Spoiler alert for Act 2 (but with my own spin on the events because I can).
The years following are filled with adventures that bring the women closer and closer.
A good portion of one year they spend traveling to different shrines of Selûne – shrines that Melodia told a young Isobel of and promised to take her to when Isobel grew up. At first Ketheric was opposed but the ever-fierce Isobel reminded him of her own training in the spear as well as Aylin's skill, lauded after her efficient defeat of the Selûnite Oathbreaker and the Sharran sect he was working alongside deep in the Western Heartlands. Another gentler reminder that her training as a cleric of Selûne required this – as it required her mother to do years ago.
With a guff, "be safe," they left Reithwin with what they could carry and survived off the lands – or a cheeky Create Food or Water spell on the chance likeliness Aylin's failure to sneak in plate armor scared away any game.
Aylin cherished these days as she got to see an Isobel she rarely got to see – one so enraptured with nature and the lands outside Reithwin. Or if they happened to be accosted by brigands, a fierce holy warrior skillfully wielding her spear to slice or knock out enemies, blasting an enemy with a guiding bolt as they tried to flank Aylin, or healing Aylin or, rarely, her own wounds.
But the thing that caused her heart to swell with love was seeing Isobel's interaction with other travelers on the road. A woman who offered her own cloak to a mother traveling with her child on a particularly rainy day. Who offered food and water to those that were struggling.
One cold day the two were traveling just outside a small town – hoping to at least get to an inn to get warm food and a nice drink. But a few stops along the way to escape the cutting wind and to warm up put them behind schedule. As the full moon set in the night sky the town was just within reach, but they stopped in their tracks as they heard crying child.
Aylin pulls out a gold piece and casts light – hoping that the light will help minimize the fear of two strangers approaching a child at night. Aylin started to look around when Isobel's hand rested on her right forearm. Isobel gave her a look that asked her to stay here as she grabbed the gold piece and headed towards a tree. Aylin watches as Isobel slowly approaches the tree before kneeling down.
"Child, what are you doing out here? It's freezing out," Isobel gently speaks to the child. The response is lost as a rather nasty gust of wind comes in. Isobel responds to this biting wind by removing her cloak and giving it to the child.
"Is it okay if I have my friend come over and help," with a faint delay Aylin can only imagine the child is giving their response, "Aylin, can you come over? I need your cloak."
With a few strides she closes the distance and already removes her cloak offering it to Isobel before finally getting a glimpse of the child, a small gnomish boy in clothes not entirely stopping the cold weather and a swollen ankle. Isobel takes Aylin's cloak and uses it to wrap up the boy.
"What is your name, child," Aylin's words escape her mouth before she even thinks about it.
"Glim," the softest of whispers comes out of the child as he looks at the large paladin, "please I need to get to the village and get a healer for my mum. She's been sick and it got worse."
"Isobel here is a cleric and can help your mother, but first do you mind if I heal your ankle, Glim? It looks like it hurts," Aylin watches Glim look at Isobel in awe before enthusiastically nodding. Aylin pressed her holy symbol into her left palm before reaching to touch Glim's ankle with a now glowing hand. As she pulls the hand away the ankle has returned to it's normal size and out of the corner of her eye, Aylin can see Isobel looking at her with adoration. With a wink to Isobel she leans back on her haunches.
"Glim, I can carry you back to your home and you can give us directions. If that's okay with you," Aylin offers before Isobel can get the words out. After a nod, Glim stands and starts to step towards Aylin – who holds out her arms and she holds him before standing.
The walking for about an hour with Glim giving directions. After feeling Glim shiver she hears Isobel speak, "Glim have you ever seen an angel?"
With a shake of his head she can feel Isobel's hand linger on her left shoulder and Aylin can only chuckle at the puppy dog eyes Isobel is giving her.
She summons her radiant soul – wings and eyes faintly illuminating the area. She then gently nudges Isobel with her wing before wrapping them around her to provide Glim a barrier from the wind. As Isobel reaches up Aylin leans down for the half-elf to kiss her with a quiet, "thank you, love."
Glim's laughter makes missing the warmth of the tavern worth it and when they flutter out of being she makes sure to grab a feather or so and hands them to Glim.
Shortly after they arrive at Glim's home which is a quaint house and after a couple of healing spells Isobel cures Glim's mother, a halfling woman named Nyx. Isobel uses create food and water and with the help of spices within Nyx's house the food is delicious. After a profuse round of thanks, Aylin and Isobel find themselves on the road again with a thick blanket as a gift from Nyx.
Aylin wraps an arm around Isobel to drape the blanket around the half-elf before leaning her head against Isobel's. She feels a pull in a direction off the road and starts to nudge the two in the direction and as her eyes land on the object illuminated in moonlight she smiles.
"Isobel, I think we were supposed to find Glim," she whispers in Isobel's ear and she feels Isobel turn to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Because if we didn't we wouldn't have found this," she points to the stone illuminated in moonlight.
