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Death was imminent,
Ice was imminent.
That is what he had once told Taishen on that fateful day, the day the dragonborn crashed them into the ice of Drakkar. The day their battle for survival had started, and the peace of the ship had faded. He could recall the terror he had sensed around him in that moment, yet it was nothing compared to the terror the group felt in the present.
There was little thought going through Jornirs head as he dragged Taishen off of the ice. He could hear his heart racing in his ears, and little more then that. The deafening screech from the wendigo had done its toll upon him, his hearing and communication limited to watching the actions of the others around him. Each yell sounded like it had been muffled through walls of ice, each hit against them no more then a muffled noise of blood hitting the ground.
He didn't think much before grasping the golden dragonborn in his arms, ignoring the bodies of his friends that lay either dead or close to it. He felt the man flailing in panic as Jornir lept off of the ice, his body falling ridgid as they landed in the ice cold water, somehow more cold then he had ever felt before. He felt the arms of taishen wrap around his shoulders, clasping onto him tightly as they were ripped down the winding river. He could feel claws ripping at his back to keep tightly held in his arms, he couldn't care less if it tore his shirt, or scared his skin, it was nothing in comparison to the wounds that Taishen and the others bore atop their bodies.
“ Do not let go.”
The crashing of ice around them missed them only by inches, only seconds away from being squished into nothing but remains of what they once were. He could feel the clawing at his legs from the dead left in the river around them, the rapids not tearing up the corpses that had rotted away in the river. Corpses he had no intention of joining anytime soon.
“ You will be alright Taishen, just hold close to me.”
Jornir grasped Taishen as closely to him as he could, holding the dragon within his arms with little intention of letting go until the two were safely on the surface of the cold icy grounds around them. How he wished they had stayed far from the water, from this land of ice and rot. His mind reeled as he considered their lives the past weeks, the death of Daisy, to now their own deaths that hurdled towards them. His mind raced as he thought of the wendigos. The wendigos were the witnesses of taboo, the witnesses of the crimes not to be committed by humanity, yet they had been committed.
“ By the gods save us.”
They were being punished for the crews actions, for the taboo their once friends (if you would call the crew his friends, he hadn't gotten particularly close to anyone there besides Taishen) barnabas’s superstitions of the seagull had been correct, the curse upon the group from the action of the trader, the curse traded to the remaining members of the crew.
“ Taishen remain calm, it is alright.”
He pushed away his thoughts, focusing on the man clutched in his arms, said man who was casting a spell despite his obvious exhaustion, fire exhaling from his mouth as he attempted to do what he could to the monster they had been fighting– as one of the heads was blown straight off.
“ Good job my friend, you did wonderfully.”
He couldn't let himself fall distracted to Taishens abilities, his eyes falling upon the next threat upon them, the building up of ice– then nothing. His eyes scanned the ice in front of them, mind reeling as to the cause before it hit him, they were about to go over the edge.
They were on a waterfall.
He was unaware if Taishen was aware of the fact that the rapids they ahd been trapped in was to end in their demise over the flow of the waterfall. If he had eben able to hear, he may have been able to judge how far the fall would be, yet the ringing in his ears paired with the rushing of the river around him made it impossible to do much more then just watch and pray to whatever god still watched over him to save Taishen at the very least.
It was only his first adventure afterall. Taishen couldn't die on his first adventure.
But then again, not everyone survives their first adventure.
His mind reeled as he felt the water shift underneath them, Queenie had gone over, then Daisy, then the ice slab they had fought the Wendigo upon, the bodies of his dead friends both falling to their grave alongside the rest of them. He clutched the back of Taishens head close to his body, murmuring prayers to the gods above them in the mans ear, If it was to be his last moments, he wished no more then for it to be beside his closest friend, worshiping his gods in one last feeble attempt to keep the dragonborn alive.
“ No– no not like this. We've come so far not like this–” he heard Taishens feeble whimper in his ears, his arms growing tighter around Jornir’s body, “ jornir–”
“Taishen.” he murmured back, his tusk glowing dully with his fading magic as they tipped over the edge. He could feel the draw upon his magic as the tusks that held strong upon his back gave a small protection over Taishens life, only enough to help ensure he could possibly live, a small grant on a chance on life.
