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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 grunted in annoyance at Torvi’s refusal to leave, having her around along with Boreas’s foolish decision to distract the undead minion pulled his attention away from Aeryn. The revenant that once was Torvi’s sister swung an axe at Boreas, and he realized the stupid bird was going to get himself killed. Although Boreas was just a merlin, and more than capable of making his own choices, he was a good and loyal companion and Bowyn did not want him to die like this. He heard Torvi shout and the ground trembled as an arm of earth sprang forward gripping the arm of the undead to stop the axe. It seemed that the elves had gotten it right after all; the human was certainly not defective. The tremble of the earth, and Torvi’s sudden display of magic had clearly caught Aeryn off guard. There was brief second, one in which time almost seemed to slow, as Aeryn regained balance from the earth tremor and her full attention rested on Torvi, in which Bowyn knew he could end this. In one swift motion he could grab the knife from his boot and throw it, and he was close enough that he would likely not miss.  The thought of actively killing Aeryn though, rather than just bearing the weight of having made the choices that lead to her death, weighted down on him. Bowyn froze, unable to carry through with it, letting time catch back up with him. 

As his moment passed Bowyn knew he’d failed again. He threw the ice shield at Aeryn’s hand before she could form more weapons, drawing her attention back onto him. He heard Torvi shouting that they needed to flee but he couldn’t just leave. If he stayed, he would likely die, and although he’d put his survival before just about anything else, he would always put Aeryn first. If he stayed, Torvi might stay as well, they would both die, and she had just saved Boreas. Torvi deserved better than to die for nothing. But to leave would be to leave Aeryn in this abhorrent state, even though he knew he could not kill her, he wasn’t sure he could leave her either. As his mind raced between the two terrible choices Boreas swooped down at him, talons scratching at the side of his face hitting his cheek. He stumbled backwards until his feet hit the ground, and Boreas continued to fly at him to keep him moving out of instinct alone. 

[color=lightcyan]“Bowyn move!”[/color] Boreas shouted with absolute authority. [color=lightcyan]“Run!”[/color] For once, Bowyn did not argue with the bird. He allowed the merlin to choose for him, and he turned and ran. He ran in the direction Torvi chose, she seemed, somehow, to know there were more of the undead and so he followed as the human lead the way. The running did nothing to dull the intense swirl of emotions Bowyn tried desperately to bottle up. Eventually they had put enough distance between them and the undead that they had a second to rest. He knew he needed a moment to himself before he fully lost his mind and stated walking from Torvi, stopping for a second to hold up a finger to signal he just needed a minute. Boreas flew from Bowyn’s shoulder, where he had instinctively landed once they stopped, to Torvi’s shoulder. There he waited faithfully for his friend to return and rested his wings, staring with curiosity at the shiny things the human had adorned in her hair. The merlin did resist the urge to further investigate the glistening metal with his beak as he did not try to steal from those who had earned his respect. 

It had been many years since Bowyn had felt so many things and with such intensity. The comforting numbness was completely stripped away and the grief and agony were raw open wounds again. His stomach twisted into a knot of nausea and he wretched violently, spitting bile into the ground. He felt cold tears trailing down his face and Bowyn was unable to control his emotions any longer. He wanted to curl up and die here in the forest but that would mean leaving Aeryn out there somewhere, her lifeless body serving Aklenroth. He’d gladly face a thousand deaths before he’d leave her like that. Aklenroth had no right to do these things; to force her body into doing evil for him, to taint her memory like this, to turn her into to everything she would’ve never become. He’d never liked Aklenroth, but he had always accepted that he was the king and that was the way things were. Now, Bowyn hated the lich with every part of his being, he wanted to rip the skeleton apart and shatter every bone that made him. Rage, unlike any he’d every felt, burned through him. Bowyn facing the nearest tree, unleased his rage through magic, freezing every ounce of water inside the tree and violently ripping it apart. 

Bowyn felt some of the weight leave him. The thorough exhaustion of such a display of magic fueled only by rage had drained him enough to calm down. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths of the cold air. He felt the pain and the rage dull, more akin to the constant hunger he felt as a child, but no longer all encompassing. He had not been ready to kill Aeryn, but he would get there, he would survive long enough to ensure she could rest peacefully, it was the only thing he could do for her now and he would find a way to do it. He wiped the tears, and the blood from the scratches Boreas had given him, from his face. He did not have the energy left to heal himself but they were shallow and would heal on their own, perhaps leaving him with some scars to make him look a bit more the warrior he doubted he could ever really be. With his composure regained some he returned to Boreas and Torvi.

[color=cyan]“I, apologize for my outburst. Today has not been a good day. I guess we should keep heading south, the further we get from Daka the better.”[/color] He said his tone detached. He did not try to further explain the situation for fear that he would lose the composure he had just regained. 

[color=lightcyan]“Still friends foolish fairy?”[/color] Boreas said as he leapt from Torvi and glided back to Bowyn’s shoulder. 

[color=cyan]“Always, birdbrain”[/color] Bowyn said nodding at the bird as they pressed on, knowing his friends attach had been for his own good.