Sweat dripped from Ivan’s forehead, falling to the earth in little droplets. He wiped the remaining droplets off with the sleeve of his shirt.
“Your strokes have gotten stronger,” Orlov commented, setting down his sword on the bench. The two were out in a small area behind the temple dedicated to training, be it magic duels or sword duels. Ivan and Orlov frequently made use of this area in order to practice and hone their skills. Ivan had left early to meet Orlov for a spar for old times sake.
“The last time we sparred seriously I was a child. Of course I’ve gotten stronger.”
Orlov chuckled, taking a swig of water. “Of course. I shouldn’t underestimate you.”
“I’m just impressed you can still ke
“Where are we?” Ivan asked. He never really stopped to think about where he was going, all he knew was that he had to find his wife.“We’re under an old shrine. I didn’t know there would be a cave system… what a find…” Ursa mused. She held onto his hand tightly while Ivan’s other hand produced a small, flickering flame from his fingertip. The couple made their way down the tunnel, hoping to see just a slant of natural light.“How’d you get here? Why didn’t you go with everyone else to the morning prayer?”“A few priestesses recommend I check out the shrine instead. They told me it was a tourist attraction, but now I see that they were just being great businessmen.”&ld
Ivan pulled Ursa along like she was a ragdoll, her arm about to come clean off from the force of his tugging. But Ursa remained silent, knowing that their lives were on the line. She could hear them-- all the creatures gathering up, running alongside them, ready to pounce on them at any given moment. Sure enough, the first creature’s call was meant to attract the other beasts.“Keep going! Do not look back!” Ivan warned. Ursa resisted the urge to disobey, and continued forth, though the loud, pounding stomps of the creatures behind her tempted her. Suddenly, Ivan launched Ursa forward, throwing her in front of him. With inhuman reflexes, he unsheathed his sword and blocked a hit from a monster that had leaped from a distance and would have landed on Ursa.Ivan barely kept the strength to block the creature, for his heart was poundi
CW: kind of sexual content but like notreallyUrsa sighed into her skin as she watched the small flame slowly begin to dim. She had managed to rub the sticks together enough so a small fire could burn, but she knew it wouldn’t last.From her peripheral view, Ursa noticed Ivan’s fingers beginning to twitch. His eyes fluttered open, but he didn’t move his body. “Your Majesty! You’re awake!” she exclaimed.“Yess,” he slurred, “but I can’t move.”“What do you mean? Can you feel your body?”“I can only get my fiingerss to move.” Ursa resisted the urge to throw herself in the fire. “Undress me.”
The first thing Ursa was reminded of as soon as they reached the first tunnel spotted on the cliffside was her apparent nakedness. Yes, she was holding her dress and her undergarments all clumped in her arms-- her shoes were long forgotten in the shallow cave they had fled from. Ivan was no better off, perhaps even doing worse. His giant wound in the middle of his chest had begun bleeding again, and he too was running with his clothes in his arms.“Your Majesty, before we continue, I think we should put on some clothes… at least, you should put on some pants.” Ivan stopped in his tracks and looked down, finally realizing he was still bare.“Good idea.” Ursa immediately turned away and threw the dress back on in record time. All of it was still quite damp; however, complaining would get no one anywhere. The two of them
Ursa woke up after two days. The moment her eyes opened, the Oracle and Lord Orlov were immediately informed. A pile of clothes was left at the edge of her bed, neatly folded.“When you’re finished, the Oracle requests your presence, Your Majesty.” Ursa smiled politely and closed the door after the priest. It was the same type of clothes she wore three or four days ago when she went missing. Ursa got dressed quickly by herself and followed the priest to find the Oracle.Orlov paced the room, close to ripping the nails out of his fingers. “You must recognize the issue. I know you feel it, Your Holiness. The darkness. It’s seeping into the energy of the temple, it’s destroying the barrier--”“The barrier is old, young one. It is bound to break sometime soon.&
The Oracle’s secret… was no secret at all. Everyone in the temple knew about it, if they weren’t blind to the truth.Ursa knocked on the Oracle’s door, and one of the priests opened it.“He’s expecting you,” the priest said, sliding out as she entered. The old man sat at his desk by the window, playing with the extravagant gold rings on his fingers.“Your Holiness, I must speak with you about an urgent matter.”“I know you do. I was waiting for you to return alone.”“What? Why would you need me alone?” she asked. The Oracle turned his chair to face Ursa, his kind eyes usually mistaken for complacency were unusually sharp.
“Alright, what was it that you couldn’t say in front of her?” Ivan asked, laying back down in bed. He still felt a dull ache on his chest where he was deeply slashed by that one poisonous creature. Ivan had no doubt that he would be better soon, however, if he was going to fight those creatures head on in a few days time, it would be better for him to take it easy.“It’s nothing that I can’t say in front of Her Majesty, it’s just that I worry she may get in the way of our plans.”“Ursa is harmless in this kind of situation. She has no manna, no magical powers to speak of, and especially no fighting ability. I think she will come around. Besides, Ursa is a tactical person. She’ll understand that it’s better to get rid of those creatures to save all of us in here, rather than wait to be hunte
By the time Ursa had dried off and put her clothes back on, the Temple was barren. Not a soul could be found in the halls, not even the guard outside the Pool of Burvju was there.“No,” Ursa murmured to herself. “They couldn’t have started, I wasn’t in there for that long--” Instinctively, Ursa looked out the window and up at the sky. The sky was an exquisite explosion of purples, reds and oranges. She did not need to be a mage to suspect what day it was. The sky was already setting-- how long had she been in there? How long had the High Goddess Mai kept her in there? Why did the guard not retrieve her?Ursa did not knock as she arrived at the Oracle’s study. She simply burst through the door, only to be met with complete emptiness. Not even the Oracle was here. Where was he? If Ursa ran to the Med Wing, wou