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 story does have 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.

Kyrie awoke still shivering in the darkness, but when she looked up, there was the strange green orb again. Her clothing was still wet, her long hair hung in clumps around her face. Ignoring the pain in her body, she forced herself to rise to her feet and move towards the orb.

It moved away, and Kyrie was taken on another miserable journey. She thought she would never again see daylight, when up ahead she saw a glimmer of light. If the ground hadn't been so rocky and uneven, she would have run towards it. Focusing on that light in the distance she didn't notice that the orb had vanished as she stumbled from the cave into a grassy patch of earth that sloped gently downward.

The orb in all its mystery vanished from her mind as though it were never there. Wherever she was, it was overcast, and a mist still lingered on the ground. Kyrie looked around, but saw no discernible path to follow. There was more field with long grass, dotted throughout by bushes. In the distance it appeared there was a forest of sorts.

She was cold, hungry and exhausted despite her troubled sleep on the rocks. It was important to find a place to rest, hopefully a town or a village where she could get her bearings and find out where she was. She wanted to go back to Torio's home and be safe with her friends. Wandering about alone and defenseless was not her idea of a good plan.

As she mulled over her needs, her mind suddenly went blank. She stopped walking.

Why am I walking here? She thought. What was I just thinking about? She frowned and looked quickly around. She couldn't grasp how she had gotten there! I had been out walking, right? Out looking for something? Or was it someone? Or is this a dream.

She accidentally hit her foot hard on a protruding rock and nearly fell, dismissing that thought as quickly as it came when the pain hit her brain. Puzzled, she tried hard to remember the events that had led her here and vaguely remembered a cave. She turned around and saw it, dark and foreboding. Had she come through there, or was something inside her warning her away?

Her wet clothing told her she been around water and not seeing any nearby she was sure it had to have been from the cave. She looked down at her hands and saw her jewelry, closely examining a bright silver ring carved with filigree and the letters K and C. Her initials? Most likely…but something inside told her that it should have more meaning then that. She turned the ring around and around.

Kyrie…Kyrie…I'm Kyrie de…de….Kyrie Barrington. That's it. She looked back at the cave. Going away from it seemed like the most logical plan and Kyrie shook her head to clear the feeling of fog from it.

"My name is Kyrie Barrington, I'm 20 years old, I'm an Aasimar. I have black hair and golden eyes. I'm from…from…my parents are…"

With shock she realized she had no idea where she was from or who her family was, and in truth she didn't know where she had come from nor where she was going. All she did know was that something inside her seemed to be leading her.

She smelled the smoke from a campfire before she saw hide nor hair of it. The light forest she had traversed for some time didn't look well travelled. The sparseness of the cover allowed her to walk through it, and she was relieved to think she was not alone any longer. Tired as she was, she did not stop and consider that the inhabitants of the camp might be hostile.

She found it, a derelict mess on the edge of a clearing. A few piles of blankets were strewn about, a very crude looking smoky campfire that had barely any embers, and a mess of what looked like animal bones. A log lay nearby, and on the other side a large boulder.

Something moved beside the boulder. It was grey and furred, and Kyrie had no time to cry out when it launched itself at her. It made no sound but hit her squarely in the chest, knocking her to the ground. She grunted and lashed out at it, expecting to feel sharp teeth sink into her flesh, but all she felt was a warm, wet tongue licking her face. A dog? She opened her eyes and saw a very large grey wolf grinning down at her.

"Karnwyr, come." A male voice barked a command and the wolf bounded away. Kyrie got up on all fours, looking for the man. He was standing where the wolf had been by the boulder, holding a bow at his side.

"I'm not going to ask you who you are, because I don't give a damn." His voice was hard. "Just get the hells away from my camp before I decide to put an arrow in your heart and feed you to my wolf."

Kyrie stood up, and the wolf Karnwyr bounded back, standing up on its hind legs and licking her face again. She patted the great head.

"I don't think your wolf wants to eat me," she said. "He's licking me."

