RP:Arien Lays Trekia to Rest

LOCATION: Frostmaw, Amazing View

The view here is outstanding, and as you gaze out over the edge you can see various familiar places in the distance, such as the sage forest and the Xalious mountains below where you would believe the mines are nearly located close to Melbane. Keeping your footing you may travel along the cliff to the west, or head north.

So began the last trek on the mortal plane for the Silver, the black Lycan Rhocielle carrying the deceased upon a gargantuan and intricately designed cradleboard. Trekia was to be found healed of all injuries sustained in the course of his lifetime. The body could be restored to health by the wolfen Round Guard, but the soul could not. It was beyond his abilities, and the spirit itself now far too long departed to be retrieved. Now only the gods themselves could render life where there was none. The body was strapped to the board with heavy leathers, and made comfortable with the softest of linens surrounding the clothed form of Trekia. True to her word, Arien called for her Round Guard to begin their trip shortly after sunrise. Through Kelay from the Fold Compound, and towards Xalious, they kept to a brisk pace; an attempt to save as much sunlight as they could before their ascent up the mountains to reach Frostmaw. However faint the warmth of the day was in the hellish tundra, it would be stark benefit as opposed to the deathly chill of the night. Paw over paw of the wolfen warder climbed beside hand over hand of the elven woman. Not a moment was spared in the village, too much time lost already on the sheer faces of the cliffs that surrounded the ice community. Sky above them become a painter's pallet of darkening shades of orange and yellow, as they arrived at the cliff's edge that would be the final resting place for the Silver. Appropriate, his form would serve to overlook almost the entirety of Hollow's mainland, cerulean gaze eternally focused from Kelay to Xalious. Though the Lycan was beginning to feel ragged at the expense of having carried such a weight, he gave no visible sign of his impending exhaustion. Ever thoughtful grey eyes looked back to Arien as he began to remove the body from its crafted confines.

Arien had walked ahead of the wolf for much of the day, in part because it was easier for her to move without the restrictions which burdened him, and in part, because she could not bear to trudge along beside the linen wrapped bundle that she knew to be the body of her mate; for once he had been joined to her soul, he had never truly been severed. She may have learned to love again, but she had always been aware that he was out there, somewhere and might some day come home.. He wouldn’t be coming home now. Her heart broke a little more in her chest as she used the physical stress of exercise to drive back the weight of thought; thus it had been, a pendulum of emotion back and forth during the day’s journey, until they had arrived at the cliff face she had chosen. A light snow was beginning to fall, sticking to the stony earth beneath, and the elf drew fur lined hood closer over her hair, emerald gaze watching the wolf unstrap the Silver in thought filled silence. Rho had trudged, uncomplaining for an entire day with the body of the male she had loved, though some part of her knew it had not been an easy decision for him to make himself part of this. For his sake, she would try to be as practical about the arrangements as possible. Eyes lowered to the cradle as bindings fell lose, linen cover slipping momentarily from the face of the Silver. Her gaze softened and she blinked back the tears that threatened. He looked so peaceful..so.. whole. How could he be gone? She turned her back to the scene, and towards the cliff face. For what she had in mind she would need a crevice deep enough to hold him upright, so that he could be sealed in death, as he was in life..on his feet, and ruler of his domain. Searching gaze swept the cliff face until she found what she sought. “ There Rho.. in the shadows, the crevice in the rock. Will you help me position him?” Her voice was husky with unshed tears.

Rhocielle slowly removed the protective linen bandages from around the body once the leathern straps were loosened and set aside. Garbed in the attire of the High Elf's choosing, the dragon was finally freed of the cradleboard and set to stand with the aid of black Lycan. Though ever aware of her presence behind him as he had worked, his ears still perked up to her voice and he turned his attention to the cliff she directed to. Silent, he nodded in agreement. Rigor had far set into the cold bones of the dragon, and it would have been easier for the wolf to simply carry the corpse like a plank, but he did not. There was respect to be had for the dead. Nor did he allow Arien to aid in the positioning. As he had carried the deceased up to Frostmaw, so this was also part of his task. Part of him also did not wish for the High Elf to trouble herself more than she already had been; a day spent in his company, and with the lifeless body of her lost love. Almost ceremoniously, he stepped carefully with the body held in his arms, the Silver's feet never leaving the ground more than an inch or so with each footfall of the Lycan. Reaching the aforementioned nook that would serve partly as the tomb for Trekia, Rhocielle tentatively set the body within. Encased halfway with rock and ice, the equally cold gaze of the once passionate and energetic dragon looked outward to the landscape beyond. His paws removed from the form, the Lycan stood back and now turned his attention to Arien for approval of the position.

