The cries rang out like a hungry pack of wolves, the high pitched howls of the hunters as they finally cornered their prey, a mighty bear who weighed more than any three of the wolves alone.
A tense standoff ensued, the hunters circling their prey as he lunged at them in turn before "Charge!" At the command a barrage of cushions was followed by an avalanche of children and Saleh went crashing to the floor under the weight of his brood.
"Aaarrgh! Get off me you little monsters!" The man roars, grasping one of his sons and tickling the boy until he screamed for mercy. "I will not be defeated! I am the Dark Lord of Shayol Ghul!"
"Your reign is over Dark Lord!" Declared one of the larger boys, the spitting image of his father but at half the size. "We have defeated you and rescued the maidens fair!" He pauses and then his face fell at the lack of response. "I said WE HAVE RESCUED THE MAIDENS FAIR!" Still nothing meet his declaration and he turned to the corner of the room where two girls, one in her late teens and one much smaller were reading a book.
"Hannah! 'Lena! We're rescuing you, you're supposed to be excited!" Confronted by almost all her brothers and their collective, expectant glances, Hannah rolled her eyes. "Thank goodness, our rescuers are here." She said, enthusiasm dripping from every syllable.
"It could be worse Hannah." The 'Dark Lord' pointed out from the floor. "At least they aren't sitting on you!" He heaved himself up, dislodging Atticus, Raymond and the twins with a vigorous shaking as the boys tumbled to the floor like nine-pins. 'Lena, the apple of the families eye, came bouncing across the floor with her arms wide open and her father scooped her up in a hug as Dylan and Little Saleh collected their weapons, seemingly intent on restarting the battle.
"That's enough of that!" A firm, motherly voice called. "Now you all go and wash your hands before dinner. Mama 'Lizabeth will be done with her class soon and we're eating dinner as a family tonight." The boys trudged off with a chorus of sighs and groans followed by Elena and Hannah who caught her mother's eye and nodded her willingness to make sure that eight pairs of clean hands made it to the, extremely large, family table by the kitchens.
Left alone for a precious moment Saleh gathered his wife into his arms. "And how long exactly were you standing there?" He asked, shooting Melissa a mock frown. "You could have stepped in at any time!"
"And missed the attack on Cair Dun and the fall of the Dark Lord?" Melissa replied, stealing a kiss with a beaming smile. "Where would the fun in that be? Although," another kiss, "It did," kiss, "give me," kiss, "some ideas for later." At her husband's raised eyebrow she elaborated.
"The young dashing heroine goes adventuring to rescue her lady love who has been captured by the Evil Dark Lord." She poked her husband lightly in the chest, "And so the dashing young heroine, me of course, must infiltrate the Dark Lord's castle to rescue his love, but when she gets there she finds..."
"That it is all a trap!" Another voice joined the conversation. "No doubt the sorceress was fooling the heroine all along and then she and the Dark Lord join forces to inflict Unspeakable Torments on the heroine."
"See Miss, I knew you read my romance novels!" Melissa piped up excitedly before she jumps and glares at her husband, who looked unrepentantly back. "What was that for?"
"You relapsed." Saleh replied calmly.
"Damnit! I'm sorry M- Elizabeth."
"We'll just add that to the heroine's torments tonight hmmm?" Elizabeth replied, stepping into Melissa's arms as Saleh collected them both in his much larger embrace.
The throuple stayed that way for a long moment until the rumbling of feet charging down the hallway showed that hand-washing was done and the monsters needed to be fed before they turn on their keepers.
"Happy Anniversary!" The children chorused as their parents entered the room. The table was dominated by two huge bouquets, set at either end of the table and there was a spine of hand-made cards and small gifts down the table. Hannah gave her father a wide smile as both Melissa and Elizabeth teared up.
"You did this?" Melissa asked, staring at Hannah.
"Father helped." Hannah replied, before Melissa whisked her into a hug.
"Thank you so much sweetheart! You're my favorite daughter for this!"
"I thought I was always your favorite daughter?" Hannah replied, pouting theatrically as her brothers laughed and Saleh called the table to order.
