for Dorian (makingmyway)

[bigmoonlittlemoon]

Dark Orym AU




[The world has changed significantly in the months since the Apogee Solstice. The ceremony, the plans of Ludinus Da'leth had not gone exactly as expected. But they had, in the end, been successful enough. Predathos itself had not been fully released, not physically, but the very essence of it had been called down from Ruidus, broken out of its chains and left with only one choice of where to go.

Orym had been in the wrong place at the wrong time -- or perhaps the right -- an attempt at dislodging the obsidian-like orb that had been the Raven Queen's Champion, the Tempest's Lover. The machine had fired anyway, and for the halfling who had been caught straight in that beam, everything was pain and red.

When he woke, he hadn't been himself. Not entirely. He remembered everything, knew who he was, but he was something more now, something that hungered for so much more than Orym had ever desired. His own desires remained, though they'd been turned to near desperate obsessions. He would not lose anyone else that he loved in this absurd struggle; he would not allow it. It was that reflexive need brought on the bright and blinding flash of light that sent Bell's Hells and their allies scattering to the winds, teleported far enough away to be safe in a very broad sense of the word.

As the lights faded and the smoke cleared, as Ludinus and the rest realized what had happened, Orym had felt this new power course through him. And soon everyone came to know it. He'd killed Da'leth and Thull with little more than a glance. A swift death was more than they deserved for what they had been responsible for, what they'd done to Will and Derrig, what they'd tried to do to Laudna. From there, well, Paragon's Call and the Ruby Vanguard answered to him now. Orym, formerly of the Air Ashari, now of the Red Moon. Soon the world would answer to him, and this ridiculous play of gods and monsters would be over.

At his command, his forces have been trying to locate and bring back the rest of his friends. If he can keep them close, he can keep them safe. By now though, he knows that his friends have banded together to fight him. It stings, of course it stings, but he knows that they just don't understand. It doesn't change that he cares for them, and his people have been given strict instructions that while Bell's Hells and the Crown Keepers are to be fended off, they are not be irreparably harmed. They are dear and precious to Orym, and his anger while still quiet and subdued is lethal these days.

He misses his friends. Most nights he holds the sending stone and calls out to Dorian, just wanting to hear his voice, to know that he is safe. But there never seems to be an answer. It doesn't stop him, and most nights the words are simple. 'I hope you're okay, Dorian. I just want to hear your voice again. I miss it. I miss you.'

Today the skirmish that has broken out has been a violent one. Sometime during the fighting, Dorian seems to have been separated off, and the bard has taken a significant amount of damage. Maybe that's what has brought Orym actually out to the battlefield. He so seldom joins the fight these days, but this.

This requires his presence.

Dorian is here. Of everyone that he's wanted to see, the Air Genasi is the one who has had his heart aching the most, the feelings that he'd done so much to try to hide for Dorian's sake, no longer feeling that need to be hidden. Who else could protect him better than Orym? No one. He can give Dorian the world if he wants it, anything.

So when Orym slips in on the edges of the fray, when he sees one of his mages level a spell that sends Dorian sprawling to the ground, the halfling's voice rings out, stern and unyielding.]

Enough.

[He punctuates the words with a gesture towards the Paragon's Call member who had made the attack. A crimson hand appears and wraps itself around their throat, squeezing the life out of the solider slowly.]

You will not hurt him.

Comments

[makingmyway]

[ The past few months have been the worst of Dorian’s life.

The warnings that he’d received from Orym through the stone before the Apogee Solstice had the Crown Keepers hurrying to find a safe place to settle. A few hours after the Solstice hit, he had been surprised to find that some members of Bells Hells had somehow been transported to their location. Some catching up and some encounters with impending forces later confirmed his worst fears; Orym had been caught in the crossfire and was taken over by this god-eater, this Predathos.

Orym was alive, but Dorian feels as though he’d lost him anyway.

While dealing with those forces - those under this new Orym’s command - they were able to learn the location of the rest of Bells Hells. This time Dorian would not leave them, and the Crown Keepers joined with them to gather their missing members before heading back to Marquet. Whatever Predathos was planning to do - to Orym, to the world - they had to be the ones to stop it.

And Dorian could not - would not - let them down again.

