Starry Resonance Ch. 10

"How are you he

Haradriel jumped into his arms hard enough to drop both of them onto the ground and kissed him. First softly, due to his hesitation, and then deeply as the heat and touch of long-lost lovers took over the couple.

Nelimir reveled in it for as long as he could, but when Haradriel began to moan he pushed her back. Both panted heavily as the elf threw a questioning and hungry look.

"As much as I want to, I can't right now," he said, the words stabbing his rising libido. "I need to find my friends."

At this, a clarity slid through the cracks of the haze covering Haradriel's eyes and she lifted her head, looking at her surroundings.

Nelimir did the same and realized that they were in the middle of his father's throne room. Right on the red carpet that cut through the middle--from massive doors to king's chair.

"You need to hide!" he whispered harshly as he grabbed Haradriel's arm, but the elf shook her head.

"We are not in your home; this is a dungeon."

"What?" Nelimir looked around, but all he could find were familiar walls. "How is this a dungeon?"

"Dungeons can take many forms," Haradriel said while standing up. She then offered a hand which he gratefully took. "Though it is mysterious that it would take that of your memories..." the elf looked around and suddenly rushed to one of the windows with such speed that Nelimir was left dazed. She then returned just as fast, barely allowing him to blink. "...and mine. It is also mystifying that I would be sucked into it."

"I..." Nelimir tried to make sense of her words. When the massive storm began, he hadn't been able to do much other than hold on for dear life. He had been able to hear Nora and Yvain though. It was a clear challenge, in other words this had to be what the goddess called a 'Godless trial'.

"I think this is Nora's dungeon," he said.

"Nora?" Haradriel bent her head in question, her pointed ears flipping up and down adorably.

Nelimir shook himself as he struggled with warm, bubbling emotions, "The goddess of dragon, she joined us around a week ago."

"Oh, this is not her dungeon," Haradriel said with a shake of her head that stopped mid movement. The elf took on a mask of doubt before kneeling and putting a hand to the floor.

"How can it not be?" Nelimir asked but she rose a hand indicating for him to remain quiet. She then closed her eyes.

"I was wrong, this is her dungeon after all."

So she says.

Haradriel's long, pointy ears were pulled all the way down. She wasn't sure of her own deduction.

"That should be the case, since Yvain challenged her to a Godless trial."

"What!?" the elf abruptly stood. "Is he insane!?"

"No, no, it's not what you think," Nelimir said and began a summarized explanation of the guild's last week.

Haradriel listened to his story in calm silence. It took him back to their time together, when he would press on her all his plans to have her people be accepted by his. She had a way of bearing that cleared his mind and helped him organize his thoughts with barely a word.

It was the same now. As he recounted all of last week, somehow everything seemed not so heavy a burden anymore. Regardless of what had happened, it was just a part of his path to unification. If he couldn't handle something as simple as a bickering group of friends, and a kind goddess protecting her lover, then he didn't have a right to lofty visions.

I guess Nora was right after all.

"If I'm here, that means that the rest are probably around here too. We need to go find them."

Finished with the telling, Nelimir focused once more on Haradriel to find that the elf had red-rimmed eyes. In stunned silence he watched her slowly walk up to him and take his head in her hands.

"You have done all this for me, have you not? It is my fault, for leaving you with no explanation. I am sorry."

'It's not your fault' he wanted to say. Yet the words didn't come out. He had been angry, furious even. Sad, scared, embarrassed. Nelimir had spent countless nights awake conjuring up scenes that either assuaged his pain or dammed him. What had he done wrong? What had she done wrong? It was a back and forth that for the most part destroyed his self-confidence. He couldn't put into words what a weight hearing her apologize, and recognize both their actions, lifted from his heart.

Nelimir gulped audibly.

"Then, allow me to ask you again, why did you leave me?"

"It's your father. He--"

Like a deflating balloon, Hardriel's body folded over as she suddenly fainted.

Nelimir was quick to catch her and check her pulse which thankfully beat normal.

"I am sorry." A disembodied voice rang out from behind one of the pillars in the throne room. From it, another elf stepped out. This one of a darker tone than Haradriel along with blinding white hair, but she shared a lot of other traits similar to her.

