[An RP encounter between Caldiin and Lyrena Auberan]
Caldiin rested along the dark shores just east of the small town Cawdor where he intended to pass through later that evening, once the sun had settled down beyond the Silvering Sea, leaving him the blanket of darkness to conceal himself within. There was a small fire nearby and his carriage had been parked with the horse removed from it to rest, preparing for the long journey tomorrow. He crouched next to the fire, his masked remained on to protect his identity, especially after the news of the missing King from his throne, his face would more than likely be recognized, even outside of the kingdom. No, he would not be safe 'til he had completely left the realm of the High King… though maybe not even then? He sighed and prodded at the fire, a kettle rested on on a rock, warming up the water inside, perhaps for a drink, or his food. A dim light flickered from beneath the hood over his mask as he looked off in the direction of Ansa`fel, where he came traveled here from over the past couple days, then he looked to the caravan where his brother rested.
Lyrena Auberan had been on the road for over a day now now - on a hunt for her late liege's killer. So she had started to believe herself too, even though the Blood elf held out hope that Iskrin's suspicions - and her own - weren't true, and Malekith was still alive, one way or another. The Dame Commander and the two Guardians she had taken with her, one of them the half-giant Tyrasius, hitched at the nearby coastal town of Cawdor - where the Guardians had been tipped the previous day that that a suspicious man with a similar build and other qualities of either of the twin, elven brothers had been seen in the surrounding region, riding from Ansa'fel's direction - cloaked, and with a caravan loaded with something human-sized…
After a long day of asking around and investigating leads, it was getting late. The Dame Commander allowed her two associates to rest at the tavern. She alone decided to investigate one last lead for the day, one that didn't seem terribly likely or trustworthy, but considering time was of the essence, the Blood elf decided to give it a shot. The coastal fishermen had seen a hooded man with horses and a wagon setting up camp on the edge of dark forest outside of Cawdor, by the beaches. Eventually, Lyrena saw the little campfire from afar. The only one for a while, it looked like. The Blood elf huffed through her nose as she watched the scene. It was a bit too dark, and a bit too far, for her to tell whether this was her suspect. She hitched her horse on a tree not too far from the stranger's camp, then made her way down the muddy shores. She would at least question the man if he had seen anything, if nothing else. However, the closer the blonde got to the seated man, the more her eyes clenched. A familiar frame clad in regal, expensive armor that shined in the fire's flickering light… She took her final step, close enough now that her approach was beyond obvious, even though the campfire didn't quite shine a light on her. She just stood in place, as she noticed that familiar mask under the elven man's hood, bearing a single eye-hole glowing with an unmistakable green flame. She stood motionless. Her heart had already skipped a beat. Now, she was just internally coming to terms with the reality of what she was seeing - of the way things were. Her teeth began to grit as a quiet rage came upon her, one she struggled to contain. Her fists clenched several times as she watched the seated man, and the carriage near him. Her hand reached for her axe, taking the weapon out, but not yet activating its enchantments. The Blood elf grunted and stepped closer. "You will be executed for what you have done.", she called out in a growl, her voice frustrated, perhaps even pained.
Caldiin continued to poke at the fire, tossing a few dry branches and logs on to keep it going for his food. His eyes remained steady on the flame as it flickered and danced before him, spitting and crackling. His horse reared its head some when the Blood elf passed and Caldiin glanced up past his fire at her, she could see the green Fel energy smoldering from under the hood as it appeared his had done something to activate it, possibly giving him an ability to see her through the darkness, maybe for something else? He however, did not move. Sighing deeply he pulled the hood down and removed his mask, revealing his all too familiar face, but he did not look like a man who thought he had won, or had been caught. It was the same look she seen on him back at the palace when they last spoke, a broken look. The corruption that had once been in his eyes dissipated and he raised his hand to begin picking away at his cloak, untying the bands that held it around him. " It's you." He called back to her when she made her threat, no mind to the threats she spat. " I kind of figured it would have been Iskrin." he slowly stood from the ground and the cloak dropped, he was unarmed but even she knew that a blade was not his only weapon. " But I suppose this also makes sense." His blue eyes glanced towards the carriage that was now closer to her than him and then back. The sound of the waves from the nearby ocean crashed against the rocks and the crackling of the fire seemed so much more intense in the darkness that was quickly encroaching on the two figures as they seemed to square off, but it did not seem he wanted to fight. " I know." he replied dimly. "I think I always knew."
