There was no hesitation as he reached back to enfold her small, calloused hand in his own, squeezing her fingers with gratitude for both the offer and the physical connection. He turned his head only afterwards, meeting her gaze properly with his own solemn weariness as he tilted his head in acknowledgment of the choice she gave him. But first he gave thought to her initial offer, considering what lay ahead of him, and what help he would need.
"I will have tasks in the days ahead. Quests from Safrin, to make myself stronger. And to strengthen my magic. I do not know if I will be able to complete them before we go..." He hesitated, and then shook his head. "I will go, regardless. But I could use a training partner for my Gravity Spike, if you are willing?" A dangerous request, and one he only made because of his trust in Maea's own strength and resilience. "There will be hunts as well, to clear the Void from areas not yet protected from it." The Wilds, mostly, though soon enough an invitation would arrive to meet him in King's End.
And then he looked down at their hands, emerald gaze resting on their fingers but seeing something distant. Violet instead of red. Shadows that slithered and gas that rose to choke and blind. A foe that attacked from distance and hiding, battering them relentlessly while remaining out of reach. Blue eyes narrowed in paranoia and suspicion. A panic he had not felt in years burrowing deep inside his chest.
He sighed.
"I nearly lost Flora to the Family," he admitted quietly, his voice a low rumble whispering back at them from the crystals embedded in the cavern's walls. "Again. She was... infected. And counting on me to save her. I was... very close to failing." No easy admission as he dragged his thoughts from Starfall's shores to the cleansing steam of Frey's Breath. He breathed deeply, steeling himself for what came next, but his voice remained steady, even as the words were dropped slowly, one by one, like stones into a still pond. "I lost my brother to sickness when he was younger than she is now. A sea shrine's curse, before the Heralds were freed. I watched him waste away to nothing. But..." A hesitation, a catch in his breath as he bowed his head further, shoulders rounding beneath the weight of memory and regret. "At the end, I fled. I could not be with him in his final moments. I was not strong enough to see him off to Mort's Halls. And so I abandoned him. Flora's... state... has brought back difficult memories of that time." At a time when he needed to be at his strongest, unhindered by old wounds, long-since scarred over but not forgotten.
"I will have tasks in the days ahead. Quests from Safrin, to make myself stronger. And to strengthen my magic. I do not know if I will be able to complete them before we go..." He hesitated, and then shook his head. "I will go, regardless. But I could use a training partner for my Gravity Spike, if you are willing?" A dangerous request, and one he only made because of his trust in Maea's own strength and resilience. "There will be hunts as well, to clear the Void from areas not yet protected from it." The Wilds, mostly, though soon enough an invitation would arrive to meet him in King's End.
And then he looked down at their hands, emerald gaze resting on their fingers but seeing something distant. Violet instead of red. Shadows that slithered and gas that rose to choke and blind. A foe that attacked from distance and hiding, battering them relentlessly while remaining out of reach. Blue eyes narrowed in paranoia and suspicion. A panic he had not felt in years burrowing deep inside his chest.
He sighed.
"I nearly lost Flora to the Family," he admitted quietly, his voice a low rumble whispering back at them from the crystals embedded in the cavern's walls. "Again. She was... infected. And counting on me to save her. I was... very close to failing." No easy admission as he dragged his thoughts from Starfall's shores to the cleansing steam of Frey's Breath. He breathed deeply, steeling himself for what came next, but his voice remained steady, even as the words were dropped slowly, one by one, like stones into a still pond. "I lost my brother to sickness when he was younger than she is now. A sea shrine's curse, before the Heralds were freed. I watched him waste away to nothing. But..." A hesitation, a catch in his breath as he bowed his head further, shoulders rounding beneath the weight of memory and regret. "At the end, I fled. I could not be with him in his final moments. I was not strong enough to see him off to Mort's Halls. And so I abandoned him. Flora's... state... has brought back difficult memories of that time." At a time when he needed to be at his strongest, unhindered by old wounds, long-since scarred over but not forgotten.
