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.
Kyrie told Bishop that it was time for them to move on. She needed to find a town, find out where she was.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I …I have to find…" her mind drew a blank.
She knew she needed to leave the forest and get back to civilization, but for the life of her she couldn't remember exactly why. Their days together had filled her mind, and she felt needed and useful. Bishop and Karnwyr never left her side, and the three of them developed a tender, supportive relationship.
Kyrie felt content in the wilds with them, but there was always something in the back of her mind telling her that she couldnt stay.
Day by day, as their relationship strengthened, it seemed that she was losing something, but she couldn't put a finger on what it was. Occasionally Bishop would ask her about her past, and she would just say she didn't remember. He didn't believe her, but left it alone. He enjoyed having her with him, and he never wanted to let her go. She cared for him, she forgave him, and most of all she treated him kindly without reproach, even though he had told her some of the most evil things he had done. She had asked him a few questions that he also had no answers for. There was no memory of the events that led to his blindness, and concentrating on remembering it always brought excruciating pain to his head and he soon learned to leave that subject well enough alone.
With this gentle lady at his side, he didn't care to dwell on the past anymore, but found himself planning a future for the first time in his life. What worried him sometimes were her sudden silences, as though something were bothering her. He would ask about it, and she would always say there was a memory just beneath the surface that she desperately needed to recall. It was that latent memory that kept forcing her to leave the wilds.
They had reached a fence line and made camp. The fence looked as though it had once been part of a homestead, but most of it had fallen down and been reclaimed by the forest.
The fire burned higher and hotter that night, there hadn't been much rain and the wood she collected was eager to ignite.
Karnwyr brought several rabbits, being on the move had given him new motivation to hunt. Kyrie gathered up some wild berries and herbs and prepared their feast.
There was a river nearby, and when the moon came out she led Bishop over, describing it to him in detail. She told him how large and luminous the moon was, how it reflected on the busy little river. She described the grass and the few shade trees dotting the edges, and the colors that seemed so bright despite it being night.
She pulled him down to sit beside her and took off her shoes, dipping her feet in the water. Bishop said he wanted to do the same, and he tossed his boots aside.
After a time he lay back, and pulled her down beside him, his arm around her, her head on his chest.
Softly, he began to sing.
Kyrie would never have thought that such a quiet, gentle voice could have come from a man like him. He was surely no bard, but the emotion in his voice brought tears to her eyes.
His song described a far away place, and a lady who lived there. She learned the chorus and sang it with him.
They were silent for some time after that, Kyrie gazing at the reflection of the moon on the river, and Bishop lost in his own thoughts.
Then softly he began reciting a poem, which moved into a slow, lilting song.
Kyrie's breath caught in her throat as she listened to the words.
Her head was cloaked in ebony
They say she wasn't but a child
From deep within the Mere she came
Eyes like a sunset, glowing wild
An angel from her bloodline claimed
Gave her a heart that knew no fear
Her life she pledged to those she loved
Her immortal soul to the good god Tyr
A shard of silver lodged in her heart
A beacon to those whose who would do great harm
But e'en one of darkness could not hide
And fell beneath the lady's charm
From the wilds they say he came
And tried to take her heart away
But so given to her cause was she
Her only choice was that she stay
Then to her light was drawn another
A heart of virtue, pure and strong
Taken by this holy warrior
In his arms she did belong
Side by side they fought the darkness
Their only light in each other's eyes
The battles raged, the lines were drawn
Til the tide was turned by the other's lies
A curse of darkness this one did harbor
Against the heart she held so dear
Vengeance was his only mission
Destroy the beloved of the girl from the Mere
The sunset eyes never wavered once
She looked on to the battle ahead
A prayer on her lips of forgiveness
For that dark one who wished every one of them dead
A great battle was fought for the life of the world
A fortress of stone never meant to see light
She vanquished the evil, but fate took a hand
And buried them all in the midst of their flight
It is said her beloved laid down his life
For his lady love and the friends she held dear
And the good god Tyr took her in his arms
To his throne on the mount, far away from the Mere.
Bishop's voice wavered and broke, and tears rolled from his eyes. He covered them with his arm and tried to stifle the sobs coming from deep within his chest.
Kyrie sat up and pulled him into her arms, stroking his hair, murmuring soothingly to him. He cried as though his heart were shattered.
"You were right when you said I don't know what love is! I loved her, and all anyone remembers is the evil I did! I didn't deserve her, and she knew it. That's why she chose him! Gods, if I could only have a second chance, this time it would be different I swear it…but she's gone…"
He clung to her, and she realized that the poor man had been harboring a terrible pain for most of his life.
