got to her feet. She bent down and placed a cool hand on his forehead. He tried to shy away from her touch, but he couldn't move.

"Still a bit of a fever," she muttered before moving her hand down to his neck. His entire body tensed up as he was sure that she would try to strangle him, but she simply pressed the tips of two of her fingers hard into his neck just below his jawbone. "Pulse is good."

Every part of him was telling him to flee, to escape from the woman who would surely kill him—he would most certainly kill her if their positions were switched—and yet he still couldn't move. He could only watch as the woman rifled around in the parcel that the spirit had brought her. She pulled out a little packet and examined it.

"Perfect," she said to herself with a smile. "Reens always has the best medicines." She glanced back over at him. "I'll be right back."

She walked out of the room, parcel in hand, leaving him alone. Odd, he hadn't noticed that the spirit had left. Wait… No. That's impossible. Surely he would have noticed. Spirits like that gave off high amounts of energy that even the most idiotic of humans couldn't miss.

It wasn't long before the woman came back in, a steaming cup of something held in her hand. She actually surprised him when she returned; he had been staring at the window, watching the rain fall, and suddenly a floorboard had creaked near the door, startling him.

"This is a tea to help your fever," she told him, her face blank. She slid one hand under his neck and forced his head up. He grimaced as pain shot through his chest, but he was quickly distracted by the rim of the cup being pressed to his lips.

"It's not poison, just open your mouth and drink," she said firmly. As he had no intention of drinking anything that she of all people gave him, he tried to clamp his jaws shut, but some unseen force pried his jaws open. Bitter liquid filled his mouth as the woman tipped the cup forward. He swallowed it and immediately began coughing. At some point the cup was set aside. She laid his head back onto the pillow as the coughing subsided.

"Can you speak?" she asked calmly, her expression deadpan. He said nothing, but simply stared at her with wary eyes. She sighed after a moment and ran a bare hand through her hair. "Don't want to? Fine, whatever."

Bare hands… she was unarmed. Why was she in such close proximity to him when she was unarmed? Of course, she was skilled in magic, so a weapon was not always necessary, but still.

'The woman is an idiot!' he thought to himself. 'She is a fool for not taking the opportunity to kill me!'

That thought brought a new dilemma to light. Why hadn't she killed him? She had him alone and, judging by the fact that he couldn't move, completely helpless. In short, he was at her mercy, and he knew for a fact that mercy was something that he didn't deserve.

Perhaps she was simply waiting to kill him. It could have been that she was waiting until he regained his strength before killing him; he didn't really know anything about her, so for all he knew, she could be the type to refuse a fight unless it was on somewhat equal ground.

Pathetic. If that was the case, then all he had to do was to wait until he recovered. He wouldn't even have to be at half strength in order to crush her like the pest she was!

"You know," she began speaking out of the blue. "If you're thinking about how you're going to kill me and escape, don't bother. Your armor and sword were taken away and your powers have been sealed." She reached down and grabbed hold of his left wrist, lifting it up so that it was within his line of vision. "See that rune on the back of your hand?" Indeed, there was a symbol etched into his skin by a thin white scar that had not been there before. "You got more like that on your other hand, on your forehead, and over your heart. And they go right down to the soul, so don't even think about trying to cut them away." She released his wrist before sitting down again.

"It's only been a day, in case you were wondering," she went on, her voice suddenly going from contempt-filled and biting to calm and almost sorrowful. "No doubt people are still cleaning up the bodies. And from what I heard, a few people actually went blind when the sun came back."

The woman continued talking for quite some time, going on about whatever random subject popped into her head, ranging from the state of things now that the fighting had ceased, to speculations about what was to come, to muttering complaints about how some Soulweaver named Tomix had run off on a wild goose chase after some spirit whose name he didn't catch. And all the while, she didn't look him in the eye even once, choosing instead to stare out at the wall.

After what felt like hours, she fell silent. It was a sudden change after he had gotten used to half-listening to her continuous babbling. But just when he thought that she had run out of things to say, she opened her mouth again and sighed heavily.

"Fuck, why am I doing this?" she said, sudden tension straining her voice. "If I were anyone else, I would have killed you the moment I found you unconscious on the battlefield."

"So kill me," Sepulchure croaked out. Pain shot through his chest as he spoke. "There is nothing to stop you."

She shot him a glare. "I am aware of that."

"So why haven't you?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but was halted when there was a sudden knock.

"What is it, Aegis?" the woman asked with an exasperated sigh, glancing up. In the doorway was the spirit that followed her everywhere.

There was a pause. "I told you to keep her away from this room! This isn't something a child should see!"

"She has been tormenting me all day," the spirit replied with the tiniest hint of a whimper in his voice. "I had hoped that she would leave me alone if she got to see him."

"Oh, fine, whatever," the woman replied wearily. "Just hold on one moment." She got to her feet and bent over him in order to rearrange the bed covers so that they hid the bandages around his chest.

A moment after the woman stepped backward, there was the sound of little feet on the wooden floor, and a little face peeked over the edge of the bed.

"Gravelyn," he murmured. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the spirit leave, but the woman lingered in the doorway.

"There's your answer," he heard the woman say as she left the room.

"Daddy hurt?" the little girl asked, dragging herself up onto the bed.

"A little," he said, hoarsely. Though he would never admit it to anyone, not even himself, he had been worried about the child. Part of him had been afraid that they, the Blue Mage, the Guardians, would take her from him. Gravelyn was all he had left of… of her.

"Aegie says Kay take care of you."

He nodded as Gravelyn crawled up next to him and huddled close. Her eyelids were drooping within moments.

"Daddy gonna be okay?" the little girl murmured sleepily.

He stroked her soft hair. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "Daddy's going to be just fine."

Author's Note: Aaaaaaahhhhhh Gravelyn's so cute!

I know Seppy was a little OOC with that last bit, but I love the idea of him being a good father to Gravelyn. In the game, it's made pretty clear that he's protective of her, so I thought I'd take it a step further.

Also, something I couldn't help but to notice about their names: Sepulchure's name comes from the Latin word "sepulchrum," meaning "tomb." Very fitting for a Doom Knight. And Gravelyn's name had the word "grave" in it. Must be a theme.

Please review! I thrive off of constructive criticism, but feedback of any kind is loved and appreciated.

Also, on the subject of Gravelyn's age: I imagine her being about three, three-and-a-half at the most. I've never written a little child before, so I don't know if I'm doing it right, but mainly I'm going by my own scant memories from that age, as well as from when my two youngest cousins were that age, so I'm hopefully not too far off.

Next Chapter: Sepulchure and Kael actually speak to one another and word gets out that… hmm… I think I will let you see for yourself.