Velexie Kohler
I traveled with Kennius to send off that paladin's body. It was the dying man's request to be set adrift from the shores of Gilneas, so that is what we planned to do. I could see the strain in Kennius. He still fights himself on the choice he made. Good or bad, the deed is done now and he....we have to deal with what comes.
Even when I was alive, I never saw the capital city of Gilneas. Even in ruins, the city was incredible. I wished more than anything that I had the chance in life to see the bustling streets, to see the vendors along the streets. Pyrewood was nice enough, but the sheer size of the capital was more than I was prepared for.
We made it down to the beach just fine and Kennius carefully laid the body in the sand and sent me off to find something large enough to float the body into the sea. So...I did. And that is when I saw them. An elf woman and a man. I tried to speak plainly....trying to show that I was not intending harm. That....was pointless. The man took a step forward and called me a demon. A demon!?
I have been called many things, but never a demon. His lady elf friend, a druid as it turns out, called on vines to trap my Jack, my favorite horse to the ground. I had to leave him there and run to warn Kennius away. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me but somehow....the man blocked my path. I didnt want any trouble....I was only there to help Kennius fullfil a dying man's request.
Everything happened so damn fast. The woman lept at me in a form of a large cat and tried to rip my throat out. I thank the Shadow over and over for the lessons Uncle Valin drilled into my head, and I thanked every fiber of my being I was quick enough to remember how to use them in the heat of the moment.
At some point, the woman ended up back in her elven form and I was clinging to her back. There was a loud gunshot and the next thing I knew, Kennius was on the ground. He had lept in front of me...that man, he fired a gun at me and Kennius threw himself in the line of fire, for me. Her male companion had a blade through Kennius, pinning him to the ground. A life for a life...that is all I could think at the time.
A light....and then everything just....calmed down. Things are fuzzy, but Kennius ended up at my side and the elf at her partner's side. The image of the dead paladin...he was speaking to the male that had attacked us. Another bright light....wounds where healed to both parties, bite marks, scratches...gone. The image of the paladin seemed to be a friend of our attacker. They shared an embrace and Kennius pulled me back to the beach to finish what we came to do.
I turned back to the male and spoke honestly. I was sorry for the loss of his friend. It didn't matter. He still wished us ill but 'allowed' us to leave. His female friend was gone. I could only guess that she hid, waiting to jump us again at some point and honestly, I was tired and only wanted to go home.
I asked Kennius...again to make my hands as his were, but again he asked that I reconsider again. I think he likes that I don't look as many for the Forsaken do. It is really only a matter of time before something happens to me, before I will be forced to replace part of my body with....
It scares me. I have seen and helped 'fix' and replace parts on other Forsaken, but the idea that I would have to replace anything on my own body, it scares me. Eventually it will happen. I know this. But I know that when it does, it will only cement that I am not who I was when I died.
...so, I agreed to wait, but if we are attacked again, I will do what I must to protect the ones I care about.
