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An hour later Viren stumbled back to the house from the thicket, eyes red and throat sore. He was hoping that Aaravos had some kind of herbs for tea, but when he arrived inside he saw the elf mage watching the mirror.
Viren's physical ailments flew from his mind.
"What's going on?" he asked in a gruff voice, tensing.
"What do you see?"
"Nothing at the moment," Aaravos said, stepping aside so Viren could look for himself- it was the same view of the dungeon Aaravos had always had, just the chair and the tiny table and the door. No one had discovered the mirror - yet.
"But you and I both know your quarters are being searched as we speak, and someone will find this room sooner rather than later. I know I said time was on our side here, but it is not over there. If you wish to leave any sort of correspondence for your children, you may not be able to do so if the mirror is taken out of the castle."
"Good point..."
Viren slumped down on the couch, rubbing his hand over his face. He was exhausted.
"So can I send a letter, or? What's the medium of the message here?"
"No, without pen and ink on the other side we cannot do that. But what we can do is use our powers combined to breach the mirror portal with our magic and etch runes on the wall opposite the mirror, and when Claudia mimics those runes in the sequence provided a message will play from you to her. I wouldn't say anything that you don't want the entire castle to hear, since she will without a doubt be under supervision when she finds it."
"Obviously." Viren sighed, and stood up, coming over to the mirror.
"I'm ready, then."
"Already? You don't wish to rest first? You were out there... a while," Aaravos said, his tone gentle.
"This is going to be some serious spellcasting..."
"I'm fine," Viren growled, clearly not at all, but also being stubborn about it.
"Let's just do this before the window of opportunity closes. I'll sleep off the spellwork aches."
"...As you wish."
Aaravos held up the book that contained the rune incantations, holding it between them so Viren could see too.
"I will do this first line, and you the second. Though our runes are different we must trace them at the same speed. Let's practice that, first, and both do the second line - nothing will happen when we complete the sequence without the first line. You must say the names of the runes aloud, as the pronunciation is given below. Do you see?"
"Yes."
Viren tried to keep up, but he wasn't familiar with these runes and inevitably he failed to match Aaravos's speed of tracing and speaking them even though the elf mage wasn't going as fast as he could. After the seventeenth unsuccessful try, Viren was getting irritated.
"Would you mind slowing it down just a bit? I've never seen these runes before or read them aloud before a few minutes ago."
Aaravos made a small tch sound, a sign that he was irritated also.
"Viren, if the runes are not performed at least at this speed then it will be a waste of magical energy, because they will not etch onto the wall. Would you like to instead simply dust the room with a bit of our essence, pointlessly?"
"You didn't have to be so mean about it," Viren grumbled, taking the stance for the first rune.
"Again."
Aaravos made no reply, but when a dozen more tries still resulted in Viren breaking speed with him he said, "Are you sure you wouldn't like to rest for a while before you try this again?"
"I'm sure," Viren spat back, furious now.
He felt so... incompetent! And Aaravos just kept mocking him...
"Stop making this more difficult for me."
Aaravos sighed, but said nothing.
Over an hour and eighteen more tries later, Viren was able to trace and speak the runes successfully in time with Aaravos. But now he was in a terrible mood, shouting the rune names, and Aaravos put a hand on the man's shoulder when they finished.
"Viren... I'm sorry if it seemed like I was rushing you. That was not my intention but I realize it may have been my impact. I was not calling you incompetent by suggesting you rest. For the sake of your children, compose yourself before we make contact. Your voice will come through clear as day down there in that stony dungeon."
Viren wanted to lash out, to say something nasty but... Aaravos had just apologized and was being sincere and-- was also right. He had no reason to be angry any more.
"Fine," Viren sighed, shrugging the hand off his shoulder and pacing around the room for a bit while he tried to calm down.
He took several deep breaths, then held his hand out to Titania... who ignored him, but didn't run away.
