[Denvali Road] Blood-Gray Day [Veldrys]

[Talen Stirling]

Talen almost sighed loudly, but instead shifted his weight and stood rigidly, answering the symenestra a little forced. "That'll be fine.. Veldrys." There was a hint of a snap to the way Talen said the name. Probably because Veldrys had not cared to ask his name, and because it was so Symenestran. Created to lure people to their deaths. Time passed. Talen felt like pacing, like sitting down or at least doing something but the fact that someone was present on his solemn watch whom he didn't even speak to made him uncomfortable. He stole glances at Veldrys' robed figure, and felt distaste of what he saw as always. His handsome, borderline pretty features and frail appearance made Talen's sword-arm itch, even though he knew it was wrong. It was only in the back of his mind, he would never act on it but he still felt the anger and the dislike burn within him. The hour passed slowly for Talen in his impatience, perhaps less so for Veldrys perhaps not. However, as always it did. Another guard came up to him, and he left his post with a wave at the newcomer and walked over to Veldrys rolling his shoulders once to free his stiff muscles. The shield on his back was heavy to stand with for long periods of time. "We can go now, you ready? I don't know if you've been to The Road before but it's quite a ways off." He waited only a moment for Veldrys to get up before he lead the way at a reasonable pace. He was still edgy from yesternight, and because of the person walking behind him.

[Veldrys]

Veldrys‘ face was nearly expressionless as he stood there, waiting. He didn’t cast more than a handful of glances at the human. He didn’t make his dislike for the guard obvious. He didn’t look bored. The Symenestra seemed to be perfectly content, just sitting there and looking at the sky above Denval, as if it was the most interesting thing in all of Mizahar. He only began to move again as the second guard approached. A brief, polite smile flickered across the Symenestra’s face, and he inclined his head in a greeting to the man, and then he stood up and approached Talen. „Of course I’m ready“, he replied. Talen’s question didn’t make a lot of sense to him. He hadn’t done anything in the past hour. „Why shouldn’t I be? And no, I’ve never been to the Road. I don’t care of it’s far. I’m used to walking for a long time.“ Talen needn’t worry. Veldrys didn’t attempt to poison him, attack him or force him to say where his female relatives were so that he could rape them and force them to bear his bastards. The Symenestra was perfectly content to follow him wherever he was going.

[Talen Stirling]

The strenuous silence felt almost tangible as they walked, and Talen slowly started up a brisk pace because of the tension. The Road was long, and the company dreadful. If Talen's mood had been dark earlier, it was no less so now, although there was a sliver of hope in him now slipping through the clouds of his anger. Still, even when time passed slowly it continued onwards with Talen and Veldrys until they came upon their destination. The grey clouds gathered slowly, and the air grew heavy with the threat of rain as they neared the blood writing. Talen pointed and spoke his first words in a long time, his voice a little dry. "That's it. What'd you make of it?" The dry blood looked less eerie than it had in the darkness, it was mostly faded and had lost all colour. The writing however, was as ominous as always.

[Veldrys]

Veldrys didn’t mind the long walk – on the contrary, he enjoyed walking, often for hours – but he found the company likewise fairly dreadful. The young guard didn’t talk at all. Was Talen ignoring him on purpose? Did he have a problem? The Symenestra considered his behaviour impolite. Why didn’t he at least tell him a bit more about what had happened in Denval and spend the time it took them to get to their destination in a useful way? He breathed a sigh of relief as they were finally there. It seemed as if it was going to rain soon judging by the grey clouds he could see in the sky, and thus he needed to be fast. The rain would likely wash the blood away. „I don’t know“, he murmurred as Talen asked him what he made of it and knelt down in front of the writing. The blood was already dry, of course. As far as he knew, his gnosis only worked on fresh blood, on blood that came straight out of the body. Still, he needed to at least give it a try. He carefully let a finger run across it and then lifted it to his lips. Nothing. He rose again and turned to Talen. „The blood’s too old“, he murmurred, unaware of what kind of effect his trying to taste blood might have on the human. „It doesn’t tell me anything. My gift doesn’t work. So unless one of your people managed to bottle a bit of blood while it was still fresh ...“