Lyrena Auberan narrowed her gaze as that familiar green flame churned again at the eyehole on Caldiin's mask. Though last time she had not felt convinced that the magic was Fel, that contemplative look on her visage showed hints of a renewed suspicion. She huffed again as Caldiin unmasked himself, revealing a face identical to the late Malekith's - and the one she had last spoken to in the palace. They were certainly twins, and if not the physical differences, there truly was something about the emotions on that elven face that Lyrena felt like she had become able to discern. Or perhaps, hindsight was just 20/20. Though the Blood elf had somehow kept herself from interrupting Caldiin thus far, she looked like she had little patience for his words. It was certainly justice and revenge that she had come for, but certainly something must have been staying her blade thus far. "Known that this path would lead you only to ruin? To death?", the Dame Commander spat back. She looked collected, for now, but the malice in her voice was unhidden. She peered at the caravan beside her, then back at Caldiin. "Is he in there?", she asked - or rather, demanded to know, then stepped forward again, unphased by the fire's sudden churn. "You had the nerve to wince and feign sorrow, when last we spoke. Was it regret?", she called out. "Or lies?", she added. "No matter. It is too late for regret. And nor do I have patience for lies."
Caldiin watched her but his emotions remained unchanged, he still seemed disturbed by something and as she moved closer he did not move himself, not make an attempt to defend himself in anyway. He remained completely open to attack if she so chose to do so. He nodded his head. "Yeah. I did not care, I did not listen to reason. I was too focused on my objective." his eyes moved back to the caravan when she asked and he nodded his head, glancing back to meet gaze with her own yellow eyes. Her words seem to cut him deeper then her axe had, the last they crossed blades, and he closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. A quiet reply. "No" but in the moment, it seem to cross to her as clear as day. " I regret. Everything. I know that it changes nothing, I already have gone past the point of no return." The Blood elf would feel a chill in the air, and a frost would begin to creep over her axe slowly. It would not appear to be trying to do anything threatening, maybe it urged her to stay her blade. Caldiin swiped his hand to the side. "Stop." though his words did not seem to be directed at her. As he had, the frost disappeared and with it, the familiar cold. "I will not lie. I took what I wanted, I got what I deserved. And now their is nothing left for me, no more lies. I am undone."
Lyrena Auberan raised her chin as she listened to Caldiin's answers. She watched with disdain, the hand holding her axe occasionally tightening its grip. Though by now, Malekith's brother could likely discern that it must be curiosity - or closure - that was staying the Blood elf's hand, however unreliably. Wanting to know why this man chose the path of darkness and feuded with his own brother until only the latter's death could sate him. "Your objective,", she interrupted. "Killing him.", she gritted her teeth again. The Blood elf shifted a bit, reflexively - as she felt her axe getting colder. Momentarily, she began to assume a combative stance, only to steel herself as she realized that Caldiin was still not making a move. And had addressed… Something? Someone? Certainly not her. Her long eyebrows perked, and the blonde grunted. "Why? Because you lived in his shadow?", she yelled out, remembering Malekith's brief descriptions of his past with Caldiin. "He promoted me. He trusted me...", she said after a brief delay, looking Caldiin in the eyes. "He gave me a home.", she listed as well, becoming more frustrated every time she added a new reason for her loyalties to the King, and her anger for his murder. "Now what? You delay me, so you can convince me to spare you? That I should forsake my duty, because of your past quarrels with Malekith?"