"Bishop, you cannot possibly know how to love if you have never been shown it before! It's over now…you can start anew."
"Who would want a blind, decrepit mess like me? I can't even take care of myself without Karnwyr."
"Yes you can. We have been working on that and you are doing great. Karnwyr will be able to be your eyes, and we will find a village where you can live and not be alone anymore."
"I'm not alone anymore, I have you." He said it quietly, between sobs, almost as if he were asking her to confirm the truth of it, which she couldn't do.
"Bishop…you do have me. But … I …"
"You need to go on some mission that you don't remember. And…we can't go with you, can we."
"My heart tells me this is something you can't go with me on, no. I can't tell you exactly what it is, just that I have to do it."
He remained holding onto her, his head on her chest, her hands stroking his hair and his face.
Her feelings for this broken, vulnerable man had been growing day by day. She started to feel the pull of the village less and less, and her heart was asking her questions. Did she truly want to leave him alone, in a strange village at the mercy of strangers? Did she truly want to unravel the mystery behind the hidden memories she had? What if they were better left alone? What if living her days out with this handsome stranger with the amber eyes was, in truth, her destiny? She loved being with him, caring for him; she loved his voice, his smile, his lips. She loved his vulnerability and the strength that lay behind it. It frightened her that she was falling in love with Bishop. There seemed to be so much about herself she didn't know. Was it fair to drag someone along on that journey?
He straightened himself and sat up, pulling off his leather tunic, then the light cotton shirt he wore beneath it.
"I want to go in the river." He said. "Water is a great healer. Or so the druids say."
Kyrie looked at his body in the moonlight. He was well built, but not in a warrior way. His musculature was smaller, less defined but his skin was smooth, despite the few scars that crisscrossed his upper arms and shoulders.
"Not sure I want to try this on my own yet, will you come in with me?" He stood up and unbuckled his breeches, pulling them off with almost no loss of balance.
She tried not to look at his nakedness but was unable to help herself. He was, in a word, beautiful. The firmness of his buttocks, the strength of his upper thighs…she tried not to look too long at his member which stirred feelings inside her she didn't want to deal with.
She puzzled for a short moment how she would help him in the water without getting undressed herself, when she remembered: he was blind.
"Just a moment then. I need to get undressed." He stood patiently while she removed her clothing and folded them neatly in a pile, unlike Bishop who had tossed his down without a second thought. Taking his hand she led him to the edge of the bank.
"Let me get in first Bishop. I don't know how deep it is or how rocky."
The river bottom was sandy, and she felt a few rocks but no plants or anything that could cause too many problems. She told him to step down, gauged the distance of the drop, and asked him to put his hands on both her shoulders so she could lead them in. It wasn't a large river, and at the center the water came to her waist. It felt so good to have the cool running water on her body, and finding a sandy spot took Bishop's hand from her shoulder and turned around.
"Kneel down here. Its sandy and we can feel the water flow all around us."
They knelt together in the water and Kyrie closed her eyes. She listened to it bubble along, heard the crickets in the grass and the occasional owl call out to its mate. Her hair flowed all around her, and she dipped her head back to wet all of it.
Keeping a hold of her hand, Bishop dunked his head in also then shook himself like a dog. Kyrie laughed. Karnwyr sniffed the ground on the nearby bank, put his muzzle into the water to lap at it, then lay back down on the side with his head on her clothing.
"Does Karnwyr swim?" she asked Bishop.
"Yeah, he does. But I taught him that he doesn't swim around me. First time we tried that he raked his claws down my leg and I don't need to tell you how much that hurt."
Kyrie laughed some more.
Bishop moved a bit closer to her and put his arms around her waist. She felt awkward, unsure what to do, and ended up with her arms on his chest.
"I wish I could see you, right now I wish to the hells I could see you." His voice was soft and husky.
Kyrie knew that he was excited by her nearness, his member was up and looking for attention, pressed against her abdomen. Her heart skipped several beats as his amber eyes went from the moon to her, and she imagined that he could see her.
He put one hand on the side of her face and closed his eyes. Bending his head down, he kissed her tenderly, then returning both arms around her waist, he pulled her tightly to him. He lifted her off her knees with his strong arms, and her arms went around his neck in response to his kiss.
Half of her was fighting it, the other half giving in.
As she moved to keep her balance in the flowing water, she felt his hardness between her legs. He kept a tight hold on her, his lips against hers, his tongue seeking entry between her teeth.
She allowed his kiss, allowed his tongue to entwine with hers. He quickly moved his hands to her thighs, spreading her legs, holding her open against him. With one hand he slipped his fingers between her soft folds, seeking her most sensitive areas, pushing on them, probing them, stroking them.
