Insomnia

[Koyliak]

There would be no sleeping tonight.

Normally, when she needed to think, Koy visited her favorite spot in between the dunes of the Ports' beaches. Tonight though she found herself leaving that place even more confused than before: Matt had been there, just as she had guessed, but the salt air did little to clear up his clouded head. More and more she felt as though she were dealing with two different people -- Matthew Simon the man and Matthew Simon the puppet.

Harris had jokingly advised her to bring a can of mace before trying to find Matt, who had run off from the Annex after a harmless situation between the two men had gotten seriously out-of-hand. The rage she had seen flash across Matt's face shocked her, but she was not afraid of him: she was terrified for him. As long as he insisted on holding on to that awful rock, he left himself at the mercy of ShadoWeaver's designs, whatever they might be.

What threw her off tonight was Matt agreeing with her when she told him he could not control the black opal. He conceded almost too easily, making Koy suspicious of whether she was talking to the man or ShadoWeaver's plaything. One minute he would go off on a philosophical analogy about the moons controlling the ocean that she didn't buy and the next he was inquiring after what made her hair smell sweet.

And then he did the one thing Koy wanted and feared the most -- he offered her the opal.

As she walked along the Port's docks, she silently cursed herself for her reaction. Instead of doing the one thing she knew Matt needed, she recoiled in horror.

Pausing to lean on a railing overlooking a series of fishing boats preparing for the day's sail, Koy watched the dockhands and listened to the water lapping against the barnacle-laden vessels, frowning to herself. She did not explain to him what had spooked her, not wishing to revisit the past; however, Matt's insistence about studying the unknown no matter what the price and his growing temper reminded her more and more of someone she would rather forget. Whether she liked it or not, she could not block out the memory of a summer night that remained with her regardless of how far she traveled away from Elanthia.

There was a reason Koy feared foreign magics. His name was Redd.

[Koyliak]

"Would ye stop breathin' so loudly, Beld? Yer scarin' all the critters 'way," Koy smirked at her brother Beldron through the branches of the bush she was crouching in. "Remind me ta give Isabella cotton fer her ears...I can only imagine how badly ye've been snorin'."

"If ya stopped runnin' tha trap of yars we might be able ta catch somethin', Koyla," Beldron feigned annoyance at his little sister's teasing, but the mirthful glint in the forest-green eyes both had inherited from their mother said otherwise.

Before she could come up with a retort, the two rangers both froze in place, their attention drawn towards the wild boar crashing his way through the Langenfirth woods. The only sound emitted from the pair came from their longbows as they shot barbed arrows carved from the branches of the same willow tree. While Koy's landed in the boar's hindquarters, Beldron opted to shoot two arrows at once, the first piercing the boar's eye, the second penetrating straight through the creature's rib cage. The boar fell to the ground with a dull thud, Beldron giving his sister that "Told ya so" look that caused her to roll her eyes.

"Show off." Her tone dry as she crept out of the bushes, approaching the carcass. Of course, she had always been in awe of Beldron's abilities -- her desire to emulate him being the main reason she had joined the Rangers in the first place.

"Why don't ya take care of skinnin' it, ya could use the practice," his offer less condescending and more out of his hopes to further train her. "Hurry up, it's gettin' dark and I'm sure Redd will wonder where yar at."

Removing the knife from the sheath wrapped around her thigh, she snorted. "Tha's assumin he even notices I'm gone."

((Based in part on elements from the DragonRealms game series))

[Koyliak]

It had only been natural that she be married off when she reached the appropriate age. That was what women did in her village; she should only be grateful to have such a handsome, strong husband who let her continue on with her ranger training. This was not to say she did not care for Redd -- a name fitting the shock of hair on his head and his infamous temper -- but she also did not know any better. Not wanting to disappoint her family, she followed custom and married the prominent war mage when he took an interest in her and approached her father to ask for her hand. Koy found him attractive and he let her carry on with her livelihood and hobbies however she pleased -- she considered herself lucky compared to some of her friends. She grew to admire his intelligence and commitment to his studies and enjoy the sweetness he showed her in between his tantrums.

