This is an AU. I'm not a stickler for accuracy in the details of the Neverwinter universe such as gods etc. but I do try my best. This CHAPTER HAS EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT, 18+. If you are offended by sexual themes don't start reading! There is artwork for this story at my deviantart account under aeltari.
"Well where in blazes could she have gone?"
Sand stormed from one end of the yard to the other. He had been up at dawn as he always was, checked on Kyrie as he always did, but this time she had not been in her bed nor in any other part of the house or yard. The village for the most part was still asleep and those who weren't hadnt seen nor heard from her since the day before. The children hadn't seen her, nor had Kyrie indicated or said anything to the old man about leaving.
Had someone done something to her? Was she in some sort of trouble? Would she end up on the other side of the world again?
Sand paced furiously.
"She knows we were going to the Sword Coast. She would not want to go without us, there was no reason to leave us behind, correct? The two of you were together all day yesterday. Did you do something to her, Torio?" Sand looked at her through narrowed eyes, a bite in his voice.
Torio glared at him intent on hiding her fear and pain with tightened lips. She turned on her heel.
She returned later that afternoon with two horses in tow. Wordlessly she packed up a selection of food and a few changes of clothing. She donned a pair of leather breeches, a simple blouse and a cloak. Around her waist she buckled a scabbard with a nasty looking short sword, and on her arm and leg she strapped two daggers.
Torio sat on the porch with the children, hugging them and the old man close, speaking softly to them. Occasionally she drew a hand across her eyes, and her fingers brushed the little ones' cheeks. Both the boy and the girl hung onto her until a dwarven female arrived in a pony cart and took them inside, with Torio giving a wistful glance at their retreating backs.
She loaded up the first horse with a few packs and satchels. Pulling the second one around, she loaded it up as well and gracefully leaped up onto its back.
Sand was watching her from a slight distance, an expression of disbelief on his face.
She wheeled the horse around to face him.
"I'm going after Kyrie!" Torio shouted at him, her voice hard. "I'm headed in the direction of the Sword Coast. If anyone wishes to stop me they will have to put an arrow in my body and remove my head."
Worried by her shouting, the horse half-reared and pranced. Torio masterfully controlled it and continued her tirade.
"After I find her, I'm going to Luskan for Casavir, and I will burn down that gods forsaken town or die trying! You, Sand, can go rot in the nine hells for all I care!"
She wheeled the animal around again and dug her heels into the horse's side. It sprang forward with a shriek and galloped off in a trail of dust.
In her zeal, she forgot to take the other one.
"Oh hells, hells, hells!" muttered Sand.
He caught the reins of the other horse and dragged the beast to the fence, using it to climb aboard. He had never been much of a rider, the mere idea of it gave him pause. Teleportation might be the best way to travel, but not when you are following a crazed female hell bent on destruction.
He cursed as the beast sidestepped away from the fence and he crashed to the ground, his robe tearing on an exposed nail. He would have a few, very choice words for Torio when he found her, most likely before he turned her to stone or something equally befitting.
Hanging onto the pommel of the saddle for dear life, the reins wrapped around his hands, Sand dug his heels into the horse's side and made to follow Torio.
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Kyrie walked unsteadily through the icy ankle deep water into the cave. Her vision was blurred, but for one small glowing green orb that floated ahead of her.
She had awoken in a cold sweat, a pain in her abdomen, and her chest wound aching. The strange orb had beckoned her, speaking to a part of her she couldn't consciously reach. It was understood that she was to follow where it lead. She had risen and dressed in a daze her mind foggy.
She had retched into the sink, and again in the bushes on the edge of town, and once more for good measure near the first river crossing.
The green orb had hovered in her line of vision, and her eyes gradually dimmed to everything but it's soft green glow. She felt as though she may be dying, the sickness, the pain, the hazy vision, the foggy mind…the broken heart.
She wanted to pray, but she didn't know who to pray to, and barring that no prayers came to her lips. Sand had mentioned Tyr, but she didnt remember that god. Maybe that god was displeased with her, and she was being punished.
