vita ante acta

Grief is heavy in her chest, a dead weight tying her low to the floor where she sits on her knees. She has no more strength left to cry, left to panic, as the ancient walls shudder with the force of the war raging outside. May managed to close herself off in the back of the fortress, the only safe haven she could find to escape the fighting, the senseless bloodshed that she was helpless to stop. That she wasn't strong enough to prevent.

Her head bobs forward, almost lifelessly, and she stares blankly at the stone floor beneath her robes. The robes for the temple she thought she could do with, before she knew of the terrifying fate that had befallen them, and subsequently, her.

She was responsible for it all. For her sister. For Jack. She was weak and others suffered and died because of it. She had been fighting for so long to find the answers, to find solace, but what she found was worse than she could ever have imagined. She wanted it all to go away, back to the unknown.

She hears screaming in elvish, a war cry, but blocks the noise out and closes her eyes, willing the end to come with the sounds of clashing blades outside.

It had been months and months since he was forced down below this fort and his back cut open. Months since he swore he would get his revenge and it would come slowly and painfully. Months since he had seen the girl he once called a friend. Part of him hoped she wasn't there anymore as he swung his huge blade around gracefully and cut down the humans. Part of him hoped that she had run away or maybe had died already. But an even bigger part couldn't wait to rip the life from her.

Jack was driven on pure raw emotion. Raw anger and hurt. He trusted her! That's all he could repeat to himself. He trusted her and she just betrayed him like it meant nothing! Maybe it was because he never had friends growing up that he took it so harshly. Or it was because, in a lot of ways, he was still an angry little child with stub horns. But he knew he wouldn't feel better until they were all dead.

He had worked so hard to befriend the elves in Golden Grove and build his goblin army. He didn't like using the goblins for his own gain, but that is what a king did to his subjects wasn't it? He worked months for this one moment. He had told his friends it wasn't for revenge but because the Silver Flame couldn't be left standing to hurt more people. And Dareth still insisted that revenge wouldn't make him feel any better. But what did he know? He was just a human.

It only took 40 minutes for the army to take the fort and storm inside. Very quickly the Tiefling was in and out of every room, making sure everyone was dead. Making sure they didn't miss anyone. As the elves and goblins tended to their wounded and counted the dead Jack rushed from room to room, his mighty sword Rewyn in his right hand. Anyone who knew anything about Jack knew that he had a much darker split personality, Jayce. But Jayce was left handed. This evil and anger was all Jack.

He roughly pushed open on of the last doors, the moon light on his back, casting his shadow across the room. He noticed how different it looked then before with his large spiral horns casting their own shadow. Face speckled in blood he narrowed his emerald green eyes and a familiar figured huddled up on the other side of the room.
"May..." He growled, lifting his sword with a slight flick. His voice was so harsh and demonic, and yet so calm.

May's head slowly rises back up, though she makes no further movement to acknowledge the tiefling arrival. She blinks, releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Jack." She says simply, barely above a whisper. She tries to think of better words, of an explanation perhaps, but she has no more fight left in her to try. He's clearly out for blood and the people of the temple will pay with their lives for what was out of their control. As will she. She wants to say they don't deserve it, but the sheer guilt she feels makes her second guess herself.

Still, it's unfair of her to not offer her potential executor one last parlay.

"Do you have any idea what happened here? Have any of you figured it out yet?" She asks softly, voice rough from crying.

Jack took a long moment before he decided to respond. Part from his mind being blank from the war, and part because he wasn't sure if he cared.
"We have known something was wrong with this place for a long time, but beyond that no one cares..." He growled, words said sharply as if he meant to just hurt her more.
He took a threatening step forward, his six foot one muscular stature making the wood boards shake under his weight. He grinned ever so lightly, showing his pointed teeth and he muttered a prayer in his demon tongue. Do doubt he was praying to Yeenaghu for assistance in his final revenge. As his green eyes started to glow in the darkness, it was obvious that the Price of Slaughter responded quickly. Almost as if he was proud of all the Jack had done today.
"I expected you to come up with some excuse to plead for your life. But I also expected you to fight a little , May!" Jack snorted a little, taking another step across the room. "I'm almost disappointed."

Jack's intimidating stature hardly phases May, who blinks slowly and releases a shaky, humorless laugh.

"Of course. None of you have any idea of what happened here... figures." She squares her shoulders. "I lost my ability to fight a long time ago, when my will was also taken from me. I lost everything. I have nothing left to fight for."

Then, she laughs a little harder, a hollow and frightening sound. Tears prick at the corner of her eyes, too small to spill over but nevertheless staining her cheeks with red blotches. Her fingers snag the fabric of her robe over her knees and she twists her hands into them.

"And you came here for revenge, right? Because we did this to you? You have no idea what even happened here-- happened to us. No one here had any control over their actions... but they will all lose their lives anyway."

