The Infirmary

*The guards continued the stretcher down the hallway, pushing anyone who might be remotely in the way. The priests continued their healing as they strode with utmost urgency towards the infirmary.

Angel's eyes half opened, she wanted Jaric and couldn't see him straight away. She was confused and closed her eyes again, trying to shut out the vicious pain that was ripping through her abdomen. They turned a corner and she cried out loud, moaning as tears ran down her eyes.

MindLinks Jaric: Please...come to me..please...where...are you?

They reached the infirmary and began setting up, moving the sheets all at once so that she was moved from the stretcher to the surgical bed with ease. The move caused more discomfort for her, but she gritted her teeth and tried to swallow the pain, her wound hard to ignore.*

=Kinsen walks into the infirmary, blood streaking him, his face more pale than usual. His injured arm hangs limp, and the other rests across his injured ribs. He sits at the edge of a bed, looking at his bleeding arm as if noticing the wound for the first time. He scowls, peeling away the shredded cloth with a short hiss as the pain hits him.

He looks up as a healer walks over, and gives a quick look to Angel to see she was being tended properly. Pragmatism overcame sentimentalism, and he allowed the healer to begin his work, looking off into space and letting his thoughts drift to the next steps...=

*The bloodloss, the internal damage and the broken bones were too much and she couldn't help it, in pain even to breathe. Within seconds she slipped into darkness and unconsciousness. Angel thought she could hear the voices shouting around her, but her mind was unable to comprehend any of it and she couldn't stirr awake.

"Can't stop the bleeding..." one of the Doctors shouted, there were about five of them crowding her "Internal damage is severe..left Kidney possibly pierced..." another said as they rustled around, gathering surgical equipment. A female nurse was calling Angel's name softly, but she wasn't responding.

The first Doctor took control of the situation, directing the others"There's major tissue damage..get the priests over here and start healing again. Stop the blood as best you can, we need to stabilize."

The nurse glanced over at Kinsen, and nodded that he was being tended to and then she returned all her attention back on Angel, stroking her soft blonde hair.*

{{ JAric stalks into the room, people moving around him as if he were no more than another orderly as they rush to tend to both the Queen, who lays silent with her dire injuries, and Kinsen, who's wounds and injuries are lesser, though by no means insignificant.}} He stands off behind the healers as they work, watching the priests rush forward as they are called for, the divine magic at their command casting a claming essence over the entire room even among the general chaos of the struggle to save the queen.

Jaric turns to Kinsen, looking over the wounded knight as they tend to his arm}}

You did well in there Kinsen, as befits your place among my commanders....though from here on, be certain to keep a blade to hand at all times.

{{ He speaks even as his eyes go back to his wounded wife, Not looking at the Admiral, he draws the sword from his hip and holds it out to him hilt first.}}

First blood, and it has gone to her. Let us be sure that in the end, we make the bitch pay for it in kind.

The Senior Doctor approached Jaric and Kinsen, his face a neutral expression yet his tone was grim. "I'm not sure if we have long....I'm Sorry..." He paused and then continued "Some difficult decisions will have to be made. The priests are healing and doing all they can, they have been able to stop the blood loss, but her internal bleeding and organ damage may be too severe for us to work with...she also has broken ribs, and a possible ruptured spleen. I will tell you more as soon as I know it. We'll be tending to her all night...but even if she is somehow able to improve, it will be a long recovery..if she'll ever be able to walk again we do not know."

{{ Without looking at the doctor as he speaks Jaric's hand lashes out, grabbing the man by the throat and lifting him several inches off the ground.}}

She lives, or you do not. Failure will not be tolerated.

{{ He drops the man to the floor, turning on his heel and heading for the door and the cathedral. As he leaves he flexs his sword hand, Angelfire appearing silently in his hand. }}

=Kinsen nods wordlessly, his eyes too stuck on Angel, almost black now as he takes the blade from Jaric, not comprehending that his King had just handed him his own blade. As Jaric lifts the healer up, Kinsen turns his eyes, and stands, pushing aside the healer at his side. As Jaric turns and AngelFire flares into his hand, Kinsen turns to him.