She desperately wanted comfort, but the only person whose arms could provide that lay dying, tortured and beaten somewhere she couldn't discern. She was overwhelmed and assaulted by fragments of memory after memory, flashes of people, places and things that she had loved, seen and experienced, all of the emotions rushing into her mind at once.
Kyrie wanted to scream, cry, collapse. She began to feel that the dark quiet of oblivion would be a welcome change from the chaos, the flashes, the noise and the pain of her returning memories.
She felt weak, vulnerable, insecure and terrified.
The orb moved steadily forward, floating over the rough terrain which Kyrie tripped and stumbled over. Kyrie smelled and felt the cave although she could not see it.
The cave was dark, dank and cold. It smelled of salt water and algae.
She slipped and fell, painfully hitting her ribs against a sharp stone, abrading her hands, bruising her knees and legs despite the breeches she wore beneath the woolen skirt. She sobbed miserably, struggling to get up and regain her footing.
If she looked away from the orb, the darkness terrified her, so she forced her eyes to remain on it and follow it along.
Without warning, she suddenly found herself plunged over her head into the icy water. Flailing and gasping for breath, Kyrie tried to stand, but found the water too deep. She looked frantically for the orb but didn't see it, her heavy clothing beginning to drag her down. She didn't know if she could swim, but in desperation she lashed out at the water and kicked as hard as she could and crept forward until one of her hands painfully struck rock. Her knees soon hit an edge as well and she groped in the complete darkness for a way up. Slowly she found hand and footholds and pulled herself up on a ledge, collapsing in exhaustion.
She lay in a puddle of water, in too much pain to move. Every muscle was screaming in protest, the wound in her chest throbbed, and a lancing pain stabbed her abdomen. She felt dizzy, disoriented and nauseous.
Kyrie curled up on the hard uneven stone shivering, and cried pitifully for Casavir.
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Sand bumped and jolted along the road for hours until twilight came. He spied the smoke from a campfire and steered his horse towards it. He was exhausted both emotionally and physically, and he cursed a blue streak in his mind at Torio.
He doubted very much Kyrie had made it very far on foot, but if she were going to the Keep there was only one direction to go and eventually they would have to cross paths. If not, they would meet up at the Keep at one point or another. At least, he hoped so. Kyrie was so fragile now, so unlike the Knight Captain they had been willing to follow even unto death.
Sand pulled his horse up and slid off, his legs unsteady. He didn't care if the camp belonged to saints or sinners. They would have to deal with him come what may. He was too ornery and tired to take any guff from anyone and only wanted to be as far away from that horse as possible.
"I thought I told you to go to the nine hells, Sand." Torio's voice cut into him like a dagger.
"Well, seeing as I just found you, that's exactly where I must be." he retorted.
"At least you were smart enough to bring the food. Took you long enough, I'm hungry." She said it matter-of-factly, indicating his horse.
"By the nine hells you PLANNED this?" he shouted at her.
She gave him her sweetest smile and sauntered towards the horse.
Sand let loose a string of expletives, describing her entire family in terms that would make a sailor blush, then held out the long jagged slash in his robe, which had gotten worse on the ride.
"And look at this! My favorite robe, ruined completely by your motley fence! What sort of hair-brained idea were you screaming about back there, going to Luskan to get Casavir out, you idiotic harpy!"
Torio stopped, turned, and walked slowly over to him, no sign of anger in her eyes or on her face. She crossed her arms and stared at him analytically for a moment, then lifted up a torn section of robe in each hand.
In one swift movement she tore the robe nearly in half, and watched it fall to the ground.
Sand's eyes nearly exploded from his head.
"What in the HELLS!" he screamed at her.
He was standing in a thin cream colored shirt and black breeches with his fists clenched at his sides and Torio eyed him appraisingly without a word. He's very nicely put together, she mused.
Sand was beside himself with rage. Raising his hands, he began an incantation.
"I don't think so!" said Torio. "Shut the hells up, Sand, just shut the hells up!"
She grabbed his hands and pressed her lips to his, hard. Shocked, he tried to step back on his still unsteady legs, lost his footing and crashed to the ground, taking Torio with him.
