Fallen Oak (PK)

[BonesOfTheEarth 2252]

Defeat lingered in the Chimera like a bad taste. A boiling rage from the results of his efforts going to waste.

 

Defeat? No - He wasn't defeated. He won. Their group cleaved through their enemies like it was nothing, as that is their purpose. Beings who fight every day of their lives did not know defeat by the hands of mortals. But this feeling within him, it was not normal. Leif was dead, he was uninjured. But still... It was decades in the making.

 

He had spent the better part of eight years hiding in the walls of their home upon Almaris. Learning, watching the children grow into adults. At first he simply had no interest in Leif, until the eve when he was discovered. The Chimera remembered quite well the shocked faces of the de Senna's when he could call them by name. Talk of their past, revealing he had always been watching. But Leif's reaction was one of anger, and he helped to drive the then-young demon off.

 

He became a target. The Chimera was certain he saw a spark of potential there. He would drive Leif further and further into corners, injuring him, taking from him. All with the goal of one day twisting him down a more vile path. A darker existence. Had he miscalculated? To finally enact his plan, only to have Leif so filled with hate he would accept a foul end to his life rather than continue it as something new? An act chosen purely to spit upon the Chimera's effort, as far as he was concerned.

 

This was a new kind of defeat. An unpleasant one.

[wootdahnoot 131]

Baudemund Euler lowered the parchment with a slow shake of his head, a deep, stinging ache settling in his chest. He struggled to accept the loss of the man who had been more mentor than knight to him. With sorrow weighing down his voice, the squire murmured, “Do not fear, Ser Leif. You will be proud — I will not fail you. Rest well now.”

[_xMika 284]

With quivering hands the poor de Senna held the missive, tears roll down his cheek though his expression grew stoic. . cold, the fire of grief had finally broken the man, his entire house was a mess, broken chairs, destroyed paintings, bloodied knuckles. . his rage had finally taken the better of him.

"Two of them now, taken from me. . Father"

he murmurs underneath his breath as he finally knee's to the floor, his gaze shaking with an unwavering anger for those who caused it

"Why must GOD be so cruel to me?"

"No. . . this must be another task right? I must slay those responsible right? Tell me. . . "

It's as if the man had gone insane, he spoke to himself as if someone could answer him but as per usual. . . nothing was said back 

 Yet again Edgar would grieve, not only for his mother but now, his father as well how worse could it get for a man like him.

[_RoyalCrafter_ 5285]

Arturas Miklos remained bedridden, as he struggled to breath the air of his own home. News of Leif's death was delivered reluctantly to him causing him to clutch his heart and wince in pain, as if news of the tragedy made his injuries worse. He turned to his side, ready to weep but it was too cumbersome to even do that.

In his mind he thought. "Leif... you died a true Silasian's death. I wish I taught you more. Thank you, my nephew, for everything"

[Dramatude 861]

Nuvilta's eyes fluttered open, a low groan slipping past her lips as pain rushed through her body. The world around her spun as she blinked to life, shapes and shadows blurring until the familiar beams of her room in Berzynstadt finally steadied. Blood throbbed beneath her bruised skin. Her last memory was a blow to her head before darkness.

"Leif!" The name tore out of her, sharp and panicked. Her breath quickened as she struggled upright, only to find Kajus beside her, his hand warm and steady as it brushed her forehead.

 

"Where is Leif, Kajus!? Did they... did they take him?" She tossed away the blankets and tried to rise, flinching as a lance of pain erupted through her ribs. Kajus guided her down, murmuring something gentle, something grounding, but she barely heard him over the pounding in her ears.

 

Then he pressed a sealed parchment into her trembling hands.

 

Her fingers trembled as she broke the wax. A cold, dread settling into her bones. She knew the answer to her question. She had known the moment she'd awoke.

"Cousin..." she breathed, the word catching in her throat. Tears welled, blurring the ink. Grief struck like a blade between her ribs. Beneath it, a deeper, heavier ache set in. She had failed him. She hadn't been strong enough. hadn't been fast enough. She hadn't been prepared for the worse as a true leader should be. While she had been knocked unconscious, helpless, Leif had been taken from her reach.

"If I hadn't fallen... if I'd stayed on my feet and..." Her voice faltered, grief twisting with regret. "I should've protected him." The parchment crumbled under her grip as she held it close to her chest. Her heart was again hollowed.