Aaravos made tea over the fireplace-- he did in fact have quite a bit of herbs for it-- and held out a steaming mug which Viren accepted with a murmured thanks. He sipped at it and immediately felt the hot liquid soothe his aching throat.
Setting the mug down on the table when he was finished, Viren returned to the mirror.
"All right. The tea helped a lot, thank you. I'm ready now, I'm calm."
"And you know what you wish to say? As soon as the final rune in the casting sequence is spoken and signed, the seal will be made and you will be recorded until you finish speaking and cast the final end-spell rune you are already familiar with, here," Aaravos indicated, pointing to the page.
Viren nodded.
"I understand. Will we be visible, or will it just be my voice?"
"From what I can read here it all seems like it will just be your voice, but if you wish me to step out of the 'frame' so to speak I can do so."
"It doesn't matter. I'm going to tell them exactly who I'm with," Viren said, and Aaravos's eyes widened in shock.
"What?"
"I'm going to tell them," Viren repeated, and for the first time since coming here he felt a smirk tugging at his mouth.
"What's the worst they're going to do to us... break us out to face the consequences for our misdeeds?"
And half a beat later Aaravos was smiling too, shaking his head.
"You are something else, Viren."
They traced the sequence, and on the final rune, a blast of purple-yellow light extended through the mirror, and the runes that they had traced and seen the magical shapes of in the air here, were suddenly visible on the wall of the dungeon. Viren gasped, so fascinated that it had worked that he forgot he was being recorded.
"Ah... this is Lord-- this is Viren," he said, already wishing he could start over but it was too late now.
"Claudia, Soren, my children, if you're listening to this, know that I love you very much. And I am so proud of both of you. You two may-- hate me for what I've done and what I've asked you to do, the secrets I've asked you to keep from each other... and that is your right. I accept that by the time you hear this, I have likely been judged as-- evil by many, for my actions. But you will both succeed me, be better than me, if you stay true to yourselves and each other. Claudia, do not let others' fear of Dark Magic scare you into giving up being a mage. Seek out more knowledge on the subject. Do not follow my example. Look back further in our ancestry and the real roots of Dark Magic. The kind that sacrifices your time, not innocent life. And Soren... there are times for fighting, but also for listening and understanding. Don't be afraid to pursue your dreams that don't involve a sword. Listen to your heart, not those telling you to be hard-hearted.
I am with Aaravos, the ancient elven mage now. That's Aaravos, A-A-R-A-V-O-S. In another dimension, safe from any punishment Katolis can try to bring upon me. I may not-- be able to ever return to your dimension. And I ask that you both forgive me for making this decision, to do your best to be happy and-- and to not put your life on hold to try and find me. I will try my hardest to come back to you two. Please believe that, no matter what happens. And please, if someone other than my daughter has activated this message, if you haven't written any of it down please at least tell Claudia and Soren that I love them."
Viren took a shaky breath, and then looked at the page for reference for a quick moment before saying "Goodbye, my children. I do hope to see you again soon."
Then he cast the final end-spell rune, chanting, and the runes on the wall of the dungeon ceased glowing and were now almost invisible in the dim room. Aaravos went and grabbed a piece of thick cloth and spread it over the mirror so that they could not be spied on by guards if and when the mirror was discovered.
Viren fell to his knees, his body shuddering in silent sobs.
He had no tears left to cry today... but all these wounds were still so raw and fresh. To think that he would be declared an enemy of the state he had grown up in and loved, that his children might hate him as soon as they learned about what he did to those guards and what he was planning to do with the four kingdoms... he'd only been with Aaravos a single day, and already his entire world was upside down.
"I n-never spoke like that to my children when I was with them, even when they were young," Viren choked out, feeling sick and miserable.
"I thought it was weak, that it would make them soft. Now I regret it all, I r-regret every single time I didn't tell them I loved them and how proud they both made me."
"But you have said it now, and they will likely be the first to hear it. That is something, Viren. If the time ever comes for us to destroy this mirror and give up on returning to our plane, at least they will know how you really felt. You have done well by them, as well as you can given the circumstances."