Jack listened to the human speak but his expression didn't change at all. He wanted to hear what she had to say. But he wouldn't let himself believe her. He could tell she spoke of the truth, and it made sense. But if he let himself believe her that would make him the monster. Not Jayce, not May and the order... Him.
He felt a sting of guilt fly through him sharply but it was quickly followed my Jayce's voice, telling him how weak and pathetic he was for even giving her the chance to speak.
"As far as excuses go... That is a pretty pathetic one.." Jack muttered before striding the last few steps across the room until he was hovering right over her. He reached out a hand to snatch her arm tightly and yank her away from the wall, bringing the edge of his massive sword to her throat. He grit his teeth as he starred down into her eyes, his muscles shaking lightly from anger. But he had run out of words to say.

May allows herself to be yanked upward, dangling effortlessly from his strong grip. She looks directly into his face, into his bright eyes, and her heart lurches painfully. How sad of things to end up as they were between them, she thinks in despair. His heart clearly belonged with another, to the druid she had only briefly met, and she knows and accepts that (she had been a woman of the cloth, after all, with no room for intimate relationships in her life), but it made the pain no less burning inside of her. She is truly weak.

"Call it an excuse if you want. If I could give you a name, I would, but he must have erased it from our minds similarly when he erased the memory of... a particular tragedy from mine, months ago." She breaks her stare from him and shifts it to the blade at her throat. She is anxious, a natural reflex to death sitting so frighteningly close, but makes no struggle to get away from it.

"Isn't it funny? This entire time Dareth was so paranoid about mind control, and we always suspected Grove of such a thing... but the real culprit was right under our noses the entire time and we went along with it. Did any of you feel the voices near the temple? The pull? Or was that also just me and my weakness showing?"

Jack pressed his sharp blade against May's soft skin of her neck until tiny droplets of blood came out. He starred down at the blood, his green eyes shining wildly with excitement.
"In the long run... I don't care..." He whispered forcing himself to look back up to her face, enjoying her expression. His slighted pupils where narrower then ever before and his heart raced in his chest faster then it ever had. He felt like it was going to burst from him right then and there.
"I tried to get you out of my head, as hard as I tried. My new horns are because of you, because of what you let them do to me!" He voice raised until he was starting to yell. His sharp teeth shined in the moon light, making the intensity of them hard to miss. "I trusted you, you were my friend!" Tears started to well up in his eyes, blurring his vision slightly until they finally spilled over. " I trusted you!!.... And you lead me into a place full of people that would rather kill me and then let them put something inside of me... I trusted you!...." He trailed off a little and pulled her a little closer to himself the blade pressing harder onto her skin. He was a bit hunched over now and shaking even harder then before. "I... I loved you..." As the last word left his lips he yanked roughly on Rewyn, the blade he had trusted so much, and it slid across her neck like butter, cutting deeply and cleanly.
The betrayal was so deep to him. He had been trying to convince himself not to want to kill her. But all this time it was all he could think about. It built up inside of him like a hive of angry hornets just waiting to be turned lose on the world. How he meant the last three words to her no one would ever know. Was it like a lover? A sister? A really good friend? Did he say it just to toye with her in her last moments?

In her final moments, May's eyes snap open wide, her tears beginning to spill out over her cheeks. Her sobs are silent as she reels over Jack's words, feeling thoroughly sick to her stomach. What a cruel thing to say.

White hot pain flashes in her neck, causing her to tense up and struggle momentarily out of panicked reflex. As the blood drains from the wound, however, she relaxes, as her strength is being quickly sapped away and spilling onto her front. The pain, too, begins to fade as a comforting coldness seeps into her limbs, her head fuzzy and growing quieter.

She effortlessly closes her eyes and breathes out, blood trickling down her lower lip and chin. Oh, Bahamut... I'm a disgrace... but please--

Her heart shudders to a stop. Let me have a good dream for once.

Once the deed was done Jack dropped his blade to the ground with a loud clatter and put both of his hands behind May's back to hold her from falling. He watched her expression go from shock, to pain and then nothingness as her life force drained from her. He waited in silence as tears fell from his still glowing eyes and onto her lifeless cheek. After a long moment as his mind was blank he let out a long breath and his own shaky muscles relaxed. He laid her body onto the ground and took a step back to look at what he had done. Her warm blood coated his hands and arms. He felt hot through his entire body and so numb.
Everyone had told him that revenge would not get him what he wanted, and for a moment it didn't. But as one of his goblin generals burst into the room to tell his leader that everyone was dead Jack snapped out of the blank-numbness and started to grin. He nodded to the small goblin who quickly went on his way.

The tears stopped as he reached down for May and closed her eyes gently with his two fingers. He paused before coming back up, pulling his dagger from his belt and cutting off one of her braids that rested on her cheek. He rolled it between his fingers before pocketing it, grabbed his sword and turned to leave the room.

He was pleased with himself, but not because he killed her, but because of the euphoric feeling that was slowly swelling up inside of him.

SOME TIME LATERRR

---

The nightmares kept her up late again.

Normally she turns round and round in her cot, tail tangling in the thin blanket (not that she really needs it with her body heat), and unable to find a comfortable spot. It's those nights that she spends hours staring up at the ceiling, thoughts wandering into the nightmare. It's always the same, but it never gets any easier to experience. Blood seeping from her neck, out her mouth, onto the floor.