"Your mothers and I were married seventeen years ago today." He said. "In that time we've fought a dragon, brought up nine wonderful children and endured a combined nine years of teenager-ness. I calculate we only have about fifty left to go! I am thankful for you both every day." He said, sharing loving looks with the women at each end of the table, "And for our wonderful family."
"And I'm thankful for food!" Tobias or possibly Matrim piped up, the twins collectively causing laughter all around the table as the family dug into dinner together.
"Well on that cheerful thought I'm going to bed for a while." Saleh says with forced cheer. "Riding a dragon is tiring, who knew?" He steps over to Elizabeth and leans down, resting their foreheads together for a long moment.
"I love you Elizabeth Daylenne. Don't wear yourself out worrying." He says quietly, dark eyes fixed on hers. "We'll figure this out, together."
At the exit he looks back and raises an eyebrow at Melissa. "I... might need some help getting the armor off today." He admits, sounding a little sheepish.
Here's to hoping we get enough time to sleep before the dragon comes back to eat us...
"Not unless it tries to take you." Saleh replies. He manages a smile, but Melissa can see that he is in deadly earnest - despite the bruises.
Saleh also accepts the slap, which whips his head around sharply enough to work out an awkward kink developing after his hard landing and then he holds Elizabeth tightly, whispering soothing nothings into her ear until her composure is restored.
----------------
"So we're back to trapping it, unless either of you can use magic to destroy its wings." Saleh summarises after twenty minutes of useless discussion. "Unless it has a home of some sort and we can track it there? It must live somewhere?"
Saleh lies flat on his back for a few long moments until the stars fade from his eyes. Then he sits up carefully, checks that he still has his weapons and looks for the train.
Catch My Breath again to heal 18.
"We definitely need some way of bringing it down and keeping it there." He says once he is back on board. "I hit it pretty hard and couldn't even dent its scales."
Strength:1d20 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (16) + 4 + (6) = 26Boon from being a Brute! ;)
Saleh sprints down the roof of the train car and makes a flying leap, landing on the dragons back and slamming his axe into its skin to act as a handhold.
I really should have thought about what to do next!
Saleh heads up to the roof of the train and prepares himself to do something stupid. Hefting weapons in both hands he waits for the beast to come into range.
Ideally I'm going to try and get onto it somehow. Not sure what that would involve though!
Saleh gives the idea a surprising amount of thought.
"If we could lure it with something it wants..." He says eventually. "It may not consider the train a threat, but we would need to work over a large distance. It would be too difficult I think..."
"Is there any kind of magic to make a person fly, or prevent a dragon from doing so?" Saleh asks, the madness and fear fading as he focuses on logistics. "It acted like a bird, swooping in close, so our best bet would likely be some sort of lure and then a trap. Or a confined space if such a thing can be found out here."
"That's a lot bigger than I thought..." Saleh says, managing to keep the tremble out of his voice as the creature looms, impossibly long, in his vision.
Saleh works very hard to resist the urge to slam the idiots head through one of the car windows. He succeeds but really doesn't trust himself to say anything that isn't You flaming idiot! or words to that effect!
Saleh resists the urge to beat the idiot over the head with his own staff and lets his wife conduct the interrogation - ready to play "homicidal slice-your-limbs-off-if-you-don't-answer" cop if needed.
The creatures are shocking but this seems to simply boos Saleh's resolve to get rid of them as fast as possible! He leaps in front of Thomas and slashes left, right and center with both weapons.
Saleh nods and starts shepherding everyone back onto the train, brooking no dissension of his wife's wishes. Once back on the train he takes position on the roof of the second car so that he has the best possible view.
"I really hope not..." Saleh replies, his eyes scanning the sky above them. "But if the last train was like this one then there would have been livestock in the last carriage, and that's not here..."
Saleh makes a face that conveys to his wives exactly how he feels about this course of action, but swings down easily from the train and offers each lady a hand down before leading the way towards the train cars.
"Which suggests stopping is a bad idea." Saleh points out archly. "Surely it makes sense to press on rather than sitting here as an inviting target for whatever did that?"
Saleh looks to Elizabeth to see whether she has any explanations but otherwise contents himself with saying "If someone attacks the back of the train we should simply detach the last couple of carriages and move on. If it's bandits then we want to catch them between one carriage and the next - a choke point."
