[Aslan's Forge] Don't Say Good-Bye [Vel]

[Lenara]

Early Morning, 28th of Cryaxtum, Spring Era XV PF

The brightening had arrived too quickly for the young giantess, Veleraen had gone from the palace to Aslan's Forge where he would meditate before he faced off against Fidelis. Lenara had wanted to be at his side every step of the way, but she had decided to give him the time he needed alone to meditate and pray. She had paced around her room in the Palace as she thought about the man she loved the first two brightenings he was gone, she was terrified that she could lose him when the fight began and yet she knew there was nothing that she could do for him. She was going to become a healer, but that wasn't enough, if Fidelis overcame Veleraen, it was doubtful she could save him.

She waited till the early morning of the third brightening before she went to the Sorceror, he would transport her to where Veleraen was, since she couldn't make her way there alone. She had promised Veleraen that she would remain quiet and hidden no matter what happened and yet she was unsure if she could keep her word should something befall Vel on the battlefield. She had decided that should it come down to his death, she would break her promise and hold him in her arms as he passed on, she cared little if Fidelis chose to end her as well, all that mattered was Veleraen. But could she really keep her earlier given promise that she would refrain from shedding tears at his passing? Stop thinking like that, such thoughts will upset you.

Tying her long ebony hair back in a braid, she sported a simple green shirt and a brown skirt that might help her blend with her surroundings better. The feeling of being transported was quite odd and a bit disorienting mostly because she wasn't used to it. In the blink of an eye, she was standing upon a mountain top in the high peaks of Aslan's Forge. Never had Lenara been up so high and while she didn't have a fear of heights, a certain fear grabbed at her, nearly causing her to panic. Perhaps the fear was mixed with the fear she already felt, the fear that she would be left alone at the end of that brightening.

It wasn't that she lacked faith in Veleraen, she had more faith in him then any gods that might have inhabited the heavens, but it was the fact that he would face such a dangerous foe alone. Vel had told her right off the bat that he could very well lose his life in the battle and while she was hard-pressed to believe such a thing of her hero, she had to face the reality that it could happen just the same.

Once Lenara regained her bearings, her soft pale blue eyes sought out Veleraen upon the mountain peak, the skies above filled with grey clouds, threatening those beneath them with possible rain or perhaps more. Around her neck was the wooden necklace he had given her when he confessed his love for her, two ovals carved and the rest waiting for the rest of her carvings. She swore that she wouldn't carve on another oval until this brightening was over and Veleraen was safe at the palace with her. Lenara had been careful in whom she chose to pray to and what she chose to ask, but now, as she walked towards Veleraen, she prayed that he be safe and victorious that brightening as he clashed with the Wolf of Jorel himself.

[Veleraen]

Upon the third brightening of what could have been the last brightening he spent on this plane of existence, Veleraen awoke atop the northern slope of the Forge, it's surging heart within the rocky ground still beating just like his love was for the one who came so early that morning to see him.

Bits of ash and dirt stained his skin and armour but it had not made the stay upon the side of the Forge all too uncomfortable. Veleraen had risen early as he always did, his meditation in full force as he calmed his mind and cleared the corrupted segments of his soul to make way for the space his spirit truly needed.

Lenara filled that void completely.

The noise of their arrival let his eyes flash open in an overwhelming joy. She did not arrive far from his position but Veleraen had to get up from his place and go around a small patch of boulders before he rounded a rocky corner to see Lenara. She had her back turned to him, her eyes searching the scenery for him but he was no where to be found because she wasn't looking in the right direction.

The Giantess had promised him that she would come and watch him fight, to be there by his side, her presence ever fueling his desires and his soul. Her pledge was an enormous leap of faith and Veleraen accepting it was an even bigger one. Never before had he allowed someone to get so close to him in his life and he couldn't have been happier, despite the reservations he had about allowing Lenara to come witness his battle against Fidelis. Sure she might have been spotted but Veleraen would defend her to the last breath and the only result that was needed, was that she survived whatever the outcome. The last thing he needed was a shattered soul because he allowed her to die upon this mountainside because of his blinded love-stricken heart.

Lenara's pitch black hair was tied up neatly and Veleraen couldn't help but smile a dirty smile as he planted the butt end of his weapon into the ground and leaned it up against the boulder beside him.

"Lenara."

His voice was filled with an obvious joyous tone. His words were calm but Lenara could tell by the look upon his face that he was truly happy to see her. The Knight's arms stretched wide as he approached her and embraced her with a mighty hug but not too mighty...He could not dare harm his soulmate. His head bent down as he let go of her and kissed her with an unbridled passion unlike anything he'd ever accomplished or felt in his life. His heart was ablaze and in these dire moments, the Titan could not help himself but open his heart and keep Lenara close to him.

Precious moments together were already wasted and as his spirit soared upon that mountaintop, he didn't want to let go. A heavy breath escaped his lips as he broke his connection with her supple lips. Eyes closed briefly but reopened again as he lingered and took everything in that was her.

"I'm so glad you came. These past brightenings were rather unbearable without you..." He ran a hand down and up her arm briefly as he was nervous and excited that he had actually arrived upon the mountainside. It was an uneasy feeling knowing that death could be upon them by the time the suns of Telath set.

"You..." Veleraen paused as he looked to the skies which were starting to brew into a storm upon the horizon. "You are a strong spirit Lenara. You are braver than most mortals upon this world. For you to come here means a lot to me..." His deep voice was quiet and somewhat reserved but it was the truth that came straight from his heart. He knew the risks they both took by doing what they were doing and there was no backing out now. The lifelines had been taken away and there they were, alone upon the mountainside but they wouldn't be for too long.