Caldiin only nodded his head as she spoke, agreeing with most of her sentiments. " Yes, and more. At least what I had thought, what I was made to believe. I was decieved into much, blinded by my rage for what had been done to me, taken from me, my home and my family. My brother that I had once loved." he began to walk towards the caravan, rounding the fire. Had she not stopped him he would grab a piece of fabric and pull it away to reveal what was inside, laying in the back. A large crystal like shaped piece of black ice, the light from the fire glimmering off it and in the darkness of the blackened ice, she could make out the shape of boots. As she listed off the things Malekith had done for her he turned and sighed deeply, holding back something in him. " I can understand your anger. I do not blame you, were I in your shoes Im sure I would do exactly what you wish to do to me." he glanced to her axe. " No. Not delay, maybe… I just want to answer a few questions that you may have. Tell you our… his story." he walked back to the fire, leaving her an opportunity to see what was in the caravan if she chose, next to the fire he grabbed another stick log and tossed it on top of the fire. "Whether you believe me or not. I'll leave that up to you. When I am finished, you can kill me and end all of this."
Lyrena Auberan watched as Caldiin made his way to the nearby caravan, and her own stance tightened again. The uncertainty of whether Caldiin would attempt to sucker punch her at any point kept a caution in the Blood elf that frequently bubbled on the surface. She watched the man unveil what looked like a giant slab of ice on the wagon he had been hauling. She saw the odd reflections on the crystals - what looked like to be upwardly pointing boots trapped within. She approached that wagon, where Caldiin had confirmed the corpse of his twin brother laid. As she approached it, her eyes remained on Caldiin for a time. A distrusting and scornful gaze that warned him not to ambush her as she approached the wagon. Now close enough, Lyrena planted her free hand on its edge. Her head leaned in, slowly, until she finally got a good view of the icy sarcophagus that Caldiin had been lugging around in the countryside since his escape from Ansa'fel. A large casing of black ice that contained a man, an elven man. Her troubled expression betrayed that she knew what - who - she stared upon, regardless. The moonlight eventually discerned those features enough - enough so that Lyrena was even able to notice the smile. Corpses after a battle were typically disfigured, with fouled moods on their no longer moving faces. This, it made Lyrena remember Malekith as living. From a time just a few days ago, before all of this. Her eyes clenched closed, and she let out a silent growl. Her hand gripped the edge of the caravan harder, the wood almost cracking. She stayed like that for a few seconds, then peered back to Caldiin. She gripped her axe harder, and turned fully towards him. "No more talk.", she grunted out, before gripping her weapon with both hands, and quickly dashing towards the elven man, before attempting to swing her axe from above at him - her movement fueled by previously held in aggression.
Caldiin had his head low the entire time, and when she looked into the caravan finally and seen the corpse of Malekith, frozen in time, he closed his eyes in a somber moment that was suddenly interrupted by her words which made him look up just in time to see the Blood Elf running towards him, her weapon prepared and ready to strike him. He quickly kicked off the ground, leaped backwards to avoid the swing of her blade and as he had the are around them immediately turned cold, a deep coldness that seemed to waft off his very being and surround her. Ice suddenly shot from where he landed and crept along the ground, if it reached her it would attempt to freeze her boots to the ground in place, halting any further advance. His eyes remained locked on her, though he did not seem to show any change in his emotion, he continued to talk. "Malekith always had been my better, since we were kids. And on the night of his death, it was no different." he continued to put distance between him and the raging Blood Elf. "Like history repeating itself, he offered me a lesson in pain and humility. My anger blinding me to this, I just wanted to hit him. Just one time. " The cold gripped their surroundings and made it difficult to traverse. " Every attack he made were calculated and specifically made to not hit anything vital. No.. it was only to remind me that he was my better."