"Thank you," Viren managed, too upset at the moment to feel like Aaravos was patronizing him.
"But... what do you mean, destroy the mirror?"
"Well..."
Aaravos sighed, looking like he regretted mentioning it but now didn't want to lie or change the subject.
"What I haven't told you yet, is that if we perform the dual-mage incantation even a little incorrectly, we would open this mirror as a portal to all dimensions, not just the one we are seeking to travel to. Which would mean we would have to destroy it, or else be torn apart by being pulled into too many realities at once."
"...Ah. So what you're saying now is, when we do this, we can only try once, we're risking death, and it probably won't work," Viren said in a flat tone, his upset morphing back into anger.
"Viren..." Aaravos felt Viren's temper starting to come back and tried to keep his voice level.
"It is late, and you are tired. That was a very difficult spell you just did and an emotional drain on you as well. Get some sleep, and you may ask me any questions you like in the morning."
"No!" Viren shouted, realizing he sounded like a petulant child but not caring as he whirled away from Aaravos's hand on his shoulder and stood up to face him.
"The whole time, since the first time we saw each other in this damned mirror, you expected me to just... just keep taking your word for everything, to believe what I thought was impossible. You expected me to trust you simply because you helped me do a few spells and kill a few guards, and now you tell me we've got a snowflake's chance in lava of getting out of here?!"
"Viren... we have been over this. I told you that it might be a one-way journey, that you might never return home, and you agreed to the risk. What other choice did you have?" Aaravos asked, raising his hands in surrender.
He too was weary now; it had been a very long day dealing with Viren's constant mood swings, and Aaravos's patience had not been tried like this in centuries.
"What reason have I given you, not to trust me...? I have done everything you have asked of me and more. I brought you here with the intent of helping the both of us."
But Viren was enraged again.
"Ha! You think you've earned my trust because you can intimidate me with your superior powers? You've been withholding so much information from me that at this point, I don't even know if you want us to escape this place at all!"
"Viren... please..."
It was a sign that Aaravos was truly being strained to his breaking point -- he almost never used that word sincerely, without sarcasm or jest.
"Of course I want us to get out of here, I--"
"No, let me finish! You manipulated me into agreeing to come here with the promise of power beyond my wildest dreams, but what use is power when we can never escape this godforsaken place?"
Viren was on a roll with his anger now. Though he knew it was wrong to keep going down this path he wanted to twist the knife, to make Aaravos hurt, to make him feel something under that cool veneer of perfection.
"For all I know you trapped me here because you're lonely, and since I'm the first sad sack who discovered the mirror after it left the palace now you wanted to lure me here, to imprison me here with you, to have me as your-- your personal plaything!"
Now Aaravos recoiled as if he had been struck, his voice going low and dangerous.
"Is that what you think. Well then. Far be it from me to disabuse you of that notion."
The elf mage's words were clipped as he went to fetch his traveling cloak and put it on, tucking the hood over his horns.
"Nevermind the fact that we shook on a student-teacher relationship and I have hardly touched you since you arrived, and have been far more forgiving than your terrible attitude warrants, but-- if you wish to be left alone, if my presence is so offensive to you, then I will leave."
"Fine, leave, see if I care," Viren said, his tone flippant as he was glad he'd made Aaravos mad.
At least now they were even.
Titania hissed at him, but he ignored the cat and stared resolutely out the window. A minute later he whirled around to deliver another scathing remark, but found Aaravos had disappeared without a sound.
"...Bastard," Viren muttered, trying not to pay attention to the worry that had taken hold in his gut at the realization he was alone except for a cat that hated him.
He stood in front of the window for some time, watching the night sky. Aaravos did not return. Viren's exhaustion won out and he went to sleep on the couch, waking when the dawn came streaming in... and Aaravos wasn't anywhere to be found, even in the alcove that Viren had now confirmed was a small bedroom filled by a large low bed.