[Talen Stirling]

As Veldrys leaned down to investigate, Talen looked around briefly recollecting the events of the night a few days ago. Everything seemed strangely different in daylight, as if the place was not at all the same as it had been. Like giants had come and remodeled the rocks, and magic had changed the sounds and the colours of it into something much less conspicuous whiping away the darkness that had been there. He looked back at the Symenestra and murmurred a low curse as he proclaimed he did not find anything. The fact that the Symenestra looked creepy as a ghost drinking blood didn't escape Talen, but the action in itself was not disturbing to a Denvali used to hearing prayers to the blood god. "No... We didn't think of it. It was probably even pretty dry then." He felt defeated. He should've known that his hope of finding something was non-existant, but perhaps with luck or effort they could actually have done something. Now it was impossible because of his own negligence back then. Or was it? He eyed the Symenestra curiously, calculatively, and put his idea to words. "The thing was up on top of the cliffs though... Isn't your kin good at climbing? Perhaps you can get up there, or I can give you a boost? There might be tracks, or some shred of evidence.. With abit of luck." And a great deal of optimism and hope, he couldn't help but think. Even if it was no use it was still worth checking out. Would the Symenestran even agree to trying, though?

[Veldrys]

„That’s unfortunate“, Veldrys murmurred as Talen told him that they hadn’t thought of saving a bit of blood. „Somebody with a mark from Viratas – me or better yet, the chaplain himself – could have found out everything that had happened. The next time a crime happens in Denval, make sure that your fellow guards are aware of this. It would make a lot of things easier.“ That he looked a little creepy didn’t occur to the Symenestra. To him everything that he did was normal. Humans were the ones that were strange. As Talen asked him if his kind weren’t good at climbing, he nodded curtly. „I should be able to reach the top of the cliff with little effort or danger to my person.“ He raised his head and surveyed the cliffs. They were high, but they didn’t seem to be any worse than the rocks he had climbed regularly to reach the Blue Grotto in Kalinor. „Wait for me here. I’m afraid I can’t take you with me.“

[Talen Stirling]

The Symenestran's correction of his mistake did not pass unnoticed, but all he could answer it with was a dull stare. The words off those pale and crimson lips felt so much more offensive than if they had been spoken by anyone else, but Talen kept his own tongue in check. He still neeeded the Symenestran, and the voice of duty reminded him constantly who he were, and why they were here. He nodded curtly as the creature affirmed he could climb the cliff, but couldn't quite hide a humorous smile when he apoligized for being unable to bring him along. He wouldn't wish to be dragged by those lanky arms, or use some weird spiderweb to find his way to the top anyway. "I'll wait here on the ground, wouldn't really be tempted to get up there anyhow." He looked at the creature curious to see how he would scale the cliff in robes, his eyes seeing only the claws, fangs and eerie pale skin of the Symenestra more than the robes of a priest and eyes of a healer.

[Veldrys]

As Talen told him that he wasn’t really tempted to go up the cliffs anyway, the Symenestra looked at him from out of amethyst eyes for a moment, and then he shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t really care much for the human’s racism, no matter how justified it might be – and there was not a doubt that it was - but he wouldn’t make a comment about it as long as there were more important things to deal with. He still needed Talen.

He considered the cliff again, and then he took his robe off and cast it aside. Talen could see that he was wearing some strange kind of armor underneath. It was black and nearly weightless so that it wouldn’t hinder him when he was climbing. He looked less like a priest now, less like some kind of harmless religious man or a healer and more like something vaguely dangerous.

He jumped, extending microscopic hooks from his skin. To Talen it would nearly seem as if he were flying, as if he were walking across a horizontal surface rather than climbing rocks. It didn’t take particularly long, and then he was already on top of the cliffs looking down at Talen who looked like some kind of tiny, insignificant insect now.

There was nothing there. Maybe there had been something shortly after it had happened, before the guards had come, but he couldn’t see anything now, no hints as to what kind of creature was responsible for this.