"My King, perhaps there is a way."=

=Catona stands silently near at hand, out of the way of the medical team but within easy reach of his charge. His face was impassive, hands resting easily on the hilts of his blades, red cloak falling down around him. He watches and listens, hearing all with no change of expression, not blinking or moving, seeming to fade into the background as a statue as he watches over Angel=

*Angel's breathing was still shallow and slow, struggling and rattling. Then, without warning her heart stopped. A flurry of motion errupted around the table of doctors and medical staff who immediately went into emergency proceedures. The Senior Doctor who Jaric had thrown to the floor scrambled to his feet, bypassing Kinsen on his way back to Angel.*

{{ Jaric stops as Kinsen speaks, turning to address the knight}}

There is always a way, and I shall see to it that the gods provide it.

{{ As he speaks the staff goes into a frenzy of motion. Jaric watchees from the doorway as they all rush to Angel's side. He crosses the room in two strides to her bedside, his eys flaring white briefly, long enough for his wraith sight to see her life ebbing away from her. He holds the Angelfire up in front of his face, a breif prayer crossing his lips silently as the weapon flares into brilliant white fire. He lays the burnng brand across her chest, willing the angel within to do his bidding and heal the queen, if only enough to buy his men more time to do their own work.}}

*Angel lay there, unresponsive and pale as the medical staff tried desperately to revive her with healing prayers and skill. However, Angel's precious life was taken right from her, her body was now warm but still...at peace....her soul gone.

When Jaric strode across the room and took Angelfire, resting it across her chest, her body reacted, jerking back into life as her soul was tugged and pulled sharply into her body. She was on borrowed time at best, her heartbeat weak, but she was alive.

Her eyes didn't open, and the only thing holding her from this realm and the next was Angelfire - her father was willing it.

The Senior Doctor yelled more instructions to his staff, and they bustled with activity once again as they attempted to save her life. A nurse shouted to Kinsen that someone would be with him soon, and then continued set up.

Another male Doctor approaced Kinsen and beckoned to the side of the room. Speaking quietly, he says "It might be better if you wait outside...this might...you might need to prepare for the worst. His Majesty will need your strength if the news continues to be bad."*

{{ Jaric's head snaps up as Angel's call reaches him, he turns and looks to Kinsen}}

Take the blade Knight, hold her soul here. I am needed elsewhere.

=Kinsen pushes the doctor out of the way, hearing jaric's words, but doing it not for the command, but for Angel.


Moving besides Jaric, he reaches down without a moment's hesitation, hand gripping the weapon by the blade, razor edges cutting into his hand as he closes his eyes.

The rapturous pain floods him, a searing white fire burning through his mind and body, reaching into the very edges of his soul. His eyes widen and his body stiffens, his eyes shining silver orbs in his head. The scar centered in his chest seems to burn with memory of that reaching fire. His doubts, his fears, they flowed from his body with the blood from his hands at AngelFire's touch, and he pushed the blade with a gentle firmness against Angel's body, his own blood mingling with hers.

Prayers leapt from his lips, his other hand gently cradling her head as he willed life back into her; as he prayed and pleaded internally, the unbidden offer to take her place if need be coming softly from his lips in a fluid litany.=

{{ As Kinsesn grasps the balde, Jaric releases it, noting as he exits the room the unwitting blood offer made by hid Lord Admiral, and silently hoping the gods let it fall on deaf ears. The Auroran gods were well known to play games with the lives and souls of the mortals under their watch, and one could never be certain if such an offer would be held true to the spirit of the bargain, or be twisted to the gods' own inscrutable means.}}

*Angel's body lay there, pale, shivering, her eyes closed - the blade pressed against her, which caused her to jump and cry out. "Soul....SoulReaver..." she whispered, barely there, her voice shallow. Her head turned from one shoulder to the other, her blonde hair sticking to her tears. As the internal battle continued, her wings suddenly and unexpectly flew out, either side of her back and stretched - knocking anyone away from her, save Kinsen, where they suddenly folded in, wrapping and protecting him around her.*

=Kinsen in unphased by the wings wrapping around him. Instead, he takes Angel's hand and wraps it tightly around the hilt of AngelFire, the searing pain of his sins and flaws being burned through him still. His jaw aches as the fangs extend from his jaw, his dhampir nature revelaed intimately by the blade, and pushed to the durface for him to confront.