This time she feels antsy, anxious. She needs to move and perhaps get some fresh air to soothe her frazzled nerves. So, with surprising grace considering her size, she sneaks out of the temple entirely, and is met with a pleasant night breeze the second she cracks the door open. She relaxes almost immediately in the comfort of the moonlight as she exits the building entirely, careful to shut the door behind her with as little sound as possible. She inhales deeply, exhales hot air.

She has no where in the village to really go this time of night, nor would anyone be out that she can confide her fears in, but this doesn't phase her too badly. Sometimes it was nice to get away from the squealing of kids demanding her attention, or the constant sick that needed to be attended to. More time for herself was always appreciated.

Stretching, her thick tail flicking at the tip behind her, she leisurely pads off for the edge of town where a small patch of gardens lie. There she finds a large tree and makes herself comfortable beneath (preferably out of the light of the moon, where her scales seemingly glowed platinum and made her stick out ridiculously in the darkness), listening to the rustle of the leaves in the gentle wind.

Pain shot through his chest, ribs and back as he walked, stumbling often. "Ah, shit..." He hissed, holding his hand tightly to his ribs. The tiefling felt like a weakling, but he couldn't do anything about it. He had gotten hurt in a fight weeks back, a blade slicing open his skin like butter. He had expected it to heal with little care and that was his big mistake. The blade that cut him was jagged and dirty and quickly caused infection to spread. The little group of adventurers had been looking for someone to heal him with no avail. But Jack had to turn back with the help of his friend. He couldn't manage to travel any further.
His fever ragged from the infection and his vision was blurry to say the least. But the pain was the worst thing. Every tiny movement shot pain through his body. And as time went on it only got worse and worse.
As the faint, darkened shape of the village that they had just been at day before came into view he stopped and momentarily lost his balance and strength in his knees. He pitched forward, heading to the hard ground, he silently hoped his friend would be able to catch him.

Markus had been feeling a sense of unease ever since his companion had received his wound and tonight was the worst of all. He could feel something coming, but the thoughts eluded like the vaguest memory of a dream. Traveling alone was never an issue since when things turned sour he could always rely on his own skill to get him out of a scrape, and when traveling with a group you could rely on the numbers. Now however, he felt exposed. In his condition, Jack's skills didn't amount to much, and with the promise he'd given to Dareth and his own honor it wasn't like he could just leave the boy behind.

They'd been traveling in silence for some time, neither one for a lot of conversation. Up ahead the faint lights shown from a few windows and candles as they neared the town that had turned them away once before. He shook his head once and spoke. "Don't worry about these superstitious fools. So long as we get a bed, some cloth, and a bit of whiskey we can..." he looked over at Jack just as the tiefling began slipping forward. Markus' arm shot out and clutched the back of his collar, and yanked him back. "Easy there, looks like the bed'll be the first thing you'll need then." He said giving a laugh. He kept his hold on his collar long enough to assure Jack wasn't about to be making another unwanted visit to the dirt beneath their boots.

The second she hears shuffling coming from nearby, she nearly jumps to her feet in alarm, the fins lining her cheeks bristling. There shouldn't be any travelers or merchants this time of night-- and they weren't expecting any exceptions. She is frightened by the idea of a nighttime attack (the village is so far out from any main cities, how could anyone have found them so easy?), but puts that aside and squares her shoulders, preparing for the worst.

Against her better judgement, she steps out of her hiding place and cautiously makes her way to towards the sounds. There at the gates she thinks she sees two figures, one of them lagging severely beside the other. Her fear faded quickly at the realization that it's someone being dragged along towards the town, and with that pace they are very likely needing assistance.

The second they topple over and are barely caught by their companion, she breaks into a run towards them.

Jack managed to steady himself with Markus' help, giving him a very short smirk, trying to remain his usual cocky self. But his smile quickly fell as his knees buckled again. Before tonight they had been traveling so long and when they were able to rest Jack could hardly sleep from the pain. He was so worn out and then add on the spreading infection and it was nearly impossible for him to pick up his feet anymore. This time, even with his friends help, he crumbled to the ground grunting loudly in pain.
"Shit..." He hissed between clenched teeth, but barely conscious. He didn't notice the dragonborn sprinting to them, the only thing he knew was pain and even more pain every time he took a breath. His head was swimming in and out of darkness. He felt so weak.

"Easy, I said... alright let's take a breather then shall we?" Markus said as Jack crumpled before him. He did his best to keep the boy from hitting the ground too hard, but he wasn't in a position to keep him fully upright. "Now then. we'll give you a minute to rest while I-" he stopped and reached a hand to the hammer at his side as he saw the gleaming dragonborn bolting towards them. Within an instant he interjected himself between the approaching figure and Jack's form on the ground. He brandished the weapon though he kept a casual stance. "Slow down there, no point making any moves you'll regret, understand?"

Once she gets close and is immediately stopped by a man brandishing a particularly intimidating hammer, she skids to a dead stop and raises both hands.

"I'm from the village. I'm a healer." She explains quickly, squinting through the darkness at the man. "I saw you from the edge of town and I could see you needed help, I--" her voice is cut off quickly as she sees the tiefling, and the blood drains from her face. Horns. A blade to her throat. Blood spilling.