On the other hand, he felt an almost warm embrace around him, a golden glow enveloping him in the shape of spectral wings, encircling the two of them in a tight hold as if shielding them from the elements. Taishen was protecting them as well. There was a chance they could make it out– or rather that Taishen would make it out alive.
That was enough for him.
Taishen living would be enough for him to rest easy.
Those were the last thoughts he could think as he fell over the edge, holding as tightly as he could to his friend as they hit the cold frigid water bellow them, the world turning dark within the second of hitting the painfully cold water.
–
It was a painful awakening, the cold waters around him felt like a knife through his body, stabbing and tearing at his skin, he could feel his wounds opened to the silt around him, mudd and sand grating into the gashes across his gored scaled flesh. His first instinct was to get to the surface, take a breath of air and then search for those he so dearly cared for–
Yet his body wouldn't respond.
He tried to move his arm to swim forward, finding it heavy against the water that rushed around him. He could feel the heavy weight of his injuries holding him in place, the heavy weight forcing him in place, letting the river drag him into the eventual unknown, where he wouldn't have to worry about whether he would live through the night anymore.
He wouldn't have to worry about anything if he was dead.
Taishen shook his head, forcing himself to drag his arm forward, reaching for the sky painfully slow as he made his first movement towards the sun, He couldn't abandon Mei Li, not like his sister had all those years ago.
He moved his other arm forward, pain creeping down his spine as he attempted to move further, his lungs hurt, his head spun with each moment. It would be easier to just let go, join the rest of his brethren in the sea… wouldn't it? His movements faltered, his blurred vision skewing further as he considered how… simple it would be to just… die there.
He could not have to worry once more, he would serve as a foundation of the circle of life in the river… wouldn't he? It would be one less mouth to feed, one less body to worry about in the long run for the rest of the group. In all actuality, he didn't bring much to the metaphorical table besides fire, which the group could easily start if they needed to.
He could just… give up–
His thoughts were cut short by the grasping of his arm, he snapped his head over to look at the arm, expecting the form of one of the dead Dragonborn to be holding him, dragging him to his final resting spot, the spot where his body would decay into the cold water around them. Yet instead, was Jornir. The man's form swimming (literally and figuratively) as he dragged Taishen to the surface, the air reaching his lungs sat as a relief to him more then anything.
Jornir looked to him with concern but didn't say much until the two were atop the ice ground, laying on the thick layer of ice and snow that surrounded the banks of the rivers. Jornirs hand grasped at Taishens tightly, squeezing it with a reassuring grasp, one that dragged him straight out of his thoughts once more.
“Taishen,” He coughed violently, water flying from his mouth as he attempted to rid himself of the water that had forced its way into his lungs, “why didn't you swim?”
“I don't… quite know.” He mumbled, curling on his side and hugging into Jornirs form, tightly wrapping himself inside of Jornirs arm, snuggling into his body out of desperation for warmth, “My mind… betrayed me, I don't know what quite came… over me then.”
“It is alright. We will speak of it more later, Did you see anyone underwater?” Jornir carefully sat up, his arm held around taishen as well as he could in his new state of being, he shook his head exhaustively, eyes threatening to shut at any second.
“I… just cannot believe we are alive… I was so sure we would have… we wouldn't make it–” He covered his eyes with his hands, his tail tightly curling around Jornirs limp tail, it was a rather unconscious action on his end, he often had to fight the urge to intertwine tails with others he had grown close to, yet his body betrayed his mind in this moment, his body wanting nothing more then the warm hold of his closest friend.
“You are alive my friend, as am I. We will be alright.” Jornirs hand tightened in Taishens soaked clothes, his own tail not fighting Taishens hold whatsoever, more off embracing it instead.
“There ya two are! Get yer asses over here! I think Skrimm inst breathing!” Taishen shot up at those words, forcing his way to his feet as quickly as he could to try and make it to the Goblin that he had grown to be fond of in the past months. His movements were interrupted by a pained noise he let out as he stumbled forward, his leg burned with pain, each step feeling like knives stabbing inot his leg. He ignored this pain, reaching Queenies side as quickly as he could in his state.
“Hes dead. There is nothing we can do.” Jornir called from behind Taishen, he promptly ignored the healer, reaching Queenie and Skrimms side with bated breath, holding a claw over his neck as he had seen Jornir do, watching his form for breaths as he had once again seen Jornir do.
