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[color=gold]Time:[/color] Morning
[color=gold]Location:[/color]Forest near the Sun Elf Kingdom
[color=gold]Interactions:[/color] Ayita [@13org], Sakura [@baraquiel]
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Once they were safely away from the dragon, and had all had a brief moment to catch their breath, Cade immediately threw his arms around Ayita in a celebratory bear hug. He wasn’t sure what the human customs were about hugs, but he was too proud of his friend for figuring out her magic that he didn’t think to worry about it. There was little that was as exhilarating as having to run for your life and he was so incredibly glad that they were all alive. He released Ayita from the hug after only a few seconds but wore a large tooth grin as he looked at her with pride. She had found her magic, which was the first step towards being able to stand against the lich. 

[color=gold]“You did it! You used your magic!”[/color] Cade said with excitement. [color=gold]“I’ve never seen anything on two legs move so fast! You ran on the wind, I’ve never seen anything like it. I can’t even begin to imagine what you can do once you get the hang of your powers.”[/color] Cade continued, not bothering to hide his enthusiasm. Cade turned to the stranger who had helped them escape the dragon, and being so overcome with joy at not being slaughtered by an undead dragon, gave the stranger an enormous bear hug as well. 

[color=gold]“And you, Sakura, thank you. Our fate would’ve been much bleaker without you.”[/color] He said before releasing the stranger. [color=gold]“It is truly wonderful to meet you. Anyone brave enough to face a dragon to help strangers is without a doubt, exceptional company.”[/color] He added, his voice a bit calmer now, but still wearing a huge grin. 


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[color=cyan]Time:[/color] Morning
[color=cyan]Location:[/color] Woods
[color=cyan]Interactions:[/color] Torvi [@Tae]
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Bowyn walked with Torvi, following the bird as he led the way, until Boreas again landed on his shoulder indicating that they were near the spot where Torvi’s sister lay in rest. There was an unnerving chill in the air, Bowyn felt it, and based on the way Boreas shifted his weight on his shoulder, he knew the bird felt it as well. Something here was wrong, and it wasn’t just the body that lie ahead of them, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his instincts told him he should run. Torvi pointed out a figure moving in the distance and his first thought was another had found the body and intended to turn it in for the reward. Then, as they got closer, he saw the body of Torvi’s sister began to rise. Boreas chattered and squeezed his talons into Bowyn shoulder. He wondered if his feathered companion was feeling the same overwhelming sense of dread and although his body screamed for him to run, he continued forward. Something was drawing him closer and against his better judgement he listened, dropping his possessions to the ground, continuing forward until he got a better look at the mysterious figure. 

Bowyn’s blood ran cold as he stared at the ghastly image before him; the figure that had raised Torvi’s sister. Although she looked nothing like how he remembered, he recognized her instantly. Her eyes were glassy and glazed over, devoid of the spark they always contained in life. Parts of her skin, had rotted away, while other patches had the blue and frozen look of one succumbing to frostbite, and other parts simply had the paleness of corpse. She wore the same clothing she had on the day she died, though now it was torn, dirty, and stained with old blood. For years he’d dreamt that he’d see her face again, but not like this and tears blurred his vision as he looked upon the long-lost woman he loved. 

[color=cyan]“Aeryn.”[/color] He whispered, his voice cracking as he spoke her name. Her head tilted to the side as she turned to look at him. As difficult as it was, he did not turn away. Bowyn blinked through his tears just to look at the woman he’d lost for a few more seconds. This was his fault; he had left her and now the lich controlled her. 

[color=lavender]“Bowyn.”[/color] She answered back startling him. Her voice was unrecognizable, coarse and raspy from lack of use. A grim realization hit him as he saw a faint glimmer of the real Aeryn in her dead eyes. He felt something inside him break as he understood the full extent of Aeryn’s fate. Trapped in a corpse, forced to serve the lich, and having to watch, an unwilling participant, in every awful thing her corpse was forced to do. 

[color=lightcyan]“We must leave, Bowyn, now.”[/color] Boreas pleaded, digging his talons deeper into Bowyn’s shoulder hoping to snap him out of his daze. [color=lightcyan]“She is gone.”[/color]

[color=cyan]“No,”[/color] He whispered shaking his head. [color=cyan]“I can’t leave her again.” [/color] He said taking a shaky step towards the undead fairy. [color=cyan]“Part of her is still in there.” [/color] The foolish part of him clung to desperate idea that somehow this meant she could be brought back. The elves and fairy’s all had such great magic that maybe there was a way, if part of her was still in there, didn’t he owe it to her to try? He was distracted enough that he had missed the subtle movements of her hands as she drew moisture from the air and formed it into knives made of ice.

[color=lavender]“Get out of here.”[/color] The voice that was barely Aeryn’s warned just before she threw an ice knife at him. He threw himself to the ground just in time to miss the knife and then his wings flapped hard pulling him off the ground and kept him hovering above the ground. He quickly used his magic to bind the moisture in the air into a small shield of ice he held in his left hand. He positioned himself between Aeryn and Torvi, blocking the throw of the second knife with his shield. Boreas, who had flown from Bowyn as the fairy threw himself to the ground, swooped at the reanimated corpse of Torvi’s sister keeping her distracted for a bit, knowing that his friend would focus on nothing but Aeryn now. 

[color=cyan]“Aeryn, please, don’t do this.” [/color] Bowyn shouted desperately. But this was not the Aeryn he knew, but rather a twisted and corrupted version of her. In his mind it was clear now what he needed to do; he would have to kill Aeryn to end her suffering, but his stomach churned at the thought of it and he knew his heart was not ready for such a task. 

[color=cyan]“Torvi, run, get out of here!” [/color] He cried out, half demanding and half pleading. He didn’t want what was left of Aeryn's spirit to watch as she killed another person, nor did he want it to be Torvi who would kill Aeryn. Bowyn felt that he had to be the one to put Aeryn to rest; this was his failure to correct, he was the one who had left her to this fate, and most importantly, he wanted the last face she saw to be that of someone who loved her. This was one fight he knew he could not run from.