No, there's no time for this! Not again! She shakes her head to rid herself of the horrifying images and returns her attention to the two, though the mere presence of the tiefling is sending her to the very border of a complete breakdown. It's such a familiar feeling of fear, but as usual she cannot place it.

"I, I apologize. Just allow me to examine his wounds. Please."

Jack was breathing hard, part from walking when he was exauhsted and part form the pain. He half expected Markus to carry him so he closed his eyes tightly to wait for the pain of being moved. After a few moments he heart the two speaking and opened his eyes again. He could hardly seen the source of the new voice through the humans legs standing in front of him. But he heard the word healer... Was this the same healer that refused to heal him before? They had all assumed it was because he was a demon, which was a pretty common reason to hate Jack.

His red hair stuck to his face from the sweat beads. He tried slowly to roll over and pull himself back up, shaking his head lightly to fight the dizzieness. It didn't help at all though. "Shit..." He muttered again, pushing himself to his hands but not really able to get beyond that point.

Markus eyed the scaled figure cautiously. "If you're the healer here it seems you keep some pretty strange office hours. Though I suppose a festering wound isn't much of an issue around these parts when it's on an outsider." His irritation leaked out in his voice, though he let the hammer hang loosely at his side. "Well if you're going to help him then don't just stand there!" He continued, stepping to the side and gesturing to Jack. "I've got the coin to pay for any supplies he'll need, though I doubt this is the best place for it." Markus looked back down at Jack's form on the ground and his distant expression. "Brighten up boy, wouldn't want our friend here to think you can't handle a little scratch would you?" he said, gently patting the crude bandaging across Jack's chest.

Breathing a little easier, she ducks down to the tiefling's level and begins working through the soiled bandages, her expression quickly turning to one of determination. She can't see well in the darkness and isn't willing to try to light a regular fire so close to the forest, but what she can see is a well-infected and possibly life-threatening gash that she should have treated days ago. Had she been in a better state of mind, at any rate (she currently wasn't, and her fingers fumbled the bandages as they trembled).

"I can ease the pain temporarily, enough to get him back somewhere where I can treat him better. It requires an... unconventional trick, though."

Without waiting for permission she inhales sharply, and releases a steady stream of orange flames from between her front fangs. This fire is entirely harmless, quite the contrary, as it's laced with healing magic. It pours onto the tiefling's wound and burns off some amount of obvious infection, at the same time heavily speeding clotting where the wound lie open. It's a small fix for a larger problem, but it's all she can do until they get back to where she can work properly at treating him.

"This will do for now. Help me carry him." She looks up at the man expectantly, already attempting to hoist the injured tiefling's arms over her shoulder.

Jack's blurry vision settled on the scaly figure hovering over him and he was very confused. He couldn't help but close his eyes tightly as the figure poured bright orange light onto him. It felt warm, but in a good way. Like sitting in front of the fire on a cold night. And very shortly after the pain was visibly lessened. He let out a deep breath of relief but was being picked up again before he could really relax.
He helped where he could, still weakened and dizzy. He was feverish and convinced himself that he was hallucinating from it. It wouldn't be the first time that happened to him. His black horns felt heavier on his head then ever before, though one was half the length of the other. Once he was standing with the help of whoever was clouded by his fever visions and Markus he let his head droop low and put the rest of his energy into walking with them.
His ribs throbbed lightly, nothing compared to the pain he was in before. Under the bandages the cut was deep, concaving into his rib bone. The flesh around it was dead and foul smelling, though blood had still leaked from it before the bit of healing he got. It would not be his first wound that threatened his life though, and it sure wouldn't be his last.

It was a bit strange to think this was the same healer who had turned them away not even a week prior yet now she was working with such a determined presence. Markus had to hold himself back from interjecting as the flames rolled over Jack's body.He'd gotten enough of a read on her already to know she meant no harm, but as she said it certainly was unconventional. "I don't suppose a bit more warning could have been given." he grunted, "Not to say it's unappreciated, but I can't imagine having patients recoiling from a bath of flames would be the most convenient side effect."

Markus moved into position on Jack's right, hoisting his arm over his shoulder and giving him a soft nudge with his elbow. "Just remember this the next time I spend the night with a cask of Salyrian Brandy and could use a hand not falling up some stairs, eh? I'm sure you'll be good for it if you aren't already asleep in a corner."

Careful to keep the new arrival up, she helped the group hobble into the village and towards the entrance of the temple. There waiting was a younger priest, who had been awakened by their healer departing into the night minutes earlier. He ushered the group inside and they were careful as to not agitate the tielfing's wounds while they made a clean cot for him to rest on.


She spends a few minutes dawning a clean set of robes and washing up before returning back into the infirmary. It is easier to see from the light of the lantern placed on a far table, but she would have preferred to have the light of day to work under. Nevertheless, she dutifully removes the rest of his bandages and carefully begins wiping down the dried blood and dead skin with a wet rag. Once the wound is relatively clean, she can decide a better course of action. It's not always proper to pour healing magic into an infected wound, as the magic could potentially cause complications with the healing. Fresh wounds were much different.

"I... I must apologize. You were part of the group that came in here before, correct? I was... I was having a sort of moment of weakness at the time and was unable to work. I should have still tried harder to help you. I had no idea it was this bad." She dares not look the tiefling in the eye, as she fears the visions of her nightmares will return and send her into another state of panic.

