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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
Rock. More rock. To her left, to the right. Above, and after a fumbly, questing search with a white-toed foot, below too there was rock. Maea's pulse was speeding now, her thoughts racing between images of an untimely death and all the things she had yet to do with her life. On the other side of the bond, she felt the soft support of her companion like a gentle warmth, as though to remind her which way led back to life, and behind her... Behind her was Liam. Solid, and real, and only here because she'd asked him to be.
Thinking of him kept the panic from consuming her mind. She couldn't draw breath so she bit her lip instead, hard enough to stain the water with blood, and in the clarity of the pain she found the grit to search one more time. Above, below, left and - there. A crack she had missed the first time. Pulling herself closer, Maea plunged an arm into the void and found that it was a small jumble of rocks that was blocking the way. Tumbled from the ceiling perhaps, or heaved in by waves, it didn't matter as long as she could move enough out of the way to squeeze through.
Pushing on the obstacles, bubbles slipped from her mouth and nose from the exertion. White hair drifted around her like a veil, a paler shade of black in the darkness - her lungs were burning now, but just as she wondered if they would have to turn back, the resistance gave way under her hands and with a scraping rumble the path opened. Hurrying onwards, she felt Liam like a shift in the currents behind her, never further away than she could reach.
And suddenly the world brightened up ahead, a circle of light that spilled fresh saltwater into the tunnel with a rhythmic pulse akin to a heartbeat.
Just as Liam was nearing the point where he would grab Maea and drag her out, he felt something in the currents ahead shift. A lighter shade of black pulsed where he assumed Maea's hair was pushed aside by the water, and she began to move forward once more. On her heels, Liam pressed on. His lungs, too, were burning, but at least he had the cloud manta crystal to fall back on. Maea didn't have that luxury.
Something shifted in the water ahead, and Liam realized that it was Maea. There must be light ahead, if he could see her silhouette against the darkness. Perhaps that meant that this was the last big push. With that in mind, Liam continued to pull himself along, kicking his legs to keep close enough to Maea to be able to help if something went wrong.
One more pull, one more kick of legs that weighed twice what they usually did, and the tunnel fell away. Ocean replaced the darkness, shimmering and blue and endless, and with black spots dancing across her vision Maea angled herself upwards towards the surface.
It seemed so far away. She couldn't swim any faster yet it was as though she barely moved at all. Her blood was screaming from lack of oxygen - she couldn't hold her breath any longer - and with only a few feet to go before reaching the surface, an eruption of bubbles around her mouth and nose revealed that she was struggling. Water rushed into her mouth, pressing down her nose and threatened to wash all the way down her lungs - so painful, and terrifying beyond what words could describe.
The worst thing was, the surface was so close. Inches away. If only she could get her head above the liminal line –
It was definitely getting lighter, but Liam was running out of air. As he pushed through the last of the rock, his hand slipped, startling him enough that the air rushed out of him in a cascade of bubbles. He was going to have to test the crystal, or he’d pass out before he ever reached Maea - or the surface, for that matter. How were they so deep underwater?
He took a tentative breath. To his delight and surprise, no water poured into his nose and mouth. Feeling much better now, Loan swam after Maea, who was a ways above him. As he neared her, he realized that she was struggling. Her strokes were growing weaker, and as he watched, a burst of bubbles erupted from her mouth. She was out of air and out of time - and she was so close to the surface.
Surging forward, Liam caught Maea under the arms and kicked hard, propelling them to the surface. And when his head broke water, he hauled the Ancient up with him, dragging her from the depths and hoping he wasn’t too late.
She had never been a good swimmer. Never learned to move through water like it was an element she belonged in. Once upon a time she had been able to mimic that kind of skill, but only because she could control the water itself. Those days were long gone now, and not for the first time Maea underestimated the difference it made.
Darkness was creeping back in around her vision when suddenly Liam was there, grabbing hold of her and hauling her upwards. They broke through the surface in a spray of cascading water, droplets glittering under the ever present Torchline sun. For a dreadful moment, Maea could neither breathe in or out, her lungs seizing in conflict between expelling water and inhaling air. Then came a spluttering sound, and in a rattling series of coughs water came gushing out. Thrashing in wild panic at first, she seemed to realise that she wasn't alone and flung her arms around Liam's neck, shaking too violently to speak.