That day he puttered around the house, stiff from the spellcasting the night before, reading from a few books while snacking on produce and taking long naps on the couch in between reading sessions. Some of the books were in Elvish and he could not read them, but a surprising number were also in the common tongue of Katolis and the four kingdoms as well. Books on Elven history and battles, books on magical plants and animals and familiars, books on transfiguration and alchemy... there was enough knowledge here to last Viren a lifetime.
He was too fascinated by the books to be concerned, at first. But on the third morning after Aaravos had left Viren tore himself away from his latest read after lunch and began to truly worry that he was now going to be alone here forever.
That Aaravos would never come back.
Viren started to patrol the beach, watching for any sign of the elf mage. After two days of that with nothing to show for it but a terrific sunburn, he began to wonder if Aaravos had gone into the ocean. He was powerful enough to do that, but how long could he sustain it? Forever...? Or at least 'forever' to a human lifetime? Viren had no clue.
He was getting sick of eating nothing but produce by this point, even cooked over the fire with the seasonings he'd dug out of Aaravos's cupboards. So he decided to fish, on the sixth day since Aaravos had left. He had made himself a spear from a fallen tree limb and a knife he'd found in Aaravos's house, that also doubled as a reliable walking stick.
He didn't catch anything that day and was in a terrible mood returning to the house alone; Titania had vacated the premises just a few hours after Aaravos had, but Viren saw the cat on the island still, watching him from far away. He was convinced that Titania was reporting on him to Aaravos, but he didn't care enough to ask them and find out.
On the seventh day, in the morning, Viren caught a fat little fish and set up a tiny spit over a tinier fire to roast it; it was fortunate he knew how to light a fire and descale a fish without magic.
That fish was the best thing he'd ever eaten, and that day he could think of little else but being so proud of himself for catching and cooking his own food without any magic. But he did spare a thought to what Aaravos said about being grateful, and so he let the tide carry away the fish bones as he said thank you for the nourishment the fish provided his body.
He had been checking the mirror too, every day, hoping to see his daughter or son or another familiar face. No such luck.
Each time he had checked it by pulling the cloth off-- while cloaked in total darkness, so that no one on the other side would be able to see him-- it was just guards, who had now found the mirror and were watching it to see if they could learn anything. He would see them gesture to the runes, talking to one another, but no one seemed to understand what it meant and he could not hear their conversations.
As he watched them, he couldn't help feeling begrudgingly grateful that Aaravos had assisted him in leaving those runes-- he wouldn't be able to do so now without being seen. They were guarding the mirror at all hours, as if Viren were likely to burst out of it at any moment.
If only it were that easy, Viren thought to himself as he covered the mirror and re-lit the fire and candles in the room.
And still, Aaravos did not return.
Viren began to tend the garden in ways that wasn't just harvesting, pruning the dead leaves off the plants and clearing away half-eaten overripe produce the bugs had gotten to; he chopped some firewood and stacked it by the fireplace to replace what he had used so far, and even did some dusting & odd cleaning around the house. He did not know what Titania ate, but they seemed fine on their own and still hadn't come back to the house.
He was a little worried, though -- the rain reservoir on the roof was getting low.
He hadn't even been showering every day in an attempt to conserve it, but he wasn't sure what he would do when it ran out. The only way he knew how to conjure water was to use the Dark Magic he had been taught by apparently misguided humans, and considering how powerful Aaravos was on this island and how connected he seemed to be to it, Viren was half-convinced now that if he used his 'inappropriate' magic that the island would tumble into the sea, or something. He wasn't about to risk it.
Then on the ninth day since Aaravos had left, a storm was brewing on the horizon. Dark clouds were rolling into a giant mass that covered the entire Western view from the island.
At first, Viren was overjoyed - this would mean rain!
But then he realized just how small this island was, and he began to get nervous. What if the waves crashed up over the house? He was utterly defenseless, here-- even if he had been collecting his usual ingredients for Dark Magic spells, he didn't think he could hold back an entire ocean single-handedly.