He seems to be rather enjoying the train ride all in all, although the constant tension detracts somewhat.
"Of course not." Saleh replies, leaning in to kiss her again. "As I said, I love you both." He keeps stealing kisses, because no matter what Melissa says, it is working.
"I love you both unconditionally." Saleh replies diplomatically. "You've done a wonderful job with Angelica." Deciding more drastic measures are in order he steps in and kisses Melissa firmly. "You are going to be a wonderful mother, no matter what our wife says." He says with a wink.
Saleh watches the scene and begins mentally making notes of what to do and not do if at any point he and his wives are blessed with children of their own...
Saleh sits down and takes a moment to clear his thoughts, this conversation is going to be far harder than fighting a demon ever was.
"You and I must talk Angelica." He says eventually. "Tell me, has anyone ever hurt you?"
The blonde girl looks up at Saleh with deep green eyes and shakes her head in confusion. "No, Mister Saleh. But Little Saleh bit me once. Does that count?"
"How did you feel when that happened?" 'Big Saleh' replies. "Did you like Little Saleh when he did that to you? Did you want him to do it again?"
Angelica shakes her blonde head and looks down. "I hit him and Miss 'Lissa made me sit in the corner."
"But how did you feel?" Saleh persists. "Did it make you happy?"
"No. I don't like sitting in the corner," she replies, continuing to look down at the floor.
"Everyone feels like that." Saleh continues, reaching down to tip Angelica's head back up with one finger. "Things can hurt people, very badly, and it feels a lot worse than sitting in the corner. Do you want to do that to someone else? To hurt someone?" Angelica shakes her head emphatically as she looks up at the large man above her.
"Then you must stop talking about Little Lizzie." Saleh says, pushing his advantage and making the point as clear as he can.
"Ok," she responds in a small voice. "Did I make someone feel bad?" she asks after a moment.
"You were sad when she died. Now think, how did Miss 'Lissa feel? She was very very sad." Saleh continues, spelling it out in case the child can't follow. "She was badly hurt. But here, now, that has not happened yet and when you told her what happened. That hurt her. Very much." He holds Angelica's eye firmly. "You hurt her Angelica. I know you did not mean to, but you did. If you want to talk about the things you know, then you can talk to me, but not to Miss 'Lissa. We don't want to make her sad again do we?"
Angelica shakes her head vigorously again and tears begin falling from her innocent eyes. "Miss 'Lissa said that if you hurt someone, you should say you're sorry. Should I tell her I'm sorry?"
"Come here." Saleh says, taking the girl gently into her arms. "You don't need to say sorry. She's already forgiven you and I will tell her that you are sorry. You just need to be yourself, be happy and help her be happy too."
Not even a moment later and the tears have stopped. The child struggles to be free of Saleh's thick arms with a giggle. "Mister Saleh, you smell," she says. Standing straight and crossing her arms, she commands in a voice that sounds like a perfect imitation of Elizabeth's tone, "You need a bath this very moment."
"You remember what we said, and I will have a bath." Saleh responds, a grin creeping onto his own face. "Deal?" He offers her his large hand solemnly. She grins and holds her hand out to have it vanish into the much larger hand of the swordsman, who shakes it gently before sweeping the girl up and tickling her fiercely. Once she's practically screaming with laughter Saleh puts her down and gives her a gentle push towards the door, before heading back into his rooms in search of the ordered bath.
Saleh looks between his wives, it appears he has followed the conversation well enough to grasp most of the implications. He rises slower than Melissa and steps over to take Elizabeth in his arms for a long moment. "You are going to discourage time magic?" He asks, as he holds the sorceress close. "Nothing good seems to come of it."
The two hold the embrace for a long minute until Saleh turns his head towards the door. "I'll go and talk to her." He says, voice sad. "She's been so enthusiastic about coming home. Give me a little time before you join us? And then I'm going to talk to Angelica. Does she... remember everything when she, err... grows up and down? If I tell her something now, will she remember it the next time she gets bigger?"
Two minutes later he eases open the door to their shared room to find Melissa curled up on the bed. She looks very small and vulnerable as she hugs a pillow into her midriff as though to hold the pain inside.