The man hadn't moved. She approached him cautiously. He wore brown leather, the jacket badly torn in some spots. Rags were wrapped around his one arm and one of his legs. He was leaning on the boulder, as if he were in some sort of pain. The hand that held the bow hung limply at his side, and Kyrie saw that the arrows for it were scattered all over the campsite, a quiver resting empty beside the firepit. The man's hair was disheveled and dirty, his face carried uneven shadow stubble as though he had tried to shave without benefit of a mirror. His face was rugged and handsome, the eyes deep set. He couldn't have been that much older then her either. The man didn't move as she stepped closer.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to disturb you, but I'm very tired, and…"

"Didn't I say I don't give a damn?" he cut her off harshly and turned his head in her direction. Kyrie stifled a gasp. His eyes, which were a lovely amber color, looked vacantly through her. There was blood smeared across his mouth and one cheek, and dried drippings caked his neck.

Kyrie slowly waved a hand in front of him. The eyes didn't move. The man was blind! Realizing there wasn't much he could do to her, Kyrie stepped over to the fire and inspected it.

The wolf, figuring her to be a non threatening presence, disappeared into the underbrush and came back momentarily with a mammal in its mouth. It nuzzled the man's bow hand, and when it received no response, proceeded to sit in front of Kyrie, tail tip quivering.

"Karnwyr, we are not feeding her. She is leaving." His voice was cold but quiet.

"No, I'm not" said Kyrie defiantly, surprising herself. "You are blind. You are no more going to put an arrow in me, then you are going to feed me to your wolf."

"Karnwyr!" he barked and the wolf walked over, head down, the mammal still in its mouth. The man took the carcass and raised it to his lips, tearing the fur and flesh off. He proceeded to eat and spit, then threw the carcass in Kyrie's direction. He was three feet off the mark.

"I'm still not leaving." She said as she turned her back to him. "If your wolf brings another carcass I will cook it over your fire here. How did you light this anyway?"

Something hit her hard in the back of her head.

"Ow!" she rubbed her head and looked for the object. It was a small wand. She examined it, then flicked it at the fire. Nothing happened. She waved it from side to side. Again nothing.

"How does it work?" she asked momentarily.

"You are so smart, you figure it out." said the man. He lowered himself carefully to the ground.

As if it understood her words, the wolf disappeared again, returning with a rabbit in its jaws some time later. Kyrie thanked it with a pat on the head, but still she couldn't make the wand create fire. Frustrated, she sat down on the ground and wished that she knew how magical devices worked. Night would come, and with it the cold, and her still wet clothing would make her even sicker then she felt she already was.

"I wish this would just work already!" she complained in frustration and pointed it at the sad little fire pit. The wand flared and a small ball of fire shot out and exploded. Kyrie let out a whoop and tried again, concentrating on the image of fire, and once more a ball shot out of the wand.

It was an elemental concentration device, manifesting the power of the elements. Kyrie pointed the wand at the forest, and set her mind on water. A stream of water shot out of the wand. She repeated it with every elemental substance she could think of, then set about building the fire up.

The man didn't move or speak. He sat and stared vacantly ahead. Kyrie cooked up the rabbit, and gave some to the wolf, ate a few morsels herself, then brought some to the man. She took his filthy hand with the intent of placing the meat into it. He snarled at her and lashed out.

"Don't touch me!"

Kyrie retrieved the pieces where they had fallen and this time put them on a stone beside him.

"Fine. I won't touch you. If you want your food its right beside your left knee."

She gathered up all of his arrows and replaced them into the quiver. She laid the quiver beside him. She found a bashed and dented metal cup, cleaned and filled it with water, and this too she placed beside him. As she moved around him she told him exactly what she was doing.

He didn't speak, but he devoured the pieces of meat and drank the water as though he had not seen any in a very long time. Kyrie gathered up the blankets and shook them out, then proceeded to remove her wet clothing and lay them on the log and boulder to dry.

"My name is K…"

"Shut up!" the man shouted viciously. "Shut the hells up! You talk too much! I don't give a damn what your name is! I want you to get lost and leave us alone!"

The wolf whined and licked the man's face.

Kyrie wrapped herself in one of the blankets and lay down beside the fire.

