Such a simple thing, that touch, but in both the giving and receiving of it there was a shred of light that shone through the shadows, a flicker of that most dangerous of emotions: hope. Even with the blight closing in around them perhaps they could still find a way forward, even if they had to stumble half-blind to do so.
Or maybe they would fall and become so twisted that they could not recognize the people they had once been, lost to each other and themselves.
"I will sing, and you will fight," he agreed with a ghost of a sad smile. "Not so unlike my old world after all..." Ah, but then he had been a master of magics both strong and clever: spells for buffeting his enemies with the very sound of his song, for breaking enchantments upon his allies, for lending them strength and speed of heroic proportions... "But I will bring my sword. It sounds as though you must strike the final blow, but perhaps I can distract him so that you can make it a clean one." And hopefully their merely-mortal steel would be enough to do the deed.
But who was this Ru'in they would seek? He was glad he had asked when the smile came over Kiada's face, small but true. At least one of them could still find such an honest smile in their tar-dipped souls, and he listened solemnly as she painted a picture of a striking and unique man, powerful and skilled and sharing much with the young woman beside him. "How did you meet?" A gentle question, coaxing, trying to keep the smile on her face a little longer - for both of them.
This quest for Ludo, this promise made to a herald god... The request he had made of Ashetta stirred in his chest as he focused more clearly upon Kiada, seeking an idea of whether she might be willing to help him in return, though he wasn't sure yet how to ask it of her with the blight making his tongue heavy and corroding his confidence to confusion.
Or maybe they would fall and become so twisted that they could not recognize the people they had once been, lost to each other and themselves.
"I will sing, and you will fight," he agreed with a ghost of a sad smile. "Not so unlike my old world after all..." Ah, but then he had been a master of magics both strong and clever: spells for buffeting his enemies with the very sound of his song, for breaking enchantments upon his allies, for lending them strength and speed of heroic proportions... "But I will bring my sword. It sounds as though you must strike the final blow, but perhaps I can distract him so that you can make it a clean one." And hopefully their merely-mortal steel would be enough to do the deed.
But who was this Ru'in they would seek? He was glad he had asked when the smile came over Kiada's face, small but true. At least one of them could still find such an honest smile in their tar-dipped souls, and he listened solemnly as she painted a picture of a striking and unique man, powerful and skilled and sharing much with the young woman beside him. "How did you meet?" A gentle question, coaxing, trying to keep the smile on her face a little longer - for both of them.
This quest for Ludo, this promise made to a herald god... The request he had made of Ashetta stirred in his chest as he focused more clearly upon Kiada, seeking an idea of whether she might be willing to help him in return, though he wasn't sure yet how to ask it of her with the blight making his tongue heavy and corroding his confidence to confusion.
