— 𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐒 /. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 ! *

@ofheiirs

“For a long while I thought I did not want to find another family… I do not know of Theodore told you my whole story but nevertheless,” she breathed, the words were difficult to form, “I used to think I had one family and it was gone. But now I feel I have a new one. And while I know time will pass some will drift away and some will perish I have realized: I am ready to open my heart again. And Elas, I,” she falters again, “I would be honored if you would be part of that family. Part of my life.”

         elas thought that what he said on the cliff before the goblins came would surely make allyria’s distance grow further, but as he stands before her now, he knows that he is being proven utterly wrong and he could not be more happy about that for once in his life. he does not know if it is infatuation with a beautiful elf that he grew up hearing stories about, or if his admiration and want to be close comes from respect at the kind of gentle but powerful being allyria is. all he knows is that he wants to be close to her, however that it.

    the smile on his lips in made of genuine joy to hear her words. to see her offer her heart to humans again despite the deep pain some have caused, to watch her heal that part of herself so openly before him, before the company.      “ nothing would make me happier than to be a part of your life, allyria. ”

allyria could feel her heart pounding in her head, a constant barrage of noise, panic, and pain. she would endure. despite the heaving of the world around her she focused in on his face, framed by his damp golden locks like a halo. in the blackness that surrounded them he seemed to glow, but perhaps that was merely her concussion causing twisted visions. “steady now,” she spoke at his moment, hoping to calm him. “we should embrace this moment of rest before finding the others.”

she could not smile, so instead she exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, letting the relief sink in. there was a swell of calm that flooded through her chest at his words of reassurance. she did not know what she would do with herself if he perished just an arm’s length away when she could not move. “i could not let that happen, this quest…it’s all i have left.”

“i have not sustained any injuries that i cannot endure,” she replied, “i will be able to stand soon enough. let us just catch our breath now.”

          her words had a calming effect on him.    let us catch our breath now.    it was not spoken like a command, but elas found himself lying face-down, his cheek against small pebbles, his eyes shining and watching her gentle face.

     he knew they had just fallen down the bridge, he knew that he did not know who had fallen, exactly, and who had survived. he knew that he should be more worried, but the peace he felt simply upon looking at her... it lulled him into an odd sense of serenity. 

at his touch the world did not feel so chaotic anymore. she was now tethered to someone and she would be fine. the shore was approaching quickly, and if they angled it right they could arrive with little struggle. the only complication was if they missed there would not be another easy way out in sight. paddling with her one free arm, and kicking her legs with all the energy she had left. when the water was shallow enough she let go of him, only once she knew that he could not be swept away from her. lying face down on the shore, she let the water lap at the hem of her dress. she did not have the strength to stand to her feet yet, so instead she rested, looking over at elas. as she caught her breath she watched her face, careful to note any injuries he may have sustained. “elas …elas, are you alright?” 

        as soon as they reached the shore and allyria’s hand left his, elas began coughing out the water that had reached his lungs. it was an awful feeling, the fear that they were going to be swept away was still in his body and he had to grip solid ground to calm himself. his entire body felt like it could break apart right there-- he had never sustained such a hard fall. it was a surprise that he was still conscious. 

@ofheiirs

There were many things Wulf could have been feeling as he hauled himself out of the river. Frustration, fear, the dull ache of the bruises and scrapes he’d acquired. But perhaps the keenest emotion he felt was a sense of resigned irony – he’d been pulled up from the cliff only to fall from the bridge a mere minute later.

He didn’t know how many of them had fallen. There were seven currently on the bank, catching their breath, but seven more unaccounted for.

Wobbly, he made his way over to Elas, and grasped his shoulder to announce his arrival, gesturing worriedly at the raging river, then held up both hands, counting off seven fingers. Maybe Elas might have a better idea if there were any more that had fallen.

        the goblin attack certainly brought about more destruction than elas had suspected. the nasty little creatures seemed to care very little for their own life-- they were more intent in ending their opponent's lives than saving themselves. elas detested them, and now even more so. 

he stood by the river, attempting to catch his breath, trying to regroup the events in order. he saved wulf, and then the ground cracked and they found themselves on the bridge only to meet their fall there. elas’ arm was bleeding from the gash made by one of the goblins, but he was not yet aware of his physical state; the adrenaline overthrew all of the other signals his body was sending him. 

he turned to wulf when he felt a grasp on his shoulder, glad to see that he was okay enough to walk. he paid attention to his hands and then turned to do a head-count. it looked like half of them fell-- elas was right behind wulf about to step on land when the bridge fell apart.     “  i believe the rest of our companions are up there. i do not know about--  ”      he looked around again, then at wulf,     “  i do not know about bigs. i know he was close to us when the bridge fell apart.  ”

“it is something beautiful isn’t it?” thaldan said gazing around. he remembered that first time walking into a mine like this with some of his traveling companions. all of them being dwarves, they didn’t think much of it but thaldan was amazed by it all. much like how elas was now. “probably hasn’t been used in….gods, hundred years? more? i doubt anyone has been inside of it probably since before either of us were around.”