Lyrena Auberan huffed loudly, stumbling on the muddy ground as the nimble Caldiin leaped back to avoid her axe. By the time Lyrena was ready to begin charging anew, however, she felt her feet start to lock to the earth - her sabatons chained by a rapidly sprawling ice on the ground. The Blood elf attempted to free herself, but found herself unable to, yet. The ice was strong. She growled with her teeth out on show, and her axe's three runes finally lit up, the lightning dancing around its blade. Lyrena peered back at Caldiin, who had decided to continue telling the tragic story of that fateful night. "You want me to feel sorry for you?", she spat out amidst Caldiin's storytelling. At that point, she renewed her attempts to free herself. In a new burst of rage, the Dame Commander managed to break free from her left boot's icy bindings, showing an impressive strength. Then, she freed her other leg. She began to charge again - but the sharp, stabbing cold in the air slowed her advance - perhaps enough that Caldiin would again evade her, if he himself was quick enough. Her axe was swung sideways this time, trying to dig into the twin's armored waist.
Caldiin shook his head without a seconds hesitation after her words. "No." he watched the weapon again as the blade lit up from the enchantment she had placed on it. "I just need someone to know. " when she charged at him he closed his eyes and remained slow, a pillar of ice instinctively rose from the ground near his feet and intercepted the blow from the warriors mighty axe, her blade crashing into it and slicing through with the force of her blow and the powerful magic behind it. He swiftly jumped upwards and spun over and away from her, the intense cold not letting up. " He tried to explain to me again, and again I would not listen. I knew I was no match, I knew in my head that I would probably die, and in all actuality I should have that night. But when I attacked him he did not attempt to evade. My obviously telegraphed attack… it was too easy." he opened his eyes. " He was smiling as my hand reached into his chest and I took his life. " As it went on, Lyrena would realize that Caldiin was not trying to hurt her, nor had he used the green fire that she seen before. In fact, even the ice acted strangely, like a third person who looked only to stop her from hurting him.
Lyrena Auberan was almost blinded at the flash her electric axe caused as it collided with that pillar of frozen water - conductive of the lightning that had almost made it burst. By the time Lyrena dug her axe out of the frost wall, she realized that Caldiin had managed to evade her yet again. She turned around - the heat generated from her rage and adrenaline not enough to overpower the ever-growing magical cold around the two. It started to make her movements jerky, stiff. As Caldiin relayed more of the story to her - more of it seemed to come in a blur to the Blood elf. Her anger had left no room for her sympathy. The brief scenes that popped up in her head - Malekith allegedly smiling as Caldiin slew him. She narrowed her gaze back to Caldiin's face, giving him a rageful look that accused him of lies, of just taunting her. By now, it was getting harder to breathe too. The way Lyrena's lungs seemed to stiffen, every time she drew freezing air. But for now, she did not relent. "You coward!", she growled out - once again interrupting Caldiin near the end. She gathered her strength for another attack. A brisk stride gained her momentum, and she tried again - leaping to try and sink her runed axe's blade into the kingslayer's chest.
Caldiin continued, "I stole his power. Our mother's power. Took it for myself as he continued to mock me with that smile…." he went to move again from her blow but as he dipped to avade his left shoulder caught the blade and it sunk deep into him. Just as it had a sudden burst of cold erupted from him and attempted to blast her away from Caldiin, at the same time it tossed him back and she would see the ice had sealed the wound from bleeding out. Crouched down on his knee he stared back at her, but he did not seem angered or frustrated by the wound she delivered him. " When I took his power I was flooded with the memories of my mother, and those memories that were imprinted on it from him. Memories of intense emotions. " he stood up from the ground but she could see he was hurt pretty bad, and he did not look to have completely recovered from his fight with Malekith those few nights ago. " I seen Iskrin, a man he considered a brother. Etain Moonflower, the first person that made him forget his pain. Ansa`fel and her people, yourself included. And I relived every time he ever slighted me, beat me down for simply trying to reach out to him. When he killed our mother." he gripped at his shoulder and his breathing had become labored.