"I wanted to give you both as much time as possible, but we are already late as it is, and she is not supposed to be here."

"What did you do to her?" Nelimir asked and quickly shielded Haradriel as the darker elf approached them. She stopped less than two feet away.

"Do not worry, it is a harmless spell that put her to sleep. Next time she wakes, she will be back home."

Back home? That was a sour pill Nelimir did not want to swallow.

"She can't stay with us?"

"Silly man," the darker elf moved closer, to the point that her nose was almost touching his, "you know the answer to that." She then kissed him.

Thinking that the invasion of personal space was just an intimidation tactic from her part, Nelimir was wholly unprepared for the lips now glued to his. It was curiously reserved, and the darker elf quickly pulled back with a sad smile.

"What a shame that you were born male," she said.

He waited for a burst of sheer indignation, maybe anger. And indeed, he was not entirely happy with this woman's actions. Yet, he was also not against them. Looking at this new elf standing in front of him, he found that he couldn't decide on what to feel at all.

"Leave Haradriel and follow me, she will be safer here."

"You can't expect me to actually do that."

The darker elf sighed, "I know."

Nelimir's body immediately froze.

"Do not be alarmed, my intention is not to harm either of you."

How in the stars was she doing all of this? No matter how much he tried to budge, his body refused to cooperate. Yet his arms remained strong as they held the sleeping elf.

The darker elf took Haradirel from his arms and carefully set her down.

"What is your intention then?"

"I will take you to Yvain."

----------

When Yvain regained consciousness, a dull pain pulsed through his head. With a groan, he sat up and rubbed his face before looking around a weirdly familiar room. He way lying on a comfortable bed, and at his side...

Roesia was peacefully resting next to him, covers hiding most of her body, and bandages peeking out all the way up and around her neck. Her robes were nowhere to be found.

"You're awake!"

Yvain's head snapped up to the middle of the room where a young woman stood holding a bowl of food and a drink. She was wearing a conservative dress that covered everything except her head which sported brown hair lifted up into a bun.

"So I am...who are you?" he asked.

"A friend," the woman said amicably and came to stand by Yvain's side.

He instinctively felt close to this person and took no action to stop her as she set down a bed tray over him with what looked like a bowl of soup. She then sat by Roesia's side and parted the sorceress's hair sadly.

"It was a bad idea to let her absorb starlight without someone powerful and well-versed in magic overseeing the process."

"Is she okay?" Yvain asked. He didn't bother to even look at the food, as he had no appetite.

"The danger to her life has passed but..." the woman looked to him, seemingly deciding on something. She grabbed the covers and pulled them all the way back.

Roesia was covered completely in bandages, some spots encrusted with medium-sized dots of dried-up blood. And then he saw it, the leg that had burst in light when he tried to grab her was gone.

"Fuck." As if burned, Yvain recoiled and took refuge in his soup, his visage reflected on the reddish liquid. He might as well have amputated Nora herself for the agony of the knife burrowing and turning inside his chest. His fists pressed onto themselves as he looked at himself in disgust, trying to assuage some of the guilt and anger pushing to burst.

Was he just meant to keep inadvertently hurting the women he loved?

Loved?

Yvain looked to Roesia's peaceful profile again. He loved her?

"Oh dear," the woman said, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Don't be too hard on yourself. It's just a part of it."

"A part of what?"

"Hmm..." the woman put a finger up to her chin as she held her elbow, "If you want to find out why you feel as you do, why these things are happening between you, Nora, and now Roesia, then you need to reach the Protos rank."

She even knows about Nora?

"Who are you, really?"

"As I said, a friend."

"But...what makes you so sure? How do you know who we are?"

"Reach the Protos rank," the woman said with an apologetic smile.

Yvain sighed. It was no use. At least Roesia was alive. "Can you tell me where we are?"

The woman looked at him confusedly. "You can't recognize your home?"

At this, Yvain searched his surroundings more closely. The woman's words brought a clarity to the truth. He was in his room inside his parents' house. The layout of the furniture had changed a bit, and the wood was of a different color, but there was no mistaking it.

"This isn't their actual home, is it?"