Saleh removes his gear and climbs into bed, his much larger form wrapping around Melissa and her pillow to hold her tight. He rests his chin atop her red hair and then, very slowly, begins to hum. It's a tune from the deepest corners of his memory, one he can barely remember, but it still carries an impression of warmth, happiness and safety. So he holds his wife and hums, until the tears slow down and finally stop.
"Did you know how close we came to never meeting?" He asks eventually, once Melissa's breath has subsided from the hiccuping sobs to a more normal tone. "The night we first met, I'd already gone past the inn. I only had a couple of coppers left and while food was tempting I was going to push on. But then, maybe a mile further up the road when I was looking for somewhere I could rest safely I found a hollow. It was dry, sheltered, an excellent place to stop - but I wasn't the first one there. There was a mother wolf with a litter, or more exactly a single pup. It was obviously weak and the mother had stayed with it rather than abandon it as they normally do." He pauses for a long moment, his hand stroking circles over the pillow Melissa is still clasping.
"I didn't want to drive them off, not the pup as well. So I turned around and headed back to the inn. Where we met." There's a lift in his voice that is tangible. "It was a small thing, a very small thing, but it changed my life completely." Gentle pressure forces Melissa to roll over so she can see Saleh's scarred face and brown eyes over her own. "If the wolf hadn't had her cub there I'd never have gone to the inn. We'd never have met and well... some of us would have died in the forest that night. But she did, I did, and we did." He leans in to press his nose to Melissa's.
"What I'm trying to say is that we make our future my Spitfire. Every choice we make changes things, and maybe the gods know how it will all play out, but we don't. I hope we will have beautiful children together, and we never have to call any of them Elizabeth. But one thing I do know," Out of the corner of his eye Saleh sees the door open and Elizabeth steps quietly into the room. "I know that I will love you both until the end of time itself." With that, he presses a deep kiss onto Melissa's lips and then rolls over to the other (cold!) side of the bed, leaving space for Elizabeth to join them.
"After all Mrs Daylenne, what sort of spouses would we be if we left Mrs Daylenne to deal with sadness on her own? After we took her name and everything?"
"Take your time." Saleh says with a smile. "I certainly plan to!" He raises one hand and lands a hearty smack on Melissa's rounded buttocks. "Besides, this one has enough appetites for us both I think!"
He isn't expecting Elizabeth to start any time soon, days -> weeks rather than hours :P
"Slowly. Please." Saleh says in a rather surprised tone. "Well that was... mind opening." His cock, still inside Melissa twitches as Elizabeth withdraws. "I... could probably do that again." He says, "Although it moght tale me a while before id be ready for... that."
He raises his head to lok at Elizabeth over Melissa's naked shoulder. "So? Feel ready for some new experiences in the future? If i can learn to do it..."
"They arent all bad people. From what ive heard she was actually at one of the 'better' places." Saleh agrees, glad that he doesnt have to talk his wife down from a murder spree. "Elozabeth is our first priority right now. Youre absolutely right."
He places a kiss on Melissa's forehead and then heads downstairs to arrange for a regular succession of hot meals. He isnt going to wake his wife before shes ready but there is absolutely going to be food when she does.
"Later." Saleh mouthes behind Elizabeth's back. "We need to get our wife home."
Once the three have returned to their long lease room, at a different inn, Saleh guides Elizabeth into the bath and then takes his position behind his wife so that he can wash her hair, while Melissa climbs right into the tub with Elizabeth. They smother her in love and attention before whisking the exhausted woman to bed and cuddling in on eother sode of her. Only once shes asleep do Saleh and Melissa slide out of bed again and speak quietly together.
"The womens warden was Warden Mabel. A stout woman, elderly with grey hair and a drink problem." Saleh says quietly. "I didnt work with the women so i dont know much. Their resident 'magic specialist' however was a blonde man called Doctor Parton. Slimy bugger who likes power. From the rumors on the ward he studied to be a mage but had no talent so he likes to lord it over the patients who do. Nothing sexual, one of the porters thinks he prefers men anyway, but mind games and power plays. Petty tyrrany." Saleh's mouth works like hes sucking a lemon. "What are you thinking?"