Lyrena Auberan growled as her blow successfully landed, feeling the blade of her electric weapon cut through the expensive family heirloom metal protecting Caldiin. The Blood elf dislodged her bloodied axe - but before she could even attempt to swing again - she found herself blasted several feet back by that searing gust of frost. Balancing herself with her axe, the Dame Commander just about managed to remain on her knees. Stiff, jerky, and shivering as well. There was frost all over her armor, her skin. Her blonde hair had grown hard and still, and so had her cape. Like a tablecloth left out to dry in the dead of winter. Lyrena grunted, and huffed. Her left arm reached back - slowly, twitching, constricted by the cold. The metal fingers of her gauntleted hand were struggling to bend, but eventually, gripped her stiffened cape - and after three or four aggressive tugs, ripped the cloak off her back. All the while her vengeful eyes were trained on Caldiin still. Eyelashes coated in speckles of snow. Though she had disregarded his story so far, Lyrena couldn't help but continue to listen - now especially. Even if she wanted to hear no more. She pushed herself up to stand, the steam of her labored breaths visible in the arctic air around them. "Shut up.", she bitterly barked out in a cold-induced stutter, to stop the words flowing from his mouth. She stood there, tensed but twitching from cold shivers - considering whether to try again. How to try. She did try, to charge. A few steps later and she had stumbled to a halt. Even her axe felt too heavy to swing effectively. Grunting in frustration, she let her cold, frost-clad weapon go. Her metal fists clenched. Just like that time in the woods, many weeks ago, she tried to tackle her opponent. Pin him to the ground. With one hand, she would attempt to seize his neck - and with the other, maul at his face.
Caldiin closed his eyes while still gripping at his shoulder, the electricity making his left arm completely numb, or because of how deep she cut him maybe? It was unsure but his limb only dangled at his side. "Then I seen why he did it. " even as she advanced and eventually dropped again. "I seen for the first time the reason why he was so cold to me. Why he killed our mother. He did not wish for me to join the High Kings army. And when Orrian had come to kill our mother, he was nerely killed trying to protect her. But even he was too weak at the time. He had no choice… she told him to do it." he opened his eyes and as Lyrena reached to grab him, to pin him down, the ice would suddenly begin to form, to block her advance again but Caldiin waved his hand and forced it away. Grabbing his neck he just stared back at her, not attempting to shield himself from her gauntleted blows to his face. Each hit opening a new wound on his face, his left eye closed shut as blood dripped down it but was suddenly stopped instinctively from bleeding as the cold tried desperately to stop it. "Kill me." he said when he finally had the chance between the blows, when she finally grew just a little tired from hitting him. But it was uncertain if he was telling her what his mother asked of Malekith, or if he was simply asking her.
Lyrena Auberan held down Caldiin firmly to the cold, frosted soil, grunting. Occasionally tugging him an inch from the ground, only to slam him down there. She noticed he was wounded, but the fact that he continued to not defend himself puzzled the Blood elf. It caught her off-guard, again, instilling a delay that Caldiin would surely have used if he intended to trick and ambush her after all of this - what she wanted to believe was some sort of a farce, in her own blind rage, so similar to the one Caldiin himself had said has plagued him since his youth. Her delay managed to let Caldiin speak some more. The Blood elf's ears, though so cold, couldn't help but hear that final twist, the build-up that Caldiin was working to. In her state, Lyrena vaguely sensed the idea behind this confession. Caldiin's own regret and revelations. Her punches were delayed, not quick. The ice slowed the speed of her hands. But was it the ice that was slowing the frequency of her attempts? She stared into those blue, troubled eyes - an untainted part of that bruised and wounded face below. As Caldiin mouthed those final words, Lyrena just watched. Her immense fatigue had started to extinguish her rage. The cold made her own elven features stiffen, prevent explicit emotion from showing. There was a vague frustration, somberness and anger. Her head twitched and shivered for a few moments as she contemplated on what to do next. Whether to do what she had come to do. Her second hand joined her first on Caldiin's throat. Then came a forceful squeeze. Lyrena dipped her head low, and closed her eyes, grunting, as she began to choke, leaning in to put more of her bodyweight into her hands' gripping - as the immense cold, magical presence continued to strike at her, protective of Caldiin. It sought to make her muscles fail, and her morale dim. She would grunt any time Caldiin attempted to speak to her, from this point on - as if trying to drown out his voice, while she attempted to deliver justice. Or so she thought…