"The night stalk," Isobel says as she reaches to her waist to grab her wine skin. The two women approach the altar to Selûne and both say a prayer in unison as they kneel down. Pouring wine over the moonstone, Isobel continues to pray placing an object on the altar before standing to grab Aylin's hand.
The two dance and chant for hours and the air around them seems to warm up. Exhausted, they collapse to the ground and the faint glowing of the wine covered moonstone draws their attention.
"I wonder what your mother has in store for the moonfire," Isobel says as she kisses Aylin before sitting up to watch the opalescent, glowing liquid flow from the moonstone and to the object she placed on the altar.
"Thank you, Moonmaiden," Aylin hears Isobel whisper as Aylin also sits up as she grabs an item from her pack. Aylin whispers a prayer to her mother before leaning over to place a hand on Isobel's shoulder.
"Darling"
"Beloved"
The two find themselves speaking at the same time before seeing the object in the other's hand.
In Isobel's hand is a fine brooch of a moon inlaid on a blackened metal with different constellations – the connector was in the shape of Aylin's own greatsword. All now glowing with the moonfire's divine energy.
In Aylin's is a headband of blackened metal with several diamonds inlaid within and centered on the band is a metal diamond with a full moon that is connected to the headband with a simple star.
"Darling," Isobel continued with a chuckle, "do you know how long I planned to do this?"
"Then I feel you don't need to ask the question, beloved," Aylin laughs as Isobel's cheeks get rosy.
"I will love you until my last breath and beyond, Aylin," she completes with a kiss. They remain there for several seconds as the kiss deepens. The break away and Aylin starts to place the headband on Isobel while the half-elf takes the connector out of the brooch.
"And just so you never forget," she turns the brooch over to point out the engraved A+I before securing the brooch on Aylin's jacket. Aylin gather's Isobel in her arms not minding as a cold hand cups her cheek.
The two remain there covered in the thick blanket and in each other's arms as the moon washes over them.
'Child, you need to fly to Reithwin. NOW,' Aylin can hear her mother's voice with more urgency than ever as she knocks a scimitar away and sends a brutal kick to the knee of the attacker. He crumples in a heap holding the ruined knee in a cry of pain. Ambushed outside of Elturel and surrounded by bandits Aylin curses at the attackers as she smites one after the other until only two remain – easy to handle and then haul ass to Reithwin.
'You have my boon. NOW GO,' she feels her wings form – feeling much stronger than ever as the last two enemies swarm her. As kicks off the ground and flaps her wings she feels one of the brutes' great axe slice deep into her back and a viciously twisted dagger plunges into her side and (fortunately) remain in as she flies away.
She continues to fly and heals the deep wound in her back with the remaining healing energy and final spell but leaves the dagger in to reduce blood loss. Wings flapping stronger than ever and last well beyond their normal time she pushes herself harder and golden blood seeps from around the dagger in her side. As Moonrise Towers gets larger and larger and the skies become more cloudy, Aylin's heart twists with worry. Her mother never seemed worried – even when Aylin found herself close to death after a nasty fight.
"Mother, what's going on? Whe-" Aylin is cut off by a ray of sunlight illuminating the House of Healing.
'It's Isobel, little light,' Aylin swears the dagger has moved to her heart and twisted and the sadness in her mother's voice. She turns towards the House of Healing and eventually lands and dismisses her wings as she runs into the building. A brown haired tiefling cleric moves to provide healing to Aylin but the paladin gently pushes her to the side as she continues forward. From deeper within the House of Healing she can hear Ketheric raising his voice and Aylin urges her feet to move faster.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T HEAL HER," the rage seeps from Ketheric as he grabs the high cleric by his robes before shoving him to the ground.
"If we try to heal her it will kill her, Lord Thorm," The cleric says as he starts to stand, "Dame Aylin!"
Aylin can barely react before Ketheric grabs her shoulders, "You have to convince your mother to help. Please, if you ever loved Isobel get Selûne to save her." At this close range she can see the tears streaming down the man's face and his hands covered in blood. He falls to the ground as he utters "save my Isobel" over and over.
Breath caught in her throat and heart breaking, Aylin approaches the door and enters the room. A cold wave passes over Aylin as she enters the room, and her feet feel heavy as she approaches Isobel laying on a bed.
"Beloved," she hears the faint voice of Isobel and Aylin collapses by the bed to hold her hand. Sticking out of Isobel's chest are four arrows and they move ever so slightly as Isobel draws in wet, shallow breaths. She can see an area of her shirt has been cut open and another arrow wound seeps blood at a steady rate, but the more surprising thing is the blackened veins emanating from the wound.
"I'm sorry, beloved," Isobel's voice calls out as she attempts to lift her hand, "I- I can't- I know we vowed to stay by each other's side-" a wet cough cuts off the words.
