#daedeth

It was a soft push that led the medic up the stairwell that seemed to stretch on forever. Each unseen step, due to the blindfold wrapped around his eyes, falling underfoot as the mindful hand of the warrior that lie pressed against the small of his spine urged him onward.

The nervousness that came from the smaller was nearly palpable, the subtle shivering of uncertainty making the swordsman’s skin crawl with feral instinct yet ever did he remain the gentleman. The medic’s hand lightly grasped within his own as slender fingers fit so perfectly within the spaces between his own. Skin, soft as a petal’s touch, falling gently within the reassuring stroke of a black talon.

“Isn’t this dangerous? What if they break the barricade, what if we can’t hear the guards calling for us to move agai-”

The worried tone drifted easily off Daedeth’s tongue, but the desert prince wouldn’t allow the other to finish his sentence 

“That is not our concern tonight..” he murmured sweetly, his own tone authoritative, confident, and it served to lessen some of the medic’s fears. Or so he thought, given how the traces of hesitation seemed to melt from the slender form beneath his touch.

“Just one more..” he offered, a whisper flowing into the other’s ear as he reached forward to push a wooden door open with a soft creak of it’s hinges. The stale air of the stairwell replaced by sweet, incense laden smoke and the cool desert night air. The curiosity drifting over Daedeth’s features didn’t have long to fester as he felt a gentle tug upon the back of his head, and with a chuckle the silk fell away to reveal the small terrace.Lanterns, silk and gilded steel hung within the air. The flames within, casting their glow across the sandstone while the others flickered like starlight against the night sky. A table had been set, adorned in a bottle of wine, two glasses, and an incense burner that sent the scents of lavender, sandalwood, and rose into the surrounding air.“Levinth I- …What is all of this?” he turned towards the warrior at his back, yet where the bark skinned nobleman’s face should have been, was instead the visage of a desert cobra in dark black onyx, and gold to form it’s natural markings. Crimson eyes stared back at him, the slit pupils carved directly into the otherwise smooth garnets that formed them and it’s hood lie flared so that only the thick two-toned mane of the warrior lie exposed and free.

Even his clothing was fit to the occasion, black silk etched in golden filigree, which made him appear ever suited to the titles of ‘Prince of the desert’, ‘King of the underground’, and ‘Lord of the skies’, all in one.

Yet before another word could leave the butler’s lips, he found himself falling under the warrior’s hand, and the half mask that was pressed in against his features. The twilight hues forming a sky far more colorful then the black one above them, constellations decorating it’s surface, and trim both carved and set from pearl.

How had he.. known? Where did he find it?

 Twas the lifted hand that pulled his attention back to the foreground, and as the medic’s slid itself into the warrior’s palm he was led towards the terrace’s center. A lord and his lady, as if all of Grismara left the center of the ballroom open for the pair to take their place.

Though no music flowed through the air, their footsteps took place all the same. Natural, fluid, as their eyes met only the other’s and their hands moved to twist. Meeting at the palm, while the other took hip and shoulder without further hesitation.

The sky, the flames, the smoke, circled and blurred as they moved within it. Slow at first, as if tradition dictated they should, but that didn’t last long. It simply wasn’t their style… Fire, passion, devotion, determination. it brought a speed to their step, a strength in how they grasped each other, and an intimacy as fingers trailed themselves over whatever they could touch in passing. Water, clarity, tranquility. It brought a flowing grace to their movements, as if the way they turned and came to met again and again came as natural as the way they drew breath. Life and logic, weaving themselves step by step, breath by breath, gesture by gesture, into a bond that would never lie broken. Where death would mark only a new beginning, and all the knowledge of the stars would be at their grasp as they moved through time and space hand in hand. One life, into the next.

When at last their forms stilled, Daedeth’s own nestled in against the warrior’s chest, time had become non existent. Even the city which burned around them seemed to have faded out of existence, for as the swordsman’s hand lifted to trail his fingertips along the mask’s edge. Their eyes only gazed upon each other.

“Though the road we walk is shrouded in the fog of uncertainty, it is these words, these vows I can speak with clarity and truth..” the tone forging the oath was strong and gentle. The voice of a heart hidden deep from all save from the one currently held within his arms. “This life blessed to me, shall be spent at your side. My heart shall beat with the strength of your will, and the depth of my love. My sword shall serve, and cut through all that stands to prevent us from our future, our desires, our dreams. A symbol of our hope.. All that I was, all that I am, all I shall become, shall honor these words.. and when death comes to claim us. I shall stand alongside you, take your hand into mine, and walk into the light of the next life to fill this oath yet again. This.. I pledge to you, for I…” His fingers grasped, removing the mask from the medic’s face while his other hand lifted and trailed his talons down the length of his nose. “…Have found my soul.”

“As a butler I am your first and last line of defense. I am your shield. I am your caretaker whose love for you is a cup overflowing. I pledge to you these things that you may find your way with me at your front and your back that none may harm you in the days to come. I will be loyal... unshaken in my post. I will be dutiful that you may have clarity. I will be nurturing that you may stand strong even in sickness and spoil you in good health. I pledge to stand with you at all angles and sides both good and bad. I will follow you wherever you may lead, this I pledge to you, Levinth.”

As the medic’s hand lifted the beast lowered his head unil the serpent had all but nuzzled into the palm of the hand that laid itself across it’s bejeweled features. The air drawn in as it was pulled away serving to fill his lungs as if it sought to bring life anew into his form. yet even as the fires within the streets flared into an inferno, sparks and embers scattering into the nightwind he fought his arms wrapping around his beloved with the celestial mask still within his palm. The serpentine one, still grasped within Daedeth’s own.

Blinking lights, a dull low toned thrum as the ancient metal shifted minutely beneath the occasional, brief firing of the thrusters. Just enough to remain on course, adjusting to every change, in order to remain within the shadow of the main exile fleet.

Everything was going according to plan.

A spatter, a wet, heavy succession of sounds echoed through the dormant hull only to he followed by a loud, sharp BANG! as something large, dense, and lazy slammed into the ships right side and sent the entire internal lighting system to shift to an angry, infuriated, pulsing, red.

Except that...

Within seconds of the impact, one of the two Cryopods on board began to shift from horizontal to vertical with a grinding twist of it’s mechanisms. The blue, iced over glow providing little insight into what it contained, aside from that the form within was large, dark, and almost entirely submerged in a glowing, golden substance.

[::.Hull integrity compromised...]

The text scrolled horizontally across the main console of the bridge in a crimson base text.

[::. Self-repair initializing...] [::. Self-repair nanites unresponsive.] [::. Self-repair function, aborted.] [::. Initializing emergency thaw protocol of Cryopod 1...]