Just in case, he drew sigils of protection on the ground all around the house.
In the afternoon, the thick grey clouds had moved so that they were over the island completely, shrouding it in an early darkness. Viren sat on the crest of a small hill near the beach, watching the shoreline, feeling the wind whipping around stronger and stronger. Apples and pine cones fell off the trees; tomatoes rolled along the ground after being plucked from the vines by the force of the gusts.
Finally, it began to rain.
At first it was steady but gentle, and Viren laughed with relief. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all!
He'd brought a cup from inside, and now held it up and let it slowly fill with rain water. He was soaking wet after just a few minutes, but luckily he'd had the forethought to leave his overcloak inside and was now just in his undertunic and breeches. He drank from the cup and let it fill again, thanking the Universe for the rain and the fresh water. He felt so alive.
But when the first fork of lightning split the sky, Viren's smile vanished. So this wasn't just rain, then... he stood, watching the storm grow closer. The whole island vibrated with each rumble of thunder. Quickly, he drank the water that had refilled in his cup and then stood, stumbling on the slippery muddy ground back to the house.
"Titania?" he called, into the now-sheeting rain.
"Titania! Are you still outside?"
He could hear nothing but the water rushing around him. He couldn't see more than about twenty feet in front of him, the rain was so thick. The rain reservoir was already overflowing, and Viren finally retreated inside.
"Titania...?"
He was dripping everywhere as he grabbed up the blanket from the sofa to dry himself. There was plenty of dry wood stockpiled and he got a fire going, shivering.
Titania was nowhere to be found inside: he checked the entire place. Now he was worried. How would a small, fluffy cat fare in this intense storm? A sudden thunderclap following bright lightning made him jolt in surprise. What was the tallest point on this island, he wondered? One of the trees? He hoped Titania wasn't in one.
He sorely wished he could use his "rainproofing" spell that he had been so fond of using in Katolis, but even if he'd wanted to, he had neither the ingredients nor the time to acquire them now. So as soon as his shivering stopped he stripped out of his wet clothes, hanging them to dry in front of the fireplace after adding another log; then he put on his overcoat and boots and went out again.
The rain was pounding him the second he got outside, so hard it was almost like hail.
"Titania!" he called into the grey afternoon void.
"Where are you...?"
He could barely see the garden, now turning into a swamp with the plants beaten down by the rain; the homemade targets for spell-casting had been blown around by the wind like a child's forgotten toys. The pine trees swayed, creaking as they fought to remain sturdy and upright.
"Titania!" Viren shouted, desperate.
"...AARAVOS...!"
There was another burst of bright lightning, and the thunderclap that followed was so intense he nearly lost his footing. Scrambling up the muddy hill, he could see the ocean was rising on the island; the waves were rolling in larger than they'd ever been since Viren had arrived here, nearly reaching the grove of trees already.
He was out of ideas... Viren found the flattest part of the clearing, near the base of the hill that led back up toward the house, and sat in the downpour facing the beach, pressing his palms into the cold squelching mud.
"I am grateful," he whispered, his words eaten by the wind. But he didn't fully mean it yet, and so he took a slow, deep breath-- trying not to choke on rainwater as he did so-- and tried again.
"I am grateful to be here, alive," he said, feeling his true conviction coming at last as he spoke over another thunderclap, the lightning making him blink rapidly.
"I am grateful that I was granted this opportunity, to humble myself and to renew my knowledge in magic. I am grateful to be alive, rather than executed in Katolis. I am grateful for this rain, bringing life to me and this island. I am sorry, Aaravos, I really am. I didn't mean what I said. I didn't!" he cried, rain streaming down his cheeks; he realized that even if he shed tears now he wouldn't be able to feel them.
"I am grateful for the chance to let go of my anger and become a better person," he continued, louder now, feeling his hands sinking up to their wrists in the mud.
