soul forged

Chapter 5

Pharuan never stops moving, his foot steps might be slow and uneven, his mind clouded and unaware where he is going but he does know if he wants to live he must keep going. The sun is falling low, the cold day turning into an even colder night that bites at his exposed flesh. You'll never appreciate a dry warm pair of socks and a solid pair of boots until you do not have them. As the moon takes its spot in the sky, hoots of owls and howls of wolves break into the air.

Those howls grow closer, the pack must have caught the scent of blood. Trying to quicken his pace Pharuan catches a lurching tree root causing him to stumble, falling down a small hillside he rolls over and over again finding rocks and other debris that does nothing to slow his fall but at the bottom of the hill a nice full bush of thrones welcomes him with a big hug. Finally coming to a halt Pharuan lays there breathing heavily, broken in mind, body and spirit. The howls nearly upon him now sound more like a mocking laughter at his stupidity of falling in such a comical way.

Weakly lifting his head from the thorns to look back up the hill he sees not wolves but another pack of deadly wargs looking down at him. All the deadly foes he has fought, the adventures he shouldn't have come home from now are stories to tell as he drinks with friends and this might be his end. Laying broken of his will to fight back in a bush while a pack of overgrown dogs tear him apart. No! The voice in his head yells out. This is not my end Pharuan tells himself as through force of will he urges his body out of the bush and back to knees.

A warg leaps forth to end the little fight that worked its way back into the man. "I don't think so pup." Elazor rasps out as her fist breaks the snout of the attacking creature, sending it sailing backwards into a heap on the ground. She snarls at the rest of the pack as an enormous minotaur clad in his decorative heavy plate armor makes his way up to her side. This pair, apparently imposing enough, the wargs decide this is not a meal worth fighting over, they growl and snap the air in front of them as they slowly back away.

Once the threat is out of sight and hearing the orc rushes to her masters side. Tears in her eyes as she gazes over his broken body, even in the moonlight she can tell he is in bad shape. Pulling him up from his knees, Elazor gazes into his eyes that can barely stay open, but she sees an ever so slight smile creep across his lips. She pulls him into a tight embrace. He lets his body sink into the warm hug, wanting her but also just wanting to soak up the body heat. With a broken voice she berates her master. "You ever frighten me like that again I'll kill you myself! Giving yourself up like that, making us run around the woods looking for your ass when we had a perfectly good plan to break you out of that prison."

Pharuan manages a mangled chuckle. "Sorry didn't mean to take all the fun for myself."

Elazor narrows her eyes still lined with tears into an angry glare. "We thought we lost you. Please don't make light of this."

Pharuan feels small hard shelled claws wrap around from the back of his neck and another voice sounds. "Yeah bud, don't be worrying us like that." Rand doing his best to join in on the hug and tender reunion of these companions.

Weakly Pharuan Turns his head to see the claw hugging him as tightly as he can. "What the hell?"

Elazor lifts him into her arms, as Wellington sends a magical flare high into the sky to signal he has been found and usher everyone looking to make a retreat back to base. The orc can feel her beloved tuck away into her arms and allowing himself to drift into a slumber, or with his state of being maybe it should just be called a coma. She does not care, she only pulls him closer to her, thrilled to have him back alive and in one piece. She moves slower than she would prefer but the minotaur at her side assures her his life is in no immediate danger and were he will need much healing they need not overly rush.

It takes most the night to reach the base, but finally Elazor places him upon a bed next to her sisters. Both are in a deep slumber to help recover from the injuries they have endured. In the light she can see just how mangled his body really is.

A drider approaches the bed to attend to Pharuans wounds but Elazor lets out a warning growl. The spider legs slowly back away, leaving the orc to take care of him herself. She would never call herself a healer or medic but he always insisted she know how to perform at least the basics. She always complained, whining at him like a toddler cus she didn't want to spend the time learning that. Now looking at the 2 people she loves most in the world laying unconscious, bloodied, beaten and knowing she could have lost either one or even both so easily, she is so happy he forced her to learn.

Pulling a pair of scissors from a shelf she cuts free the rags of clothes that remain on his body. A bowl of bloodied water still rests on the table next to Zarras bed. Elazor uses her limited magic to cast a cleansing spell, the fouled water turns crystal clear. Another spell to warm the water until it steams. With a clean rag she gently starts dabbing away half dried blood from his body, his purple hued skin almost completely covered in long healed scars. Blood still slowly trickling out of new wounds that will be adding to the map of scars.

She gets down to his foot, the horrible boiling burns left it with the muscle pulling away from the bone. As gentle as she can be every single touch still causes the slumbering man to twitch from the pain. The moans of pain cause the drows bandaged covered hand to reach across the space and rest on his chest. Her eyes never open just an instinct to try and comfort him.

Tears slowly roll down Elazor's cheeks as her mind screams at how close she was to losing him so many times. The sound of hooves on the stone turns her head to the door. Wellington enters the room, no longer in the shinning heavy armor but instead in a pristine white and gold tunic.

He holds his large hands up in surrender. "Easy, I'm only here to help. He is my friend as well."

She knew he had a old minotaur friend, has heard stories of the 2 of them slaying monsters back in his early days. now Looking at his face laced with burn scars under the thin layer of fur that has grown back over the years. That's how Wellington and Pharuan meet. His old mistress sent him out on one of her little errands and he found himself facing down a dragon in the end. Wellington stepped in front of the fire breath saving his life but leaving himself mangled.

Elazor nods, giving the minotaur her permission to enter and do as he can. his large fingers weave magic as he whispers out the spells words in his rich deep voice. the light of the spell lingers for long moments over each section of Pharuan's body before sinking its healing power into the flesh. The wounds heal more and more with each passing of his hand. Scars becoming less visible but the worst injuries would take a much stronger spell to erase their brush strokes from the canvas that is his body.

Seeing her love have his pain and suffering eased in his sleep allows the orc to relax herself. "Thank you."

"Sad to say he has had many more scars than his body still shows. The minotaur turns the slumbering man onto his stomach so he might heal more wounds down his back. That is when Elazor sees those almost uniformed scars going down both sides of his spinal cord. He has had those marks for as long as she has known him and he has never told her or Zarras how they happened. Seeing that they do not heal from the clerics spell, unlike other scars that all diminished to some degree she is once more eager to figure out what caused them.

"Wellignton, you have known him longer than my sister or I. Do you know the story of those marks?"

Wellington gazes on the scars running down his back like that of the eye holes of a corset. "I do."

Waiting several long drawn out moments, Elazor expects him to say more before she pursues him further. "Well, Would you tell me what happened? They didn't heal at all from your spell."

"My lady, if he has not told you I am sure he has his reasons for that. I would not want to betray his trust and speak his business, I will tell you however some wounds can not heal when the real scars they leave behind are not only on the flesh but on one's soul itself."

"On his soul?" She lets out in a gasping whisper. Her fingers run over the lumps of flesh, he has experienced so much pain. Much more than one man should endure in a single lifespan. That's when Zarras begins to stir herself awake and she moves to her side. Once fully awake she explains everything that has happened and they both take more time to sit with Pharuan, ensuring he is not left alone while he slumbers.