The woman helplessly laughed at this. "I guess it isn't. I tried to recreate it as best I could, but I'm lacking in the illusions department."

Lacking? It was near perfect, almost as genuine as the real thing.

"My words might sound hollow but bringing it to such a true scale is impressive."

"Aww, thanks," the woman said and ruffled his hair with a content grin.

As she took back her hand, she said, "You're worried for her, but you should at least eat. You need the energy."

"This is still a dungeon, isn't it?"

"Correct."

"In that case," Yvain grabbed the spoon and began to empty his bowl. It was up in the air how long they would be stuck in this place. He needed to grab any opportunity to remain fed and hydrated.

"I'll make another plate for Roesia once she's awake. Eat and rest for now."

Yvain nodded through another spoonful of the delicious soup and its contents as the woman stood and left the room. It didn't take long to finish all of it. He barely tasted the food as worry took over most of his focus.

Setting aside the bed tray and its contents, he laid down next to the sorceress, preparing himself for when she woke up.

----------

Nora was impressed at Elly's mental fortitude.

Or should I call it patience?

She had kept attacking and struggling nonstop since they left, even when it was obvious to all there that her attempts would offer no results.

The starchild didn't know if she should help or not. On one hand, Yvain's master was obviously distressed and didn't want to be held by the large bull, but on the other she seemed unlikely to follow them if released. At the same time, they were still in a dungeon, and as powerful as these two men were, it wouldn't do well to taunt them.

Nora didn't want Elly's death on her hands, or more specifically she didn't want to risk making Yvain suffer.

"You're worried," the dragon said.

It irked her how it felt like he had known her since she was 'born'.

Elly gave another roar and somehow redoubled her efforts.

Forget it. The stars can choose.

"You've both made your point, we can't do anything against you. So can your friend please release her?" she asked.

"Nah," the bull said.

The dragon peered at Nora for a few seconds before addressing his companion, "Let her go, it's not like she'll be able to escape."

"And stop feeling her up?" the bull said with a boisterous laugh the dragon cut short.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

Nora observed the tension almost visibly grow between both men as the group walked for several seconds in silence, Elly still struggling for dear life.

"...Damn overgrown lizard," the bull finally let Elly drop without warning.

Yvain's master landed solidly on her feet.

Nora was prepared to see her attack again, but the large woman just clicked her tongue as she breathed heavily and went to stand next to the starchild.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"No."

"I know it's frustrating," the dragon said, addressing a leering Elly, "but it would be much worse if you went by yourself. We'll be going through some dangerous places before reaching our destination and we can't have you dying in them."

"Who are you to Yvain anyway?" Elly roughly asked.

"Same thing we are to you," the bull said, "friends."

Elly snorted and Nora took that chance to ask her own question.

"Why do we need to go to him? This is my dungeon."

"How about you tell me how everyone is doing back home instead?" the dragon said, dodging the question. "Are they in good health?"

It felt like the type of thing an acquaintance she hadn't seen in a while would ask. Yet a part of her felt compelled to answer him honestly.

"Well enough last I saw them," she said, unsure if he meant those close to her or all of her subjects.

"That's good. Do they treat you well?"

"You should know who I am, right? What do you think?"

The dragon stopped abruptly and looked back at her, "Don't take your position as goddess for granted Nora. Especially with how obsessive we can be." Everyone had stopped along with him, including Elly. Somehow, he commanded a respect not even Mitrel could accomplish. When he started to walk again, so did the rest.

This made Nora feel slightly miffed. She was the goddess of dragons; he was one of her subjects. What gave him the right to talk to her like that? Why did she even stop? Why did Elly stop when she had done her best to oppose the starchild every chance she got?

"I know that much," Nora said with a weak mumble, furthering her annoyance. Elly was visibly eyeing her, probably aware of how weird she was acting.

Get a hold of yourself.

"How about lovers?"

"Yvain, of course," Nora quickly answered, wanting no doubt in her devotion.

"Not him, that's a given. I meant before that."

A given?

"That's none of your business."

The dragon lapsed into a bout of silence. He seemed to really like thinking his words through.

"Fair enough," he finally said, "just make sure that if this person exists Yvain knows of him and him of Yvain. It would be too messy in the long run otherwise."