“Shit– shit shit– Hold on Skrimm,” She dug about her pack hastily, panic in her eyes as she searched for whatever it was she was looking for at the time. Her eyes grew relief as she pulled out the red potion she had gotten weeks before, pouring it into his mouth with teary eyes. She rubbed at Skrimms throat, as if easing down the potion.
“Come on.. Come on… Jornir go get Barnabos for gods sake!” She glared at the FIrbolg, who simply stared at the group solemnly, nodding slowly at the order from the harengon.
“We should look for the monster first.”
“ No, we need to get our god damn friends first, so get yer ass in the water and go search before I push ya in there myself!” If looks could kill, hers would have murdered Jornirs long ago, the man raised his hands in surrender, allowing the frosty magic to take hold on him as the mans body twisted and transformed into a walrus, disappearing once more into the depths of the rapid river.
“Taishi, yer rather close ta Jornir, do ya remember any of his– gods– his medical advice?” Queenie desperately asked, rubbing down the potion as she spoke, tears falling from her eyes, freezing upon instant contact with her fur.
“I… dont– Im not–- “ Taishen tried, “we shouldn't have– we needed Jornir for this–” She shook her head in response.
“We need him to get Barnabos, his magic can save Skrimm when we have everyone safely out of that there water, alright? Then we can worry ‘bout ole beastie in there.” She gestured over to the mass of ice building up where they had landed, where Jornir was going.
“Queenie– whatever do you mean? Is the wendigo in the water with Jornir?!” Taishen panicked, glancing to the growing pile of Ice, when he noticed– was the ice moving?
“My bees are on the damn thing, its trapped good and well under the ice, but we need Daisy and Barnabos out of that there water before we can do somethin’ bout that monster.” Queenie commanded, before her voice grew soft, cradling Skrimm in her arms, “ gods, you gotta be alright buddy, you can make it out of this, I jus’ know ya cant die jus’ from this.”
“Queenie… I dont believe its working…”
“ We just gotta give it a minute!” She shouted back at Taishen, who flinched away from the harengon, clasping his hand over his wounds, the blood still dropping from his body. “Gods– I'm sorry Taishee. I– fuck!”
Taishen said nothing in response, staring at the ice around them miserably, “Jornir once showed me… this rune…”
Queenie sighed, her demeanor shifting faster then Taishen could keep up with, “Which rune Taishee, which one?”
“I believe he called it… Algiz?” He traced ᛉ into the snow, the rune not nearly as crisp and clear as Jornir had shown him, yet the intent still stood, “It means protection, shield… I… don't know what it quite does, but he had carved it upon the ship many times…”
Queenie traced over the rune, tracing it then upon Skrimms forehead, brushing the blood soaked hair out of his face, His face looked the most peaceful it ever had, from the anxious look constantly covering his face to the pained one they saw often, the man never seemed to be fully at peace. Even during the night as they slept the man was often terrorized with nightmares and terrors, ones that taishen couldn't even comprehend having.
His own nightmares had been haunted with tortured by past experiences, mainly ones of getting up the mountain to save Mei Li, yet he had nothing in comparison to those of the rest of the crew. He had stayed up many a night with all of the crew, especially skrimm to try and comfort them, ensuring that they were safe, that they had nothing to fear!
Yet they did now, now one was dead, and two were missing.
There was nothing not to fear in their lives, the only thing to remember was the suffering of the lives once lost–
He heard a loud gasp, then rapid coughing from in front of him, his eyes shot over from his frozen stupor to the now very loud noises from in front of him. Now, rather than a corpse defiled by the monster, was a living breathing Skrimm, one who looked pissed off and just as scared as he did on a daily basis.
“Oh my gods i thought we were going to need Jornir for this– Skrimm– look at me skrimm, how are you feeling?!” Queenie held the man in a tight hug, nearly suffocating the near dead man to death again.
Skrimm did not respond, simply coughing louder, pained groans echoing from him as he struggled in the Harengones arms Queenie still held him tightly, although a lot softer then before. Taishen went to place his hand upon Skrimm before he heard a loud splash! From behind them, whipping around, he gazed upon Jornir as the walrus, dragging Barnabos onto the surface of the snow covered ice around them.
“ Jornir! Oh thank the gods your back, we need ya to check on skrimm–” queenie exclaimed, Jornirs eye did not display the joy they had hope for, rather instead, pure horror. “I gave him that potion– and hell– i thought ya would be able to help save him when you got back–”
“ You did this?” Jornirs voice displayed not the usual calm and monotonous nature, instead his voice raised in terror, an almost anger at the sight in front of him.