Again.

Wordlessly, his eyes look down on Angel, now almost-silver orbs, glowing in the light from her and the sword.

"Blood to bind us, to strengthen us." he wraps his hand around hers.

This was a summer land, with a summer people, and Angel was the Spring to Jaric's Winter. Thus, Kinsen prayed to the warmth, the life, the growth. His words were a unique litany to the gods of spring breezes and summer lands, to stay Mother Winter's hands, as they lay around the throat of his quen, his friend.=

=Catona watches, face impassive, hands resting on the hilts of blades. The moment he witnessed seemed personal, intimate, yet such was his life, and his silence.

As Jaric leaves, he takes his place at the doorway, knowing his skills would not aid Kinsen or the surgeons now.=

*A few seconds of quiet pass as Kinsen's hands fold over Angels, together grasping the blade, their blood intermingling. Angel was unaware of the severity of what Kinsen was suffering - his every sin forced to the forefront of his mind, causing a serious pain. Her eyes were closed, her body unresponsive to the pain of the blade, but she moaned and turned her head, conflicted in her mind as Angelfire turned and walked away from her. However, it seemed, what Kinsen had asked of the gods appeared to be answered.

Suddenly the glowing bright light of the sword flickers - the lights in the room going off an on as the temperature grows cold, and fast. The room is so cold that stalactites begin to form. Even though the fire in the hearth remains on with a glow - it couldn't compete and generate any heat to make notice.

Angel's breathing can now be seen in small mists, forming, yet it looked stronger. The rattle had disappeared, her airways seemed clear. The wounds were healing - slowly and not drastically, yet it could still be noticed.

Her wings start to change, losing the feathers as they were replaced by translucent white ice. She cried outloud and her body stretched out, her head falling back as her spine arched- her beautiful blonde hair instantly turning to a shock white and growing longer. The entire physical form of her body lifted a little in levitation from the table. Clearly there was something else at work here -Mother winter had come to visit.

Unexpectidly, Angel opened her eyes and briefly, they flickered, flashing a stark and winter white with no pupils, then they flashed as the pupils returned - a colder, sharper blue than ever before.

The first thing she saw was Kinsen over her, his silver orbs flickering and his fang's bared. Her hand reached up, she couldn't speak, but she touched his face. She wanted him to know she was ok. She wanted to reassure him. Her mind was confused and fuzzy, but she recognized him, she knew in her heart who he was.*

=Kinsen is not unaware of the changes. The heat seeping from his body causes steam to rises from the blood from his hands, red ice forming around his hands.

Still, his eyes remained locked, his jaw set in determination, his eyes flaring. the red crescent on his cheek was also glowing brightly, giving off a faint red light that cast the cold room in a strange light.

As Angel reaches up her hand, his own clasps it, and he can feel the cold in her grasp; the changes coursing through her. He recognized, perhaps, that his call had been answered, or this was Jaric's work. Either way, he would not deny that it didn't matter. A call had been answerd, and some price paid.=

*Suddenly her wings folded inwards and towards her physical form and Angel's body fell back onto the table as gravity took affect. It was so unexpected that she gasped, her hand gripping his even tighter, as if she were holding onto it for dear life.

Angel blinked from shock and let go of the blade as she leaned up and reached out for Kinsen, wrapping her arms desperately around her friend, pulling him close and holding him tight. Kinsen was her first realization that she had returned back to this world and she was so relieved to see him. Suddenly, she began to sob, her tears turning to ice as they ran down her cheeks, each breath followed by a small mist. The severity of the situation had hit her hard, this call to death was too much for comfort and she couldn't bare it. Angel didn't want to cope alone anymore -Where was Jaric? Why wasn't he here with her? She didn't know or understand in that moment.*

{{ Jaric stood in the doorway, his expression blank as he sees Angel sit up on the table where only moments before she had been dying. He crosses the room to the pair holding each other, not speaking as he reaches past them and retreives Angelfire, returning the blade to his side. He steps back, allowing the freinds to finish their embrace before speaking to Kinsen}}

Winter has seen fit to accept your offer. {{ He raises the blade of black ice in front of the Knight}} You are hereby dismissed from the Dragon Knight order and will now serve in capacity as the Knight of Winter. You will begin the formation of a new order devoted to Her service. This does not remove you from my service, nor free you of your duties to my realm.

