Burned - (Zeria and Stryker Only)

Soryn was at a loss. Perhaps he should leave her be for now until she finally accepted her new station in life, then she would be grateful to be choosen by him. He moved out of the room, closing the doors behind him as he moved towards his hoard, transforming into his Dragon form and jumping into the impressive pile of coins, immersing himself into the riches and taking deep breaths. He should sleep, perhaps a nap of a day or two would suffice, the elf was well taken care of. Or so he thought.

Days passed without so much as a peep from Nareli. Not a sound could be heard except for her slow heartbeat. She had not risen for anything. Not to bathe or to eat. She had simply laid upon her bed and remained there for several days. She was getting paler by the day, her energy fading fast. Tears streaked her cheeks, and an empty look was in her eyes.

-This freedom...is not true freedom.....- she thought to herself.

She closed her eyes to sleep, hoping that this time she would not awaken. Her skin was getting paler still, except the flush in her face. Her body temperature was rising: a fever. She was becoming ill, thanks to her refusal to moonbathe and recharge her strength. Feverish, a sheen of sweat on her skin, her breathing heavy even in her unconscious state. At this rate, if Soryn didn't check on her soon, she would be dead before he found her...

True to his word, the dragon awakened a few days later having recovered his sleep and rising from his pile of gold on the usual impressive display. He shook himself awake,thoughts about going out to hunt passing through his mind. He would have done so, if not for the overwhelming need to check on his newest guest, even dreams he tear streaked face haunted him and he wanted to make sure that image was replaced. The mighty creature turned human again and walked towards the room where he had last seen the elf. He opened the door quietly, looking around the room in search of his newest treasure and that was when he saw her. She was pale, deathily so, he could feel the heat radiating from her form and the sweat covering her body made his heart freeze. He ran over to her, checking for signs of life. He heard her breath, he felt the weak yet steady beatings of her heart. She was a live, that was a good start.

"What did you do to yourself..." He spoke more to himself than to the sick elf, his mnd going over all the possible ways to help her. With all the knowledge he had on elf, the dragon picked her up from bed, careful to not hurt her and turned towards the stairs that took to the higher plataforms. The chilly air that traveled from the passage told him that it was night time. He quickly ran over to the top, arriving at one of the highest spots of his cave where the night sky greeted him.

"I was lucky it was night." He couldn't think what would have happened to the elf if he had awoken any later. He moved to the center of the plataform. He couldn't place her on the hard ground. That made him sign exasperately. it was hard enough to position her with those cuffs so he decided to get rid of them, smashing its links with great force, freeing the woman's upper limbs. He took the girl on his arms yet again, sitting down where the moonlight shone the brightiest and positioning himself comfortably so that he could properly hold the woman as she recovered her energies.

He would find that she was incredibly lightweight and easy to carry, partically due to the fact that she hadn't been eating, but also attributed by the fact that she was a young female elf, and her kind weighed little already. When he got her into the moonlight, she almost immediately started to look better. The sweat slowly evaporated and disappeared, and her skin started to return to its usual light tan. Her expression evened out as well, the pain and agony gone and replaced by a calm and peaceful expression.

And yet, her energies did not even out as they should have. The anti-Magicka cuffs were blocking her energies and making it so she couldn't draw on them for use. When he broke them, it was like the floodgates opened. Power flowed from her body like tidal waves and increased under the light of the moon. Nareli began to breathe much easier, and in her sleep, she actually snuggled a little closer to him for warmth, her cheek resting against his chest. For all the lack of social skills she possessed, she made up for them with beauty and unparalleled power...

Having slept for entire days, Soryn was fully rest and could remain awakened for the entie night, as long as it was needed for Nareli to recover her strenghts. He could feel the magick filling her body after he got rid of the cuffs, he cursed himself mentally for not noticing it earlier, but better late then never. He sighed in relief, that is, until she started rubbing herself against him.

"You will be okay, Little Treasure. I will take care of you..."

He felt extremely protective of the young elf, not the usual possessiveness he felt towards his gold and treasure, it was different and he couldn't quite place the obssessive feeling. He would stay under the moonlight with her for little while, perhap she would wake up.

It would be a little while before she would awaken. Her body had been so starved for moonlight, that she had been too weak to bring herself back to consciousness. The first sign that she was waking was the soft groan that left her lips. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at Soryn, trying to process what had happened. She remembered resigning herself to death. Remembered being so encased in sorrow she had laid down and done nothing else. Soryn must finally have found her and revived her.

She frowned, tears welling in her eyes. He was holding her so gently....as if he thought he might break her. She closed her eyes, bowing her head. Even her voice was a pained whisper. She didn't want to be locked away and never free. It was not in her nature.

"Must you cage me so tightly...? Do you not understand the value of life and freedom? Has no one ever denied you what you wanted most?"

Soryn was staring at sky, trying to occupy his mind as he awaited for the elf to wake up. it had taken some time, but he finally felt her stir awake and regain counsciousness. He felt a huge weight being lift from his shoulders, he worry that plagued his mind evaporating. His happiness however, turned to confusion when he heard her question him of his treatment of her.

"One must fight to get their own place in this land, every bit of ground must be watched over. Why would I expose the proud jewel of my collection, something so fragile, to the greedy eyes of this world ? Why not avoid the pain of loss ? A caged bird cannot leave, but it also cannot be taken."

He did not wish for her leave, he had taken a great liking of her and decided to keep her with him at all times to ensure she would not vanish like thin air.

Nareli frowned, shaking her head. A deep sadness radiated from her.

"And yet if that bird has no happiness, you will never hear it sing..."

She gazed up to the moon, her cerulean eyes scanning the skies. They were quiet and peaceful, while she was in chaos and turmoil. She looked back to him.

"If you wish for me to stay and live...we must negotiate the terms..."