The Symenestra stood on the cliff for a moment longer. He was reluctant to climb back down, to bring Talen the bad news. Without a doubt it would only coment the opinion that the human had of him further. But alas, there was no other way back into the city. With a sigh he climbed down again. His armor was a bit dirty, and there was a scratch on one of his hands, but he was otherwise in perfect shape. While a human would likely have risked his life, the Symenestra looked mostly unaffected.

„Nothing“, he told Talen. „That creature might as well never have existed. I’m sorry.“

[Talen Stirling]

Talen’s Fingers tensed, muscles braced and jaws clenched as Veldrys shed his robes to reveal the armoured body of a pale predator. Black leather standing in bright contrast to white skin, the sudden change in the man’s appearance now matched so much more the picture in the native young man’s mind. So this was the enemy. Talen could envision it so easily; cutting, tearing and crushing the pale horror that seemed to embody so many of his most hateful visions and dreams. A tackle, a stab or the blunt force of a shield bash, and so many years of anger and hatred would find a release. It was so eerily simple, to imagine the terrors that he and his kin had done, the screams of those they captured and murdered. The cries of his own father echoed with vengeance deep within his memories. It would be so easy. Talen exhaled deeply, and looked on in a mixture of horror and fascination as the creature jumped up to scale the wall like the spiders he resembled. The moment had passed, the monster was mostly gone and instead the priest of Viratas’ was now trying to scale the walls. In Talen, too, the beast that had awakened had been put to rest. He trembled faintly as he looked up on the figure quickly growing smaller above him, looking so frail and unreal. Like a nightmare scaling a wall. It was terrifying, how easy it might be to let it all break free. Unjustly letting hatred reign over him and turn him into the monster he saw in the other. It was strange, seeing with his own eyes the Symenestra aid him. Strange limbs grabbing onto what appeared as a smooth rock wall, risking his own life for the possibility of answers of which there most likely were none. As Talen brooded, Veldrys made it to the top and the figure pierced far above him seemed imposing. Perhaps he would bring some form of deliverance back down with him? That would be the pinnacle of irony, being saved by his enemy. Talen watched closely as Veldrys’ descended. He saw the scratches, the dirt and the effort made by the Symenestra, but any gratitude or acceptance that might have graced his features with an honest smile were wiped away by the news he carried. "Nothing...? He looked defeated, a hint of anger and disappointment flashed before he lowered his gaze from it's inspection of the Symenestra. Shoulders dropped as he turned around slowly, an almost tangible aura of failure surrounding him. "We should return to the city then.. after you.". He offered the lead to the symenestra without even looking at him, but what emotion he was trying to hide he was no longer certain. It was almost certainly nothing good.

[Veldrys]

„Nothing“, Veldrys repeated and shook his head. Talen could see that the Symenestra, that pale predator looked disappointed, defeated, an expression that didn’t really suit such a foreign looking being with fangs and claws. „Did your people ever search the cliffs? It almost seems as if the murderer anticipated this and removed all traces carefully. I’m worried about Denval, worried that the murderer will come back, that this won’t be the only death.“

He fell silent and retrieved his robe. Since he had just thrown it on the ground before he had climbed the cliffs, it too was covered with dust, but he didn’t care. He didn’t even notice that his precious robe had become slightly dirty. He simply put it back on. That pale predator in his black armor was gone, and the calm, polite follower of Viratas was standing in front of Talen again.

„Let us go back“, he agreed with Talen. There was nothing left to do here. His gaze met Talen’s for a moment. He couldn’t help but wonder what the young man was thinking now. Would he blame him, the Symenestra for their failure? Could somebody else, a more experienced person have found something out? Or had the situation been hopeless from the beginning?

He turned around and began to walk back to the city, but he regularly looked at Talen behind him to see what he was doing. Talen seemed exactly that kind of person that would take his anger out on the first non human being he came across, in that case Veldrys himself. The Symenestra wasn’t even sure if he would be able to blame him if he did.

The mood he was in was too dark.