You are dismissed for now to tend your wounds and prepare for your new duties.

{{ He turns back to Angel}}

Welcome back my Queen, we have much to discuss when you are ready. Until then, there is one who has requested to stand watch for you, I have agreed to grant his request provided you have no objections.

{{ Jaric turns and motions to the door, in the entrance stands a slender blonde haried boy of around 11 years. In his hand is the ever present snowball that Timmy carries everywhere like a security blankiet. Instead of the cothing typical of the other orphans, he wears the garb of an Auroran squire, the crest on his tunic indicating his service to the Queen as his master.}}

Lord Catona will be overseeing his training whilst you are indisposed. Now rest. There is much to get done, and little time to prepare, first blood has been drawn, now we prepare to repay in kind.

=Kinsen cradles Angel against him, knowing full well the toll of death and rebirth which was waging inide of her. As Jaric enters, he lets Angel rest, her hand still clasped in his as a life-line of sorts, as he understood her turmoil, and looks up.

As Jaric speaks, Kinsen stands, turnnin to face Jaric and inclining his head in acknowledgment. Reaching up, he undoes the clasps of the bloody white cloak around his shoulders, turning and resting the thick, warm fabric across Angel in a tender fashion.

Turning back fully to Jaric, his nods again, his bloody hand reaching out to grasp the hilt of the blade; the shock of the cold numbing his arm. His face is a staunch mask of determination, and no regret. He gives a salute with the weapon, recognizing the weight of what had occurred.

"A life for a life. My blood for hers." He maintains Jaric's gaze resolutely. "It is by the grace of Winter I have returned, and in her grace I shall serve." He left unspoken that it was the debt he had owed her, for the cost to return himself and Catona to life. Turning back to her once more, he gives Angel's hand a reassuring pat, and strides to the door, gesturing for a surgeon and a healer to follow and tend to his wounds=

*Angel kept hold of Kinsen, feeling safe, resting her head on his shoulder as her tears fell. Looking down to her pale white and cold hands, she realized she was shaking. Her eyes scanned the room and then relief washed over her as she saw Jaric. Her eyes lit and she weakly let go of Kinsen, leaning back against the bed, a nurse gently sliding pillow behind her head.

Closing her eyes very briefly, Angel realized how tired she really felt. Her head was throbbing. Yet she heard Jaric's voice and she fought the exhaustion - she wanted to see him and speak to him so badly. Kinsen's made a reply which she heard, and then she felt the soft material of his cloak. It helped comfort her, soothing the shakes. Her hands wrapped around it as if it was everything and more. Angel caught Jaric's deep voice dismiss him from the Dragonknights and speak of a new order.

Her breath caught and she paused, opening her eyes slowly and watching. Her voice was quiet but she knew he'd hear. "Kinsen...I told you a long time ago that you owed me nothing. I meant it." She knew it was no use, a deal had already been made and it was too late. She watched him turn towards the door. "..you have my gratitude.." Her eyes flickered across to the obsidian ice weapon but she did not comment on it - not for now.

Her eyes still watched Kinsen, until Jaric welcomed her back, his voice capturing her attention. Angel smiled faintly and opened her arms to embrace him. "God, I never want that to happen again...What was I thinking? I'm so sorry..." She paused to kiss his cheek. "I must look a mess.."

Angel hurt all over, her stomach was in pain. It was a big effort to speak - but as soon as she saw Timmy in the doorway, her eyes lit with recognition and happiness. She loved Timmy and it was obvious. "Of course he can come and sit here...I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so glad he's here.."

Her eyes looked across to Jaric "Must you leave me? Please...stay..." she asked, wondering, but understanding how badly the realm also needed him. She opened her arms for him again, wanting him to sit with her.*