Jack managed to get a quiet "fuck you Markus" out to his friend before they set off walking into the sleep village. When he was finally able to lay down on the cot he was thankful for the softness of it. As much as he wanted to, he didn't let himself drift off yet though. Now that he was in an actual infirmary he was visibly uncomfortable. His brow was furrowed as he tried to hide his fear. The longer he lay there the better his head started to feel and the better he could see.

The bandages were crude, as if he did them himself, and covered most of his body. His shirt and vet had been packed away in his bag for some time, but he had been keeping on his cloak before now. The undressing of the cloth revealed his many demonic of some sort tattoos, his biggest one being in the center of his rib cage, a large pentagram with abyssal writing.

"We tried to explain how bad it was... But I'm not a stranger of being turned away.." Jack mumbled tiredly as he watched her. As his vision cleared he was trying to figure out just what in the hell she was. He had never seen anything like her. Was she a lizard? A dragon? Still a fever dream? He could tell by her robes that she was a priest or such of some sort and that made him even more uncomfortable. His heart raced in his chest and he swallowed hard before looking over her shoulder to make sure Markus was still there. As much as she tried to calm his anxieties it just got worse and worse. And not being able to fight back and having to trust Markus made it even worse.... That had gone horribly wrong once before...

Markus took a seat nearby once they had reached the infirmary. He was certainly tired since it wasn't like Jack had been able to keep watch the past few nights, but given the feelings he'd been experiencing he knew rest would have to wait. He kept a close eye on this dragonborn as it went about it's work. It was surprising to see one this far away from the north, especially with how familial they tend to be. Knowing why those around you stand where they do is the key to preparing for surprises. Leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes, Markus broached the subject. "So what brings you to a town like this. Can't say we saw any of your kind the last time through these parts."

Behind the closed eyelids, dreams and visions began playing before him, flashes of a great city filled with dragonborn and the marvels within leading suddenly to a fallen walls and flames spreading. He sighed and opened his eyes before leaning forward. Under his breath he muttered to himself "I don't suppose you could just tell me what's on your mind for once. Might be too easy I suppose."

She hesitates for a moment at Markus' words. Her kind.

"I... I don't actually know, to be honest," she admits quietly while she continues cleaning deeper into the wound. "I've never seen any other of my kind before, save for one of the children. I've only known this." She gestures broadly at the temple. "They found me and took me in. I don't know where I came from."

She likes to think it doesn't bother her that she doesn't know, but she wonders from time to time. She wonders why she woke up at that particular village, with nothing but the clothes on her back, and with no recollection of anything prior. Maybe she had been terribly hurt sometime before, hit her head, or something to blank her memory. She hopes she hadn't angered a powerful mage or done something awful to deserve such a thing.

"But I don't mind. This is fine," she says with certainty, her brow crinkling as she examines the now-clean wound. "I'm going to have to remove some of the dead tissue, but I should be able to heal it relatively well after. The sickness caused by your infection will require some special care and herbs, though. I don't want it to get any worse."

As he listened to the two speak he couldn't help but think about how this creature and him were alike. And yet so different. He winced visably every few seconds in pain from the wound being messed with. But nothing was nearly as bad as the pain he had been in before. He wanted to ask her what the heck she was, but knew how touchy that could make someone feel.
Anyway, Markus seemed to know, so he would just ask him later.
He noted how good she was with the wound and how careful she was. He knew she was doing her best to not cause him any pain, but he still felt so uncomfortable in this position. The skin between his shoulder blades burned with the memory.

"Are you a priest," he asked simply, looking her straight in the eye. He had to know. Even if it only made his fear worse, he had to know.

"Hardly," she replies with a small shrug. "I work here because they allow me to sleep here, so it's the least I can do to return the favor. Besides that, I don't know if I used to avidly worship anything before I came here." She looks over her shoulder for her tools for a couple seconds, and eventually finds a small knife in the row of utensils. She eyes it for a moment critically, then steps back and shoots a narrow jet of flame over it, startling the nearby priests to the point of yelping at her.

"Sterilizing," she explains shortly, returning to her station. "Just in case. Another party trick of mine."

She returns to her station an and immediately begins work at gingerly cutting away dead layers of skin. She starts shallow, so Jack shouldn't feel any pain so long as the nerves are also dead from infection. Once she reaches healthy tissue she stops, and finishes cutting out the dead bits entirely and putting them aside, whispering some healing magic into the now-open area to encourage the new skin to develop over it.

"That's good to hear..." Jack mumbled lightly and then glanced over at the other person in the room. "I'm really untrusting of priests..." He was forced to look back to the dragon born as she blew hot fire over her tools before continuing on. If he hadn't been resistant of fire that might have scared him a bit. But it still caught him a little off guard.

His wound was coming together nicely from her work but the infection still ran through his blood stream. He was so tired and hot from his fever, but couldn't let himself fall asleep. He was just thankful for the pain to be mostly gone. Waves hit him every few moments but nothing he couldn't handle.