Saleh entered the lushly appointed office without making any attempt to hide the sneer that curled his lip as he did so. The administrator, a fat, balding man from one of Crossing’s notable families looked up with a sneer of his own.
”I have an important meeting. Get out. If you have an issue take it up with your superior, don’t come and bother me with it.” The ‘you aren’t important enough’ is implied.
”No.” Saleh replied, striding forward to loom menacingly over the functionary at his desk. ”Warden Smythe received my resignation an hour ago. I am your appointment. I’ve been here to keep an eye on you and your…” He practically spat the next word, ”establishment. Lord Harrington and my wife meet for tea twice a week, I’m sure he’d be interested in what I have to say if it’s not worth ‘bothering’ you with.” The look of shock and fear that pasted itself across the pale flash was balm to Saleh’s soul – badly jaded after two weeks working in the Fairhallow Hall for Mental Ease.
”No, no. Please, sit, Mr… Daylenne? I… err, had no idea. Please… I have the papers here!”
Saleh sat, pulling his chair across the expensive wooden floor with a deliberate harsh scraping so that he could continue to loom over the administrator who was by now desperately shuffling through the neat piles of paper on his desk to find the letter Saleh and Melissa had composed, borrowing Elizabeth’s signet ring to lend authenticity to their missive.
”Ah, yes.” The administrator practically sighed with relief when the thin file emerged from under a fine linen napkin stained with gravy and the pastry remnants of a fine pie, whose scent of onions and gravy still lingered in the air. Flipping it open he scanned the document and Saleh could see the man’s confidence returning the more he read.
”Well Mr Daylenne. I’m afraid based on what I see here… uncontrollable magic, public endangerment, the patient has been confined here by order of the courts. And here,” He added, pulling another sheet and offering it to Saleh. ”Her treatment records, not all that could be desired I am afraid. I really couldn’t authorise her release at this time without…”
The look of smug complacency mixed with expectation evaporated as Saleh slammed a dagger down into the desk, right between two fat, bejewelled fingers.
”No.” Saleh’s voice was quiet, but laden with menace. ”She is a patient, not a prisoner, and she is leaving, today. You are going to write the release forms, to be fulfilled immediately. Then you and I are going to sit here, politely, like gentlemen and I’m going to tell you all the things I’ve witnessed while I worked here. Then you are going to show me just how much you don’t want your board of patrons finding out what you are using their generous donations for, and exactly why their hysterical daughters and addicted sons come back so compliant and quiet." Hard dark eyes bored into pale blue ones until the administrator nodded and gingerly withdrew his fingers from around the knife.
With the papers signed and dispatched the two men proceeded to have a low voiced conversation, heads close together. To anyone observing them, such as the administrator’s secretary who was worrying about the days schedule slipping away, they were simply having a private conversation, probably about a patient with ‘delicate’ health.
Ten minutes later Saleh breathed fresh air with more pleasure than he had for a long time. The lingering foulness of Fairhallow had seeped into his bones over the two weeks he’d worked there, unwilling to simply leave Elizabeth locked away without any idea of how she was doing. Catching sight of his wives just outside the ‘side’ exit he quickened his steps to catch up with them both and offer Elizabeth his arm instead of Melissa’s. The weight she immediately transferred to it was more evidence, if any were needed, of just what she had faced.
”Let’s get you home.” He said, tone gentle. ”We’ve taken lodgings, fully furnished and very pleasant. The bath will be ready when we get back.”
As the throuple turned the corner, and Fairhallow disappeared, Saleh leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Elizabeth’s cheek.
”We missed you.”
Health +5
Grit: Catch My Breath twice between each rest.
Combat Mastery: As combat expertise, but cumulative. Requires different targets for each attack.
New profession.... Animal trainer, because why not?
Saleh drops his weapons and sweeps Melissa into a huge embrace, rather than continue the 'fight'. He's just too relieved that she's still in one piece.
Insanity:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4Frightened for 5 rounds. Got married, good things!
Despite the demons horrifying appearance Saleh draws strength from the memory of his wedding and fights back against the darkness, lashing out with sword and axe.