"I am grateful for the chance to get to know an elf, of the race that I once swore I would hate until the day I died. I am grateful that Aaravos was able to practice the summoning spell on Titania first, and I am grateful to have made Titania's acquaintance even if they probably do not feel the same, and with good reason. I just want Titania and Aaravos to be safe!" he shouted into the wind.
"Do you hear me, storm?! Just leave us be! You have blessed us with enough fresh water now, and for that I thank you, your water keeps us alive and for that you are magnificent, please just leave us be..."
The wind howled through the trees, and they groaned as they allowed the wind to bend them. Viren started to do the same, letting the wind pivot him around rather than trying to lean into it. He was out of words, out of ideas, out of... everything. He scarcely felt like himself, any more.
His body was getting very cold, both in the ground and above it. His knee ached. If he didn't get inside soon he could get sick, but he didn't care. It wasn't that he wanted to die... but now he felt rooted to this spot and could not move. He'd been slowly inching down into the ever-softening mud, and if he went much farther he might get stuck due to the cross-legged position he had sat in, but he did not resist.
If he closed his eyes and concentrated, he thought he could feel a faint pulsing from the earth below him, channeling into and through him. Viren kept breathing deep, only opening one eye every few minutes to check for any sign of Aaravos or Titania.
And then, his stomach wrenched as he saw a wave break upon the crest of the cliff on the far side of the clearing.
He hadn't been able to see it until now, sitting on the ground, but the ocean had overtaken the entire beach where he'd been fishing just a couple days before... and was on its way to devour the very ground he was half-stuck in. And yet, he still found that he could not bring himself to try and get up.
"Is this how it ends?" he whispered, looking up at the sky and blinking rain out of his eyes.
"Am I going to die for my sins here, rather than back home? ...At least I got to leave a message for Claudia and Soren," he added, swallowing the rain that had gotten in his mouth while he spoke.
"And for that if nothing else, Aaravos, I will be grateful to you until my dying breath."
The clearing was where Titania found him at last, having heard his shouts and cries into the wind but not knowing which direction they were coming from at first.
Viren.
The musical voice in his mind filled him with such relief that he almost sobbed.
"Titania! You're alive!"
Of course I am. It's just a storm, the cat said, cocking their wet head at Viren quizzically.
Why are you outside? You'll catch a cold in this downpour for certain.
"I'm waiting for Aaravos," Viren said stoically, and Titania laughed in his mind.
Well be prepared to wait a long time, then... you really upset him. He wouldn't even speak to me about it.
"I know I messed everything up, Titania," Viren admitted, feeling wretched. "He has been nothing but patient with me and I keep letting my anger get the best of me."
You are human. It's expected for you to have a short temper. Aaravos on the other hand has a very short temper for an elf of his age. It's part of the reason he had so few on his side at the banishment trial despite many more claiming to agree with his ideology...ah, but you didn't hear that from me.
Viren didn't know what to say to that, so he looked back at the waves crashing on the hill.
"Is the ocean going to cover this whole clearing...?"
Maybe. You should get out of here, human. This is a pretty bad storm, probably the worst I've seen, Titania answered.
...Would you like me to ask Aaravos to return? I can communicate with him telepathically from anywhere on this planet. From... anywhere anywhere, really, they added with a bit of amusement.
"I..."
Viren wasn't sure. His eyes were starting to burn from being so wet. As if he had been crying this entire time, but he hadn't. Or had he? It didn't matter any more.
"Can you just... tell him that I'm sorry? That-- that I really want to start over. I promise. No more arguments. I want to learn."
Titania made no reply, but bounded away into the rain.
"Hey! Titania!"
Viren called after them, but the cat was long gone now. And Viren was still sitting in the mud, now past his wrists and ankles.
But even now he felt that it was somehow more important to sit here and try and connect with the elements around him, rather than hide from them in an artificial shelter. If Aaravos didn't reach him in time... well. Viren would understand.
The rain wasn't even cold on him any more. It felt almost warm... like a blanket.
Viren shivered, and smiled, and bowed his head.