Those moments were few and far between these days as he barely paid any attention to her, having become enraptured in some new sorcery or other: Koy had little knowledge of magic outside of what she learned in her training, which amounted to spells for foraging, hunting, and making compost. He used to try and describe it to her, but whatever new lore he studied now was something he had not bothered explaining in layman's terms for her benefit.

Whether he heard her come home from the day's hunt or not was beyond her. Koy only sought him out after she had prepared her seasoned boar specialty, heading into his private study with a plate when he did not come down for dinner. Redd sat at his oak desk, surrounded by various volumes from his impressive library, but his almost onyx eyes were intent on an ancient scroll in front of him.

"I thought ye might like somethin ta eat," she said softly, knowing to set the plate on a nearby stand and not on his desk, lest she disturb his work.

Redd barely picked his head up. "Thanks. I'm sure it's good."

Encouraged by the compliment, Koy moved to stand behind his chair, curiously glancing over his shoulder at the scroll, her hand resting on his shoulder. "How's yer work comin'?"

"Fine," he gruffly replied, shaking her hand free as he covered up the scroll, but not before she caught sight of what spell he was studying.

"Blackfire sorcery! Ye know tha's not allowed!" Koy might not have understood what it was, but she was well enough aware of the prohibition against it most cities carried, at least those abiding by a set of morals. "Where did ye even get tha scroll from?"

The anxiety in her voice and her reprimand set her husband off as he seized her wrist, twisting it in his grasp. "It's none of your business where I got it from. Don't scream about it, idiot. Do you want your husband behind bars?"

"No...but why are ye playin' with tha?" She did not try to squirm out of his reach, ignoring the pain in her wrist.

"I'm not playing. I'm trying to study something no one else seems to care about. Leave me alone. Now." Relinquishing his hold, he shoved her back. Koy opened her mouth to say something else, but it only took another glare from Redd to send her scurrying out of the study. Her mind raced over all the bits and pieces she had picked up during the guided tours she led through the forests for a variety of mages and wizards. The only thing she knew was Blackfire sorcery was forbidden, and apparently for good reason. Unsure of what to do, if she should do anything at all, Koy gave up for the time being, not wanting to betray her husband by telling someone what he was up to.

((Based in part on elements from the DragonRealms game series))

[Koyliak]

What happened later that night remained hazy for Koy, most of the story being told to her after the fact.

She did remember getting ready for bed and forcing herself to sleep, feeling completely helpless over what to do. Maybe she would try to talk to Redd when he was in a better mood, or possibly bring the situation to her brother, whom she trusted with her life. Realizing nothing could be done at this time of night, Koy went to bed, lying on her stomach.

The next thing she knew, she felt a searing pain in the back of her leg and wanted to vomit at the scent of something horrendous burning. Her whole body felt on fire as the image of a colorless flame flaring through her insides flashed into her head. She wanted to scream in pain, but could not muster a sound. Something warm and wet surrounded her and she somehow managed to turn over, only to find her sheets covered in blood and a passed out Redd on the floor by the foot of their shared bed. Her heart racing, she only understood that she needed to get out of there as she forced herself to fall to the floor and drag her burning body towards the door.

And that was all she knew before waking up in the sterile hospital room at Riverhaven. After hugging her too tightly and expressing more emotion than she was accustomed to from her brother, Beldron filled in the rest of the story for her. Koy had made it as far as the front yard before collapsing in the honeysuckle. Her next door neighbor, Isaih, had been passing by as he set out to get an early start on the day's fishing when she fell. Fortunately for her, Isaih's wife was an expert empath and managed to afford Koy enough time to be transferred to the facilities at Riverhaven, where it took a team of empaths working on her to stabilize her as her wounds were inflicted by magic and would not heal easily.