Upon returning to Marquet, the now combined group gathered what forces and resources they could in order to stop Orym - Predathos. But the worst thing was knowing that there was a chance that it was too late to save the Orym…that he might be too far gone.

And Dorian…he couldn’t stand that. He didn’t know how, but he refused to believe that Orym was beyond saving. Not when he heard that voice over the sending stone, not when he hears the longing in his pleas. The others warned him from answering, sure that he might be trying to manipulate him. But it sounds so much like the Orym he remembers, only with the sort of yearning that he’d only hoped to hear from him, the kind that he held for the halfling all this time.

But he does his best to keep his feelings at bay, if only for the good of the others. As much as he’s desperate to get through to Orym, he isn’t about to sacrifice the safety of the others. He knows what he has to do.

Which is why, during a particularly difficult battle that ends worse for them than it does for their enemies, Dorian remains behind to give the others time to escape. Too many of them are hurt, and even though Ashton tries to stay and help for a time, they both knew that the Earth Genasi is much faster, and would get the others out of danger quicker. So it was up to Dorian to hold their enemies off while the group retreated in order to lick their wounds, gather themselves, and try again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

And he managed it for a time, but there were just too many of them that he couldn’t find a moment to break away in order to catch up with the others. He doesn’t see the other mage until the spell tears through him, and with a cry he collapses to the ground, unable to move.

But even as darkness starts to press along the edges of his vision, he hears it. Hears him. ]

O…Orym…

[makingmyway]

[ It hasn’t been too long since Dorian had been found by Orym and his forces, but already he’s starting to feel conflicted.

Normally there wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t do for Orym, and at first he’d done everything that he could to help; pointing out the locations he and the others had set up as bases, helping to guide Paragon’s Call and the Ruby Vanguard, receiving and passing information to and from Orym and the rest of the forces. Whatever he could do, he did his best to do it.

But the more time passed, the more uncomfortable he felt with everything. He’d been relieved when, despite giving away the bases locations, the groups still had managed to evade getting caught. And some of the news he received to relay to Orym made him deeply worried about the rest of the world. Were they really doing the right thing?

What good was trying to help the people of the world if hardly anyone would survive it?

Since then Dorian had started intervening in small ways, little things he could get away with to prevent the forces from succeeding in their missions, or stalling them for as long as he’s able to. It’s a bit of a risk, especially since he knows that many of the Paragon’s Call and Ruby Vanguard members didn’t trust him; right until he’d been taken in, he’d been working with the forces against them, and even with Orym’s command that he was to be protected and given authority, they were still suspicious of him.

So he had to be careful with the ways he slowed their progress, so it couldn’t be traced back to him. But it seemed that they suspected anyway, if only because they already had reason to doubt him.

It was why, as Dorian was heading back to his own chambers one evening, he’d found himself surrounded by a group of Paragon’s Call members, demanding answers about a recent failed attempt to once again acquire the targets they’d been pursing. Dorian didn’t have an answer - not a complete one, anyway, and he was able to skirt around having to answer directly - but it wasn’t a good enough response for them.

And before he had time to react, he found himself shoved up against the wall behind him, a hand gripping the collar of his cloak. ]

[makingmyway]

[ One day during his captivity, Dorian woke to the sounds of explosions.

Orym was already gone, likely to take care of whatever the situation was. But Dorian had been surprised to find the door locked, since he had a certain degree of freedom at the base. He still had his magic, but he decided to wait for now and see what happened.

What he wasn’t expecting was for the door to suddenly burst open, with Chetney and Fearne standing there. Apparently this had been an attempt to rescue him, as well as try to slow down Orym’s - Predathos’ - operations.

And Dorian had gone with them, at first. Long enough for Bells Hells and the Crown Keepers to regroup, and he was able to pass on more information to them in order to keep Predathos from achieving his goals.

But he then surprised his friends by deciding to go back. It was difficult to explain, but he told them of what he knew about Orym’s condition - how the halfling is still there, but was struggling to keep back the god-eater. He was able to convince them that he was safe, and that this way he could not only still tap in to Predathos’ plans and try to send them more information, but he can also keep an eye on Orym, and try to keep him from slipping away entirely.

They all knew it was a risk. But if there was any way to save Orym, they had to try. So Dorian headed back to the base on his own, and was surprised when he didn’t find any of the Vanguard keeping watch.

Something was wrong… he had to find Orym, quickly. ]