She moaned against his lips as she felt him slip a finger inside her, probing deeply. He then removed it to stroke her soft outer lips.
Kyrie gasped in shock then as he pushed the entire length of his hard member into her at once, impaling her onto him. He held her there as he kissed her neck, her chest, took her erect nipples into his mouth and sucked them hard. Her mind was reeling. She didn't know if she had ever been taken with such voracity before, in truth she couldn't remember if she had ever been with a man before.
He had her stretched open so much it hurt, and he seemed to fill her up inside to the point she didn't think she could take any more. He began to move inside her, pulling himself nearly all the way out before plunging deep in again. He held her so tightly, she couldn't move. Her body tensed up against the pain.
"Bishop! Please…" she cried. "You are hurting me!"
Bishop stopped moving and loosened his hold on her. His lips found hers again and he kissed her with tenderness, gently sucking on her tongue and lips before slowly moving in and out of her once more. He didn't go in as deep or pull back as much, but rocked against her slowly, giving little grunts of passion every now and then and stopping when it became too much for him.
Gradually, Kyrie adjusted to him and she began to feel a deep pleasure that began between her legs and spread out like a fire to her chest and head. Despite the cool water, she was hot, and she felt her insides begin to twitch. Bishop kissed her cheek and began singing softly to her, a song that she knew she had heard before, a song of passion, of love.
He continued his slow steady strokes in rhythm with his song and the heat kept building inside her, waves of pleasure with each inward motion that made her cling onto him tighter as her body clenched and pulsed around him.
"Let go," he whispered softly. "Let go with me."
He moved harder, his thrusts becoming more urgent, sharper, deeper, contacting parts inside her that she never knew she had, giving pleasure to her that she would never have thought possible. Beneath the intensity was still the pain, but it was drowned out by his insistence to bring her to release.
Kyrie threw her head back, her ebony hair slapping against the water. She felt her entire being close in on itself then explode in a moment of extreme ecstasy. She cried out his name, her hands in his hair, and he thrust viciously, deeply inside her, holding her down onto him and she felt his member pulsing and throbbing as he released his seed deep into her.
She collapsed, her face pressed against his neck, her arms holding onto him, feeling him still inside her, still hard, still filling her, stretching her. For long moments they remained this way, feeling the water flow around them. Bishop kissed her hair, sighing with contentment.
Reluctantly he pulled himself free of her body, and gently put her down on the sandy bottom. She put her feet down and stood up, looking down at him still kneeling there. She touched the sore, sensitive area between her legs, the pain of his penetration starting to slowly ebb away as the cool water gave its comfort.
Bishop didn't say anything, and neither did she. He reached his hand out and touched her skin, finding her shoulder for balance, then stood. Kyrie didn't move, that latent memory was suddenly there, swimming back and forth urgently beneath a foggy surface, but try as she might she couldn't grasp it.
She stepped back and took Bishops hand.
"Come on, it's getting chilly out here. Let's get back to the fire and our blankets." Her words sounded dismissive and curt even to her, after what they had just shared.
They climbed from the river, found their clothing and got dressed silently, Kyrie helping Bishop with his many snaps and buckles.
"Do you feel anything at all for me?" he asked suddenly.
Kyrie didn't know what to say to him, the raw longing on his face tore at her heart, but something was stopping her from telling him what he wanted so badly to hear. She decided that it would only be fair to tell him the truth of her feelings rather then mask or hide them. Even if it wasn't what he wanted so much, it was still better then a deception.
"Bishop, I …the truth is I could …easily…fall in love with you."
"I think it's already too late for me," he whispered.
Kyrie put her arms around him and hoped he didn't notice the regretful tears that had slid down her face.
It's honestly too late for me too, she thought miserably. But I can't tell you I love you with this feeling of incompleteness inside me.
"We have to find a town, Bishop. We can't stay here forever." said Kyrie softly. He turned his sightless amber eyes towards her, his expression saying it all. Kyrie knelt in front of him as he leaned on the fence and took his hand.
"You can do it. We've been doing a lot of exploring near the camp and you do fine. Look, Karnwyr is ready to go too."
The wolf was standing a few feet away, eager to be on the move.
Kyrie stood up and took a few steps. "Come on Bishop. You know we have to move on."
He took a few tentative steps. Karnwyr walked over and licked his hand encouragingly, then sat down behind him whining softly. Kyrie turned and held out her hand towards him.
"Take my hand, Bishop. Let me be your eyes."
He reached out a trusting hand slowly and took hers.