"My love, don't speak. Mother will be able to heal you," Aylin whispers as tears streak down her face as she holds Isobel's hand to cheek. She pulls the brooch from her shirt and places it in Isobel's hand.
"Our Lady of Silver, we pray to you to cure that whi-," Aylin's words are cut short by an incantation – she glances up to see one of the Selûnite clerics at the door holding a scroll and another, no, the same one approaching her. The woman, a tiefling with dark purple skin, doesn't look familiar (but Aylin doesn't know everyone from the temple). But her long brown hair is kept in a bun which gives her a rather severe look – which isn't helped by piercing red eyes.
"The hells," Aylin calls out before the one at the door disappears and the one in front of her holds out a hand.
"The Bitch Who Guides won't do anything here," she calls out and Aylin's shock is short lived as the Heal spell hits her and agony burns through her body and she thankfully is able to stop her fall with her hands. A bottle falls to the floor and from the stopper that hits the ground she knows the cleric used a haste potion.
"AYLIN," faintly, she can hear Isobel cry out in pain before reaching out to her. The hand touches her only briefly, shining with energy before it dissipates. Isobel leans back on the bed with a cry of pain and the sound of the brooch hitting the ground reverberates in the room.
"I hope you like the gift. A little bit of grave dust around the room and a boon activated a necrotic curse in this healing chamber," she can barely hear over the blood pounding in her ears. A kick to the dagger's hilt forces it to slice clean through her side before falling to the floor with a metallic clang.
"My Lord grows tired of the Moonwhore's lackies interfering and killing you and your bitch will stop anyone else from stopping us," she utters another healing incantation and Aylin feels pain spiking through her body again and can hear Isobel give a wet cry of pain before falling silent.
"ISOBEL," she calls out before the cleric sends a flame strike down on Aylin and Isobel and the smell of burning hair and skin fills the room.
"You can cry out, bitch's spawn. These rooms are enchanted with silence spells to keep the noise out and the arcane lock on the door should help. I only needed to say I was going to check on the wounded paladin and no one said a word," she steps away to look at her work as Aylin presses a hand hard to the bleeding wound on her side as the other scrambles to grab something – anything to stop this woman. Her hand lands on the dagger and she rushes the tiefling woman swinging the dagger which the woman tries to dodge but it slices a deep cut in her chest. With a cruel plunge the dagger buries itself in the woman's shoulder before Aylin rips it out – carving out a bit of the woman's shoulder down to bone. Each slice followed up with a bit of radiant energy from her lingering divine essence and smite.
While the tiefling looks heavily injured, Aylin is on her last legs as blood continues down her leg – making the stone floor slippery.
And Isobel – Aylin feels pain at the lack of sounds coming from the bed. Hells, even the wet breathing the half-elf was making earlier would be welcomed over the deafening silence.
The tiefling raises her hand and utters another Heal incantation. Aylin waits for the pain to hit her, but it doesn't. Instead, she can hear deep within her being her heart breaking into pieces and her mother crying. Her eyes, unconsciously, drifts to Isobel and Aylin hears the mage utter something before grabbing Aylin's throat with a sickly green glow. The flood of necrotic energy is briefly noticed before unconsciousness takes her.
In front of her is Isobel, whole and happy as she was on their wedding day. Seconds before Selûne gave her a boon of a longer life (a century or so) with the markings around Isobel's eyes. The mark of Selûne.
Then it is Isobel laying on the bed after a night of lovemaking – black hair slightly a mess.
Isobel as she upgrades her spear by attaching the new head, adorned with the moon and moon beams whirling down, to the haft.
Isobel on that cold day ages ago as she pulls out the Selûne brooch and lovingly points out the A+I engraved on the back before kissing her.
Isobel, just a few days ago, telling her to hurry back from her trip to Elturel before smacking Aylin's ass.
Then she comes to on the ground with the tiefling stepping away from what she likely the dead paladin. Aylin clutches the dagger firmly as she crawls towards the tiefling before plunging the dagger in her kidney twisting as she cries out in rage. She yanks the dagger to the side and the tiefling collapses – the pain too great to even call out. She then stabs the dagger into the tiefling's body– over and over again. The cold feeling in the room ends as again and again the dagger buries itself deep in the prone tiefling.
She feels the dagger hit stone and that stops the continued attack on the now long dead tiefling.
Pain pulsing through her body, both from her injuries and seeing Isobel's still form, she crawls towards her beloved. She's unsure if tears are streaming down her face or if it is blood.
Aylin stands with the little energy remaining as she pulls Isobel into her arms before collapsing to the ground as added weight is too much on her battered body. Cradling her beloved, she sobs at the coldness of the body. She rocks both of them back and forth as she removes the arrows and pulls her closer.
Her sobs continues and she feels the ethereal hand of her mother touching her shoulder.
'I'm so sorry, little light,' Selûne's voice is mournful as she stands vigil over her daughter, 'she's beyond even my powers, Aylin.'