“Well yeah, I gave him the potion– i only had one though–”
“ Does it live?!”
“What do you mean does it live?! IT is called Skrimm–”
“Skrimm do you speak?!” Jornirs panicked voice continued, cutting off Queenie once again.
“--Am– am i– alive?” Skrimm spoke, his voice near broken in the state he sat in, his voice sounding scratchy and broken, his face and neck no better with the scarring Taishen had no doubt would remain on the mans throat.
“Yeah skrimm– I got you.” Queenie gently assured, running her hand through Skrimms hair, the man weakly opening one of his eyes, presumably to weak to open the other. “I gave you my only potion–”
“It is not possible.” Jornir cut her off, ignoring skrimms' pained breaths that he struggled to intake, each sounding close to a sob of pain as he struggled in Queenies lap.
“What do you– whado you mean its not possible, its clearly happening–”
“GO– go to Barnabos, I saw what that– that beast did to skrimm, this should not be possible.” Jornir ran a hand through his own matted hair, the braids coming undone at his side, “Taishen– Queenie, I do not care, one of you check on Barnabos.”
“Listen, I know what it looked like– but i gave him one of them magical potions and now– I mean look at him.” She pushed back, holding Skrimm tighter to herself, earning a choked cough from the goblin. “Taishee go look at barnabas, use your potion if you want, I don't care– just get it done.”
“I– alright.” Taishen nodded, standing from his place upon the snow, before limping along the ground to get to Barnabos’s side. He reached into his pouch for the potion, only to be near knocked over by the Triton, the man whipping his arm out to the side as he moved to protect himself in a way. Taishen blinked in surprise as he closed his pouch.
“ Ohh… not… bad Clemens…” Barnabas groaned, scrunching his eyes shut.
“What is going on.” Jornir spoke, his face still displaying one of utter horror.
“I don't know why ya gotta be such a downer– our friends are alive, we are all alive– isnt that enough for ya?!” She yelled, “oh shit– sorry skrimm, im yellin’ in your ear.”
“No… no… continue… like im not… here.” skrimm grumbled, wincing from either pain or from the yelling. Taishen then watched as Jornir reached over, lifting skrimm from Queenies arms and turning him around in his hands, examining him as if he was a prized sheep rather then a severely injured goblin.
“Hey! Woah woah woah– be careful with him! What in the world do ya think your doing?!” Queenie shouted, grasping at air below Jornir, “you put him down right now or so help me I will kick you so hard in your dick—“
“Queeni—“ Taishen tried, only to feel Barnabos’s hand upon his arm, the triton giving a weak smile to him as he shook his head.
“Oh don’t you get started Taishee—“
“Stop, you may attack me, yet I will not allow it upon Taishen, skrimm, how… do you feel?” Jornir carefully asked, placing the man back into Queenie outstretched arms.
“Like… I was just eaten from behind.” Skrimm made a pathetic smile, as if it was a joke only entertaining to him alone, “honestly— like —horse shit.”
“Better then dead.” Barnabos comments from beside Taishen, “help me up Mr. Fireblossom, we can— discuss our next move when we set up a good old fire over yonder.”
“Are you sure? You’ve just been revived from death—“ Taishen stands shakily, unsure if his own legs would support his weight, much less the both of theirs, “we could have them move here—“
“We must focus on the monster still bellow, alongside Daisy, the monster still lives in the—“ he was cut off my a loud crack! From the ice as it shifted over the center, where the beast was trapped, “is anyone able to still fight?”
“I can— shoot from afar.” Barnabos takes Taishens outstretched hand, hauling himself to his feet, nearly taking Taishen down once again. The triton carefully steadied him, holding both his gored arms to Taishens own arms, looking him once over with a dissatisfied hum. “Can ya walk lad?”
“Oh most certainly, I can still cast a little more magic before I fall to magic exhaustion, Queenie do you have more arrows?” taishen winced as the two walked closer to the group, settling ina circle.
“I got some, skrimm can ya still do anythin? ya can sit it out if ya—“
“Nah, I got—“ he coughed violently, “at least one more blast in the tank. On… another note, does anyone have food?” taishen blinked in surprise, shaking his head silently in response.