His green eyes traced along the dragonborns face as she worked. He felt like he was looking at someone he knew, but had never meat someone with such features before. Her presence was calming, but also made him feel pretty sick to his stomach.

Markus sat back and listened for a minute while he focused on the dragonborn's work. It was obvious she knew her trade well enough, though he still wasn't too trusting of a healer who'd turn away a traveler. He figured at this point the best help he could be was to keep both her mind away from whatever had stopped her before and Jack's off of the pain he was going through. "It seems strange you'd never try to seek answers. I can promise you that if I ever found myself stranded in the mountains with nothing to me but the scraps on my back and a broken sense of self you can damn well bet I'd spend my time making sure the pieces were put back in place before I lost myself entirely." He watched her face carefully as he spoke, reading into any changes to learn her temperament. His hand rested on the hilt of his hammer, his thumb flicking the leather strap at the end back and forth.

She looks thoughtful for several seconds as she finishes healing the initial, raw layer of flesh. By now her hands and claws are coated in a thin layer of blood from working, but she expects that by the end of the night the wounds won't leak beyond her control.

"Yes, well... I never had any reason to leave. Maybe I've been too afraid to find out. Maybe I don't want to go off on my own when I have nothing. I like the stability here. It's peaceful."

Satisfied with her work for the time being and not wanting to cause any unneeded stress on Jack's body, she collects her roll of bandages and works at wrapping them around him. As of now the wound was not closed entirely, but it was protected by a healthy, albeit thin, layer of skin that would serve to keep it free of new infection until Jack was cleared of his ailment. Then she could focus on getting it completely renewed.

"This will do for the time being. Right now he needs rest and medicine to combat any sickness the wound has brought on. Once that's done I'll feel a lot better about finishing healing the wound entirely."

Jack had sat up to be slightly helpful when the healer started to wrap his wound again. Sitting up was hard a little painful. He held himself with his arm though it shook lightly. His muscles were so fatigued. He hadn't even had any proper food in a while because he usually felt too sick to eat. His head started to spin just as she finished up and he let himself flop back down onto the cot, grunting in pain lightly. It was self caused pain and it faded away quickly.

He didn't have much to say at that moment, he was listening to Markus speak to the stranger, and getting all the information he needed for now. He wondered momentarily how the rest of the group was doing, or if they even cared that he was gone. His anxiety was still high and the stress didn't help his over all sick feeling.

"Suit yourself, but knowing the path you've taken is as important as knowing where the one laid before you leads." He grunted, a bit disappointed by her answer. Markus reached into his sack and withdrew a waterskin filled with ale and pressed it against Jack's chest, avoiding the bandages. "Well you heard the woman, you need medicine. Better drink up." He gave Jack a smile. It was obvious the boy was exhausted. Looks like Markus would be on watch again tonight. Well, he might let Asakku take over tonight. It didn't do his body much good, but at least it gave his mind some rest.

Markus looked back over at their healer. "I don't suppose any taverns would be open this time of night in your little town? I'm a bit tired of rock-biscuits and salted pork."

"There is an inn, yes. It's rather small but it does well enough I suppose." She stands, stretching a little and wiping the blood from her hands off onto a rag. "It's not far from here, just head down the east road and it'll be the bigger building with its lights still on."

"I'll make you some tea, magic-laced of course. It should help ward off the infection and get you to sleep. Just some simple lemon balm and chamomile, and maybe a couple other herbs to taste."

She walks off to the side, digging through cupboards and pulling out jars of crushed herbs. She collects water from the infirmary basin and sets it in a glass, over a small and relatively dusty stove, which she then lights with a quick jet of flame. Impatient from lack of sleep, she occasionally adds more fire to heat up the water faster, but is finally satisfied when bubbles begin to form at the base of the cup.

Extinguishing the stove with more water from the basin, she begins straining the plants through a thin cloth and into the water, which slowly dyes it a muddy green. After a couple minutes or so she decides it's finished enough to be effective, quickly whispers a small healing charm into the liquid, and offers it out to Jack.

Jack had been busy chugging down what was left in the canteen he had been handed to hear what she had said beyond 'herb tea'. The alcohol was bitter but sweet to him. He had drank so much over the years that even a large amount wouldn't effect him much at all. He roughly tossed the canteen back to Markus just moments before he was handed the green tea. Holding it up to his face he sniffed it once, lifted his lip a little in disgust, but forced himself to down it as quickly as possible.

The tea was hot and would have burnt any humans throat. It just felt warm to him though. The tea was bitter and tasted like grass and leaves but he had no doubt that it would help him. Once the cup was empty he let out a long breath and relaxed against the cot once again. His insides felt warm.

