Barren broken landscape stretched out before the wraith as her emerald eyes pierced through the veil of her own thoughts. Tension still rolled down her shoulders as she moved with the confident grace of a battle hardened goddess. She sought battle, she sought prey, and she sought something she could not name and feared to name and it beat within her breast like a second heart.


She slowed carefully to a stop suddenly aware that she was not alone. But as to what creature lingered so near she was uncertain. The air was calm, no breeze to carry scent and her nostrils flared. The sun was setting across from her, it's fading orange light seeming to glow with a vibrant fever in the heated haze of spring that was swiftly turning into summer. She growled lightly. D?gmar was a beast of ice and snow, a creature born to the chill bosom of winter. She did not look forward to this change in seasons.


"Speech"

Broken, he wandered. The boy's mind was fragmented, his thoughts scarce. He was vaguely aware of moving, but he'd long since forgotten why. All he knew was that he needed to find Esti. Every once in a while the child would pause, his goal forgotten. He'd stand listlessly, swaying slightly, until his mind would return. The one thought that kept him going would echo through his mind and he'd be off again. Esti. The wounds on his chest were infected. The skin was red and bulging, a volcano of infection waiting to erupt. Blood and ichor stained his chest and legs, dried in some places and moist in others from the constant seepable. The boy was in a tremendous amount of pain. If he were more aware of his surroundings he would have been on the ground writhing. Instead he ambled on like a zombie, his gait pained and slow, his gaze empty and distant. Though he was slowly moving towards her, Daegmar went unnoticed. His ears didn't hear and his eyes didn't see. He simply moved and did a poor job of turning oxygen into carbon dioxide. "Speech"

It moved like something dead, strung along the flow of fate with no direction or will of it's own. D?gmar's eyes narrowed as she took in the form of the half dead male. It would be mercy to kill him now but her queen wanted "decorations" in the form of trophy's as a testament to D?gmar's battle skills as well as her blood lust. The death of this whelp would satisfy neither requirement. And yet, as often was the case, her curiosity tickled at her brain. What was a creature of such age doing out on his own anyway? He was a yearling, a rather large one at that and a fighters build. The gears in her mind began to click and hiss.


She knew some basic first aid, as a warrior and Marquis that was practically a requirement. However, she didn't know enough to fully help the boy. He'd need to be taken to a healer to recover and she struggled to recall if Elysium even had one.


"What desire moves a decaying body forward? What do you cling to life for, boy?"

He paused. Or maybe something stopped him. The boy blinked slowly. There was fogginess to his brain that made simple thoughts difficult. He blinked again, the fog lifting slightly, and fixed bleary eyes on Daegmar. "Esti?" The name was whispered through dry lips. It took him a moment to recognize that the wolf before him was not his sister. He stared at her uncomprehendingly. Why wasn't she Esti? That's who he was looking for. This was...who was this? Her coat was dark...like the fae who'd fought him. Laufey stared hard at her for a number of seconds until his mind finally made itself up. No, it was not the shadow. Moving at the speed of molasses in winter, his brain took several more seconds to register that he'd been asked a question. From there, as he tried to formulate an answer, it poked along like a turtle. The gears moved oh so slowly. The infection coupled with dehydration was slowly eating away at his ability to form a coherent response. To begin with, that he was able to understand the question he'd been asked was a marvel. When he was at last able to answer, the boy was a bit defeatist. Sardonically, he replied, "I don't. It refuses to let go of me." And with that he began to wander again, taking a few slow steps forward as his mind hazed over. Esti. She was out there somewhere. She could help him. "Speech"

He swayed and tottered as he came to a halt before her. She could see his mind struggle to process what lay before him, longing for death that his body refused to give him. The instinct to survive was the boys master but his subconscious was not without a knife in the dark and that knife was tipped with the name Esti. Hmm? D?gmar's memories trickled through her calculating gaze. Come to think of it she remembered seeing a female that looked similar to this boy? smelt similar. She'd attacked the girl when she was delirious with plague.


"No." D?gmar said coldly as he spoke the name to her. She was not Esti. The wraith stood still and quiet in her deadly patience as the boy struggled to process the femme that stood before him.


I don't. It refuses to let go of me.


"Then you have unfinished business. Business you can not complete walking the wastes like a ghost. Come. Your wounds need tending." The order was swift and sharp and she turned slightly, eyes watching him carefully for his answer.


"Speech"

His mind was already gone. Daegmar's command went unnoticed. Somewhere in the recesses of his ill mind the words registered, but any understanding he had for them was buried under the fog. The mindless need to find his sister was all he knew. There was fever burning him out and if she wished to grab his attention she was going to have to try harder. If his wits had been around him, the boy would have scoffed at her words. Part of him would have been pleased with them, the part of him that desired a purpose, but his heart was calloused to such things. He'd been let down too many times, had too many things go wrong, for him to consider the possibility that there was something out there for him to do. He'd always been on the outskirts of everything, aimless, purposeless and without any real "business". The idea that he had unfinished business was absurd. He continued on his aimless path around Daegmar. Esti. The named rattled around inside his head, bouncing off the walls and whispering in time with his heartbeat. Esti. Esti. Esti. He would see her one last time before he died. "Speech"

ooc: i didn't figure you'd want an actual fight but let me know and I'll edit

Cold eyes watched him like a vulture eyeing a dying carcass. My, my he was stubborn. The boy moved to go past her as he continued on in his aimless, wandering and for a moment she considered letting him go. What could she do with a zombie anyway? Of what use could he be to her? But then he was well built and his body was strong even if his mind was failing. And hell? it wasn't like his mind was that necessary. She could mold him into what she needed but first he would have to come with her. Even if that meant she had to drag him back kicking and screaming? though the later was unlikely. He was little more than a shell.


As Laufey started to move past her right side D?gmar twisted her neck to the right, gaping jaws aiming to get a hold of the boys scruff. Her intent was to catch hold and yank him back before releasing. Even if she missed perhaps he'd pay more attention when snapping jaws aimed at him.


"I'll take you to Esti you idiot. Now pay attention and follow me."

Reaching jaws would grasp him suddenly by the neck, pulling the fever weary boy off balance and sending him to his elbows. For a moment Laufey was still, too stunned by the his sudden descent to move. His mind struggled to make sense of it; he had been walking and now he was not. It made no sense. Dumbly, he looked up at Daegmar hoping she could make sense of what happened to him. At last it occurred to him that she was the reason he was on the ground, but he couldn't find it within himself to care; her next words demanded too much of his attention. Esti? She would take him to Esti? He glossed over the 'idiot' part entirely. All that mattered was Esti. Daegmar could have christened him any number of demeaning things and he would have accepted them all if it meant seeing his sister again. Sure, they butted heads more often than not, but out of their whole family, only she had made a point to stick with him. For her he'd do anything. The promise of seeing his sister awakened a desire to move and Laufey slowly got to his paws. He swayed once, twice, and then managed to get his balance. Once he was sure his paws were under him for good, his eyes went once more to Daegmar. "Okay." For Esti, he would follow. "Speech"