“No, I do not.” Jornir grumbled, standing himself up with his walking cane, “we must worry about daisy and the monster, food will come later, now does anyone see Daisy?”
The group eventually found the woman, unconscious mind you, but alive. The group had decided their best course of action was to ready an attack against the beast that now lived below the surface of the water. Weakly drawing arrows and readying blasts, the group all readied far away from the beast, keeping a decent distance to ensure no further injuries would be taken upon them.
Besides Taishen.
He stood close to the ice, his body to weak to send out a blast from afar, resulting in his last action being the ability to create magic in his hands and burn the creature. It was the furthest thing from safe, yet it was all he could handle anymore by then. His claws crackled with electricity as he unsteadily stood by the banks of the river. The group had agreed that they most certainly needed everyone to be able to attack the beast for it to die, without the magic from Taishen there was no guarantee that they would be able to kill it, so with a tentative yes, he had been helped to stand near the spot where they believed the wendigo would eventually re-emerge.
Crack. He tensed up at the noise, hand tingling with the lightning that had readied itself in the palm of his hand. Was he even strong enough to do this spell?
Crack crack cra—
He watched as the beast emerged from the ice, its eyes glowing with hatred, body mangled and covered in arrows and marred with injuries they had managed to cause throughout the battle. The creatures head looked to the group before locking onto him, his eyes widened as it reached its long clawed hand out, blood from his own body and from his friends marring its long claws—
“ Fire!” He heard a loud yell out from Barnabos, watching as three arrows embedded itself into the creatures body, the creature flailed around, just enough for Taishen to grasp its arm, feeling the decayed flesh underneath his clawed hands, nearly gagging as he cast lightning grasp.
He could feel pain run through his body as he gasped out, electricity arcing its way through his own body as it spread through the monsters horrible form. Its body shook and collapsed from the blasts of magic and arrows that hit into it, nearly dragging him down with it as he unlatched his fingers from the arm of the beast.
He collapsed on the side of the river, exhaustion catching up to him finally. He could vaguely hear another body hit the floor from far away, followed by loud yells from what he assumed to be Queenie. He ignored the voices, only focused on the hot pain that spread from his hand down his arm—
Before it all went black once again.
—
“We need not move for a few days. In the state most of us are in, we are to weak to continue to travel any further.” Jornir decided finally, his cane grasped tightly in his arms, a pained grunt echoing from him as he helped carry Taishen back to the group, the Dragonborn covered in injuries he had suffered from both the battle and the over usage of his magic.
“I agree, is there anything more you can do for them?” Queenie asked, her mood less hostile then it had been since the waterfall, now seeing the pure carnage around her.
“Not until I rest, need I end up similar to Taishen.” Jornir gently set the man down in the makeshift camp they had set up. “He went past what he should have, as a healer I should have stopped him before he caused such damage—“
“Stop, ya know he was dead set on making sure we all were safe, I mean he saved all our asses during tha’ fight.” Queenie gently ran her hand through Skrimms hair, the man had also fallen unconscious once more after his magic usage, taking out the last of his energy that he had left, “I can get started on some food, then ya can get our beds set up, sound good?”
“We do not have beds Queenie.” Jornir reminded her, sitting beside the unconscious people around them. “Barnabos, are you strong enough to cook?”
“If I weren’t, it would be a right shame to call myself a cook.” Barnabos grumbled back, taking the food Queenie had taken from the shelter from the Harengon, “it won’t be much, but it’s all we got.”
“That is all we ask.” Jornir nodded to him, his grip tightening on his cane as he struggled to stand, “I will grab some—“
“O-ho-ho-oh no. You are not goin nowhere Jornir. Ya can barely hold herself up straight here, ya need rest jus’ like the rest of em.” Queenie glared up at him playfully, no malice behind her eyes as she patted the ground next to her, “ya haven’t let go of yer cane since the fight, did it get ya?”
“A few times.” Jornir slowly nodded, “I did not drop the form for no reason, the creature forced me from my form. It is not painless to be forced from one’s form.” He winced as he sat down upon the snow, seated beside Taishens form. The cut that ran deep along his ribs ached, his joints burned from pain with each movement he made , the storm always had made it worse after all.
“I can imagine, ya looked pretty bad after it made ya back into a Firbolg again.” Barnabos commented, setting the fire with a unique carefulness that he usually lacked.
“I feel fine.” Jornir settled his furs overtop Taishen, the dragon sighing in his sleep in relief of the warmth around him, “I have felt worse.”
