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Predicting a being who always held more cards in his hand than she did was difficult. She'd resigned herself to searching for Aaravos, alone, figuring her best shot was going to Katolis Castle and cutting through whatever and whoever she had to.
His voice surprised her, a voice she could hear when some part of her mind seemed to buzz, a voice that she'd gotten used to only catching whispers of in her ear. Now, it spoke in her mind directly.
I'll come to you. Wait for me.
She stopped in the middle of the forest path she'd been taking west. "What?" she asked aloud. Aaravos had never been one to respond to her when she wanted, much to her fury. She spun around, as if he was really there, still not used to her makeshift new leg, stumbling slightly. "Aaravos, come on! I don't- I don't know what else to do!"
Of course he wasn't there.
Because no one was, nor would they be. Not anymore.
Claudia halted for the day, making camp early, wondering if there was anything to his command for her to wait.
When she next heard his voice, it shot chills down her spine.
Claudia, Claudia,
She bolted up in her bedroll, gasping for breath. Unlike before, when he spoke into her mind, his voice seemed to echo physically around her, cushioned by the canopy of leaves above her.
A figure stood behind the last smoldering embers of her campfire. Tall, silhouette outlined by the moon, every angle from the hem of his robes to the curves of his horns elegant against the sky behind him. His skin glistened with constellations from somewhere far away, but the brightest spots were under his eyes. Even his eyes seemed to glow.
Those eyes glinted for just a moment as Aaravos took her in, expression softening as he knelt. He reached out, the scene still like a dream to her, fingertips resting on her jaw, thumb wiping away a tear she hadn't known had shed in her sleep.
"I'm here."
It was still as though his voice enveloped them both, deep and reassuring, just a hint of breathlessness to it as though he couldn't believe it either, a crack in the mask. She meant something to him- she was the first person he wanted to see.
She was first, to someone.
Claudia stumbled out of her sleeping bag and into his arms without thinking. "He's gone," she said, rambling and trying to catch her breath. "And Terry, he didn't understand- I know he'd leave too and so I had to go first, and- I just-"
"I know." He radiated patience, understanding without condescending. Aaravos returned her embrace, after a moment of hesitation. Perhaps she should have waited, given him time, how long had it been since he'd touched anyone? She almost pulled back but he held her closer, finally not just his voice but his breath and warmth also in her ear. "I never break a promise, Claudia."
Aaravos pulled back enough to look in her eyes, caring smile placating her worries. "I know what true loyalty means, what a gift you are to me." Claudia sniffled, torn between wanting to sob over how the past week had been or trying to be strong, to prove she was powerful enough, to earn what had always been impossible to earn, but there was no need for any of it.
"You have never failed in tests of love," he said, as if he knew what she wanted to hear, what she'd needed to hear all of her life. His lips twitched upwards into a smirk, relishing his own words. "Others failed us, Claudia. We need only give them what's coming to them for it."