--
Somewhere in the depths of the ocean, in a cave below the coral reefs... Aaravos had been dreaming.
So rarely did the elf dream down in the ocean nowadays that it had become a safe, comforting way to escape the current reality-- that he had invited someone to invade his space that had no respect for him whatsoever and who was a violent, selfish, undeserving little monster!
It was easier to dream, and just let this whole Viren problem sort itself out.
It was easier to dream, than to remember Elarion and the devotion she had had for Aaravos, ages ago, how her frustrations at first-- and her fire-- had mirrored Viren's. How when she had been taken to trial by the other humans after Aaravos's banishment, she had chosen death rather than to give up the magic he had taught her. Sol Regem himself had delivered the news through the mirror, relishing how Aaravos had wept.
It was easier to dream, than to consider just how willing he was to pursue a relationship that was more than student-teacher with Viren, and if that fact made Viren's accusation true-- whether or not Viren had actually meant it.
It was easier to dream, to sleep, to forget.
Until Titania bothered him, edging into his mind-space with their musical voice.
Hey uh... Aaravos? Viren needs you. My words, not his. All he wanted me to tell you was that he's sorry and shit, but, he's sitting outside in the storm looking completely pathetic, Aaravos...
Aaravos thought about rolling his eyes, but didn't do it. He was that exhausted with even the thought of interacting with Viren again after what he thought had been scant minutes of solace.
What do you mean, a storm? I have only been asleep a few minutes...
Try nine days, Titania sighed.
You can't leave Viren alone as long as you do your trees and flowers, Aaravos.
Whatever. I warned him not to speak so disrespectfully to me again. I am sure he will be fine.
Oh, are you Aaravos? Are you sure?
Titania...
But now there was just silence.
Titania?
Still nothing. Minutes stretched, the cat's final words ringing in his ears.
Are you sure?
And that was when Aaravos knew Titania was being serious. They never ended an important conversation with meaningless goodbyes to dampen what was being said.
Nine days...? Had he been out that long already? It had felt like the blink of an eye. Viren forcing him to live in every moment with constant arguments and bickering was exhausting.
But Titania was right, of course. Aaravos wasn't sure if Viren was all right or not, and now he felt a stab of guilt for even considering not heeding Titania's call. If they were getting involved, this wasn't trivial or purely at Viren's request. Titania said Viren needed him. What did that mean?
He had to go back.
--
This is it, Viren thought, as the water was now up to his navel.
Titania had been gone two hours and didn't seem to be coming back. His bad knee was throbbing in pain, and his survival instinct was kicking in... he didn't want to die here.
I have to call it now, pride be damned.
And he tried to get up... and found that he almost couldn't. He pulled one hand free, but the other wouldn't budge, and when he tried to uncross his legs it hurt. Then with a jacknife of panic through his system, he realized his legs had gone numb and now were coming back from the sudden strain of trying to move.
The pins and needles sensation made him cry out, and he floundered in the water, choking as his one hand was still stuck. He couldn't kneel on the mud he'd just escaped from because it was all stirred up in the water, and his other hand was too weak to pull it out... but with a desperate lunge he squelched free, and a giddy laugh bubbled out of him before he could stop it.
"Thank you!" he cried, to nothing in particular.
Then he stumbled back to the house as fast as his still-pins-and-needles legs would allow.
But he was going too fast... and between one footfall and the next he slipped on a muddy rock in the grass and fell badly, screaming in shock and pain. His ankle felt like it was on fire.
"Hahhh... oh no..."
Viren cried out in pain again as he struggled back to his feet, staggering back to the house on adrenaline and collapsing as soon as he was inside. He was pale and shaking, crawling to the floor in front of the fireplace making pained noises.
What happened to you? Titania asked from where they sat by the fire.
"T-tripped... in the mud... think my ankle's broken," Viren gasped between pain flares, stretching out next to the fire and panting heavily from the exertion. "Legs... gah... went numb and when I got up I-- went too fast..."