“What? After that thing took yer eye?” Queenie asked, untangling some of the more matted hair of Skrimms.
“It did not take my eye Queenie.” Jornir grumbled, “I still have it.”
“Took yer sigh’ then.” Queenie rolled her eyes, still having no anger behind them, “so was that it?”
“Somewhat.” Jornir nodded, “I cannot imagine the feeling that Skrimm and Barnabos feel, death… it’s been close to be before, yet the both of you.. you shouldn’t be alive.”
“It’s a miracle at tha’. Stop mopin tha’ we’re alive will ya? Go braid Mr. Fireblossoms hair if ya need somethin’ ta do.” Barnabos glanced over at him, his marred and bloody skin still wet from the water they had been plunged into, yet the man seemed not to care one bit about the water upon his skin.
“I do not wish to disturb Taishen. He is resting, if we do not allow it he could fall to Magical exhaustion.” Jornir explained, “there is no point in waking him early.”
“Then do a rune readin thing.” Queenie suggested, “see what the future holds for us.”
“Why are you so intent on keeping me busy?” Jornir questioned, “I am capable of working as well—“
“Jus’ do the god damn rune reading.” Queenie sighed, “can’t risk ya also fallin to that magic exhaustion thing, so do somethin tha’ won’t drain ya.”
“I know my limits Queenie.” Jornir dully responded, but pulled out his rune bag with a pained grunt, his fingers locking up as they did on days where the storms were particularly bad. He smoothed out a circle in the ground in front of them, placing out one of the fur cloths he had upon the cold earth below him.
“Do—“ he paid her no mind, taking a deep breath as he settled his mind. He found it far more difficult then it had been in years, rather then being able to focus quickly, his mind distracted, thinking to the deaths of his friends, of Taishen who was far beyond magical exhaustion at this point.
He refused to acknowledge his own pain, it was a distraction from the runes that guided his path, a distraction from the old gods that watched over him day in and out.
He pulled the first rune, the rune Eihwazn( ᛇ) . His mind reeled at the sight of the rune, feeling his blinded eye pulse with power as it followed the magic in the runes, recognizing the meaning of the rune, passing through a gateway, the mystery of life and death. He placed the bone rune down upon the cloth, ignoring his friends questions of what the meaning of it was.
The second was Algiz( ᛉ) , the rune of luck, and protection. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the rune, tracing his thumb overtop of the rune before placing it beside Eihwaz.
The third he sighed upon seeing, Gebo( ᚷ ), the rune of Gifts, alternatively, the gift of receiving through sacrifice. This is rune felt different to the magic of the others, rather then the cold bone that it usually was made up of, he could feel it growing hot.
Burning hot.
He attempted to drop the rune from his hand, only for it to remain stuck to his flesh, the burning sensation not leaving as he shook his hand, forced from the holy ceremony he had preformed many times before. He felt around his bag again, nothing else burned like Gebo did.
The searing pain felt stronger by the second, his first reaction being to try and pry it off, yet his mind betrayed him, it is the old ones will, so it will be done. He bit his tongue to stop a pained groan, allowing his hand to lay atop the fur cloth.
Eihwaz, Algiz, and Gebo. The gift of life and protection brought upon by a sacrifice, yet no sacrifice was seen to have happened—
Until Gebo disappeared.
He could feel the tingling pain in his hand as he stared down upon the palm of his hand, the rune of Gebo now burnt into his flesh, his hand red and raw from the injury caused by the runes he had crafted many years ago. He stared at the runes laid out, only startling as he felt a gentle paw upon his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Queenie horrified face. He quickly turned over his hand, shifting to look up at the harengon who stood before him.
“It reads of life and protection, a gift from my gods.” He mumbled out, not trusting his voice to say much more then that in the moment. He could feel her hand gently hold his now burnt one, flipping it over in her hand as she looked at the injury he had been inflicted with.
“Jornir—“
“It is the sacrifice that needed to be made to save them. The loss of Gebo, to be burnt into my flesh, a fitting sacrifice—“
“ I revived em though! Why in the hell would you be punished for my actions?!” She shouted, from next to him, he could see Taishen stir, skrimm rolled over in his sleep, pain evident on his face as he did so.
“It is not your god. We have defied natures order, and one needed to pay the price, It is only natural that I was the one to pay.”