Y'Roden's Stories

Y'Roden's Resurrection

Images flickered and waned, flashes of Y’Roden’s memories. Faces… his children, his family… and his voice… the low, gravely baritone running the gambit of emotion as moments rolled by.

“Ghettie?”

The fall ended in a jolting halt, the darkness rippling away to reveal a coniferous forest surrounding a rough cabin on the edge of a lake. There was no one anywhere to be seen, even Ghet’s guide had disappeared. Only the lake seemed alive, and within its depths a thousand faces roiled and screamed. They bore the marks of torture and death, expressions twisted forever in horror and pain…

Among them, head bowed so his could not be seen, was Y’Roden D’Riel, suspended a foot beneath the surface. His body was laced with wounds, blood staining the water red, and he was not moving.

Ghet staggered to her feet, disoriented, her head still spinning from those awful words. It took her a moment to work out where she was, and then she screamed, horror so deep that, back in the crypt, her weakening body screamed too. Her eyes searched the lake, frantic, "Y'Roden! Rodi!"

She knew where he had to be, she knew. The tie of soul that bound her to her body rippled, over-stretched, fraying, but she hardly felt it. Clothing and weapons melted from her body as she pushed forward, into the lake and the depths of the madness she'd been staving off for hours. Weeks. Her mind pounded with panic, the fire in her soul flaring sickly and flickering. She slipped smoothly beneath the surface, not fighting, screams and whispers, untold horrors sliding over her and through her. The only thing she had left was her absolute determination to find Ro. The touch on her body was foul, like rancid oily hands in her hair, on her skin, between her legs, but she had to find Ro.

She broke the surface and dove, again and again. Then she found blood in the water and followed it, hands closing on his body before she really saw it. Something dragged at her, pulling her backwards, away from him. She clung to him hard, fighting with all her strength, holding nothing back. She kissed his mouth, flooding him with her desperation and her love. Rodi! Come back!

The half-elf’s body jerked, heavy arms instinctively wrapping around Ghet’s waist, holding her fast in stubborn resistance to the force tugging at her. Emerald eyes cracked open, staring, unseeing for several heartbeats.

”Ghettie? What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.” He kissed her back, hard, before it dawned on him that it was wrong. Ghet wasn’t his… she hadn’t been for a very long time. Pulling back he kicked upwards, their heads breaking the surface, “Go back,” the words were full of anguish, “there is nothing left for me there Ghet. I only put those I love at risk.”

Relief flooded through her, but the look she gave him was ferocious, a feral aggression very few had ever seen in her. He was one of them. "No. I won't go back without you. I mean that. I'm not leaving you." She kissed him again, deliberately, her arms locked around his neck to stop them being parted. "Not ever again. You're safe if you're with me."

Confusion hazed his eyes and the half-elf shook his head. “I… I don’t understand. What are you saying? There is no way for us to be together Ghettie. I didn’t think you wanted us to be together.”

Ghet shook her head, smiling. It was a hell of a gamble she was taking, and no matter what happened, she would lose something hugely valuable. The die was cast now, though, there was no point in fretting. "I couldn't come in here after you with nothing to offer. You need a reason. And there is nothing I wouldn't do to get you out of here. Nothing is impossible. You know I've always loved you." She reached up to stroke his hair. This had to be the least romantic venue ever. "Marry me."

Shock flickered across Ro’s features and he simply stared at her for a moment, closing his eyes as she touched his hair. “Ghet… Ghettie… I love you, but I can’t. I can’t share you anymore. I love you too damn much. Being without you even half of the time… it killed me then, it’d kill me now.” It was all so strangely surreal… “I’m an all or nothing sort of guy my Lisse Nwalme, it just took me a long time to realize it.”

"I'm not asking you to." Securing her grasp with her right hand, she held the left up between them. Back in the real world, her wedding ring was in the pocket of her dress. "I'm not asking you to share, Rodi, I know you wouldn't. I'm offering you everything." Her expression flickered, exhaustion passing over her. She was at her limit. "A whole life. Mine. Ro, I left. Rhagi's back at Silver Dragon Ridge, waiting for us. Please. I knew you wouldn't settle for anything less. I'll be yours, just yours. Tell me you want that. Tell me it's enough to live for."

The S’Hean’s expression softened to a quiet, unbelieving awe, eyes focused on her bare ring finger. They shifted slowly to denim blues, the depths of emerald gems sparking with a soft light. “You left… for me?” Ro’s hand slid to the back of Ghet’s head, holding her immobile as he kissed her, rough with pent up emotion. Tearing away, he let his forehead rest against hers, breathing heavily, “It's more than enough Ghet… I want it… I want you, more than anything.” Heavy muscled arms crushed her to him, “I want to come back… I want to live.”

The lake screamed with a chorus of voices and white light exploded around them, searing hot and cleansing. There was a drop, then a painful jolt, and the world went glimmering green. Lungs burned as they struggled to draw in air and for the briefest moment, emerald met denim through the casket. A memory… it was fading, and he was trying desperately to cling to it. So important… more important than air.