Arien didn’t know if to be relieved or upset that her warder would not allow her engagement with the body of the dragon. She wished to remember him as he had been in life..as she had felt him in her dreams, not as this cold empty shell that was but an echo of who he really was. In any event, she was content to stand aside in the ever increasing snowfall-it was as if the frost elements themselves wept for the loss of the frost dragon- and watch the dark form of her warder work on in silence. What would she have done without his reliable presence..without his compassion and patience? She had once been able to say she was friendless in the world. No longer. His work done, Arien nodded her satisfaction of the stance and prospect of the body, and took a few hesitant steps forward, this last, was her task alone to do. Suddenly, in the lengthening shadows of evening, the paladin began to glow, the murmured chant of her prayers to Lauria stirring her mana to life. Tapping into her god gifted power over water, the elementalist spoke to the moisture laden air. Instantly, water molecules sought and found each other, interlocking and building upon one another as they froze into a growing wall of sheer, clear ice from the ground up, sealing the mouth of the crevice- its eternal occupant within- behind a barrier of ice that was feet thick. In the passage of the ticking moments, as the wall grew, first to knees, then to hips and chest, the elf remained in place, standing face to face with the dragon beyond it, a single tear only, and silent, sliding down her pale face. She paused in her enchantment when only his face remained, the winds of the coming storm lifting silvery locks to dance in the wind. Her final words to him were a whisper snatched on the wind and tossed into eternity. “ I’ll see you around Silver..” A pale hand reached out as if to settle upon his chest, only to find the cold hard surface of the barrier already erected, before being withdrawn. It was time for goodbye. Turning her back to the sight, the elf uttered the words that would reactivate the enchantment, and the wall of ice continued its somber accent until the dragon’s tomb was complete. She would not look back to see the suggestion of humanoid form a mere shadow behind the glassy surface. Emerald gaze, heavy with heartache, instead sought the living slate hues of the wolf as husky tones uttered simple phrase. “ It is finished.”

Rhocielle watched the High Elf in thoughtful stillness as she completed the frozen burial for the Silver. Though amazed by the sudden mana-rich act that would eventually seal Trekia to the cliff face, he said naught a word, lest his vocal surprise interrupt the last moments between the two soul mates. At the final intimate gesture, he turned away; it was not for him to either see or hear. In preparation for their departure, it would have been strange that the wolf was now disassembling the cradleboard. Leather strips unraveled at the wooden seams, and soon it would return to its component parts. Hours of labor vanished in an instant and the warder carried the pieces in his arms towards the cliff's edge. With a heave forward, they were released to the expanse below. Passing gusts of wind, as if ordained by the fates, cradled the parts, scattering them in the distance. The device had served its purpose and was once more returned to nature. A quiet moment was held by the wolf, thoughtful expression apparent on his canine visage. The Silver was gone, and now only he remained to safeguard the High Elf. A silent promise was made to the dragon, where ever the spirit was now to be found. The Round Guard would not fail. Arien's words broke his stare into the sky, and muzzle turned to glance over his shoulder at her. He nodded. Since they had first departed from Kelay, he had not said a word, and even now he would not speak. The Round Guard was not cold towards her for his silence, and gave no cause for her to worry so. His paw gently clasped at her shoulder warmly once he returned to her side and a soft, but brief smile met her eyes. Slowly and steadily, the pair would return to Kelay, ever present taller shadow protectively traveling alongside the smaller one. It was finished.