Elthas allowed himself a few moments to relax.
Already, he could feel something in his body, the change beginning to occur. He wanted to cry, he wanted to kill himself, anything to escape the madness that would follow. Likely, suicide would have been a simple mercy. However, he was certain at that point that he would STILL have risen up as a mindless killer. Elthas looked at the forsaken lady, then he looked at Ioder. He sighed. He didn't know how to bring himself to tell the kid that he was infected. He'd promised the boy that he would take him to where he needed to go, and now he had brought incredible danger to them all. It had all been a tactical mistake on Elthas's part. Perhaps...that was the reason that the Forsaken from before were so quick to let us go. Because they KNEW I was blighted... Elthas thought.
It was a very real possibility that The Forsaken had played them all right from the start. Elthas looked at the beautiful undead girl, and then over towards Ioder. "I...I will offer my services to you if you can guarantee his safety. From me." Elthas said calmly. "And the others. I made a promise to the boy that I would take him to where he intends to go. I intend to honor that alliance." Elthas said calmly. He suddenly felt an urge to cry. "Do I have enough time to see that promise through?" Elthas asked of the woman.
She seemed to think very carefully about what she'd just learned. "You have a few hours." She said calmly. "For what it is worth, I'm truly sorry."
Sincerity. The creature was being SINCERE with him. Elthas sighed. He looked away from the beautiful woman's face. He looked at Ioder with a genuinely hurt and troubled expression. "I'm blighted." Elthas said calmly. "I have enough time to take you where you need to go. Then I will have to..." Elthas couldn't bring himself to say it. He knew once the change occurred, he would have to move himself as far away from Ioder as possible. The disturbing part was that he'd found himself liking the boy. The boy had a ferocity in his eyes, and a fierce nature that only needed proper training. If there was more time, Elthas could have fashioned Ioder into a fine young warrior. Elthas felt a tremendous pain in his heart, he wanted to run right then. But the PROMISE bound Elthas to Ioder.
He couldn't abandon Ioder in this land full of monsters.
In a way, that would have been more painful than death itself.
Elthas suddenly felt very tired. He felt very cold. The change was already happening, he could feel his blood being blighted, darkened. He sat down calmly and did the only thing that felt natural in a completely unnatural place to be in. He started to sing. He was an artist, and a bard first and foremost. He would sing until he came up with an adequate solution for the problems at hand. He looked at the woman while he sang. She had a beauty, it was almost haunting. The woman sat down next to him while he sang and simply LISTENED. He sang in the tongue of his people, an old song, it was a sad song. A song of love and betrayal, and of Heroes rising to face a coming darkness. A song written by his people just for moments like that.
Elthas sang quietly until he couldn't sing anymore.
Then he looked towards the woman and Ioder. "We need to get moving then. Let's pack it up, it's almost day break." Elthas decided that getting wrapped up in despair would not help his situation. Instead, he decided to keep his mind occupied, and went to work, preparing to pack up his things and put out the camp fire. The entire time, the forsaken woman watched him without saying a word. She simply watched and waited, as if she knew a truth that was greater than anything Elthas could do to calm his troubled mind. And that truth? They were all fucked.
Elthas felt his blood heating up very slowly. He wasn't sure what the change would entail, or how much it would hurt. He only knew that he WOULD change. And nothing would save him. Time had become a ticking bomb working to undo Elthas as he worked. He did not know how to face Ioder. Ioder was a friend, and Elthas had inadvertently put Ioder in danger. Every moment that passed, Elthas could feel the change happening within him. Once they were done packing, they began the lang walk to Eluriand's ruin. Elthas walked in silence taking poing next to the Forsaken woman. He didn't fully trust her. He couldn't bring himself to accept that the Forsaken would willingly help him just because he was blighted. As they walked, Elthas held his steel daggers, rotating them periodically. And each step he took towards Eluriand, his blood got hotter. He could feel his heart begin to race. I only hope that I can fulfill my promise to Ioder.
The forest that surrounded Eluriand surrounded them now. Elthas didn't like the energy in the air. It was dark and had a taint to it. The taint tormented Elthas's mind as he walked in silence. He wanted to turn the opposite way and RUN away from the woman and Ioder. But what prevented his running away was the fact that he couldn't trust the woman near Ioder by herself. He would become that wedge that kept Ioder alive, while he was still placid and still himself. About two hours into their journey into the forest, Elthas threw up blood for the first time. The woman had explained that those would be the first few sings of the change. Normally, Elthas's blood was a light blue colour. However, due to the blight, it had a dark taint to it. Elthas was sickened even looking at it. What he was becoming.
The woman remained by his side the entire time, she explained things about The Forsaken and their ways. Things Elthas did not want to hear, and things he did not want to expose Ioder to. He wiped blood from his mouth and looked at the woman. "It will hurt, won't it?" Elthas asked of the change.
"A lot I am afraid, but the transition will happen quickly. I have seldom seen your people, Forest Elves, affected by The Blight." She explained. "The High Elves react different to it as well. All I can tell you is from the reactions observed by The High Elves changes." She said calmly. "In time, you will master your change if you allow me to help you as you have been."
"Yeah but I will become a monster." Elthas pointed out. "You speak as if I have some sort a choice over that?" Elthas asked, it was becoming difficult to walk. She helped him balance. Elthas could just see teh ruins of Eluriand's spires up ahead. Once a beautiful city, now a ruined shell of it's former self. Every bit as blighted as the undead that feasted on the living all around them. Elthas walked forward, keeping point as he had promised. They were at Eluriand now. Elthas turned towards Ioder just then. The look of pain and exhaustion in his face quite evident. "Ioder. You have free passage in enemy territory. I am sorry that I cannot continue with you on your path. My path is on a different branch of The Grand Tree than yours. The Tree of Life. Ioder...remember me. To the last." He asked of Ioder. Then he looked at the woman. "Please keep me here while he moves towards Eluriand. I do not wish to see which way he travels. Lay me out." Elthas asked of her. He the looked at Ioder one last time. "Remember me." He asked one last time. And closed his eyes, he allowed her to strike him down and knock him out. So he wouldn't see which direction Ioder moved in. A promise was a promise, and even in the end...Elthas had maintained his promise to Ioder.
He would allow the Forsaken woman to restrain him until Ioder was safely out of harm's way...
Out of harm's way...
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