Chaos on the Plains [Merenwen, Ronan Windsong]

[Merenwen]

Merenwen's head was swimming. She could feel and hear the pounding of her heart all over her aching body. Her face was numb and caked with blood, her hair was a wet, tangled mess spattered with the mud of the earth and blood alike. The burning sensation from the smoke in her throat and lungs throbbed.

She was faintly aware of Matthial's movements as she passed into the void of unconsciousness. Gone from them now, she flashed into a field of tall, golden grass. A tall, dark-headed figure stood against the horizon. She felt little prying claws rip at her chest as she watched him standing motionlessly beside a tall horse.

Indecipherable voices echoed around her, though she couldn't make out which ones were real and which ones were not. From which void did they come? Was life a void now? Was she gone?

Her wavering thoughts eventually subsided as she slid completely into darkness.

[Ronan]

Ronan slumped in relief as Matthial blinked into the chaos. "The boy's fine," he said, "he's waiting at the gully for us." For a moment, the Syliran smiled, and then his eyes closed and he collapsed back, pulling Merenwen with him. She cried out, and then she was gone. Ronan rushed towards them, crouching down to pull them apart. Matthial was still conscious, groaning in pain. Merenwen was out cold. "What happened?" Ronan breathed, grabbing the Kelvic and shaking her with all his might. "Merenwen! Merenwen!" The ground was all mud, squelchy in the rainstorm's wake. This was not a place they want to be downed in. They needed to get going and return to Endrykas for the time being. Ronan's questions would have to wait. His hand plunged into his pouch, from which he procured some of his herbs. He crudely began to tear and mash them in his fingers, forming a lumpy paste. Then he applied it to Merenwen's mouth and nostrils, hoping to stir her from the darkness.

[Matthial]

It was a serious effort for Matthial to stay alert, and the man found himself laying atop an unconscious kelvic. The woman seemed to have reached her limit, and Matthial felt horrible. If he hadn't of dragged the poor girl into this... Shaking his head, Matthial clawed his way out from atop the woman, and cursed the gods as he shakily rose to his feet. His limits had been reached several minutes ago. He was beyond done, but they had to keep moving. So as Ronan administered his herbs, Matthial looked about for his sword.

[Merenwen]

Merewen felt herself faltering, falling. Her body ached, her soul cried, her mind searched. Nothing. There was nothing as she clawed for something, anything, to grip. She had to pull herself out of this blackhole.

Her bloodshot eyes flickered faintly, and as the night air hit them, they watered profusely. Or, was it the pain? She couldn't be for certainly.

Something reached out and clamped it's talons onto her conscious, snatching her back. She fought for freedom as she begged.

I have to go back... I have to go back...

Her arms gripped the mud beneath her, her body tensed. But nothing. She slipped back out again.

[Ronan]

"Gods be damned, we're losing her Matthial!" Ronan shouted. His herbs did nothing. For the shortest of moments, she had seemed ready to burst back to life, but then she had slumped again. Her eyes fluttered, then closed. Her breathing was becoming shallower, slower... He didn't know what to do. The drizzle began to speed up, a heavier rain storm erupting again above the plains. Ronan would have done anything to escape this moment - to just vanish away, and forget everything. But here he was, Merenwen nearly catatonic in his arms, Matthial scrambling to find his sword. The feelings he had had, the warnings he had given... here they were becoming truth. Here, they were becoming hell.

[Matthial]

Matthial turned at Ronan's shout, just as he spotted his weapon. It was harder then it should have been to grasp the hilt. The warrior found his hands were shaking. His leg and shoulder felt as if they where consumed in flame. Breathing heavily, the wanderer moved to his companions while sheathing his sword. Bending down, he placed his hands under the kelvic's shoulder blades and knees. Then, he grunted and heaved the woman up to chest level. The pain was excrutiating, and for a moment he felt as if his knees would buckle, but the young man managed to stay upright as he turned to Ronan with a steely gaze. "We have to leave-" Just then the duo heard shouting, and several faint screams. The guards where beginning to organize. Matthial cast a look to the convulsing mage, and then one to Merenwen. He didn't know how to heal, and Ronan's efforts had been in vain. The simple fact was, the kelvic was on her own. He needed to get her to a healer. "We run friend. We grab the boy, and then we keep running. We don't stop." The warrior pushed himself even further, forcing each foot in front of the other, and then faster. It wasn't so much a 'run' as a fast shuffle, but it got them away from the horrific scene, and the smell of the dead.

[Merenwen]

With every footstep Matthial took, it jarred Merenwen's body awake. Again, the smell of smoke and flesh filled her lungs, causing her nose to wrinkle in disgust. She groaned as she heard the shouting of the guards. Her body went rigid as the pain crept back into her limbs. Her head pounded, cursing her vision. Everything was as blurry as could be, but she wasn't sure if it was because her eyes were watering or because her head just throbbed that had. As her heartbeat thumped, she felt it course across every inch of her skin and deeper. She just wanted to lay down and sleep. The pain had been too intolerable, knocking her in and out of consciousness. Again, she groaned, and latched onto Matthial for dear life.

She coughed and whispered up to him, "Where is Ronan? Is it over?"

[Ronan]

Ronan took Matthial's advice and broke into a run, the tingling sensation of forming reimancy behind them. The mage had awoken. As his feet pounded across the slick mud, rushing alongside the Syliran towards the gully, he heard Merenwen's voice. Choked, weak, but alive all the same. "I'm here Merenwen," he said, a little warmth bubbling up inside him. He had only just met the Kelvic, but this had been one hell of a bonding experience for all three of them! The black dagger appeared in his mind. Assassins? He didn't want to believe it... he had heard of such guilds and gatherings in the urban cities, but here in Cyphrus? It was hard to swallow. "I should warn you," he said, as they neared their destination. "I found something disturbing... it won't be a pretty sight."

[Matthial]

Matthial gave Ronan a curt nod, acknowledging the other man's comment. As he did so, he looked down at Merenwen as he ran. She seemed to be doing a tad bit better. He couldn't form much of a response however, as he was panting heavily and trying to keep placing one foot in front of the other. Several shouts could be heard a ways back, spurring the tired warrior on even further. The grasses and rain seemed to blend into one for Matthial, and he didn't see Ronan and Merenwen so much as note that they where colored 'blobs' amidst the endless sea of green. For a long while nobody said anything, and the warrior kept trudging on, it was just as he was beggining to feel that he couldn't run any further that Matthial noticed the shape in front of him come to a stop. Panting heavily, Matthial looked to the sky, and exhaled heavily as he let Merenwen's legs gently drop to the ground while using his free hand to hold on to her abdomen. Holding her upright as best he could, the man continued to exhale forcefully as he looked over Merenwen's shoulder at the scene before them.

[Merenwen]

Mewrenwen's eyes fluttered between the boundary of open and closed, struggling to find her balance. She cringed in pain as she, too, surveyed what lay before them. Such a scene... The effort it took her to attempt to focus threatened to push her back over the edge of unconsciousness. She felt as if she were throbbing, not just in the areas of her wounds, but everywhere. Her body ached from running, her feet were cut upen from pebbles. Her wounds were packed with mud. Her soulder sport a nasty laceration, and bruises were beginning to splotch her body in more than just a couple places. What had they gotten into? And more importantly, how were they going to get out of it?