"Looks like ya've been listenin' ta my lessons on survival after all, Koyla," Beldron gently ruffled her straggly curls, the lines of worry she had caused him clearly evident in his face.

"But I still don't get it...wha happened? Is Redd all right?" Koy blinked repeatedly, searching around the room for her husband. Beldron's face fell at her questions, shaking his head and taking her hand in his large one.

"I hate ta be the one ta tell ya this, but yar here 'cause tha bloody troll of a husband did this ta ya."

Before she could voice her confusion, Beldron laid it all out for her. From what he gathered when the local guard searched the house and the description of her wounds, Redd had been experimenting with magic he mistakenly believed he could control. Whether he had intentionally desired to try the forbidden Incinerate spell on her or not was debatable; either way, he had stood over her sleeping form after channeling the foul energy into his hand, wrapping it around her leg. His inability to harness enough power behind it had saved her: Redd passed out before the potentially fatal spell killed her.

Feeling numb, Koy did not show any emotion, dazedly asking her brother: "And where is he now?"

"Kuniyo curse him, he must have woken up and fled before anyone could stop him. Ya know he'll be banned from the war mages forever, not ta mention Langenfirth. He should only be so lucky if the authorities find him before I do" Beldron grit his teeth, his fists clenched in anger.

"The Gods will deal with him as they see fit." Yawning, Koy suddenly felt very tired, drifting back into unconsciousness.

((Based in part on elements from the DragonRealms game series))

[Koyliak]

And that was all she would say about her first husband.

Her recovery took almost three months before she could walk on her own without assistance. Koy wanted to erase any evidence of Redd's presence: at Koy's insistence, Beldron and his wife cleared out everything in her home, selling all of Redd's possessions before selling the house itself. She hired a scar specialist, enduring daily treatments in between her arduous physical therapy sessions. Despite the specialist's own magical abilities, the pervasiveness of the Blackfire sorcery made it impossible to fully remove its mark. At the end of her hospital stay, Koy still retained the imprints of Redd's fingertips where he had touched her leg. Five small flame-shaped scars linked together, starting at her inner thigh and ending below the right buttock, marred the otherwise flawless skin. At least it wasn't Redd's entire palm.

When she finally returned to Langenfirth, Koy knew she could not stay. The village was too small for her to escape confronting some memory of Redd or the pitying looks of her neighbors and friends. During her hospital stay she had received a letter from her friend Sadee, who had left the 'Firth the previous year for a land named Rhydin. Serving as a crossroads for a wide assortment of races, Koy felt it would be the perfect place for her to make another start, free to do whatever she wanted without anyone knowing her past. The idea of having one of her oldest friends to help her get settled seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up. Beldron had his reservations.

"Why not go down ta Shard or somethin'. Is it really necessary fer ya ta leave the whole realm all together?" Beldron huffed out the question in between deep breaths as the pair went for their daily run though the forest. Since she had returned from the hospital, Koy had enlisted her brother's help to train her harder than ever before.

"Aye. There's nothin' left fer me here." Koy breathed evenly, jumping over a twisted tree root sticking out of the ground.

Beldron took a moment to study his sister's face. He had recognized the change in her as soon as she had become coherent enough to order the empaths to intensify her treatments, not wanting to waste more time than necessary in the hospital. He did not tell her this until years later, but he could never get over feeling responsible for not protecting her better, a small part of him dying when he saw how hardened she had become.

"Fine. Wha are ya gonna do there though?" Beldron speeded up, trying to keep up with her, simultaneously avoiding colliding into a tree.

"Survive. It's wha ye've taught me ta do." A slight grin over her shoulder at him before flinging the back of her hand against his shoulder. "C'mon slow poke, race ye ta the spring." Sprinting ahead without another word, Beldron followed behind but could not catch up, doubling over once they reached the spring to catch his breath.

"No stoppin'! We gotta keep up the same pace on the way back!" Koy took off again, leaving a groaning Beldron. "Hey, wait up," he called out, taking off after her.

((Based in part on elements from the DragonRealms game series))