Bittersweet

[Vexxus]

You shall never challenge another again. She delivered the final blow, sinking her teeth into the warm flesh of the thick neck.

Vexxus stood, motionless, upon the now still, silent form of the beast. She appeared now as something that resembled a dire wolf, but soon shifted back into her human-like body. Something stirred inside her, but she did not know what. Her eyes blazed a new, darker blue, and her hair now hung down from her shoulders, with the top half pulled back. She still carried herself with the same ethereal grace, but there was a new hostility about her.

She had learned all there was to learn from life, and needed no reassurance. Now all that was left was to live it. To rule the world while it was unaware of it's master behind the scenes.

Vexxus now took pleasure in proving her strength, but never killed anything that had a conscience unless it was truly an evil soul. She waited by the large creature, for some beast to discover it. Whenever she took down something, she always knew that it would be consumed, but liked to see that her efforts were indeed enjoyed.

She climbed down, and sat at the base of a nearby tree.

[deraj]

Vexxus had gone off to explore and left Deraj to his books. He had journeyed looking for some way to better preserve his body. He could maintain his charms to appear youthful but it wasn’t long before there was no musk strong enough to cover up the stench of his rotting flesh. Luckily his companion did not leave him as he fled into the mountains after hearing of a monastery that was renown for the healing of the .

When they finally arrived after grueling weeks of travel, the brothers all fled in fear of "the abomination and it’s dragon slave". Deraj regretted their departure but he should have expected it. Luckily, he was able to access their vast library. He had spent over a month in near solid study. Without the need of sleep or food, this was easy enough to accomplish.

He was finally torn from his studies by the howling of a wolf. He smiled, got up from his desk, and walked to the only window of the high tower chamber.

[Vexxus]

Indeed, a pack of wolves that Vexxus had seen once before had found the fresh corpse, and began to devour it eagerly.

She got up, and walked in towards them. There was one specific wolf that she was somewhat acquainted with; a white one, that had piercing silver eyes. She looked for this wolf.

Soon, she found it. She waited patiently for it to finish eating, and notice her. When it did so, it's unyielding gaze held hers, as she approached, and crouched.
You're more than you seem, aren't you...
She sensed something about the wolf, and thought perhaps it was a light deity bound in an animal's form. Such a specimen would indeed be an advantageous new shadow form; but Vexxus hadn't the heart to steal the soul of such a beautiful animal.

The two held each other's gaze, and even as Vexxus reached out, the wolf was not intimidated, and did not so much as flinch. She stroked the thick fur on it's neck.

The other wolves had begun to drag pieces of the corpse off, and the white wolf went to do the same. Vexxus stood, and watched. I have a feeling I'll see you again. Until then...
She turned and gazed through the trees at the five towering spires. Such a shame that this magnificent architecture is out here where hardly any can appreciate it...Then again, perhaps that is why it is out here. Less to harm it...

She had left Deraj to study the books; as she had no need of healing practices. A shrieking crow had brought her attention to one of the many beasts that inhabited the woods. When she approached it, had it been cautious and not hostile, she might have let it alone. Vexxus had little patience for those that threatened her; and had already faced many creatures of the like while tracking Deraj.

Now, as she headed back to the monastery; she thought she saw Deraj in one of the spire windows.

[deraj]

Deraj quickly spotted the pack of wolves on the distant slope. They were feasting on some freshly slain, unnamed beast. It was too far-gone for Deraj to discern what specie it had been but he didn’t exactly care one way or the other. He could tell it had been the work of his companion. He had journeyed alongside her long enough to not the subtleties to her kills.

It was then that he spied a white wolf that stood apart from the rest of its pack. Even from this far away, the silvery eyes reflected the sunlight brilliantly. It was obviously the leader of this pack but it stood back near the edge of the clearing. He could feel that there was something sacred and all too familiar about its presence. How interesting, thought Deraj.

Then he noticed her slight but powerful form emerge from the shadows of the forest. She had took interest in the same that had piqued his own. The two appeared to take note of one another in mutual respect. An increasingly rare sight in this day and age. Deraj gave a little smile and nodded in approval.

Vexxus eventually drew away from the wolf. However before she disappeared under the canopy of the dark forest, she cast one look upward at the high tower in which he stood. She continued out of his view and he turned from the window to continue his work.

He looked about the messy chamber in dismay. Massive books were stacked about the room. Illuminated pages were scattered about the few plain but sturdy tables. The sun had begun to sing against the distant hills. Deraj let out a sigh, looked up to the crude chandelier and with a reluctant wave of his hand, it was lit.

They had already spent so much time here and his work thus far was all for naught. He had poured over these dusty tomes for days on end and nothing came close to restoring his body to its former glory. He had managed to find books that were so hidden away by dust; he doubted the oldest of the monks that were here before their arrival had known of their existence.