She landed squarely on top of him with a grunt, releasing his hands. He threw her off, cussing and shouting angrily about insane harpies and Luskan witches and pinned her down with his body, holding her arms tightly above her head.
Torio was amazed at his strength. She had always thought wizards were weak little creatures that could blow away in an autumn wind if not held down by their magic.
He looked down at her, his dark hair tousled and hanging in disarray, leaves and sticks clinging to it in spots, breathing heavily.
"By the gods, what is wrong with you!?" he griped. "Dolle naa lost! You empty headed harpy! Have you finally lost your good senses?!"
She looked up at him with her black lashed grey eyes wide, lips slightly parted as if to speak, but remained silent.
"Where do you get off thinking you can just go on this crazy mission, by your self? We don't even know where Kyrie went! We have no clue exactly where Casavir is being held! He might even be dead for all we know!"
He was hanging on to his anger, gathering it to him, piling it up, his mind dredging up all sorts of terrible things Torio had done, all to keep his rage active.
"You are insane, impetuous and infuriating!" Anything was better then having old feelings rise up and drown him. The nine hells would have been better then to lose control to the wave of emotion that was threatening him.
"Althraion, "she whispered.
The wave hit the shore with a resounding crash that Sand felt to his very soul. With that whisper, he suddenly became aware, with a shock, of her body beneath his, warm and soft. Those eyes again, looking at him, unafraid, undaunted by his anger. Try as he might he could not generate another ounce of rage. He looked at her, truly saw her, and the elf of his earlier days remembered her as she was so long ago, wild, free, beautiful.
Why didn't I fight harder for you? He questioned himself harshly. Why were the tomes, the relics, the incantations and my own insecurity such a powerful wall between us? Torio, sweet Torio…I could have saved you so much pain. I failed you so utterly when it mattered the most.
She felt the weight of him pressing down on her, saw the darkness leave his sky blue eyes. Like the parting of the clouds after a storm, they returned to their usual intensity, but a slew of emotions rushed across them. He still held her firmly pinned, but she curled her hands around his.
The contact excited her.
His anger sated, it became hard for him to hold that position and he sagged slightly, his face inches from hers, his hair hanging around her face like a gossamer curtain.
She tilted her chin up slightly, bringing her lips even closer to his.
Will you kiss me now, Althraion? She wondered. Can you get past your hatred of what I became and forgive me? I would cross the hells for a second chance with you.
Sand let go of her hands slowly. He slid to one side, hip on the ground, a leg draped over her. Propping himself on one elbow with that hand in her soft auburn hair and the other on the side of her face, Sand bent his head and kissed her. Her full lips were soft and inviting, the beautiful grey eyes closed. She put her arms around his neck, her hands entwining in his silky hair. Her tongue flicked against his lips tentatively, as if asking a question. He responded by doing the same to her, then kissed her cheeks, her eyes, and nuzzled her neck and hair.
Torio ran her fingers down his face, ran across his almond shaped eyes and traced the contours of his lips. He caught her finger and nibbled gently, his tongue against her fingertips. She drew his head down to hers again, kissing him deeply, her tongue sliding inside his mouth and his slipping inside hers. Their kiss was punctuated by a breathless longing, years of unrequited feelings and dark regret.
"If this is indeed the nine hells," Sand whispered. "then I don't ever wish to leave."
His eyes sought hers, reading in them for the first time the longing, the tenderness, the passion of this woman he had once adored, then known only as a nemesis for so long. How could he have mistaken the way she looked at him after all this time? It was all there, in her eyes; every tragedy, every sorrow, every wish, every dream.
"Well you know, Althraion, I'm still hungry, but not for anything in those packs." Her eyes sparkled and he was caught once more with how beautiful she really was.
Sand unbuttoned her blouse, and began to unlace the bodice beneath it, one loop at a time, remembering the sight of her scarred chest, wanting only to kiss away the memory of the pain.
She ran her hand up the back of his shirt, her soft warm hands giving him gooseflesh. She was taken by the smoothness of his skin, the tautness of the muscles that belied his wiry frame. She heard him sigh into her hair when she gave him a squeeze, and turned his face back to her.