[   &&.  closed starter |  @thaldan-rotmiir   ]

@ofheiirs

in the cold black water she struggled to keep her head above the surface. after the drop from the bridge and the waterfall her body was battered, bruised, and incredibly tired. she fought to keep her chin up to taste the damp foul air of the mines. out of the corner of her eyes she caught a flash of the wet blonde locks of elas. reaching out towards him she called, “elas! take my hand!”

@ofheiirs | closed starter

“I’m afraid I don’t even have half the gold they asked for. I’m not exactly in the money making business since I do almost everything for free. I’m beginning to regret that now…”

the presence of the note from whoever these people were changed things. both for better and for worse. at least they had a better idea that rosa was still alive. out of everyone on this team there was one person who’d have the best chance of getting that money. “so….how much are you carrying on you. is it enough?”

@ofheiirs

“Alucard Fleury, at your service,” Luc chirped, holding out a hand for Elas to shake. “But my friends call me Luc,” he added with a wink. 

He changed his stride to match Elas’ pace. There was something about this one that was different from the others he’d run across in the fog, something about the way he held himself. And he looked so familiar. “Who are you?”

    he only stared at the man. was this a figment of his imagination, or was he a real person ?   a real being ?   he did not move to shake his hand. instead, he kept it ready by his sword. while he did not enjoy the idea of having to fight a stranger in the forest, he had to be prepared for it.  

    “  i do not believe my mind could conjure such a...  ”    he paused. his frown deepened. he could not shake off his suspicion.      “  vivid person. thus, my identity is not of your importance. what is your reason for being here ? ”

“alright look! i had a wonderful idea to keep us safe and not get us lost in the fog.” the small hobbit lugged over a large length of rope that felt like it weighed more than her. “if we leave the rope trailing behind us as we go then we can find our way back. that way we can collect wood and other supplies! so, what do you think?” rosa said beaming with a proud smile.

@ofheiirs·

(open starter)

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. 

Luc had gotten so bored of that tiny little town and yeah, it was probably too soon to go back to Vecra, but there was nothing keeping him from trying to tag along with this ragtag lot of travelers. They were the most interesting thing he’d seen in weeks! Months!

And then a fog fell over the party and everything became a little bit fuzzy.

Hot on their trail, suddenly someone came out of nowhere. He scrambled to a halt before running into them. “Oh. Hi! This is some pretty crazy fog, huh? It’s kind of like breathing clouds. Do you think this is what birds feel like?”

       the company dispersed when the fog settled. it was pressing at the side of his head-- whispering the dangers, questioning the safety of the rest of the members. the other side of his head was not currently available to answer the questions, though. it was lost in a daze, showing him images of his cousin. elas knew the entlands clutched your brain and drove it into madness, but the footsteps he heard were so vivid and cithrel's back was just within reach.

         oh, wait.     it took a few seconds of fixed staring to realize that the stranger before him was not cithrel. in fact, elas did not know them at all.      " birds-- what ? "     confusion was evident in his features, something banged inside of his brain and his only response was to place his hand upon the hold of his sword. something about the situation was obviously off.     " who are you ? "      he demanded, voice raising in defense.

in the darker moments of the night allyria wondered if her practice would be the death of her. if one day she would give so much of her life force over to another that she would fade away. it was not something she liked to ponder especially because she hated to admit how much the idea appealed to her. there were parts of her mind that sought such a purposeful end, no matter how soon it might come. 

“no, no, elas,” she responded with a dismissive wave -  a faint smile crossing her features but her eyes were distracted. she eyed the bedroll which was growing ever more appealing as the fatigue set in. she was accustomed to this feeling by now, “just get some rest, i’ll see you in the morning.”

          elas wanted to linger, but he knew it was not right to. especially not now, when allyria seemed to need to get rest above anything else at the moment. he just wanted to make sure that she was alright, though he had no choice but to follow her words and trust that rest was all she needed. 

“now….i know we’ve got some problems going on with wulf. but we’ve got a plan and right now there is not much we can do for him. i think he’d want us to relax a little bit and enjoy ourselves.” thaldan emphasized his point by nudging the drink over in their direction. “plus, with this journey coming up it’s going to be a while until i can sit down and have a drink with some pleasant looking company. would you want to rob me of that chance?”