The bull pitched into the conversation, "You think he can't handle it? Nora's his woman, it's up to him to kill anyone who lays a hand on her."

"For stinted love?" the dragon gave the bull a helpless look before shaking his head. "Either way, I don't see whoever gained her favor being weak. Yvain, however..."

The bull grunted in disgust, "He is weak, isn't he? And already at such an advanced age."

"Shut your filthy mouth," Elly threatened.

"Why don't you come over here and make me," the bull said with a sloppy grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Elly was about to do just that, ignoring what the outcome would be.

"He's already dead," Nora said loudly to shift everyone's focus and stop Yvain's master from embarrassing herself any more.

"Who's dead?" the dragon questioned.

"My past..." Nora was about to say lover, but she didn't want to use such a title for Mitrel, "ex-husband. He's dead."

"Husband?" the dragon furrowed his brows. "Since when did dragons take 'husbands'?"

To ask such a question, it showed how old the man in front of her was. It had been at least two hundred years already since her people had begun to make dealings with humans. In doing so, different aspects of their way of being trickled over to the other side.

"It's nothing as serious as humans make it out to be, but we've put into use some of their customs."

The bull burst out laughing again. Hard enough that tears began to stream down his face. The dragon didn't show any reaction, but his already hard brows became even harder.

"And this...husband of yours, what happened to him?"

"Ex-husband," Nora said. "I killed him."

The bull broke out of his howling for but a second and said, "Killed by his own woman," before continuing to wheeze and hold his gut.

The dragon on the other hand, abruptly stopped once more. He turned with cold features and walked to stand mere inches away from Nora. So close it became more apparent how tall he was. More so than Elly but less than the bull.

"You don't strike me as the type of woman to kill without reason, firefly. Neither would you kill one of your subjects without good reason." His breathing became erratic. Nostrils flaring and eyes grabbing a wide...almost disbelieving look.

The laughter coming from the bull had slowly begun to die out at the same speed the dragon became more agitated.

"What did he do?" he quietly asked.

Nora was held in place by his stare. She was afraid to move or do anything else that wasn't giving him the answer he sought. Not knowing why made the fear worse.

And so, she gave him what he wanted. The beatings at the hand of Mitrel, her daughter's sale into slavery, and finally the death match between the couple. During all of it, the wind around them slowed until not a breeze was felt. The grass became still, holding their breath along the three people eyeing the dragon.

"Those...those ungrateful..." he could hardly speak. His body quivered as he turned from Nora and walked a few feet away from the group. Everything was silent except for his heavy breathing.

Nora looked to the bull hesitantly, trying to see if he could give her any answer as to what was happening, yet all she found was a man doing his outmost to stay upright. His legs were noticeably shaking while his hands clasped themselves over and over. One going for a weapon that wasn't there.

The violent reaction would be ridiculous if it wasn't for how he looked at the dragon. It reminded Nora of a fearful child.

Elly wasn't faring any better, keeping more control over her features than the other, but sweat pouring out in droves around her forehead.

"I gave them a chance, did I not?" the dragon said to himself, and turned to Nora, "does Yvain know of this?"

"He," Nora gulped involuntarily, "helped me finish him off."

"That's a start, at least," the dragon said and took in a lungful of air. He held it in place and then released it slowly. With said release, everything around them took life once more. Most noticeably the wind began to blow again. "Has anyone else treated you as such?"

Nora shook her head and the dragon nodded.

"I would recommend not going back to them regardless, they do not deserve your patronage," he said and began to walk without waiting for an answer.

Nora quickly followed, the rest doing the same.

"I can't do that," she said, and the dragon shrugged his shoulders.

"I had to try," he said almost sadly.

----------

Before he realized, Yvain had fallen asleep. He didn't know if it was because of the food he ate, or his stress over Roesia exhausting him. Now he was awake, yet he dared not look behind as the woman next to him quietly cried.

It had been going on for at least ten minutes. He didn't know if she had been crying even before then, but all that mattered is that he wanted to comfort her. But how could he do so? Unlike Nora, she didn't show the same attraction or connection toward him. It was all one-sided. The sorceress most likely didn't even want to be seen as she was. He certainly wouldn't.