Very quickly the effects of the tea took over and his eyelids became heavy as if they were now made of lead. It happened so quickly that he didn't notice himself drifting off into sleep, cup still in his hand resting on his stomach. Just as he was about to drift into a dream he noticed and gasped, yanking himself back to awake and blinking rapidly. Fear washed over his expression and he looked at his friend, obviously panicked. He had told him, and all of his friends, of his intense fear of infirmaries and priests. And anyone that may have the ability to alter his body while he was asleep. As much as he had been fighting it, he knew for sure now that it would be impossible to stay awake.
"I can't stay here..." He mumbled, trying to push himself up through half lidded eyes. But he couldn't even lift himself to a sitting position. Jack sighed deeply and sleep tried to take over once again.
"Markus don't leave me here...." He mumbled as his body relaxed. "Don't... let them touch me..." he spoke with a slight slur but also a deep growl of seriousness.
"Don't... leave me...." He paused as he began drifting off into a dream once again. "Or I will kill you.... Just... Like... May...." The tiefling fell asleep as he muttered out his last words.
What he said was a threat, but it was made purely out of fear. Not because he didn't value or trust Markus. Just because that's how afraid he was.

Markus smirked as Jack finished off his drinks. "Didn't pick you for a plant drinker, looks like you've got a taste for it." Truthfully, Markus preferred teas to most alcohol, but being on the road as often as he was made it a matter of convenience. His mind drifted a bit as he sat beside the cot and images of planes and campfires flashed before him, the warmth of a cup in his hand. "It's all yours." He muttered quietly, a vacant look in his eyes.

When Jack spoke, his companion was standing, leaning casually against the wall, a strip of bandage in his hand that he was sliding in between his fingers. He looked down at Jack. He frowned slightly, but rested a hand on his shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was slight bit softer than it had been. It was a slight enough difference that most wouldn't notice it, but someone who was around him for longer might pick up on it. "Let the dreams take you now my friend. You've felt enough for now. Let your thoughts flow, you'll be safe as you slumber."

Her pupils narrow into slits. Everything comes to an extreme focus inside of her mind, centered entirely on Jack and his words. She expects panic, an episode to overwhelm her senses and send her running into another room... but it never comes. It's like a calm clarity washes over her little by little, and at first she feels lost in the riptide, but as the seconds pass it becomes clearer and more whole.

She looks at Jack a little closer, little more intensely now, staring at the brightness of his eyes. The fear has been entirely replaced by confusion and bewilderment.

"Y-you're... you're Jack, right...?" She starts, trailing off into a whisper. She stares down at the floor, blinking hard. "I am... that's right, I am-- I mean, my name is--"

No, no, it's slipping. It's beginning to grow fuzzy and unfocused again. She grabs her head, frustrated, and angrily lashes her tail from side to side.

No, I remember! My name is May! I am May! You will not take this from me again!

Jack had fallen asleep by the time the dragonborn spoke again. He was out cold, his breath long and deep and so relaxed. He hadn't gotten a sleep like this in such a long time, before he got hurt even.

He had heard what Markus said, but in the dream he was now having. So he felt calm after the panic of falling asleep in an unsafe place. His dreams were slow and relaxing. Filled with voices from his past and his friends. For once, his night wasn't spent in the thralls of a nightmare. Maybe it was something Markus did with his mental powers, maybe it was the rum and tea. Whatever it was, it worked. Jack was going to be out for a long time. His black tail didn't even twitch as dreams passed by his eyes like usual.

He could see the thoughts rippling through the dragonborn's expression and demeanor. He took a few paces forward, slowly circling her a few feet away. His eyes watched as the tail moved back and forth, a thousand shattered fragments of the candlelight playing off of it. He took a deep breath, the smell of her smoke on the air. "And what whisper brings this name to your lips, what clouded memory have you drawn forth" It wasn't often that he was in the company of this tiefling and those that knew him that they were greeted with open arms. He was eager to see what connections existed that tied them together. "You've become flustered, your breath is quickening and the blood rushes through your veins."

Her head pounds and the anxiety returns full force-- fear of the unknown once again.

"I-I don't know. I don't... know. But my name is-- I remember, my name is May. I'm sure of it." She trembles lightly and steps to the side, supporting herself against a wall. "And I know Jack. He's always in my nightmares. And they're always the same. So much blood..."

She covers her eyes with a hand and releases a steady breath. "I don't know what's happening but I have a feeling more is going to come back so long as I'm around Jack, since he's what is affecting me so severely. Whether that's good or bad remains to be seen."

Her arm drops back to her side, and she crosses it and her opposing arm over her chest tightly. She is exhausted from the lack of sleep and the sudden workload and panic, but is too afraid to sleep out of fear of the nightmares' recurrence. Still, she's better resting in her cot than she is standing around worrying about vague memories.

"The, ah, inn should still be taking people at all hours... I need to get some rest." Her voice is quiet and uncertain, strained.

He smiled at her. The way she clung so tightly to the few cords she had remaining good. She may yet have the will to pull her mind from the mire that obscured it. "She dreams the dreams that would plague another. Somehow bound to the fate of the damned." He stepped in close and whispered a few final words to this dragonborn. "She is lost to you now, but the night will light your path."

He moved away from her again and ran his fingers across the surface of the water basin sending ripples collapsing in on themselves.

She eyes Markus suspiciously, shifting slightly away from him. The man is speaking riddles, and she's not entirely comfortable with what he's trying to imply. She has little patience with fortune-tellers who refuse to simply tell her what they mean.

"I don't know what you're trying to say, and I'm not sure I enjoy being teased like this." She says lowly, fins flaring a little. "If you have something important to say, you might as well come out with it."