A warm breeze flew in the lone window and brought with it the sweet smell of honeysuckle. Deraj relaxed and basked in its life. The sweet smell of late spring brought back memories of his distant childhood then sadness as the pages before him fluttered about as if to remind him of his present needs. His sadness gave way to frustration and finally to rage. He let out primal scream and threw his arms outward and away from his body. Pages burst into flame and irreplaceable books were ripped asunder in dark whirlwind. In the wake of the chaos, nothing in the room seemed to have been spared. All was ash and ruin.

Then a single page, that had managed to escape the full fury of the raging inferno of darkness, drifted down form the ceiling. Deraj thrust his hand out to catch it and snuffed the embers at the edges that threatened to consume this lone document. Deraj noted the thickness and texture of the page even as it fell. It was not mere parchment. It was a page of skin. Human skin! Upon the document was scrawled words in the reddish brown of dried blood. As ancient and terrible as it was, Deraj instantly recognized the greater document from the single page. Why didn’t I think to look for this book sooner? I did not expect to find this unholy text or even record of it in a monastery and yet here stands a page, still warm as if freshly cut from a living victim. The rest of the book was in all likelihood destroyed by my carelessness if it was even here in its entirety to begin with, but this page alone possesses enough...

[Vexxus]

Vexxus reached the monastery, entered the seemingly lifeless hallway, and took her time marveling at the magnificent stonework. She was just mounting the bottom of the staircase to the tower she knew Deraj was at work in, when she heard his frustration expressed in a cry that shook Vexxus' very soul.

She hurried to the door, seeing the last of flames and ashes settle to the charred floor, whilst a page fluttered down and was caught up by Deraj's quick grasp. Death is indeed quick. She thought, musing.

She approached him with no caution, for she knew that she had nothing to fear. Even though he could not feel; there was some self-comfort for Vexxus in at least attempting to comfort him. She reached an arm across the middle of his back, and spoke softly.

"What troubles you so?-" She saw the ink and paper of human sacrifice. "...Is this....what you were looking for?" She looked at him, questioningly. Her iridescent eyes full of both sympathy for her frustrated companion; as well as hunger for adventure and challenge.

Something in Vexxus had changed. She had grown tired of waiting for things to happen, and instead decided to live rather recklessly; at least in comparison to her previous demeanor. For once in her life, she wasn't bound by fear or regret. Nothing to lose; and constantly looking for something worthy of gaining.

[deraj]

In an extremely uncharacteristic manner, he did not move or even openly acknowledge her approach. Deraj knew that Vexxus was there but he was too absorbed in implications of this newfound revelation. She might as well have been trying to comfort a statue.

This is an option, perhaps my last option… but I can’t put Vexxus at risk for my own vainglory. I’m bound to this world for all time; isn’t that enough? There has to be another way.

Then her pleasing voice broke his reflection. He put his free arm about the small of her back and smiled at her. This did not hide the despair and abject misery that gripped him then. He would not put her at such horrible risk. Alienated from the rest of humanity, he did not want to think too far into the future.

He realized that he might have revealed a little too much in that moment so he consciously masked his emotions, ever sovereign over his own person. He sighed and gave a half chuckle, ”Whether penned by a mad prophet or blessed saint, this still is nothing but a horrible faerie tale from a time that the world would do well to forget.” In a manner that was perhaps a little too casual as to appear natural, he let the page drift to the ground. “How about yourself? Find anything interesting on your evening stroll? Any sign of our monastic hosts?”

[Vexxus]

Vexxus saw a menagerie of expressions flash across Deraj's face, all of them too fleeting to read before the next came. She was a bit confused at this, so she listened closely when he spoke.

”Whether penned by a mad prophet or blessed saint, this still is nothing but a horrible faerie tale from a time that the world would do well to forget.”

He let it fall to the ground. Vexxus knew something wasn't quite right, but he continued before she could speak. “How about yourself? Find anything interesting on your evening stroll? Any sign of our monastic hosts?”

He did not seem avoidant, but she could tell he was definitely working over something in his mind. His eyes held her gaze steadily.
"No....just an overly confident aggressive beast; that was soon made into a well-deserved meal for a pack of wolves." She smiled faintly, but it was mostly a mask as she tried to read him. There's something he's not telling me....or....no, I'm just thinking irrationally. She smiled a bit more.

"So, my breathless cadaver, what room shall you burn next?" Her voice was again filled with mischief, as she raised an eyebrow.

[deraj]

"So, my breathless cadaver, what room shall you burn next?"

He laughed at her comment and smiled at the hint of intimacy associated with it. He offered her his arm and as they walked out of the tower chamber he replied, “Well there’s always the chapel.”

[Vexxus]

They exited the tower; returning to the Great Hall; where all of the rooms and other ways of getting to other rooms were accessible from.