Perhaps one would not expect someone born and raised in Stormbreak to be a strong swimmer, but Liam was surprisingly good at it. While he might not be very experienced at swimming in the ocean - what with the tides and the currents and the aquatic life - he'd spent a great deal of time in pools and hot springs when he was younger, and it was surprising how quickly old skills returned to him in a time of crisis.
They broke the surface, and Liam hauled Maea up, treading water carefully while trying to hoist her far enough that she'd be able to expel whatever water she'd inhaled. There was a horrible, terrifying moment in which Liam thought maybe he'd been too late - but then Maea was spluttering and coughing and shaking, and relief coursed through his veins even as she thrashed in his arms.
And then her arms were around his neck, and he held her with one strong arm as he used the other to strike out for shore. "It's okay," he murmured into her sopping hair. "I've got you." He wasn't sure what else he said, or if it even made sense as he pushed through the waves, tugging Maea along. But he knew that it was reassurance - for both of them - and that was enough for now.
The coast was not far, albeit a rugged and rocky part of the shoreline consisting mainly of cliffs and reefs. The waves rolled in to smash against black volcanic rock in a rumble that filled the air with salty spray, though fortunately for the both of them the water was shallow enough to shelter them from the brunt of the force.
Still coughing up water by the time they reached a skerry large enough for them both to fit, she found that she had no strength left in her limbs. As though the sea had sucked all the life out of her, it was all she could manage to hold on to Liam and let him bring them both to safety. She tried to help him get her up on the skerry, she really did - gasping for breath and hauling herself upward, onto to slip and tumble onto a shoulder already scraped up and bruised from the submerged tunnel.
Dazed and shivering, she wondered why it always ended up like this. No matter what she did, it was always the same story. A mad idea, a poor execution, and always someone who had to pick up the slack when she overdid it. Was she learning anything from this? Half-naked and drenched on a rock at sea, she sure had faced a fear alright - nearly drowned to boot - and the only thing that kept her from that was the singular source of warmth somewhere behind her.
Fumbling weakly for him, Maea blinked her stinging eyes and squinted against the glaring sunlight. "Liam..?" Her voice was a raspy whisper, hoarse as whiskey-soaked chainsmokers... and unusually small sounding. Like her usual mask of confidence had been washed away to reveal the slightly truer, less polished face beneath.
Liam swam as quickly as he could, adrenaline carrying them both forward as his concern for Maea continued to increase. She was still coughing up water by the time they reached the rocky shore, and she seemed quite unable to lift herself out of the water. He had to boost her up onto the skerry, which bothered him a great deal less than he guessed it would bother her. It did worry him, though. It wasn't like her at all.
He pulled himself out of the water and scrambled to her side, his brow creasing as he took in her disheveled appearance. Half-naked and drenched, she'd scraped and bruised a shoulder in pressing through the tunnel - or as she tried to get onto the skerry, maybe. Liam wasn't sure which. And she had to be freezing after swimming through the cold water of the tunnel.
It took him a moment to realize that she was reaching for him, and when he did, he moved to sit beside her, so close that they were touching. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he tugged her closer, hoping that his body heat would help her to warm more quickly. "I'm here," he murmured. She sounded so small, so insecure, like the sea had washed away parts of her until the softer, more vulnerable pieces were revealed. He was struck by an innate need to protect her, at least until she tucked away that which she kept so carefully concealed most of the time. "What do you need?"
The touch of his hands, the warmth emanating from his skin felt close to scorching compared to the water. Too shaken up to be shy, she leaned into his embrace, head lolling weakly onto his shoulder. It helped, a bit, yet she couldn't seem to catch her breath no matter how she coughed. "Water," she gasped, gesturing vaguely to her ribcage. "Can't breathe – "
Another fit of coughing shook her entire body, and as she inhaled she could feel a bubbling sensation in the chest that couldn't be good. She could heal any damage done, but first that water had to get out - and she couldn't do it on her own. Didn't know how, nor could she squeeze her own chest with sufficient force.
Liam, in his haste to warm Maea, had forgotten that she'd probably inhaled a fair bit of water. When she reminded him, he winced and immediately jumped to action. "Right, of course, I'm so sorry -" It was easier with freshwater, which tended to be absorbed by the body; saltwater took longer, and in the process could be far more dangerous. He slipped his arm from her shoulders, turning towards her with a frown.