Caldiin continued to let her have her way with him, to take away his life as he had Malekith. The coldness continued to surround them but it did not seem to increase, just continue at a steady pace as if it were all it had to give. He searched her face and when her other hand grabbed his throat and squeezed he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, accepting what seemed to be his fate here. " Dont let her take him." his voice trailed off as he dipped in and out of consciousness and then finally his entire body went limp, the cold even immediately stopped as he had too. With her hands on his throat she could feel his heart had stopped beating, what was a raging thunderous drumming previously had all stopped… all had gone quiet, the sound of the waves crashing against the shores and the fire crackling in the background continued on. When Lyrena finally removed her hands from him, his body would stay limp and motionless. Any attempt to check for a pulse or signs of life came back negative, it would appear he was dead. A whole minute passing their would be a sudden resurgence of cold, more intense than before. He didnt move but something inside of him stirred. Caldiin's veins turned black and bulged from his flesh, and slowly his entire body would be covered in these dark veins. Lyrena would recognize this from the time Malekith had over exerted his power in the past and he nerely died, or it seemed that way. The cold was more intense then ever and a strong wind erupted from him, trying to push her away with a sudden blizzard had erupted from his very being. As the cold continued, Lyrena would see the veins begin to spread out and slowly his entire body would be over taken by the strange darkness. Now covering every inch of his flesh, his eyes jerked open, also completely black, and his hand reached up to grab at his heart like he were having a heart attack, gripping at his chest. Something inside his body stirred, and it was attempting to revive him somehow, and it was working. His eyes closed and Caldiin stood up from the ground, eyes still closed. He reached his hand out towards Lyrena and as he had a blast of more ice and cold erupted from around him in attempts to overwhelm her completely.
Lyrena Auberan had continued to violently choke her opponent until she could no longer feel any signs of movement or life - resistance, no matter how involuntary. By the end, her eyes fluttered open, with difficulty. Her eyelids had almost stuck closed, frozen with some wetness. She stared down at that lifeless, beaten face - and breathed heavily, painfully. She found her hands, her arms, almost frozen to that muscular neck - and had to jerk to free herself from it. Lyrena struggled to stand, but eventually she did. The cold punishing her every second for what she had done. She stared down at her handiwork. Not with pride, or glory. Like a hawk, she watched that lifeless-looking body, tired eyes straining to find any signs of movement. Amongst the other thoughts flooding and overwhelming her mind - memories of their past encounter also came to the forefront. How similar, it all was. Her pinning him to the ground. Beating him into unconsciousnes, not death. Not death. Lyrena growled in irritation. Her half-paralyzed from frost body turned back, and lumbered slowly towards her axe. She would finish the job this time. But as she gripped her fallen weapon, she heard something… Something treading on the frost-covered soil behind her… The Dame Commander rapidly turned around - axe in hand. Too slow were her arms, the freezing, stiff armor covering them ruining her efforts. She watched Caldiin rise - resurrected by the same hue of ice she had seen taint King Malekith in the past. She looked into those frightening, black eyes with a defiance of her own, and growled. She tried to lunge at the man - but it was no use, even before that first wave of ice paralyzed her even more. The Blood elf tried to hold out her left arm, where the large dome containing her retractable shield rested on her forearm. The mechanisms within activated - and immediately expanded the each plate of that circular shield, but by then, the elven warrior was unable to even move the shield in front of herself fast enough. The image of ice-corrupted Caldiin holding out his hand, and continuing to overwhelm her with his icy abilities burned into her mind as she was barely able to even more an inch by now - before she finally blacked out.