"You know; I have a feeling we're not looking for something that we're going to find by looking where everything else is." Vexxus began, "If I were someone trying to hide the secret of immortal death, I would hide it here," She walked away from him, to the center of the hall, and at the markings on the ceiling, mentally following all of the lines that came down and ended at each of the doorways. "But I would hide it, where no one would look for it. Of course, there is already a lot of information here on healing; but all of it is temporary and essentially the literature itself is a distraction from what we're looking for." She looked at Deraj; to see if he knew what she meant.

If there's anything in here on maintaining a mortal body while immortalized by death; it's not going to be easy to find....

[deraj]

As she seemed to dance around the idea, Deraj felt foolish for not thinking of it first. Perhaps she did this as not to be insulting. He nodded as if to agree with her conclusion though.

“It only makes sense to hide such knowledge. No well-respected monk would even claim knowledge of such forbidden arts. Even if this particular order was opened minded to such things, why clutter up the libraries with such texts at the risk being found out by ignorant outsiders or simply take up room better suited for books on the healing of the living. What is it they say? ‘Let the dead bury the dead?’”

Perhaps that was but one page that escaped destruction and the rest could remain whole! There might still be a way to become whole without such an innocent sacrifice. How I long to be able to walk among my kind once more without the shrieking of children… but I refuse to do it at the risk of Vexxus. I won’t let anyone pay for my sins, especially her.

He laughed with glee. “I can’t believe I haven’t thought of looking in the catacombs yet. What better place to practice such things!”

As he looked about the room, trying to remember which door led to the underworks, a thought came to him. “I hope no one comes to call while we are here. A lusty adventurer is the last thing we need but the infirmed seeking solace and succor…” He let the last portion his thought go unspoken as he wandered about the great hall.

[Vexxus]

Vexxus watched musingly as he began looking around;she could sense the gears turning in his head almost visibly. “I hope no one comes to call while we are here. A lusty adventurer is the last thing we need but the infirmed seeking solace and succor…”

I never imagined that a lifeless person could care as much as he does...He never stops thinking about others and how they are affected, even though at first he seems self-seeking... She let her emotions show, because she knew he was too busy with his current task to take notice. I do hope he somehow comes to a point where he is content with himself...He always seems to be looking for the next thing...

[deraj]

As he looked about massive room, he came to a large metal door that he had never taken notice of before as it was of the same color as the stone of the rest of the monastery. Above the door words were engraved in an ancient tongue. The inscription read, “Herein rest the dead.”

He confidently thrust the doors open to reveal a mirror where he had expected stairs or a hallway to be. Deraj was about to laugh but then he caught Vexxus reflection in mirror He didn’t know what to make of her expression, as it was somewhere between surprise and profound compassion. Deraj met her gaze in the mirror. Feeling as though he had walked in on a moment that was no intended for him to behold, he did not ask her what prompted such emotions. Instead he half jokingly said said, “I hope our hosts simply had a morbid sense of humor.”

[Vexxus]

Vexxus watched as he pushed the doors open, revealing a mirror. After his eyes met her reflection's, she smiled, and did not attempt to hide her emotions right away, like she usually would have. She knew he had every right to know exactly how she felt; whether she wanted him to at the moment or not.

“I hope our hosts simply had a morbid sense of humor.”

She glanced away for a moment, savoring the growing affection for the companion, then turned back; masked once again.

"Perhaps..." She walked briskly to his side, then set her hand on it lightly. "Mhm...." She gave him a mischievous glance, then plunged her arm in up to the elbow. "Morbid....indeed. Or this is some sort of test." She drew her arm back again. "I have a feeling whatever we're going to find in there....is not going to be what we expect to find. You're sure you want to continue?" She inquired, subtly urging him to accept the challenge.

[deraj]

“You're sure you want to continue?"

Deraj laughed. Ever the gentleman, he did not consider that certain doom may await them on the other side. He confidently bowed at the waist, swept his hand across his body and with a playful but false formality, said, “After you m’ lady."

[Vexxus]

“After you m’ lady."

She smiled widely and plunged into the metallic material. It felt cold and yet soft at the same time; like falling into liquid silk. And indeed, she was falling. Ah....I remember this... And down she fell, and hit the floor. She was in a great chamber; lit with candles, and she could feel the presence of magic all around. Deraj came shortly behind her; and she waited for him to gain his bearings; as he would find it somewhat of a shock to find that gravity was different, physics were odd, and everything looked somewhat blurry.

Vexxus had been in mirrors a few times; and already knew what to expect.

"I probably should have warned you..." She helped him up. "It's kind of nauseating, but you'll get used to it. This is what the best of the best ancient mages do to keep their secrets. The mirror-like state will keep the place from aging, as well as the fact that nothing can be removed except for what's transferred into here." She gestured to his forehead.