"I need to get behind you. This will probably be uncomfortable," he warned her as he maneuvered himself to kneel behind her. "Can you get on your knees?" When she'd gotten into position - with his help, if she needed - he wrapped his arms around her, clasping his hands against her stomach, and drove the combined fist in and up, aiming to force any water out.
With the aid of strong hands she managed to get up and maneuver to a position where he could do what needed to be done. Even in her strained and befuddled state, Maea felt a thrill shiver down the spine at the feeling of Liam's arms encircling her from behind; nervous and giddy and heated in a way that would have sent moths into a storm through her core, if it hadn't been entirely waterlogged.
The next moment, all thoughts were squeezed out of her along with a gods-awful amount of water. Coughing up a storm and nearly throwing up as her stomach and lungs were squeezed, by the time she could breathe properly again Maea slumped like a ragdoll in Liam's arms, feeling every bit a half-drowned kitten. Lifting the wrist to her mouth was a monumental effort; biting down hard enough to draw blood was almost more than she could manage. Then magic welled up and filled her with new energy, mending her lungs and knitting together all the cuts and scrapes until not a trace of injuries remained.
"Next time I suggest swimming... remind me why it's a bad idea...?" she murmured, eyes closing against a deep exhaustion. Without thinking about it, she let her head fall back against the warm chest behind her, too tired to be embarrassed for now.
Maea used mastered Bloodboon to heal herself.
Bloodboon (Ancient): Can injure themselves for mastered damage, healing themselves or others at 1.5x their mastered level with a range of 30ft.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Maea coughed up water, and Liam hovered close, one hand rubbing small, comforting circles upon her bare back as she emptied her lungs of liquid. It was a challenge to watch her so weak; he was used to her being as strong as - if not stronger than - he was, and to see her slump like a ragdoll in his arms was terrifying. When she lifted her wrist to her mouth, he made no move to stop her. Instead, he waited patiently as the cuts and scrapes across her body knitted back together again.
She slumped back against him, and he wrapped his arms around her slender frame, holding her close in the circle of his warmth. At her quiet request, he chuckled drily. "No more swimming. Got it." At their closeness, something fluttered in the pit of his stomach, and his arms tightened around Maea almost imperceptibly. Despite the situation that had led them here, this was actually quite nice - though of course he'd have preferred that Maea wasn't half-drowned and limp in his hold.
He sat for a brief time, becoming steadily more aware of just how close they were and just how little separated them. Maea's bare back pressed against Liam's chest, her sides against his arms, her stomach against his palms. He didn't want to move, for fear of breaking the spell, but neither did he wish to make her uncomfortable. "Will you be alright?" he murmured softly, his breath ghosting over the shell of her ear. Then, almost regretfully: "We should probably move soon."
When was the last time she was held like this? She couldn't even recall. It felt good, and not only because she would be content not to move for a week at least. Simply breathing without strain and feeling the steady beat of Liam's heart against her shoulder was enough, so soothing that she nearly fell asleep on the spot.
His voice rumbled close to her ear, raising goosebumps along her neck. "Mmh, just need to rest a bit more," she murmured back. Reluctant to move, like this unexpected closeness was a stolen moment that might not happen again. Unbidden, Flora's teasing words about writing names in the margin of a journal popped into her thoughts, luring them into merry delusions of what a future might look like if these kinds of hugs were normal and his hands didn't stop at her waist. Good thing he was sitting behind her; like this he couldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks, though the fluttering pulse in her neck might reveal the growing nervousness as her body responded to his touch.
"I... uh... owe you an explanation, don't I?" It was hard to speak; her mouth seemed to have dried up, parched like desert sand.
Physical closeness was not a luxury that Liam had in abundance these days, and he’d forgotten just how good it felt to be wrapped up in someone else. Particularly when it was someone who mattered, someone with whom he could imagine a future. Someone who he could no longer picture his life without.
The realization was startling, its implications staggering, and Liam was suddenly glad that Maea couldn’t see his face, sure that she’d have seen the moment something shifted within him.
When the Ancient made no move to get up, Liam relaxed. Now was not the time to get into what he might feel or how it might have come about. This was about Maea, who had very nearly drowned right before his eyes. The thought made him swallow hard. How many times must he lose someone - or almost lose someone - before the world declared it enough?
Liam’s thumb rubbed small, absent circles on Maea’s skin, as though he didn’t even realize he was doing it. Whether it was for his comfort or hers, he couldn’t say. ”You don’t owe me anything,” he insisted softly. ”But I would be grateful for anything you want to share.”