He gave a quiet chuckle and looked met her gaze, his eyes seeming to burn with a faint yellow fire. "Knowledge and wisdom flow from the world of dreams. If it is answers you seek, that is where you will find them. But when you give yourself over to the mists, know that the answers you find will be of blood and betrayel. She cries out to you as an echo of regret. Do with it as you will."He turned away from her then and waved his hand to the side as if to dismiss her.

She eyes Markus for a long moment, deeply suspicious and puzzled beyond measure, but says nothing to try to pry any more information out of him. She is far too tired for such nonsense.

"As I said, the inn... down the east road. That is, if you're still interested in it." She looks back at Jack, her eyes narrowing. She knows something, she can feel it deep in her chest, but it's far gone now and she doubt it will come back any time soon. She sighs.

"Unless you want to stay here, in which case, there's some cots available as you can see." She motions to the two empty beds. "But I'm going to try and sleep the few hours left of the night, so... good night." She bows halfheartedly and ducks out of the room entirely without waiting for a response.

He shook his head before taking a seat beside Jack's cot. "Tonight I'll be watching over this one's slumber. We wouldn't want anything unwanted to find him in his state." He paused as he met her eyes again. "After all, when one finds it's way through there is surely more to follow." Turning back towards Jack, he placed his hand on the tiefling's shoulder, letting his mind merge with his dreams as a guardian of sorts. His eyes became distant then as if he no longer could tell the dragonborn was even in the room.

EVEN MORE TIME LATERRR

May spends the next two days, several times over the course of the hours, checking Jack's wounds with keen interest. Her steady sessions of healing are showing good progress, and her magic is assisting to slowly break up the spread of infection. Jack visibly looks less pale, the amount of sweat on his brow decreasing to acceptable levels. She changes his bandages regularly, feeling more confident as the time passes and the amount of bleeding begins to taper off entirely.

She still doesn't know what her dreams mean, what the visions mean. She is getting used to her fear now, however, and being near Jack for long only causes her a brief flash of panic whenever she thinks he is awakening. May isn't sure she's ready to deal with him yet, but with his condition improving so drastically, it's only a matter of time before he wakes.

She wakes once morning feeling jittery, as if something is off, but she can't determine what and no amount of introspection leads her to finding any clues. Perhaps it's simply a bad feeling, but she knows with her luck that it's not likely the case... and she is afraid once again.

It takes Jack 48 hours to wake up from his deep sleep. After the first 8 hours or so his sleep was filled with dreams. Some of them were bad and some of them weren't. He tossed and turned around in the cot a few times here or there. And sometimes spoke in his sleep when May was changing his bandages. But he was mostly incoherent. He slept so long because it had been so long since he had gotten good sleep.

When he finally did wake up it was from a nightmare. After tossing around a bit and groaning 'no' in his sleep, he shot up in the cot, startled, and panting hard. He glanced around quickly before his eyes settled on Markus and he let out a deep breath, letting himself calm down. He was happy to see that he remained in the room with him. Jack ran a hand down his face, slouching forward a bit from his sitting position. "How long have I been out?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at the sunlight beaming into the room.

When Markus heard Jack begin to stir he at first assumed it was from another dream. The first night, his friend from beyond the veil had been able to enter Jack's dreams, but Markus didn't have the same level of control over the mind and he knew he couldn't give control over for that long without losing something of himself. As Jack shot up though it brought some relief to Markus. It was nice to finally see him awake again, and if nothing else again he might finally be able to leave this damnable room.

"Nice to see you back in the land of the living he said, starting to turn. Hold on a moment." the wanderer paused and cracked his neck a few times before smiling at Jack. "that's a bit better. Sorry if I'm stiff. Been a couple of days now." His stomach let out a large gurgle then. "Long enough to need a real meal anyways! Think you're about ready to stop sullying up this poor woman's home?" he finished with a cocky grin.

May feels both relief and apprehension when she steps into the infirmary and sees Jack sitting upright. She is glad for his recovery, like any sane healer would be, but his consciousness means being confronted with subjects she would rather be left unsaid... and she isn't sure she's prepared for that.

"Hardly my home," she responds warmly to Markus' comment. "But I suppose you could call it that, yes."

She fetches her roll of clean bandages from a nearby table and places it on a second table, a smaller one, next to Jack's bedside.

"I'd like to check your wound and change your bandages, if that's alright," she says softly, knowing how frightened Jack was when he first arrived. He would be back to at least most of his strength by now, and wouldn't be someone she'd like to fight with to provide proper treatment for. "Just standard stuff. I won't do anymore poking than necessary. You've done really well."

Jack glanced up at May and blinked a few times. He had almost forgot that she was... well.. weird looking. Running his hand back through his hair he nodded lightly before pushing his legs off the edge of the bed to sit better for her. He sat up straight only feeling slight soreness in his side when he expected sharp pain. He had wanted to see how much it had healed anyway.

He smiled at Markus though, "I could really go for some food too," he chuckled lightly. Now that he was feeling much better and stronger and knew he made it through the last few days safely he didn't have so much anxiety.
He looked back up at the dragon as she came over to change his bandages, "thank you..." He smiled at her, friendly and sweet, "I know I'm not easy to work with."