Light and Shadows

Eternity (Part 1)

Takes place shortly after "The Harvester of Dominion" and "Interrupted".

They brought her to Oribos, originally. Presumably because the majority of the mortal forces were there, and she required the services of mortal healers. But Renathal insisted the Maw Walker be moved to Revendreth as soon as he heard of her condition, with the promise that Sinfall could happily accommodate any number of healers Commander Fordragon cared to send. There was some resistance to this plan - few of the mortals had taken to Revendreth the way the Maw Walker did - but in the end, Draven was sent to the Eternal City to make sure the Dark Prince had his way.

She arrived in the depths of Sinfall slung over the General's shoulder. Renathal had to cut through a crowd of curious onlookers to meet them. Her usual battle robes had been removed and replaced by some thin, white garment that rode up her swinging legs with each of Draven's steps. While he was sure the Stoneborn didn't intend any disrespect, the way he carted the Maw Walker like an empty sack had Renathal equal parts anxious and incensed. It was a long moment before he could tear his eyes from her body and manage a civil greeting to the two additional arrivals he assumed were her healers.

One - a male Sin'Dorei, or Blood Elf, Renathal had met once before - launched into a series of what Renathal considered extremely trivial questions: Where were they to stay? What were they to eat? Could nothing be done about the cold? All while the Maw Walker hung slackly off Draven's back, as colourless as a drained soul.

This was not the first time Renathal had seen the Maw Walker apparently lifeless. As he nodded vaguely at the healer's endless queries, the rest of him waited tensely for those blue-white eyes to snap open and the Maw Walker to scramble off Draven's arm and declare herself entirely fine. But the purple-robed elf waxed on for long minutes about the cold and the dim, red light, interrupted frequently by the other healer, whose race Renathal could not identify. And still, the Maw Walker did not so much as twitch. It was all Renathal could do to keep from shouting at the mortals to shut up and begin their work.

When the mortals' concerns had been addressed to their satisfaction - not that Renathal had any idea to what he had agreed - he insisted the Maw Walker be brought to his own chambers. Whispers rippled through the congregated Venthyr at this pronouncement, and even Draven's face registered stony surprise, but Renathal could not worry about that at the moment. If confronted, he would simply say his rooms afforded the quiet privacy the Maw Walker needed to recover, which was perfectly true. And if rumours continued to spread, he would deal with them later. Renathal's first priority was convincing himself the Maw Walker would be alright.

The bed on which Draven deposited her limp body was Renathal's own; a large, intricately carved four-poster the Master had given Renathal as a gift and which he had pulled strings to have rescued from the ruins of Darkwall Tower. Of course, the hangings had been unsalvageable, and the bedclothes all looted, but it was still the most decadent thing Renathal now owned and the only bit of luxury he had allowed himself while outcast in Sinfall. The sheets were the finest the Night Market had to offer, and the Maw Walker had lain across them many times, in a variety of delectable positions, but never so still, so lifeless.

Of all the many things she had done in this bed, sleeping was not one of them.

In spite of Renathal's consistent offers, the Maw Walker tended not to linger after their evenings together had concluded. He tried not to take this personally - she was exceptionally busy, after all - but it had still been a secret wish of Renathal's for some time to see the Maw Walker asleep next to him. Now, he would have given anything to watch her rise from the bed with that apologetic smile and some inarguable excuse, as she had every time before.

Renathal hovered restlessly by the door to his bed chamber, doing his best to swallow the rising panic as he stared at the Maw Walker's motionless form. If she was truly ended, surely the healers would show more concern?