He kissed her lips, her chin, her neck, placing little tender kisses on each of the terrible scars on her chest, eventually taking each of her firm nipples into his mouth and sucking gently, his tongue circling and flicking around them. She sighed with pleasure and arched her back.
Torio undid the buttons of his breeches, freeing him from its constraints. She curled her hand around his engorged member, squeezing him, making him inhale sharply. Again she was surprised that his wiry body could hold so many surprises. She stroked him slowly, lightly, drawing a strangled gasp from his lips.
Sand was fighting for control against the overwhelming pleasure of her touch, a touch that he had dreamed of and prayed for during countless sleepless nights of his young life long ago. Allowing his mind to wander where it would in a poor attempt to distract himself, Sand thought of his feelings for the strong, beautiful Kyrie, feelings that always had undercurrents of deep longing for the wild eyed former Luskan ambassador.
Torio helped him out of his shirt, his breeches, then he did likewise for her. He gazed down at her pale smooth skin, marred in so many places by vicious silver scars, remnants of a harsh life on the streets of Luskan, and gods knew what other horrors she had suffered. How he longed again to take them away from her, erase the memories of all the pain, make up for his failure so long ago.
Sand tenderly stroked her body, gathering her to him in a warm embrace, wanting to protect her from anything and everything for the rest of her days. His fingers moved up the side of her body, then back down her thighs. She parted her legs slightly, bending one knee up. He stroked up that leg, then down her inner thigh, resting his hand lightly on the soft patch of fuzz that marked her most vulnerable of areas. He could feel the hot moisture beneath his fingers, her body responding to him the way his most certainly was to hers.
Their kisses were tender, exploratory, curious. Her hands stroked his whole body, cupping his buttocks then moving to squeeze and gently pull at his hardness, iliciting a soft moan from him that excited her even more. Sand stroked her soft outer lips gently, then carefully opened her, slipping a finger deep inside her, probing delicately while his thumb caressed the firm button above it.
She was wet, warm and ready for him.
"Althraion," she whispered. "I want you to take me, here and now, so that if I die, I will know what it was to be loved by you."
He looked into her wide and trusting eyes. "Is that truly how you feel about me, Torio?" he whispered back.
"Without question." she responded. "I can't, I wont, hide it anymore."
He kissed her tenderly, his fingers moving inside her carefully, gently.
Torio moved herself beneath him, her soft inner thighs against his hips. Sand positioned himself and eased into her slowly, giving her time to adjust to him. Her body took him in, as her heart already had so long ago. It seemed as though they were made for each other, moving carefully at first, then with building passion harder and quicker in perfect harmony.
Torio's breath came in shallow gasps, she had never known such pleasure in her short life. She never knew that an act used to control, to hurt, to punish, could also be used to show such unbridled passion and love. She felt the heat between her legs spread to her entire body as though fire had replaced the blood in her veins, wave after wave of intensity building on itself until she could take it no more. She arched her back and thrashed her head from side to side, sure that she would momentarily explode into thousands of pieces and disappear entirely.
Sand too fought for control. As he moved within her body, he listened to her moans and grunts, watched the pleasure wash across her beautiful face, and was awed. Her eyes would sometimes open halfway and she would look at him with a smile, her arms around him, her hands in his hair, holding him as she moved with him. He reached down between her legs and massaged her wet, firm nub as he continued to slide in and out of her, dragging those arousing moans forth from deep inside her chest.
Occasionally he would stop, and hold himself deep inside her, kissing her, sucking on her tongue, her lips. She gyrated her hips against him, anything to continue the deep aching pleasure of his member inside her.
"Please…" she begged. "Please, Althraion."
He gathered her close and held her as tight as he could, then thrust hard into her deeply, making her cry out. He felt her back arch and her body twitch, felt her spasm and grab him as she let go and watched tears leak from her eyes.
With one final, almost brutal thrust he released into her, holding himself inside, not wanting to break that precious vital connection.
His lips found hers again. "I love you, beautiful Torio, I have always loved you, and I always will."