[Lenara]

Lenara stood still a moment so she could let the feeling of disorientation fade as she took a careful view of the peak her feet now rested upon. There was a mixture of emotions that trembled within her large body, most of which being fear for the man she had come to love, for he would be facing a demon that brightening. She felt foolish for coming in a way, how could she not shed tears for Veleraen when she didn't know if he would make it, surely he knew her life was too intertwined with his that she would die once his soul left his body. Perhaps not a physical death, but her heart and soul would surely ascend with him and she would be dead to the world for her remaining eras upon Telath.

For a moment she feared that she had somehow missed Vel, for she saw no trace of her love as she looked around, though she didn't realize that she was turned the wrong way and that he was behind her. She felt tears well up behind her eyes for just a moment in great dispair before she heard sound from behind her, she turned quickly, though carefully so not to lose her footing. She felt her heart beat quicker when she saw him, three brightenings away from him had felt like an age and she almost felt silly for that. She had always been perfectly content to be alone before, meeting him had changed her a lot, most for the better.

Coming to watch the battle had been a desperate request, not because she cared for violence but rather because she wished to see what would happen. She didn't want to hear it from someone else nor did she wish to be away from him if the worst happened. She wanted to be there to give him her undying support and devotion, even if she could not be helpful in anything else. Lenara cared little that she herself might lose her life that brightening should Fidelis catch sight of her, her worries lay soley with her love Vel.

Hearing her name escape his lips was the sweetest melody as she moved forward to be embraced in his arms. She hugged him tightly, not wishing to leave his embrace at that point. A small part of her wished to tell him to leave this quest behind, forget his duty to his god and the people he sought to protect and leave with her, live out a full life with her, but Lenara could never ask such a thing again, she knew it would hurt him to hear her beg and she didn't wish to hurt him. She felt a small tear escape her eye and roll down her cheek, but that was all she shed for now, she knew he didn't wish for her to cry for him. She was to have faith, if not in the gods he served then in him, have faith that he was strong enough to face his foe and survive to come back with her.

His lips pressed against hers in a passionate kiss unlike any she had felt before, she wondered if that would be the last kiss they would share. Would she be alone when the suns set that brightening?

Lenara pressed her forehead against his as he pulled back from the kiss only when air had become a necessity. She drew in a breath of air and sighed, this was so very hard. But, she needed to be brave for Veleraen, he had allowed her to come with him, what greater test of his love of her then that. "It wasn't easy to come, even though it was my own request." Perhaps her words sounded selfish, not that they were meant to. "I find myself fearing that I might become a weakness for you here, yet I needed to be here with you in this time, nothing could have kept me away much longer."

Lenara broke eye contact with Vel only because of the crash of distant thunder, signalling the start of a coming storm, the gods had a sense of theatrics it appeared. "Don't die." Her words now came out as a whisper, she nearly choked them back but she couldn't, they needed to be said. She swallowed back a sob and gave a slight laugh. "I doubt the gods would want an angry giantess breaking down their heavenly doors to get you back." Her eyes shined with unshed tears. "Cause that is what would happen."

[Veleraen]

He could see his entire life passing before his eyes and the future to come as he stared into Lenara's beautiful orbs. He would have waited atop that mountainside for the rest of eternity to see if she would have come to visit him. The Knight felt so alive as she stood there next to him in a tight embrace, his heart outpacing the fires below.

Kissing Lenara was more than simply an act of his love. It felt every time his lips met hers that another sun would explode or that a seraph would descend and carry him away. Praying that it would not be his last, he reluctantly withdrew so that they could finally speak to one another in words.

The young Giantess proceeded to admit to him that she might have been a weakness for him...but it was far from the truth.

"Lenara.." He reached up with a dirt-stained hand and brushed her cheek with the base of his thumb. "You are nothing but a pillar of strength in my life...I am surely the luckiest Giant in this world...In this Cosmos, to have you here by my side." He grinned and he too started to hold back a tear or two as his hidden emotions were getting the better of him, even as he tried to still be that steel wall for her.

Veleraen could see the concern in her eyes for but a brief moment as the Giantess looked into the distance and he could see her emotions were swelling just as his was. Her words dug at him as she told him not to die. The Giant could help it no longer as a tear ran down his face, the truth staining him like the dirt that was upon his cheek.

"I will survive..."

The Titan wanted to whisper it back to her but to promise her something that could not be fully predicted...It would have broken him in two...but he said it anyways.

"I'll survive...I'll survive Lenara. I have you here that is all that truly matters now.." He reached back and hugged her furiously as he closed his eyes, his chin resting upon the top of her head. "The Gods should be scared...I know I would be." He pulled back and smiled, another tear running down his face as he gave a quick wipe with the side of his hand.

"There is...there is something I want you to have Lenara." It kind of just came out of his mouth but it was surely quite innocent. The deep tones of the Titan reached her and just as they did, Veleraen reached around his neck and unfurled his bone necklace that he had worn ever since he was quite young. The two boar tusks upon them rattled in a hollow manner as he dipped his head and grasped them in both hands.

Lowering it, he grabbed the top of Lenara's wrist, turned it over gently and placed the necklace into her palm. "I want you to keep this for good luck. I know you holding them will bring me much more prowess upon the battlefield then if I were to be wearing them. They are connected to me just as well as anything else in this world and with them in your hands, nothing can go wrong..." He placed a hand overtop hers, making a bit of a bone necklace sandwich.

"And if..." His eyes peered upwards and then back down once more. "And if things should not go as planned...You will have something to remember me by." It might not have been the smartest thing he could have said but it was surely what was coming from his heart. He was lovestruck and if he did pass on...Lenara would not just have her memories but his own necklace to hold and cherish.

"Take it and hold on to it...please..." His eyes begged her to do it but he wasn't sure why he needed Lenara to do such a task. His logic even alluded himself.