Ah, humans. Always disrespecting your own body's limits. When will you learn? Though they wouldn't admit it, Titania was relieved to see Viren alive, and mostly whole.
Viren decided to just not answer that, and instead curled up into a fetal position and closed his eyes.
"Let me knowwwh ouch... when I need to put another log on... please. Thank you."
...Right.
Titania flicked their tail, and watched as Viren tried to fall asleep, but was shivering far too much from cold and pain to do so. He gave up and stripped off his clothes again, leaving them in a heap by the fire and half-crawling, half-limping to the bedroom to find another blanket-- the other one was still wet from earlier.
But when he got into the bedroom the bed just looked so comfortable , and the noise of the rain was quieter in here, and Viren was so tired.
So it was in his own bed that Aaravos found Viren, when he returned a few hours later after the worst of the storm had passed.
The Startouch elf leaned against the doorframe and watched the human mage snore. Titania came to brush up against his legs.
Welcome back.
"Thank you, Titania," Aaravos murmured in reply.
He went over and inspected Viren, noticing that the man was quite muddy and that there was mud all over the bedsheets and pillows. Sighing in irritation, he was about to leave the room when Titania's gaze caught him.
You're not even going to check to see if he's hurt or sick, after I said he needed you? Damn, Aaravos, when did you get so heartless? I thought you liked humans. He's been out in the rain for hours today, you know that's bad for them.
"I do know that, Titania," Aaravos sighed, but said nothing further as he sat on the edge of the bed and held his hands over Viren's body, taking a deep breath.
Connecting with the energy fields, he 'scanned' Viren's body, and discovered a throbbing pain on the man's ankle. It was broken, and Aaravos murmured an incantation to fix it. Viren made a small noise of pain as his bones and ligaments knit back together, but was still asleep.
Then, noticing that the human mage was pale and still shivering in his sleep, Aaravos signed two runes. One of warmth, and one of health. He pressed his fingertips to Viren's shoulder, then just above the man's heart. At last Viren's body relaxed fully, and he sighed as he fell into a deeper sleep. One more incantation, to clean the bed of mud and damp, then Aaravos retreated into the main room to put another log on the fire before collapsing into his chair.
Titania jumped up onto the desk in front of him.
What's gotten into you, Aaravos? You're acting like you want to be rid of him after only a day of having to deal with him. Didn't you know what you were getting into, here?
"...No." Aaravos's reply was muffled, head in his hands.
"No, I do not think I did. I should have considered it longer. I think I made a mistake bringing him here, Titania."
...I didn't tell you all of what he asked me to tell you, before. That he's sorry, and he wants to learn, without more arguments. You need to lead him by example, Aaravos... if you keep stooping to his level and lashing out petulantly every time he gets your goat, you're both going to keep repeating this bickering until the end of time. And I will not be staying here long if that is the case.
"..." Aaravos sighed, nodding.
"You are right of course, Titania."
He gave the cat a fond smile, reaching up to gently rub the back of their ears.
"I don't know how you manage to suffer me in your infinite wisdom, but I appreciate you for living here with me, friend."
Flatterer. Ugh, I need to go be alone for a while, you two are making me like drama again.
Titania stalked away but their tail was high in the air, indicating happiness and pride.
Aaravos chuckled to himself while watching Titania depart. He knew they would be all right, even in the still-going rain. The worst of the storm had passed, though this had certainly been a bad one.
The Startouch elf's heart had sank seeing many of the trees he'd grown from seeds now broken and burnt from getting struck by lightning, and the sodden swamp of the garden near the house. Perhaps Aaravos would have to expand the island a little and redo some of the terraforming for better drainage, before next year's storm season came around.
Tomorrow he would heal the struck trees from further damage and rot, and start a few new ones as saplings in the place of those that were dying when struck and were now dead.
But tonight, he had to restore his energy from traveling to the ocean and healing Viren, and give thanks for being able to access the energies needed to do so.
Tomorrow he and Viren would talk.