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Sand held tightly to Torio, stroking her bare shoulder and hair as she lay on his chest. They had wrapped themselves up in blankets and stoked the fire, creating pillows out of her saddlebags. The night was cool and quiet.

"Althraion, that was the first time I …well the first time I ever let someone do that to me." She raised her head and looked up at him. "I never realized it could be so beautiful. Thank you."

The tenderness in his eyes almost made her weep. Never in her life had anyone looked at her that way. She couldn't have imagined how wonderful it would feel coming from him.

"Please tell me I didn't hurt you, "he whispered.

"No! No you didn't. It was everything I could ever have dreamed it could be. I just wish I hadn't been so blinded by stupidity back then, and…and more recently. I'm sorry for everything I have ever done that hurt you, Sand. Can you ever forgive me for what I have become?"

He squeezed her and kissed her hair. "That is past now, Torio dear. What matters now is the future."

"Sand…Althraion…I need to know that I have your forgiveness. If I haven't, then it's something I need to earn from you, and I will. Just…please don't leave me."

Sand propped himself up and looked into her earnest eyes.

"Torio…" he almost sang her name. "I forgive you. I have let all of that go now, I want you to do the same. Do you forgive me as well? For my foolish pride? For caring more about artifacts and scrolls then a living, breathing woman who needed me? Can you forgive me for simply leaving instead of fighting for your heart?"

The tears in Torio's eyes were not of sadness, but of relief.

"Of course I can Sand! Not once have I ever believed that you did anything wrong, so there is nothing to forgive really. In truth I felt it was all my folly, my desire for vengeance and need for power to achieve those ends. I wasn't capable of giving you my heart back then because it was me who was stupid. I have made a career out of that."

He sighed and lay back down, pulling her back onto his chest where she traced designs on his skin with her fingers.

"You are an incredible woman, Torio. I am fortunate to have your heart."

They lay together for a long time in silence, soaking up one another's comforting presence. It was Torio who spoke first.

"We have to help Kyrie. She's so lost without Casavir. I truly didn't know what that felt like until now. When I think of losing you…Sand, I would rather die a thousand deaths then lose you again. She gave me a second chance. And because she did that both my kids and grandfather have a second chance too."

"Are they truly your children, Torio?" he asked curiously.

"Are they mine? Yes. Did they come from my body? No."

"So tell me about them, a'maelamin, beloved"

Torio curled a few strands of his hair around her fingers.

"After I left the gypsy caravan, I met a merchant who was travelling with a little girl. I thought it was his daughter. She became very attached to me. I have never been around children, I really didn't know what to do about that, but the merchant told me he had found her wandering the streets of Luskan. Her father had died at sea, and her mother had been killed by bandits. He took the child with him rather then see her meet a crueler fate on the streets, but he didn't do very well and was unable to care for her properly. When I met her, Marian was so dirty and ragged, it made my heart so sad. He begged me to take her with me. He said he was terrified of the bad karma he would get if the child died while in his care. I didn't know why he thought I could do any better then him, but it was not like I could have refused anyways. Marian was already calling me mama and refused to leave my side. When the merchant and I parted ways, I took her with me."

Sand exhaled loudly.

"I owe you the deepest apology, my dearest Torio. Some of the things I said to you were cruel and uncalled for, especially now that I realize what you did."

Torio shrugged. "Right is right. Kyrie taught me that."

"And what of your son? And the old man? Is he your kin?"

"No. We came to that village looking for work and a place to live. I met a dwarf and his wife, they own the bakery. They hired me on and told me about the little boy and his grandfather. We met the boy Matteus then and he told us he lived with his grandfather in that little house, but the old man went blind and Matt couldn't leave him alone to go find work. They lived off the kindness of the villagers. That's how it is there. He struck up an instant friendship with Marian and before long she was calling him her brother. Grandfather wanted us to live with them and the rest is history."

Sand squeezed her long and hard. "The dwarf I saw when we left, is she the baker?"

"Yes. They will care for my children and Grandfather until I come back."

There was an unspoken sentiment in the air then, a fear, an unknowing.

What if we don't come back?